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RGE, the first foreign enterprise in China to secure a sustainability-linked syndicated loan

  • The RMB 1 billion SLL also represents the first in the Chinese pulp and paper industry

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 18 May 2023 – Royal Golden Eagle (“RGE”), a global group of resource-based manufacturing companies, has announced that its member company Asia Symbol (Shandong) Pulp and Paper Co., Ltd. (“Asia Symbol“) – a world leading producer of pulp and paper – has signed a first-of-its-kind sustainability-linked loan (“SLL“) of RMB 1 billion with a consortium of several Chinese banks. Led by the Agricultural Bank of China, the consortium includes the Export-Import Bank of China, Bank of Communications and China Merchants Bank.

Official Signing Ceremony of Sustainability-linked Syndicated Loan for Asia Symbol (Shandong) Pulp and Paper Co., Ltd.
Official Signing Ceremony of Sustainability-linked Syndicated Loan for Asia Symbol (Shandong) Pulp and Paper Co., Ltd.

Representing the first in the Chinese domestic pulp and paper industry, Asia Symbol’s latest SLL will play an important role in promoting the development of the Chinese real economy through innovative green financing. It also supports the Chinese government’s aim to achieve its national “dual carbon” goals.

Interest rates for the SLL will be tied to five key performance indicators (KPIs) – reduction of atmospheric pollutant emissions and water consumption, improvement in water recycling rate and alkaline recovery rate, as well as creation of new job opportunities. A reputable third-party environmental certification agency will issue a certification report and verify the annual assessment results. Asia Symbol will benefit from lower interest rates if it meets the specific and measurable KPIs in the agreement within the next three years.

At the signing ceremony, Mr. Jun Yang, Vice President, Investment Banking Department of the Agricultural Bank of China said that the SLL has a clear positioning and efficient execution. The KPIs were designed based on three sustainable development directions, namely clean production, circular economy and social responsibility. The SLL created a “double firsts” record of a foreign-funded enterprise securing a SLL from a consortium of Chinese banks; it is also the first SLL in the domestic pulp and paper industry. Mr. Yang added that the Agricultural Bank of China is fully implementing a green finance strategy.

Mr. Langen Shu, Vice President of RGE, China, said: “RGE has always adhered to sustainable development. RGE China aims to achieve a 30% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. The green finance strategy of the Agricultural Bank of China is highly consistent with RGE’s ESG business model. Our collaboration underscores the shared commitment to generate high quality and sustainable growth in China. We hope that the SLL can encourage more partnerships between banks and corporates and provide a viable model for the sustainable transformation of traditional industries.”

Among the first non-property corporates in Singapore to tap the growth of SLLs, RGE has been making notable progress in moving the bulk of its financing to green and sustainable ones. In 2022, RGE raised a total of US$1.6 billion in SLLs for its various business groups. RGE utilises the SLLs to crystalise its sustainability KPIs while lowering the cost of financing upon achieving the KPIs that are tied to the SLL. In 2022, RGE raised its first green loan as well as carbon asset backed financing in China which was also the first foreign-owned carbon finance deal in the country. The support from RGE’s banking partners have shown their recognition that it is possible for resource-based businesses to produce from the land and protect it, with positive results for business and nature. Specific and measurable ESG targets are embedded in the SLL terms to align with banks on a common sustainability journey.

Hashtag: #RGE

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About RGE

RGE, headquartered in Singapore, is a group of resource-based manufacturing companies with global operations. We produce sustainable natural fibres, edible oils, green packaging and clean natural gas used to create products that feed, clothe and energise the world. We help improve billions of peoples’ lives through sustainable products they use every day. With more than US$30 billion in assets and 60,000 employees, we are creating a more recyclable, biodegradable and lower carbon future.

Committed to sustainable development, conservation and community development, we strive towards what is good for the community, good for the country, good for the climate, good for the customer, and good for the company. With current operations spanning across Indonesia, China, Brazil, Spain and Canada, we continue to expand and engage new markets.

About Asia Symbol (Shandong) Pulp and Paper Co., Ltd.

Asia Symbol (Shandong) Pulp and Paper Co., Ltd. is the largest modern pulp & paper producer in China, also is the largest pulp producer, operating the largest single pulp line in the world, with leading advanced process, technology and environmental performance, is the benchmarking enterprise of industrial upgrading, technological progress, green development among the pulp and paper industry.

