Global coronavirus infections reach 250 million

November 8, 2021 | 5:57 pm

GLOBAL COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases surpassed 250 million on Monday as some countries in eastern Europe experience record outbreaks, even as the Delta variant surge eases and many countries resume trade and tourism.

The daily average number of cases has fallen by 36% over the past three months, according to a Reuters analysis, but the virus is still infecting 50 million people every 90 days due to the highly transmissible Delta variant.

By contrast, it took nearly a year to record the first 50 million COVID-19 cases.

Health experts are optimistic that many nations have put the worst of the pandemic behind them thanks to vaccines and natural exposure, although they caution that colder weather and upcoming holiday gatherings could increase cases.

“We think between now and the end of 2022, this is the point where we get control over this virus … where we can significantly reduce severe disease and death,” Maria Van Kerkhove, an epidemiologist leading the World Health Organisation, told Reuters on Nov. 3.

Infections are still rising in 55 out of 240 countries, with Russia, Ukraine and Greece at or near record levels of reported cases since the pandemic started two years ago, according to a Reuters analysis.

Eastern Europe has among the lowest vaccination rates in the region. More than half of all new infections reported worldwide were from countries in Europe, with a million new infections about every four days, according to the analysis.

Several Russian regions said this week they could impose additional restrictions or extend a workplace shutdown as the country witnesses record deaths due to the disease.

VACCINE INEQUITY
Several world leaders have stressed the need to improve vaccination programs around the world, particularly in the least wealthy countries.

More than half the world’s population has yet to receive a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Our World in Data, a figure that drops to less than 5% in low-income countries.

Improving vaccine access will be on the agenda of meetings of the powerful Asia-Pacific trade group APEC, hosted virtually by New Zealand this week.

APEC members, which include Russia, China and the United States, pledged at a special meeting in June to expand sharing and manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines and lift trade barriers for medicines.

“Together we are continuing to keep supply chains functioning and are supporting trade in critical medical supplies — including testing kits, PPE and now vaccines,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and other aid groups last month appealed to leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies to fund a $23.4 billion plan to bring COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and drugs to poorer countries in the next 12 months. — Reuters

Business leaders optimistic climate conference’s visions will become reality

November 8, 2021 | 5:54 pm

People carry a sign as they attend a protest during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, Nov. 6, 2021. — REUTERS/YVES HERMAN

BOSTON/GLASGOW — A week into the United Nations’ high-profile climate conference in Glasgow, executives and financial analysts said they are optimistic the talks will lead to changes needed for business to play a bigger role in tackling climate change.

The business observers pointed to several steps by world leaders they said could boost sustainable business and investing efforts to mobilize the vast sums of money needed to wean the world off fossil fuels.

These include a pledge by financial firms with a combined $130 trillion in assets to focus on climate change, the creation of a global standards body to scrutinize corporate climate claims, and pledges to cut methane emissions and to save forests.

Jefferies managing director Aniket Shah said although many of the steps lacked specific promises, they showed a global consensus forming to tackle climate change that will make it easier for private investors and governments to put in money and effort.

“There’s a certain power of signaling of intentions that can’t be dismissed here,” Mr. Shah said. He pointed to the goal set by India’s prime minister, Narenda Modi, on Nov. 1 for his country to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.

Although two decades later than what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts, the pledge was still more than India had offered in the past and could be accelerated with financial help from developed nations, Mr. Shah said.

Peter Lacy, Accenture’s global sustainability services lead, said that for investors and companies, the most significant step at the conference was the creation on Nov. 3 of the International Sustainability Standards Board, meant to create a baseline for companies to describe their climate impact.

Mr. Lacy called it a seismic moment for business and in line with the hopes of CEOs Accenture surveyed ahead of the conference.

The new board, Mr. Lacy said, “will give investors and stakeholders a much better understanding of related risks and opportunities and help guide the allocation of the huge amount of capital needed as the world transitions to net zero,” he said via email.

LACK OF DETAIL
Critics say many of the conference’s key announcements lack specifics and give companies wiggle room. For instance, banks, insurers and investors pledged to work to cut emissions to net zero by 2050, but each entity has made its own net zero commitments “with potential overlap across initiatives, institutions and assets,” according to the group’s press statement.

Leslie Samuelrich, media of Green Century Capital Management in Boston, which does not invest in fossil fuel stocks, said she worries bigger investment firms signed on so quickly to carbon-reduction pledges advertised at Glasgow because their terms might be too easy to meet.

“The speed with which some have adopted this makes me cautious,” Ms. Samuelrich said.

But other finance executives say it is inevitable businesses will move to cut emissions under pressure from customers and to chase profits. Mark Haefele, chief investment officer for UBS Global Wealth Management, said promising areas include renewable energy, transport and batteries.

