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Hollywood star Sean Penn joins Ukraine exodus to Poland on foot

Sean Penn in The First (2018) — IMDB.COM

DAYS after visiting the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to film scenes for his documentary on Russia’’ invasion, Hollywood actor-director Sean Penn found himself among thousands of refugees fleeing to Poland, joining the exodus on foot.

Mr. Penn, 61, posted a photo to his Twitter feed on Monday showing the movie star wearing a backpack and toting a piece of luggage on wheels as he trudged along the shoulder of a road beside a line of cars stretching into the distance.

“Myself & two colleagues walked miles to the Polish border after abandoning our car on the side of the road,” Mr. Penn said in a caption tweeted with the picture. “Almost all the cars in this photo carry women & children only, most without any sign of luggage, and a car their only possession of value.”

The tweet did not explain why the Academy Award-winning actor and his companions were forced to abandon their vehicle.

A spokesperson in Los Angeles, Mara Buxbaum, told Reuters by e-mail on Tuesday that Mr. Penn had “made it out of Ukraine safely.” She declined to answer other questions about his whereabouts or the circumstances of his departure from Ukraine.

Mr. Penn was in Kyiv last Thursday attending a press briefing at the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky on the first day of Russia’s invasion, recording footage for a documentary chronicling the crisis, Zelensky’s office said in a statement at the time.

“Sean Penn is among those who support Ukraine in Ukraine today. Our country is grateful to him for such a show of courage and honesty,” the statement said.

It said Mr. Penn had interviewed Ukrainian political and military figures as well as journalists as part of the production, for which he initially visited Ukraine in November.

In a statement last week, the actor acclaimed for Oscar-winning roles in Mystic River and Milk praised the Ukrainian people as “historic symbols of courage” and called Ukraine “the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams.”

“If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost,” Mr. Penn wrote.

Mr. Penn, whose directorial credits include Into the Wild and The Crossing Guard, is also known for his political activism and involvement in various humanitarian causes, including relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake of 2010 and Pakistan floods in 2012.

He made headlines in 2016 when Rolling Stone magazine published an interview Mr. Penn had secretly conducted with Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman at his jungle hideout prior to the arrest of the cartel boss.

Mr. Penn is producing the Ukraine documentary for Vice Studios, a US-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company, according to Hollywood trade publication Variety.   Reuters

Yields on BSP’s term deposit facility rise as demand drops

BW FILE PHOTO
THE CENTRAL BANK’S term deposits fetched higher rates on Wednesday as demand weakened. — BW FILE PHOTO

YIELDS on the central bank’s term deposits inched higher on Wednesday amid lower bids following the government’s retail Treasury bond offering and ongoing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Demand for the term deposits of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) amounted to P456.539 billion, lower than the P500-billion offering as well as the P571.048 billion in bids a week earlier.

Broken down, the BSP’s offer of seven-day papers was undersubscribed, with bids at P186.711 billion against the P220-billion offer. This was also lower than the P259.007 billion in tenders last week.

Lenders asked for yields ranging from 1.65% to 2.39%, higher than the 1.625% to 1.6995% a week ago. This caused the average rate of the one-week papers to increase by 5.41 basis points (bps) to 1.7286% from 1.6745% in the prior auction.

Meanwhile, the 14-day term deposits fetched bids worth P269.828 billion, lower than the P280 billion auctioned off by the BSP and the P312.041 billion in tenders the previous Wednesday.

Accepted rates were from 1.68% to 2.39%, a narrower range compared with the 1.659% to 2.39% band a week ago. With this, the average rate of the two-week deposits increased by 10.96 bps to 1.8978% from 1.7882% previously.

The central bank has not offered 28-day term deposits for more than a year to give way to its weekly auction of securities with the same tenor.

The term deposit facility (TDF) and the 28-day bills are used by the BSP to mop up excess liquidity in the financial system and to better guide market rates.

TDF yields increased this week following the RTB offering, which siphoned off some liquidity from the financial system, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said.

The government raised P457.8 billion through the five-year RTBs which were offered for two weeks until Monday. The bond fetched a coupon rate of 4.875%.

The amount raised was bigger than the P360 billion borrowed by the government last year through an offering of 5.5-year RTBs.

Mr. Ricafort said the market is also still concerned about the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian military invaded several areas on Thursday last week, following an announcement by President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported.

Earlier this week, the two sides agreed to talk without pre-conditions. However, Russia continued to intensify its military invasion in Ukraine. — Luz Wendy T. Noble with Reuters

ACES launches Atletang Ayala to support Olympic hopefuls

THE AYALA Vermosa Sports Hub — AYALA GROUP OF COMPANIES

Ayala Group will hire athletes training for Asian, Olympics Games

THE recently-launched Ayala Center for Excellence in Sports (ACES) announced on Wednesday the creation of the Atletang Ayala program, which has been designed to provide holistic support to the country’s Olympic hopefuls.

Under the Atletang Ayala program, participating Ayala Group companies will provide full-salaried employment opportunities at part-time hours to Filipino national athletes training for the 2022 Asian Games and the 2024 Olympics. This arrangement will allow the athletes the flexibility they need to fulfill their grueling training and competition requirements while receiving a steady income. Athletes selected for the program will also be given free access to the world-class training facilities of the Ayala Vermosa Sports Hub. Finally, ACES has partnered with De La Salle University to offer free enrollment in a selection of courses for Atletang Ayala athletes who wish to continue their education.

“The Ayala Group of Companies has long recognized the special qualities athletes bring to the workplace. A number of our executives, in fact, competed as national athletes, and they have been noteworthy for their commitment, resilience and ability to work in teams. At the Ayala Group we will continue to look for ways to support our national athletes so that hopefully, we can encourage more Filipinos to pursue their sports dreams,” said Jan Bengzon, ACES Program Director.

“We are excited to open the program application process to all qualified national athletes and look forward to working with them to advance their athletic careers towards qualifying for the upcoming 2022 Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games, and hopefully the 2024 Olympics as well. At the same time, we would also like to work with them to advance their careers beyond sports,” he added.

The Atletang Ayala program will be launched after it has identified eight athletes for its inaugural class. All applicants are required to be members of the pool of national athletes in their national sports associations that are competing in medal sports at the 2024 Olympics. Atletang Ayala athletes will be offered a yearly contract that provides for the above benefits and can be renewed annually until the 2024 Olympics, contingent on the attainment of clear performance measures.

“The success of this program will not be determined by the number of athletes who bring back medals, but by the impact these young men and women will have in their communities as they aspire to reach the pinnacle of their respective sports on the global stage,” Mr. Bengzon added.

Interested applicants are encouraged to apply by filling in the form at the following link: https://bit.ly/AtletangAyala. Deadline for application is on March 18, 2022.

For more information, please contact ACES via the following e-mail address: aces@ayala.com

IT-BPO group wants more support from next administration

THE next administration should provide additional support and address issues to sustain the growth of the local information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry, according to the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP).

IBPAP President Jack Madrid said the next administration should further strengthen the digital infrastructure of the Philippines to allow further expansion in other areas across the country.

“Much progress has been made during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, but more work needs to be done to allow our telecommunications partners, private sector, and the government giving us more incentives to make internet connectivity more cost-efficient and available across the countryside,” Mr. Madrid said in a television interview on Wednesday.

“We are seeing our big industry players expanding to the countryside and helping [to] propel those local economies. We have the advantage of a very young population and we should seize that demographic advantage,” he added.

Further, Mr. Madrid said the next administration can help implement a permanent work-from-home (WFH) law after practicing the said work arrangement for about two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[We can] help the government to enact a more permanent, long-term WFH, work-from-anywhere law. This is essential to maintain our country’s competitiveness. This is the big thing that we would like to see as we welcome the new administration,” Mr. Madrid said.

“WFH or what we are now beginning to call hybrid work arrangement is not unique to our industry here in the Philippines. The future of work is happening now and I think what makes our industry unique is that it is work that can actually be performed anywhere. We need to not just defend our sizable market share of the industry, but actually to seize more of the growing demand for talent amongst Filipino employees in our industry,” he added.

According to Mr. Madrid, IBPAP is crafting a plan to allow a smoother transition for BPO firms in terms of adjusting their work arrangements.

“Currently, we are crafting a plan to [create] a smoother transition, providing our member companies a smoother [and] longer runway because after all, we have been working from home for the past two years. We just need a little bit more time securing a healthy and well-organized transition back into what we hope to be a hybrid work environment,” Mr. Madrid said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Madrid said the next administration should also change the current educational curriculum to teach skills required for digitized work.

