Questioning Development Banks’ Commitments to Just Transition – Southeast Asia Globe

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In Vietnam, however, advocates of environmental, climate, community and workers’ rights are unable to weigh in, instead facing threats, intimidation and arbitrary arrest. Discussions about Vietnam’s $15.5 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) are happening behind closed doors – between banks, government officials and corporations.  Concerned members of civil society have no opportunity to provide meaningful feedback or input, or to engage freely with colleagues in other countries where similar plans are moving ahead. 

Six prominent advocates of climate and energy justice have been arrested and detained in Vietnam for their efforts to help wean the country from coal. Among them is environmental justice lawyer Dang Dinh Bach, who is serving a five-year prison sentence. Bach was the founder and director of the Law and Policy of Sustainable Development Research Centre, where he dedicated his life to the public health of marginalised communities. The UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released an opinion earlier this year regarding Bach’s imprisonment, finding it a “violation of international law” and expressing concerns about a “systemic problem with arbitrary detention” of environmental defenders in Vietnam. 

Another leading defender of climate justice in Vietnam, Hoang Thi Minh Hong, founder of the environmental group CHANGE VN, was recently sentenced to three years in prison. To date, the United Nations, United States, United Kingdom and European Union have all released statements condemning her recent conviction and sentencing. 

It is in this context that we urge multilateral development banks like the ADB and World Bank, along with donor governments, not to bulldoze ahead with the plans for implementing the JETP or associated projects. Doing so would mean acting as complicit bystanders in the silencing and reprisals faced by community rights, workers’, environmental and climate advocates.

Elsewhere in the region, including the Philippines and Indonesia, ADB and World Bank Group plans to dole out hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds, to enable coal companies to refurbish or retire their facilities, have been heavily criticised by environmental, climate and social-justice groups. Though these schemes are labelled as contributions to a Just Transition – and are explicitly being considered as part of the JETP arrangements in Indonesia – the reality is that project operators are not being held culpable for the harm and damage wrought by their coal-fired power plants on community livelihoods, workers’ health and the environment. 

Clear promises to retain or provide dignified retirement packages and redress for health impacts for workers remain nonexistent, and proposals for “green jobs” lack commitments that would ensure core labour rights as per international conventions. Instead, the plans being put in place prioritise “repurposing” rather than decommissioning coal plants – allowing facilities that once burned coal to be refurbished to rely upon burning other resource-intensive, high greenhouse gas-emitting fuels such as woody biomass or waste. Meanwhile, workers and residents in surrounding communities will still be left to face the prospect of working and living in areas where the air, land and water are contaminated.

Alarmingly, it appears the same model of “repurposing” coal facilities will be proposed for financing under the Vietnam JETP.  Plans moving forward in the name of Just Transition are being backed by a powerful set of corporate and financial actors. In response, civil society, community groups and workers’ alliances across the region have consistently called for banks and donor governments to establish clear commitments – to ensure there are safe spaces where people can voice concerns and provide feedback, to inform the planning process before plans move to the implementation phase. 

The high-level political declaration announcing the JETP in Vietnam affirmed the importance of consultation with diverse stakeholders, including NGOs and civil society, to achieve a “broad social consensus” on the country’s energy-transition pathway. But the disabling environment for civil society and community-based groups in Vietnam means it is impossible to engage meaningfully in any consultative processes, free of the fear that another of their representatives may be next in line to be arbitrarily detained, charged and imprisoned. The ADB and the World Bank Group also have clear provisions guaranteeing access to information, transparency and public participation enshrined in policy, none of which is possible in the current context in Vietnam. 

Crucially, the Asia Pacific Climate Week and the gatherings associated with the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation should be a time when both the  ADB and World Bank Group finally “walk the talk” by issuing statements that offer support for the release of these environmental and human-rights defenders. More broadly, they must commit to suspending Just Transition-related planning processes and financing until there are safe, meaningful spaces for community, workers’  and civil-society groups to raise questions, concerns and grievances.

Meanwhile, mobilisation by civil-society groups outside of Vietnam, to secure the release of Bach, Hong and other incarcerated environmental and human-rights defenders, will continue. So, too, will collective efforts to advance processes, principles and practices of equitable, rights-based Just Transitions within, across and beyond the region.

Tanya Lee Roberts Davis is the Just Transitions Advocacy Coordinator at NGO Forum on ADB

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Nobel Sustainability Trust launches digital currency initiative

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MUNICH, Nov. 9, 2023 —A meeting sponsored by the Nobel Sustainability Trust today launched the Central Bank Digital Currency Collaboration Organization (CBDCCO), under the chairmanship of Peter Nobel, president of the Trust. The organization’s goal is to nurture sustainable economic growth and stability by encouraging the adoption of digital currencies.

