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Decarbonization can create growth opportunities

VECTORJUICE-FREEPIK

THE CARBON TRANSITION is accelerating, and every company needs to play a role.

COVID-19 has intensified the race to battle climate change, renewing focus on such critical efforts as drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions to reach the generally accepted targets of a 50% reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050. Governments and international organizations are increasing their ambitions, with China committing to carbon neutrality by 2060 and the European Union proposing to raise its target from 40% to 55% reduction by 2030. The United States has pledged to cut emissions at least in half by 2030.

Investors and capital are turning toward green investments. The Transition Pathway Initiative benchmark, which assesses companies’ preparedness for the low-carbon transition as well as their targets against the Paris Agreement, is supported by 104 investors globally, representing more than $26 trillion in combined assets under management and advice. Private equity firms are actively setting carbon reduction targets. And consumers are becoming aware and demanding action — with companies responding. In October, Petronas became the first energy company in Asia to set net zero targets when it declared it would be carbon neutral by 2050. 

TWO GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR DECARBONIZATION
The companies leading the carbon transition follow two guiding principles. They simultaneously play defense and offense, and they view decarbonization as a way to accelerate a full-potential transformation.

Many companies begin their carbon efforts as a way of defending themselves, often by preparing for reporting requirements or anticipating shareholder expectations. They also consider how they will mitigate potential physical risks. Mining companies, for instance, need to anticipate how water scarcity, flooding, and rising temperatures linked to climate change will hurt productivity. Playing defense also means preparing for the issue of stranded assets.

However, carbon transition represents as much upside opportunity as downside risk. Companies are playing offense by taking proactive steps to create new value. Take Bosch, for example. Beyond achieving carbon neutrality itself, the company is developing new products and services to help other companies decarbonize.

Embracing the need for a full strategy overhaul is the second guiding principle. When Bain & Company surveyed 80 business leaders in oil and gas, utilities, new energy, chemicals, agribusiness, mining and minerals services, and financial markets, 60% said that an energy or resource transition was central to the future of their sector, and 35% are starting to change their priorities and create opportunities. Those leaders acknowledge that the climate imperative requires a full-potential transformation that touches every part of the organization.

Companies pursue three types of transformations. Some, like Unilever, have evolved their core business toward sustainability. Others have added a second core. Consider how Finland’s Neste has gone from a traditional oil-driven company to the world’s biggest producer of renewable diesel, dropping the word “oil” from its name in the process. And others have changed their core entirely. Denmark’s Ørsted used the carbon challenge as an opportunity to develop a market for offshore wind.

Regardless of how far along they are in the carbon transition journey, companies typically answer four big questions.

1. How bold and fast should our ambition be? Leading companies are clear about their decision when it comes to the basic trade-off between speed and boldness. Blackstone opted for speed by aiming to reduce emissions by 15%, within three years of ownership, at all new portfolio companies where it can control energy usage. Shell chose boldness by setting a target of becoming a net-zero-emissions energy business by 2050.

2. What are the available levers? In pursuing a carbon transition, companies have three sets of levers to deploy: strategic, operational, and offsets. Ørsted used its strategic lever by shifting away from fossil fuels. (A significant portion of such moves can actually be ROI positive, even without a price on carbon.) Microsoft has led the way in developing the voluntary carbon market and associated offsets, pledging to remove by 2050 all of the carbon it has emitted since its founding in 1975. In addition, the company launched a $1-billion climate innovation fund to accelerate the global development of carbon reduction, capture, and removal technologies.

3. How should we adjust the organization? The price of carbon is a major consideration in capital allocation, with carbon reduction an important factor in operational improvements, manufacturing decisions, and R&D, among other areas. Companies integrate decarbonization into procurement choices and incentives and then communicate these efforts to customers as part of the new value proposition. To be truly serious about decarbonization, it can’t just be a function. It needs to permeate every single process, in every single employee.

4. How do we engage stakeholders? More than any other transformation, decarbonization draws on a company’s ability to assemble and collaborate with an ecosystem of investors, suppliers, governments, NGOs, peers, and other stakeholders. Companies need to learn how to create dialogues with organizations beyond their own walls and seek productive partnerships. For example, Wind Denmark and Hydrogen Denmark, broad-based organizations that support those power alternatives, have formed an alliance to promote the use of renewable energy — powered electrolysis.