“More of our work is increasingly complex and increasingly digital and we need to match the expectations of our customers to the needs of the industry for more digitized work. The more complex tasks that are needed, we need to match those skills with the current curriculum of our universities,” Mr. Madrid said.

With the recent implementation of Alert Level 1 in Metro Manila from March 1 to 15, the government has been encouraging the return of employees to onsite work in a bid to boost the country’s economic recovery.

Recently, the Fiscal Incentives and Review Board (FIRB) rejected the proposal of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to allow the extension of the WFH arrangement of IT-BPO firms while enjoying tax incentives until September this year.

Based on a FIRB resolution issued last year, IT-BPO firms are allowed to conduct a WFH arrangement at up to 90% of its total personnel until March 31 this year while still having tax incentive privileges. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

Adele tops IFPI 2021 album charts with hit comeback record 30

LONDON —  British singer Adele has added another accolade to her long list of honors, with her latest record 30 winning the Global Album All Format Chart for 2021, IFPI, the recorded music industry representative body, said on Tuesday.

The album 30, which went to No.1 around the world upon its release in November, also topped IFPI’s Global Album Sales Chart and its inaugural IFPI Global Vinyl Album Chart.

The album, Adele’s fourth, was her first in six years since 2015’s Grammy Award winning 25. Last month, 30 won album of the year at Britain’s pop music honors, the BRITs.

“It has been wonderful to have Adele back and releasing music over the second half of last year,” IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore said in a statement.

“Her dominance of all three IFPI Album Charts speaks to her unique song-writing talent, her iconic voice and unrelenting global popularity.””

Known for her ballads about heartbreak and nostalgia, Adele said she wrote 30 to explain her divorce to her young son.

“Following its release in Nov. 2021, 30 surpassed over five million physical album equivalent units in 2021 alone, in under two months,” IFPI said.

American singer Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour was second in the Top 10 Global Album All Format Chart, followed by Canadian pop star Justin’s Bieber’s Justice.

ABBA’s Voyage, the Swedish supergroup’s first album in 40 years, was no. 2 in the Top 10 Global Album Sales Chart, followed by K-pop band SEVENTEEN’s Attacca.

For the vinyl album chart, Harry Style’s Fine Line and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours completed the top 3. — Reuters

LANDBANK online transactions increase 46% to P2.45 trillion

THE VALUE of online transactions done with Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) surged in 2021 as the lender continued to roll out digital services during the public health crisis.

LANBANK’s electronic banking transaction value jumped by 46% year on year to P2.45 trillion, the state-run bank said in a press release on Wednesday.

The volume of transactions rose by 19% to 136.3 million.

These transactions include mobile banking, government disbursement, retail banking, institutional banking, and bulk credit.

Broken down, LANDBANK’s mobile banking app recorded over 100 million transactions worth a total of P172.39 billion last year. The transaction value more than doubled the 2020 figure.

Its electronic payment facility or Link.BizPortal recorded close to four million transactions. The total value went up by 31% to P10.45 billion.

Meanwhile, LANDBANK’s institutional internet banking platform weAccess logged over 20 million transactions, with the value increasing by 24% to P489 million.

Its iAccess internet retail banking channel saw a 30% jump in transaction value to P15.4 billion.

On the other hand, LANDBANK’s electronic modified disbursement system recorded over 20 million in transactions, with the value rising by 24% year on year to P488.98 billion.

“The LANDBANK Bulk Credit System (LBCS) also posted unprecedented annual growths of 105% and 1,181% for volume and value, respectively,” the bank said.

LANDBANK President and Chief Executive Officer Cecilia C. Borromeo said the bank is delivering digital banking services for the “new normal.” Pandemic-related restrictions allowed for limited face-to-face transactions.

“We will continue to bank on digital infrastructures as we push for greater digital adoption and advance financial inclusion in the country,” she said.

LANDBANK’s net income in 2021 rose by 27% to P21.75 billion year on year due to the lower cost of funds. This was higher than its P19.68-billion profit target for the year. — J.P. Ibañez

Yulo leads sport personalities at MVPSF Gymnastics Center inauguration on Saturday

CARLOS YULO FB PAGE

TWO-TIME world champion Carlos “Caloy” Yulo will be the special guest when the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation (MVPSF) Gymnastics Center holds its inauguration on Saturday in Intramuros, Manila.

