Day: May 5, 2023

The UN refugee agency said Thursday it anticipates an outflow of 860,000 refugees and returnees from Sudan and that it would need USD445 million from partners to sustain the displaced population until October. The Regional Refugee Response Plan for Sudan, which is presented to donors on Thursday, will primarily cover immediate support in Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic, the UNHCR said in a statement. The plan was developed in collaboration with 134 partners, including UN agencies, national and international NGOs, and civil society organizations, according to the statement. “The humanitarian situation in and around Sudan is tragic – there are food, water and fuel shortages, limited access to transport, communications, and electricity, and skyrocketing prices of basic items,” Raouf Mazou, UNHCR’s assistant high commissioner for operations, said. “UNHCR and partners have emergency teams in place and are assisting authorities with technical support, registering arrivals, carrying out protection monitoring, and strengthening reception to ensure urgent needs are met,” Mazou said. “This is just a start. More help is urgently needed.” The UNHCR said the 860,000 figure is a rough estimate for financial and operational planning. Sudanese would make up about 580,000 of the total, with 235,000 refugees previously sponsored by Sudan coming home in difficult conditions and 45,000 refugees of other nationalities formerly accommodated by Sudan, it added. Most people are likely to arrive in Egypt and South Sudan. More than 330,000 people have already been displaced within Sudan as a result of the current fighting, with an additional 100,000 refugees and returnees fleeing the country, according to the agency. Since the start of the clashes on April 15, more than 550 people have been killed and more than 5,000 others injured, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry. A disagreement has been fomenting in recent months between the army and the paramilitary force over RSF integration into the armed forces, a key condition of Sudan’s transition agreement with political groups. Sudan has been without a functioning government since October 2021, when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency in a move decried by political forces as a ‘coup.’ Sudan’s transitional period, which started in August 2019 after the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, was scheduled to end with elections in early 2024.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Maksim S. Oreshkin, presidential advisor of the Russian Federation for economic affairs, on Thursday concluded his official visit to Cuba after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for bilateral investment initiative.

The Memorandum, reached by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Ricardo Cabrisas, includes business projects agreed with the Russian side to expand relations between the two countries.

At the meeting, the high-ranking officials praised the significance of talks between executives and businessmen of the two nations in order to strengthen economic relations, the Cuban News Agency (ACN) reported Thursday.

Both discussed major issues of interest to promote Russian investors´ effective involvement in Cuba’s Economic and Social Development Program through 2030, in priority sectors like energy, tourism and food production.

Cabrisas stressed these contacts and those held by the Cuban and Russian leaders are in line with the excellent state of bilateral relations.

He pointed out there is a political willingness from both governments to make accelerated progress in the economic and commercial sectors for the mutual benefit of their peoples.

Source: Lao News Agency

Finance ministers and central banks’ governors of ASEAN Member States and China, the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Japan (ASEAN+3) have agreed to intensify regional financial cooperation.

The consensus was reached at the 26th ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors Meeting held in Incheon, the RoK on May 2.

Speaking at a press conference in Jakarta on May 3, Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who co-chaired the meeting, said that strengthening regional financial cooperation is implemented through the initiatives under the Regional Financing Arrangements (RFA) Future Direction, Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM), ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), and Asian Bond Markets Initiative (ABMI).

The parties also agreed to boost financial collaboration through the ASEAN+3 Future Initiatives which comprise of infrastructure financing, study on non-lending facility, disaster risk financing (DRF), harnessing digital advancement (FinTech), as well as several strategic thematic studies on Financial Digitalisation, sustainable finance, corporate debt, household debt, and Local Currency Transaction (LCT).

At the meeting, the minister also conveyed the robust growth of ASEAN+3 economies of 3.2% in 2022, despite the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The region is expected to grow by 4.6% in 2023, led by robust domestic demand as the economic recovery continues to gain traction.

Governor of Bank Indonesia, Perry Warjiyo, highlighted that current challenges and heavy reliance on certain dominant currency for international trade and investment settlement could raise vulnerability and increase the risk of financial stability in ASEAN+3. Therefore, ASEAN+3 needs to be innovative to be able to preserve stability, amidst remained high inflation, tighter liquidity conditions narrower policy room, and strong dollar environment. Under this circumstances, Governor Perry emphasised the importance of strengthening and enhancing the cooperation among ASEAN+3 countries on payment connectivity by promoting more extensive use of local currency for transactions.

Source: Lao News Agency

Vietnam earned some 15.66 billion USD from agro-forestry-aquatic product exports in the first four months of 2023, down 13.3% year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The sector posted a trade surplus of 2.51 billion USD in the reviewed period, a decrease of 37.7%, the ministry said.

In April alone, the export revenue of agro-forestry-aquatic products was estimated at 4.54 billion USD, down 8.3% from the corresponding time last year, and 1.2 million USD from the previous month.

In the month, the export value of agricultural and husbandry products went up 24% and 46.7% to 2.33 billion USD and 41 million USD, respectively. Meanwhile, earnings from aquatic and forestry products dropped 28.6% and 29.8% to 800 million USD and 1.2 billion USD.

Such items as coffee, fruits and vegetables, cashew nuts, meat and by-products, and rice saw higher export values. On the contrary, the exports of rubber, tea, pepper, cassava and cassava products, wood and wooden products, rattan, bamboo and sedge mats, tra fish (pangasius) and shrimp experienced decreases.

For markets, apart from Asia with a 2.7% rise, Vietnam’s agro-forestry-aquatic product exports to America, Europe, Africa and Oceania contracted 39.6%, 13%, 21.2% and 31%, respectively. China, the US and Japan remained Vietnam’s biggest importers during the reviewed period.

The ministry said the decrease in agro-forestry-aquatic product export revenue was due to impacts of the global economy which is forecast to slow down this year, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and inflation surges in some countries.

Moreover, many countries have stepped up exports, while imported inventory remains big in major markets like the US and the EU, making many domestic enterprises unable to earn new orders.

The ministry said it will continue promoting market development and removing obstacles to domestic consumption and export in the time ahead.

Source: Lao News Agency