Diplomats now must hash out rules on areas like constructing markets to help businesses price carbon and how much developed nations will help poorer ones.

On a call with journalists on Friday, David Waskow, a director of the nonprofit World Resources Institute, said he was more optimistic than a week ago that the attendees would strike meaningful agreements.

“I think the beginning of the week actually did lay good groundwork. Not to say everything is all rosy,” he said. — Reuters

Malaysia fails in its bid to forfeit luxury goods seized from former PM

November 8, 2021 | 5:53 pm

MALAYSIA’S government failed in its attempt to forfeit luxury items seized from former Prime Minister Najib Razak and his family members.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday dismissed the suit, saying the government failed to prove that the goods were bought using 1MDB funds. The government will appeal the decision, Deputy Public Prosecutor Harris Ong Mohd Jeffery Ong said.

“It is apparent that the investigating officer came to this conclusion based on his presumption. This is insufficient as they need to credibly prove a direct link between the money that was gained illegally to the cash found as well as the items bought,” Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan said.

The ruling follows the government’s failed court bid in May to prove the 114 million ringgit ($27 million) seized from a residence linked to Mr. Najib was part of 1MDB’s stolen funds. Mr. Najib had claimed the cash was for election purposes.

The cash and the luxury goods were part of the 1.1 billion ringgit of items seized in 2018 amid investigations into 1MDB. The inventory included a 6.4 million ringgit diamond necklace, Hermes bags and Rolex watches.

The raids occurred a month after Najib’s coalition lost the national elections, the first change in government since Malaysia achieved interdependence from Britain in 1957. — Bloomberg

Crypto queens: Women stake out space in blockchain world

November 8, 2021 | 4:54 pm

crypto-currency-bitcoin — UNSPLASH/THOUGHTCATALOG.COM

As an artist and women’s rights activist, Maliha Abidi is adept at using digital technologies, so when she came across non-fungible tokens (NFTs) she quickly figured they could be a way to reach more people, and for women artists to gain a bigger following.

Ms. Abidi, 25, who was born in Pakistan and migrated to the United States as a teenager, created her first NFT a few months ago — a type of asset which uses blockchain to record ownership of digital items such as images, videos, and collectibles.

The UK-based activist is about to launch Women Rise, a campaign to bring 100,000 girls and women into cryptocurrency by the end of 2022.

She is one of a growing number of women artists, coders, entrepreneurs, and investors embracing cryptocurrency and NFTs, and advocating for other women to join the blockchain movement and bridge the gender gap in this quickly expanding space.

“When I first heard about blockchain, I didn’t think it was for me. But I was attracted to the art, and realized artists can be a part of this, and that it can be an inclusive space for women and people of color,” she said over a video call.

“NFTs give people who haven’t had the opportunity to invest in or sell their art the traditional way, a chance to do so. Crypto and NFTs are a path to financial independence, so it’s important that women and girls know about them,” she said.

As large institutional investors pushed bitcoin to record highs this year, adoption of cryptocurrencies has grown amongst younger investors and in developing countries, where anyone with a mobile phone can bypass the formal banking system.

India has the most crypto owners in the world at about 100 million, according to platform BrokerChooser, compared to about 27 million in the United States and 17 million in Russia.

Meanwhile, sales of NFTs surged to nearly $11 billion in the third quarter of 2021, up more than eightfold from the previous quarter, according to market tracker DappRadar.

But more than two-thirds of US cryptocurrency investors are men, and about 60% are white, according to a recent survey by CNBC and Acorn, a gender gap that is wider than in other financial investments such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds.

While a crypto exchange in India said only 15% of its users were women.

“The crypto world seems to mirror the tech and finance worlds in terms of gender; there are women, but the space is heavily male-dominated,” said Angela Walch, a research associate at the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies in London.

“As crypto becomes more mainstream, it is important to have diverse perspectives in creating and running the systems so that better decisions can be made,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

MORE INCLUSIVE
Less than half of women worldwide use the internet, compared to 55% of men, with the gap wider in poorer countries, according to the United Nations’ technology agency (ITU).

Similarly, women also lag men when it comes to managing and accessing assets or financial services worldwide, according to the World Economic Forum’s annual gender gap report.

Blockchain technology — which underpins cryptocurrency and NFTs — has been hailed as a path to a fairer, more transparent and inclusive world with its decentralized format.

And cryptocurrencies are quickly shifting from the fringes of finance to the mainstream, with investors, companies and countries adopting them as an asset, as a payment vehicle, and as a hedge against uncertainty and hyperinflation.

NFTs meanwhile, have drawn celebrities, artists, and investors, with the sale of a digital collage this year for more than $69 million recorded as the most expensive NFT sale so far — even as the number of NFT buyers remains relatively small.

But while cryptocurrency has drawn younger people, as well as a mix of races, women only make up about a fifth of US investors, the CNBC poll showed.

Black women — who historically have been shut out of many investment verticals — make up just 4% of crypto investors.

This is why British-based entrepreneur Lavinia Osbourne founded Women in Blockchain Talks as a space for women, and plans to launch an NFT marketplace called “Crypto Kweens” for female artists, entrepreneurs, and collectors.

“The inequity exists so deeply and systematically in society, and people bring their biases into all walks of life,” she said, adding that she had faced bias “steeped in racism”.

“This is why it is so important for diverse voices to be a part of the blockchain conversation — if not, we will have a repeat of the inequality that exists elsewhere,” she said.

CRYPTO CHICKS
With Twitter handles such as @crypto_chicks, @NFTgirl and @BTCbombshell, women NFT artists and collectors flaunt their affiliation on social media and cheer each other on. Many also support charitable causes for women and girls.

Their work is gaining recognition: a physical version of an NFT from Boss Beauties, a collection of 10,000 NFT portraits of women, was displayed at the New York Stock Exchange last month.

While Tavonia Evans, a US-based data scientist who goes by the Twitter handle @cryptodeeva, created Guapcoin, a cryptocurrency to “amplify the economic voice of the Black community.”

“The crypto world is an extension of the tech space, with a huge diversity gap,” she said, adding that access to capital remains a huge challenge for women of color.

“That’s why we created Guapcoin — to focus on our own underserved community and do our job in closing the gap,” said Ms. Evans, who is a member of the National Policy Network of Women of Color in Blockchain that advocates for greater inclusion.

Efforts such as these will go a long way in bridging the gender gap in blockchain, said Ms. Walch.

“There are quite a few women leaders in the crypto space who are well respected, who command strong influence within the space and have credibility with policy makers,” she said.

“Their successes should draw other women to crypto.”

While many of the prominent female crypto investors and artists are in the West, more women are entering the space in countries such as India, and artists including Sneha Chakraborty and 14-year-old Laya Mathikshara are fast gaining a following.

“When I started, it took me time to find women, and women of color, and have my questions answered,” said Ms. Abidi, who was looking forward to meeting many of her peers at the NFT conference in New York City last week.

“But once you get past the white male gatekeepers, there is a great community of women here. I think crypto has the power to

radically advance women’s rights,” she said. — Rina Chandran/Thomson Reuters Foundation

‘Don’t make them wait’: Pressure grows at COP26 for new funding for climate damage

November 8, 2021 | 4:02 pm

Flooding-in-Bull-Bay — Hurricane damage in Jamaica. Image via Christina Xu/CC BY-SA 2.0/Flickr

GLASGOW — The small island nation of Jamaica, like many others in the Caribbean, is battered regularly by tropical storms that are getting fiercer as the ocean warms, threatening to wreck homes, energy grids, hospitals, roads, and ports.

Weather-driven losses to vulnerable islands in the region — now also beset by a dive in tourism due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic — have caused debt levels and borrowing costs to soar.

That is leaving them struggling to invest in the climate protection their citizens need, according to the head of the UN-backed Green Climate Fund (GCF).

Yannick Glemarec, who visited the Caribbean 10 days ago, said countries such as tiny Dominica are trapped in a cycle of trying to reduce their debt only to have it “explode” again after a hurricane wipes out a large chunk of gross domestic product and more loans are needed to repair the damage.

But that is not an inevitable pattern, he added.

“If you invest in adaptation, you can have resilient infrastructure,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview on the sidelines of the UN COP26 climate talks.

“There is something you can do about this — but for that you need money, you need access to capital.”

Cripplingly, for many island nations, that cash is not available, either because they find it hard to negotiate the complexities of accessing international public climate finance or because private investors see them as too high a risk.

The multi-billion-dollar GCF wants to shift that status quo with new test projects mapping out how two coastal countries — Jamaica and Ghana — can strengthen their natural defenses against rising seas and storms with measures such as restoring wetlands and adding more trees.

The aim is to help them avoid building yet more sea walls and other high-carbon concrete barriers while demonstrating to potential private-sector backers that lending for “green infrastructure” does not carry unacceptable uncertainties.

By helping investors assess projects more effectively — and, where needed, using donor funding to cover part of any losses — “you definitely shift money,” Mr. Glemarec said.

Developing nations and those who work with them say such projects, aimed at pulling in finance to limit potential destruction from rising climate impacts, are urgently needed, alongside separate funding to deal with losses that do occur.

GDP HIT
A study released by charity Christian Aid on Monday highlighted the devastating economic impact climate change could inflict on the most vulnerable countries without sharp cuts to climate-heating emissions and measures to adapt to warming already baked in.

Economies in such countries would still grow in the second half of this century, the study predicted.

But if global temperatures rose 2.9 degrees Celsius — a hike current climate policies could cause — the poorest nations and small island states could end up with average GDP nearly 20% lower than without climate change by 2050, and 64% lower by 2100.

Even if global warming were limited to 1.5C, as set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement, those countries could still face an average GDP reduction of about 13% by 2050 and 33% by 2100, the study predicted.

Africa would take the biggest hit, researchers said.

Marina Andrijevic, who coordinated the study, said it only examined the impact of temperature increases, meaning additional damage from wild weather could make the economic outlook for these countries even worse.

The findings “imply that the ability of countries in the Global South to sustainably develop is seriously jeopardized and that policy choices we make right now are crucial for preventing further damage,” said Ms. Andrijevic of Berlin’s Humboldt University.

Nushrat Chowdhury, Christian Aid’s climate justice advisor from Bangladesh, said she had seen firsthand how climate “loss and damage” has already affected her people, with houses, land, schools, hospitals and roads hit by floods and cyclones.

“People are losing everything. Sea levels are rising, and people are desperate to adapt to the changing situation,” she said in a statement. “If ever there was a demonstration of the need for a concrete loss and damage mechanism, this is it.”

A mechanism to handle such losses was established at 2013 UN climate talks in Warsaw but negotiators so far have done little more than research options for real-world action, despite growing calls for those to be put into practice.

FUNDING PUSH-BACK
Demands are especially strong for new types of finance to help countries build back better after destructive disasters and relocate at-risk communities away from crumbling, flood-prone coastlines.

Rich countries, however, have so far mostly refused to move beyond support to expand insurance coverage for extreme weather.

Last week, the Scottish government set a precedent by announcing it would provide £1 million ($1.35 million) to help poor communities address loss and damage by repairing and rebuilding after climate-related disasters, such as flooding and wildfires.

At the Glasgow talks, groups of least-developed countries and small island states are pressing hard for an official green-light to establish some kind of global loss and damage funding stream, ideally at next year’s climate summit.

On Sunday, a list of possible points that could be included in a final decision agreed at COP26 was released, in time for discussion by ministers in the talks’ second and last week.

But on the theme of loss and damage, it mentioned only the “need for increased and additional financial support.”

That is unlikely to satisfy negotiators from vulnerable countries, though it represents a softening of opposition by wealthy governments.

Yamide Dagnet, director of climate negotiations for the World Resources Institute, a US-based think-thank, said the proposal was weak and finance issues broadly were now “the elephant in the room.”

Rich nations have yet to deliver on a pledge to raise $100 billion a year from 2020 to boost clean energy and help vulnerable communities adjust to climate shifts, a source of deep frustration at the talks.

In the Paris Agreement, countries said they would aim for a balance in funding between cutting emissions and measures to adapt to a warmer world — but only about a quarter of finance so far has gone to adaptation efforts.

Bhutan’s Sonam P. Wangdi, who chairs the group of least developed countries at COP26, tweeted on Sunday that adaptation “is extremely important.”

“We need to adapt now, and for that we need money. But that money is not coming, currently. How it’s going to come, I don’t know,” he said.

For GCF head Mr. Glemarec, the urgency of helping countries squeezed by climate change impacts and the pandemic is clear.

“When you have people in such dire straits, don’t make them wait,” he said. — Megan Rowling/Thomson Reuters Foundation

Twitter users say ‘yes’ to Musk’s proposal to sell 10% of his Tesla stock

November 8, 2021 | 2:44 pm

Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk should sell about 10% of his Tesla stock, according to 57.9% of people who voted on his Twitter poll asking users of the social media network whether he should offload the stake.

“I was prepared to accept either outcome,” Mr. Musk said, after the voting ended.

The world’s richest person tweeted on Saturday that he would offload 10% of his stock if users approved the proposal. Mr. Musk has previously said he would have to exercise a large number of stock options in the next three months, which would create a big tax bill. Selling some of his stock could free up funds to pay the taxes.

As of June 30, Mr. Musk’s shareholding in Tesla came to about 170.5 million shares and selling 10% would amount to close to $21 billion based on Friday’s closing, according to Reuters calculations.

The poll garnered more than 3.5 million votes.

“Much is made lately of unrealized gains being a means of tax avoidance, so I propose selling 10% of my Tesla stock,” Mr. Musk said on Saturday, adding that he does not take cash salary or bonus “from anywhere,” and only has stock.

US Senate Democrats have unveiled a proposal to tax billionaires’ stocks and other tradeable assets to help finance President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.’s social spending agenda and fill a loophole that has allowed them to defer capital gains taxes indefinitely.

