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“Belt and Road Development” Themed Seminar was Held in Beijing, China

BEIJING, CHINA – Media OutReach – 1 November 2021 – The “Belt and Road Development” themed seminar was held on October 27 in Beijing and attended by scholars, journalists from various countries, and representatives of China’s centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The attendees remained optimistic about the future of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) despite the multiple challenges. The achievements of the BRI are inseparable from the notable contribution of China’s central SOEs. With further containment of the pandemic, these enterprises will cooperate with countries along the Belt and Road at a higher level and in a wider range of areas.

The BRI is initiated by China and has benefited the world. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, China has turned the Silk Road Spirit, i.e.”peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit”, into practical actions in the development of the Belt and Road. Over the years, the BRI has yielded fruitful results and received positive responses and enthusiastic participation from more than 100 countries and international organizations.

“The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of BRI, has transformed Pakistan’s economic landscape and helped the country solve its severe energy shortage”, Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque said via video. In this project, they are also focusing on the country’s modern industry, agriculture, science and technology, and tourism, which is highly consistent with the social and economic agenda of the Pakistani government.

“Under this framework, we have established many ongoing projects, covering economic, infrastructure, and industrial sectors, such as Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway. I’m very sure this collaboration will bring a substantial impact to Indonesia. I do hope that Chinese SOEs can play a greater role in the BRI cooperation to seize the momentum and opportunities in the post-pandemic era.” said H.E. Djauhari Oratmangun, Indonesian Ambassador to China.

Wang Yiwei, a professor of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, said that the high-quality development of the BRI can only be achieved by deepening pragmatic cooperation under the principle of extensive consultation and joint contribution.

Zhang Guobin, vice president of the Chahar Institute, believed that the BRI drives global connectivity and development. In addition to economic cooperation, Chinese central SOEs also play an important role in the field of cultural exchanges as the main force in the construction of the Belt and Road.

Ni Yueju, from the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that Chinese central SOEs have undertaken a large number of landmark projects in infrastructure construction, energy and resources development, industrial parks construction and other fields. These projects have become a splendid “Name Card of China”, and the SOEs have therefore become an important force turning the BRI into reality.

Italian jurist Stefano Porcelli said that in the Belt and Road construction, it is necessary to coordinate the laws of different countries. But it is not easy to draw up detailed international rules, because that requires taking into account the differences in values between people in different countries.

“As the pandemic has separated us from the rest of the world, it is particularly important to rebuild damaged international relations and strengthen cooperation. The BRI can help achieve this goal, and it will be more efficient to do so with the support of the media”, said Aleksei Savitskii, president of Beijing Branch of Russian media group”Rossiya Segodnya”.

In addition, representatives from some central state-owned enterprises taking an active part in the Belt and Road development also made speeches at the seminar.

This seminar is hosted by CRI Online. As a national multilingual online media for international communication, CRI Online has been committed to introducing China to the rest of the world and bolstering exchanges and cooperation between China and other countries.

 

Eureka Investment Group launches Covid Home Recovery Concierge Package in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 1 November 2021 –  Eureka Investment Group had recently launched a virtual concierge service in Singapore for their Covid Home Recovery’s clients.

 

According to the Regional Director of Eureka Investment Group – Andy Ng, “With the home recovery plan becoming the default care arrangement for everyone in Singapore, there is an increasing demand for such care and services. They are mostly foreigners relocated to Singapore.

 

As a family office service provider, Eureka Investment Group also serves their clients and families with medical concierge service in Singapore. In recent weeks, they are helping some of their clients to run errands for them as they are stuck at home recovering and needed someone whom they can call to attend to their needs including pet management, online teaching and etc.

 

With this in mind, they have partnered with Osler Health International – an official family medicine provider, to launch the “Covid Home Recovery Concierge Package” that includes online doctor consultation for client’s medical needs other than covid.

 

Andy Ng commented, “We seek to ride through this pandemic with our clients as we move towards the path of transition to a new normal living with Covid-19.”

