Category: Trading

MANILA, PHILIPPINES  — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a sector development program that combines a $50 million policy-based loan package with $23 million in project investments to support the energy transition of Cambodia.

 

The Energy Transition Sector Development Program includes ADB’s first comprehensive policy reform package for the energy sector in Cambodia, which will be funded by a $40 million loan from ADB’s concessional resources and a $10 million loan from the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund under its ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF).

 

For the $23 million in infrastructure investments, the Climate Investment Fund’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program for Cambodia will provide a $6 million loan and $5 million grant in concessional climate finance, while the Green Climate Fund will extend a $12 million loan through the ACGF Green Recovery Program, all of which will be administered by ADB.

 

The program supports the Government of Cambodia’s energy transition agenda to mainstream renewable energy and energy efficiency while shifting away from fossil fuels. It adopts data-driven regulation and planning for the power system to enhance flexibility and resilience, and anchors new infrastructure investments on strategic planning while demonstrating new technologies and business models.

 

“The program combines policy reforms and project investments that will mutually support each other to maximize gains,” said ADB Unit Head for Sovereign Energy Operations (Greater Mekong Subregion) Pradeep Tharakan. “This is expected to pave the way for public and private sector investments in critical new technologies, such as energy efficiency and storage. It will also help set clean energy targets for the country, and integrate improved power development and energy use planning across sectors, including climate proofing critical infrastructure.”

 

The project investments under the program will promote new technologies, including development of the country’s first grid-connected battery energy storage system, which will enable additional renewable sources to enter the grid and improve electricity grid stability for consumers. Investments also include comprehensive city-level efficient street-lighting systems in Kampot and Kep provinces, which will demonstrate cost savings and benefits for tourism and public safety.  Through the policy reforms, renewable electricity generation by 2027 is expected to increase by at least 25% from a baseline of 4,672 gigawatt hours in 2021.

 

The program builds on key successes demonstrating the energy transition in action. The country’s first grid-connected solar photovoltaic system was driven by the private sector and financed by ADB in 2016.  With further ADB support in 2018, the government prepared a solar master plan and launched Cambodia’s first solar park with a capacity of 100 megawatts in 2019 under a public–private partnership approach, which resulted in the lowest price for solar photovoltaic in the region at the time. Earlier this year, the government initiated the development of a 2-gigawatt solar plus storage procurement program, which is also supported by ADB.

 

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

 

 

 

 

Source: Asian Development Bank

MANILA, PHILIPPINES— The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $93 million loan to enhance shrimp farming by smallholder farmers in seven provinces in Indonesia.

 

The Infrastructure Improvement for Shrimp Aquaculture Project will help the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries introduce sustainable shrimp aquaculture to boost the productivity, quality, profitability, and environmental sustainability of smallholders’ shrimp farming in the provinces of Bali, Banten, Central Java, East Java, Lampung, Nangro Aceh Darusalam, and South Sulawesi.

 

“Indonesia is a key player in the global shrimp market, ranking among the top five shrimp producers in the world with a global market share of 8.7% and export markets in the European Union, Japan, and the United States,” said ADB Principal Water Resources Specialist for Southeast Asia Eric Quincieu. “Through ADB’s assistance, we expect that sustainable aquaculture practices will help reduce pressure on the ecosystem while boosting productivity.”

 

The project will improve smallholder farmers’ access to quality inputs, production, and post-harvest practices and traceability through investments in climate adaptive infrastructure, capacity building, and strengthening of value chains. The project will also facilitate the transfer of knowledge in producing high-quality genetic shrimp fry to the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries to reduce reliance on imported brood stock.

 

About 5,200 smallholder farmers, including more than a thousand women farmers, will benefit from improved infrastructure and capacity. About 35,000 smallholder farmers, of which about 7,000 are women, will benefit from improved access to quality inputs and capacity building programs on sustainable and climate adaptive aquaculture. The project will also contribute to COVID-19 pandemic recovery by providing employment opportunities and promoting rural entrepreneurship.

 

The project is in line with the government’s National Medium-Term Development Plan, 2020­–2024 and ADB’s country partnership strategy for Indonesia, 2020­–2024, and its Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies.

 

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.

 

 

Source: Asian Development Bank

BANGKOK – Thailand’s economy is expected to recover, but growth will be slower than anticipated next year, due to global headwinds, the World Bank said yesterday.

 

The country’s economy is expected to expand 3.4 percent this year, and 3.6 percent in 2023, with the 2023 growth projection 0.7 percentage point lower than the June forecast, due to a faster-than-expected decline in global demand, the World Bank said, in a monthly report.

