Day: November 1, 2022

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MOIC, ITC increase awareness of Trade in Services Agreements in Laos

The service sector plays a crucial role in production and consumption aspects and is a dominant source of value across most economic activities. Services also play the role of enablers of other sectors to move up the value chain, as well as an avenue for export diversification and growth, such as the tourism industry.
Strengthening the capacity and increasing the understanding of trade negotiators from relevant sectors involved in Trade in Services negotiation is essential. Especially to comply with several commitments that the Lao PDR undertakes under other trade agreements such as the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO), the ASEAN Signs Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
Therefore, with the support of the ARISE Plus project, the Department of Foreign Trade Policy (DFTP) of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) hosted a training on “Strengthening the capacity of trade negotiators and implementation of Trade in Services Agreements of the Lao PDR” from Nov 1 and 2, 2022 in Vientiane.
The two-day comprehensive training covered a wide range of topics and discussions. It included Understanding trade in services; Principles in multilateral and regional agreements relating to services trade; domestic regulation on services; Complying with regional commitments, among other relevant topics. Similarly, the increased understanding and enhanced capacity will contribute to implementing Trade in Services commitments in a systematically and effective manner during and after the negotiations.
“As we see the importance and value of this training, at DFTP, we work closely with the European Union-funded Arise Plus Lao PDR project to organise this training. Hopefully, all the participants will apply and adapt the knowledge and lessons from this training to their work effectively,” said Mr Itthilith Ngangnouvong, Deputy General Director of DFTP.
The training was supported by the European Union-funded Arise Plus Lao PDR project. The project aims to contribute to the recovery of the Lao economy by supporting the capacity building of trade officials, enabling the public sector to develop and implement key policy instruments while equipping the private sector with skills to produce high-value-added, export-oriented products.

Source: Lao News Agency

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WWF Campaign Targets Wild Meat Consumption to Protect Public Health and Nature in Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia

An innovative new campaign launched on Oct 28 by WWF puts the spotlight on two serious threats – risks to public health and risks to nature – as the organization works to reduce the consumption of wild meat in Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia.
The three countries have observed high levels of wild meat consumption, which often brings wild mammals and birds into the marketplace and into restaurants. The majority of all emerging infectious diseases originated from animals and were transferred to humans. Wildlife trafficking contributes to the catastrophe, posing a grave danger not only to the environment and our wildlife heritage, but to human health and security.
“Our campaign aims to help urban and provincial consumers make changes in their wild meat consumption. ” said Anita Bousa, Endangered Species Manager, WWF-Laos office. “The campaign is based on our research into local diners’ motivations for eating wild meat – often because they think it’s a delicacy, or that it connects them to tradition, or for perceived health benefits. By taking a very targeted approach with these consumers, we hope they decide it’s not worth the risk to bring wild animals into their lives, which puts us all at risk of disease.
Serious outbreaks, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), swine flu (H1N1), avian flu (H5N1), COVID-19, and Monkeypox are all zoonotic diseases, meaning they were transmitted from animals to humans. Animals are not to blame for these outbreaks – in fact, most of the pathogens they carry pose very little threat to people if animals are left in the wild. The cause is instead high-risk human activities that encroach into wild places and lead to close interactions between different wildlife species and humans. Particularly risky behaviors are poaching, transporting, trading, processing, and eating wild animals.
In collaboration with Salavanh and Xekong Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office, our campaign messaging will be rolled out both online and offline in creative ways designed to reach wild meat eaters and undermine their motivations for consuming, with a focus in Xekong and Salavanh provinces, where animals like civets, monkeys, and pangolins are commonly consumed for their meat. Mr. Keophayline Ngonephetsy, Xekong provincial coordinator, Xesap National Protected Area added, “Xesap National Protected Area with the guidance from Department of Agriculture and Forestry of Xekong and Salavanh provinces, along with related authorities in both provinces, are keen to tackle wild meat consumption, both to reduce the risk posed by zoonotic diseases to our people and to conserve our local wildlife and natural environment.”
Consumption of wild meat in Laos heavily threatens the survival of wildlife populations, fuels transboundary and domestic wildlife crime, and significantly increases the risk of zoonotic spillover from animals to people. Most consumers are unaware of the potential risk they are exposing themselves, their loved ones, and society to when they purchase wild meat.
Outbreaks, epidemics, or even pandemics are emerging with increasing frequency nowadays given the closer and more frequent contact between humans and wildlife, with an estimated 75% of new human diseases having come from animals in the last 30 years.
Jan Vertefeuille, senior advisor for advocacy at WWF-US, added, “While we may not be able to pinpoint the exact spot where the next outbreak is going to happen, we are able to identify behaviors, like eating wild meat, that increase the risk of zoonotic spillover. We hope consumers will join us to change their behavior and make wild meat consumption socially unacceptable. Reducing risky activities like this is the best way to try to prevent another pandemic.”
In addition, private partners like creative agency Vero, Bigblue Agency Laos, and TwoWayPR, along with local media, who are representing the voices of communities and other sectors, are lending their support to this campaign.

Source: Lao News Agency

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National Geographic Lists Laos as Breathtaking Travel Destination for 2023

Laos is the only ASEAN country featured in the ‘annual list of superlative destinations’ and it is placed under the header of ‘Community: Where conservation benefits everyone’ with specific experiences in other countries like Greece, the US, Canada, and Ghana.
“Board a new high-speed train that makes lesser known regions of Laos accessible to tourists and brings economic opportunities to locals,” says the article about the Laos-China Railway whose bullet trains can clock up to 160 km/hr.
Through the Laos Travel Guide on its website, the publication introduces Laos and its numerous travel destinations to readers and travellers.
“Laos is Southeast Asia’s only landlocked country, yet, paradoxically, life revolves around water. Running the length of the mainly mountainous country is the mighty Mekong River, which floods rice fields, creates vital fish habitat, and serves as the main highway and water source.”
“Villages clustered along the river regularly host backpackers drawn to the country’s exquisite French colonial architecture and stunning palaces and temples, but, the rugged terrain keeps Laos blissfully off the typical tourist trail,” says National Geographic.
Also this week, a prominent UK-based travel magazine hascited Laos as one of the 20 best places to visit in January 2023. It is the top ASEAN country on the list, ranking sixth, while Vietnam was featured in the No.8 position.
Laos has already seen over one million tourists this year, including 644,756 international visitors. The government expects to attract at least 900,000 foreign visitors in 2022, which could lead to over USD 218 million in revenue.

Source: Lao News Agency

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Antibody Treatment Tested as New Tool Against Malaria

Research in Africa found a one-time dose of an experimental drug protected adults against malaria for at least six months, the latest approach in the fight against the mosquito-borne disease.
Malaria killed more than 620,000 people in 2020 and sickened 241 million, mainly children under 5 in Africa. The World Health Organization is rolling out the first authorized malaria vaccine for children, but it is about 30% effective and requires four doses.
The new study tested a very different approach — giving people a big dose of lab-made malaria-fighting antibodies instead of depending on the immune system to make enough of those same infection-blockers after vaccination.
“The available vaccine doesn’t protect enough people,” said Dr. Kassoum Kayentao of the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies in Bamako, Mali, who helped lead the study in the villages of Kalifabougou and Torodo.

In those villages during malaria season, other research has shown, people are bitten by infected mosquitoes on average twice a day.
The experimental antibody, developed by researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, was given by IV — difficult to deliver on a large scale. But the encouraging findings bode well for an easier-to-administer shot version from the same scientists that’s in early testing in infants, children and adults.
The U.S. government research was published Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at a medical meeting in Seattle.
The antibody works by breaking the life cycle of the parasite, which is spread through mosquito bites. It targets immature parasites before they enter the liver where they can mature and multiply. It was developed from an antibody taken from a volunteer who received a malaria vaccine.
The research involved 330 adults in Mali who got either one of two different antibody doses or a dummy infusion. All were tested for malaria infection every two weeks for 24 weeks. Anyone who got sick was treated.
Infections were detected by blood test in 20 people who got the higher dose, 39 people who got the lower dose and 86 who got the placebo.
The higher dose was 88% effective, compared to the placebo. The lower dose was 75% effective.
Protection might last during the several months of a malaria season. The idea is to someday use it alongside other malaria prevention methods such as malaria pills, mosquito nets and vaccines. Cost is uncertain, but one estimate suggests lab-made antibodies could be given for as little as $5 per child per malaria season.
Lab-made antibodies are used to treat cancer, autoimmune diseases and COVID-19, said Dr. Johanna Daily of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, who was not involved in the study.
“The good news is now we have another, immune-based therapy to try to control malaria,” Daily said.

