Singapore based Wateroam’s winning pitch showcased portable water filters to provide safe drinking water to communities in rural and disaster-hit regions

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 27 June 2023 – Prudence Foundation, the community investment arm of Prudential plc, together with Humanitarian Partner International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), cloud services provider Amazon Web Services (AWS), and tech media platform e27, have announced the winners of the third edition of the SAFE STEPS Disaster Tech (D-Tech) Awards.

Wateroam, from Singapore took home the grand prize of US$50,000 while LivingWaters Systems and Kinetic Analysis Corporation, both from the United States, emerged as the first and second runner-ups respectively winning US$30,000 and US$20,000. They were selected from a record 110 applications from around the world and competed with three more finalists in the final round, which took place at the Echelon Asia Summit in Singapore on June 15. The top six finalists participated in a live pitch during the summit in front of a judging panel and will each receive US$10,000 of AWS Credits.

Over the past decade, 83 per cent of all disasters were caused by extreme weather and climate-related events such as floods, storms, and heatwaves, directly affecting 1.7 billion people[1].

With the increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters, communities are more vulnerable than before. Technology innovation has an essential role to play in understanding and solving the risks confronting people globally.

Marc Fancy, Executive Director of the Prudence Foundation, said, “The application of disaster technology can save lives before, during and after natural disaster events. Through the SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards, our goal is to provide a platform to encourage entrepreneurship and investment to drive scale, sustainability and speed in D-Tech innovation and application.”

The applications showcased a wide range of solutions ranging from early warning systems robotics, communications and connectivity, shelters, water supply and medical aid, to post disaster community support. They were evaluated on a number of criteria including problem-solution fit, business model, potential impact or market size, and organization profile.

Wateroam’s mission is to provide vulnerable communities better access to safe and clean drinking water. In disaster-hit regions, their portable water filters remove harmful pathogens to create safe drinking water in seconds.

Jaron Lim, Sales Director from Wateroam, said, “Being part of the D-Tech Awards and emerging as the winner was a great experience and a rewarding testament to the hard work we have put in over the years. As we move towards smarter technology and increased accountability of our impact, the funding that we have received will really support our research and development efforts in this area and also allow us to scale our impact to more areas affected by disasters.”

Juja Kim, Deputy Regional Director for Asia Pacific, IFRC, said, “IFRC is honoured to be part of this initiative by Prudence Foundation. In this digital age, it is paramount that we utilize the strengths and creativity of individuals and organizations in coming up with solutions to address the challenges brought by disasters, both natural and man-made in nature. We drive the same in the IFRC by innovating our approaches to prepare and respond better, meeting the varying needs of the affected population in every emergency.”

Samuel Harris, Public Sector Startup Lead, Asia Pacific and Japan at AWS, said, “Startups are answering the clarion call for disaster aid with their launch of innovative solutions to help communities respond to natural disaster events. This year’s winners have inspired us with their passion in this field and AWS shares the same vision to make a difference to disaster recovery and mitigation efforts. We are committed to helping this year’s winners through the AWS Activate program which seeks to provide startups with access to our tools, business and technical support and AWS credits, to build and scale their disaster recovery solutions on AWS to reach and serve communities that might need aid, including rural and remote areas.”

Thaddeus Koh, Co-founder of 27, said, “e27 is proud to be a strategic partner of this important initiative. The SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards has successfully highlighted the immense potential of utilizing technology for good and sparked numerous meaningful discussions on disaster tech. Leveraging our innovative tech ecosystem platform, we are delighted to witness the tremendous support garnered for the program from various stakeholders in our community. We firmly believe that recognizing the problem at hand is just the beginning, and maintaining momentum is the key; by acknowledging the importance of these issues and generating momentum for potential solutions, we can drive substantial change and make a lasting difference.”

For more information about the 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards, visit https://safesteps.com/d-tech/about-dtech

APPENDIX

Winners of the 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards

Company	Cash Prizes from Prudence Foundation	Product Credits from AWS
Winner: Wateroam	US$50,000	Up to US$ 10,000 each in AWS cloud credits.
1st Runner-up: LivingWaters Systems LLC	US$30,000
2nd Runner-up: Kinetic Analysis Corporation	US$20,000
Consolation x3: Castomize Technologies H3Dynamics QUICKBLOCK Ltd.	US$12,500 each

Finalists of the 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards

1. Castomize Technologies (Singapore)
New med-tech startup that uses proprietary advanced manufacturing methods to create orthopaedic casts that are lighter, stronger, and more comfortable.

2. Doh Eain Ltd. (Myanmar/Singapore)
Preserves heritage, improves public spaces and organises activities that connect people with places, employing a user-centered, participatory approach. In doing this they aim to inspire and enable people to participate in re-shaping their city while retaining cultural heritage.

3. H3 dynamics (France)
Enables Advanced Air Mobility with a three-pronged approach that starts with digitization, leading to solutions around autonomous operations, enhances flight autonomy with hydrogen propulsion.

4. Kacific Broadband Satellites Ltd. (Singapore)
Next-generation broadband satellite operator providing access to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband services across Asia and the Pacific. Its services foster greater internet usage, fuel economic growth, and improve the delivery of critical services.

5. Kinetic Analysis Corporation (USA)
Uses complex numerical modeling and advanced statistical analysis to simulate and predict the interactions between hazards and development, and creates information to support the planning process, enabling decision makers to strike an appropriate balance in this complex arena.

6. Komunidad Global (Singapore)
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company focusing on weather and environmental intelligence information services

7. LivingWaters Systems LLC (USA)
Its simple and versatile rainwater harvesting units capture, filter, and store a renewable supply of clean water for consumers right at their doorsteps.

8. QUICKBLOCK Ltd. (Scotland)
QuickBlock is a flat-packed, interlocking building system made from 100% recycled plastic. They are on a mission to provide a sustainable building solution to solve a variety of problems, reducing waste and contributing to a circular economy.

9. SI Analytics (Republic of Korea)
AI-based satellite data analytics solution company.

10. Wateroam (Singapore)
A water innovation enterprise that develops portable water filters to provide safe drinking water to communities in rural and disaster-hit regions.

Hashtag: #Prudential

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

About the SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards

The SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards looks to find, fund and support technology solutions which protects and saves lives before, during or after natural disaster events. The SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards were created out of the belief that technological innovation has a significant role to play in improving disaster preparedness, recovery and resilience. This need is especially magnified in Asia Pacific where half of the world’s natural disaster events occur.

Now in its third edition, the Awards look to continue the work in catalysing a network of support, raising awareness of the sector, and helping the remarkable companies that operate in this space grow and scale.

The 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards are created by Prudence Foundation and supported by humanitarian partner: the IFRC, technology partner: AWS, and strategic partner: e27.

About Prudence Foundation

Prudence Foundation is the community investment arm of Prudential plc in Asia and Africa. Its mission is to create a better future for communities by making them safer and more resilient to life’s risks. The Foundation runs regional programmes as well as local programmes in partnership with NGOs, governments and the private sector in order to maximise the impact of its efforts. Prudence Foundation leverages Prudential’s long term mindset and geographical scale to make communities safer, more secure and more resilient. The Foundation is a Hong Kong registered charitable entity.

For more information please visit: www.prudencefoundation.com

About IFRC

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian network, comprising 192 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies working to save lives, build community resilience, strengthen localization and promote dignity around the world.

For more information, please visit: Homepage | IFRC and twitter.com/IFRCAsiaPacific

About e27

Founded in 2007, e27 has a strong mandate to give all entrepreneurs a winning chance to succeed; providing them with relevant tools and resources to build and scale their companies in Asia’s tech ecosystem. e27 provides a go-to platform for connections, insights, funding, and more. Everything you would need to build a billion-dollar company.

For more information, please visit: https://e27.co/

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 27 June 2023 – Kerry Logistics Network Limited (‘Kerry Logistics Network’, ‘KLN’; Stock Code 0636.HK) was named the Excellence in Third-Party Logistics at the Hong Kong Economic Times (‘HKET’) Excellence Awards 2023 (the ‘Awards’) for its diversified supply chain solutions and exceptional service.

KLN was commended for its significant achievements and contributions in the area of professional services towards the economic and social development of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area in 2022. During the year, KLN launched a new international e-commerce express solution from Hong Kong to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand for SMEs, as well as a customised home delivery service for patient medication when Hong Kong was hit by the fifth wave of the COVID outbreak. It also set an example as a sustainable business, by pioneering as the first logistics company in Hong Kong to deploy electric trucks.