Mr. Musk has criticized the proposal saying, “Eventually, they run out of other people’s money and then they come for you.”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, who floated the tax proposal, said on Saturday: “Whether or not the world’s wealthiest man pays any taxes at all shouldn’t depend on the results of a Twitter poll.”

“It’s time for the Billionaires Income Tax.”

Including stock options, Mr. Musk owns a 23% stake in Tesla, the world’s most valuable car company whose market value recently exceeded $1 trillion. He also owns other valuable companies including SpaceX.

His brother Kimbal Musk on Friday sold 88,500 Tesla shares, becoming the latest board member to offload a large number of Tesla stocks which hit record highs.

A week ago, Mr. Musk said on Twitter that he would sell $6 billion in Tesla stock and donate it to the United Nations’ World Food Program (WFP), provided the organization disclosed more information about how it spent its money.

Tesla bull Gary Black, portfolio manager at The Future Fund, said that Mr. Musk’s potential stock sale would lead to “1–2 days of modest selling pressure,” but said there would be solid institutional demand to snap up the shares at a discount.

TAXES ON STOCK OPTION EXERCISE
Mr. Musk has said he does not want to borrow against stock to pay taxes because stock value could go down.

He has an option to buy 22.86 million shares at $6.24 each, which expires on Aug. 13 next year, according to a Tesla filing. The option exercise could lead to gains of roughly $28 billion based on Tesla’s Friday closing price of $1,222.09.

In September, Mr. Musk said he is likely to pay taxes of over half the gains he would make from exercising options. Last year, he said he has been relocated from California to Texas which should lead to a cut to the total tax bill because Texas has no income tax, experts say.

“[It] seems crazy to borrow that much to pay taxes, so I have to assume he’d need to liquidate a substantial amount of the shares purchased from the option exercise to pay taxes,” said Bryan Springmeyer, an attorney at San Francisco-based law firm Springmeyer Law. — Aishwarya Nair and Hyunjoo Jin/Reuters

What you need to know about the new US international air travel rules

November 8, 2021 | 2:24 pm

The Biden administration’s new rules requiring most foreign nationals to be vaccinated before flying to the United States take effect at 12:01 a.m. EST (0501 GMT) Nov. 8.

Here’s what you need to know:

Starting Nov. 8, foreign air travelers to the United States will be required to be fully vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and provide proof of vaccination status prior to boarding an airplane to fly to the United States, with limited exceptions.
Passengers will need to show an “official source” showing vaccination status, and airlines will need to match the name and date of birth to confirm the passenger is the same person reflected on the proof of vaccination.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said it will accept US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved or authorized and World Health Organization (WHO) emergency use listed vaccines.
All travelers must produce a negative viral test result within three days prior to travel to the United States. Unvaccinated US citizens and others getting exemptions must provide a negative test taken within one day before traveling.
Children under 18 are excepted from the vaccination requirement but children between the ages of 2 and 17 are required to take a pre-departure test. Unvaccinated foreign nationals under 18 will not have to self-quarantine upon arrival.
If traveling with a fully vaccinated adult, an unvaccinated child can test three days prior to departure, but if an unvaccinated child is traveling alone or with unvaccinated adults, they will have to test within one day before departure.
Exemptions include certain COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial participants, those with valid medical reasons for not getting vaccinated and those who need to travel for emergency or humanitarian reasons, but they will need a US government-issued letter affirming the urgent need to travel.
The CDC said there are no exceptions for the vaccine requirements “for religious reasons or other moral convictions.”
Non-tourist travelers from nearly 50 countries with nationwide vaccination rates of less than 10% will be exempt from the requirements but must agree within 60 days to get vaccinated under most conditions.
Travelers must sign an attestation that they have been vaccinated and are warned that “willfully providing false or misleading information may lead to criminal fines and imprisonment.”
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans to issue a security directive that provides the legal basis for airlines to check vaccine records.
The CDC also issued a Contact Tracing Order that requires all airlines flying into the United States to collect and keep on hand for 30 days and disclose to the CDC if needed contact information including phone numbers, email and US addresses that will allow health officials to track infections. The collection requirements take effect Nov. 8.
The CDC released a travel assessment tool on Monday for people planning international trips, including an extensive question and answer for travelers. — Reuters

Multi-platform presence and reliable delivery are key to online success

November 8, 2021 | 2:06 pm

JRG02777 — In photo are (from left to right) Chief Finance Officer Mark L. Tan, Chief Executive Officer Ryan L. Tan and Chief Operations Officer Neil L. Tan.

GoCommerce brings brands into the digital space with a speed-to-scale approach

In sales, whether your business model is brick-and-mortar or online, it is important to be where your customers are. With physical stores, the onus was to build as many branches in as many locations as possible. However, as pandemic restrictions still hamper regular operations in malls, it helps to build an online presence that makes your brand accessible to your customers on multiple channels.