In summary, achieving net zero requires companies to identify opportunities to create value through cost reduction or growth, in addition to risk protection. That means prioritizing areas for deployment based on ROI and external requirements and linking the sustainability agenda to business metrics. It is a multiyear journey, and the best companies boost their odds of success by building change muscles in the organization for the long and important ride.

 

Gina Yu-Aquino is a partner based in Manila. Dale Hardcastle is a partner and Co-director of Bain & Company’s Global Sustainability Innovation Center in Singapore. Torsten Lichtenau is based in London and leads Bain & Company’s Carbon Transition Impact Area globally.

As Singapore opens, its social divisions aren’t so clear cut

FAHRUL AZMI-UNSPLASH

SINGAPORE has declared its intent to begin putting the pandemic behind it and rebrand as what the health minister calls a “COVID-resilient nation.” Dismounting from the carousel of closures and reopenings is going to be tough — the city state has had a few false dawns. Even harder will be papering over the social and economic divisions that have deepened because of the disease.

Lockdown-like restrictions began easing Tuesday, with dine-in allowed for groups of up to five, provided they are vaccinated. Work-from-home rules will be relaxed next week. Travel, vital to the republic’s standing as a hub, could become less gnarled by bureaucracy. In many activities, the fully inoculated will enjoy more freedoms, though the hawker centers and mom-and-pop coffee shops beloved by Singaporeans can seat groups of two regardless of shot status.

As welcome as lighter curbs are, Singapore is miles from being fully up and running. The new normal that politicians have been talking about for the better part of a year will require the country to strip out some of its old DNA. Long a haven for trade, finance, and foreign talent, the government says it’s still keen on the first two, though appears ambivalent about the third. Discourse is becoming more sensitive to themes of equality and opportunities for the average citizen. Immigration is a particularly tender point.

While varying degrees of disquiet over the role of foreigners has long existed, the rhetoric has become sharper in the past decade. The number of permanent residency visas granted — roughly equivalent to green cards in the US — has fallen dramatically since the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. Last year’s recession, the worst in the republic’s history, and an election that left a few bruises on the ruling party, made tightening criteria for work papers inevitable. Surveys this year by the Institute of Policy Studies, a Singapore think tank, showed people fretting about job security and opportunities for their children, while favoring strict limits on immigration. The government has responded to the political climate, raising salary thresholds and requiring that dependents who wish to work obtain their own company-sponsored visas.   

Even if Singapore’s total foreign workforce fell to about 1.2 million last year from 1.4 million in 2019, it still represents more than 20% of the population. Employment passes, issued for professional roles that pay at least S$4,500 ($3,323) per month, fell 8.6% from the previous year. The decline is being felt across industries from manufacturing to finance, white- and blue-collar alike. Banks, frequently in the political cross hairs on hiring, are keen to emphasize promotions for locals.

In an Aug. 8 address, on the eve of National Day, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong foreshadowed policy changes that aim to balance the interests of locals and foreign workers. “We have to adjust our policies to manage the quality, numbers and concentrations of foreigners in Singapore,” Lee said. “If we do this well, we can continue to welcome foreign workers and new immigrants, as we must.” Lee also urged citizens not to take social cohesion for granted. A series of race-related incidents and violence have featured prominently in domestic media in recent months.

Expatriate professionals often complain about being watched and subjected to more scrutiny than local residents. But beneath the growing unease with foreigners is a sentiment that gets far less attention: class anxieties. In that light, there may be more common ground between expats and well-to-do locals than the prevailing narrative suggests. I know plenty of Singaporeans who are as frustrated with stop-go pandemic responses and disappointed by apprehensions about reopening as any European or American. They are also just as keen to travel abroad and feel equally targeted by COVID-fighting measures.

Class divisions also need to be seen in the context of Singapore’s long-term economic slowdown. The population is aging, while people are marrying later and having fewer children. The country has one of the highest levels of gross domestic product per capita in the world, but income inequality remains a persistent worry. Most citizens consider themselves working class or lower-middle class. Concerns about social stratification have also arisen amid booming property prices and the towering costs of education.

