Phnom penh declaration on a more sustainable inclusive and resilient asean tourism

by Expat Life Newly elected President of the Thailand Hotels Association and Vice President of Sukosol Hotels, Marisa Sukosol, was asked what her thoughts were about the Thailand Together government travel stimulus campaign. Although close to 5 million people have registered, only 600,000 hotel rooms have been booked at this stage, well below initial estimates. “The project would have more bookings if it allowed expats to utilise the privilege as well. There are up to 500,000 expat residents in Thailand. More bookings will benefit the hotels naturally. Instead of travelling abroad or to neighbouring destinations, Thailand has a host of second-tier destinations that can offer a variety of unique experiences”. “There are also certain conditions in the Thailand Together campaign that can be changed such as 3 days advance booking rules. Domestic and even short-haul travellers book at the very last-minute.” Related news All aboard the sushi terror … [Read more...] about Expats should be able to share in the government’s tourism incentive programs

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Children worldwide share stories of perseverance and hope as they call on leaders to make good on the promise of education for all. By Kent Page Children worldwide are being denied their basic human right to an education. Conflict, climate change, displacement and other crises are pushing them to the edge. To highlight the amazing stories of perseverance and hope emerging on the front lines, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) — the UN’s global fund for education in emergencies that is hosted by UNICEF — asked crisis-affected girls and boys worldwide what education means to them. These ‘ Postcards from the Edge ’ offer us a living testament to the remarkable power of education to transform lives. There are stories of burnt villages and violent attacks, stories of droughts and hunger, and stories of courage and hope in the face of adversity. Since sending out the call to its partners, ECW has received dozens of … [Read more...] about Postcards From The Edge

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) board on Thursday approved the establishment of the University of the Philippines General Hospital (UP-PGH) Cancer Center, the first public-private partnership (PPP) project under the Marcos administration. Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil said the Neda board, chaired by President Marcos, approved the construction of a P6-billion, 300-bed capacity hospital. “The project aims to establish UP-PGH’s dedicated cancer hospital that will modernize its health infrastructure and offer comprehensive, high-quality, and affordable oncology services towards enhancing the country’s health service quality and capacity for cancer care,” Garafil said in a statement. The Cancer Center, with an area of 3,000 square meters, will be located within the UP-PGH campus in Manila. The entire building will have a capacity of 300 beds (150 charity beds for the UP-PGH Area and 150 private beds for the private area), 15 to … [Read more...] about Marcos admin OKs 1st PPP project: P6-B UP-PGH Cancer Center

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin When people think about the economic drivers of the Colorado tourism industry, the obvious ones quickly surface. Cannabis, craft beer, skiing, hiking, and camping all bring throngs of visitors to the Mile High State. But another industry has been steadily drawing more visitors each year yet is still flying under the radar, but that could soon change. We’re talking about the wine industry. Though wine has been produced in Colorado since the late nineteenth century, the industry essentially jump-started in 1990 when new laws allowed independent wineries to take root. Since then, the number of vineyards has expanded from just five in 1990 to over 170, according to the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board. That has led to a 10% average annual growth rate. A large portion of the wineries operate inside two American Viticultural Areas (AVA’s), Grand Valley and West Elks. Located in the Western Slope region of the Rocky … [Read more...] about Colorado’s Wine Industry Is Bringing Economic Growth To A State Known For Fun

New Chinatown, photo by Nation Thailand. Bangkok ‘s New Chinatown is once again buzzing with life as Chinese tourists flock back to the bustling neighbourhood after a two-year lull due to the pandemic. Stretching from Huai Khwang intersection to Pracha Uthit Road, New Chinatown (not to be confused with the original Chinatown in the Yaowarat area) is a hub of activity with eateries, shops, and street stalls filled with customers. Most of the people seen in the area this past week were Chinese nationals who had arrived to mark the Lunar New Year and decided to extend their vacation. The lifting of stringent Covid-19-related travel restrictions by Beijing on January 8 allowed Chinese tourists to once again visit Thailand. The Tourism Authority of Thailand predicts that there will be around 300,000 arrivals from China in the first quarter of the year and at least five million for the entire year, pushing the number of total arrivals in Thailand to at least 25 million. … [Read more...] about Bangkok’s New Chinatown comes back to life as Chinese tourists flock back