Brothers Ryan, Mark, and Neil Tan who co-founded GoCommerce refer to this as Omnichannel e-commerce approach. Their own business model made a successful digital migration even before the pandemic and it has ensured that their products remained accessible to their buyers even as their physical stores were affected by protocols involving mall operations. Not only that, their digital sales and marketing strategies enabled them to become top sellers in online shopping sites.

With this experience, they have decided to set-up GoCommerce to help enable other businesses grow their online presence. Through GoCommerce, it is their mission to help brands thrive during the pandemic and help them get ahead when things settle into the “new normal”.

Speed to scale

Conceptualized in May 2020, GoCommerce is an eCommerce enabler that uses technology to help brands maximize their sales potential on the numerous selling platforms including Lazada, Shopee, Grab and Zalora; plus in the brands’ own webstores. “For brands, our goal is to give them “speed-to-scale” with their online business so that they can translate their offline success to the online marketplace before they get disrupted,” says Ryan Tan, GoCommerce CEO.

To truly help brands reach their customers, GoCommerce launched ShipGo in June 2021. It is an order fulfillment automation service to help businesses overcome the challenges of door-to-door logistics by taking care of warehousing, packing, and pick-up for deliveries. “A lot of SMEs were born during the pandemic which has the potential to be disruptors of the market. With ShipGo, they don’t have to worry about their deliveries. They can send us their items, and we will take care of getting to safely to their customers. This will free their time to focus on growing their business. We are creating tech-enabled solutions to help our SMEs scale faster.” says Mark Tan, GoCommerce CFO.

Their growing network of modern fulfillment centers enables brands to do Same-Day Delivery or 2-Day Delivery of their orders. Same day delivery is initially available in Mega Manila but is quickly going to be expanded to Metro Cebu and Metro Davao. “We are building the most strategic network of GoHub Fulfillment Centers to enable brands to have 2-day shipping in all major cities in the Philippines by 2023.” says Ryan.

E-commerce ecosystem

GoCommerce introduces its ecosystem of technology and services that makes omnichannel management, performance marketing, and order fulfillment easy for brands. “With our technology, we help brand partners reduce cost of doing business by lowering the amount of inventory they maintain to fulfill orders across all online channels.” says Mark.

The also go beyond helping with sales content by heping brands anaylze data, so they know which works, and which doesn’t. “Beyond tech, we understand the psychology of why and how people buy online. Doing a lot of research and being data driven helps us create the right buying experience for specific target customers,” Ryan adds.

Partner for success

Today, GoCommerce brand partners, which include global and local brands Unilever, Anker, Klean Kanteen, Garmin, Kyowa, Omega Houseware, and Nutriasia are market leaders on popular selling platforms. For this, GoCommerce was recently recognized by Lazada as an elite 3-Star Lazada Partner, the highest certification given to Lazada Partners in Southeast Asia for meeting the highest standards of eCommerce management, operational excellence, and order fulfillment metrics. Shopee likewise appointed GoCommerce as a Shopee Premium Enabler which is the highest distinction they give to their partners in the region.

“We are humbled to receive this back-to-back recognition by the two biggest platforms today. This inspires us to do better work for our existing partners and to deliver success to more brands in the next months,” says Neil Tan, COO of GoCommerce.

For more information about how GoCommerce can help you grow your business, visit www.gocommerce.asia. — Maan D’Asis Pamaran

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Pfizer’s COVID pill shakes up global recovery trade

November 8, 2021 | 1:58 pm

Shares tied to reopening trades from casinos to airlines surged in Asia on Monday after Pfizer Inc. said that its COVID-19 pill could reduce hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients by 89%.

A Bloomberg gauge of Macau casino shares jumped 7.2%, the biggest move in over two months, while an index of Asia-Pacific airline stocks rallied as much as 5.5%, the most since March. Luggage manufacturer Samsonite International SA climbed 15% in Hong Kong.

The buying frenzy in Asia — which tracks gains among similar stocks in the U.S. — comes as Pfizer looked to become the second pharmaceutical company to offer an oral pill to combat the virus. While Pfizer’s drug has yet to receive emergency authorization from U.S. regulators, investors say that it shows promise to help ease the pandemic globally and accelerate a return to travel.

The pill is “bringing some hope that reopening will be able to take place more smoothly, especially if the pill is able to reduce the strain on hospital capacity,” said Jun Rong Yeap, market strategist with IG Asia Pte. in Singapore. “The fact that it is an oral treatment may also suggest that it may be more well-received, along with its high efficacy.”

