• Seven key actions enable a sustainable energy future
• Carbon-neutrality is paramount for the long-term economic prosperity of the region
• Event partners included German Chambers of Commerce Abroad, Asia-Pacific Hydrogen Association, Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit, Masdar, and Siemens Gamesa
• More than 2,500 participants joined in the virtual discussions over two days.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 12 March 2021 – Regional and global business leaders, policy makers and government representatives throughout the energy sector convened at the Asia Pacific Energy Week to discuss regional challenges and opportunities. Themed ‘Shaping the Energy of Tomorrow’, the 2-day virtual event held from March 9 to 10, 2021 saw more than 2,500 participants actively engage in the discussions, opinion polls and questions. The primary objective focused on fostering an ecosystem of collaboration and co-creation between stakeholders to help meet the world’s sustainability goals, boost economic growth, create new jobs and industries, improve human welfare and attain carbon neutrality by 2050.

Over the two days, the thought leaders in diverse panel sessions deliberated and arrived at 7 key trends for a successful transition towards a sustainable energy future.

1. Access to reliable, affordable and sustainable energy supply is a necessity for economic growth
2. Ramp up the contribution of renewable energy for long-term sustainability
3. Utilize technology for efficient and cleaner use of energy
4. Embrace emerging and cleaner energy resources like Green Hydrogen
5. Digitalization and AI-driven technologies will form the core of a future-proof and efficient transmission system
6. Access to sustainable, competitive capital will accelerate the energy transformation journey
7. Collaboration among stakeholders is imperative for the transformation of the energy landscape

“As the world’s fastest growing economic region today, Asia Pacific is witnessing increasing urbanization, rising population and monumental energy needs. With Asia Pacific accounting for more than half of global energy consumption, and with 10% of the population still lacking access to basic electricity, the question is how to bridge into an affordable, reliable and sustainable power supply, while improving energy access,” said Christian Bruch, President and CEO, Siemens Energy.

With prices of renewables declining and with grid stabilization technology advancing, ramping up the contribution of renewable sources makes economic sense and will also drive long-term sustainability for the region. Governments can contribute with policies and regulations driving this change, and the industry could translate emerging business strategies into practical busines models, develop reliable projects and drive technological innovations. To accelerate the energy transition, all stakeholders must join forces and work towards the transformation.

Audience engagement also revealed some vital insights on energy transition:

• More than 45% of the participants indicated that cost was a major hurdle followed by willingness for energy transition at nearly 25%
• Over 66% identified renewable integration as the most impactful decarbonization element
• 48% voted that a breakthrough in energy storage will accelerate energy transition
• 75% of participants would be willing to pay a premium for CO2 free energy, and
• Policy and regulation will be a key motivator.

The event was organized in collaboration with the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHK); the Asia-Pacific Hydrogen Association; the Global Manufacturing and Industrialization Summit (GMIS); Masdar – a global leader in renewable energy and sustainable urban development which is wholly-owned by the Abu Dhabi government’s Mubadala Investment Company, and Siemens Gamesa.

Recordings of the sessions can be accessed by registered accounts here: https://live.apweek.siemens-energy-events.com

This press release and further material is available at https://press.siemens-energy.com/global/en/pressrelease/asia-pacific-energy-leaders-identify-seven-key-trends-sustainable-energy-future

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Seven key trends for a sustainable energy future

1. Access to reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy supply is a necessity for economic growth

“In the Philippines, about 95% of society is energized. The biggest issue for us is the affordability of tariffs followed by concerns of energy security as our energy infrastructure is in the hands of the private sector. Therefore, we need to find the balance between accessibility, affordability, and sustainability. As regards to our country’s sustainable future, we have issued a moratorium for green power plants. We have also signed various MoUs to develop Hydrogen solutions and are looking at the electrolysis technology for power generation.”

