Sabin funds researchers investigating COVID-19 misinformation, design solutions to increase vaccine acceptance

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 -- The Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin) has awarded grants to research teams in four countries to explore social drivers of COVID-19 misinformation, and its impact on routine immunisation acceptance and acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine.

According to a statement, the grants are part of Sabin’s Social and Behavioral Interventions for Vaccination Acceptance Small Grants Program.

It provides funding to researchers in low and middle-income countries to better understand the social drivers of vaccination and design small-scale interventions to assess their impact on vaccination acceptance.

Five research teams in India, Kenya, Pakistan and Uganda will receive up to US$30,000 to conduct this research and pilot a small-scale intervention in their respective communities over a period of 10 months. (US$1 = RM4.042)

Sabin vice-president of Vaccine Acceptance & Demand, Kaitlin Christenson said: "The expected introduction of a COVID-19 vaccine furthers the need to learn more about driving acceptance and demand for vaccines and to work with community immunisation programmes on intervention strategies, while continuing to improve overall immunisation uptake.”

Grantees will have the opportunity to build relationships and have impactful conversations about their research and potential applications of social science for immunisation with the Sabin-led interdisciplinary Vaccination Acceptance Research Network. 

Sabin will also support each research team in the compilation and dissemination of an open access journal publication, accessible to the communities in which the research is conducted. 

More details at www.sabin.org.

-- BERNAMA

Finterra Global Plantations launches Paulownia plantation phase II

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 -- Finterra Global Plantations has announced its signing of the second phase of planting 500 acres of the highly in demand Paulownia tree.

This comes after it successfully completed planting the first phase in a joint venture with United Paulownia Plantation Sdn Bhd (UPP), a subsidiary company of Green Afforestation International Network (Gain Green) earlier in the year.

According to Finterra Global Plantations Chief Executive Officer, Satesh Khemlani, the focus of the joint venture has been one driven by sustainable afforestation and working closely together to meet the demands of the Timber industry, locally and internationally.

Via this agreement, 150,000 Paulownia trees are being planted over the next six months in Kedah on a 500-acre land with plans to expand this venture at a rate of two and a half thousand acres over the next four years, totalling its planting acreage to 10,000 acres in Malaysia with a total investment of RM90 million.

The Paulownia wood itself is one which is in great demand due to its properties and uses. It is a light, yet hardwood with numerous applications including being used to produce plywood, furniture, doors, wooden panels and veneers.

Another great characteristic of this tree is that it is able to absorb 10 times more carbon dioxide and produce 10 times over oxygen as compared to other trees, according to a statement.

In this way Finterra Global Plantations together with UPP will also contribute to reducing carbon footprint and do their part in helping the government’s initiative of planting one million tree in the next 10 years.

More details at www.finterraventures.com.

-- BERNAMA

Carbon Trust unveils Energy Efficiency Accelerator for ASEAN F&B companies

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 -- The Carbon Trust has launched the UK-ASEAN Energy Efficiency Accelerator (the Accelerator) to support businesses across Southeast Asia scale up energy efficiency improvements.

Set to run until March next year, the Accelerator will primarily focus on the food and beverage (F&B) sector in Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, supporting companies at different stages of their energy management journey to help them realise the importance of energy efficiency, according to a statement.

The F&B sector has been identified for this targeted support as it is one of the most energy consuming industrial sectors in the region, with potential to save up to 4.5Mtoe in energy consumption (or 35 per cent of total current energy consumption).

To help companies improve their understanding of where opportunities for energy efficiency exist, a series of open access energy savings guides covering seven of the most common processes in the F&B sector, including refrigeration, cooking, distillation and drying, are now available.

In addition, the Accelerator will be delivering free to access capacity building workshops and technical assistance to companies of all sizes – ranging from small to large multi-national companies.

As part of the Accelerator, a series of online events related to energy efficiency in the F&B sector will be hosted.

Together with knowledge partner Spirax Sarco, the Accelerator will deliver a virtual training session on optimising steam system generation, distribution, and end-user efficiencies in the F&B sector on Jan 26.

-- BERNAMA

Conagen increases natural sustainable musk macrocyclic lactone fragrance materials

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 -- Conagen has announced its breakthrough development in the commercial production of natural, sustainable macrocyclic musk lactones from natural substrates using its proprietary technology.

This further expands its already extensive gamma-lactone portfolio, according to a statement.