 

About Eureka Investment Group

Eureka Investment Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd is a family office service provider registered in Singapore that serves high net-worth families from the East and West. We uphold the corporate ethos of compliance and discipline to protect our clients’ wealth for generations to come.

We are part of the Eureka International Group, a leading global multinational company with business verticals covering Real Estate Development, Financials, Bonded Warehouse and Retail & Consumer Goods.

Premised on the value of care and virtue, Eureka International Group’s worldwide operations cover Australia, New Zealand, Asia, USA and Europe, with Headquarter in Singapore, Corporate Centre in Melbourne and branches in China and Europe.

For more information, visit our website – www.eurekainvestment.com.sg

#EurekaInvestmentGroup

Thailand Includes Laos in Latest Quarantine Exemption Travel List

Thailand to reopen with Laos travel bubble

Laos has been added to a list of 63 countries and regions whose citizens may travel to Thailand without quarantine if fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Ultimaker, Imaginables and FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia collaborate to bring 3D printing to classrooms

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Media OutReach – 1 November 2021 – Ultimaker, the global leader in professional 3D printing announces a reseller partnership with FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia. This partnership seeks to supply the growing demands of educational institutions that are looking to plug the additive manufacturing (AM) skills gap and empower students to enter the workforce as leaders with an AM-ready mindset. Providing onsite technical support with a 24-hour turnaround, this leading company is offering Australian universities and educational institutions a smarter, more efficient, and cost-effective 3D printing solution to integrate into their classrooms and curriculums.

Companies continue to adopt 3D printing for prototyping, product design, and production – across a range of industries such as aerospace, automotive, defence and medical. And as AM has become globally recognized as a mainstream manufacturing technology, the demand for an AM curriculum has also increased.

Ultimaker provides an ideal platform for developing creative young minds. Combining affordability, connectivity, and advanced dual extrusion, Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle ensures a safer working environment. The Air Manager provides a closed, inside-out airflow for the Ultimaker S5 3D printer, filtering up to 95% of all ultrafine particles (UFPs) emitted during 3D printing. With the build chamber and material spools safely inside, users can enjoy peace of mind and a safer workplace.

Mr Benjamin Tan, Vice President of Ultimaker Asia Pacific commented, “Our trusted distributor in Australia, Imaginables, signalled a growing need for enhanced support services for the educational sector and I believe together with FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia, we can deliver a turnkey holistic 3D printing curriculum to better support Australian educators in their printing needs.”

“We are extremely excited to partner with Ultimaker as it enables us to broaden our technology offering to our current Education customers, offering a complementary solution that meets the needs of students along with providing 3D curriculum support for educators in the classroom. With our existing expertise and knowledge in the education space, the addition of Ultimaker will help educators nurture the STEAM professionals of tomorrow. Ultimately, the partnership helps us deliver upon our company values and customer promise of both innovation and exceptional value,” says Tony O’Connor, Chief Sales Officer, FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia. 

About Ultimaker

Since 2011, Ultimaker has built an open and easy-to-use solution of 3D printers, software, and materials that enable professional designers and engineers to innovate every day. Today, Ultimaker is the market leader in desktop 3D printing. From offices in the Netherlands, New York, Boston, and Singapore – plus production facilities in Europe and the US – its global team of over 400 employees work together to accelerate the world’s transition to digital distribution and local manufacturing. Ultimaker.com

#Ultimaker

About FUJIFILM Business Innovation

FUJIFILM Business Innovation is committed to continue offering innovations to businesses globally to help maximise their organisational strengths. We have pioneered numerous technologies and accumulated expertise since our establishment as Fuji Xerox in 1962, to build an environment that encourages the use of one’s creativity by effectively adopting information and knowledge. As a U.S. 9-billion-dollar enterprise with approximately 40,000 employees globally, our portfolio includes conducting R&D, manufacturing and sales of world-class multifunction printers, production printers and IT solutions, as well as business process outsourcing services. On April 1, 2021, FUJIFILM Business Innovation changed its name from Fuji Xerox to a name that embodies its commitment to continue as a company that always pursues business innovation. https://fujifilm.com/fbau