 

According to the World Bank’s economic monitor report, Thailand’s economy has shown resilience to recent global shocks, aided by resurgent private consumption and strong tourism inflows.

 

Thailand’s economic growth accelerated to 4.5 percent in the third quarter of this year, up from 2.5 percent in the second quarter, according to data, from the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council.

 

As Thailand looks towards resuming its path towards high-income country status, raising adequate fiscal space will be necessary, to meet the additional spending need and provide a fiscal buffer for future shocks, said Fabrizio Zarcone, World Bank Country Manager for Thailand.

 

According to the report, Thailand’s fiscal response to COVID-19, helped mitigate the impact of the crisis on household welfare. However, poverty is projected to rise this year, as the country’s COVID-19 relief measures start to be phased out, amid elevated inflation.

 

Kiatipong Ariyapruchya, the World Bank’s senior economist for Thailand, said, the current crisis provided impetus to implement much-needed structural reforms, required to improve the quality and allocation of spending, as well as, raise structurally low revenue.

 

“Meeting the spending need, while also improving the distributional impacts of fiscal policies and undergoing fiscal consolidation, requires more efficient and targeted spending and further effort on revenue mobilisation,” said Kiatipong.

 

The report also recommended improving jobs and earnings opportunities, for low-income groups, while creating fiscal space to ensure adequate social assistance spending, for the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, disabled and extremely poor.

 

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

SINGAPORE – The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), announced in a report yesterday that, economists and analysts polled in the Survey of Professional Forecasters, expect Singapore’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to expand by 1.8 percent in 2023.

 

This is one point lower than the 2.8 percent GDP forecast in the previous survey report, released by MAS in Sept, and 1.2 points lower than the three percent forecast, in the survey report released in June.

 

In the current survey, the respondents expect the economy to grow by 3.6 percent in 2022, up slightly from the 3.5 percent in the previous survey.

 

According to the latest survey report, Singapore’s economy expanded by 4.1 percent, year on year, in the third quarter of 2022, which exceeded the respondents’ median forecast of 3.9 percent in the previous survey.

 

Respondents expect the economy to grow by 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, in the current survey.

 

As for inflation, the respondents forecast that Singapore’s Consumer Price Index for all items (CPI-All Items) would grow by 6.1 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively, in 2022 and 2023, and the MAS core inflation, which excludes the costs of accommodation and private road transport, would come in at 4.1 percent this year and at four percent next year.

 

The MAS said, this month’s survey report reflects the views received from 21 respondents and does not represent MAS’ views or forecasts.

 

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

ISLAMABAD– The Asian Development Bank (ADB), approved a 100-million-U.S. dollar-loan, to help improve technical and vocational education and training (TVET), in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province.

 

The Improving Workforce Readiness in Punjab Project, will help enhance the quality and relevance of TVET, to increase graduates’ employability, upgrade workers’ skills, and ensure more equitable access to training for women and disadvantaged groups, while improving management and strategic planning in TVET institutions, the ADB said in a statement.

 

The ADB’s project would finance the establishment of 19 TVET centres of excellence, in eight priority economic sectors, including automobile assembly parts and repairs, construction, food processing, health, information and communication technology, light engineering, textiles and garments, and tourism and hospitality, the statement said.

 

They would provide programmes with linkages to industry and deploy best practices, it added.

 

“The project will include the development of skills training programmes using technology, in response to emerging trends in the fourth industrial revolution,” according to the ADB.

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia’s natural rubber production decreased by 10.3 percent to 31,795 tonnes in Oct, from 35,460 tonnes in Sept, official data showed today.

 

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that, the year-on-year comparison showed that the production of natural rubber fell 26.3 percent from 43,127 tonnes a year ago.

 

Meanwhile, exports of Malaysia’s natural rubber amounted to 41,548 tonnes in Oct, declined 23.8 percent as against 54,542 tonnes in Sept.

 

China remained as the main destination for the country’s natural rubber exports, which accounted for 56.2 percent of total exports in Oct, followed by Germany (8.2 percent), Brazil (3.3 percent), Finland (3.2 percent) and Iran (three percent).

 

According to the DOSM, the export performance was contributed by natural rubber-based products such as gloves, tyres, tubes and rubber threads.

 

Gloves were the main exports of rubber-based products with a value of 1.1 billion ringgit (249 million U.S. dollars) in Oct, a decrease of 13.2 percent as compared to 1.3 billion ringgit (294.5 million dollars) in Sept.

 

Total stocks of natural rubber in Oct, on the other hand, slipped 0.3 percent to 198,122 tonnes as compared to 198,706 tonnes in Sept.

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK