Incidentally, Smith won his way onto the fast track at GM by working with Toyota Motor Co. to establish a joint factory in California, and also by running GM Europe.

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Canadian Banknote is asking about Dollars 2.9m (Pounds 1.71m) to print the notes and is offering to build the factory as a joint venture, which would recoup its costs by printing money for other republics and nations.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

Manganese and Geely signed a joint venture agreement in 2006 and own a factory in Shanghai that produces taxis for the international market.

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Even as the Shanghai factory runs on three shifts, its first joint venture in the rust belt city of Shenyang remains a morass.

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In fact, Iran has established a financial and business infrastructure with Chavez's consent and encouragement that now includes banks, gold mining, a cement plant, a tractor and bicycle factory, a tuna processing plant and a joint oil venture.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy

The joint venture, called Sunora Energy Solutions, inaugurated a factory in Arizona last week to make racks for mounting solar panels.

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That factory, known as AutoAlliance, has been operating as a joint venture with longtime affiliate Mazda Motors.

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Qoros made its debut at the Geneva International Motor Show, and the Chinese-Israeli joint venture plans later this year to release in China and Eastern Europe the first of seven vehicles built at a factory near Shanghai.

WSJ: What's News