<p>The Kollam Assembly segment comprises 19 of the 55 divisions of Kollam Corporation and Panayam, Thrikadavur and Thrikaruva grama panchayats. Since 1967, all except one MLA, who represented the constituency had become Ministers. They were A.A. Rahim, T.K. Divakaran, Kadavur Sivadasan, Babu Divakaran, and P.K. Gurudasan.This time, film actor Mukesh is in the fray as Left Democratic Front candidate, contesting on the symbol of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). The United Democratic Front candidate is District Congress Committee vice president Sooraj Ravi. <br></p> <p>The National Democratic Alliance has former Kollam SN College principal K. Sasikumar as its candidate. Even though the Revolutionary Socialist Party, a constituent of the UDF, is not in the fray in Kollam, like the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the RSP factor continues to be a top election issue in the constituency.Problems of the cashew sector too will dominate the campaign. In the last two Assembly elections, the LDF has been representing the constituency. In the last Parliamentary election, N.K. Premachandran of the RSP as UDF candidate established a lead of 14,439 votes over his nearest rival M.A. Baby of the LDF in the Kollam segment. But in last year’s local body elections, the LDF won the Kollam Corporation and all the three panchayats in the Kollam segment.Company Cashew nuts are standing in the village of Ban, Kubu district, Karangasem, East Bali. In a circumscribed by poverty, without roads and water and electricity do not make obstacles for East Bali cashews to produce the best quality cashew nuts.Far from penenrangan, chained by poverty, isolated in transportation, but it can produce cashew nuts with the best quality and has expanded to 8 countries.Now, in the midst of global economic competition, this energetic young company has revolutionized trade different cashews, build factory direct cashew farm location. The goal is to be able to present the best cashew nuts, the best ethics at the same time improve quality of life tires. <br></p> <p>"We buy directly from small farmers and directly process them in the village where it grows, before being sent to foreign countries. We share knowledge and empower farmers and their families. Friendly production process by using biomass from cashew nut shell. "Said CEO and Founder of East Bali cashews Aaron Fishman.According to Aaron, Cashew Indonesia is among the best in the world, during the Indonesian cashew nuts exported in raw form for further processing by the importing country, so that the original flavor is lost."With the people we have worked hard Ban menghasilakn cashews fresh local fast with the best quality made with natural ingredients with no preservatives, no artificial ingredients, no lies," the story of Aaron in fluent Indonesian.He continued, the current production of cashew nuts cashews East Bali of 60 tons per month and exported to eight countries such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and the largest market to the United States."Our Poternsi very large, I estimate that next year we will grow three-fold with a workforce can reach a thousand people," said Aaron.The success of East Bali cashews could not be separated from the role of global investment firm KKR, based in New York. Many companies that do business in Southeast Asia. Specializations are expected to help the development of business models and social enterprenurship bring together investors from different levels of the business."Business trends melinium is social entrepreneurship, a concept that is not only the pursuit of capital back to investors, but also the return on investment for society kekitarnya," said Steven R. Okun. <br></p> <p>Ghana: GEPA trains exporters in export marketing</p> <p>Ghana-export-Promotion-AuthorityThe Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) is holding a-four-day training in export marketing fundamentals for over 30 exporters and financial actors across the country.The aim of the workshop is to support the export community to acquire managerial, technical and trade capacity as well as understand the current global export trends to give Ghana a competitive edge.Mr Stephen Normeshie, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of GEPA, speaking at the opening session, said the Authority would scale up marketing training programmes for exporters to enhance capacity and ensure they met required standards in the global market.He said the Ghana Export School was always ready to develop training modules to meet the needs of product associations and identified groups of persons.Mr Normeshie said building the skills and capacities of exporters was very critical if the country’s goal of increasing export returns was to be achieved.He said exporters needed to be schooled on recent trends and changes in the export market in order to remain competitive and also help the country to grow its export base. <br></p> <p>Among the topics being treated are Export Marketing Research, Product Planning and Product Adaptation, Legal Contracts and Negotiations, Sanitary and Photosanitary Specification and Export Procedures and Documentation.Giving a gist of the performance of the Non Traditional Exports (NTEs) sector, Mr Normeshie said exports grew steadily at an annual average rate of about 14.79 per cent from $777.59 million in 2005 to $2.514 billion in 2014.However, in 2012 the total earnings saw a decline in earnings to $2.364 billion from $2.423 billion in 2011.In 2013, earnings from the sector went up by 3.05 per cent to $2.436 billion.Mr Normeshie said the statistics showed that there was the need to ensure that the sector’s growth was doubled and sustained since the sector held the best prospect for rapid economic development.He expressed the hope that the training would provide the opportunity to contribute towards a much stronger sector. <br></p> <p>The Ghana Export School was set up by GEPA, the national export trade support institution of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) responsible for the facilitation, development and promotion of Ghanaian exports in 1987, to address the training needs of the export community.In an interview with some of the exporters, Mr Richard Odoom, Accounts and Administrative Manager of Bet Export Ghana Limited, exporters of Cashew nuts and medicinal plants, said the training was helping to understand the new trends in the export market.He said the exposure and the new knowledge would go a long way to help grow his business.Mrs Mildred Ahiaglo-Amuzu, a Banker, said understanding the peculiar needs of exporters would help her department to know how to deal with the exporters. <br></p> Indonesia: East Bali Cashews Wins Corporate Excellence Award <p>The social enterprise East Bali Cashews was honored by the US Embassy in Jakarta on Tuesday (05/04) for the commendable societal impact it has in rural Bali.The American-founded enterprise received the 2015 US Secretary of State's Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) in Washington, DC, in March, in recognition of its contribution to the growth and development of the local economy of Bali.East Bali Cashews was founded by Aaron Fishman in 2012, after seeing potential for growth in the rural village of Desa Ban, and the abundance of cashews in Indonesia.When it first started, East Bali Cashews was assisted by KKR, a global private equity firm, by providing expertise and in the development of a business plan and financial model.It has now grown from a factory to a village with an early learning center for farmers' children. It is a fully sustainable, zero-carbon facility, employing 350 people from the area."If you look at the social impact of East Bali Cashews, you can literally count the people who have benefited from the company. The people who were previously unemployed now have jobs, and they don't have to go to Sanur for their jobs, and now the children of the farmers study in the village's early learning center,” said Steven Okun, KKR's director for Asia-Pacific public affairs. <br></p> <p>"KKR was one of the founding donors for the early learning center. After that project, we saw the power of education, which is why we want to open up a learning center for farmers and teach them about sustainable cashew farming practices, and educate the public about the farmers and the issues they have to go through," East Bali Cashews founder Fishman said.The East Bali Center for Community Development is set to open later this year, and it will house an eco-lodge for travelers, and a learning center for the public.The company exports half of its goods worldwide, and is planning to expand to West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara by the end of the year.<br></p>