VIET NAM NEWS/ANN – The Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association has targetted a coffee export turnover of USD5-6 billion in 2030, doubling the export value at present.
To reach this figure, experts believe that the domestic coffee industry needs to increase the proportion of processed coffee products from less than 10 per cent at present to about 25 per cent or even more.
However, increasing the proportion of processed coffee products is a big challenge for the industry due to the level of technology, complex factory operation and awareness of farmers.
At present, Vietnam has 160 coffee roasting facilities, 11 coffee blending facilities and eight instant-coffee processing facilities. The number of instant-coffee processing facilities is small and most of them are operating below their designed capacity. On the other hand, Vietnam’s processed coffee brands still have no place in the world market, and branding takes a lot of money and effort.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Đo Thang Hai said that to gain the target of USD6 billion, Vietnam’s coffee industry needed to strengthen connection between production and trade, expand export markets and develop products associated with brand building, towards building a sustainable coffee value chain.
According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Lê Minh Hoan, if the coffee industry wants to have sustainable development, there must be linkages among provinces or economic regions to form a larger-scale production area and build a brand for Tây Nguyên coffee.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will continue to implement projects on sustainable development for the domestic coffee industry.
For the Central Highlands provinces, the ministry will set up logistics infrastructure for the coffee industry to create higher coffee value and more processed products.
Two women and a man allegedly involved in immoral activities were detained by the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) on Monday afternoon.
Personnel from the Anti-Vice and Gambling Suppression Unit of the Criminal Investigation Department raided two separate rented rooms in Kampong Beribi around 2.42pm and 2.45pm, where they found the suspects involved in sexual activities.
The female suspects, a 37-year-old local and a 47-year-old foreigner, are believed to have been offering sexual services to a 47-year-old male foreigner.
During the raid, several evidence were discovered in the rooms including a mobile phone, condoms and cash, believed to be used for the illicit activities.
The suspects were brought to undergo the COVID-19 swab tests. They will be investigated under Section 294A (the offence of offering sexual services) and Section 294B (the offence of paying for sexual service) Chapter 22 of the Penal Code.
The public is reminded that offering sexual services is an offence in the country. Those with information of such activity can report to the RBPF by calling 993 or by visiting the nearest police station.
ABOVE & BELOW: Evidence found during the raid. PHOTOS: RBPF
GENESEO, ILLINOIS (AP) – An Illinois family has solved the mystery of what happened to their missing cat that likes to sit on horses and donkeys.
Ann Kandis said the cat, named Noodles, jumped into the trunk of her father’s car in November 2018 while he was at the family’s farm in Geneseo, the Quad-City Times reported.
Her father drove off, but stopped along the road when he heard a noise. He opened the trunk and the cat jumped out.
The family posted “lost cat” notices and searched along the road but couldn’t find Noodles.
Kandis had given up on finding Noodles until she stumbled across a Facebook message that a fellow horse lover posted around the time Noodles went missing. The post showed a cat sitting on a horse and asked whether anybody recognised the cat?
Kandis messaged the woman on Christmas Eve and she still had Noodles. When Kandis and her son went over to the woman’s house, Noodles ran up to them.
Kandis, who works as an emergency room physician for Genesis Medical Center, said finding Noodles brought her emotional relief during a stressful time.
She didn’t take Noodles home because she said he has a “good gig”, but added that she can still visit the cat.
SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile into the sea yesterday, with South Korea’s military warning the second such weapons test in less than a week showed clear signs of progress.
The early-morning launch came as the United Nations (UN) Security Council met in New York to discuss last week’s test of what Pyongyang called a hypersonic missile, although Seoul has cast doubt on that claim.
But the South Korean military said the “suspected ballistic missile” launched yesterday had reached hypersonic speeds – a sign of “progress” from last week’s test.
In the decade since leader Kim Jong-un took power, North Korea has seen rapid advances in its military technology at the cost of international sanctions.
Yesterday’s missile landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. While there were no immediate reports of damage, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called the launch “extremely regrettable”.
