Despite the worst US recession in decades, sales of organic and sustainable products have continued to grow, experts say, with shoppers willing to spend a few more dollars in a bid to become more green. US supermarket sales of environmentally sustainable or “ethical” products – from energy-efficient light bulbs to organic produce – will rise about 8.7 percent in 2009.

Troubled Dubai mortgage firms Tamweel and Amlak would welcome a further injection of government funds as they look to complete a long-awaited merger by March, Tamweel’s chairman said.The firms both felt the brunt of the property collapse that hit Dubai last year and have since suffered a dearth of liquidity, absent or minimal property-related income and deteriorating asset quality.

Russia has the world’s most fraudulent economy and attempts to stamp out white-collar crime have done little to stop its spread during the global financial downturn, PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a survey. Seventy-one percent of Russian respondents to PwC’s global economic crime survey said they had been subject to economic crime in the past year.

Rolls-Royce said Friday the market for its super-luxury cars was picking up dramatically across Asia as the effects of the global financial crisis recede.“We’re fast coming out of the financial crisis and China and India look like they will lead the way out in 2010 on a feel-good factor,” Rolls-Royce Asia-Pacific regional chief Colin Kelly said in New Delhi.

The Dubai economy is growing at a 5 percent rate, slower than in previous years but ahead of the most cautious forecasts, the head of a government economic committee said on Friday.“Yes we are affected by what is going in the world but we are confident in the stability of the city,” Mohammad Alabbar, also chairman of construction giant Emaar, told a World Economic Forum conference in the emirate

Turkish fixed-line and mobile operator Turk Telekom is targeting revenue growth of 5 percent in 2010, driven by both mobile and broadband expansion, chief executive Paul Doany said.Deep economic recession in Turkey forced the firm, which owns mobile operator Avea, to slash its revenue growth target this year to 3-4 percent from an original 8-10 percent.

The global economy is heading toward a sustained recovery but given the risks of another downturn it is too soon to withdraw stimulus, International Monetary Fund Deputy (IMF) managing director John Lipsky said on Friday.“We think that we are on a trajectory toward sustained growth but that the recovery is going to be relatively moderate and relatively sluggish,” he said.