By Ellen Boonstra, Asia correspondent >>

WHETHER  it’s the tropical heat, the custom of wearing facemasks courtesy of its the air pollution, or the swift lockdown measures, on a global scale Thailand has done remarkably well in coping with the COVID-19 crisis.

As of mid-June, the country recorded 3,135 confirmed cases and 58 fatalities, ranking it second in the world, after Australia, among the countries with the highest COVID-19 recovery index and first in Asia, according to a report issued by the Global COVID-19 Index (GCI) on June 11, 2020.

Government spokesperson, Professor Narumon Pinyosinwat said Prime Minister and Defense Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha was grateful to all the Thai people for their discipline, strength, and patience in fighting COVID-19, so that everyone could get through the difficult situation together.

The GCI has been developed by PEMANDU Associates in collaboration with Malaysia’s Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI) and the Sunway Group. 

It is driven strongly by big data, and the index scores and ranks 184 countries on how well they are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the ranking of countries by recovery index, Australia receives 86.34 from 100 points. Thailand receives 83.29, followed by Denmark, 81.75; Taiwan, 79.55; South Korea, 79.25; New Zealand, 79.08; Lithuania, 77.06; Slovenia, 76.12; Iceland, 76.06; and Latvia, 75.46.

Among the 20 countries with the highest recovery index, five are in Asia. They include Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Key dynamic parameters used by the GCI include confirmed cases per population, the proportionate death rate due to COVID-19, and static scores derived from the Global Health Security Index, which was developed to assess a country’s readiness to cope with and handle any epidemic.

www.pemandu.org 

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HILTON has announced the reopening of all of its hotels in China, announcing it would be "welcoming guests once again with Hilton's signature hospitality".

As part of its global recovery process, Hilton also announced the upcoming Hilton CleanStay initiative to ensure the safety and well-being of guests and team members.

"The safety and well-being of our guests and team members remain our highest priority and reopening all our hotels in the Chinese mainland is the first step in a measured global recovery process," Hilton president and CEO, Chris Nassetta said. 

"We are doing everything we can to look after our Hilton family, and I am incredibly proud of how our teams have rallied together to support their communities and each other. We are confident that there are brighter days ahead, and we are eager to welcome guests with our signature Hilton hospitality once again - in China, and all around the world."

Hilton Asia Pacific presdient, Alan Watts said, "Following a challenging past couple of months, we are thrilled to announce the resumption of operations in all Hilton hotels in the Chinese Mainland, marking a significant milestone for a market that has shown incredible resilience.

"We are seeing demand gradually return to China starting with domestic travel, and green shoots of recovery across the wider region as countries begin to ease restrictions. With the introduction of the upcoming Hilton CleanStay, underpinned with our partnership with RB and Mayo Clinic, we look forward to welcoming our guests and providing them with assurance and peace of mind as we pioneer a new standard of safety and cleanliness."

As one of the region's fastest-growing global hospitality companies, Hilton in the Greater China region currently has 255 hotels in operation and more than 500 hotels in the pipeline with nearly one in three rooms under construction carrying a Hilton flag.

Enhanced Hygiene Practices for a Cleaner and Safer Stay

Ahead of its global recovery process, Hilton also announced the new Hilton CleanStay program, in collaboration with RB, maker of Lysol and Dettol, and Mayo Clinic, the top-ranked hospital system in the US.

A first in the hospitality business, Hilton CleanStay builds onto the already high standards of housekeeping and hygiene to deliver an industry-defining standard of cleanliness and disinfection in Hilton properties across the world.

The program is expected to launch in June 2020 and will create a focus on cleanliness that will be visible to guests throughout their stay, providing them with assurance and peace of mind when they stay at any of Hilton's brands.

To find out more about Hilton CleanStay, visit:
https://newsroom.hilton.com/corporate/news/hilton-defining-new-cleanliness-standard

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By Leon Gettler >>

IN CHINA, a blockchain venture seeks to create a smart city. The implications of the research will be global. It could create smart cities around the world.

Ada Xiao is the chief strategy officer for PlatON, the pioneering global privacy-preserving computing network. Located in Hangzhou, it is working with Innova City, seeking to create China’s largest blockchain-powered smart city project. 

Is due to be completed in 2025.

Ms Xiao said PlatON is working with automotive component company Wanxiang, which has been investing heavily in electric vehicles.  The company has invested US$29 billion into the smart city.

“I believe it will become the biggest blockchain empowered industrial grade smart city in the world once it’s completed,” Ms Xiao told Talking Business.

“Innova City will be featuring Wanxiang’s advanced manufacturing facilities for renewable energy, and electric vehicles, and it will have 90,000 residents who will be living and working there once it’s completed.”