People watch a television programme showing a file image of north korea’s missile launch at the seoul railway station in seoul, south korea. PHOTO: AP
US Forces Korea said the test “highlights the destabilising impact of the DPRK’s illicit weapons programme”, using the acronym of North Korea’s official name. The missile, fired towards the sea east of the peninsula yesterday at around 7.27am flew 700 kilometres at an altitude of around 60 kilometres at Mach 10 speed, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Hypersonic missiles travel at speeds of Mach 5 and higher and can manoeuvre mid-flight, making them harder to track and intercept.
The UN Security Council meeting to discuss Pyongyang’s weapons programmes came after six countries, including the United States (US) and Japan, called on North Korea to “engage in meaningful dialogue towards our shared goal of complete denuclearisation”.
Pyongyang had likely planned the latest launch to coincide with the UN meeting “to maximise its political impact”, researcher at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy Shin Beom-chul told AFP.
He said the launch looked like a hypersonic missile test, judging by the purported speed, but warned against reading too much into it.
“Since South Korea claimed (the January 5 test) wasn’t a hypersonic missile referring to the speed, Pyongyang may have tried to showcase its maximum speed,” this time around, he said.
Hypersonic missiles were listed among the “top priority” tasks for strategic weapons in its current five-year plan, and it announced its first test – of the Hwasong-8 – in September last year.
yongyang has also said it had successfully tested new submarine-launched ballistic missiles, a long-range cruise missile, and a train-launched weapon in 2021.
The new tests come as North Korea has refused to respond to US appeals for talks.
At a key meeting of North Korea’s ruling party last month, Kim vowed to continue building up the country’s defence capabilities, without mentioning America.
BLOOMBERG – Hong Kong’s Omicron outbreak is dealing a double whammy to businesses.
Not only will new social distancing curbs crimp revenue for retailers and restaurants, a slashing of flights they rely on to bring everything from Australian cherries to wagyu beef into the financial hub is also set to raise costs and boost inflation. Cathay Pacific Airways, the city’s most connected airline, has cancelled hundreds of flights.
Cargo capacity could drop below one-fifth of pre-pandemic levels. Logistics costs may surge by 40 per cent within three weeks. Importers expect the price of fruit to rise by 10 per cent.
In pursuit of a zero-Covid-19 strategy, Hong Kong has shut gyms and cinemas. At the same time, an already fractured supply chain for a city that imports most of its goods has reached a breaking point, with businesses seeing delays in deliveries of staples such as berries and yoghurt and of premium seafood and cheeses.
The threat of an Omicron-driven surge has spooked Hong Kong, where the vaccination rate is among the lowest for developed economies. Though officials have found only dozens of cases in the community so far, they are tracking at least three separate transmission chains.
The Magistrate’s Court yesterday ordered a Bangladeshi man to settle a BND13,760 fine for possessing smuggled cigarettes at his work quarters.
Md Nazim, 37, would have to serve 13 months’ jail in default of payment of the fine.
The court heard that the defendant was arrested by Customs preventive officers on discovering that he had kept 16 cartons and 14 packets along with BND684 cash proceeds from illicit sales of the contraband.
The Customs prosecutor yesterday informed the court that the inspection was carried out at the defendant’s work quarters in Kampong Mengkubau at 9.30pm on December 27, 2021.
Senior Magistrate Pengiran Hazirah binti Pengiran Haji Mohd Yusof also ordered the cigarettes to be destroyed and cash forfeited.
KHARTOUM (AFP) – The United Nations (UN) will launch talks to help Sudan resolve its escalating political crisis triggered by last year’s military coup, the UN envoy said, earning a mixed response.
“It is time to end the violence and enter into a comprehensive consultative process,” said UN special representative Volker Perthes, vowing at a press conference to facilitate “indirect talks” between all sides.
His comments came a day after Sudanese security forces again fired tear gas at anti-coup protesters, leaving two demonstrators dead including one who died on Monday morning from wounds to the head.
Perthes said consultations would be held with political and social actors along with armed and civil society groups. But he stressed that “the UN is not coming up with any project, draft or vision for a solution”.
“These are all Sudanese issues for the Sudanese to agree on,” he said, ahead of a scheduled meeting by the UN Security Council today to discuss the crisis in the northeast African country.
People chant slogans during a protest to denounce the October 2021 military coup in Khartoum, Sudan. PHOTO: AP
Sudan was thrown into turmoil when Army Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan launched the power grab on October 25, detaining Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and his Cabinet for several weeks.
