Pacific Rim Consulting Group

What The Climate Package Means For A Warming Planet : Consider This from NPR Up until a few weeks ago, meaningful climate legislation was sidelined in the U.S. Senate. But after months of wrangling votes — and adding concessions to oil and gas companies — Democrats in the Senate have finally passed the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill includes more than $300 billion in ...

How Many Of America's One Million COVID Deaths Were Preventable? : Consider This from NPR As the U.S. marks one million people dead from COVID-19, scientists suggest that nearly one third of those deaths could have been prevented if more people had chosen to be vaccinated. NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin reports. And even though the unvaccinated continue to make up a majority of COVID-19 cas...

Pink Floyd, a flamingo on the lam from a Kansas zoo since 2005, is seen again in Texas A video posted by the Coastal Fisheries Division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shows the fugitive flamingo wading into Cox Bay about 120 miles southwest of Houston.

Self-styled 'QAnon shaman' is sentenced to 41 months in Capitol riot Jacob Chansley, who had pleaded guilty to obstruction, apologized and called his high-profile actions on Jan. 6 "indefensible."

important

The world needs more COVID vaccines, so the U.S. is helping finance overseas plants The Biden administration has been criticized for hoarding COVID vaccines when millions of people around the world are unvaccinated. Now they're looking at how to help finance plants overseas.

Maybe “industrial h**p” is a better fit for Utah… h**p grain, h**p protein, h**p oil, h**p fiber, h**pcrete, h**p resin, h**p biofuel, h**p cattle feed, ….

So much h**p, no one to smoke it - Utah Business After promises of a robust h**p market, Utah h**p farmers are left with biomass they can’t move and thousands in debt.

and the truth will make you free…

Senate report details Trump's efforts to use DOJ to overturn election results The report from the panel's Democratic majority documents the chaotic final weeks of Trump's presidency following his loss to Joe Biden.

I am proud that one of my companies, Pacific Rim Consulting Group was selected as the Sigfox IoT implementation partner with KFC Yum brands in Thailand… (also a shout out to our local Thai partner Kirz Internet Thailand) www.kirz.com

Yum Brands Is Adding Disruptive Technologies Across Its Global Restaurant System. Here’s How Yum Brands created an innovation function in late 2019 that has since created a digital innovation lab and a partnership with startup network Plug and Play to quickly test disruptive technologies. A physical innovation lab is expected to open later this year.

good news

A $50 Phone Can Unleash a Credit Revolution Across the Globe A small band of policy influencers may unlock the next big prize for banks — the billions who operate outside the formal finance sector.

China's Microsoft Hack May Have Had A Bigger Purpose Than Just Spying China broke into tens of thousands of email accounts in January. Now officials fear the breach wasn't just about spying. It was to build the next generation of artificial intelligence.

Vice President Kamala Harris has arrived in Singapore to kick off her Southeast Asia tour, where she will also be traveling to Vietnam later this week.

Unsurprisingly, Thailand is likely not a strategic country to visit for the US.

After finishing up three days in Singapore, Vice President Harris will travel to Vietnam tomorrow and spend two days there, where she will be the first American VP to have visited the fast growing country.

In Singapore, the VP will meet the President and Prime Minister and make a stop at the Changi Naval Base. In Vietnam, she will hold meetings with the government and attend the opening of a Southeast Asian regional branch of the US Centers for Disease Control.
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Zooming Out:

Why is this trip significant? Amid the chaos and backlash of Afghanistan, the US is in a position of defenfing its removal of troops both domestically and internationally.

However, according to news outlet al Jazeera, some foreign policy experts predict that this could be positive for Southeast Asia, as it will free up resources to counterBeijing and China's rising influence in the region.

Amid China's rising influence, Southeast Asia (well, Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore) will likely remain strategically and economically important to the US. Vice President Harris will also spend time outlining the Biden administration's vision for the region.

Singapore's economy is expected to grow 6-7% this year, and Vietnam was previously on track for 6.5% expansion, but the country is currently in the middle of a Covid-19 crisis, with lagging vaccination but robust economic potential.

Thailand meanwhile, is positioned for 0.7%-1.2% growth, with our tourism dependent country poised for prolonged bleak outlook.

https://www.facebook.com/691862365/posts/10160139277022366/?d=n

We Just Got Our Clearest Picture Yet Of How Biden Won In 2020 Suburban voters and white men helped push Biden over the top, while Hispanic voters and white women swayed toward Trump. Those trends may shape strategy for Republicans and Democrats in 2022.

Who made this?? 😂🤣😂

2 Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump For Injuries Sustained During Jan. 6 Riot Two U.S. Capitol police officers argue former President Donald Trump is responsible for the injuries they received during the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol.

Tech businesses eligible for BOI promotion

The tech industry is one of the fastest growing industries in Thailand and are covered by Category 5 of BOI promoted activities. These include software, e-commerce and digital services. Under the software category there are two products; high value added software and enterprise software and/or digital content.
Conditions for all software categories include salaries for IT personnel of at least 1.5 million baht a year, software development processes specified by the Digital Economy Promotion Agency and projects with an investment of 10 million or more must obtain a high quality standard certificate from DEPA.