About Imaginables

Imaginables is the official distributor of Ultimaker in Australia. Established since 2013, Imaginables have been supplying and supporting Australian customers with the latest 3D printing and digital fabrication technology from Ultimaker. Headquartered in Melbourne, Imaginables service customers throughout Australia directly and via its extensive Authorised Ultimaker Reseller Network in all states and territories. https://imaginables.com.au

Laos Extends Covid Restriction Measures With View to Reopening Schools

Vientiane, Laos by night (Photo: Hotels.com)
Vientiane, Laos by night (Photo: Hotels.com)

 

The Government of Laos has extended Covid-19 restriction measures but has included provisions for the reopening of schools in the near future.

Luang Prabang Relaxes Lockdown Measures

Luang Prabang eases lockdown measures
(Photo: Evensong Film)

 

Luang Prabang City is to ease its unpopular lockdown measures, which many residents say were overly strict.

Laos Confirms 858 New Cases of Covid-19

Covid-19 update in Laos

 

Laos has recorded 858 new cases of Covid-19 across the country today with a new outbreak in Luang Namtha.

Evergrande technically defaulted, forcing HSBC and other international banks to write off 197 billion US dollars

BERLIN, GERMANY – Newsaktuell – 29 October 2021 – For the second time in a week, China Evergrande Group has apparently technically defaulted on interest payments to international investors. This further manifests the bankruptcy of the real estate developer. The real estate group has accumulated a mountain of debt totaling $305 billion. In the eight weeks to the end of the year alone, nearly $338 million in interest will be due. Should the Evergrande insolvency not only drag down China’s real estate sector, but the entire economy of the country, we will see even bankruptcies of major international banks – such as HSBC, fears DMSA senior analyst Dr. Marco Metzler.

Today, the grace period for overdue interest of $47.5 million on an off-shore bond issued by the second largest real estate developer in China ended. But there has been no official confirmation of any payment of that interest by the close of business at Hong Kong banks. There are only unconfirmed media reports about an interest payment that is said to have been instructed today. However, Evergrande has not officially confirmed this payment yet. No wonder, for example, that a recent report in the Financial Times today doubts that the money has actually paid to creditors. “This is basically the same game as a week ago,” notes DMSA senior analyst Dr. Marco Metzler.

Even for the overdue interest payment on October 23 in the volume of about $83 million, there is still no official confirmation from investors. “Even our inquiries to affected investors since then did not bring any confirmation for the interest receipt,” explains DMSA senior analyst Dr. Marco Metzler. (Note to editors: See also our press release of 25.10.2021) “Thus, the bankruptcy has apparently already technically occurred,” analyzes Metzler. The developer had already previously given no more information on whether it can still avoid a payment default. Efforts to raise further capital have also largely failed. For example, the plan to sell a majority stake in its real estate management subsidiary.

Behind the scenes, negotiations were hectic until the very end. According to news agency Bloomberg, Evergrande representatives met with affected bond investors in New York at 4 p.m. local time on Oct. 28. In the talks, institutional creditors requested information on the status of real estate projects, liquidity and asset valuations, informed sources said. The meeting ended without an official result, but with a commitment to make interest payments. The result was published by the New York Times still yesterday and taken up by the media as if the payments had already been made. However, this is not the case so far.

The developer defaulted on three coupon payment rounds in September and October totaling nearly $280 million. However, a 30-day grace period is still running in some cases. Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 28, a total of coupon payments on offshore bonds with an interest volume of nearly $338 million are now due.

In Dr. Metzler’s view, the Evergrande case also throws a spotlight on Beijing: “The Chinese state is clearly not interested in bailing out for the international debts of Chinese corporations.” He says this is evidenced, for example, by the fact that China’s financial market regulator summoned all property developers to a meeting this week and called on them to repay their international debts themselves.

