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To: Crimson Ghost who wrote (39681)	8/27/1999 8:41:00 AM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116816

Y2K concerns mounting: International travel troubles loom By Ephraim Schwartz InfoWorld Electric Posted at 3:22 PM PT, Aug 20, 1999 The year-2000 crisis is about to become an international incident. The U.S. State Department on Sept. 15 will release its biannual consular advisory -- this time including a list of countries expected to experience severe year-2000 issues. Industry analysts expect that Brazil, Indonesia, Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand are some of the candidates for the list. That means companies operating in those countries and sending business travelers to them need to begin thinking about developing action plans. Even prior to the State Department report, some major U.S. corporations with global operations have already started to make plans of their own. "There will be small, [two-person] teams that go into every single plant [worldwide], prior to people going back to work, to make sure everything is operational," said Kathleen Vokes, a spokeswoman for Ford Motor, in Dearborn, Mich. Although Ford is not placing any travel restrictions on its employees, according to Vokes, a recent year-2000 report from the Gartner Group suggested that companies should reconsider sending staff on foreign travel for business and should review their dependence on international parcel services to conduct business. Travel-related issues are the key concern at the Le Meridien Hotel chain, which has hotels on every continent except Antarctica. The Global Distribution Services (GDS) system, used around the world by airlines, hotels, and rental car companies for making reservations, is just one potential weak link, according to Le Meridien's IT department. "GDS is so big and has so many databases and information, it would take years to check all of it for [year-2000] compliance," said Max Malek, the IT manager at Le Meridien, in Beverly Hills, Calif. "As of today I do not have a confirmation letter from any GDS system that they are compliant." (cont) infoworld.com

To: Crimson Ghost who wrote (39681)	8/27/1999 12:47:00 PM
From: Alex	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116816

G-7 finance ministers" deputies to mull forex issue <Picture> WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (Kyodo) -- The Group of Seven (G-7) industrial nations will hold a meeting of senior officials early next week in Berlin to prepare for a meeting of top G-7 finance officials in late September, an international monetary source said Friday. A focal point at the meeting of deputies of G-7 finance ministers and central bank chiefs is expected to be developments in the currency markets, the source said. Since June, Japan has intervened several times in currency markets to stem the yen"s rapid rise against the dollar. A stronger yen could delay economic recovery in Japan by making its products more expensive abroad and reducing the yen value of overseas corporate profits. The United States, while maintaining a strong-dollar policy, has opposed such intervention. The source said the Berlin meeting will also deal with the proposed sale of gold held by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help finance a reduction of poor countries" debt and allegations that IMF loans to Russia were caught up in a moneylaundering scheme. Based on the Berlin discussions, G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors will discuss international financial issues at their meeting Sept. 25 in Washington.