Meanwhile, makers of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments in the region slumped, with CanSino Biologics Inc. sinking as much as 20% in Hong Kong. Wuxi Biologics Cayman Inc., which makes ingredients for AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine, and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co., which has a deal to distribute BioNTech and Pfizer’s vaccine in Greater China, fell by at least 9.7% in Hong Kong.

If successful, Pfizer’s pill “may create uncertainties for earnings outlook and valuations of Chinese vaccine makers,” said Daniel So, a strategist at CMB International Securities. “The impacts are expected to be of mid-to-long-term.”

In Japan, Shionogi & Co., which has been developing a rival drug to Pfizer’s, fell the most since March 2020. The firm is expecting late-stage trial data on that treatment by December. Takara Bio Inc., which has a contract to produce mRNA vaccines in Japan starting next year, fell the most since May of last year.

Last month, Merck & Co. submitted its experimental treatment to regulators, after a study showed it slashed the risk of getting seriously ill or dying by half in certain patients. Vaccine related shares also plunged after that news. — Bloomberg

US braces for surge of vaccinated international travelers

November 8, 2021 | 1:26 pm

Chicago’s-O’Hare-International-Airport — Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. -- Image via Clayton Hauck/Choose Chicago/FCB

WASHINGTON — The United States is expecting a flood of international visitors crossing its borders by air and by land on Monday after lifting travel restrictions for much of the world’s population first imposed in early 2020 to address the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

United Airlines is expecting about 50% more total international inbound passengers Monday compared to last Monday when it had about 20,000.

And Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Ed Bastian has warned travelers should be prepared for initial long lines.

“It’s going to be a bit sloppy at first. I can assure you, there will be lines unfortunately,” Mr. Bastian said, adding that “we’ll get it sorted out.”

Delta said in the six weeks since the US reopening was announced it has seen a 450% increase in international point-of-sale bookings versus the six weeks prior to the announcement.

White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said on Twitter “As we expect high demand when the US lifts its existing air and land travel restrictions Monday, we are taking critical steps to be prepared by providing additional resources.”

The Biden administration has held multiple calls with US airlines to prepare for the influx of additional travelers that will begin arriving at US airports and has warned travelers crossing from Canada and Mexico by land or ferry to be prepared for longer waits starting Monday.

For Bhavna Patel, a flight from London will take her to New York on Monday to see her first grandchild after more than a year of watching him grow via FaceTime.

The rules have barred most non-US citizens who within the prior 14 days have been in 33 countries — the 26 Schengen countries in Europe without border controls, China, India, South Africa, Iran, Brazil, Britain, and Ireland.

Trade group US Travel said the countries accounted for 53% of all overseas visitors to the United States in 2019 and border communities were hit hard by the loss of tourists crossing from Mexico and Canada. The group estimates declines in international visitation “resulted in nearly $300 billion in lost export income” since March 2020.

US airlines are boosting flights to Europe and other destinations that were impacted by the restrictions. Airlines are planning events on Monday with executives meeting some of the first flights.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and United Airlines President Brett Hart are holding an event at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport Monday to mark the reopening.

US officials plan an Instagram live chat on Nov. 9 to help answer questions.

Many international flights are expected to operate close to full or full on Monday, with high passenger volume throughout the following weeks.

Airlines will check vaccination documentation for international travelers as they currently do for COVID-19 test results. At land border crossings, US Customs and Border Protection will ask if travelers have been vaccinated and spot check some documentation.

Children under 18 are exempt from the new vaccine requirements. Non-tourist travelers from nearly 50 countries with nationwide vaccination rates of less than 10% will also be eligible for exemption.

Also Monday, new contact tracing rules will take effect requiring airlines to collect information from international air passengers if needed “to follow up with travelers who have been exposed to COVID-19 variants or other pathogens.” — David Shepardson/Reuters

[B-SIDE Podcast] Money Talks: Making your money work for you

November 8, 2021 | 10:10 am

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Money Talks is a series on personal finance sponsored by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank).

The pandemic has brought with it a newfound interest among Filipinos to participate in the stock market. Data from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) showed that the average daily number of trades in 2020 soared 33.7%, while retail participation surged by 47.8%. This follows an increase in online accounts by 19.7% to 936,000, while non-online accounts grew by 3.3% to 460,553.

In this B-Side episode, Ruben L. Zamora, Metrobank’s First Vice President and Head of the Institutional Investors Coverage Division discusses with BusinessWorld why more Filipinos are more willing to “let their money work for them,” as well as how the beginner investor can sift through their options to start their financial journey.

TAKEAWAYS

You can be doing more with your savings.

“Putting your money to work is really about making your savings earn more and do a bit more work to build and accumulate wealth through investing,” Mr. Zamora said. “The days of earning interest from a simple savings account, those days are long gone. And that goes for everyone in the world, not just here in the Philippines.”