And that’s where things come in: A study by rating agency Standard & Poor’s dated Oct. 27, 2021, shows that China’s real estate developers alone are due to redeem paper with a face value of $40 billion by the end of the year. According to a study by Goldman Sachs, the foreign debts of Chinese real estate developers total around 197 billion US dollars.

“Given such volumes and the low creditworthiness of many Chinese real estate developers, it is to be expected that interest and redemption of the international bonds issued by Chinese real estate developers will almost completely default,” warns Metzler. “Especially since there are hardly any possibilities to collect the debts in China.”

It is true that an agreement between Beijing and Hong Kong (Mutual recognition and assistance to insolvency proceedings) has been in place since May 14, 2021, which is intended to make it easier for foreign creditors to enforce their asset claims even in China itself when Hong Kong companies – like Evergrande – stumble. However, doubts are now growing as to whether this bilateral framework is sufficient to protect the claims of institutional foreign creditors in the case of Evergrande, whose holding company is incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

“The Evergrande bankruptcy case is extremely complex with domiciliary company in Cayman Islands as holding company and assets in China. In the end, there will be little to nothing left for bondholders,” predicts DMSA expert Dr. Metzler, referring to his former employer, rating agency Fitch, which had already downgraded the group’s credit rating to C at the end of September, assigning a recovery rating of RR6 for outstanding bonds. Fitch therefore assumes that in the event of Evergrande’s bankruptcy, only zero to ten percent of the capital invested by bond investors would be returned to them. Assuming an average return of five percent, international investors would have to immediately write off around $22.5 billion in the event of an Evergrande insolvency, as Metzler demonstrated in detail in its study “The Great Reset – Evergrande and the Final Meltdown of the Global Financial System” dated Oct. 24, 2021. (Note to editors: This study also includes a list of Evergrande’s international creditors along with the amount of outstanding principal).

But it may not stop at $22.5 billion in write-downs. In the meantime, DMSA senior analyst Metzler considers it quite possible that Evergrande could drag China’s entire real estate sector down with it. This could have serious implications for major international banks such as HSBC. According to their figures for the third quarter of 2021, Hong Kong’s largest bank alone has extended loans totaling 19.6 billion U.S. dollars to Chinese real estate groups. Assuming a recovery rate of five percent in the event of an industry-wide wave of bankruptcies triggered by Evergrande, HSBC alone would have to write off around USD 18 billion.

 

If one also considers the limited possibilities of international banks to access assets in China (see above), there is much more at stake for HSBC: the default of the entire portfolio of Chinese corporate loans. And that, after all, is worth around $196 billion. “Such immense lending to Chinese companies, without a guaranteed possibility of accessing collateral in China itself in the event of bankruptcy, is irresponsible in my view,” says financial expert Metzler. With a return of five percent, HSBC would have to write off around 186 billion dollars in this case. That would correspond to almost the entire equity capital of the bank. And would probably lead immediately to its bankruptcy. This would make HSBC a victim of the Chinese financial virus, which would then spread rapidly throughout the international financial markets. “The Great Reset – the final meltdown of the current global financial system – has long since ceased to be a purely intellectual thought experiment,” concludes Dr. Metzler.

 

Please find more information and the research report at www.dmsa-agentur.de

 

About DMSA Deutsche Markt Screening Agentur GmbH:

DMSA Deutsche Markt Screening Agentur GmbH, is an independent data service that collects and evaluates market-relevant information on companies, products and services. DMSA sees itself as an advocate for consumers, private customers and intelligent investors. The claim: to always look at companies and providers, products and services through the eyes of the customers. The customers are the focus of DMSA’s work. For them, important and decision-relevant information is bundled and presented as market screenings. The aim is to create more transparency for consumers when selecting products, investments and services.

#DMSA