economic – Asia Tab

ACN Newswire

ONERHT partners Democratic Republic of Congo for sustainable economic development and growth

October 25, 2022

SINGAPORE, Oct 25, 2022 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Sustainability consultancy RHT Green and strategic advisory firm RHT Consulting Asia have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to support the implementation of multisectoral sustainable development projects in the central African country.H.E. Deputy Prime Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Democratic Republic of Congo (centre), during her visit to ONERHT's office in SingaporeRHTLaw Asia and RHT Group of Companies, which includes RHT Green and RHT Consulting Asia (collectively "ONERHT"), welcomed the delegation of Her Excellency Eve Bazaiba, Deputy Prime Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development of the DRC on her maiden visit to Asia.Hosted by ONERHT, Her Excellency was briefed on Singapore's approach to sustainable development and exchanged ideas for sustainable development and green growth in the DRC. The MOU marks the culmination of discussions between the parties on sustainable value creation strategies and efforts to design effective environmental policies for the DRC's sustainable economic development and growth. As appointed partners of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, RHT Green and RHT Consulting Asia will support the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development by advising on planning, policies, regulations, and solutions to address the DRC's challenges across economic development, free trade and environmental protection. Mr Wee Boon Siong, Chief Executive Officer of RHT Green, said, "We are happy to work together with the DRC government on environment and sustainability. The DRC has a huge rainforest, the 2nd largest in the world, next to the Amazon, and it is an important carbon sink for our planet. It also has large mineral reserves which are the necessary components of many renewable industries. Cobalt, copper, nickel, lithium and rare earth elements (REEs) are all essential for producing electric vehicle batteries, harnessing solar power, wind energy, and other applications to reduce the reliance of consumers and industries on fossil fuels. These are important factors to take into account for planning and policies."The MOU also focuses on examining the DRC's policies and regulations, establishing a free trade zone, and exploring sustainability technology solutions. It reflects potential synergies between Singapore's track record in balancing finance, economic and sustainability solutions, and the resource-rich DRC, offering more opportunities for future collaboration and partnerships.Mr Victor Tay, Group Chief Executive Officer of RHT Consulting Asia said, "Singapore's economic development experience spanning close to 60 years since its Independence is a case study on how countries must find an economic strategy that aligns with their competitive advantage in the global economic environment. Along the way, Singapore had to address the challenges while adapting to trends in the global economic environment, evolving from a transhipment hub to become a manufacturing gateway to Asia, globalised financial hub, and now a Fintech hub while balancing emphasis on ESG (Environmental, Sustainability and Governance)." Mr Tay added, "We will share Singapore's economic development experience and the institutionalised knowledge of the last six decades with the DRC, taking into account its competitive advantages as well as the challenges unique to it." About ONERHTThe ONERHT Universe is an integrated multidisciplinary platform of professional services. Collaborating as ONE, we seek to be a beacon of growth for our clients, stakeholders and communities, empowering them to achieve purposeful growth in Asia and beyond. RHTLaw Asia LLP is a Singapore law practice registered as a limited liability law partnership in Singapore. A leading full-service firm with industry focus, it has presence in 16 jurisdictions through the ASEAN Plus Group. In delivering innovative legal and commercial solutions, it collaborates with ONERHT through entities which are not affiliates, branches or subsidiaries of RHTLaw Asia LLP. For more information, please visit www.onerht.com Issued on behalf of ONERHTBy Waterbrooks Consultants https://www.waterbrooks.com.sg/For media enquiries, please contact:Elliot Siow+65 8375 0417elliot@waterbrooks.com.sg Copyright 2022 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. (via SEAPRWire)