The inauguration ceremony represents the culmination of years of activity on the part of a pioneering global Central Bank Digital Currency research organization, the International Telecommunications Union Focus group headed by Dr. David Wen. Dr. Wen is the Director-General of the new CBDCCO.

The new initiative draws on experts from leading regulatory and financial organizations, including the European Security and Market Authority, the Federal Reserve, the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, China Merchant Bank, CBDC solution provider eCurrency, and technology experts from CBDC solution providers like eCurrency, and Modern Sustainable Solutions (MOSS), a leading carbon offset provider.

Dr. Bruno Wu, the President of CBDCCO and Director-General of the World Sustainability Standard Organization (WSSO), outlined a seven-part program in his keynote speech to the founding conference. Dr. Wu was the honoree of last year’s Nobel Sustainability Trust award.

Under the theme “Star Bridge,” the CBDCCO program will work with central banks to develop digital technology, assist in the integration of digital financial infrastructure, promote accounting standards that corporate sustainability data in accounting standards, apply CBDC technology to Real World Asset Management, develop digital infrastructure for improved global carbon asset management, foster technical standards for a wide range of CBDC solutions, and provide innovative technology for regulatory oversight of sustainability products.

Dr. Wu is a shareholder of the parent company of Asia Times.

Peter Nobel, representing the Nobel Sustainability Trust, stressed the importance of embedding sustainability into the core of future economies. They stated, “Digital currencies present a unique opportunity to rebuild and reshape our financial systems with sustainability at their core.” The Nobel Sustainability Trust, long active in the sustainability space, will provide expertise and support for the new organization.

The CBDCCO and the Nobel Sustainability Trust extended an invitation to other organizations and governments to join their endeavors in forging a sustainable and inclusive financial future.

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Mothers urged to donate to breast milk banks

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PUBLISHED : 11 Nov 2023 at 05:00

The Department of Medical Services (DMS) is urging mothers to donate their excess breast milk to milk banks to help premature or ill babies who do not have access to their mothers’.

Deputy DMS director-general Weerawut Imsamran said about 15 million babies are born prematurely worldwide each year, about one in every 10 new-born babies. He added that the number of deaths of prematurely born infants is approximately one million per year.

In many cases, he said, the mothers cannot produce enough milk for their babies, or they develop complications that make them unable to breastfeed.

Mr Weerawut said donated breast milk is the best alternative to ensure these infants receive all the nutrients.

He said women who want to donate excess milk should consult their doctors or contact the nearest breast milk bank before making donations to ensure the safety and quality of the milk. Breast milk banks are found only in certain public hospitals, including Siriraj Hospital, Ramathibodhi Hospital, both in Bangkok and Srinagarind Hospital in Khon Kaen.

Dr Akarathan Jitnuyanan, director of Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health (QSNICH) under the DMS, said that milk banks have screening processes and storage and delivery standards that ensure safe milk is given to the babies. According to the director, the banks supply milk to premature babies weighing less than 1,500 grammes and ill babies whose mothers cannot breastfeed them.

Donors who want to donate breast milk must be healthy and not be taking prohibited medicines. They must also be willing to undergo a blood test and answer a questionnaire as part of risk screening, he said.

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US and China reach ‘some agreements’ on climate – John Kerry

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US Special Envoy for Climate John KerryJeff J Mitchell
By Nick Marsh & Kelly Ng
BBC News

The US has reached some agreements with China ahead of the COP28 Summit in Dubai at the end of this month, Washington’s climate envoy has said.

“We felt that our days of talks were very successful. We did come up with some agreements”, John Kerry told the BBC at a business summit in Singapore.

Details will be shared “at the appropriate moment soon”, he said.

The world’s two biggest polluters finding common ground is considered a crucial part of any consensus at COP28.

Mr Kerry had met with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua in California this week for four days. He described the meetings as tough and serious.

In response to a question, Mr Kerry refuted observations that US climate policies and technologies are “anti-China”.

“Like any other country in the world, [China] benefits from a new technology. We’re trying to develop that… Every country I’ve heard from Germany and France, and other countries, do the same thing. We need to all move faster,” he said.

It is hoped that COP28 – to be held from 30 November to 12 December – will help keep alive the goal of limiting long-term global temperature rises to 1.5C. This was agreed by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015.

Contentious topics on the table in Dubai include details of a fund for richer countries to compensate the poorest nations as they cope with climate change.

The US and some other developed countries have been wary of the fund and sought to limit access to the most vulnerable countries not covered by development banks and relief funds.

