A woman enjoys the fun of Halloween in Grona Lund Amusement Park in Stockholm Nike Air Max Deluxe UK Clearance , capital of Sweden, on Oct. 27, 2017. (XinhuaRob Schoenbaum) A man enjoys the fun of Halloween in Grona Lund Amusement Park in Stockholm, capital of Sweden, on Oct. 27, 2017. (XinhuaRob Schoenbaum) Photo taken on Oct. 27, 2017 shows a Halloween decoration in Grona Lund Amusement Park in Stockholm, capital of Sweden. (XinhuaRob Schoenbaum) People enjoy the fun of Halloween in Grona Lund Amusement Park in Stockholm, capital of Sweden, on Oct. 27, 2017. (XinhuaRob Schoenbaum) Photo taken on Oct. 27, 2017 shows a Halloween decoration in Grona Lund Amusement Park in Stockholm, capital of Sweden. (XinhuaRob Schoenbaum)
by Eric J. Lyman


ROME, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Positive news continues to trickle in for Italy's economy, but investors and economists say that it is still too early to say the economy has finally emerged from its long economic malaise.


The most encouraging figures are related to growth in Italy's gross domestic product. The latest growth figures show Italy's economy grew 0.3 percent in the first quarter of the year -- that would be a low growth figure for most countries but it cancels out a 0.3 percent contraction in the last three months of last year, and it represents the first time the economy showed positive economic growth for a full quarter since the third quarter of 2013.


Additionally, the International Monetary Fund, which is usually pessimistic about Italian growth prospects, upped its forecast for full-year growth to 0.7 percent, compared to 0.5 percent previously. If that indeed happens it will be the first time Italy recorded positive economic growth for a full year since 2011.


There are other positive signs as well: business confidence reached a seven-year high in March, the latest figures available, and consumer spending is inching higher.


But one thing is missing, according to observers, new investments.


"The fact that businesses are slow to hire new workers and invest in new infrastructure or research is what makes me pause," Javier Noriega, chief economist with investment bankers Hildebrandt and Ferrar, told Xinhua. "Businesses know their corner of the market better than any analyst and if they are cautious, it makes me cautious."


Giandomenico Piluso, an economics and statistics expert with Italy's University of Siena, agreed.


"This is a 'dirty' recovery in the sense that it's not always possible understand the impacts of what happens," Piluso said in an interview. "My best guess is that what we have seen lately is positive news. But I would still want to see more."


At least one major factor help spark growth in Italy is an external factor: the weak euro. As the currency loses value against the U.S. dollar and other world currencies it makes it easier for consumers in those countries to buy Italian goods and cheaper for them to plan a vacation in Italy. It also makes it cheaper for the Italian government to pay its debt, a major factor in Italy where the national debt is equal to more than 130 percent of the country's gross domestic product.


But Piluso said an equally large factor is within Italy's control: Prime Minister Renzi's reform agenda.


Piluso said that various reforms -- Renzi's plans for political reforms, for example, educational changes, reforms to the public administration, and so on -- will help spark economic growth on a variety of time frames, some of them year away. But the Jobs Act, which will give companies more flexibility in hiring and firing workers, will pay almost immediate dividends.


"It is possible that some companies are slow to invest in new workers because they want to see what will happen with the Jobs Act," Piluso said.


HANOI, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The first shipments of Vietnamese litchi are expected to be exported to the United States on May 30, a Vietnamese official said here on Wednesday.


Nguyen Huu Dat, director of the Post-Import Plant Quarantine Center, Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) told the state-run news agency VNA on Wednesday.


On June 10, the first shipments of Vietnamese litchi will be exported to Australia, said Dat, adding that local companies will boost exports of litchi to the two new markets.


Earlier, the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service ( APHIS) has identified radiation dose on Vietnam's fresh litchi before exporting to the United States, said Dat.


Litchi, famous for its succulent taste, is specialties in Vietnam's Bac Giang, some 50 km north of capital Hanoi and Hai Duong, some 50 km east of capital Hanoi.


Meanwhile, Hoang Trung, deputy head of MARD's Plant Protection Department, said litchi-exporting companies have arrived at Bac Giang to sign contracts with farmers who are granted code to export litchi to the United States.


The department is inviting the U.S. and Australian experts to examine the first litchi shipments at the radiation factory, said Trung.


Currently, there are four Vietnamese companies joining litchi business to export to the United States and Australia while many others export the fruit to the European Union and China.


According to Trung, the penetration of Vietnamese litchi into the United States and Australia will be a push for local farmers to grow the product with higher standard, and is expected to open new opportunities for the fruit to reach other markets in the future.


The total harvested output of litchi in the largest litchi growing localities of Bac Giang and Hai Duong provinces is likely to hit 200,000 tons in 2015, said MARD.


Some 60 percent or 120,000 tons will be consumed domestically and the remaining 80,000 tons will be left for exports.


In the past year, the Chinese market consumed as many as 90 percent of Vietnamese exported litch.