How the fourth generation of leaders, the cadre of lawmakers vying to succeed Lee in a few years, handles this mix of sentiments will determine whether Singapore continues its ascent as a magnet for business or succumbs to populist-tinged currents. Does the state, already a huge influence on the economy by determining land use, housing, and shares in some of the biggest companies, become more redistributive? The head of the central bank last month gently floated the merits of a wealth tax and minimum wage.*

While the pandemic didn’t create economic and social anxieties, it no doubt brought them to the surface. When the government banned dining-in and restricted social gatherings a few weeks ago, business owners felt they were scapegoated for lapses that allowed clusters to develop at seedy karaoke lounges and a fish market frequented by local seniors. While Singapore once considered tony restaurants a badge of sophistication, their owners describe a more complicated landscape. Some have observed the high level of scrutiny cosmopolitan spots downtown receive relative to the hawker centers and food halls that dot housing estates and suburbs. Safe distancing ambassadors — civilians with red shirts and ID lanyards known as SDAs — have become a constant presence in well-heeled parts of the city, peering through cafe windows and aiming their smart phones at patrons huddling too closely around their cappuccinos.

On the afternoon before the latest clampdown, which began July 22, I enjoyed a late lunch at a food center in Kallang nestled among industrial warehouses and near apartment towers erected by the Housing & Development Board. I saw no SDAs. Nobody asked for my temperature or checked I had signed in using TraceTogether, Singapore’s contact tracing app. I struggled to even locate the barcode on a nondescript girder somewhere in the vicinity of the front of the hall. The only person taking photos as I tucked into a delicious nasi padang plate was me. (The government has since made TraceTogether sign-in mandatory at hawker centers, which makes one wonder why it took so long.)

Leaders concede the economic pressures faced by many Singaporeans. Lee’s speech acknowledged lower-wage workers are finding it tougher to make ends meet. Ministers warn almost daily of the risks of becoming too inward-looking and shutting off from the world. There is no easy solution at hand. In the meantime, officials are trying to provide a decent quality of life as best they can while living with a pandemic that is far from defeated — the high vaccination rates notwithstanding.

Few places will look the same as they did in January 2020, and Singapore won’t be an exception. Core assumptions about its perch as an avatar of capitalism have been challenged. The fissures revealed the past 18 months won’t close so easily.

 

*Ravi Menon, managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), gave a series of lectures in his capacity as a visiting scholar at the Institute of Policy Studies at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Menon said the content reflects his personal views, not those of the MAS or the government.

BLOOMBERG OPINION

China mahjong dens were superspreader sites, spurring crackdown

UNSPLASH

A FAVORITE PAST-TIME of elderly Asians has been implicated as a major driver of China’s current outbreak of delta virus cases, sparking the shutdown of tens of thousands of mahjong dens across the nation.

The so-called “chess and card rooms,” where hundreds of elderly gather in packed and poorly ventilated spaces primarily to play mahjong, were how a 64-year-old woman surnamed Mao spread the Delta variant in the eastern city of Yangzhou, seeding the biggest single outbreak in China’s ongoing wave of infections.

Local officials in Jiangsu province where Yangzhou is located have now shut down more than 45,000 chess and card rooms, and authorities in Beijing and at least four other hard-hit provinces — Henan, Zhejiang, Hunan and Heilongjiang — have followed suit.

The spread of the virus through these mahjong dens despite China’s rigorous measures and fast vaccine rollout reflects the challenges posed by underground social sites across the region. From hostess bars in Japan, to social dancing clubs in Hong Kong and karaoke parlors in Singapore, these unofficial and sometimes unregistered locales have stymied governments which are some of the most successful in the world at containment.

Ms. Mao traveled from the nearby city of Nanjing, where China’s Delta outbreak first started, to a relative’s home in Yangzhou, where she played mahjong in several chess and card rooms before being diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), said local media reports.

One of the rooms Ms. Mao visited had a nondescript facade and small entrance, but opened into a cavernous basement that could accommodate around 100 mahjong tables.

In the week after her diagnosis, nearly a hundred people in Yangzhou contracted the virus, 64% of whom were exposed in mahjong rooms, and nearly 70% of which are aged 60 and older.

The Yangzhou cluster has escalated in severity because only 40% of local elderly were vaccinated; among the 448 people who have been sickened, 23 have developed severe disease and 12 are in critical condition, raising the prospect of China’s first COVID-related fatality in nearly seven months. 