The Union Budget will boost the order pipeline for the infrastructure sector, but the pace of implementation and execution of the big-bang capital expenditure plan announced by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 will be key to success, said R Shankar Raman, chief financial officer of Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T). Some ongoing issues in the infrastructure sector, like dispute resolution and pace of ordering, need to be addressed to help the industry accelerate growth, Raman told Moneycontrol’s Rachita Prasad. Raman also spoke about the opportunities and risks and how L&T is preparing for 2022-23. Pushing project execution, managing people and closing the divestment of its non-core assets is on the top of the agenda for the engineering giant. Edited excerpts: The Union Budget made a big commitment to capex . What is your key takeaway for the infrastructure sector? The Rs 7.5 lakh crore is generous. The good part of the allocation is … [Read more...] about Interview | Budget plan implementation, faster dispute mechanism key to infrastructure growth: L&T CFO

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin A new ACE2 decoy mechanism efficiently neutralizes a variety of Covid-19 variants, including Omicron strains. With the continuous evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus over the last three years, the pathogen has become more efficient at infecting our cells and evading our immune defenses. One crucial aspect of this efficiency is affinity to the ACE2 receptor, a major selection criterion in virus evolution. The ACE2 decoy mimics the host cell ACE2, similarly engaging the virus and inhibiting viral entry to a real cell. Using receptors as decoys is not a novel concept. In connection to SARS-CoV-2, ACE2 decoys were tested against closely related viruses, SARS-1 and HIV, in recent decades. The decoy did not come to fruition against these viruses for myriad reasons. For SARS-1, the strategy showed some signs of reduced symptoms in mouse models, but the outbreak calmed before further animal and human testing could continue. For HIV, … [Read more...] about Will Receptor Decoys Both Prevent And Treat SARS-CoV-2 Infection?

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said growth is the main focus of the budget for FY24 presented by her recently.  The budget proposals establish both fiscal consolidation and growth, especially inclusive growth, Sitharaman said during her maiden interaction with stakeholders outside the national capital since presenting the budget on February 1. ”Growth is the main focus. We want to sustain that recovery, sustain that growth,” Sitharaman, accompanied by the top ministry officials at the outreach event, said. She gave credit for ensuring growth to the people of the country, who absorbed the relief and policy measures introduced by the government since the onset of the pandemic to make India the second-fastest growing economy. The finance minister said it was the ”express desire” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to continue with the elevated public capital expenditure, due to which she has proposed a higher outlay of Rs … [Read more...] about Budget’s main focus is growth; Mumbai should be liking proposals: FM

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin UNICEF is moving fast to scale up support of Malawi's response to the country's massive cholera outbreak as more and more people fall sick and die. As of Jan. 22, UNICEF reported , 960 people had died — including 144 children. Registered cases have exceeded 29,000 since March 2022, with children representing 35 percent of the total. UNICEF has been shipping emergency medical, sanitation and hygiene supplies to the country and helping communities implement prevention measures to contain the spread. When a year-end surge in cholera cases prompted schools in the cities of Lilongwe and Blantyre to close, classrooms were able to reopen with UNICEF's support after two weeks. Malawi's cholera outbreak is a "threat to the health and well-being of children," UNICEF Malawi Representative Rudolf Schwenk said. "We will continue to support the Ministry of Health to scale up the cholera response. We appreciate the tireless … [Read more...] about UNICEF Responds To Cholera Emergency In Malawi

File image of Gautam Adani (Image Source: Reuters) One of Adani Group’s international partners, the French energy giant TotalEnergies SE, said on February 3 that it welcomes the announcement of the Adani Group to mandate one of the big four accounting firms to carry out a general audit. Business news agency Bloomberg reported there was no corresponding announcement confirming the development on the Adani Group's website, and the company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The sobriquet Big 4 refers to Deloitte LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, KPMG LLP and PwC. TotalEnergies holds the distinction of being one of the biggest energy companies in the world and is a partner to the Adani Group in four joint ventures in India. Earlier, on January 24, the financial research firm Hindenburg Research released an explosive report accusing the Adani Group of engaging in brazen stock manipulation, and accounting fraud and dubbing the operations of the group as “the largest … [Read more...] about Adani Group will hire a Big 4 auditor: French partner TotalEnergies SE