E-commerce can also fall under BOI so long as it is set up as a Limited Company, holds a special e-commerce business license, registers with the Office of the Consumer Protection Board as a direct sales business and is in compliance with the Foreign Business Act. While the definition of e-commece is somewhat unclear, the standard case is an online marketplace where the operator acts as a broker, however according to the BOI any business that is based on online transactions is regarded as e-commerce.

Digital Services, including software platforms, managed services, digital services such as FinTech, AgriTech etc and digital architecture design services fall under BOI promotion status. To qualify projects must hire digital specialists and have a capital investment of not less than one million baht not including working capital and cost of land. Projects must include digital services and those projects with an investment of 10 million or more (not including land or working capital) must be certified with ISO2000 as approved by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology within two years of startup. Revenue derived from sales or provision of services that are directly related to a promoted digital services business shall be regarded as revenue of such promoted business. Finally projects must gain approval from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society before applying for investment promotion.

UN Officially Considers Cannabis a Medicine, Removing It From List of Lethal Drugs The UN has voted to remove cannabis from the most restrictive schedule of international drug laws, but rejected several other rescheduling recommendations.

a very experienced import - export management company & private label OEM available

A great opportunity to learn about new technologies in the cement industry... with this free virtual webinar event register in the link below.

Also a very informative presentation by a Utah based technology company Quantum IR Technologies CEO mr. Mark Isrealsen... Presentation title is: Optimising Refractory Useful Life with Infrared-based AI Analytics

Tuesday Jan 19 @ 13.00 hour Central European Time

Virtual conference information for Global CemProducer conference & exhibition - Global Cement Virtual conference information for Global CemProducer Conference

The next wave of globalization: Asia in the cockpit Don't worry about the future of globalization. Make sure you have a place in it

ชาวอเมริกันต่อแถวรอคิวผ่านจุดตรวจความปลอดภัย ในสนามบินนานาชาติซอลท์เลคซิตี้ ในซอลท์เลคซิตี้ รัฐยูทาห์ ช่วงสัปดาห์วันขอบคุณพระเจ้าในสหรัฐอเมริกา

ติดตามเราได้ทางเว็บไซต์ www.voathai.com


Air travelers line up to go through a security checkpoint at Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City, Utah.

socially distanced “On the Hook Fish n Chips” food truck @ Smiths a 40 min wait @ 30 degrees with no complaints.. quality always sells! even in a pandemic

Looking forward to this very informative Cement technology conference:
“World Cement Optimization 2020”

An FREE online conference focusing on the latest developments in cement technology
18th & 19th November 2020 - 14:00 (GMT)
featuring a presentation by Mark Isrealsen CEO of QuantumIR Technologies that utilizes Infrared Automation with Artificial Intelligence analytics to monitor high heat processes in cement production, extending refractory life, increasing production, and reducing costs.
free registration link:

https://www.worldcement.com/optimisation/register/

interesting

Today, 15 Asia Pacific nations got together over Zoom and signed the world’s largest free trade bloc, led by China. ⁠⠀
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The countries include Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, with Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand forming a big bloc that cements China's influence across the nation. ⁠⠀
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It also comes at a time where US's engagement with Southeast Asia is uncertain, although Biden's win may change the nature of Asia-US relations somewhat. ⁠⠀
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There most likely won't be much focus on trade from the US side for the time being, as the focus will be on covid relief for the next two years. ⁠⠀
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The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will account for 30% of the global economy, 30% of the global population and reach 2.2 billion consumers, according to CNBC. ⁠⠀
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India's resignation⁠⠀
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India surprised other countries by pulling out of the agreement just last year, citing concerns Prime Minister Modi has over RCEP's impact on the livelihoods of vulnerable citizens. ⁠⠀
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However, the door is left open fo India to join, which highlights how China is determined to link up with the region's third largest economy. ⁠⠀
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Thailand's POV⁠⠀
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For Thailand, we have always been learning more towards China as a partner. The agreement will make exports of participating countries more competitive, which could also give Thailand an edge. ⁠⠀
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However, Thailand already has existing trade agreements with ASEAN 16 nations, so it may not significantly change our trade structure. It will give Thailand's local industries a chance to compete with the likes of Vietnam, as the latter continues to attract more foreign direct investment.⁠⠀
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According to Kasikorn Bank's Research Center, RCEP will not directly benefit Thailand much due to our existing agreements, but it will indirectly boost Thai products that are part of the supply chain of RCEP groups. ⁠⠀
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In the long term, RCEP will allow relocation of manufacturing and investment in the region, which means Thailand needs to remain competitive-we need to push existing industries to remain relevant on the global stage.

This is the Asian Century: Seven reasons to be optimistic about it From dominance in the US-China tech war to the end of coronavirus, experts weigh in

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