ACN Newswire

G20 Sherpa committed to address global solutions

October 1, 2022

JAKARTA, Oct 1, 2022 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The third G20 Sherpa meeting in Yogyakarta has concluded with G20 member countries agreeing to seek solutions to myriad global problems.The 3rd Sherpa Meeting G20 Indonesia delegations travel around Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia, Tuesday (29/9). (ANTARA PHOTO/Andreas Fitri Atmoko/POOL/rwa/FR)"During this meeting, we can see the collective commitment of G20 countries to remain united by offering solutions to global problems that occur recently," Co-Sherpa Edi Prio Pambudi noted through a statement, Thursday (Sept 29).Problems, such as the energy crisis, food scarcity, rising food prices, inflation, and continuity of COVID-19 recovery, are issues that are not only encountered by G20 countries but also developing and vulnerable countries.Discussion on Leaders' Declaration began from materials that are relatively easy to accept by all countries followed by a bilateral meeting with several key countries, so that an agreement can be achieved.A technical discussion on Leaders' Declaration will be conducted in October 2022 before it is finalized during the fourth Sherpa meeting in Bali in November 2022, near the execution of the G20 Summit held in the same month and place.The declaration draft that contains three priority issues during Indonesia's G20 Presidency comprises global health architecture, digital-based economic transformation, and energy transition as well as food security. This draft comes from 39 parties, comprising G20 member countries, nine invited countries, and 10 invited international organizations, that will attend the G20 Summit Conference in Bali, November.The meeting also endorsed concrete deliverables, such as programs or initiatives. This aligns with President Joko Widodo's mandate that Indonesia's G20 Presidency should produce real benefits for Indonesians."It is true that the concrete results will have their follow-up programmed," secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono, said at an online press conference, which was followed from here on Tuesday (Sept 27).The programs arising out of this year's G20 Summit will be reviewed together at next year's meeting."There is an annual forum so that we can review several agreements that have been conducted together," he said.This year, in the midst of various global crises, Indonesia was able to contribute fairly, leading many to praise it, he added.The G20 Sherpa Track discusses global challenges and various economic (non-financial) issues to find solutions and provide recommendations on the G20 agenda and priority issues, such as energy, development, tourism, digital economy, education, labor, agriculture, trade, investment, industry, health, anti-corruption, environment and climate change.The role of Sherpa Track is very vital, especially in coordinating all Working Groups and Engagement Groups under its coordination.Indonesia's G20 presidency in 2022 provides an opportunity for Indonesia to lead developed and developing countries in discussing various issues and the process of global economic recovery.Underscoring Indonesia's important role as president of this year's G20, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that the world was pinning hopes on G20 being a catalyst of global economic recovery, especially for developing countries."The G20 must not fail to be a catalyst for world recovery. We cannot let global recovery fall at the mercy of geopolitics," she stated, while delivering a speech at the general debate of the 77th United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday (Sept 27).She proposed the paradigm of collaboration to surmount numerous global challenges."A paradigm of win-win, not of zero-sum. A paradigm of engagement, not of containment. A paradigm of collaboration, not of competition. This is the transformative solution that we need," Marsudi noted.According to Marsudi, such a collaboration paradigm is deemed necessary to facing the current concerning world conditions wherein the pandemic persists and the global economy remains sluggish, war among nations, and violation of international law that has become a norm in pursuit of narrow self-interests.Written by: Sanya Dinda S, Fadhli Ruhman, Editor: Fardah Assegaf (c) ANTARA 2022 Copyright 2022 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. (via SEAPRWire)

