Day: March 13, 2023

The Data Centre is the first in Malaysia to be certified as a Titanium+ Tier facility by Green Climate Initiative (GCI), a testament to the Bank’s commitment to addressing climate change and the transition to a green, low carbon and climate-resilient economy

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 13 March 2023 – Hong Leong Bank’s (“HLB” or “the Bank”) new data center has received a Titanium+ Tier nod from the Green Climate Initiative (“GCI”), an industry-leading green technology accreditation organisation. With this accreditation, the Bank’s data center is officially a Certified Green Computing Facility and the only facility in Malaysia to achieve the prestigious Titanium+ ranking by scoring a near-perfect 99 out of 100 points in the Certified Green Computing Facility (“CGCF”) Weighted Scorecard. HLB’s Chief Technology Officer William Streitberg receiving the Titanium+ Tier Certification from Green Climate Initiative’s (GCI) Avis Tan, Head of Sustainability Committee (Asia & Middle East), flanked by Huawei Enterprise Business Group, Financial Services Industry Director G.T Tan

This accreditation, which was presented at the Huawei Malaysia Digital Power Summit 2023, comes as the Bank continues to execute its strategic ESG initiatives, working towards its goal of being carbon neutral by 2050. In recent years, the Bank has gradually embedded ESG considerations throughout its business operations by implementing sustainability and environmental frameworks as part of its business strategy. The Bank’s new data center, which uses open-source, latest data governance architecture to enable real-time data processing, data mining, and in-depth analysis, was developed in line with the Bank’s overall ESG framework.

According to Domenic Fuda, Group Managing Director and CEO of HLB, climate change will remain the most profound generational challenge which the world faces today as well as a key emerging risk for financial institutions over the next few years, given the increased regulation, demands for transparency and the need for whole ecosystems to embrace the need for action now so that future impacts of climate change can be appropriately and effectively managed.

“We take both a short-term, as well as, a long-term view when it comes to addressing climate change by being steadfast in incorporating sustainability actions and policies into our daily operations and strategic initiatives. These initiatives and actions throughout our business are designed to create a positive impact across our customers, community and the environment, whether it’s in business enablers like a data center or through our products and services that customers use. This certification from GCI is a testament to our commitment to putting sustainability at the core of our operations. We are proud to have the first Titanium+ tiered data facility in Malaysia,” said Fuda.

Operationally, HLB has set the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15% to 25% by 2026, achieving net zero Scope 1 and 2 by 2030 and being carbon neutral by 2050. Some key initiatives that are aligned with these ESG commitments include:

Business and Corporate Banking Credit Policy and ESG Assessment Framework which takes an inclusionary approach to transition customers in high-risk sectors to adopt lower-carbon economic activities.

Developer End Financing Framework encourages property developers to adopt greener practices as those with green certifications for their development projects will be classified with low ESG risk profiles.

Regional Wealth Management ESG Framework guides the creation of responsible wealth management products with integrated ESG considerations.

Procurement Policy assesses the level of ESG adoption for its vendors across the entire value chain through the Bank’s Vendor Sustainability Self-Assessment.

Environmental Policy on Energy, Water and Waste Management monitors electricity and water consumption as well as manages waste and recycling measures. Accordingly, HLB has introduced bank-wide Energy Efficiency & Conservation (EE&C) initiatives to upgrade and retrofit its operational facilities.

Ceased financing of any greenfield coal-fired power plants beginning 1st July 2021 and new financing of all coal-fired power plants effective 1st July 2026.

Forest rehabilitation and conservation practices via its 15-hectare mangrove rehabilitation project in Kuala Selangor Nature Park, having so far planted over 40,000 trees, to offset carbon emissions, prevent soil erosion and assist the fishing ecosystem to help fishermen’s livelihoods and the HLB Earth Hero initiative which nurtures an environmentally responsible younger generation, whilst replanting trees in a forest in Sabah.

HLB’s new Data Centre is powered by Huawei Module Data Center which delivers simple and flexible deployment and expansion and most importantly, a self-optimisation system that reduces energy consumption and carbon footprint. For the successful deployment and attaining Malaysia’s first Titanium+ certification from GCI, Huawei also presented the Bank with the “Excellence Customer of Module Data Center” award under the Deployment in Finance Category 2022.

Vice President of Digital Power Business Group of Huawei Malaysia, Chong Chern Peng said, “We are grateful that our customer Hong Leong Bank has received this certification and recognition for Huawei’s Data Center Facility. In the pursuit of Next-Generation Data Centers, technological innovation will be a key force in ensuring sustainable development. Looking towards the future, Huawei will keep making breakthroughs in products and technologies through continuous investments in R&D and through extensive cooperation with customers, ecosystem partners, and industry organisations. Together, we can jointly usher in a new era of data center development

Source: Xinhua Finance Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, The number of flood victims continues to drop to 40,205 this evening compared with 41,154 people this morning while Sarawak has completed recovered from floods.

In JOHOR, the total evacuees shrank to 40,005 people as at 4 pm compared with 40,847 at 8 am following the closure of eight temporary relief centres (PPS).

The State Disaster Management Committee (JPBN) in a statement said with the closure of PPS, there are still 128 PPS in operation in four districts.

According to JPBN, Batu Pahat remained as the most badly affected district with 39,158 victims from 10,924 families; followed by Muar with 548 victims (170 families); Segamat 212 orang (56 families) and Tangkak 87 victims (15 families).

Three rivers in Batu Pahat are still above the danger level, namely the Bekok Dam in Sungai Bekok which is now at 19.42 metres (m), Sungai Senggarang in Senggarang (3.63m) and the Sungai Simpang Kiri in Sri Medan (2.41m) besides the Sungai Muar in Bukit Kepong , Muar which recorded a reading of 3.45 m.

In PAHANG, the JPBN secretariat reported that the number of flood victims in Rompin was down this afternoon to 145 people compared to 155 people this morning.

In MELAKA, the number of flood victims in Jasin continued to drop to 55 victims from 13 families at 2 this afternoon compared to 61 victims from 14 families at 8 this morning.

Meanwhile in SARAWAK, the JPBN secretariat reported that there are no more flood victims in two PPSs namely Dewan Sinaran Lumut and Dewan Kampung following the closure of the PPS as of 3pm this afternoon.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

After pandemic-related delays, discussion is now underway about resuming work on the railway project in Myanmar that will connect China’s Yunnan province to the Bay of Bengal, according to the Myanmar government.

The project is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative that includes construction of the Pan-Asian Railway Network that would include Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.

The railway project covers approximately 1,000 kilometers and is divided into two sections in Myanmar — from Muse to Mandalay and from Mandalay to Kyaukphyu, a port city on the Bay of Bengal. The railroad, when completed, will give China a shipping route that bypasses the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia.

“We have signed several agreements with China for development projects,” Major General Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for Myanmar’s military government, told VOA Burmese late last week. “The railroad project to Kyaukphyu is included in those development agreements. … Field inspection and reports have been completed. The implementation to resume the projects are still being discussed.”

VOA Burmese emailed the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment on the project but received no response.

Beijing, which is dependent on Middle Eastern oil, wants to avoid the possibility of a foreign power disrupting oil shipments from the Middle East by blockading the straits.

At the 20th Party Congress in October, President Xi Jinping stressed that energy security was one of Beijing’s key concerns. China imports some 70% of the crude oil it needs, and much of that comes from Saudi Arabia, although Russia has become a larger supplier since invading Ukraine was followed by international sanctions that closed other markets to Moscow.

A senior official at the Myanmar Transportation Department who was not authorized to speak to the press and asked to remain unnamed confirmed the meeting last week in the capital city of Naypyitaw with Chinese counterparts to resume the railroad project developed by the state-run Myanma Railways and the China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (CREEG).

“Previously it was OBOR, One Belt, One Road. After that, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),” the official told VOA Burmese. “We suspended the project due to COVID. … [The] Chinese are in consultation to resume the Kyaukphyu project eventually.”

The preparation of the bilateral memorandum of understanding for the Kunming-Kyaukphyu railway, which is estimated to cost $9 billion, was executed in 2019. The railway projects were among the 33 agreements signed by Xi during his visit to Myanmar in January 2020.

China and Myanmar approved the route for the first segment in 2019. The project will traverse rugged terrain and areas of Myanmar where ethnic armed organizations have fought the Myanmar military and each other for decades.

After the military coup in February 2021, Burmese and Chinese scientists conducted an environmental assessment of the first section of project, which was approved in 2022. Preparations for the second segment began late last year, according to the website, Frontier Myanmar, and were confirmed by Zaw Min Tun.

In late February, China’s special envoy for Myanmar affairs, Deng Xijun, held meetings in Myanmar’s Shan State with representatives of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the United Wa State Army (UWSA), and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) to discuss trade and economic cooperation with a focus on the railway from Yunnan to Muse and Kyaukphyu.

Deng’s visit was intended to build ties with the EAOs, as well as to persuade them to reach some form of cease-fire with the military government that came to power with a February 2021 coup. China has expressed concern about instability in Myanmar and the West’s support for the anti-military opposition soon after the coup in an editorial published in the Global Times, a newspaper affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.

A rail line connecting China with Thailand via Laos is scheduled to begin operations at the end of May, according to a March 3 release from the railroad. The China-Laos-Thailand round-trip train service will run every other day. Service is scheduled to be expanded to one train per day at the end of June.

Source: VOA