Day: October 17, 2022

• First global report on parcel theft
• 100,000 more people affected by parcel issues in UAE compared to previous 12 months
• One in ten people globally are now reluctant to shop online because of fear of theft
• One in five UAE residents likely to explore parcel theft security – double global average
• Abu Dhabi hit by both highest rates of parcel theft within UAE and the highest increase in the previous 12 months

LONDON, Oct. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Doorstep parcel theft is sweeping the UAE, according to the first global report on parcel theft. More than 1.2 million parcels were lost or stolen, a 1% increase compared to the previous 12 months, despite lockdown restrictions lifting.

The results are part of the world’s first global parcel theft survey, which found that close to one in ten people had at least one parcel lost or stolen from May 2021 to April 2022. This amounts to a staggering 1.009 billion packages¹ globally, at a total cost of US$38.1 billion (DH 142.52 billion).¹

Worldwide, there was an all-time high of stolen or lost parcels with an estimated rise of 155 million² compared to the previous 12 months, despite initiatives to tackle the surge post-covid. This is more than a 2% increase.

The Penn Elcom Global Parcel Theft Report was commissioned by Penn Elcom, a globally recognised British steel manufacturer and producer of the Penn Parcel Box, and sponsored exclusively by Scurri, the world’s leading courier management platform for eCommerce and shipping, and produced by YouGov. It revealed that the UAE had the lowest rate of increase in parcel theft and loss of the countries surveyed, but the number of people affected still rose from 1.09 million between May 2020 and April 2021 to a new high of 1.2 million² the following 12 months (+1%).

Regionally, it was found that people who suffered parcel theft or loss increased year on year by:

• +58,500 in Abu Dhabi (+4%)
• +38,250 in Sharjah (+3%)
• +34,000 in Dubai (+1%)

18 to 24-year-olds were the hardest-hit age group for parcel thefts and loss in the past 12 months (16%).

Nationally, an astounding 29% of people surveyed have had a package lost or stolen in their lifetime, amounting to over 2.9² million parcels. This is expected to rise without preventive measures.

The psychological impact

One in five people in the UAE (19%) were anxious about parcel theft, with this concern more common among male respondents (71%, compared to 29% women). This split was also seen in fear of stolen parcels (72% men, 28% women), as well as reluctance to make new online purchases (78% men, 22% women).

Despite a lower rise in parcel problems than the global average, 21% of residents have actively researched parcel-theft prevention products – double that of respondents elsewhere. But, while men in the UAE have concerns about parcel safety, women are more likely to research prevention solutions (one in four women, to one in five men).

Penn Elcom’s chairman, Roger Willems, said: “A surge in online shopping accelerated by Covid, along with seasonal rushes, means couriers are under intense pressure. Professional thieves are known to follow delivery vans, stealing packages minutes after they are dropped off, while opportunistic thieves take advantage of parcels left on doorsteps.”

According to the Penn Elcom Global Parcel Theft Report, the UK saw the largest increase in parcel theft and loss over the survey periods (+5%). Australia came second (+3%), followed by Canada (+2%), the US and the UAE (+1% respectively).

Google Trends data shows that global searches for ‘parcel theft’ have rocketed as shoppers continue to order online, especially for seasonal holidays. The study found that one in ten people worldwide are also now reluctant to shop due to fear of theft, impacting retailers.

Gavin Murphy, CMO of Scurri, said: “We expect parcel piracy to continue to rise as global parcel deliveries increase³ if measures are not taken. We are doing our best to support delivery companies and save online shoppers the headache of missed deliveries – as well as the heartache of lost and stolen parcels.”

Penn Elcom is campaigning to restore confidence in online shopping and has a solution. The Penn Parcel Box, made from quality British steel and designed using Penn Elcom’s decades of steel engineering expertise, is a secure, stylish, weatherproof solution for parcel deliveries for homes and businesses.

The Penn Parcel Box was developed in response to enquiries from customers who had problems with parcels going missing. “We have both engineering and manufacturing expertise, so when customers present us with a new challenge, we have the skills to develop a solution for them. Our innovations are in response to customer demand,” said Rob Platt, Penn Elcom’s Sales & Marketing Director.

YouGov, the leading British research group, surveyed 2,000 random consumers in the UK, US, the UAE, Canada and Australia in May 2022. 50% were male and 50% female, ranging in age from 18-55 and above.

Images are available at: https://bit.ly/3fOYly2

FOR MORE INFORMATION: including interviews and a copy of the Penn Elcom Global Parcel Theft Report:

Mark Foxwell, mark@sharpminds.agency, +44 (0) 7796 473020
Charlie Jones, charlie@sharpminds.agency, +44 (0) 7710 695794
Siobhan Stirling, siobhan@sharpminds.agency, +44 (0) 7990 543829

NOTES TO EDITORS

Penn Elcom is a UK manufacturing success story, with 50% of sales being overseas.  Established in 1974, the company is a world leader in flight case and speaker cabinet hardware as well as 19-inch racking solutions.

Scurri is a leading software provider that connects and optimises the eCommerce ordering, shipping and delivery process for online retailers. Scurri is an Irish company, which last year announced a €9 million investment to accelerate growth in the European markets. This brings the Wexford-based company’s total funding to €15.3 million to date. Scurri currently derives over 61% of its revenue from the UK, and will power over 100 million parcel deliveries this year by enabling merchants to present the most efficient delivery option via more than 700 carrier services.