ACN Newswire

RI strives to bridge differences in G20 to overcome economic challenges

July 18, 2022

JAKARTA, Jul 18, 2022 - (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The third Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting within the framework of Indonesia's G20 Presidency kicked off in Nusa Dua, Badung, Bali, on Friday (July 15).The 3rd Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting of G20 in Nusa Dua, Badung, Bali, on 16 July. (ANTARA FOTO/Fikri Yusuf/Pool/wsj)The meeting aims to seek ways to promote better global economic recovery amid the issues or challenges that had become more apparent nowadays."G20 needs to (apply more measures) by taking real actions based on the spirit of coordination, collaboration, and consensus in order to solve global issues," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati delivered the statement during the opening of the meeting.In total, 407 delegations were physically present in Bali, and 120 attended the event through virtual means. Some 19 finance ministers and 11 governors of Central Banks were also physically present. Thereby making it the one with the most number of physical attendees during the course of Indonesia's G20 presidency.Minister Indrawati stated that the presence of majority of the delegations of member countries, guest nations, and international organizations demonstrated global commitment and willingness to support the Indonesian G20 Presidency, as well as promote a sustainable economy, especially in the midst of global challenges.Bridging DifferencesIndonesia is committed to bridging various differences and becoming the main supporter of multilateralism in the G20 forum to overcome various current global economic challenges."We want to be an honest liaison. Indonesia will tirelessly seek communications and consultations, so we can continue to build bridges to accommodate the differences," the minister noted while opening the 3rd G20 FMCBG meeting.The 3rd FMCBG meeting discussed seven priority agendas, comprising the current situation and risks of the global economy, health issues, international financial architecture, financial issues, sustainable finance, infrastructure development, and international taxation.Meanwhile, several issues that became part of the priority agenda are the impacts of the Russian-Ukraine conflict on global food, energy, and financial security.On the second day of the meeting on Saturday, Indrawati announced that all G20 members has agreed on the majority of the meeting results despite tensions over Russia-Ukraine conflict.Indrawati conveyed that the meeting succeeded in agreeing on a number of initiatives, and successfully garnering support to overcome various global economic and financial problems."There are 14 paragraphs of the draft on the result of this two-days meeting," Indrawati stated on her speech delivering the results of the meeting.She mentioned that two paragraphs of the result draft containing different views of several G20 members, one of which was regarding the use of the word "war" on several issues.Indonesia and other G20 members, however, should still place the G20 as the world's largest economic cooperation forum that has a long history of solving various global problems.Additionally, Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo has called upon all G20 members to commit to working together to support global economic recovery in order to realize a sustainable, balanced, and inclusive world economy."It is important for us to stay focused on what we have planned to achieve this year," Warjiyo said at the opening of the second day of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (3rd FMCBG) meeting.Such a focus, according to Warjiyo, will send a positive message to the global community about the role and efforts of the G20 toward supporting recovery.During Saturday's meeting, the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors discussed five topics including COVID-19 exit strategies for ensuring financial stability, climate-related financial risks, crypto assets, financial inclusion and digitization, and initiatives to address new data gaps.Written by: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga, Editor: Fardah Assegaf (c) ANTARA 2022 Copyright 2022 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. (via SEAPRWire)

SeaPRwire

2022 Travel Itinerary Competition: Official Call for Design Submissions to Discover Charm of Sanya Economic Circle

June 29, 2022

China, Sanya , June 28, 2022 – (SEAPRWire) – Channels for submitting designs for the “2022 Travel Itinerary Competition” were officially opened on June 21, 2022. The event, which was first released online on May 30, 2022, as a prelude to the official launch, was organized by the Sanya Tourism Promotion Board together with tourism bureaus from other cities and counties of the Sanya Economic Circle. Over 100 entries were received within just 4 hours after the official launch of the design submission page. Participants can follow the official WeChat account of the Sanya Tourism Promotion Board and input “Inspiring Trip Planner” or “Travel Itinerary Competition” to access the design submission page. There are five categories for the competition: four of these are categories for Chinese travelers, namely professional/corporate, university teachers and students, travel KOLs, Chinese domestic travelers, and one is a special category for Foreign Travelers. Participants in the Foreign Travelers category should be foreign passport holders. Participants are encouraged to submit designs based on their personal travel experiences in the Sanya Economic Circle. There are no restrictions on the format of designs, which can be in the form of images and text, cartoons, short videos, songs, or poems. Submissions can be in Chinese or English, and can cover themes such as outdoor sports, intangible cultural heritage, shopping and entertainment, couple trips, camping, rural trips, family-friendly educational excursions, gourmet tours, and self-driving trips. Travel routes should include at least one of the following regions: Sanya, Lingshui, Baoting, Ledong, and Wuzhishan. The competition offers participants the chance to win various prizes such as cash awards of up to CNY 12,000, special certificates of participation, honorary titles, and a chance to take part in the film project “Explore Sanya 360°” for international social media organized by the Sanya Tourism Promotion Board. The design submission channels for the competition will be open from June 21, 2022, to July 10, 2022. All designs that are submitted and received before the submission deadline will be evaluated in three stages: Preliminary Review (July 11—July 17, 2022), Online Voting (July 18—August 10, 2022), and Expert Review (August 11—August 15, 2022). During the period in which itineraries are on display (August 18—September 9, 2022), prize-winning designs will be announced publicly and displayed online, and awards will be given. The event seeks to gather high-quality travel routes and recommendations, attract more attention of global travel enthusiasts to the Sanya Economic Circle and its neighboring areas, and promote the tourism and cultural resources of the area. “Unleash your creativity and showcase the charm of Sanya and its surrounding areas.” The representative from the Sanya Tourism Promotion Board added that “The ‘2022 Travel Itinerary Competition’ welcomes people from all over the world who love to travel.”