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What Xi should say over dinner with US CEOs

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The potential for a US-China olive branch moment will tantalize global markets over the next 10 days.

The setting is San Francisco where, first, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. That rarified exchange today and tomorrow sets the stage for Xi Jinping’s arrival in the city for the November 14-17 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

There, the hope is that Xi and US President Joe Biden meet on November 15 to re-establish president-to-president level discussions. To be sure, no one expects big breakthroughs. That’s why Beijing and Washington are looking “to intentionally keep that bar low,” says economist Jude Blanchette at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.

Yet the meeting itself would be a tonic for Asian economies caught in the middle as the two superpowers parry and thrust on a range of touchy issues. In fact, Xi’s scheduled dinner meeting with American corporate chieftains could prove to be more pivotal for bilateral relations.

The dinner meeting will be a rare opportunity for the Chinese Communist Party leader to reassure top US CEOs that Asia’s biggest economy is still open for business and that actions his lieutenants are taking now will morph economic headwinds into tailwinds in short order.

The speed with which capital has been fleeing China suggests that Xi’s efforts to communicate that Beijing is in control of its myriad challenges are not getting through. In recent months, Xi and Premier Li Qiang have rolled out a variety of policies to stabilize a cratering property market and weak demand.

Global investors, though, aren’t getting that memo as new threats emerge atop of old. In September, investment capital outflows from China saw their biggest net decline in nearly eight years; outflows hit nearly US$12 billion in the third quarter.

This is the first time on record that foreign investment into China went negative, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. That speaks to the sharp deterioration in China’s perceived economic prospects and a continued collapse in confidence in its state-led model under Xi’s leadership.

There’s confusion in international circles, too, about Xi’s commitment to giving the private sector and market forces “decisive” roles in Beijing’s decision-making. That 2012 pledge was first called into question in 2015 when Xi’s government intervened aggressively to stabilize Shanghai stocks.

Questions only increased after Xi began cracking down hard on mainland tech platforms in late 2020, starting with Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group. The inquisition rapidly widened to Baidu, Didi Global, JD.com, Tencent and other top internet companies. The clampdown had some Wall Street banks debating whether China might be “uninvestable.”

Alibaba founder Jack Ma in a file photo. Image: Facebook

In the months since Li took charge of reforms in March, the government has repeatedly promised to treat private sector companies on par with state-owned enterprises and increase outreach efforts with tech firm founders.

Yet a perceived lack of follow-through is drawing complaints about “promise fatigue,” including from the head of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.

As President Jens Eskelund told Bloomberg: the chamber has “not yet seen signs of willingness to implement structural reforms needed to address the fundamental challenges facing China and allow foreign and private companies to deliver on their potential for supporting the Chinese economy.”

The ongoing decoupling, de-risking and de-globalization trends pitting Xi’s Beijing against Biden’s Washington hardly help at a moment when US bond yields are at 17-year highs.

“Capital outflow pressures may persist in light of the unfavorable interest rate differentials,” notes economist Maggie Wei at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Morgan Stanley strategist Laura Wang adds that foreign outflows from China’s A-share market is in “an unprecedented stage.” Between August 7 to October 19 alone, cumulative outflows topped $22 billion. That is the largest in the history of Stock Connect, which links mainland and Hong Kong bourses.

All this raises the stakes for Xi’s dinner with top CEOs. It’s an ideal opportunity to reboot Beijing’s faltering effort to win back the foreign investment crowd. And to slow the exodus of companies diversifying supply chains away from China to reduce risks.

Goal one is allaying concerns that China’s economy is heading into a dismal 2024. Many investors worry the International Monetary Fund is looking through rose-colored glasses when it projects China will grow 4.6% in 2023 amid property sector weakness and subdued external demand for Chinese exports.

China, for example, slipped back into deflation in October. The consumer price index fell 0.2% year on year after a flat reading in September.

What’s more, “there are signs that activity has started to slow entering the fourth quarter,” says economist Carlos Casanova at Union Bancaire Privée. “That means that policymakers need to remain on high alert and continue to support the economic recovery.”

To date, he added, the People’s Bank of China “has been reluctant to deploy stimulus measures in 2023, against the backdrop of higher US rates and a strong dollar. However, we believe that another 10 basis-point rate cut and an additional 25 basis-point reserve requirement ratio cut will be necessary in December.”

China stocks and the yuan currency are down as foreign investors flee the scene. Image: Twitter

Even more important, Xi must convince executives that big supply-side disruption is coming. Bold steps to repair the property sector, increase productivity, level playing fields for entrepreneurs, recalibrate growth engines from investment to domestic demand and create bigger social safety nets are needed to head off growing “Japanification” comparisons.