H.E. Alfonso G. Cusi

Energy Secretary, Department of Energy (Philippines)

2. Ramp up the contribution of renewables for long-term sustainability

“Under our National Grand Energy Strategy, we hope to bring more renewable into the energy system of about 23% of the energy mix by 2025, its equivalent to additional 38GW renewable powerplant by 2035. We have a lot of resources that are fossil-based such as coal deposits, oil and natural gas as well as enormous renewable potential are our primary energy sources. In the next 10 years, we want to leverage on technology to build up capacity and infrastructure including 18 priority transmissions, 7 smart grid projects and renewable energy. Another program to reduce petroleum consumption, we have about 5,200 diesel power plants right now scattered across 2,130 locations in Indonesia and we are serious on the journey of converting diesel plants to renewable energy to possibly reduce up to 0.7mil tonnes of carbon emissions.”

H.E. Arifin Tasrif

Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources (Indonesia)

3. Utilize technology for efficient and cleaner use of energy

“Asia Pacific is not only the fastest growing region but also the fastest transforming market. With more than 50% of our portfolio based on decarbonized technology and over 20% revenue generated from Asia Pacific, Siemens Energy has been — and will be — committed to supporting countries on their individual paths toward decarbonization. We drive the shift from nuclear and coal to gas and provide grid technologies to support the integration of renewables.”

Dr Jochen Eickholt

Member of the Executive Board, Siemens Energy AG

4. Embrace emerging and cleaner energy resources like Green Hydrogen

“We see green hydrogen as a key means to achieving this ambition (of wanting to export our renewable energy to the world) and firmly believe that South Australia can become a hydrogen supplier of choice to the Asia-Pacific region. We have been a leader within Australia with our vision to become a world-class hydrogen supplier – as the first Australian jurisdiction to showcase our hydrogen vision through the 2017 Hydrogen Roadmap, and which was reinforced by the release of our Hydrogen Action Plan in 2019. The action plan outlines 20 specific actions across five important themes, with the objective of scaling-up renewable hydrogen production for domestic consumption and international export.”

Hon Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP
South Australian Minister for Energy and Mining

5. Digitalization and AI-driven intelligence will form the core of a future-proof and efficient transmission system

“Digitalization is the definition of the future. Utilities will stand to gain exponential benefits from digital solutions. On our end, digitalization helped us to maximize our asset management and performance especially during the pandemic, to support decision-making and analytics in addressing the changing loads of our distribution transformers. There are ample technical solutions that we can ride on but these require capital investment that requires regulatory approvals, and close collaboration with stakeholders on what projects to pursue and prioritize. In order to drive execution to become much cheaper, we will need the strong support from regulators and the government, as well as a close collaboration within the energy sector. The power to make Mother Earth a better place is in our hands.”

Ronnie L. Aperocho

Senior Vice President, Networks Meralco Philippines

6. Access to capital at reasonable costs will accelerate the energy transition journey

“To successfully drive the transformation of energy systems worldwide, sufficient financial resources are needed. Take Europe, where we need an estimated €30 trillion by 2050 to decarbonize all our systems. To accomplish this mammoth task, private capital is needed, as well as the appropriate political framework conditions. Again, it’s all about collaboration. The good news here — this is growing enormously.”

Christian Bruch

President and CEO, Siemens Energy AG

“In my view, achieving any nett zero carbon goals will require a complete supply chain of understanding, collaboration and agreement between the different parties, namely, legislators, government and consumers. The conversion from fossil fuel to renewable energy requires political will, legislations and policies in place, the willingness to push for change and agreement of consumers to pay a higher premium (with renewables). For power generators like TNB, we are more than happy to support and transform if there is some subsidy to defray the costs of our investment. As the audience poll suggested, more than 70% of popular opinion believes that policies and regulations provide the most impact to decarbonization. For Malaysia, solar will be the most sought -after renewable source followed by wind power, while battery storage will be the game changer of the energy of the future.”

Dato’ Nor Azman bin Mufti,

Managing Director, TNB Power Generation

7. Collaboration among stakeholders is imperative for transformation of the energy landscape

“To get to a sustainable energy future we have to join forces. Public sector and private sector must work in tandem for two main reasons. First, private sector capital will accelerate investment and there is a need for more public-private partnerships. Second, companies will translate emerging business strategies into viable business models, developing bankable projects and driving technological innovations. IRENA continues working with all stakeholders to accelerate energy transitions around the world.”

