Latest news with #LeastDevelopedCountries
Qatar Tribune
4 days ago
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
Qatar affirms unwavering commitment to support LDCs
QNA Seville Qatar has affirmed that it will spare no effort in fulfilling its duty to support the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) through enhanced international cooperation, based on its policy of partnership and collaboration. This came in Qatar's statement delivered by Minister of State for International Cooperation HE Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad at the High-Level Meeting for the Least Developed Countries, held on the sidelines of the Fourth International Conference on Financing For Development (FFD4), attended by Prime Minister of Nepal and Chair of the LDC Group K.P. Sharma, and UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the LDCs, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States Rabab Fatima. The Minister of State for International Cooperation said that Qatar is proud to co-lead the Group of Friends of the LDCs alongside Turkiye and Belgium. She noted that the group works to advance international and regional efforts aimed at supporting the LDCs in implementing the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, and in addressing the development challenges they face through the implementation of the Doha Programme of Action, in coordination with the LDC Group, development partners, and the United Nations. She pointed out that the international community has reaffirmed its commitment to continue implementing the Doha Programme of Action for the LDCs, as stated in the outcome document of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, known as the Seville Commitment. The document called on member states, the United Nations and relevant international organisations, international financial institutions, multilateral development banks, and development partners to continue supporting LDCs in achieving sustainable development. This includes implementing the Doha Programme of Action, integrating LDCs into the global trading system, enhancing their infrastructure, especially digital infrastructure, removing barriers to market access, supporting the UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism and the UN Technology Bank for LDCs, facilitating access to finance, and fulfilling commitments related to Official Development Assistance (ODA). Al Misnad added that Qatar is proud of its leading role in implementing the Doha Programme of Action for the LDCs, in partnership with the UN Office of the High Representative for the LDCs and other specialised agencies, stressing that Qatar pledged, during the Fifth United Nations Conference on the LDCs hosted in Doha in March 2023, under the guidance of the Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to provide a financial contribution totaling $60 million to support the implementation of the Doha Programme of Action, its intended outcomes, and capacity-building for resilience. She explained that preparations are currently underway to hold a high-level meeting in Doha at the end of this year on promoting sustainable graduation for countries exiting the LDC category, benefiting from partner support and best practices, adding that Qatar will host the high-level midterm review meeting of the Doha Programme of Action to assess progress, address challenges, and work toward full implementation of the programme through 2031.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NetDragon's Chairman Dr. Liu Dejian Attended UN High-level Expert Group Meeting, Advocating "On-Demand Learning" ModeI and Reshaping Global Learning with AI+Education
HONG KONG, June 4, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited ("NetDragon" or the "Company"; Hong Kong Stock Code: 777), a global leader in building internet communities, is excited to announce that Dr. Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon, was invited to attend the United Nations ("UN") High-level Expert Group Meeting held at UN Headquarter in New York from June 3rd to 4th. Dr. Liu discussed topics related to establishing an Online University for STEM education in the Least Developed Countries ("LDCs") with UN officials and global educational leaders. As a special guest, Dr. Liu also delivered a keynote speech at the opening session, highlighting how "AI + Education" can promote equitable and high-quality education in LDCs. Dr. Liu also shared NetDragon's various innovations and successful experiences in AI+ education, receiving warm feedback and strong recognition from the attendees. In response to the key topics of the meeting, Dr. Liu Dejian proposed an "On-Demand Learning" framework for STEM education and three key initiatives: encourage global developers to co-create open-source tools under the UN's leadership; call for global sharing of standardized STEM curricula and case studies; and encourage profound involvement from companies offering STEM-related career opportunities worldwide. The proposed framework features five core principles: breaking down complex tasks into clear steps, incorporating essential background knowledge in each step, embedding learning in real-world tasks, evolving in line with industry advancements, and being fully adaptable for localized content—aiming to create practical and inclusive STEM educational tools. These web-based tools are designed for both online and offline use, enabling learners to quickly apply what they have learned through real-world tasks, lowering entry barriers and building