The putsch derailed a fragile power-sharing transition between the military and civilian leaders that followed the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
Crowds of Sudanese have taken to the streets since – sometimes in their tens of thousands – to demand civilian rule.
At least 63 people have been killed in a violent crackdown, according to medics.
Later on Monday, Sudan’s ruling sovereign council – formed by Burhan following the coup with himself as its chair – welcomed the UN push.
In a statement, the council also called for the African Union – which suspended Sudan following the coup – “to back the initiative and contribute to the success of the Sudanese dialogue efforts.”
The UN-facilitated talks now “aim to support the Sudanese to reach an agreement on a way out of the current crisis,” said Perthes, who heads the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).
NEW YORK (AFP) – Video game publisher Take-Two announced on Monday it reached a deal to acquire Farmville creator Zynga for USD12.7 billion, in a major mobile gaming push by the maker of Grand Theft Auto.
The merger brings Take-Two, a leader in console and personal computing games, together with a company with strength in interactive games played on mobile devices, such as Farmville, which first became a phenomenon in the 2010s on Facebook.
The deal comes as Take-Two plans more smart phone versions of its games, which also include Red Dead Redemption and NBA2K.
The transaction also is designed to promote Take-Two’s growth outside of its core markets in the United States and Western Europe. Take-Two officials emphasised that Zynga has a presence in more than 175 countries.
Zynga’s games are generally free to play and the company generates revenues through the sale of in-game virtual items and advertising. “We are thrilled to announce our transformative transaction with Zynga, which significantly diversifies our business and establishes our leadership position in mobile, the fastest growing segment of the interactive entertainment industry,” Take-Two Chief Executive Strauss Zelnick said in a statement.
Zelnick, in a conference call with analysts, highlighted Zynga’s expertise in “free-to-play” games which could allow for greater growth in India, parts of Latin America and the Middle East.
A pedestrian walks in front of a Zynga building in San Francisco. PHOTO: AP
“We basically have 80 per cent of the world’s geography that is greenfield opportunity for us,” Zelnick said. “Large parts of that geography really is driven by free-to-play and that’s where Zynga’s expertise lies.”
Zynga’s Chief Executive Officer Frank Gibeau noted a growth opportunity in the deal, citing the combining of “Zynga’s expertise in mobile and next-generation platforms with Take-Two’s best-in-class capabilities and intellectual property”.
The transaction prices Zynga at USD9.86 per share, a 64-per-cent premium on last Friday’s stock price.
About one-third of the payment will be in cash and the rest in Take-Two shares.
Zelnick is set to lead the combined company, with Zynga’s team led by Gibeau and President of Publishing Bernard Kim, overseeing the combined company’s mobile gaming efforts. New York-based Take-Two had revenues of USD3.4 billion at the end of its last fiscal year and just shy of 5,100 employees. San Francisco-based Zynga had revenues of USD2 billion and about 3,000 employees.
The deal includes a “go shop” provision that allows Zynga and its representatives to solicit and receive alternative bids for 45 days. The transaction is expected to close in the spring of 2022, the companies said. Video gaming specialist at Wedbush Securities Michael Pachter views the proposed purchase as a “wise move” for Take-Two.
“The deal transforms Take-Two from 10 per cent mobile to over 50 per cent, and mobile is the fastest growing segment of video games,” he said.
Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) kicked off its first 10-part of the ‘BIBD SME360 Series’ yesterday with a virtual forum discussing the food and beverage (F&B) industry in Brunei.
The two-day event began with discussions on the market overview during the Transition Phase of the pandemic, reflecting on market sentiments and how F&B businesses are adapting to the new norms.
Over 150 participants from the F&B industry attended the session yesterday.
The virtual forum also covered topics on leadership, operational safety, innovations as well as sustainability and social impact – in line with BIBD’s effort to help SMEs rebuild in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
Speakers included CEO of DARe (Darussalam Enterprise) Javed Ahmad; BIBD Head of Government Relations and Special Projects Haji Mohammad Yusri bin Haji Wahsalfelah; Royal Brunei Culinary (RBC) General Manager Haji Jeff Hadiman bin Dato Paduka Haji Danial, CEO of Serikandi Group of Companies Revi Bhaskaran; Head of Brunei Climate Change Secretariat Noor Dina binti Haji Yahya; Managing Partner of Deloitte Zulfariq Zainuddin; Co-founder of Bake Culture Nicky Wong; and food influencer/blogger Thanis Lim.