Francesco La Camera

Director General, The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

Home Prices Expected to Rise by 5% in Q2

• Residential market remained most active with total transactions rising by 69% y-o-y for January and February combined, and expected to jump by 73% y-o-y in Q1
• Investment into non-residential properties continues pickup commencing in Q4 2020, with retail and industrial properties remaining most favoured

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 11 March 2021 – Strengthened market sentiment helped boost Hong Kong real estate market growth in Q1, unleashing pent-up demand and transactions in both residential and investment markets. The wealth effect was amplified by the stabilizing COVID-19 situation locally and the eagerly awaited roll-out of a vaccination program, both considered prerequisites for sustained economic recovery.

Residential Market

The Q1 period displayed a major rebound in the residential market, driven mainly by the cash-rich condition of local buyers. Total Sales and Purchase Agreements (S&Ps) rose 66% y-o-y to 14,200 cases in the first two months of Q1 2021, while residential transactions leapt 69% y-o-y to 10,687 cases in the same January — February period. For March 2021, we expect the total S&Ps would go up to 9,000 cases, bringing the quarterly figure to 23,200 cases. This represents a remarkable growth of 74% y-o-y, or 7% increase q-o-q.

Amidst the fourth wave of COVID-19, home prices dropped in the face of surging confirmed cases between December 2020 and January 2021. Taking Taikoo Shing as an example, the average price declined by 8.3% during the period. In February, with early arrival of vaccines, strong pent-up demand from predominantly Hong Kong buyers, a booming stock market and other positive factors, transaction volume and home prices quickly bottomed out and began to rebound (Chart 1).

The market is adapting to the post-pandemic new normal. From a macro perspective, the market is currently imbued with healthier fundamentals compared with previous periods of market turmoil as a result of the SARS outbreak, the global financial crisis, and other disruptors (Chart 2).

Mr Alva To, Cushman & Wakefield’s Vice President, Greater China & Head of Consulting, Greater China, commented, “The wealth effect is being driven especially by gains from the stock market, quantitative easing measures, and a high 90% loan-to-value ratio, and the rebound in property sales is now in a growth momentum. The residential market is rebounding faster than expected, and we expect home price to rise by 5% in Q2 2021. However, we would advise buyers to remain cautious on the economic fundamentals throughout 2021. With the unemployment rate at 7% by January 2021, and is still increasing with high speed, this will seriously impact on the purchasing power and intention to purchase. Moreover, an anticipated overall economic recovery in the second half of 2021 may also be impacted by the still rocky U.S.-China relationship and local and geopolitical uncertainties.”

Investment Market

Investment sentiment has been on a recovery track since Q4 2020, following the rescinding of the Double Stamp Duty (DSD) requirement on non-residential properties (Chart 3). The recovery momentum sustained the performance of the investment market in Q1 2021, with retail and industrial properties remaining the most sought-after asset classes over the near term. Investments into the hotel sector remained muted with the continuation of border closures between Hong Kong and mainland China and the rest of the world. Yet, with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases subsiding and stabilizing, anticipation for a full opening of regional and international travel may encourage tourism and retail recovery in the short-run.

Mr Tom Ko, Cushman & Wakefield’s Executive Director, Capital Markets, Hong Kong, concluded, “Major investment transactions (transactions over HK$ 100 million) are expected to remain at a similar level of Q4 2020. Luxury residential transactions still contributed to 61% of total investment volume, as a result of the favourable loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for property investment. The abolition of DSD on non-residential property investments, on the other hand, has facilitated investment into retail spaces and industrial assets in Q1. With these favourable factors, together with the recent pilot scheme to standardize land premium and the influx of deep-pocketed global real estates’ funds in Hong Kong, we expect an even more positive market trend to prevail in the upcoming quarter.”

Click HERE to download high-resolution photos of the Cushman & Wakefield press conference.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value for real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with approximately 50,000 employees in over 400 offices and 60 countries. Across Greater China, 22 offices are servicing the local market. The company won four of the top awards in the Euromoney Survey 2017, 2018 and 2020 in the categories of Overall, Agency Letting/Sales, Valuation and Research in China. In 2020, the firm had revenue of $7.8 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services. To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com.hk or follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/cushman-&-wakefield-greater-china).