Investing is [not] a rich man’s game.

Whether with P10,000 or P100,000, there are good options to choose from for beginner investors.

“The good news here to those who are just starting out: You don’t need a big pot of money anymore to start the investing journey,” Mr. Zamora said. “Now more than ever, there are so many investment options for you to choose from. If you want a little bit more return and you’ve done your homework, and feel like you can tolerate and accept a bit more risk with your investments, start with an index tracker fund on the whole market that you know.”

Your participation matters.

Investing is not zero-sum game. More local investors in the market can help its general health in the long run.

“This is something healthy, something that we would welcome for our local capital markets. And the reason is that with the base of retail investors broadening out, more local investors participating, it means that we are not as reliant as we used to be on foreign investors or foreign capital flows,” Mr. Zamora said. “These flows can get pretty cold very quickly and we’ve seen that in this crisis, with foreigners exiting both the stock market and the fixed income market.”

Do your homework. Especially if it’s about cryptocurrency.

“As a beginner investor, you don’t really want to invest in something you don’t understand well enough. You need to do a lot more homework, especially as you move up the risk ladder. And risk ladder-wise, I would put cryptocurrency right at the top,” Mr. Zamora said.

Recorded remotely on Oct. 13. Interview by Santiago J. Arnaiz, BusinessWorld contributor and chief operating officer of health startup Day3 Innovations. Research by BusinessWorld special features writer Bjorn Biel “JB” M. Beltran. Produced by Paolo L. Lopez and Sam L. Marcelo.

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Kittelson & Carpo Consulting expands capacities under a new name

November 8, 2021 | 9:32 am

Kittelson & Carpo Consulting, Inc. (KC) will officially change its name to In.Corp Corporate Services Philippines, Inc. to unify its presence with its parent company, InCorp Global Pte. Ltd (InCorp Group).

Such transition to In.Corp Philippines will nonetheless maintain the mission of KC to serve partners by simplifying business processes — only now with a capacity to reach beyond borders.

KC has been helping companies set up and do business in the Philippines since 2007, providing services from business registration needs, end-to-end corporate solutions, and human resources (HR) assistance. It has supported over 1,500 local and foreign entities by far. In 2017, KC was acquired by the InCorp Group.

Based in Singapore and present in six other Asian countries, InCorp Group is a leading corporate solutions provider to various business entities from startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations. They specialize in company incorporation, corporate secretarial and compliance, share registry, outsourcing, accounting, taxation, immigration, business advisory, risk assurance, and corporate recovery.

Atin Bhutani, Chief Executive Officer of InCorp Group, stated, “We met Kittelson and Carpo Consulting one year after InCorp was founded. During our first meeting, we realized that what they had set out to achieve and what our vision was were absolutely similar.”

Seeing a niche as well as unique opportunities and challenges in the Asian market, InCorp Group envisioned building corporate solutions affiliates across the region.

He added, “On one hand, you have Singapore as a gateway to Asia-Pacific, and on the other, you have one of the fastest-growing markets in the region. In no time we realized that we should do it together and we should do it as partners. It was, all in all, a match made in heaven.”

As its subsidiary in the Philippines, KC has great support from InCorp Group — from creating a robust Know Your Customer (KYC) and client due diligence system; pushing for automation and artificial intelligence in monitoring client accounts; to cross-selling services. The group also gave financial and marketing insight and discipline to the business consulting firm.

More support and developments in doing business with clients await KC upon its transition to In.Corp Philippines.

Currently, the company is working on transfer pricing initiatives and data protection compliance to grow its services. With corporate compliance becoming more complex and burdensome, the firm looks forward to learning from the experience of InCorp Group professionals.

KC can also further maximize the larger team and regional capacities of InCorp Group, allowing its clients to tap into a greater range of services across borders.

InCorp Philippines Country Head and President Amanda Carpo expressed, “The impact InCorp Global has had on our company enables us to take our services to the next level in terms of compliance and standards. We’re able to provide our clients access to other markets.”

Moreover, through InCorp Group’s partnership with TA Associates and PrimeGlobal, KC is at an advantage in augmenting its endeavors to offer service from a global perspective.

Understanding business processes in various jurisdictions, for KC, would create a better perspective and an opportunity for clients to reach markets.

Moreover, with a broader reach, the new recognition of KC as In.Corp Philippines can boost its goal to increase foreign investment as well as investor confidence in the Philippines, Asia-Pacific, and globally.

Spotlight is BusinessWorld’s sponsored section that allows advertisers to amplify their brand and connect with BusinessWorld’s audience by enabling them to publish their stories directly on the BusinessWorld Web site. For more information, send an email to online@bworldonline.com.

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