Beijing is quick to dismiss talk of a Japan-like funk. “China’s current situation is vastly different from what Japan used to be in,” says Liu Shijin, a member of the PBOC’s monetary policy committee. Claims that China is falling into a “balance-sheet recession” like Japan in the 1990s are off-base, Liu claims.

China, Liu argues, still has policy scope to pivot to an innovation and consumption-led growth model that enables the government to gain control of its debt trajectory.

Trouble is, the external sector might be less hospitable to Xi’s hopes to recalibrate growth engines — reducing the rapid economic growth rates needed to win party-wide support to push through sweeping and disruptive reforms.

As the IMF notes in its latest assessment: “Over the medium term, growth is projected to gradually decline to about 3.5% by 2028 amid headwinds from weak productivity and population aging.” The IMF’s economists also warn that financial stability risks are elevated and increasing “as financial institutions have lower capital buffers and growing asset quality risks.”

Geopolitical tensions loom large, too. A September survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai cited Sino-US hostility as a major reason why foreign companies are looking for exit ramps from China to other Asian economies. In its own survey, UBS Group cited India, Japan and Vietnam as “top destinations” that are “gaining more attention.”

The good news is that Xi’s inner circle seems to be turning away from the “wolf warrior” antics of recent years.

Recent sit-downs, and those to come, “have sent out positive signals and raised the expectations of the international community on the improvement of China-US relations,” Vice President Han Zheng told Bloomberg.

“A stable and sound China-US relationship is the common expectation of all sectors in our two countries and the international community as a whole. We’re ready to strengthen communication and dialogue with the US at all levels,” Han said.

Team Biden, too, seems keen to lower the bilateral temperature. Of course, the White House’s actions must speak louder than words. Generally, those actions tend to be focused on Chinese containment.

Last month, Biden’s trade representatives again narrowed the types of semiconductors that US companies can sell to China. In doing so, it closed loopholes in existing policies with particular emphasis on limiting China’s ability to compete in supercomputing and artificial intelligence.

“The upshot is that China’s ability to reach the technological frontier in the development of large-scale AI models will be hampered by US export controls,” says Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics. This could have even bigger implications, he adds, since “we think AI has the potential to be a game-changer for productivity growth over the next couple decades.”

US and China are locked in a race for technological supremacy that will define the course of the 21st century. Image: Facebook

But the more important signal Xi must send to CEOs in San Francisco is that his team is getting under the Chinese economy’s hood. One law of economic gravity that Xi’s team has tried to beat these last 10 years is the idea that a developing nation must build credible and trusted markets before trillions of dollars of outside capital arrive.

In China’s case, this means increasing transparency, making local government officials more accountable, prodding companies to raise their governance games, crafting reliable surveillance mechanisms like credit rating companies and strengthening the financial architecture before the world shows up.

Too often, Xiconomics has China trying to flip the script, believing it can build a world-class financial system after waves of foreign capital arrive. And the Xi era’s efforts to communicate that a financial Big Bang is afoot continue to get lost in translation in boardrooms from New York to London to Tokyo.

The sense that Xi’s China tends to over-promise and under-deliver financial upgrade-wise was first seen in the summer of 2015, back when Shanghai shares plunged by one-third in three weeks. Beijing’s response was to treat the symptoms of the market rout, not the underlying causes.

Since then, Xi stepped up the pace of winning Chinese stocks places in top global indices, from MSCI for stocks to FTSE-Russell for bonds. Yet increases in access to yuan-denominated assets has often outpaced the reforms needed to prepare China Inc for global prime time.

Whether China can win back investors’ trust is an open question. As Chinese stocks are reminding us – as well as a yuan down 5.6% this year – there are certain laws of gravity that still apply to economies transitioning from state-driven and export-led growth to economies centered more on services, innovation and domestic consumption.

In San Francisco next week, Xi has an ideal opportunity to convince top Western decision-makers that they can indeed believe the hype about China’s prospects for 2023 and beyond. Investors of all stripes love to hear a great growth opportunity story. China has one, but Xi needs to prove he’s genuine about the narrative.

William Pesek is on X, formerly Twitter, at @WilliamPesek

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After signing data centre JV, Basis Bay founder Praba Thiagarajah says, ‘It’s time for Malaysia to wake up’

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In order to advance Malaysia’s data center objectives, &nbsp Signs JV with Singaporean STT GDC.Cyberjaya has two information centers that are expected to be operational by 2024 and 2025.Basis Bay Sdn Bhd, a multinational company of environmentally friendly sky and green data centers with its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, announced &nbsp…Continue Reading

Commentary: DBS, Citi outage – it shouldn’t be so easy to bring daily life to a halt

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We can understand from the aftereffects of the 2018 disaster in Hokkaido, the 2019 storms in Chiba, or the 2023 storms in New Zealand, even though Singapore is fortunate to be reasonably safe from natural disasters.

