FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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IKEA Group to rid all single-use plastic items by January 1, 2020

IKEA Group to rid all single-use plastic items by January 1, 2020

IKEA has committed to removing single-use plastic products from its home furnishing range globally by 1 January 2020, including plastic straws, plates, cups, freezer bags, garbage bags and plastic-coated paper plates and cups.

The announcement came as part of Democratic Design Days in Almhult, Sweden, where IKEA product developers displayed home furnishings made from innovative and recycled materials, as well as solutions that enable people to live a more sustainable everyday life. The IKEA team also launched a new People and Planet Positive sustainability strategy, which sets the direction for all IKEA franchisees in three focus areas: Healthy & Sustainable living, Circular & Climate Positive, Fair and Equal.

IKEA Group to rid all single-use plastic items by January 1, 2020
The business aims to be climate positive by 2030 – meaning it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than the value chain emits. To do this, IKEA plans to: 
Design all IKEA products with new circular principles, with the goal to only use renewable and recycled materials while also enabling products to be repurposed, repaired, reused, resold, and recycled - generating as little waste as possible.
Pack products in materials that renewable and/or recycled
Phase out virgin fossil plastic from products
Increase the proportion of plant-based choices in the IKEA food offer.
IKEA Southeast Asia, the franchisee that owns and operates IKEA stores in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, is contributing to the global ambition through its operation and long term commitments to:
Increase energy efficiency, generate renewable energy and increase its share of renewable energy consumption
Contribute zero waste to landfill
Secure responsibly sourced supply chain for products and services
Build and renovate IKEA stores and IKEA-anchored Shopping Centres to meet sustainable certified standards
Support at least one social enterprise for every market
Enable and inspire our co-workers, customers, visitors and community to live a healthier and more sustainable life

TRIS 
Sahakol Equipment assigned “BBB-” in company rating 

TRIS Rating has assigned the company rating of Sahakol Equipment PLC (SQ) at “BBB-”. 
The rating reflects the strong, well-established core business of the company, as it is a leading mining contractor. 
The rating also reflects the stable income streams SQ receives from long-term service contracts with creditworthy project owners and a sizable project backlog. 
These strengths are partially offset by high leverage and business concentration risk, since a few large projects comprise most of SQ’s revenue and profits.

TOKIO MARINE Thai unit sets GWP target of Bt9.1 billion in 2020 

Tokio Marine Insurance (Thailand) has set a target of Bt9.1 billion in gross written premium (GWP) in 2020, according to its statement on Thursday.
Last year it posted total GWP of Bt7.999 billion, with a net profit of Bt656 million, as Thailand's economy recovered and the increasing numbers of car sales following the end of the first-time car-buyer programme .
Hironori Kiryu, President of Tokio Marine Insurance (Thailand) PCL said this year, the company expects growth to be higher than 4 per cent with GWP at Bt8.346 billion. It has set a GWP target of Bt9.1 billion by year 2020. 
The company has joined with ‘InsurTech Sandbox’ , promoted by The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) to initiate an InsurTech hub in Thailand. This is an opportunity for the company to cooperate with InsurTech startups to develop new insurance products and services for Thai customers and drive the domestic insurance industry forward. 
As for claim services, the company is developing ‘Merimen Project: The Claim Process Integration’ - an international software that can cover all insurance platform and link with all process systems. 
 The Merimen will connect all claim services systems from call centre to the garages with convenience, speed abd accuracy and the system can also track customer satisfaction survey for service improvement. 
The company expects to launch the service by the third quarter this year. 
Shinkichi Mike Miki, Managing Director of Tokio Marine Asia said “Tokio Marine Asia as a regional headquarter will liaise with Tokio Marine Holdings Inc to support sharing of knowledge and global expertise in the area of digital to extend maximum benefits for Thai customers.”
Tokio Marine Asia has set up a regional direct & digital team to work across companies under Tokio Marine Asia to explore innovation to the industry. The prjectis 
This year, the company also plans to generate revenue from its new businesses such as Agricultural Loan Protection programme , Event Cancellation Insurance and Cyber Insurance. 

THAI-CHILE COMMERCE 
Bilateral trade rose 17% to $357m in Q1

The trading volume between Thailand and Chile has continued to grow, thanks to the Thailand-Chile free trade agreement, which took effect in late 2015, according to the Department of Trade Negotiations director general Auramon Supthaweethum.
Their bilateral trade in the first quarter this year surged 16.9 per cent year on year to US$357 million, of which $238.1 million were the export value. 
Thailand's export to Chile under the free trade deal in the period was US$235.6 million, reflecting that the local exporters fully use their right to export to Chile under the free trade deal.
In the South American continent, Chile is the third largest trading partner of Thailand. The main export products from Thailand to Chile in the first quarter include cars and car parts, canned sea food, washing machines, machinery, and rubbers. 
Currently 90 per cent of goods items in their free trade agreement list are already subject to zero per cent tariff.

SMART LOGISTICS 
JD.com begins use of PV power in warehouses

China's e-commerce giant JD.com has begun using photovoltaic (PV) generators in its smart logistics centre in Shanghai.
JD.com are installing PV systems for its logistic centers around the country. PV will provide clean energy for the warehouse's robots and automated sorting system.
By the end of 2018, JD.com will have installed PV cells on millions of square meters warehouse roof, according to Chu Xuhui of the company.
The 40,000-square-meter business-to-customer (B2C) unmanned logistics center in Shanghai, "Asia No 1," can handle 200,000 online orders per day. - Xinhua
 

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