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Japan's GDP down

TOKYO: Japan's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the three months to September fell 1.0 percent from the previous quarter, the Economic Planning Agency said on Wednesday, confirming a preliminary figure issued late last year.

But revised annualised figures saw the world's second largest economy shrink by 3.9 percent in the quarter. In a preliminary report released in December the agency said GDP contracted 1.0 percent in the September quarter, equating to an annualised fall of 3.8 percent.ÑAFP

UNCTAD meet to heal WTO wounds

BANGKOK: A major United Nations conference on globalisation here is billed as the first chance to heal wounds opened by the acrimonious and ill-fated World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit in Seattle. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) opens for a week-long meeting on Saturday on a theme of spreading the benefits of the increasingly interconnected and technology-driven global economy. UNCTAD, which is holding its 10th conference in Bangkok, is often viewed as the only global forum where developing nations can make their voices heard as their aspirations are close to the body's mandate.ÑAPP