For days, hundreds of thousands of households that had relied on digital payments were unable to spend for necessities like food and water. Because cellular phone systems had been disabled, an old Japanese merchant told me that the older payphone outside her shop served as the primary means of communication for her community. & nbsp,

Yet as we become more and more reliant on technology in many facets of life, that blessing can cause complacency in society. Activities in Japan and New Zealand demonstrate how even the most simple actions, like having cash on hand, you strengthen our fortitude. & nbsp,

Additionally, we may create some fundamental preparations for the event that additional services, such as energy or telecommunications, fail. The Singapore Civil Defence Force offers advice on how to make an emergency set bag, which should include a flashlight and batteries, sanitizer, cash, water and dried food, and N95 masks. & nbsp,

Eventually, we must strengthen our social and psychological fortitude. Even though the problems thus far have been comparatively insignificant and low-impact, numerous minor incidents in a short period of time may have the combined effect of lowering public trust. Through rumors, fearmongering, and blame-seeking, a hostile data campaign might attempt to take advantage of these technological failures or cyber incidents.

An economy can be destroyed by anxiety and bank runs, while a nation can fall apart due to mistrust and polarization. Violent protests have broken out in other nations as a result of angry information campaigns that incite fear, which in turn inspires rage and hatred. As a nation, we must decide courage, composure, and compassion rather than allowing others to push our buttons in order to develop resilience and bounce again. & nbsp,

At the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Benjamin Ang is the director of the Center of Excellence for National Security and Digital Impact Research.

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Malaysia’s net zero transition: expediting ESG | FinanceAsia

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The Joint Committee on Climate Change ( JC3 ) of Malaysia met last month to discuss working together to improve the financial sector’s ability to develop climate resilience. & nbsp,

According to a spokesperson for Bank Negara Malaysia( BNM ),” sustainable assets are gaining momentum in Malaysia with key investment styles built around the need for accelerating sectoral transition and climate resilience, such as energy transition, circular economy, food security, and freedom change.”

The JC3 board was established in September 2019 to ensure a cogent approach to ESG initiatives, with its founding serving as” great testimony” to how proponents of Malaysia’s capital markets intend to work closely to improve sustainability practices in Malaysia, according to Angelia Chin – Sharpe, CEO of BNP Paribas Asset Management, which operates in Southeast Asia.

Its members include representatives of the market’s central bank, BNM, capital markets regulator, Securities Commission Malaysia ( SC ), stock exchange, Bursa Malaysia, and 21 other financial industry players, including Chin-Shawni at BNP AM, insurance companies Allianz, Swiss Re and Zurich, as well as banks like RHB Islamic and CIMB.

The committee outlined five initiatives at the meeting that” emphasise the crucial part of the banking sector in enabling a lasting plan” with the goal of expediting the economy’s low-carbon practices. A pilot project to switch industrial parks and their operational infrastructure to low-carbon practices was one of these, along with three data-related initiatives and a RM1 billion($ 0.210 million ) guarantee to provide funding to smaller market players to support their ESG agendas. & nbsp,

The BNM spokesperson stated to FA that one of the goals of” Ekonomi Madani” is to encourage Malaysia’s green growth in the direction of climate resilience. This goal aims to put Malaysia on a strong development path by realizing and addressing key national issues.

There are numerous opportunities for industry players, including international investors, to achieve the National Energy Transition Roadmap ( NETR ) targets set for 2050, she said.

Energy efficiency( EE ), renewable energy( RE ), hydrogen, bioenergy, and green mobility and carbon capture, utilisation and storage( CCUS ) are the six energy transition levers that Malaysia’s NETR identifies as its ten flagship projects. These are anticipated to catalyze and quicken the market’s energy transition, reduce greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions by at least 10 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent ( MtCO2eq ) annually, create 23, 000 high-impact job opportunities, and improve corporate ecosystem growth opportunities with benefits to society.

According to the BNM touch, their powerful supply necessitates investments in infrastructure, engineering, and human capital totaling between RM1.2 trillion and Rs1.3 trillion up to 2050. In addition to & nbsp,

While Malaysia’s administrative society is capable of reviewing such an option and is aware of the significance of incorporating ESG into purchase technique,” there is still a need to teach” smaller scale investors on the opportunities and risks associated with sustainability strategies, according to Chin-Sharpe, BNP Paribas AM.