Mr. Yulo, who planed in Monday along with Japanese coach Munehiro Kugeyama and trainer Jumpei Konno, will join several sports officials, including possibly Mr. Pangilinan himself, in the opening of the training facility that the national team will use in preparation for the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games set on May 12 to 23.

Also expected to grace the 3 p.m. ceremony are International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) president Morinari Watanabe, Philippine Sports Commission chairman William Ramirez, Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham Tolentino and Gymnastics Association of the Philippines head Cynthia Carrion

Japanese Ambassador to the country Kazuhiko Koshikawa was also invited.

The MVPSF reportedly spent millions for the world-class training center and is reportedly erecting a high-ceiling tent beside it that would be used for rhythmic gymnastics.

For PSC, it will reportedly shoulder the monthly rent.

Gymnastics is one of several sports where the country can produce gold medals in international events including the Olympics.

And there is hope that the new facility could help achieve that goal. — Joey Villar

Waterfront Philippines plans to borrow P3B more

WATERFRONT Philippines, Inc.’s board of directors gave the go signal for the company to secure up to P3.05 billion in additional loan or credit from the Philippine Bank of Communications.

In a disclosure to the exchange on Wednesday, the company said the additional funds will be used for renovations, land acquisitions, and to refinance its loan obligations due in September this year.

Waterfront Philippines is planning to renovate its Cebu, Davao, and Mactan hotels.

Meanwhile, the company is planning an equity investment via subscription to its wholly owned units to acquire more land for the development and expansion of hotel operations.

Waterfront Philippines has more than a dozen subsidiaries based across the country. The list includes Waterfront Cebu City Casino Hotel, Inc., Waterfront Mactan Casino Hotel, Inc., Waterfront Insular Hotel Davao, Inc., ACESITE (Phils.) Hotel Corp. or Manila Pavilion Hotel, Waterfront Hotel Management Corp., and Mayo Bonanza, Inc.

The other subsidiaries are Waterfront Entertainment Corp., Waterfront Food Concepts, Inc., Waterfront Wellness Group, Inc., Grand Ilocandia Resort Development, Inc., Waterfront Promotions Ltd., Waterfront Puerto Princesa Hotel, Inc., and Waterfront Cebu Ventures, Inc.

Shares of Waterfront Philippines declined 1.09% or 0.005 centavos on Wednesday to close at 0.455 centavos each. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

The Batman stars ‘scared and very excited’ to see audience response

IMDB.COM

LOS ANGELES —  Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz team up as Batman and Catwoman in the latest cinematic outing of the famed DC Comics figures for The Batman.

The nearly three-hour movie is very much a film noir, with the two characters playing detective to find a missing girl and locate The Riddler, who is murdering high-profile figures in Gotham City.

The new direction has Mr. Pattinson and Ms. Kravitz a little worried about how audiences will respond.

“I feel scared and very excited at the same time but definitely intimidated,” Ms. Kravitz told Reuters in an interview.

“Hopefully it will go down well. I wish we did press after the movie came out. It would be so much easier,” Mr. Pattinson added.

Mr. Pattinson’s Batman has a different silhouette from previous incarnations. In this film, directed by Matt Reeves, he has a much slimmer pointy-eared mask.

“I couldn’t hear anything. I also had an earpiece in which I was having direction through… occasionally they’d leave on every single person’s walkie-talkie on the entire set and I couldn’t get it out myself so I’d be literally listening to every single thing that’s happening,” Mr. Pattinson said. “Sometimes (Reeves would) leave the mic on and you could hear, if it was a tense scene, his breathing would accelerate.”

Set in fictional Gotham City, the film addresses politics, corruption, poverty and crime.

“The ways in which Matt has co-opted this genre and the Batman series to make it a film about Batman, yes, but also about the world in which we live, I think was just really brilliant,” said Jeffrey Wright, who plays Batman’s police ally, Lieutenant James Gordon.

Colin Farrell looks unrecognizable as The Penguin, spending up to four hours a day in make-up.

As well as rumors of a sequel, Warner Bros have announced a spin-off television show featuring The Penguin.