JCN Newswire

Eisai Publishes Potential Economic Value of Investigational Lecanemab in Peer-Reviewed Neurology and Therapy Journal

June 22, 2022

TOKYO, Jun 22, 2022 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - Eisai Co., Ltd. today announced publication of results from an early phase evaluation that aimed to estimate potential economic value of its investigational anti-amyloid-beta (Abeta) protofibril antibody lecanemab in people living with early Alzheimer's disease (AD) using a validated disease simulation model, AD Archimedes Condition Event (AD ACE) model1,2,3 from the healthcare payer and societal perspectives in the United States, in the peer-reviewed journal Neurology and Therapy. This is the second publication of lecanemab's potential value. It follows the evaluation of the long-term health outcomes using simulation modeling of lecanemab published in Neurology and Therapy in April 2022.4 While the healthcare payer perspective focuses on direct care costs (e.g., outpatient and inpatient services, medications, intervention costs, nursing home and home healthcare services), the societal perspective further considers societal costs (e.g., productivity loss and informal care costs). As reported in the previous publication, it was suggested that compared to standard of care* (SoC), individuals treated with lecanemab in addition to SoC (lecanemab+SoC) may potentially experience slower disease progression to mild, moderate and severe AD from baseline by 2.51, 3.13 and 2.34 years on average, respectively. The preliminary results of this model-based simulation could possibly translate into additional quality-adjusted life years (QALY**) and reduction in the formal and informal care costs***. Additionally, the AD ACE model framework used in this study allowed assessment of the potential value of lecanemab in different scenarios and sensitivity analyses, including the impact of patient subsets, alternative treatment stopping rules**** and potential dosing regimens as well as major sources of uncertainty. Eisai is committed to conducting and sharing these types of clinical and socioeconomic analyses to establish trust as we work to potentially bring lecanemab to people living with early AD who have confirmed presence of amyloid pathology in the brain. To that end, Eisai would like to provide a common foundation for stakeholders' discourse regarding the potential clinical and socioeconomic value of lecanemab from the societal perspective, not to assign a price for lecanemab at this time. This model-based simulation was conducted using the results of a Phase 2b clinical trial (Study 201) evaluating the efficacy and safety of lecanemab for early AD with confirmed amyloid pathology as well as published literature. It also estimated the potential economic value of lecanemab+SoC over a broad range of willingness-to-pay thresholds from $50,000 to $200,000 per QALY gained as recommended by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER)*****. Lecanemab+SoC was predicted to result in a gain of 0.61 QALYs and a decrease in total non-treatment costs of $8,707 per person from the healthcare payer perspective (Societal perspective: 0.64 QALYs gain and $11,214 decrease) compared to the SoC for patients with early AD who have confirmed presence of amyloid pathology. The potential annual value-based price (VBP) of lecanemab was estimated at $9,249 to $35,605 (Societal perspective: $10,400 to $38,053) based on this early economic assessment. ICER's value framework5 indicates that value cannot be wholly derived from measures of clinical and cost-effectiveness, so contextual considerations and an examination of other benefits and disadvantages are also added into the framework when assessing long-term value. This may lead to using the societal perspective and higher end of the broad range of willingness-to-pay threshold in estimating the justifiable price of lecanemab, given the large societal burden of AD relative to direct healthcare costs. Many people living with AD received informal care from their family and friends totaling more than 16 billion hours of unpaid care valued at $271.6 billion in the U.S. in 2021.6 These predicted and simulated findings suggest that early treatment with lecanemab may reduce these costs and economic burdens, and provide insights for healthcare decision-makers regarding the potential clinical and socioeconomic value of lecanemab. The Phase 3 lecanemab Clarity AD data will soon be available to inform the model inputs and refine the findings. In the event that lecanemab receives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval, Eisai may determine a VBP using this framework along with other considerations, such as affordability, health system sustainability, etc. "Eisai's goal is to create therapies, such as our investigational anti-amyloid beta