Having said that, she added,” Most banks in Malaysia are committed to playing a more active role to align and help their clients understand the[ relevant ] Malaysian taxonomies.”

Purchase and regulation

The five new initiatives have been included in the government’s budget for 2024 and” complement other policies such as the NETR, the New Industrial Master Plan ( NIMP ) 2030 and the Mid-Term Review of the 12th Malaysia Plan ( MTR – 12MP ,” according to YB Nik Nazmi Nk Ahmad, minister of Natural Resources, Environment, and Climate Change.

All governing events, including JC3 users, Malaysia’s Corporate Guarantee Corporation, and pertinent ministries, are committed to putting the tasks into action, the BNM representative confirmed with FA.

The regulatory environment in Malaysia keeps up with the country’s continued energy transition and the funding needed to make it happen. To obtain conservation and environment goals, the money market should be prepared to help finance raising and investments. Since 2011, when Sustainable and Responsible Investment ( SRI ) has been included as a crucial growth strategy in the Capital Market Masterplan CMP2, the SC has paved the way for sustainability, according to Dato ‘ Seri Dr. Awang Adek Hussin, its chairman.

A Climate Chance and Principle-based Taxonomy was published by BNM in 2021. In December 2022, SC unveiled a Principles-Based SRI Taxony for the Malaysian Capital Market. This year, in June of this year. SC also established the International Sustainability Standards Board’s ( ISSB ). & nbsp,

Meanwhile, the BNM spokesperson emphasized last month’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation legislation as having the potential to significantly lower energy use by 2050 — by 2, 017 million gigajoules, or RM97 billion in savings— and to” create new jobs in energy management and auditing ,” she said.

According to Adrian Wong, mind of jobs and director at the Singapore-based law firm Prolegis, which has a formal legal ally with Herbert Smith Freehills( HSF ),” investment has increased in Malaysia in part because the regulatory environment has done more to promote appetite in renewables.”

Large-scale solar auctions in Malaysia’s peninsular and projects along the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy ( Score) are two of the renewable infrastructure projects his team is helping clients with.

The transport industry is anticipated to play a significant role in the demand for renewable energy, with electric vehicle ( EV ) usage expected to reach 80 % of the car market in 2050.

However, he informed FA that the greatest possibility is present in projects involving solar, water, and biofuel. In 2040, it is anticipated that all three sources will increase and account for roughly 17 % of Malaysia’s total energy mix.

a files travel

Data and the potential of emerging technologies to support Malaysia’s conservation plan are the three activities that were announced at the event.

The first builds on the accomplishments of JC3’s Greening Value Chain ( GVC ) pilot program, which began in 2022 and has so far assisted 80 small and medium enterprises( SMEs ) in tracking and reporting greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions across the length of their supply chains. In order to provide public listed companies( PLCs ) capacity-building support, reporting tools, and additional financing facilities, which the BNM spokesperson said could be accessed” at competitive rates via the Low Carbon Transition Facility( LCTF ), the updated plan connects Bursa Malaysia’s sustainability data platform with the GVC program.

Access to an” ESG jump-start portal,” through which Malay businesses can obtain useful information on ESG-related capacity-building programs, certification, as well as financial and opportunity methods, and the introduction of a Green AgriTech program to promote the adoption of green technology and sustainable agriculture techniques among local producers, are additional data related initiatives.

According to the BNM director,” Green AgriTech offers substantial potential for Malaysia’s agricultural field by opening up new possibilities and addressing vital difficulties.”

Wong concurred that emerging technology has the potential to modernize and alter Malaysia’s ESG strategy, particularly in the agricultural industry. From ensuring a sustainable supply of food sources to raising general health and environmental criteria, he mentioned the potential for positive effects.

To ensure that farmers may conduct their financial transactions online, he suggested the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation’s project, which linked small farmers to online marketplaces offering bright warehouse facilities, supply, and farming solutions.

Through a thorough approach to alternative solutions, this catalytic pilot program encourages farmers to use technologies and follow greener and ecological practices. Participating farmers can obtain grants and LCTF to purchase natural systems, the BNM spokesperson added.

” Technology use may improve produce stability and quality while also assisting in the resolution of food safety issues.”

maintaining speed

The efforts to enlist input from all parts of Malaysia’s market, both the public sector and the private sector, is at the core of the country as it transitions. The BNM spokesperson informed FA that” efforts to level public-private partnerships are even continuing, with fresh initiatives.”

She stated that the GVC program is an excellent illustration of a cutting-edge blended financing initiative in Malaysia that supports the country’s move toward enlightenment.