“To have six to eight hours or whatever, it would be just a joy to explore this character because it didn’t feel like a one-trick pony,” Mr. Farrell said.

The Batman begins its global cinema roll-out from Tuesday. — Reuters

Juico files a case against Obiena and POC at CAS

THE supposed mediation between Olympian pole-vaulter Ernest John “EJ” Obiena and the Philippine Track and Field Association that was agreed in principle in the Senate hearing less than a month ago did not happen.

This after Mr. Obiena and the Philippine Olympic Commission (POC) will engage PATAFA in a battle at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after PATAFA President Philip Ella Juico filed a “statement of appeal” to CAS last Feb. 11 against the former two.

POC President Abraham Tolentino on Wednesday questioned PATAFA’s motive for it, describing it as a breach of integrity and putting a damper on the Senate’s effort to resolve the impasse.

“So what happened to the truce forged through the Senate? The mediation that both parties — Mr. Obiena and the Patafa (Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association) agreed on before our honorable Senators?” said Mr. Tolentino.

Mr. Juico’s filing of a case at the Lausanne-based CAS was done four days after the Senate hearing where Mr. Obiena and PATAFA publicly agreed to a mediation.

Apparently, it didn’t materialize.

“Where’s the good faith there? The POC thought they [PATAFA] were for mediation and even EJ already agreed to the procedure,” said Mr. Tolentino. “Filing a complaint against Mr. Obiena and the POC means the Patafa is included in the complaint because Patafa is a member of the organization.”

The POC Executive Board, in a hybrid meeting at the Knights Templar Ridge Hotel in Tagaytay City, authorized Mr. Tolentino to hire a lawyer and appoint a CAS juror, as well as appropriate still undetermined fees for the defense.

All except chairman Steve Hontiveros and first vice-president Alfredo Panlilio attended the meeting, with Atty. Charlie Ho of netball, who ran under Mr. Juico’s ticket in the November 2020 POC elections, filing the motion for the appropriation of lawyers and CAS fees.

According to POC Chief Legal Counsel Atty. Wharton Chan, Mr. Juico filed the complaint through his lawyers, the Aranas Cruz Araneta Parker & Faustino Law Offices. The complaint cited the POC’s breach of jurisdiction on the Mr. Obiena issue, dismissal of the case Mr. Obiena filed with the POC through its Athletes Commission and withdrawal of the persona non grata sanction on Mr. Juico.

Mr. Chan said the POC could not be cited on issues over jurisdiction on the Mr. Obiena case, saying the POC “is not a judicial body, but a corporate one and the focal issue is on the attitude and unethical conduct” on Mr. Obiena’s complaint of harassment against the Patafa.

“The CAS asked for more evidences from the PATAFA such as proof of notices, among others,” said Mr. Chan,

The International Olympic Committee created the CAS “to bring about the resolution of sports-related disputes which are submitted to it through ordinary arbitration or through appeal against the decisions of sports bodies or organizations.” — Joey Villar

Russian cyber war seen to pose threat to insurers

RUSSIAN DIGITAL WARFARE against Ukraine and potentially other nations as part of its invasion is prodding cyber insurers to beef up language protecting them against losses, and has left policyholders uncertain about the extent of their coverage.

Insurers, still dealing with the fallout from an infamous hack in 2017, have ramped up efforts to refine policies and spell out exactly what does and doesn’t get covered in the event of a retaliatory attack by Russia for sanctions and other actions imposed by the US and its allies. Cyber coverage is a relatively young industry, and lacks defined standards of accountability. 

The issue of coverage “is one that’s going to be answered on a case-by-case basis, based on the facts of any cyber incident and the specifics of an insurance policy,” said Darin McMullen, cyber product leader with insurance broker Aon Plc.

Ukrainian officials have alleged that Russian operatives launched hacks against government and corporate systems ahead of the invasion. The prospect of wider-ranging intrusions leaves insurers and policyholders uncertain about whether they will bear the costs if systems are breached.

Among the biggest providers of cyber coverage are Chubb Ltd., Axa SA and American International Group, Inc., according to a 2021 report by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

At issue is the so-called war exclusion, a longstanding policy provision written by insurers. It states that losses inflicted by armed combat typically aren’t covered. While cyber warfare isn’t armed combat, the coordination of hacking and military action presumably could trigger the clause — and force insurers to alter policy language.

