Day: June 27, 2022

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Joint U.S. Industry Statement in Support of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)

(Washington, DC) – U.S. industry strongly supports the governments of Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam in launching the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

Facilitating greater economic connectivity between the United States and the Indo-Pacific has never been more important. In this pandemic era, with a rapidly developing digital landscape, geostrategic risks on the rise and with the forces of integration on the retreat, building concrete means to benefit our domestic economies through international collaboration with other high trust economic and political ecosystems should be at the top of our agenda. Commercial interests are inseparable from strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific, and the United States needs a forward-leaning economic approach in a region that is home to 60% of humanity and nearly two-thirds of the world’s economy. While participation in the IPEF does not preclude or replace membership in regional trade architectures like the CPTPP, for the IPEF to be most effective we urge the United States and other IPEF members to put all incentives on the table – including those that may require closer consultation with Congress. That is the best way to achieve the most meaningful benefits for American businesses, workers, and consumers.

Done correctly, the IPEF presents a significant opportunity to forge more resilient global supply chains, high-standard digital rules of the road, and energy transition outcomes that will drive prosperity on both sides of the Pacific. Small and medium-sized enterprises especially stand to benefit from trade facilitation commitments that will increase the ease of doing business across borders in the region, particularly in the digital space. Global crises continue to illustrate how business disruptions can drive up costs and securing supply chains at critical Indo-Pacific hubs can preemptively shield consumers from these price shocks. A robust framework that addresses these issues, many of which have come into sharp relief in the past six years, can stand on its own as an important contribution to regional economic integration.

American Chamber of Commerce in Australia

American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia

American Chamber of Commerce in Japan

American Chamber of Commerce in Korea

American Chamber of Commerce in Malaysia

American Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand

American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines

American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore

American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand

American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam

US-ASEAN Business Council

US Chamber of Commerce

US-India Business Council

US-Korea Business Council

US-Japan Business Council

Source: US-ASEAN Business Council

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Prime Minister expressed Thailand’s readiness to address the global energy and food crisis, at the BRICS Plus High-level Dialogue on Global Development.

On 24 June 2022, H.E. General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, attended the BRICS Plus High-level Dialogue on Global Development via videoconference upon the invitation of the President of the People’s Republic of China as APEC Host 2022. The Dialogue was held between leaders of the BRICS Group and Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs) under the theme “Foster a Global Development for the New Era to Jointly Implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.

The Dialogue extensively discussed ways to cope with important global issues such as the energy crisis, food insecurity, climate change, and the acceleration of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. On this occasion, the Prime Minister outlined Thailand’s vision for fostering a global development partnership and an enabling environment conducive to effective de-escalation of conflicts. To that end, the Prime Minister shared 3 ideas on how forging constructive partnership between BRICS and EMDCs countries can revitalise multilateralism towards greater resilience, balance and equity. These approaches include (1) strengthening supply chain resilience and enhancing connectivity to tackle global energy and food crisis; (2) promoting greater synergy between Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model (BCG Economy Model) and Global Development Initiative (GDI) through closer open and inclusive South-South and Triangular Cooperation towards balance in all dimensions as well as continuing to contribute to sustainable development issues in Thailand’s capacity as the ASEAN Coordinator on Sustainable Development Cooperation; and (3) building a more equitable and inclusive global economic governance.

The Dialogue was held during the 14th BRICS Summit under the theme “Foster High-quality BRICS Partnership, Usher in a New Era for Global Development”. In addition to leaders of the BRICS Group (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), the President of the People’s Republic of China also invited leaders from 13 key emerging markets and developing countries to attend the Dialogue, including Algeria, Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Senegal, Iran, Uzbekistan, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Fiji, Malaysia and Thailand.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand

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MAN ARRESTED FOR CHEATING

The Police have arrested a 29-year-old man for his suspected involvement in cheating cases, where he had purportedly cheated a money changer by providing screenshots of fake Paynow transfers in exchange for foreign currencies.

On 23 June 2022, the Police received a report from a money changer, who was purportedly cheated by a man on two separate occasions between 21 and 22 June 2022. The man had allegedly deceived the money changer into exchanging foreign currencies amounting to more than $13,000 with the man, by showing doctored screenshots of Paynow transfers made to the money changer’s corporate bank account. The money changer only discovered that the money was not received through their corporate bank account the next day.

Through follow-up investigations, officers from Jurong Police Division established the identity of the man and arrested him within three hours of the report lodged. Foreign currencies amounting to about $1,500 were recovered and seized.

Police investigations are ongoing. The offence of cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code 1871 carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine.

The Police take a serious view against persons who may be involved in fraud and perpetrators will be dealt with in accordance with the law.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688. Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police Hotline at 1800-255 0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.

Source: Singapore Police Force

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POLICE ADVISORY ON PHISHING SCAMS INVOLVING PARCEL DELIVERY

The Police would like to alert members of the public to the re-emergence of phishing scams involving the delivery of parcels. Since January 2022, at least 454 victims have fallen prey to such scams, with total losses amounting to at least $675,000.