confidence. The concept aligns with the UN Online University's mission of promoting digitalized open education, while also coinciding with NetDragon's strategic vision in AI+Education: AI Production Center: The "Engine" of NetDragon's AI + Education Strategy. NetDragon has established an AI Production Center, powered by cutting-edge large language models (LLMs) and specialized AI tools. This system drives the creation of high-quality educational content through a fully automated, structured pipeline—from demand analysis to content generation and large database building. Each node-level AI agent functions independently, guided entirely by AI-defined rules without human intervention. Drawing from expert knowledge bases, these agents enable fully automated output. Currently, 100% of the Company's educational content creation involves AI assistance, with the production time for a typical high-quality lesson reduced to just one hour and marginal production costs lowered to the level of hundred RMB. The system also dramatically reduces the size of the employee team and the overall percentage of human intervention. 3E High-Quality Educational Content: The "Arsenal" of NetDragon's AI+ Strategy. NetDragon defines its next-generation educational content by the "3E" standard: Effective, Efficient, and Engaging. These are the core goals of its R&D efforts, aiming to provide comprehensive, high-quality learning content across all subjects and stages to learners worldwide. Certain early-stage versions of 3E content have been publicly released through initiatives like "Future Labs" and educational resource granules, which have received extensive welcome in the education community. The ultimate form of 3E content will be interactive educational games designed to foster immersive, learner-centered, exploratory education—delivering disruptive innovation to traditional teaching models. EDA Education Metaverse: The "Battlefield" of NetDragon's AI+ Strategy. Looking ahead, NetDragon's AI Production Center will feed a growing repository of 3E educational content into EDA—its vision for an education metaverse. EDA aims to build a borderless global learning community rooted in three principles: technology democratization, resource co-creation, and the incentive mechanism. EDA seeks to redefine the essence of learning through an intelligent learning system, enabling on-demand learning with "learning as entertainment" as the ultimate goal. The MHESI Skill platform ( an AI education platform co-developed by NetDragon and Thailand's Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation ("MHESI"), has been officially launched recently. It offers EV-focused training programs to the youth in Thailand. This platform represents a highly customized and locally deployed model of EDA. EDA aims to achieve co-management by global users and create a decentralized learning community in the future. Every learner's contribution will be recorded and converted into verifiable digital assets. Through a dual reward system—combining digital assets and achievement badges—EDA will incentivize continued contribution to and growth of the community. This blockchain-powered ecosystem also ensures that NetDragon's continued R&D efforts can be fully converted to market value. Dr. Liu Dejian, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon, commented: "This UN meeting gave us the opportunity to introduce a forward-looking framework that aligns closely with NetDragon's vision and experience in tackling STEM education challenges in LDCs. It also marked the first time we publicly presented our strategic vision of EDA on the international stage. Moving forward, our AI Production Center will deliver 3E educational content and immersive, exploratory learning environments to learners worldwide. These innovations will transform traditional teaching practices, potentially attracting tens of millions of global users. Through a highly innovative community ecosystem, we expect to create tremendous commercial and social value. In the desktop and mobile internet eras, we created two ultra-active online communities— and 91 Wireless. Today, we are just as confident and excited about building a super large global learning community in the AI era." About NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited (HKSE: 0777) is a global leader in building internet communities with a long track record of developing and scaling multiple internet and mobile platforms that impact hundreds of millions of users, including previous establishments of China's first online gaming portal, and China's most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless. Established in 1999, NetDragon is one of the most reputable and well-known online game developers in China with a history of successful game titles including Eudemons Online, Heroes Evolved, Conquer Online and Under Oath. In the past 10 years, NetDragon has also achieved success with its online education business both domestically and globally, and its overseas education business entity, currently a U.S.-listed subsidiary named is a global leader in interactive technology and its award-winning interactive displays and software can be found in more than 1 million learning and training spaces across 126 countries. For investor enquiries, please contact: NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited Ms. Maggie ZhouSenior Director of Investor Relations Email: maggiezhou@ / ir@ Website: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE NetDragon Websoft Holdings Limited Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Qatar Tribune