BNM continues to support private institutions’ participation in the government’s loan offerings, the call emphasized,” BNM also supports such attempts by facilitating the release of Government of Malaysia Sustainable Sukuk for registration by both domestic and foreign investors.”

According to SC chairman Hussin at the conference, the SRI-linked Sukuk Framework was introduced last year, giving the Indonesian capital market access to a full range of frameworks to assist businesses in financing transitional projects as well as alternative, social, and sustainability initiatives.

Fitch recently released an ESG document that showed a steadfast global appetite for the sukuk. The data shows that by the end of 3Q23, ESG sukuk issuance had increased by 66 % year over year( YoY ) to reach$ 33.3 billion worldwide.

Due to built-in sharia filters, there is a cross between Islamic funding and ESG principles, according to the ratings agent’s research. & nbsp,

Over the moderate name,” Fitch Ratings anticipates more rise.” According to the review, the company’s growth is largely driven by governments’ sustainability initiatives and issuers’ funding diversification goals toward both sharia and ESG-sensitive investors.

” ESG sukuk could receive an awareness and issuance boost ,” said Bashar Al-Natoor, Fitch’s global head of Islamic Finance, with the United Arab Emirates( UAE) hosting the Conference of Parties( COP ) 28 this year.

It is motivating to see the Indonesian government adopting a” full of state” approach to addressing the impact of climate change on economic conservation, Hussin said at the conference’s conclusion. The nation’s interests and sustainable development methods are outlined in roadmaps and masterplans that have been made available by the relevant ministries.

I want to say it again:” Our planet is facing an unprecedented problem, one that necessitates immediate and coordinated effort from all countries, sectors, and individuals.”

 

Haymarket Media Limited All right are held back.

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Ex-CEO of Oriental Group Limited who left Singapore after leading market-rigging scheme jailed

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SINGAPORE: On Tuesday, November 7, the former chief executive officer of the now-defunct steel manufacturer and trader Oriental Group Limited ( OGL ) was given a nine-year prison term for directing an elaborate market-rigging scheme that ultimately led to the company’s demise.

A 47-year-old Malaysian named Lee Wan Sing had tricked traders, banks, and investing companies by using at least 50 trading accounts to carry out fraudulent trades, distorting the business and causing OGL’s share value to rise steadily by more than 300 percent.

He obtained credit facilities totaling S$ 1.4 million from banks by pledging his own OGL shares as security, despite the fact that their value had been artificially inflated, in order to finance the trades. He took S$ 500, 000 ( US$ 369,000 ) in cash from the company and stored it in a safe in his room.

Lee even fabricated records like sales orders and revenue invoices to conceal his songs from OGL’s auditors.

Despite knowing that the committee of OGL had filed a police record, he declared bankruptcy in March 2017 and left Singapore for Malaysia in May 2017.

Until his arrest in Malaysia in December 2021 and transfer to the Commercial Affairs Department, he remained outside of Singapore.

Lee admitted guilt to 17 costs, including fraud, document falsification, and other Securities and Futures Act offenses. 46 additional claims were taken into account.

CASE STUDY

The prosecutor was informed that OGL was a Singapore-incorporated firm engaged in the production and trade of metal bars.

From February 2010 until the settlement of OGL in May 2019, its stocks were listed on the Singapore Exchange’s Catalist table. & nbsp,

OGL had 342 owners as of August 18, 2016.

OGL reported net loss of 6.2 million renminbi( S$ 1.2 million ) and 87.6 million, both, for the fiscal decades of 2014 and 2015.

Lee was named OGL’s CEO in 2014. For the fiscal year 2015, he was paid S$ 240, 000 in income and S$ 20,000 in varying benefit.

Midway through 2014, he observed that OGL’s share rate had begun to fall. In order to counter its collapse, he wanted to increase the share value because doing so would undermine investor confidence and make it challenging for OGL to raise money through share securities.

Lee had conversations with his fellow assassins, including Allan Chan Geok Leng, a stockholder who owned at least 2 % of the company’s stock, Tan Seow Juay, the Group Financial Controller of OGL, and Lee Ong, investor Tan, all of whom held stocks in the firm.

With the help of Chong Yong Von, an OGL investment partnership manager who Lee recruited around October 2014, they agreed to participate in a plan to increase the price of the company’s shares.

Between April 2015 and January 2016, the plan was carried out, starting in October 2014.

During this time, Lee instructed his cronies to manage the exchanging of OGL shares in an effort to artificially raise the price.

Between December 2014 and December 2015, the plan was implemented using at least 50 records, 40 of which were opened per Lee’s guidelines.