Opening of 7-Eleven in Laos Evokes Mixed Response Among Netizens

7-Eleven Prepares to open first store in Vientiane
7-Eleven being constructed in Laos.

The construction team behind the first 7-Eleven in Laos went viral on social media last week after showing pictures of the location of their construction site.

Laos-Vietnam Friendship Hospital Opens in Xieng Khouang

Laos-Vietnam Friendship Hospital Opens in Xieng Khouang
Laos-Vietnam Friendship Hospital (photo: Vietnamplus)

The Laos-Vietnam Friendship Hospital, built with financial aid from the Vietnamese government with a construction cost of USD 21.3 million, opened in Xieng Khouang province on Wednesday.

Myanmar and Bangladesh Begin Cleaning Up, Counting Casualties After Devastating Cyclone Mocha

Myanmar and Bangladesh begin cleaning up, counting casualties after devastating Cyclone Mocha
Local residents stand on broken boats in Sittwe, Myanmar, on Monday, after cyclone Mocha made landfall. ( Photo : AFP-JIJI )

BANGKOK (AP) — Recovery efforts were underway Tuesday in Myanmar and Bangladesh after a powerful cyclone smashed into their coastlines, causing widespread destruction and at least 21 deaths, with hundreds of others believed missing.

Young Lao Scientist Selected as 2023 Young Explorer at National Geographic Society

23-year-old Thinakone Lounagdy, a young scientist from Laos. ( Photo : VOA).

A young scientist from Laos has been selected as one of the 15 candidates for the National Geographic Society’s Young Explorers 2023 program, which celebrates individuals who are leading change and breaking boundaries in their communities through storytelling, conservation, education, scientific innovation, and more.

Passport Office Problems Still Ongoing Issue in Laos, Say Locals

Passport Office Problems Still An Ongoing Issue, Locals Say
Low minimum wage and soaring inflation is making Lao locals look for jobs in Thailand and other countries.

Despite repeated promises to reform the slow processing time of passports in the country, residents say there has been no improvement on this front.

TCL to Host Asia-Pacific Launch Event, Located for the First time in Bangkok, Thailand

TCL will present its brand-new 2023 product range including, Mini LED QLED TVs, Domestic Appliances, designed to inspire.

BANGKOK, THAILAND – Media OutReach – 18 May 2023 – TCL, a leading consumer electronics brand and the world’s top two TV brand, is excited to announce its Asia-Pacific launch event, to be held on 25th May, 2023, at the exclusive Centara Grand at Centralworld in the city of Bangkok, Thailand. This will be the first time TCL has hosted a launch event within whole Asia-Pacific region, and the brand plans to announce a number of significant updates, including its business roadmap for 2023 and an exciting line up of innovative new products, including TCL’s 2023 latest TV line up and smart home technologies.

Renowned for its visionary approach to inspire greatness through the power of technology, TCL will proudly debut its brand-new 2023 product range including, Mini LED QLED TVs, air conditioner and other domestic appliances to the region. Ever-evolving alongside its customers, TCL’s latest advancements will help us live smarter, healthier, more seamlessly connected lives. In line with its brand signature, “Inspire Greatness”, TCL will illustrate its vision to create technology for a better future that brings people together through outstanding industrial and aesthetic design, intuitive user experience, and sustainable manufacturing materials and practises.

TCL also understands the ability access to innovative technology has to expand imaginations and ignite passions for its millions of consumers all over the world. Alongside its extensive new product range, TCL will also offer integral ESG updates and sustainability commitments as well as present highlights from its Global IP portfolio, to further inspire audiences in the region and beyond.
Hashtag: #TCL

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

TCL Electronics

TCL Electronics (1070.HK) is a fast-growing consumer electronics company and a leader in the global television industry. Founded in 1981, it now operates in more than 160 markets around the world. TCL specializes in the research, development, and manufacturing of consumer electronics products ranging from TVs, audio, and smart home appliances. Visit the TCL website at https://www.tcl.com.

SolarWinds Adds Transformative AI Features to IT Service Management Solutions

SolarWinds Service Desk now includes an AI-powered virtual agent to help users troubleshoot issues so IT agents can focus on critical and complex tasks

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 18 May 2023 – SolarWinds (NYSE:SWI), a leading provider of simple, powerful, and secure observability and IT management software, announces it’s adding transformative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities to its IT service management (ITSM) solutions. The new AI features include a virtual agent to help users solve everyday IT problems and guided incident resolution to empower agents with the information they need to effectively resolve complex issues.