“Carriers are just going to be making more updates to their policies and further outlining very specific things that will or will not be covered because I think they’ve been bleeding cash for the last couple of years,” said Mark Lance, senior director of cyber defense at GuidePoint Security.

Uncertainty for the industry and its customers also followed the 2017 NotPetya hack, an event US officials tied to Russia, and which crippled companies including pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. The question of whether Merck’s $1.4 billion in losses were covered by its property and casualty policy ended up in court.

In January, a New Jersey judge ruled that the insurers were unjustified in blocking Merck’s claims and overreached in invoking a war exclusion. Defendants in the case included Munich Re, Lloyd’s of London, Allianz SE and Zurich Insurance Group AG.

“It was a learning experience for the industry and now the insurers are much more aware of having to amend that definition of war, which has traditionally excluded or not addressed cyberattacks,” said Jennifer Rothstein, who heads cyber insurance and legal business development for computer security firm BlueVoyant.

She said that carriers have recently been working with brokers to clarify coverage and refine the questions asked as part of the underwriting process. In the meantime, premiums are going up, and the criteria insurers use to determine whether to take on risks are becoming stricter. That means getting covered is harder.

A December report from brokerage Marsh McLennan said that US cyber-insurance pricing increased an average of 96% in the third quarter of 2021. The broker pinned the increase on factors including worsening losses brought on by an increase in the frequency and severity of ransomware claims, as well as the potential for a single attack to hit multiple policyholders at once.

There’s no guarantee that Russia will use its cyber capabilities to punish countries that have imposed sanctions since the invasion. Still, the Russian government has been linked to high-profile hacks before, including a 2020 intrusion that breached US government systems. — Bloomberg

Huawei eyeing digitalization partnerships in the Philippines

By Brontë H. Lacsamana

SHENZHEN-BASED multinational company Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. is looking to contribute to digitalization efforts in the Philippines through local partnerships.

Jay Chen, vice-president of Huawei Asia Pacific, said at a round table at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) on March 1 that the Philippines is “very dynamic” in its development of digital solutions.

“As per my understanding, in the last couple of years, the investments for the ICT (information and communications technology) industry in the Philippines are very huge, with very strong investments [compared to] many countries in the region,” he said.

He said Huawei has “a lot of potential for partnerships with [the] local industry” and will likely be able to “contribute something from our side.”

Last year, the company invested $100 million in technology startups in Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries including the Philippines, with the goal to build a sustainable start-up ecosystem in the region over the next three years.

It also invested $150 million in developing APAC’s ICT talent through its five-year program Seeds for the Future 2.0, which will benefit 3 million students in the region.

Huawei anticipates that ICT can help conserve ten times’ worth of the world’ energy while only consuming 2% of it, according to Michael MacDonald, chief digital officer and executive consultant of Huawei Asia Pacific.

“The good thing about this is that ICT can be used in interesting ways to help address the green elements of other industries,” he said at the round table.

Fifth-generation (5G), for example, consumes less energy than 4G and 3G, making a shift to the technology a good way to reduce overall carbon footprint.

“Once we have the connectivity, the cloud services, then we [can further improve] the green economy or green solutions,” Mr. Chen added.

SUPER DEVICE
One of Huawei’s initiatives to enhance connectivity is the new Super Device, an integrated software system unveiled at the Smart Office conference ahead of MWC. This ecosystem will enable PCs or laptops to seamlessly connect to a range of other devices like mobile phones, earbuds, keyboards, mice, and even a laser printer that are connected to a single Wi-Fi network.

“Seamless AI (artificial intelligence) life is Huawei Consumer Business’ next five to 10 years long-term strategy… Our target is to bring you boundless creation and seamless communication,” said Richard Yu, Huawei Consumer Business’ chief executive officer.

Along with this, seven new Huawei devices are now available in the Philippine market. These include MateBook X Pro and MateBook E laptops, the MateStation X desktop, MatePad and MatePad Paper tablets, laser printer PixLab X1, and the Sound Joy speaker.

With Super Device, all of these products would no longer have barriers to interconnection, improving productivity. Features include file access and transfers, use of phone apps via your Huawei laptop and faster pairing with peripherals.

Huawei plans to continue innovating in this space to make business “smarter,” Mr. Yu added.