Source: Voice of America

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Australia Bans More Single-Use Plastics

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, Australia’s most populous state is banning a range of single-use plastic, including straws, cutlery and bowls.
Polystyrene foam food containers are also banned under the new rules in New South Wales, along with some face, body and hair products that contain plastic micro beads.
Businesses that breach the regulations could face fines of tens of thousands of dollars.
Minister for Environment and Heritage James Griffin said in a statement in September that the ban was just the start of a “massive shift away from single-use plastic.”
He has predicted the ban would stop 2.7 billion items of plastic ending up as litter over the next 20 years.
The laws in New South Wales are part of a nationwide push to curb waste. State authorities in Queensland and Victoria will bring in similar bans next year.
Environmental campaigners have welcomed the laws but insist much more needs to be done. Australia currently recycles 16% of its plastic packaging, below the national target of 70%.
Shane Cucow of the Australian Marine Conservation Society told VOA that recycling needs to be improved, because “Every wrap, pack and snack at a supermarket these days is covered in plastic.”
He added that, “We can get rid of some of those single-use plastics that are highly littered and regularly ending up in our oceans like cups and straws and take-away containers and plastic bags, and that is really important, but at the same time there is just so much plastic packaging on everything that is not able to be recycled properly and so it has got nowhere to go except being buried in landfill or washing out into our oceans.”
In June, New South Wales also banned lightweight plastic bags.

Source: Voice of America

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Peoples Bank Chooses SimpleNexus to Enhance the Customer Homebuying Experience with Home Financing Tools on the Go

Iowa bank’s implementation of Nexus Engagement and Nexus Origination strengthens its relationships with customers and real estate agents

LEHI, Utah, Nov. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SimpleNexus (https://simplenexus.com/), an nCino (NASDAQ: NCNO) company and developer of the leading U.S. homeownership platform for loan officers, borrowers, real estate agents and settlement agents, today announced that Clive, Iowa-based Peoples Bank has completed the company-wide rollout of Nexus Engagement™ and Nexus Origination™ to offer customers a modern homebuying experience from the convenience of their phones.

Founded in 1917, Peoples Bank is a locally-owned, independent community bank with more than $422 million in assets and nine locations in central and west-central Iowa. The bank implemented SimpleNexus’ mobile lead engagement toolset, Nexus Engagement, and its from-anywhere mortgage point-of-sale (POS) product, Nexus Origination, to enhance the customer experience, originate mortgage loans more efficiently and improve referral strategies with real estate professionals.

“Our loan officers love using SimpleNexus because it is so intuitive. When a prospect begins a mortgage inquiry or application, the app prompts them to snap and upload pictures of the documentation needed to get them pre-qualified,” said Tracy Van Sickle, vice president, mortgage loan supervisor at Peoples Bank. “By automating time-consuming processes like chasing down documents and giving borrowers modern alternatives to scanning and faxing, SimpleNexus eliminates many of the pain points in the lending process, much to the delight of our customers and loan officers.”

Leveraging SimpleNexus’ native integrations with the bank’s mortgage loan origination system (LOS) and document provider has allowed Peoples Bank to streamline its document workflow by prompting borrowers to eSign standard disclosures and specialty documents alike. Additionally, quickly generating pre-qualification letters from the SimpleNexus mobile app and sharing them with agents has helped loan officers bolster referrals.

“The forward-thinking leaders at Peoples Bank understand the importance of technology and the central role it plays in consumers’ lives,” said Ben Miller, CEO of SimpleNexus. “It is an honor to support a bank that, like SimpleNexus, pursues innovation and is passionate about providing excellent service to homebuyers.”

About SimpleNexus
SimpleNexus, an nCino (NASDAQ: NCNO) company, is an award-winning developer of mobile-first technology for the modern mortgage lender. U.S. lenders depend on our namesake homeownership platform to unite the people, systems and stages of the mortgage process into a seamless, end-to-end solution that spans engagement, origination, closing and business intelligence. By helping lenders manage their teams and stay connected with borrowers and real estate professionals, we deliver a measurable return on investment in the form of reduced turn times, increased loan application submissions and more referral business. A four-time Inc. 5000 company, SimpleNexus has been recognized as one of the world’s Best Workplaces for Innovators. For more information, visit https://www.simplenexus.com or follow @SimpleNexus.

About Peoples Bank
As a family-owned bank with a history in Iowa since 1917, Peoples Bank has been committed to serving the personal and business banking needs of the communities we are honored to be a part of. Headquartered in Clive, Iowa, we serve Central Iowans with a total of nine branch locations across the metro and rural markets. Peoples Bank is an Equal Housing Lender and Member FDIC. Learn more about our company, history, community outreach and environmental initiatives that define us today and into tomorrow at https://www.mypeoples.bank/about-us.

Media Contacts
Leslie Colley
DepthPR for SimpleNexus
+1 678.622.6229
leslie@depthpr.com

David Bolin
SimpleNexus
+1 414.688.6077
dbolin@simplenexus.com

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