Haji Mohammad Yusri, in his session titled ‘Protecting your staff and businesses from risk of COVID-19’, highlighted that strict adherence and compliance to the government’s standard operating procedures as well as guidelines on precautionary measures was key in ensuring the well-being and safety of all BIBD personnel were looked after.
ABOVE & BELOW: Food and beverage industry experts engage in discussion during the forum. PHOTOS: IZAH AZAHARI
Some participants during the forum
He also shared that BIBD’s business continuity plan also played a vital role in guiding the bank to navigate around the challenges of COVID-19 and in ensuring business operations remained smooth and orderly.
BIBD also introduced several initiatives to help businesses recover and remain resilient throughout the pandemic. Through its ‘Go!’ campaign launched during the first wave of COVID-19 in Brunei, BIBD promoted conducting banking needs on its digital platforms.
Local businesses were able to make use of BIBD Biznet allowing them to conduct business transactions online and make cashless payments to avoid the need to physically visit the
bank’s branches.
Meanwhile, BIBD’s corporate social responsibility initiative, Community for Brunei (CFB), launched during the first wave of COVID-19, also offered zero per cent transaction fees for micro enterprises affected by the COVID-19 control measures.
The public is welcome to join the ‘BIBD SME360 SERIES’ on F&B industry which continues today from 2.30-5.30pm by registering at curiousmind.biz/sme360.
The SME360 SERIES, which runs from January to May, will feature two industry highlights every month. The series of virtual forums aims to gather thought leaders and industry experts from 10 main business sectors across the Sultanate, in engagement sessions with business owners and stakeholders to discuss the challenges, best practices, perspectives and opportunities.
The programme is organised by BIBD in collaboration with DARe as its strategic partner, co-curated by Firelight Sdn Bhd and Curious Mind. It is also supported by 10 of Brunei’s major trade association partners and key market players namely the Malay, Chinese, Indian and National Chamber of Commerce, LiveWIRE Brunei, BIMP-EAGA, Young Entrepreneurs Association of Brunei, RBC, McDonald’s Brunei, Serikandi Group of Companies, GoMamam, Ghanim International Corporation (bruneihalalfoods), Jab Gym, Hua Ho and Soon Lee.
The upcoming series will cover the retail and e-commerce industry, from January 25-26. The bank hopes the SME360 Series will benefit businesses and provide all the advice and assistance towards growth of a more vibrant, dynamic and sustainable entrepreneurial environment in Brunei – consistent with the bank’s role as the Partner in Progress.
UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES (AFP) – Cross-border humanitarian aid to northwest Syria – not green-lit by Damascus – remains “essential,” the United Nations (UN) said, as the measure was de facto extended for six months without a new Security Council vote.
The council had previously renewed the authorisation allowing aid into rebel-held areas in the country’s northwest “for a period of six months… until 10 January 2022,” through the crossing at Bab al-Hawa on the Syrian border with Turkey.
The text provided for “an extension of an additional six months, that is, until 10 July 2022,” subject to a report by the UN Secretary-General.
For the West, the renewal to July had been interpreted as automatic, while Russia had raised the possibility of requesting a new Security Council vote, though it has not taken that step.
In his December report, UN chief Antonio Guterres had stressed the impossibility of replacing at this stage the cross-border mechanism for one that crossed front lines from Damascus.
Moscow favours this method as recognition of the Syrian government’s sovereignty over the whole country.
Aid through the Bab al-Hawa crossing primarily serves the roughly three million people living in the Idlib region, which remains outside Damascus’ control.
“The cross-border delivery of aid is essential,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said during his daily briefing.
“We need aid to be delivered through cross-border and through cross-line. Those are essential elements for us to meet the humanitarian needs of all Syrians.”
A ground crew member directs the loading of a shipment of items donated to Syria, on the tarmac of an airport. PHOTO: AP