protofibril antibody lecanemab, that may help impact the anxieties of people living with Alzheimer's disease and their families. For Alzheimer's disease, it is important to evaluate the holistic value of therapies taking into account not only medical costs but also the immense societal costs," said Ivan Cheung, Senior Vice President, President Neurology Business Group and Global Alzheimer's Disease Officer, Eisai Co., Ltd., Chairman and CEO, Eisai Inc. "As part of Eisai's commitment to our human health care mission, trust and transparency, we will continue to publish data and information about lecanemab and look forward to sharing the results of the lecanemab confirmatory Phase 3 Clarity AD clinical trial this fall." Eisai completed lecanemab's rolling submission of a Biologics License Application (BLA) for the treatment of early AD to the FDA under the accelerated approval pathway in May 2022. The Clarity AD Phase 3 clinical study for lecanemab in early AD is ongoing and completed enrollment in March 2021 with 1,795 patients. The readout of the primary endpoint data of Clarity AD will occur in the fall of 2022. The FDA has agreed that the results of Clarity AD, when completed, can serve as the confirmatory study to verify the clinical benefit of lecanemab. Dependent upon the results of the Clarity AD clinical trial, Eisai may submit for full approval of lecanemab to the FDA during Eisai's fiscal year 2022, which ends in March2023. In Japan, in March 2022, Eisai initiated submission of application data to the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) under the prior assessment consultation system with the goal of obtaining early approval for lecanemab, and aims to file for the manufacturing and marketing approval based on the results of Clarity AD during Eisai's fiscal year 2022. Also, in Europe, based on the results of the Clarity AD study, Eisai plans to submit a new drug application in fiscal year 2022. This release discusses investigational uses of an agent in development and is not intended to convey conclusions about efficacy or safety. There is no guarantee that such an investigational agent will successfully complete clinical development or gain health authority approval. * Standard of Care (SoC) for AD currently consists of lifestyle modifications and pharmacologic treatment of symptoms.** The quality-adjusted life year (QALY) is a measure of the value of health outcomes. Since health is a function of length of life (i.e., quantity) and quality of life (QOL), the QALY was developed as an attempt to combine the value of these attributes into a single index number. One QALY equates to one year in perfect health. QALY scores range from 1 (full health) to 0 (dead). For example, a new intervention may increase length of life by 3 years and improve quality of life by 70% (QALY score of 2.1) compared to an existing intervention that may increase length of life by 3 years and only improve QOL by 50% (QALY score of 1.5), the incremental QALY for this new intervention will be 0.6 QALYs.*** Formal and informal care costs do not include lecanemab drug cost.**** Alternative treatment stopping rules were explored in scenario analyses where treatment with lecanemab was stopped after a fixed duration of 1.5, 3 and 5 years.***** ICER is a non-profit research organization in the U.S. that evaluates the evidence on the clinical and economic value of prescription drugs, medical tests, devices and health system delivery innovations. 1 Kansal AR, Tafazzoli A, Ishak KJ, Krotneva S. Alzheimer's disease Archimedes condition-event simulator: Development and validation. Alzheimers Dement (NY). 2018;4:76-88. Published 2018 Feb 16. doi:10.1016/j.trci.2018.01.001.2) Tafazzoli and Kansal. Disease simulation in drug development, External validation confirms benefit in decision making. The Evidence Forum. 2018. bit.ly/3NgEeDD(3) Tafazzoli A, Weng J, Sutton K, et al. Validating simulated cognition trajectories based on ADNI against 436 trajectories from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) dataset. 11th edition of Clinical Trials on 437 Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD); Barcelona, Spain: 2018.(4) Tahami Monfared AA, Tafazzoli A, Ye W, Chavan A, Zhang Q. Long-Term Health Outcomes of Lecanemab in Patients with Early Alzheimer's Disease Using Simulation Modeling. Neurol Ther 11, 863-880 (2022). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40120-022-00350-y.(5) ICER Value Framework 2020-2023. 2022. bit.ly/39HjYO3(6) Alzheimer's Association. 2022 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures 2022 Available from: bit.ly/3bkCR9VMedia Inquiries:Public Relations Department,Eisai Co., Ltd.+81-(0)3-3817-5120 Eisai Inc. USLibby HolmanLibby_Holman@Eisai.com201-753-1945 Copyright 2022 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. (via SEAPRWire)