The mahjong cluster is Yangzhou’s first serious outbreak since the pandemic began, and inexperienced officials have already been punished for mishandling the response. Mass testing efforts — the city’s 4.5 million population has undergone six rounds of testing — resulted in more than 40 people infected while waiting in line to be swabbed.

The current delta outbreak across China has seen more than 1,000 symptomatic infections in less than a month, with cases reaching as far south as Hainan and as far north as Heilongjiang. Though over 60% of the population has been vaccinated, the government has defaulted to targeted lockdowns, transport controls and mass testing, insisting that China must stamp out all infection to protect lives, even as many other countries accept that the virus will be endemic. — Bloomberg

New rich are overtaking old money in South Korea’s billionaire rankings

REUTERS
The Han river park is seen in Seoul, South Korea, April 29, 2021. — REUTERS/KIM HONG-JI

A NEW ELITE of uber-rich entrepreneurs is shooting up the wealth rankings in South Korea, overtaking the families behind the country’s decades-old sprawling conglomerates known as chaebol.

Brian Kim, the founder of mobile-messaging app Kakao Corp., is the most prominent example with a fortune of $12.9 billion, who recently replaced Samsung group heir Jay Y. Lee as the nation’s richest person. But other self-made billionaires abound.

There’s Chang Byung-gyu who completed a listing of game developer Krafton, Inc. just this week, and Bom Kim, a South Korea-born US national who took e-commerce giant Coupang, Inc. public in the US earlier this year. Seo Jung-jin, the founder of biotech firm Celltrion, Inc., is worth about $10 billion.

The changing of the guard is a sign that South Korea’s $1.6 trillion economy is entering a new era of growth, becoming less reliant on the family-controlled corporations that wield immense power in all aspects of life. Some experts say the new wealthy are more aware of rising inequality and are more willing to give back to society. Others question whether they’ll be any different from those who built their old empires using cozy links to politicians and bureaucrats.

“It’s a positive shift for South Korea,” said Kim Kyonghwan, dean of the graduate school of entrepreneurship at Sungkyunkwan University in Suwon, a city near Seoul. “The new rich offer a silver lining for younger folks by showing how fortunes can be made independently, rather than from inheritance.”

For decades, the chaebol have served as pillars of the Asian “miracle economy” that arose from the ashes of the Korean war. Political leaders have relied on conglomerates including Hyundai, Samsung, LG and Hanjin to rebuild the nation, giving them outsized influence. Over the years, some of them shot into the spotlight for scandals and cases of corruption that made international headlines, sparking backlash from the public. President Moon Jae-in has vowed to overhaul chaebol business practices and his government kicked off reforms last year to improve corporate governance and transparency.

That image of South Korea is slowly giving way to one full of booming startups. With the pandemic spurring demand in sectors such as e-commerce, entertainment and biotechnology, an investor frenzy is fueling billions of dollars in fundraising, initial public offerings and acquisitions. Venture capital investment in the country reached 3.07 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in the first half of this year, the most on record for the six-month period, government data show.

CHANGING LANDSCAPE
Some of the newly minted wealthy are getting into philanthropy. Kakao’s Brian Kim and Kim Bong-jin, the founder of food-delivery app Woowa Brothers Corp., have pledged to give away their personal fortunes. That’s in contrast to families behind chaebol, who usually aren’t known to make large personal donations. They’re more likely to give to charity via companies they control.

“A major generational shift is taking place in Korea’s wealthy population,” said Lim Jungwook, managing partner at TBT, a Seoul-based venture capital firm.

Many chaebol have faced criticism for using questionable means to transfer wealth to their scions and retain control, often riding roughshod over minority shareholders, said Park Ju-gun, the head of corporate research firm Leaders Index in Seoul, New-economy businesses that implement such practices need to be scrutinized, Park said.

For now, better capital availability and adoption of digital tools driven by the pandemic are fueling the growth of startups.

“There has never been a better time for startups to grow and raise funds,” said Kim, the professor at Sungkyunkwan University. “We’ll see more cases of these new billionaires overtaking the traditional rich.” — Bloomberg

WHO testing three drugs to treat COVID-19 patients

ZURICH — The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday a clinical trial in 52 countries would study three anti-inflammatory drugs as potential treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.

“These therapies — artesunate, imatinib and infliximab — were selected by an independent expert panel for their potential in reducing the risk of death in hospitalized COVID-19 patients,” it said in a statement on the Solidarity PLUS trial.

