The Minister of Finance announced during a recent National Assembly session that the ministry’s administration system must go digital in order to combat corruption.
Health Officials Say Diabetes On the Rise in Laos
Health experts say diabetes is increasingly prevalent in Laos due to changes in lifestyle as the country develops.
British Council hosts New Directions East Asia Conference in Indonesia
10th edition of the British Council’s flagship language testing and assessment conference provides a dynamic space for testing practitioners, policymakers and implementers in East Asia and the UK
INDONESIA – Media OutReach – 9 December 2022 – The British Council today announced the 10th edition of its New Directions East Asia Conference being held in Indonesia from 9-10 December 2022. The conference brings together the professional language testing and learning community to collectively engage with the challenges and trends affecting education and assessment systems in the East Asia region and beyond.
The conference will explore the theme of Bridging Divides: Towards a comprehensive approach to language teaching, learning and assessment – which considers the crucial role of standards and frameworks in breaking down barriers between teaching, learning and assessment in the comprehensive learning system, and how education systems can leverage test standards to achieve a holistic approach to language proficiency goals. This has been the British Council’s flagship conference for language testing and assessment since 2013.
This year’s New Directions East Asia conference will deliver a two-day concentrated agenda of high-profile, high-impact presentations and discussions in a face-to-face format, preceded and followed by the online dissemination of quality content and curated presentations on key conference topics.
The conference is officiated by I Kadek Agus Arya Wibawa, S.E., M.M., Deputy Mayor of Denpasar; Sara Pierson, Director Exams, British Council; Summer Xia, Country Director, British Council Indonesia; and Prof. Utami Widiati, President of TEFLIN. Key speakers at the conference include policymakers, influencers and practitioners in teaching, testing and the wider educational context, such as Anindito Aditomo, Ph.D, Head of Agency for Standardization, Curriculum, and Assessment in Education, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology; Professor Barry O’Sullivan OBE, Head of Assessment Research & Development, British Council; Dr. Neus Figueras Casanovas, Ministry of Education Catalonia – Spain/ University of Barcelona; Dr. Willy Renandya, Principal Lecturer, National Institute of Education, Singapore; and Dr. Guoxing Yu, Professor of Language Assessment University of Bristol, among others.
Sara Pierson, Director Exams, British Council, said: “Language testing opens doors to educational, workplace and international mobility opportunities for people all over the world and is a key driver of educational reform. Since 2013, the New Directions conference series has brought together a range of stakeholders to engage in discussions around this important topic, creating a valuable forum for the exchange of ideas and sharing of knowledge in the language assessment field.”
Summer Xia, Country Director, British Council Indonesia, added: “Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in Indonesia has run for more than 75 years. Increasingly, English language qualifications have continued to show its prominence in responding to the increasing demands from the higher education sector and the labour market. We are delighted to host our regional flagship New Directions conference in Indonesia so that we can facilitate conversations about the development of English language teaching, learning, and assessment across East Asia. This year’s New Directions conference will address the needs of testing practitioners, policymakers and implementers, and other stakeholders with an interest in the role of language assessment in strengthening education systems. Through this unique platform and opportunity, we will bring the UK expertise and enable participants to compare notes, share best practice, and explore cutting-edge solutions that will benefit local communities and achieve global standards.”
The last two New Directions conferences were held online due to the Covid 19 pandemic, and prior to that the conference has been held in Yokohama, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Hanoi, Seoul, Tokyo, and Beijing.
For more information on New Directions East Asia Conference please visit: https://www.britishcouncilfoundation.id/en/new-directions-2022
Hashtag: #BritishCouncil
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About the British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. We do this through our work in arts and culture, education and the English language. We work with people in over 200 countries and territories and are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021–22 we reached 650 million people.
www.britishcouncil.org
15 Killed During Gun Battle in Thailand Near Golden Triangle
Fifteen people were killed on Wednesday during a gun battle between members of a drug gang and Thai military personnel in Chiang Mai Province near the border of Myanmar.
Thailand to Overtake Vietnam as World’s No 2 Rice Exporter
Thailand is on track to overtake Vietnam as the world’s second-largest rice exporter, according to Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA).
Trend Micro Awarded 2022 Regional and Global AWS Partner Award
Trend Micro recognized as the Global AWS Marketplace Partner of the Year winner, one of many AWS Partners around the globe that help customers drive innovation
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 9 December 2022 – Trend Micro is excited to announce it is a recipient of a 2022 Regional and Global AWS Partner Award, recognizing leaders around the globe playing a key role helping customers drive innovation and build solutions on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Announced during a Partner Awards Gala at AWS re:Invent 2022, the Regional and Global AWS Partner Awards recognize a wide range of AWS Partners, whose business models have embraced specialization, innovation, and cooperation over the past year. Regional and Global AWS Partner Awards recognize partners whose business models continue to evolve and thrive on AWS as they work with customers.
To read more about Trend Micro’s support of AWS, please visit: www.trendmicro.com/aws.
Trend Micro was an early AWS Partner and AWS Marketplace seller, and worked with AWS for the launch of AWS Marketplace Vendor Insights. Trend Micro continues to deepen its relationship with AWS, adding the updated AWS Security Competency and the AWS Healthcare Competency to its list of AWS validated qualifications in Q3 2022. These latest innovation milestones have helped to expand Trend Micro’s vision for end-to-end cloud security, built around its unified cloud security platform, which delivers visibility and added control across the enterprise.
