21.04.2011
Georgia builds 'tourist paradise' near conflict zone
The village of Anaklia lies in a Black Sea coastal region which saw fighting with separatist militiamen less than three years ago, and Georgia is building the multi-million-dollar resort there in the hope of luring holidaymakers to the frontier of the rebel-held territory of Abkhazia.
Russian troops who guard the disputed borders of Abkhazia are stationed just across the river from Anaklia, but despite the security concerns, Georgia's larger-than-life President Mikheil Saakashvili has defended the grand scheme as a "response to occupation and destruction with construction and development".
This is Saakashvili's latest pet project after the high-profile reconstruction of Georgian towns like Batumi and Sighnaghi, and he brought in one of his favourite architects, Spaniard Alberto Domingo, to transform Anaklia's landscape.
Domingo has reshaped the beach, built a new seafront promenade, turned a large wetland area into a big public park and designed a 555-metre-(yard)-long pedestrian footbridge that will leap across the mouth of the Inguri river.
This summer, a new airport will also allow sunbathers to fly directly from the Black Sea shore to the snow-capped mountains of nearby Svaneti to ski.
The construction of the bridge, two imposing hotels, a yacht club and several cafes is due to be completed by June 2011.
But this is just the beginning, said the head of Georgia's Investment Agency, Keti Bochorishvili, and "even more ambitious projects" are to follow.
The government has offered investors a package of attractive bonuses, such as nearly four hectares of seaside land free and a tax waiver for 15 years, which has already attracted interest from business groups from the US, China, India, Turkey, Israel and Ukraine as well as from local companies.
Bochorishvili said the project would help to attract much-needed foreign investment, boosting the economy and creating new jobs.
In Anaklia, just as in the rest of Georgia, high unemployment is a burning issue, and locals were understandably delighted by the prospect.
"Anaklia was a godforsaken corner and now it is becoming so beautiful. There will be tourists from all over the world and new jobs for us. What else we could dream about?" said 32-year-old Anaklia resident Raul Shelia.
President Saakashvili's opponents, however, described the project as a "sham without substance".
"A resort cannot exist near a conflict zone," said Levan Berdzenishvili, one of the leaders of the opposition Republican Party.
"It is an unimaginable waste of energy, time and public funds."
The Anaklia resort complex is clearly intended to be politically symbolic.
The government believes that it will help to show people in impoverished Abkhazia that life would be better within an economically-successful Georgian state rather than in an isolated breakaway enclave which Tbilisi describes as territory "occupied" by the Russian troops stationed there.
"Of course, this touristic project fits our soft power approach towards the occupied territories," Saakashvili said.
"It is a long term approach obviously that finally will allow the peaceful reintegration of all Georgian regions."
But officials in Abkhazia argue that Georgia has been strangling the region with an economic blockade for many years, and that Saakashvili's project is simply political posturing.
"The Georgian president is only working for populism and not for the real benefit of people living in Georgia," said the foreign minister in the Abkhaz rebel government, Maxim Gunjia.
Backed by Russia, Abkhaz separatists waged a civil war with Georgian forces in the 1990s that killed several thousand people and drove 250,000 more, mostly ethnic Georgians, out of the region.
In the aftermath of the brief war between Georgia and Russia in 2008 over Abkhazia and another separatist province, South Ossetia, the Kremlin recognised both regions as independent states.
Instead of fighting again, Saakashvili says he now wants to make a peaceful appeal for unity to those living on the other side of what he calls the new "Berlin Wall" -- the disputed frontline which lies so close to his new tourist hotspot of Anaklia.
"We are telling our fellow citizens beyond this irrational Berlin Wall erected on a sandy beach that we will all be part one day of the same future," he said.
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TI misses Street targets and warns on Japan
Shares of the chip maker, which plans to buy National Semiconductor Corp for $6.5 billion in a bid to expand its hold over a booming analog chip market, slid 2.5 percent after TI earnings were also hurt by quake-related expenses.
Chief Financial Officer Kevin March told Reuters TI was projecting growth of about 5 percent for the current quarter, versus a typical 9 percent or more as the company contends with supply shortages as well as damage to its own factories.
"It's a knock-on effect you've going on here," March said. "We're mindful that the actual raw silicon and wafers we'd use in our factories, a lot of those are manufactured in the earthquake zone."
TI on Monday forecast second-quarter earnings of 52 cents to 60 cents per share on revenue of $3.41 billion to $3.69 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $3.52 billion.
Its first-quarter earnings also missed Wall Street expectations by a penny, as expenses rose after two of its Japanese factories were damaged in the country's largest earthquake on record.
TI said March 14 it would face a hefty repair bill, and warned its first- and second-quarter revenue would be hurt by production interruptions from damage and power-supply disruptions at two key factories in Japan.
The company said one of its factories will "soon" resume full production, and forecast a strong second half of the year.
"They still were weak even without Japan. Sounds like their costs are rising a bit faster than their revenue," said Charter Equity Research analyst Ed Snyder.
The maker of chips used in products ranging from consumer electronics to industrial equipment forecast a profit of 52 to 60 cents per share in the current quarter.
Profit in the first quarter rose to $666 million, or 55 cents per share, from $658 million, or 52 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.
Excluding 2 cents per share in costs associated with the quake, its earnings of 57 cents per share were just a penny below Wall Street expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose 6 percent to $3.39 billion from $3.21 billion, in line with the average analyst expectation for $3.39 billion.
Shares in TI slid nearly 3 percent before paring loses to about 2.5 percent, and traded at $33.90 after hours.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew; Editing by Richard Chang)
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Grizzlies win first playoff game in franchise history
Zach Randolph scored nine of his 25 points in the fourth quarter for the eighth seeded Grizzlies, who were making their first playoff appearance since the 2005-06 National Basketball Association season.
Marc Gasol finished with 24 points and Mike Conley had 15 points and 10 assists for Memphis, which finished with a 46-36 record in the regular season.
The Grizzlies, who came into the league as an expansion franchise in Vancouver, Canada in 1995, were swept by San Antonio in four games in the 2004 playoffs.
Memphis was behind in the final minute of the game when Shane Battier nailed three-pointer with 23 seconds left, giving Memphis a slim 99-98 lead.
San Antonio tried to force overtime, but Richard Jefferson missed a long range shot as the clock ticked down.
Memphis players raced onto the court as the buzzer sounded to celebrated their first playoff win in 13 attempts.
France's Tony Parker led San Antonio with 20 points.
But the Spurs were forced to play without all-star guard Manu Ginobili who sat out with a sprained right elbow. Ginobili was injured during the final game of the regular season against Phoenix.
He will be re-evaluated by doctors to see if he can play in Wednesday's game two of the best-of-seven series.
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