The trial involves thousands of researchers at more than 600 hospitals, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing from Geneva.

Finland is one of the first countries to enroll patients in the Solidarity PLUS trial, he added.

“There are many variants, and all variants can appear anywhere on the planet. And so having so many sites in so many different countries and regions will help us get to these answers as fast as possible,” said Marie Pierre Preziosi, co-lead of the research and development blueprint at the WHO.

Artesunate is already used for severe malaria, imatinib for certain cancers, and infliximab for diseases of the immune system such as Crohn’s Disease and rheumatoid arthritis. The WHO warned countries to come together to combat the fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus and urged equitable access to essential countermeasures.

“At the current trajectory, we could pass 300 million reported cases early next year. But we can change that. We’re all in this together, but the world is not acting like it,” Mr. Tedros said.

The WHO last week called for a halt on COVID-19 vaccine boosters until at least the end of September as the gap between vaccinations in wealthy and poor countries widens.

The original Solidarity trial last year found that all four treatments evaluated — remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir and interferon — had little or no effect in helping COVID patients. The WHO expects final results from this trial next month.

So far, only corticosteroids have been proven effective against severe and critical COVID-19.

The WHO said artesunate, produced by Ipca, is used to treat malaria. In the trial, it will be administered intravenously for seven days, using the standard dose recommended for the treatment of severe malaria.

Imatinib, produced by Novartis, is used to treat certain cancers. In the trial, it will be administered orally, once daily, for 14 days.

Infliximab, produced by Johnson and Johnson, is used to treat diseases of the immune system. In the trial, it will be administered intravenously as a single dose. — Reuters

Team Lakay’s Pacio eyeing Miao Li Tao-Alex Silva duel at ONE: Battleground II

ONE world strawweight champion Joshua Pacio of the Philippines is keenly eyeing the fight between Miao Li Tao of China and Alex Silva of Brazil at ONE: Battleground II on Friday. — ONE CHAMPIONSHIP

ONE Championship’s “Battleground II” event happens on Friday in Singapore and one individual keenly eyeing it is reigning world strawweight champion Joshua “The Passion” Pacio.

Mr. Pacio, 25, is particularly interested in the co-main event featuring fellow strawweights Miao Li Tao of China and Alex Silva of Brazil who are in pursuit of having the title that the Team Lakay stalwart has.

Messrs. Miao and Silva collide in a three-round contest which could determine who Mr. Pacio faces next.

The Filipino champion sees an exciting fight in Battleground II but thinks the outcome leans more on the side of former world champion Mr. Silva.

“The fight between Miao Li Tao and Alex Silva is surely a thrilling bout. Miao is a very aggressive and explosive athlete, but Alex on the other hand is very dangerous, especially on the ground,” Mr. Pacio said.

He was speaking based on experience since his last title defense in January 2020 was against Mr. Silva where he was given a tough time before winning by split decision.

“I learned a lot when I faced Alex last year. He’s always a dangerous opponent and I think if we’d face each other again, I’d have to show more aggression, much loaded striking, and I’d throw a lot of combinations to be able to eke out a decisive win,” he said.

While Mr. Pacio has not fought since he faced Mr. Silva, he said he has been staying active and continuously working on his game.

“The wait continues, but as I wait, I’m continuously improving. I’m very excited and I cannot wait to get back inside the ONE Circle to show how well I have improved,” he said.

Mr. Pacio (17-3) went on to say that the strawweight division has shored up with quality challengers from the field, but he expressed his readiness to take on all comers.

“ONE’s strawweight division just got more stacked because of the athletes’ constant improvement and them continuing to level up their game. They’re all very hungry and with that, the competition just gets tougher and tougher,” he said.

“This is the reason why we are more motivated to train and get better every day.”

ONE: Battleground II is headlined by Mr. Pacio’s teammate Eduard “Landslide” Folayang against ONE-debuting Zhang Leping of China.

It can be seen over One Sports at 9 p.m. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Petro Gazz defeats Choco Mucho to bag third place

THE Petro Gazz Angels are the third-place winners at the PVL Open Conference, beating the Choco Mucho Flying Titans. — PVL MEDIA BUREAU

THE PETRO Gazz Angels bagged third place at the Premier Volleyball League  (PVL) Open Conference after completing a sweep of the Choco Mucho Flying Titans in their best-of-three series with a straight sets win in Game Two on Thursday.

Petro Gazz struggled early against Choco Mucho, which decided to rest its starters for much of the game, but when it got its footing was not to be denied the shutout win, 25-20, 25-18, 25-21, at the PCV Socio-Civic & Cultural Center in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte.

Myla Pablo once again showed the way for the Angels in the win with 17 points, followed by Grethcel Soltones with seven and Seth Rodriguez with six points.

Veteran setter Chie Saet had 15 excellent sets to go along with four points.

Angels coach Arnold Laniog said while the ultimate goal was to win a championship, still to come up with a podium finish was satisfying from their end, seeing how the players really committed from the “bubble” training all the way to the tournament itself.

“This was all worth the sacrifice and hardships that the players went through. This was a totally different experience where they were challenged not only physically, but also mentally,” Mr. Laniog said in Filipino after their Game Two win.

The third-place finish ended for Petro Gazz a campaign in the PVL bubble where it wound up fourth after the elimination round with a 6-3 record before losing to the Creamline Cool Smashers, 2-0, in their best-of-three semifinals series.

For Choco Mucho, which played its seventh straight game in as many days, it was Caitlyn Viray who top-scored with nine points, with Nicole Ebuen finishing with seven.

Starters Kat Tolentino, Bea De Leon and libero Denden Lazaro-Revilla were not fielded.

Captain Maddie Madayag, too, did not play after suffering a left knee injury in the series opener on Wednesday. Results of her MRI have yet to be made known as of this writing.

Choco Mucho finished the eliminations as the third seed with a 7-2 card and lost to the Chery Tiggo Crossovers in the semifinals.

Game Two of the best-of-three PVL Open Conference finals between Creamline and Chery Tiggo, meanwhile, was set for later on Thursday with the Cool Smashers leading the series, 1-0. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Messi dreams of delivering elusive Champions League crown for PSG

LIONEL MESSI (center) at his presentation with Paris St.-Germain with Nasser Al-Khelaifi (left, President of PSG), and Leonardo Araújo (director of sporting of PSG). — REUTERS

PARIS — Lionel Messi dashed any thoughts of him taking it easy in his later years as he set his sights on leading new club Paris St.-Germain (PSG) to their first ever Champions League title at his presentation in France on Wednesday.

The Argentine forward, 34, had agreed to stay at former club Barcelona after his deal expired at the end of June, only for the Spanish club to admit they could no longer afford him last week.

He signed a two year deal with an option for a third with the Parisians on Tuesday.

PSG have hoovered up domestic titles since the investment of their deep-pocketed owners Qatar Sports Investment in 2011. However, they have never won the Champions League, while Messi has won it four times, the last one coming in 2015.

“That’s why I am here (to win trophies). It’s an ambitious club,” Messi, who will wear the No. 30 jersey — which was his first squad number in senior football at Barcelona in 2006, told a news conference.

“You can see they’re ready to fight for everything.

“My dream is to win another Champions League, and I think this is the ideal place to be to do that.”

The Argentine conceded he did not know when he would be able to make his debut given he has not played since winning the Copa America with his country last month.

“I’m coming back from holiday. I need a bit of a pre-season and get myself going. Hopefully, debuting can be soon, but I can’t give you a date. It’s up to the coaches.”

FRIENDS REUNITED
Messi will join former Barça team mate Neymar in Paris.

The Brazilian left Catalonia for the French capital in a world record €222-million ($259.94 million) deal in 2017, however he never hid his desire to link up with his close friend once again on the pitch.

They will now line up together again, with Kylian Mbappé as the third member of a potent frontline.

“To be able to play with the likes of Neymar and Mbappé is insane. They’ve made so many good signings, I’m really happy and can’t wait to get started,” Messi added.

FAN CRAZE
Eyebrows were raised as to how PSG could afford to sign Messi within UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations. However, club chairman and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi, who was sat alongside Messi, insisted the deal was well within their economic scope.

“We are always attentive to Financial Fair Play. It’s the first thing we check with the commercial, financial and legal people to see if we can do it before signing someone,” he said. — Reuters

Kepa the hero as Chelsea wins Super Cup 6-5 on penalties

BELFAST — Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga came off the bench to make two shootout saves as Champions League winners Chelsea beat Spain’s Villarreal (6-5) on penalties to add the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Super Cup to their trophy collection on Wednesday.