Victims of such phishing scams would receive emails or text messages informing them that their parcels were awaiting delivery. Victims would click on a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) link embedded in the messages to view information regarding their parcel deliveries. Upon clicking on the URL links, victims would be redirected to fraudulent websites, which would request for their credit or debit card details and One-Time Passwords (OTPs). Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when they discovered unauthorised transactions made to their credit or debit cards.

Members of the public are advised to follow these crime prevention measures:

Do not click on URL links provided in unsolicited emails and text messages;

Always verify the authenticity of the information with the official website or sources;

Never disclose your personal or Internet banking details and OTP to anyone; and

Report any fraudulent credit or debit card charges to your bank and cancel your card immediately.

If you have any information related to such crimes, please call the Police Hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential. If you require urgent Police assistance, please dial ‘999’.

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688. Join the ‘Spot the Signs. Stop the Crimes’ campaign at https://www.scamalert.sg/resources/fight by signing up as an advocate to receive up-to-date messages and share them with your family and friends. Together, we can help stop scams and prevent our loved ones from becoming the next victim.

Source: Singapore Police Force

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Cambodia’s Ruling Party Thanked People For Overwhelmingly Voting For It In Commune Polls

PHNOM PENH– The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of Prime Minister, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, yesterday thanked the Cambodian people, for overwhelmingly voting for it in the fifth commune council election held on Jun 5.

The election was to choose a total of 11,622 councillors for the country’s 1,652 communes, for the next five years.

The National Election Committee (NEC)’s official results showed that, the CPP won 9,376 seats, including 1,648 commune chief posts, while the main opposition, Candlelight Party, gained 2,198 seats, including four commune chief posts.

Seven other parties got the remaining 48 seats, the NEC said.

In its statement, the CPP said, the party accepted the election’s results, which truly reflected the will of the people, and that the election was free and fair, with neither violence nor intimidation.

“The Cambodian People’s Party would like to express its deepest gratitude to our compatriots in all communes across the country, who voted overwhelmingly for the CPP, giving the party a glorious success,” the statement said.

This victory showed that, the people voted for peace and development, which are more valuable than anything else, and at the same time, strengthened the basis for the CPP to win another victory in the upcoming seventh National Assembly election in 2023, it added.

The statement said, the party would honour its policies to maintain peace, stability, security, and social order, to improve the provision of public services, to increase social protection for the poor and vulnerable, and to develop communes in all fields, to benefit the people.

The commune election is seen as a bellwether of the political party’s support, ahead of the general election scheduled for Jul, 2023.

Communes are the subdivisions of districts and municipalities in Cambodia.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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Russia-Ukraine conflict: Russian Pres Vladimir Putin to make first foreign trip since Ukraine invasion

MOSCOW— Vladimir Putin will visit two small former Soviet states in central Asia this week in what would be the Russian leader’s first known trip abroad since ordering the invasion of Ukraine.

Pavel Zarubin, the Kremlin correspondent of the Rossiya 1 state television station, said Putin would visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and then meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo for talks in Moscow.

In Dushanbe, Putin will meet Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon, a close Russian ally and the longest-serving ruler of a former Soviet state. In Ashgabat, he will attend a summit of Caspian nations including the leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan, Zarubin said.

Putin’s last known trip outside Russia was a visit to Beijing in early February, where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled a “no limits” friendship treaty hours before both attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games.

Russia’s February 24 invasion has killed thousands of people, displaced millions more, and led to severe financial sanctions from the West, which Putin says are a reason to build stronger trade ties with other powers such as China, India and Iran.

Russia says it sent troops into Ukraine to degrade its neighbour’s military capabilities, keep it from being used by the West to threaten Russia, root out nationalists, and defend Russian speakers in eastern regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin relaxes after fishing in southern Siberia

World leaders, meanwhile, mocked Putin’s tough-guy image at a Group of Seven (G7) lunch in Germany on Sunday, joking about whether they should strip down to shirtsleeves – or even less.

“Jackets on? Jackets off? Do we take our coats off?” United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked as he sat down at the table in Bavaria’s picturesque Elmau Castle, where German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was hosting the summit of seven powerful democracies.

The leaders – from the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the European Union – pondered the dilemma.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested they wait for the official picture before disrobing but then Johnson quipped, “We have to show that we’re tougher than Putin” and the joke kept rolling.

“We’re going to get the bare-chested horseback riding display,” Trudeau said, referring to Putin’s infamous 2009 photo op of himself riding shirtless on a horse.

“Horseback riding is the best,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, without apparently weighing in on the clothing issue itself.

Johnson interjected: “We’ve got to show them our pecs.”

The leaders posed – jackets on – for photos before reporters were hustled out of the room, leaving the sartorial debate behind closed doors.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK