Month: December 2022

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‫يشهد توسع UnionPay International المستمر لشبكتها العالمية إصدار أكثر من 200 مليون بطاقة خارج البر الرئيسي الصيني

10 سنوات من تقديم خدمات الدفع العالمية المبتكرة

شنغهاي، 30 ديسمبر 2022 / PRNewswire / — مع إصدار بطاقات UnionPay التي تتجاوز 200 مليون خارج البر الصيني،   UnionPay International (UPI) تدخل عقدًا جديدًا من تقديم خدمات دفع عالية الجودة وفعالة من حيث التكلفة وآمنة عبر الحدود إلى أكبر قاعدة لحاملي البطاقات في العالم. وقد توسع شركاء UPI من 60 عضوا أوليًا منذ إنشائها في عام 2012 إلى 2500 مؤسسة على الصعيد الدولي مع شبكة قبول تغطي حاليا 181 بلدًا ومنطقة، يُصدر 78 منها حاليا بطاقات UnionPay ، مما يضمن تقديم خدمات محلية ملائمة لعدد متزايد باستمرار من حاملي بطاقات UnionPay العالمية والتجار.

تعمل شركة UnionPay International على تحسين تجربة الدفع عبر الحدود بشكل كبير لحاملي البطاقات المحليين

على مدى العقد الماضي، طورت UPI بلا توقف تقنية الدفع المتطورة لمشاركة تجربة دفع جديدة عبر الحدود مع حاملي بطاقات UnionPay في كل ركن من أركان العالم. في الوقت الحالي، خارج البر الرئيسي الصيني، يقبل 38 مليون تاجر عالمي بطاقات UnionPay ، بزيادة أربعة أضعاف منذ عام 2012، مع إضافة أربعة ملايين تاجر جديد في عام 2022 وحده. بلغت معدلات قبول بطاقة UnionPay في APAC وأوروبا وأمريكا الشمالية 95% و 80% و 80% على التوالي، في حين يستخدم 22 مليون تاجر عبر الإنترنت في 200 دولة ومنطقة الآن UnionPay للمدفوعات.

خلال هذه السنوات العشر، تطور التحول الرقمي لصناعة المدفوعات العالمية بسرعة، وعجلت UPI بتكرار المنتجات وترقيات الخدمة لتلبية عادات الدفع المتغيرة باستمرار للعملاء الدوليين. بالتعاون الوثيق مع البنوك المركزية وشبكات التحويل الوطنية وتحالفات الدفع، شاركت UPI بنيتها التحتية المالية المبتكرة ومعاييره الفنية في بلدان مثل تايلاند والفلبين وأصبح معيارًا موحدًا عبر الحدود لشبكة الدفع الآسيوية.

يعكس التوسع العالمي لشركة UPI ابتكارها التكنولوجي والرقمي المثير للإعجاب

في السنوات الأخيرة، تم إطلاق تطبيق UnionPay الموحد للصناعة المصرفية التي تدعم UnionPay بدون تلامس، ورمز الاستجابة السريعة والمدفوعات في آسيا والمحيط الهادئ، مما يعزز إلى حد كبير تجارب الدفع عبر الهاتف المحمول لحاملي البطاقات. بما في ذلك تطبيق UnionPay ، تم إطلاق أكثر من 170 محفظة إلكترونية قياسية من UnionPay خارج البر الرئيسي للصين، ويمكن لأكثر من 16 مليون تاجر دولي تجربة الراحة التي توفرها مدفوعات رمز الاستجابة السريعة أو “التمرير السريع”.

في عام 2018، تم إطلاق نسخة منطقة هونغ كونغ وماكاو الإدارية الخاصة من تطبيق UnionPay وفي غضون أربع سنوات، أصبحت واحدة من أشهر منتجات الدفع عبر الهاتف المحمول للمقيمين. يشمل الوصول إلى خدمات الدفع عبر الهاتف المحمول من UnionPay خدمة Singapore’s PayLah! ، و Malaysia’s Boost , و Thailand’s K Plus ، فضلًا عن العديد من المنتجات الرائدة الأخرى. تكمن وراء هذه الإنجازات منصات الخدمة الفنية التابعة لـ UPI ، بما في ذلك المطور، وإصدار البطاقة السحابية، ومنصات خدمة السيناريوهات، والتي تقلل من الصعوبات الفنية والتكاليف للشركاء للوصول إلى خدمات الجوال UnionPay ، ودعم المزيد من المؤسسات المالية. كما انضمت شركات الاتصالات والتجزئة وغيرها من الشركات إلى النظام البيئي للدفع عبر الهاتف المحمول في UnionPay لتعزيز تجربة الدفع عبر الهاتف المحمول لحاملي البطاقات الدوليين.

تواصل UnionPay انتشارها العالمي على قدم وساق وستتوسع أكثر في العقد المقبل

توسيع نطاقها العالمي، والابتكار المستمر، وسهولة الاستخدام لحاملي البطاقات في جميع أنحاء العالم، وهو الإصدار الأول الذي  بطاقات UnionPay في زامبيا  تم إطلاقه في وقت سابق من هذا العام حيث أصبحوا بسرعة تفضيلًا جديدًا للدفع. تم إصدار أكثر من 20 مليون بطاقة UnionPay دوليًا منذ بداية هذا العام، مع تجاوز معدلات المعاملات مستويات ما قبل الوباء. في APAC ، واحدة من كل أربع بطاقات مصرفية صادرة حديثًا من UnionPay التي تمثل الآن 95% من بطاقات الخصم في منطقة هونغ كونغ وماكاو الإدارية الخاصة. تم Nilson Report تصنيف حجم معاملات UnionPay في المرتبة الأولى بين كبار مصدري البطاقات الدوليين في منطقة آسيا والمحيط الهادئ لعام 2021.

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African Migration Trends to Watch in 2023

While often unrecognized, most African migration occurs within the continent as migrants seek employment opportunities in neighboring regional economic hubs. In fact, 80 percent of African migrants do not have an interest in leaving the continent. Africa accounts for only 14 percent of the global migrant population, compared to 41 percent from Asia and 24 percent from Europe.

South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria are among the top five destination countries on the continent, revealing their position as economic hubs for their respective subregions.

With the exception of Côte d’Ivoire, migrants make up less than 5 percent of the population in each of the top destination countries. The majority of migrants in Côte d’Ivoire are from neighboring Burkina Faso with shared cultural backgrounds.

Source: Africa Center for Strategic Studies

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Sudanese Professionals Association preparing for dialogues on ‘outstanding issues’

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) is organising a number of workshops to prepare for the nation-wide dialogues on the five outstanding issues that have to be agreed on with the military junta in order to start a new transitional period governed by a civilian government. The dialogues are scheduled to start on January 3.

The transitional period that followed after the ouster of the ‘June 30 regime’ of Omar Al Bashir (1989-2019) was interrupted on October 25 last year by a coup d’état. The grassroot resistance committees and a number of political parties categorically reject negotiations with the ruling junta, while the military said they will retreat only after an agreement with the civilian opposition about a new government of technocrats.

As the security situation and the economic crisis in the country deteriorated even more after the coup, a number of (split-off) opposition groups headed by the Forces for Freedom and Change –Central Council (FFC-CC) opted for a deal with the military. They accepted the new Constitutional Charter for the upcoming transitional period (leading to general elections after about two years) drafted by the Sudanese Bar Association in August, and signed a Framework Agreement on December 5, under auspices of the AU-IGAD-UN Trilateral Mechanism.

Five important but thorny issues (justice and transitional justice, security and military reform, approaches to empowerment removal*, possible amendments to the Juba Peace Agreement, and governance issues regarding eastern Sudan), would be discussed later, and agreed on in a Final Agreement.

Recommendations

On Wednesday, the SPA, the driving force behind the 2018 December revolution, organised a workshop on the June 30 Empowerment Removal* Law of 2019.

SPA member Ahmed Khalil told the Sudan Today programme of Radio Dabanga that the workshop evaluated the performance of the ERC (that was suspended after the military coup of last year), and recommended to maintain the law, though with some amendments. The decisions of the Empowerment Removal Committee (ERC) should be final and the aggrieved party should not have the right to appeal. The concerned article in the law should instead stipulate that the ERC will have the power to review its decisions within a maximum period of 10 days.

Another recommendation concerns amending the powers of the ERC. It should have the competences of the Public Prosecution in cases of recovering public funds. A kind of “holding company” should be established to handle the recovered funds.

Khalil explained that a number of other SPA workshops have been planned in anticipation of FFC-CC dialogues starting on January 3.

Khalil said that a workshop planned to be held on Sunday will discuss the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) and the required security and military reform, with the participation of JPA signatories and security and military leaders.

On January 4, a SPA workshop on eastern Sudan governance will be held. The issues of justice and transitional justice will be discussed on January 7 and 8.

Source: Radio Dabanga

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Strengthening resilience for sexual and reproductive health in West and Central Africa 2018?2021 | Programme Cycle Report

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’s Strategic Plan 2018–2021 had the overarching goal of contributing to achieving universal access to sexual and reproductive health and advancing progress towards the achievement of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action. Therefore, the West and Central Africa regional interventions action plan (2018–2021) focused on supporting and complementing regional and country-level efforts to achieve these aims, all in line with SDGs 3 and 5 and the aspirations of the African Union Agenda 2063.

This report presents the progress towards achieving UNFPA’s three transformative results: i) Ending the unmet need for Family Planning; ii) Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality; and iii) Ending Gender-Based Violence (GBV), including Child Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Source: United Nations Population Fund

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NWTN Delivers First Batch of Electric Vehicles to Client in the UAE

DUBAI, UAE, Dec. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — NWTN Inc. (Nasdaq: NWTN), an eco-conscious mobility technology company bringing passenger-centric green premium mobility solutions to the world (“NWTN”), today announced that it delivered 20 range-extended electric vehicles (“R-EEVs”) to M93 CAR RENTAL L.L.C (“M93 CAR RENTAL”) at its newly constructed facility in the Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (“KEZAD”). The delivery kicks off NWTN’s plan to provide the UAE market with a range of innovative products and solutions to promote the region’s transformation to sustainable energy.

The R-EEVs were the perfect choice for M93 CAR RENTAL and are uniquely suited to the UAE market.  The vehicle’s range-extended technology overcomes the problems of limited charging facilities in the UAE and the long distances often travelled in the country. The 20 R-EEVs were the first batch of vehicles to be delivered to local clients within coming months.

“This is the first time we adopt new energy vehicles into our operation fleet, we are so excited about it.  This is in line with the green energy transformation initiatives of our country, and we are very proud to be an active part of it,” said Shahram Parvizi, Chairman & CEO of M93 CAR RENTAL.  “I would like to thank NWTN for providing these advanced products and technology to us.  We look forward to rolling out additional new energy mobility technologies and solutions from NWTN in the future.”

Alan Wu, Chairman and CEO of NWTN said at the delivery ceremony: “We are thrilled to see our products and solutions start contributing to the UAE’s Zero Emission Initiative. This is the beginning of our long-term commitment to the UAE and the Middle East market.  We will continue to promote green mobility lifestyles and bring world leading sustainable technologies to the UAE to help support the country’s ‘Net-Zero 2050’ strategic initiative and energy transformation blueprint.”

The KEZAD assembly facility is NWTN’s first facility in the UAE.  The facility will enable NWTN to conduct semi-knockdown production with a greater proportion of software and hardware localization and upgrades to meet the local market needs. The KEZAD assembly facility is currently in the final phase of installing equipment and conducting trial operations, and is expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2023.

ABOUT NWTN

NWTN is a pioneering green technology company with a mission to bring premium passenger-centric mobility and green energy solutions to the world. Headquartered in Dubai and with its manufacturing facilities in Abu Dhabi, UAE, NWTN aims to integrate avant-garde design, life-style personalization, IoT connectivity, autonomous driving technology, and green energy eco-systems to its future mobility solutions. Its core technology includes modular pure electric platforms, battery packing and management technology, a digital on-board connectivity system, continuously upgraded electric and electronic architecture as well as autonomous driving technology.

NWTN focuses on growth and development in the entire value chain of clean energy applications in the UAE and intends to expand to the Middle East, North Africa, and other Southeast Asian and European territories.

For further information, please visit: https://www.nwtnmotors.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such forward-looking statements are characterized by future or conditional verbs such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” believe,” “estimate” and “continue” or similar words. You should read statements that contain these words carefully because they discuss future expectations and plans, which contain projections of future results of operations or financial condition or state other forward-looking information.

Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to the risks factors contained in NWTN’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. New risks and uncertainties arise over time, and it is not possible NWTN to predict those events or how they may affect NWTN. If a change to the events and circumstances reflected in NWTN’s forward-looking statements occurs, NWTN’s business, financial condition and operating results may vary materially from those expressed in NWTN’s forward-looking statements.

Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and NWTN assumes no obligation and do not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Sinopec Sets A New Vertical Well Depth Record of 8,866 Meters in the Sichuan Basin, China

BEIJING, Dec. 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (HKG: 0386, “Sinopec”) announced that its Yuanshen-1 risk exploration well in the Sichuan Basin had successfully completed the drilling at a depth of 8,866 meters, beating the previous deepest record in the Sichuan Basin set by its Rentan-1 well.

Sinopec Sets A New Vertical Well Depth Record of 8,866 Meters in the Sichuan Basin, China.

A major breakthrough of Sinopec’s “Project Deep Earth,” the Yuanshen-1 well has reached the deepest oil and gas formation in burial depth in the Sichuan Basin and further shows the great potential of deep ancient carbonate rocks in the region.

On the same day, Sinopec officially unveiled the “Project Deep Earth – Natural Gas Base in Sichuan and Chongqing”, in collaboration with Sinopec Exploration Company, Sinopec Southwest Oil & Gas Company, Sinopec Zhongyuan Oilfield Company, Sinopec Jianghan Oilfield Company and Sinopec East China Oil & Gas Company. This is Sinopec’s third “Project Deep Earth” base after the Shunbei Oilfield and Jiyang Shale Oil bases.

To date, Sinopec’s deep natural gas resources in the Sichuan Basin in areas with mineral rights have reached 15 trillion cubic meters, which holds a heavy weight for China’s natural gas reserves and production growth.

The Yuanshen-1 well has reached the deepest hydrocarbon reservoir in the Sichuan basin – the mound-shoal complex of the platform marginal facies in Dengying Formation. During the exploration, the ultra-deep carbonate rock, buried at a depth of over 8,700 meters, still showed positive hydrocarbon evidence in the porous reservoir.

Drilling to a depth of over 8,000 meters can bring many challenges for global industrial players. The large-size upper casing weighs 517 tonnes at ground level, which is a challenge to the rig’s lifting and casing capabilities. The ultra-high temperature in the deep earth also has high requirements for the drilling fluid’s stability and anti-pollution capability, and coring at such depths is difficult and time-consuming. To combat these challenges, Sinopec has developed five key technologies for ultra-deep drilling to support the oil and gas exploration in deep and ultra-deep carbonate reservoirs.

Sinopec has continually advanced deep hydrocarbon exploration in the Sichuan Basin, mainly including conventional gas in deep marine carbonate rocks and deep shale gas. It has discovered the Puguang, Yuanba and Chuanxi gas fields, and to date, Sinopec’s annual conventional gas production capacity from deep marine carbonate reservoirs has exceeded 12 billion cubic meters.

For more information, please visit Sinopec.

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