“Trend Micro has been a huge advocate of AWS Marketplace from the very beginning, so we’re delighted to receive this award in recognition of our long-time relationship with AWS,” said Kevin Simzer, COO, Trend Micro. “Q3 was our biggest quarter ever for AWS Marketplace sales, which soared 150% year-on-year while recording 80% ARR growth. It’s become an indispensable channel for us.”
“It’s about time-to-market, ease-of-use, and that Trend Micro offers a full, ready-to-go SaaS solution—those are all huge value-adds for us. And the pricing in AWS Marketplace is always right. I haven’t seen another security vendor that can provide the same level of service at anywhere near the cost,” said MJ DiBerardino, CEO, Cloudnexa.
For the first time, Regional and Global AWS Partner Awards included a self-nomination process across a number of award categories and specialization areas awarded at both the regional and global level where all AWS Partners were invited to participate and submit a nomination.
The AWS Partner Network (APN), is a global program, focused on helping companies build successful AWS-based businesses or solutions by providing business, technical, marketing, and go-to-market support. The APN includes independent software vendors (ISVs) and systems integrators (SIs) around the world, with AWS Partner participation growing significantly during the past 12 months.
“AWS Partners are at the center of unlocking value for global customers, across a wide range of industries,” said Ruba Borno, vice president, Worldwide Channels and Alliances at AWS. “We are honored to launch the inaugural Regional and Global AWS Partner Awards, and thank all the nominees and winners for accelerating our customers’ cloud transformation journey.”
A panel of AWS experts selected the winners based on strict criteria. Trend Micro is excited to announce it has received Global AWS Marketplace Partner of the Year, recognizing top AWS Marketplace Partners with significant AWS Marketplace transactions.
Hashtag: #TrendMicro
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Trend Micro
Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Fueled by decades of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro’s cybersecurity platform protects hundreds of thousands of organizations and millions of individuals across clouds, networks, devices, and endpoints. As a leader in cloud and enterprise cybersecurity, the platform delivers a powerful range of advanced threat defense techniques optimized for environments like AWS, Microsoft, and Google, and central visibility for better, faster detection and response. With 7,000 employees across 65 countries, Trend Micro enables organizations to simplify and secure their connected world. www.trendmicro.com.hk
AI-powered, blockchain-based solution for ESG challenges in painting for the shipbuilding industry
PANKI is an AI-powered, blockchain-based monitoring and management solution that aims to solve ESG challenges for the painting process in the shipbuilding industry. Development for the platform began in February 2021, and a prototype was completed in April 2022. PANKI digitalises the shipyard painting inspection process and automatically generates reports and analyses of the collected data.
Singapore is one of the biggest ports globally for maritime trade. Connected to more than 600 ports in over 120 countries worldwide. With 140,000 vessels calling at port yearly, Singapore is the busiest port in the world in terms of shipping tonnage.
SSVT believes that PANKI can drive cleaner efficiency towards ESG efforts with their expansion to Singapore. PANKI addresses the issue of the growing shortage of skilled inspectors and personnel by creating clear reference points on the vessel for painting inspection. The platform digitalises, and manages the entire painting process from front to end.
“Maritime trade is the backbone for international trade, and a pillar of the global economy. At SSVT, we believe that paint management plays a crucial role in preserving the seaworthiness of vessels. With PANKI, our clients will be able to make their maintenance efforts smoother, and reduce their fuel costs, while being sustainable for the environment in the long run.” Says the CEO of SSVT, Park Jonghyun.
PANKI accelerates the process by 150%, from inspection, and approval, to making clear data-driven decisions in 5 days. By streamlining the painting process, PANKI can improve ship fuel efficiency by 1.5%, resulting in $105,000 of annual fuel savings per ship. Along with the improved productivity from reduced downtime for painting projects, PANKI’s approach towards proactive maintenance can save companies up to $4.5 billion across 10 years.
Leveraging blockchain technology, PANKI provides data transparency for all parties involved. This facilitates smoother communications between shipyards, ship owners, and insurance companies.
SSVT is currently developing PANKI and is targeting April 2023 for the completion of the first version. Additional functions will be added to the platform to allow seamless integration to aid clients from the construction to the operation stages of their vessels.
Hashtag: #SSVT
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
News Direct Reaffirms Its Commitment to Accepting Payment in Cryptocurrency
BitPay supports Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), ApeCoin (APE), Litecoin (LTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Euro Coin (EUROC) and 5 USD-pegged stablecoins (GUSD, USDC, USDP, DAI, and BUSD).
News Direct announced that it began accepting remuneration in crypto back in March of this year, and it has proven popular among many of its customers, the majority of which that pay in this manner are businesses engaged in the blockchain and crypto ecosystems.
News Direct Founder and CEO stated “Our continuing commitment to accepting payment in the various, stable cryptocurrencies that are offered through BitPay is simply a matter of providing the best and most seamless user experience to our customers. Our entire platform is about using technology to make workflow more efficient, secure and expeditious and this is just one example of that philosophy”.

Contact Details
News Direct Media Relations
+1 888-797-2735
media@newsdirect.com
Company Website
http://www.newsdirect.com
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About News Direct
News Direct provides news and content distribution for PR, IR, Corporate Communications and Marketing professionals. Our automated platform delivers a completely-reimagined, intuitive workflow, industry-leading security, transparent, flat-rate pricing and actionable analytics. Further, News Direct has deployed an array of innovation including advanced automation, isolation cloud technology and custom software for the most dynamic, efficient and flexible platform available today. To learn more visit newsdirect.com or follow us on
LinkedIn,
Twitter,
Facebook,
Instagram or
YouTube.