With the aspiration to create a world-class university and be among the top 50 young universities in the next 30 years, VinUniversity has announced its goal to attract excellent students from all countries to Viet Nam. This is a breakthrough in the quality of education and marks its initial effort to compete with international universities.

HANOI, VIETNAM – Media OutReach – 11 March 2021 – On March 11, VinUniversity announced the opening of a ‘Special Admission Round’ for international students and talented Vietnamese students with international recognition. Accordingly, candidates for this round include (1) Excellent students from all countries in the world; (2) Vietnamese or international students who have won medals at national or international science Olympiads; (3) Vietnamese or international students who have been recognised and admitted by prestigious universities all over the world.

It is an important and consistent action to affirm the desire of VinUniversity to make a breakthrough in the quality of education and to create direct competition with international universities.

This Special Admission Round is opened to better accommodate international and talented candidates. Specifically, the initial application process is exempted and candidates can directly move on to the interview round with the Admissions Council of VinUniversity. There is a commitment that applicants will be assessed quickly and comprehensively according to the Special Admissions Process called 5-5-5:

With the intention of attracting excellent international students to Vietnam, in the 2021-2022 academic year, VinUniversity has implemented an International Fellowship programme exclusively for international candidates, with financial aid from 50-80 per cent of tuition costs, depending on the needs of each candidate.

In addition, with the strong and long-term commitment of Vingroup, VinUniversity continues the policy of supporting students with 35 per cent of tuition costs, equivalent to about US$12,000 — 14,000 per year for the entire duration of their studies at the university. International and Vietnamese students who demonstrate outstanding talent will be awarded merit-based scholarships valued at up to 90 per cent and 100 per cent of tuition costs. Exceptional talents will be granted full scholarships that cover 100 per cent of tuition costs and living expenses. In addition to the generous scholarship policy, VinUniversity also continues the Financial Aid programme covering from 50 to 80 per cent of tuition fees.

Recently, VinUniversity has taken many strategic moves toward the goal of becoming a world-class university. The most important move is the strategic partnership from the beginning of university construction with Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania, two of the top 20 universities in the world. In the first year of operations, VinUniversity received a 5-star rating from the prestigious university ranking organisation Quacquarelli Symonds (QS – UK) in three areas: Facilities, Academic Development, and Inclusiveness. VinUniversity has also reached bilateral co-operation agreements on academic, faculty and student exchange with well-known universities, namely the University of Technology Sydney (Australia), Yonsei University (South Korea) and The University of Western Ontario (Canada). In particular, the Provost, Vice Provost, Dean of the College of Health Sciences were honoured to be in the top 2 per cent of the world’s most cited scholars according to the latest publication of the Journal of PLOS Biology (USA) 2020. Simultaneously, 100 per cent of professors and faculties of VinUniversity graduated from and/or have teaching experience at leading universities in the world.

In terms of enrollment, 230 students of the first intake in 2020-2021 are excellent individuals with grade point average at the end of high school, equivalent to the top 2.5 per cent of the country, average IELTS bands at 7.15 and average SAT score at 1.411 which is in the top 5 per cent of the world. Nearly 20 per cent of the students have won prizes in national and international Olympiads and other prestigious competitions and 100 per cent of students actively participate in extracurricular activities as well as community projects. VinUniversity has also received a great number of applications from international students. A selective number of excellent students from Japan, South Korea and Philippines have been admitted by the university.

About VinUniversity

VinUniversity is the private, not-for-profit university directly under Vingroup, established with the mission of becoming a University of Excellence, in order to make a breakthrough in the quality of Vietnamese higher education towards world-class standards. In the first year of operation, VinUniversity has just been awarded a QS 5-star rating by the prestigious university ranking organisation Quacquarelli Symonds (QS – UK) in 3 areas: Facilities, Academic Development and Inclusiveness.

In the academic year 2021-2022, VinUniversity will enroll students for three disciplines: Business and Management, Health Sciences, Engineering and Computer Science; and continue to recruit graduate medical residents in Internal medicine, Pediatrics and General surgery. VinUniversity has multidimensional admission and comprehensive evaluation based on application and created our own unique admission model based on AACC criteria (outstanding Ability, Aspiration, Creativity, Commitment).