The new SolarWinds® Service Desk additions are designed to reduce ticket volume by enabling users to remediate easier-to-solve issues so IT practitioners can focus on the complex issues requiring their expertise. The Service Desk AI virtual agent can answer user questions and support troubleshooting. By constantly learning based on interactions with users, the virtual agent adapts over time to provide the most helpful and relevant information and help solve issues based on each customer’s specific needs.

The cloud-native SolarWinds Service Desk solution is highly regarded in the industry for being easy to use and effective for users and agents while providing quick time to value. Automated ticket routing, AI-powered smart suggestions, and the new virtual agent within Service Desk all help ensure agents can efficiently deliver services across the organization. Customers can also enhance and personalize Service Desk through integrations with over 200 popular cloud applications.

“Digital transformation, application modernization, and the move to the cloud have dramatically increased the complexity of digital services,” said Cullen Childress, GVP of product management at SolarWinds. “This means the number of potential problems impacting user experience has also increased substantially. Our ITSM solutions are a significant focus we’re investing in. This includes Service Desk, which enables teams to focus more on important business priorities rather than mundane, time-consuming tasks. By leveraging advanced AI and powerful automation, SolarWinds makes users more productive, supports agents more efficiently, and helps ensure companies are more successful.”

SolarWinds solutions are rooted in the company’s deep connection with tech professionals. The company engaged directly with customers through THWACK®, its community of over 180,000 users, to develop and test the new AI capabilities and ensure they make it easier for IT pros to do their jobs. A recent survey of SolarWinds customers found the new Service Desk AI features enabled IT teams to reduce ticket resolution time by 24% and save an average of 23 hours per week. Surveyed Service Desk customers have also reported a reduction in downtime of 21% on average and a 24% average increase in progress toward achieving service-level agreements (SLAs).

Teams can customize SolarWinds Service Desk to provide an efficient and intelligent ticket management system and service request workflows for other business groups beyond the IT department. This enables human resources, legal, finance, sales, marketing, and other departments to become more responsive and enhance their service delivery capabilities. Managing employee requests through one system and automating workflows helps these departments deliver better and faster services to colleagues. Later this year, SolarWinds is planning to launch a new enterprise service management (ESM) solution designed to allow multiple departments within a single organization to have their own service portal, ticket management system, and service catalog within one platform to allow better cross-department workflows while ensuring data from different departments is appropriately segregated.

The new AI-powered ITSM upgrades are the latest significant solution enhancements from SolarWinds. SolarWinds released cloud-based and hybrid observability solutions and a new partner program in the past year. By investing in the AI-powered SolarWinds Platform, the company is blending observability and service management to consistently deliver simple and secure solutions for IT Ops, DevOps, SecOps, and CloudOps professionals.

Hashtag: #SWI #SWIproducts


The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

SolarWinds

SolarWinds (NYSE:SWI) is a leading provider of simple, powerful, secure observability and IT management software built to enable customers to accelerate their digital transformation. Our solutions provide organizations worldwide—regardless of type, size, or complexity—with a comprehensive and unified view of today’s modern, distributed, and hybrid network environments. We continuously engage with IT service and operations professionals, DevOps and SecOps professionals, and database administrators (DBAs) to understand the challenges they face in maintaining high-performing and highly available hybrid IT infrastructures, applications, and environments. The insights we gain from them, in places like our community, allow us to address customers’ needs now and in the future. Our focus on the user and our commitment to excellence in end-to-end hybrid IT management have established SolarWinds as a worldwide leader in solutions for observability, IT service management, application performance, and database management. Learn more today at .

This press release contains “forward-looking” statements, which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding future features and functionality. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by terms such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “could,” “seek,” “should,” “feel,” “expect,” “will,” “would,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate,” “continue,” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties described more fully in documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2022 filed on February 22, 2023 and our Quarter Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2023 filed on May 4, 2023. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof and SolarWinds undertakes no duty to update this information except as required by law.

The SolarWinds, SolarWinds & Design, Orion, and THWACK trademarks are the exclusive property of SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC or its affiliates, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks, service marks, and logos may be common law marks or are registered or pending registration. All other trademarks mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and are trademarks of (and may be registered trademarks of) their respective companies.

© 2023 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.

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