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
FM's special envoy leads Qatar team to Everest Dialogue, meets Nepal FM, environment minister
QNA Kathmandu Qatar participated in the Everest Dialogue, a three-day event hosted by Nepal under the theme 'Climate Change, Mountains, and the Future of Humanity'. Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Climate Change and Sustainability HE Ambassador Bader bin Omar Al Dafa represented Qatar at the Dialogue. In his opening remarks at the event, Ambassador Al Dafa underlined Qatar's readiness to collaborate with Nepal in the area of climate change, citing the Qatar National Environment and Climate Change Strategy 2021 that sets out Qatar's solutions to climate change effects. During his participation in a session on Food Security and Climate-Resilient Agriculture, Ambassador Al Dafa stressed that climate change is associated with food security challenges, calling for utilising cutting-edge technologies in this regard. He highlighted Qatar's experience in enhancing agricultural production and the significance of sharing experiences and expertise among nations. He emphasised that donors should fulfil their commitments to support food security and programmes, and counter climate change effects in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). On the sidelines of the conference, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba held talks with Ambassador Al Dafa. The agenda included ways to foster bilateral cooperation and coordination in battling climate change effects and promoting sustainable development. Minister for Forests and Environment of Nepal Ain Bahadur Shahi met with Ambassador Al Dafa. During the meeting, they discussed avenues for enhancing cooperation between the two countries in the areas of conserving the environment and curbing the effects of climate change, as well as ecological, animal, and plant diversity. The meetings were also attended by Ambassador of Qatar to Nepal HE Mishaal bin Mohammed Ali Al Ansari.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump tariffs are a ‘disaster' for world's poorest countries
President Donald Trump's new reciprocal tariffs are set to hit some of the world's poorest nations the hardest, putting their labor-intensive export industries at risk and diminishing one of the US's biggest economic advantages over rival China. Cambodia was slapped with Asia's highest tariff rate of 49% in Trump's levies announced Wednesday. Garment manufacturing giant Bangladesh was hit with a 37% rate, while in Myanmar, where a devastating earthquake last week left more than 3,000 dead, the US imposed a 45% duty. The southern African nation of Lesotho received a 50% tariff, the highest of any country. 'Oh, look at Cambodia, 97%,' Trump said at the White House, drawing laughter as he pointed to the levy the US is subjected to from the Southeast Asian nation. 'They made a fortune with the United States of America.' The average Cambodian earns about $6.65 a day, according to World Bank data, less than a fifth of the global average. The trade action may inflict further economic damage on the world's poorest countries at a time when Trump's administration has axed thousands of key aid contracts that for decades gave the US a presence across the globe. The impact of the gutted aid effort is already being felt in Myanmar and across Africa, while China is seen swiftly filling the void in places like Cambodia. 'It's such a disaster,' said Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation. 'Tariffs of nearly 50% overnight will be impossible to manage.' Many of those countries had tariff-free access to the US as Least Developed Countries, she said, adding they may turn to markets in Europe, Japan and Australia in lieu of weak demand in places like China. The US calculated the rates based on a formula that divides a country's trade surplus with America by its total exports, based on data from the US Census Bureau for 2024. That number was then divided by two, producing the 'discounted' rate. The method meant Madagascar, one of the world's poorest countries and the biggest producer of vanilla, was hit with a rate of 47%. Parks Tau, South Africa's trade minister, told reporters on Thursday that his team didn't understand how the US assessed that South Africa charges tariffs of 60%, with a 30% tariff to now be levied on Africa's biggest economy in retaliation. Pretoria's own calculations indicated a rate of 7.6%. 'We are speculating what the US is calculating this on, we assume it could include the trade balance, it could include other considerations, but at this point we're going to need clarity from the US as to how they arrived at the number,' he said. In 2023, South Africa had a $4.2 billion trade surplus with the US, its second-biggest trading partner. Tau said the tariff on neighboring Lesotho 'literally will devastate' the country of 2.3 million people that relies on exports of diamonds and clothes. Botswana, which relies almost exclusively on diamond exports, had a 37% tariff slapped on it even as its mines minister was in the US last month promoting sales of the gems in the world's biggest market for them. Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa exporter, now has to contend with a 21% tariff. The move marks an about-face in American trade policy following World War II that promoted economic integration as a means to help developing nations and advance Washington's interests abroad. In 2000, then-President Bill Clinton pushed through the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which provided eligible sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access for more than 1,800 products. Former President George W. Bush expanded it in 2004 and promoted initiatives that would help countries bring products to US consumers. That program is up for renewal, alteration or termination in September. 'African countries are being penalized for having trade surpluses, some of them achieved by pursuing export-driven development policies, as advised by the US,' said Yvonne Mhango, Bloomberg's Africa economist. 'Most African countries export raw materials to America. One of Trump's arguments for these tariffs is to bring back manufacturing jobs to the US. Slapping high tariffs on Africa is not going to help.' For many nations, particularly in Asia, the rise of China disrupted their economic dependence on the US. Many cultivated ties with Beijing to draw badly needed investment and financing for infrastructure. That left many smaller countries feeling pressured to choose sides. Cambodia, whose two biggest trade partners are China and the US, had already been veering toward Beijing, the country's largest source of foreign investment. Most of US-Cambodia total trade of $13 billion last year comprised manufactured goods like clothing and footwear made in Cambodia and sold to American consumers. Cambodia's government spokesman Pen Bona said via text message he couldn't yet comment on the tariff, and the matter was being reviewed. In Bangladesh, which is also heavily reliant on the US market for its garment exports, the government said it's looking at ways to lower tariffs in order to maintain its trade access. 'Bangladesh is reviewing its tariffs on products imported from the United States,' said Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to interim leader Muhammad Yunus. 'The National Board of Revenue is identifying options to rationalize tariffs expeditiously.' Exporters in Sri Lanka, which suffered a sovereign debt default in early 2022 that triggered the worst economic crisis in the country's post-independence history, meanwhile warned they are unable to absorb the 44% tariff imposed on the island nation. The US is Sri Lanka's largest market, accounting for 23% of total exports in 2024. Analysts questioned the fairness of the US tariff calculations, given the over-sized impact it had on the poorest nations. 'In particular, it punishes small developing countries like Cambodia that simply don't have the capacity to buy much from the US,' wrote Tommy Xie, head of Asia macro research at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. It could also jeopardize funding from the International Monetary Fund for Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh as it will make it harder for them to hit the targets set for them in bailout programs, Ankur Shukla, a Mumbai-based economist for Bloomberg Economics, said in a report. Asian nations are also wary of a flood of cheaper Chinese goods in their markets as a result of the knock-on effects of higher US duties. China was charged a 34% reciprocal tariff rate — stacked on top of 20% duties Trump already imposed this year. 'China's attempts to find new markets for goods previously destined to US will have to go somewhere at least in the short term,' said Elms of the Hinrich Foundation. 'This is going to set up new tensions with neighbors.' —With assistance from Andrea Tan, Arun Devnath and Ntando Thukwana. (Updates with Bloomberg Economics report on risk to IMF funding in third-last paragraph.) ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Express Tribune
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
70-plus rights-related laws enacted in a decade, says Tarar
Law Minister Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar reaffirmed Pakistan's unwavering commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights at national and international level. Addressing a high-level segment of the 58th Session of the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, he highlighted Pakistan's robust legislative and policy measures. The minister underscored that over 70 human rights-related laws have been enacted in the past decade, with the recent 26th Constitutional Amendment recognising a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment as a fundamental right, a milestone in Pakistan's human rights framework. He also announced Pakistan's resumption of 88 voluntary contributions to key UN trust funds, including those for victims of torture, UPR implementation, and the participation of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in the Council. Pakistan's engagement with international human rights mechanisms remains steadfast, with the Minister noting that the country underwent its 4th Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2023, accepting 70% of the recommendations and committing to their implementation. The mid-term UPR report will be submitted soon, reinforcing Pakistan's proactive approach to human rights commitments. Addressing global human rights concerns, the minister condemned Israel's ongoing atrocities in occupied Palestine, particularly in Gaza, and reiterated that forced displacement and demographic re-engineering violate fundamental principles of international law. He urged the international community to take decisive action to uphold Palestinian rights. The minister also denounced India's illegal occupation of Jammu & Kashmir and its continued denial of the Kashmiri people's right to self-determination.