PRIVACY BLOCKCHAIN

Ms Xiao said Innova City would be using PlatON’s privacy blockchain solution. It would monitor driving behavioural data to train auto-driving systems, as well as to record and monitor electric vehicle life cycles, in order to manage ecological waste efficiently

“Basically we will build a smart city that’s safe, greener and more efficient,” she said.

As part of the privacy guidelines, PlatON would be encrypting the data to ensure it is not exposed.

She said it was groundbreaking work.

“We realise that with so many smart city projects out there, one thing that is of concern is they don’t have a very good privacy-centric, decentralised infrastructure which we think should be the foundation of smart cities because you need this privacy-centric infrastructure to facilitate data sharing and better collaboration to greater lengths,” Ms Xiao said.

“That is very crucial to making a city smart.”

DATA IS ‘NEW OIL’

Ms Xiao said data had now become the “new oil”.

“In order to make data the new oil in order to flow, we really need to make sure that privacy is preserved,” she said.

With a workforce of about 100, PlaTON has offices Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong and plans to open an office in Singapore.

Ms Xiao said PlaTON planned to move into other sectors, beyond smart cities and the goal was to create a network that would facilitate the safe and secure circulation of data.

“That’s not limited to smart cities,” she said.

“It can be used to accelerate industries and advanced technologies. We are seeing demand in verticals and industries such as finance, health care and IoT logistics.

“Bascially it is designed for industries and applications that can benefit from data sharing in a decentralised network.”

That would, she said, be particularly important in industries such as health care and finance that put a lot of emphasis on privacy. 

www.platon.network

www.leongettler.com

 Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness.

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By Ellen Boonstra, Asia correspondent >>

IN A GLOBALIZED world that is increasingly linked yet beset with all sorts of ethnic, economic and martial divides, Pope Francis arrived in Bangkok to preach a message of unity and compassion.

During his recent, four-day visit, the pontiff presided over Catholic mass at a historic church, had a private audience with His Majesty the King, visited a Catholic hospital and gave a speech at Government House.  

Before an audience that included Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Pope spoke of why he has made human trafficking a priority issue during his papacy.

While he lauded the Thai Government’s efforts to combat this social menace, he stressed the need for more countries to do their part in protecting women and children from exploitation. The most vulnerable members of society, he said, are routinely “violated and exposed to every form of exploitation, enslavement, violence and abuse".

In the midst of a global refugee crisis, he said, “May every nation devise effective means for protecting the dignity and rights of migrants and refugees, who face dangers, uncertainties and exploitation in their quest for freedom and a decent life for their families.''

Throughout his visit, Pope Francis, 83, balanced spiritual matters with secular concerns. At a holy mass in the Assumption Cathedral, founded more than a century ago, he urged the 7,000-strong audience to “maintain your joy and to look to the future with confidence. Rooted in Christ, view all things with the joy and confidence born of knowing that the Lord has sought us out, found us and loved us infinitely".

MULTI-FAITH MEETINGS

Pope Francis's visit, which coincided with the 350th anniversary of the establishment of the first Catholic mission in the country and the 50th anniversary of establishing formal diplomatic ties between Thailand and the Holy See, included a private meeting with His Majesty the King and a talk with the supreme patriarch of Thai Buddhism. 

At Wat Benjamobophit, where revered monarchs like the late King Rama VIIII and King Rama IV ordained as monks, the Pope met with the spiritual leader of Thai Buddhism, to discuss how these faiths can work together to promote religious harmony and help the needy.

It was the first such papal visit to the residence of the supreme patriarch since Saint John Paul II visited in 1984. Their meeting came only eight months after Pope Francis invited the supreme Buddhist matriarch to attend a summit of religious leaders discussing sustainable development projects under the umbrella of the United Nations.  

The biggest events of the papal visit took place when the pontiff said mass at the National Stadium and Tephasdin Stadium before some 70,000 Catholics. Dressed in the Vatican colours of white and yellow, some of these pilgrims had travelled from the furthest reaches of the kingdom to be blessed by the pontiff and hear him speak. As he drove around the stadiums in the pope-mobile, the crowd waved Vatican flags and shouted, “Viva Il Papa.”

Once again the Pope addressed the plight of the poor, who had fallen victim to human traffickers and been stripped of their “essential human dignity,” as well as “young people enslaved by drug addiction and a lack of meaning, which makes them depressed and destroys their dreams".

He also expressed concern about migrants, the homeless and labourers exploited by criminal networks, who remain invisible in many communities.

“Let us not deprive their communities of seeing their faces, their wounds, their smiles and their lies. Let us not prevent them from experiencing the merciful balm of God’s love that heals their wounds and pains,” Pope Francis said. 

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