Extra time had ended 1-1 at Belfast’s Windsor Park stadium, with Chelsea bringing on Kepa for Edouard Mendy in the final seconds in what turned out to be the game’s tactical master-stroke.

The freshest player on a field of tired legs saved first from Aissa Mandi at 1-1, after Kai Havertz had missed for Chelsea, and then made the winning stop at 6-5 when Villarreal captain and 2010 World Cup winner Raul Albiol hit the ball to the bottom left.

Mendy was one of the first to congratulate his team mate, with Chelsea lifting the trophy for a second time.

“It was certainly not spontaneous,” Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said of the goalkeeper switch.

“We had some statistics, we were well-prepared. Kepa is the best percentage in saving penalties. The analyzing guys, the goalkeeper coaches showed me the data and then we spoke with the players that this can happen.

“And since then they know and it’s fantastic how Edu accepts it,” added the German. “Kepa is better in this discipline and these guys are true team players.”

Mendy said he had no hard feelings at all. “Of course, I’m happy because we won,” the Senegal international told BT Sport television.

Hakim Ziyech had put Chelsea ahead in the 27th minute, sweeping in from 12 yards after a perfectly measured cross from Kai Havertz on the left.

The Morocco international, an unused substitute when Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0 in the Champions League final in Porto on May 29, then went off injured four minutes before the break following a collision with Juan Foyth.

Ziyech returned with his right arm in a sling to watch the rest of the match from the bench while Christian Pulisic took his place.

Villarreal, the Europa League holders with a noisy contingent of some 1,000 fans among the 13,000-strong crowd on a clear evening in Northern Ireland, hit the woodwork either side of half time.

Their equalizer came as no surprise in a lively match with several scoring chances squandered on both sides and both keepers making key saves.

Gerard Moreno — who scored against Manchester United before the Europa League final in Gdansk went to penalties — rescued Unai Emery’s side in the 73rd with a side-foot finish after a back-heel from Boulaye Dia.

It was Moreno’s eighth goal in his last nine European appearances for Villarreal.

“It was tough, 120 minutes,” said Tuchel. “We were very strong in the first 30-35 minutes and then we lost a bit easy balls after our goal… the equalizer was well-deserved.

“Right after we conceded the goal, we were very strong again, right until the end.”

Pulisic had a good chance in the 99th, the ball just running wide, while Mason Mount had a shot pushed out for a corner in the 108th.

Chelsea now turn their thoughts to the start of the Premier League season, and the imminent signing of striker Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan, with an opening match at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday. — Reuters

Golf: Rose named Payne Stewart Award winner

BRITAIN’S Justin Rose was named the recipient of the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour’s Payne Stewart Award on Wednesday, which honors a player for his character, sportsmanship and a commitment to charity.

Named after the three-time major champion Stewart, who died in a private plane crash in 1999, Rose will receive his award at a ceremony that will take place on Aug. 31 in conjunction with the Tour Championship in Atlanta.

“I am truly humbled and honored to be associated with the enduring legacy of Payne Stewart through this award,” Rose said in a statement. “The Payne Stewart Award has become an annual celebration of Payne’s impact on the PGA Tour and its players.

“I am forever grateful to be connected to a man who was the consummate professional on and off the golf course and will cherish being a Payne Stewart Award recipient well after my playing days are over.”

A former-world number one, Olympic gold medalist and US Open champion, Rose is also respected for his charitable work.

In 2009, Rose and his wife Kate established their own foundation working with charities in South Africa, the United States, the Bahamas and England.

The Kate & Justin Rose Foundation (KJRF) has raised more than $3 million and provided more than 500,000 hunger-free weekends and more than 300,000 books to 29,000 children.

The charity has also partnered with “Blessings in a Backpack” to feed hungry children in the Orlando area and in 2019 after the devastation in the Bahamas from Hurricane Dorian, to help rebuild the Grand Bahamas Children’s Home.