“The expansion of Conagen's lactone platform to macrocyclic lactones with musk fragrances adds to our momentum in meeting consumers' demand for nature-based, clean ingredients,” said Conagen VP of innovation, Dr Casey Lippmeier.

Conagen successfully bridged its gamma-lactone production technology with its lipid platform to expand its lactone portfolio to natural musk scent macrocyclic lactones.

Built upon the diversity of structures among natural lipids, Conagen’s macrocyclic musk portfolio contains diverse compounds representing a range of familiar and novel aromas, many of which have never before been commercially available.

This variety of characteristics creates a wider spectrum of fragrance application options for manufacturers that use musk macrocyclic lactones in their products.

Over the past decade, Conagen has successfully developed one of the largest portfolios of ingredient products for its customers, including science-based Blue California ingredients.

Conagen focuses on the bioproduction of high-value ingredients for food, nutrition, flavours and fragrances, pharmaceutical, and renewable materials industries. More details at www.conagen.com.

-- BERNAMA

MALAYSIANS SHOWCASED THEIR CREATIVITY AND INGENUITY THROUGHOUT OPPO'S BE A RENOGRAPHER PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- Tourism Malaysia’s joint effort with OPPO Malaysia for its ‘Be A RENOgrapher’ Photography Contest has finally come to an end. The contest saw Malaysians stepping up their creativity and taking the beauty of Malaysia through different lenses. This contest has brought to light many talented photographers expressing their creativity in unique ways which have always been the spirit behind the Reno Series.

The photography contest received more than 10,000 entries where participants competed in four categories, namely Clearly Your Best Night, Clearly Your Best Portrait, Clearly Your Best Creativity and Clearly Your Best Landscape. Divided into two groups; OPPO users and non-OPPO users, participants stood a chance to win prizes worth up to RM129,000.

MALAYSIANS SHOWCASED THEIR CREATIVITY AND INGENUITY THROUGHOUT OPPO'S BE A RENOGRAPHER PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

VF Corporation unveils regional transformation plan for Asia's long-term growth

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 -- VF Corporation, a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories, has announced a transformation plan for its Asia Pacific operations focused on evolving the region’s organisational design and footprint, and building new capabilities to accelerate growth for its brands.

“Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to invest in our business across the Asia Pacific region, while also supporting VF’s overall transformation plan to become a more consumer-minded, retail-centric and hyper-digital enterprise,” said VF’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Steve Rendle.

As part of its transformation initiative, VF will move the centre of its brand operations from Hong Kong to Shanghai where the company currently employs approximately 900 office and retail associates.

VF’s Asia Product Supply Hub, which serves as the base of operations for its global supply chain in the region, will also move from Hong Kong and relocate to Singapore.

An additional shared services centre for the region will be established in Kuala Lumpur. VF will activate a phased transition plan to guide these relocations over the next 12 to 18 months with the first moves expected in April this year.

By placing its brands’ centre of operations in Shanghai, VF aims to forge stronger and more relevant relationships with Chinese consumers, according to a statement.

Meanwhile, relocating its Product Supply Hub to Singapore will enable greater integration across VF’s global supply chain network, which also includes key hubs in Europe and the Americas.

VF’s additional shared services centre in Kuala Lumpur will help the company further expand the footprint of the back-end business functions that support its brands and supply chain operations across the Asia Pacific region.

-- BERNAMA

GUOTAI JUNAN INTERNATIONAL CAPTURED TWO AWARDS IN 2020 ASIAMONEY BROKERS POLL

Dedicated to Quality Financial Services with Outstanding Research Capabilities

HONG KONG, Jan 8 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited (“Guotai Junan International”, “GTJAI”, stock code: 1788.HK) announces that it has ranked first in the Best Retail Broker (Hong Kong) in 2020 Brokers Poll organized by the Asiamoney magazine. Meanwhile, Victor Bo Huang, Market Strategist at Guotai Junan International, has also been elected as the Best Analyst / Commentator (Hong Kong), which demonstrated the significant recognition from global professional media in the Company’s financial servicing and research strategies capabilities.

GTJAI’s research team has always been adhering to the principles of objectivity, fairness, professionalism, innovation and client-centeredness, to provide institutional investors as well as high-net-worth and individual clients with research services in fields of macro strategies, fixed income instrument, industry and companies, etc. In 2020, the investment advisory team of the Research Department completed more than 600 reports and 400 research flash notes and actively served institutional and high-net-worth individual clients, which is highly appreciated by clients and professional organizations such as Asiamoney.


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