Ellis Cheng, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Kerry Logistics Network, said, “As a global 3PL rooted in Hong Kong, we make the best efforts in contributing to the local and regional communities. We are grateful to HKET for recognising the role we play in providing the services essential to daily lives, as we work to create more value for our shareholders. With sustainability at the heart of what we do, we hope to be at the forefront of moving towards a net zero world.”

Organised by HKET, a leading financial media in Hong Kong, the Awards aim to recognise companies of distinction and drive sustainable development of local enterprises. The winners are selected by a panel of judges based on four criteria, namely, philosophy and value proposition, strategy and implementation, achievements and contributions, as well as future vision and plans, in addition to a tally of votes by the general public.

Hashtag: #KerryLogisticsNetwork

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

About Kerry Logistics Network Limited (Stock Code 0636.HK)

Kerry Logistics Network is an Asia-based, global 3PL with a highly diversified business portfolio and the strongest coverage in Asia. It offers a broad range of supply chain solutions from integrated logistics, international freight forwarding (air, ocean, road, rail and multimodal), e-commerce and express to industrial project logistics and infrastructure investment.

With a global presence across 59 countries and territories, Kerry Logistics Network has established a solid foothold in half of the world’s emerging markets. Its diverse infrastructure, extensive coverage in international gateways and local expertise span across the Mainland of China, India, Southeast Asia, the CIS, Middle East, LATAM and other locations.

Kerry Logistics Network generated a revenue of over HK$86.6 billion in 2022. It is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as well as a constituent of the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Benchmark Index.

About the Hong Kong Economic Times Excellence Awards

Organised by Hong Kong Economic Times (HKET), the “HKET Excellence Awards 2023” recognise enterprises with outstanding performance, exceptional contributions and achievements towards the economic or social development of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area in the previous year. At the same time, the Awards hope to foster industrial peers’ mutual motivation, so as to promote the sustainable development of local enterprises and enhancement of product and service quality in a professional and innovative manner.

• 86 percent of disaster losses uninsured
• Floods were costliest peril for the third consecutive year, accounting for more than 61 percent of total economic loss

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 27 June 2023 – Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today published its 2023 Weather, Climate and Catastrophe Report: Asia Pacific Insights, which identifies Asia Pacific (APAC) and global natural disaster and climate trends to help make better decisions to manage volatility and enhance resilience. The report reveals that natural disasters in the Asia Pacific region in 2022 caused a USD 80 billion economic loss — of which only USD 11 billion was covered by insurance.

The report shows that 2022 was the fifth costliest year on record for insurers globally, with six of the top 10 events happening in Asia Pacific. Flooding remained a recurring threat with annual losses exceeding USD 30 billion every year since 2010. Pakistan, India, southern China and South Korea saw record rain and significant flooding in 2022. Floods in Pakistan were the costliest event for the peril, tied with seasonal flood losses in China, which were at their highest since 2016. The only two geophysical disasters that cost approximately USD 1 billion in economic losses in 2022 were the March Fukushima Earthquake in Japan and September Sichuan Earthquake in China.

The report also highlights that approximately 31,300 people lost their lives due to global natural catastrophe events in 2022, with Asia Pacific accounting for approximately 4,000 deaths. The number of fatalities from tropical cyclones was also at its lowest in at least 66 years. This is not only a result of below-average activity, but also improved disaster response and adaptation measures. Tropical cyclone losses in Asia Pacific dropped to one of the lowest with accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) scores in the northwest Pacific and north Indian oceans reaching their fifth and fourth lowest values since 1991, respectively.

George Attard, chief executive officer, Reinsurance Solutions, Asia Pacific at Aon said, “The extreme weather in the region throughout the year highlights the continuing need to strengthen resilience by adopting effective adaptation and risk management strategies. This includes improved mitigation through warning systems and advanced analytics that help assess the potential impact of events and enhance disaster response. There is an increasing need for organisations to shift to a data-driven and analytical approach to address and navigate emerging and evolving risks, build a resilient workforce, have access to new forms of capital, as well as scalable innovative solutions regardless of their size. The data, statistics and analytics of this report are intended to help organisations understand natural disaster and extreme weather trends, quantify and qualify issues influencing catastrophe risk, and make better decisions to protect and grow their business.”

Further findings of the 2023 Weather, Climate and Catastrophe Report: APAC Insights include:

• Nearly 86 percent of economic losses in the region are not covered by insurance.
• Flood losses continued to maintain dominance as the costliest peril for the third consecutive year, accounting for more than 61 percent of the total economic loss. Much of the flood losses in 2022 occurred in South Asia, where the protection gap remains very high as flood insurance cover is not widespread.
• In recent years, flooding has been prominent in terms of economic losses, partly from continuing La Niña conditions, which drove prolific rainfall in Sydney, Australia, Sindh, Pakistan and Meghalaya, India, increasing risks of deadly landslides and/or overflowing rivers.
• High temperatures affected India and Pakistan early in March 2022. In India, it was the hottest March on record since 1901.
• In Japan, a record number of people were admitted to hospitals due to heatwaves, which followed an early end to the plum rain season. China had its second driest summer and most extensive and longest heatwave on record.
• Monsoonal floods in Pakistan had a far-reaching humanitarian impact on the country, with 1,739 lives lost and over 33 million people affected. Ongoing impacts were felt through acute malnutrition or waterborne diseases such as typhoid, diarrhea and malaria. Hospitals were overwhelmed as thousands of health facilities were destroyed in the flooding. In a summary of the 2022 monsoon season, the Pakistan Meteorological Department noted that country-wide rainfall from July to September was 175 percent above average.

While technological innovation has allowed for better insight, including faster and more thorough assessments of damages during and after a catastrophic event, the Aon study examines resilience and the ability to overcome climate-related consequences – not only for physical risks, but also in areas such as the health of the workforce – reiterating the need to build multi-faceted strategies that account for climate change risk mitigation on all fronts.

Brad Weir, head of Analytics for Asia at Aon, said, “While a majority of total losses in 2022 were left uninsured, the 86 percent ‘protection gap’ highlights the vulnerability of our region’s communities, but also the opportunity for new solutions. As climate change continues to affect the frequency, location and intensity of weather events, the physical and tangible risks will continue to evolve. Through private and public sector collaborations and data-driven analytics, organisations can help turn climate science into action to enhance their own risk mitigation and also support addressing the protection gap to better safeguard the communities in which we live and work.”

The top 10 global economic loss events in 2022 were:

Date	Event	Location	Deaths	Economic Loss	Insured Loss
				($ billion)	($ billion)
09/27 – 10/01	Hurricane Ian	United States, Cuba	157	95.5	52.5
Annual	European Drought	Southern, Western & Central Europe	N/A	22	3
Annual	U.S. Drought	United States	N/A	16	8
06/14 – 10/30	Pakistan Seasonal Floods	Pakistan	1,739	15	0.1
06/01 – 09/30	China Seasonal Floods	China	195	15	0.4
03/16	Fukushima Earthquake	Japan	4	9.1	2.9
02/23 – 03/31	QLD & NSW Floods	Australia	22	8	4
Annual	China Drought	China	N/A	7.6	0.2
02/18 – 02/19	Windstorm Eunice	Western & Central Europe	17	4.5	3.4
05/17 – 10/31	India Seasonal Floods	India	2,135	4.2	0.1
All other events			~27,100	115.6	57.4
TOTALS			~31,300	313 billion	132 billion

The full report and a short video are available on Aon’s interactive microsite. Along with this report, readers can access current and historical natural catastrophe data and event analysis at catastropheinsight.aon.com. For additional regional insights, view the 2023 Weather, Climate and Catastrophe Report: APAC Insights here.
Hashtag: #ClimateRisk #Aon #WeatherClimateCatastrophe #NaturalDisasters #AsiaClimateRisks #FloodLoss #EconomicLoss

https://www.aon.com/apac/insights/blog/2023-weather-climate-and-catastrophe-apac-report

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

Aon

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Disclaimer
The information contained in this document is solely for information purposes, for general guidance only and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although Aon endeavours to provide accurate and timely information and uses sources that it considers reliable, the firm does not warrant, represent or guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, completeness or fitness for any purpose of any content of this document and can accept no liability for any loss incurred in any way by any person who may rely on it. There can be no guarantee that the information contained in this document will remain accurate as on the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No individual or entity should make decisions or act based solely on the information contained herein without appropriate professional advice and targeted research.

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 27 June 2023 – Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) is an important policy measure introduced by the Hong Kong government to adjust the balance between public and private healthcare systems. Its aim is to regulate the quality of existing personal medical insurance and enhance the transparency of insurance products. However, since its launch in 2019, many people still have insufficient knowledge of VHIS. Therefore, VHIS101 hopes to introduce VHIS to everyone in a simple and direct way, while adhering to three editing principles to simplify complex concepts.

Nearly 60% of people don’t know enough about VHIS

Since its launch four years ago, many people still have insufficient knowledge of the VHIS.

In a 2022 public opinion survey in Hong Kong, nearly 60% of respondents indicated that they were “not very familiar” with the VHIS program. For example, they could not distinguish between traditional medical insurance and VHIS, or they only knew that VHIS offers tax incentives, but had no understanding of its other standardized protection and features.

On the other hand, an electronic lifestyle information media also conducted a survey on the public’s intention to take out VHIS insurance. They found that most of the respondents who held medical insurance did not take out VHIS, and more than 60% of them would not consider switching to or taking out additional VHIS insurance. This reflects that the popularity of the VHIS program is relatively low, possibly due to the public’s lack of understanding of VHIS, not knowing that they can switch from existing medical insurance to VHIS, or even how to flexibly combine VHIS with existing medical insurance plans to obtain greater protection.

Online insurance has become a major trend

The same survey conducted by the electronic life information media also revealed that online insurance is becoming more and more popular. 75% of the respondents intend to apply for insurance online. Save time by not having to make an appointment to meet with an insurance broker or intermediary.

Undoubtedly, applying for insurance online has become a major trend in the insurance industry in recent years. With the popularity of the Internet and the improvement of information transparency, more and more policyholders are willing to purchase insurance products through online platforms instead of relying on insurance intermediaries.

The advantage of online insurance applications is that it is convenient, fast, time-saving and labor-saving. The policyholder does not need to make an appointment for an interview or wait for an insurance intermediary to reply. All he needs is an electronic device and an internet connection to complete the insurance application process easily.

In addition, online insurance premiums are usually more affordable than traditional insurance products because policyholders do not need to pay insurance intermediary commissions and other fees. However, online insurance also has some disadvantages. For example, policyholders may not be able to accurately understand insurance products, which makes it difficult to apply for insurance on their own.

Seeing that most Hong Kong citizens still have little understanding of voluntary health insurance, and “disintermediation” has become a major trend, VHIS101 hopes to dismantle common questions about voluntary health insurance and explain common insurance terms for the public through simple and easy-to-understand words, so that Everyone can increase their understanding of voluntary health insurance and have one more choice when purchasing medical insurance.

VHIS101 strictly adheres to the 3 major editorial guidelines

VHIS101 has noticed that when searching for information about Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) online, most websites exist to sell insurance, making it difficult for consumers to distinguish which information is truly objective content.

Therefore, VHIS101 strictly adheres to three editing guidelines, striving to allow consumers to absorb VHIS-related knowledge with peace of mind and without being influenced by irrelevant advertisements.

VHIS101 promises not to display any advertisements on the website, but rather focuses on providing high-quality insurance knowledge and information. We will not allow advertisements to affect our content, so that readers can focus on learning and understanding VHIS-related information.

At the same time, VHIS101 will not sell readers’ personal information, nor will we profit from any personal data, ensuring that users can share their questions and opinions with confidence.

VHIS101 hopes to become the insurance knowledge partner of Hong Kong people, dedicated to simplifying complex insurance concepts, making the VHIS’s coverage, terms and conditions of VHIS easier to understand. Therefore, the VHIS101 editorial team will introduce various VHIS concepts and knowledge to readers in a light-hearted and humorous manner, making learning more relaxed and fun.

Hashtag: #vhis

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

About VHIS101

The VHIS101 editorial team is composed of members with rich insurance knowledge and experience, committed to providing objective and neutral Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) insurance knowledge, allowing readers to make wise insurance decisions based on their own needs.