Additionally, the partners engaged in cross-trades, which were typically priced higher than the previous done rate, raising the share value.

Deals were conducted in the program accounts on 185 days out of the 186 effective trading days during the program time. The accounts accounted for at least half of OGL’s everyday traded quantity on 157 of these days.

According to the prosecution, these accounts were used to trade around 339.5 million OGL shares overall, or 79.8 % of the total volume traded during the plan time.

OGL’s discuss price appeared to be rising as a result of the program. It increased from a period-low of Mho$ 0.030 on April 8, 2015, to an epoch-high Mho$ 134 in December, and then closed at S 0.127 on January 14, 2016.

OGL’s share rate dropped yet further between the buying reverses in January 2016 and March 2016, from S$ 0.127 to S$ 114, resulting in a market capitalization loss of S$ 6.86 million, according to the trial.

Lee and Chan worked together to matter false sales orders of scaffold materials in order to raise more money for the scheme.

OGL requested to stop trading its stocks on January 15, 2016, after a police report was filed in December 2016. & nbsp,

A few days after, OGL issued a statement asking for the trading block to be lifted regarding unauthorized transactions involving two subsidiaries of its organization that were related to the scheme.

On January 26, 2016, the share price dropped to a single-day small of S$ 0.090, but by January 29, 2016, it had recovered to S$ 0.121.

In March 2016, OGL requested to hold exchanging of its stock once more as well as a buying break. The share price exploitation by Lee and his associates was not mentioned in the related news.

On May 11, 2016, Lee resigned from his position. He left Singapore for Malaysia in May 2017 after being declared destitute on March 23, 2017. Until his arrest in Malaysia on December 1, 2021, he remained outside of Singapore.

About S$ 3.2 million was owed to several trading companies as of March 8, 2016, for the false professions in the accomplices’ accounts. The individual partners have fully repaid these, but S$ 113, 000 is still owing in Lee’s personal trading accounts.

According to the trial, Lee’s offenses affected OGL, its buyers, banks, buying firms, the broader stocks market, and the investing public. The prosecutors sought 10 and a half to 12 years in prison for Lee.

According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Ryan Lim and Gan Ee Kiat, the accused’s” direct monetary losses to OGL and the bankers were very considerable, at S$ 357, 500, and S 381, 135 both.”

They claimed that they unquestionably contributed to OGL’s eventual death.

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Safeguards by banks, telcos under shared liability framework to ‘materially reduce’ phishing scam risks: MAS

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According to the suggested model, banks are first in line to bear the full duty, and duty for scam losses is evaluated using a” waterfall approach.” The telcos adhere to this rule because of how crucial it is for them to stop schemes.

Consumers may be responsible for the entire loss if the bank and phone service have both fulfilled their obligations.

The suggested model focuses on spoofing frauds that take place online as a starting point. This means that malware scams and other frauds are not included, including funding or enjoy scams where victims give their consent to scammers’ payments.

The distinction between authorized and unauthorized purchases must be made, according to Mr. Tan. According to him, extending the proposed framework to include” all manner of falsehoods where victims are tricked into freely handing over their cash” would mean including the past.

Customers should therefore” training utmost attention and taking personal responsibility” in order to combat scams involving authorized transactions, according to Mr. Tan, noting that authorities are stepping up people education efforts, including ongoing people recommendations.

He continued,” We also want to protect against the social hazard risk in terms of customers letting their guard down and possibly also working together with con artists to reset the banks.”

By incorporating telcos into its compensation system for schemes, Singapore is the first country to take an” ecosystem technique.” The framework is” a live document” that will be reviewed to better respond to changing scam typologies, according to Mr. Tan, who described this as a” good start.”

It’s a good start, and we’ll keep reviewing it and updating it frequently.

Authorities are currently in contact with another habitat participants, including major tech companies. In order to better identify harmful programs, Google, for one, has been collaborating with IMDA, MAS, and financial institutions to reinforce its Play Protect malware security program.

Authorities are also keeping an eye out for ransomware scams, which have increased in recent months.

Mr. Tan expressed concern over the current exclusion of this new scam variation from the foundation and clarified that the prescribed responsibilities of banks and telcos are not appropriate to address” the evolving and developing nature” of ransomware schemes.

However, I want to reassure the members of this House that as part of upcoming updates to( the shared responsibility framework ), we will review these new scam variants, such as malware.

Banks have voluntary kindness frameworks in place in addition to the suggested framework to help consumers who are victims of scams. & nbsp,

According to Mr. Tan,” MAS is relying on the banks to be even more accommodating in applying these grace repayment frameworks, taking into account the elegance of rip-off typology as well as consumers’ economic situation among others.”

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