NATIONAL WOMEN'S ENTERPRISE DAY TOLD TO SHAKE OF RECESSIONARY WOES - Today is National Women's Enterprise Day and that is being marked by a conference in Mullingar organised by the 35 County and City Enterprise boards. Organised to seek recognition for the role of female entrepreneurship, the conference will show off enterprise success. Tanáiste and Minister for Enterprise, trade and Employment is one of the keynote speakers at the conference today.
Another of the keynote speakers is Jo Fairley, who is co-founder of Green and Black's Organic chocolate.
Jo Fairley says she hopes that one of the key message from today's conference is that despite the difficult economic situation the world is in, successful businesses can be created. She points out that the Green and Black business was actually started during the last recession in 1991 and when a business starts in a recession there is really only way to go - and that is up. She says every ounce of creativity has to be tapped into and every number in your contract book that may be of possible help to you has to be used.
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MORNING BRIEFS - French pharmaceutical company Servier is officially opening its new manufacturing plant in Arklow, Co Wicklow today. Servier is a research based company which concentrates on cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes and central nervous system drugs. It has been in Arklow since 1985 and this latest expansion has created 100 new jobs over the last three years.
*** Shares in Dell have fallen after the US computer maker reported another drop in quarterly profits Dell's revenues also fell by 15% to $12.9 billion. The disappointing figures sent shares down by 7% in after-hours trading. Dell says it expects revenues in the fourth quarter to improve.
*** In Japan, the Government has warned that deflation has returned to country for the first time since 2006. The Japanese economy experienced its fastest growth in more than two years - 4.8% - in the third quarter of this year. But today the Government warned that prices are falling and it fears this could hit the country's economic recovery. The Bank of Japan said it will maintain interest rates at 0.1%.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is trading at $1.49 and 89 pence sterling.