SeaPRwire

“2022 Travel Itinerary Competition” for China’s beachfront Sanya Economic Circle kicks off, Win totalling CNY 200,000 in cash awards

June 17, 2022

On May 30, the Sanya Tourism Promotion Board, together with tourism bureaus from other cities and counties of the Sanya Economic Circle, jointly organized the “2022 Travel Itinerary Competition”. The competition aims to enrich the cultural and tourism resources of the Sanya Economic Circle with brand-new local travel routes and promote the integrated development of the area. Trip.com Group will provide technical support for the competition. The competition will last to September 9 from May 30. Participants can refer to the Sanya Tourism Promotion Board’s official website (visitsanya.com) or Wechat official account to learn more about the competition and participate in it. The competition has set generous prizes totalling CNY 200,000. Winners will not only receive cash awards up to CNY 20,000, but also have the opportunity to obtain exclusive honors from the categories they join, free trips to Sanya and the surrounding areas, official internship recommendation, and other generous rewards. The competition has five categories: professional/corporate, university teachers and students, travel KOLs, Chinese domestic travelers, and foreign travelers. Participants are free to choose whichever category fits them the best. It is worth mentioning that, to further bolster this competition’s reach and enable global travelers to feel the charm of Sanya and the surrounding areas of the Sanya Economic Circle, the competition specially set a category for foreign travelers. Foreign passport holders are welcome to join and produce creative designs based on their personal travel experiences in Sanya and get a chance to win generous gifts provided by the organizer. Designs can focus on new ways to explore Sanya and the surrounding areas, such as Lingshui, Baoting, Ledong, and Wuzhishan. Designs can be submitted in either Chinese or English. No restrictions on the form of designs. Themes include but are not limited to cultural heritage, nature, outdoor sports, family-friendly educational excursions, gourmet tours, self-driving, countryside, and camping. Participants can deeply explore the historical and cultural characteristics of Sanya and the surrounding cities, and highlight the advantages and features of the area’s natural resources. The competition has five stages: design, submission, online voting, expert review, and the announcement of winners. For the foreign travelers category, participants submit their designs, users vote online, and the travel expert commission scores the works and selects the winning ones. The winners will receive cash awards totaling CNY 200,000, honorary titles, certificates, a chance to take part in the overseas social media filming project, Explore Sanya 360°, organized by the Sanya Tourism Promotion Board, and free travel experiences with photography services included. “We welcome all travel industry professionals, travel experts, teachers and students from colleges and universities, Chinese domestic tourists, and foreign travelers to submit creative designs online and uncover a wide range of trips and activities,” a member of the Sanya Tourism Promotion Board said. “We expect more overseas tourists to participate in this feast of inspiration, and discover a different side of the Sanya Economic Circle.”