“Justin Rose embodies everything the Payne Stewart Award represents,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Like Payne, he has been one of the premier players of his generation while using his platform to better the lives of those around him.” — Reuters

Overestimated value

Dennis Schröder’s announcement on Instagram yesterday smacked of exuberance. “I’m proud to announce that for the 2021-22 season, I’ll be playing with the Boston Celtics,” he said, giving the distinct impression that he had angled for the development. “This is one of the best franchises in NBA history and it will be an honor to put on the green and white and do what I love. I’m going out there every night and leaving it all on the floor for the city!! Who’s ready?!” Forget that the post actually had him in a green-and-black uniform and featured a black background with a couple of four-leaf clovers. Casual observers who didn’t know better would have pegged him as ecstatic.

In truth, shocked is the adjective that more aptly describes Schröder’s sentiment. After all, he could do no better than affix his Hancock on a $5.9-million taxpayer midlevel exception — a number that belied his previous pronouncements of his worth. And just to buttress the point, fans need only note that he saw fit to turn down a four-year, $84-million extension offer from the Lakers in March. That he couldn’t even get the full midlevel exception of $9.5 million in his free agency bid speaks volumes of the yawning gap between how he regards himself and how others regard him.

Perhaps Schröder would have attracted more suitors had he come up with a respectable showing during the Lakers’ one-and-done appearance in the playoffs. Instead, he got progressively worse as the first round progressed. And, for the most part, his uneven campaign, even in the regular season, exposed his breakthrough run with the Thunder in the previous season as the exception rather than the rule. He was good, transcendent even, as a sixth man for the lottery-bound blue and yellow, so it was but logical to expect him to thrive with stars of the purple and gold. Instead, his stock swooned.

Schröder’s experience provides a cautionary tale for players who overestimate their value. No doubt, he was likewise handicapped by wrong timing; despite his rejection of the Lakers’ initial overture, he still could have been primed for a return had the dominos not fallen the way they did. Once the trade for nine-time All-Star Russell Westbrook was consummated, he became both expendable and expensive. Which redounded to the benefit of the Celtics.

Needless to say, Schröder figures to make use of his 2021-22 campaign as an audition for a big payday in the next offseason. How much of an opportunity he will get remains to be seen; with scrappy Marcus Smart already at the point, he may well be coming off the bench anew. In any case, he has no choice. He wasn’t careful with what he asked for, and he’s now paying the price.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

KoTra Manila and South Korea’s Keimyung College University donate sewing machines to Sibunag in Guimaras

Online turn-over ceremony (Photo credits to Keimyung College University)

– Turn over and inauguration ceremony was held online on August 6, 2021
– Promotes knowledge sharing between Philippine and Korean institutions through Global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) Manila, the Commercial Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines, and Keimyung College University held an online turn-over and inauguration ceremony of 34 sewing machines on August 6, 2021, via Zoom. The online ceremony was co-organized by the Municipality of Sibunag and attended by more than 50 people from the Municipality, Association of Barangay Captains, Women Federation Officers, and ERPAT Federation Officers.

KOTRA, a South Korean government agency promoting trade and investment between the Philippines and Korea, also supports Global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Project. Through various types of CSR activities, KOTRA not only creates business opportunities for companies but also helps to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while contributing to social development, human resource training, environmental improvement, etc.

Hon. Annabelle V. Samaniego, Mayor of Sibunag congratulated this turnover and inauguration ceremony stating “34 sewing machines from Keimyung college university by KOTRA Global CSR project would be of great help in empowering women. Also, this project could provide them livelihood assistance and make them more productive especially during this time of the pandemic.”

Keimyung College University was selected as the participating organization for the CSR project of KOTRA last year, but this donation had been postponed due to the pandemic. Instead of dispatching specialists for training session, this university made a tutorial video and allocated budget in order to improve sewing facilities. The President of Keimyung College University, Mr. Seung-ho Park, said “this donation of 34 sewing machines would help Philippine women in terms of technical education and skill development and we will plan to sign sister organization agreement with the Municipality of Sibunag for continuous support.”

Mr. Myongsoo Kim, Director General of KOTRA Manila, added,“Unfortunately, I could not visit Sibunag, Guimaras and attend the ceremony due to ECQ, but I believe that this donation would contribute to skill development and empowerment of the women. Starting from this donation, I hope this will lead to not only exchange of techniques and skills, but also people-to-people exchanges.” As the Heads of KOTRA Manila and Keimyung College University mentioned in the turn-over ceremony, both organizations are planning to visit Sibunag and hold offline training sessions after the pandemic and will discuss more activities for the local community.

 

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