NOTES AND SOURCES

¹ Total price value has been estimated by average parcel cost, based on annual online retail spend versus annual volume of packages shipped
² Survey results extrapolated to global and national populations
³Pitney Bowes, 28.09.21: Global parcel volumes rose to 131 billion in 2020, a 27% year-on-year increase, and are predicted to double again by 2026 to 266 billion.

GUANGZHOU, China, Oct. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The 132nd Canton Fair opens online on October 15, 2022. It is starting with the promoting event of Canton Fair Products Release, a four-day special edition event debuting over 200 attention-grabbing new products to global buyers. The series establishes industry benchmarks to guide and drive more enterprises to become more innovative and cultivate new competitive advantages.

The Canton Fair Selections series can be found on the official Canton Fair website. The series highlights 7 themes, including electronic appliances, building materials and home decorations, industrial manufacturing, hardware tools, household item, fashion life, and health and recreation. In total, 200 new product videos will be launched, each accessible by global buyers who can watch them directly through the new product release section of the official Canton Fair website, highlights will also be shared to official Canton Fair Facebook and Tiktok accounts as well as Canton Fair emails.

57% of the selected new products are from high-quality enterprises in related industries and fields of domestic manufacturing in China, including global top 500 companies such as Gree Electric Appliances, Midea Group, Unilumin Group; and leading forces in sub-sectors, such as Tongrun Auto Accessory, a leading company in jacks, Fuling Plastics, a leading company in environmentally friendly catering appliances, and a leading company in the field of chemiluminescence, which is participating for the first time, Norman Biological Technology.

Household, Leisure and Entertainment Products

• Natuo Thunder Music Flashlight from Binovo Manufacturing.,Ltd., can sense changes in external sound, and automatically move the light accordingly to create a visual representation of the rhythm of the sound with 12 integrated functions, including flashlight, ambient light, speaker, and pickup light.
• The Smokeless Grill Cooker by Guangdong Linkfair Household adopts a new smoke-free system enabling the fumes from the oil to be continuously cooled and solidified by an innovative built-in hood, which uses water film filtration and circulation technology to capture smoke.

Intelligent Technology Products

• The patented Motobatt Li-Ion hybrid technology (MHT), from Guangzhou Kaijie Power Supply Industrial Co., Ltd., can extend battery life, reduce recycling costs, and exceed the performance of Li-Ion and lithium batteries through its intelligent battery control system.
• The 5G Intelligent Interactive Cabinless Sanitation Robot from Changsha Zoomlion Environmental Industry Co., Ltd incorporates advanced innovative technologies such as 5G intelligent voice interaction, garbage identification, and crewless operation for intelligent operation and movement.

For more information and opportunities, please register https://www.cantonfair.org.cn/en-US/register/index?utm_source=rwyx#/foreign-email or contact wuruoshan@cantonfair.org.cn

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1922019/image_5003628_51995446.jpg

BEIJING, Oct. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the country’s most important political event this year, started on Sunday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Xi Jinping mentioned “development” over 100 times in his report to the 20th CPC National Congress, showing the world China’s unwavering commitment to accelerating the creation of a new development pattern and pursuing high-quality development.

Xi called for fully and faithfully applying the country’s new development philosophy on all fronts, continuing reforms to develop the socialist market economy, promoting high-standard opening-up, and accelerating efforts to foster a new pattern of development that is focused on the domestic economy and features positive interplay between domestic and international economic flows.

Opportunities for the world

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown to 114 trillion yuan from 54 trillion yuan in the past decade and come to account for 18.5 percent of the world economy, up 7.2 percentage points, Xi said.

In a report released last month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said China contributed up to 38.6 percent on average to world economic growth from 2013 to 2021, more than the G7 countries combined.

In 2021 alone, China’s economic aggregate accounted for 18.5 percent of the world’s total after currency translation based on average annual exchange rates, the second largest in the world and up 7.2 percentage points from 2012, according to the NBS report.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and rising protectionism and anti-globalization, China has unveiled its new “dual circulation” development pattern, where internal and external markets can reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay.

China’s new development pattern is not a development loop behind closed doors, Xi said, highlighting that China is committed to its fundamental national policy of opening to the outside world and pursues a mutually beneficial strategy of opening-up.

“It strives to create new opportunities for the world with its own development and to contribute its share to building an open global economy that delivers greater benefits to all peoples,” he added.

High-standard opening-up

With 82 routes, China-Europe freight trains now reach 200 cities in 24 European countries, forming a transport network covering the whole of Europe. During the first eight months of 2022, the number of China-Europe freight train trips rose 5 percent year on year to 10,575, with a total of 1.02 million TEU of goods being transported, an increase of 6 percent from a year ago, according to data issued by the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.

This is merely a small sample of how the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) can improve connectivity to spur global prosperity amid a lingering COVID-19 pandemic and sluggish global growth.

From 2013 to 2021, the total volume of trade of goods between China and countries along the BRI routes amounted to nearly $11 trillion, while two-way investment exceeded $230 billion, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

In his report, Xi hailed the BRI as a collaborative endeavor, saying it demonstrates China has pursued a more proactive strategy of opening-up over the past decade.

The BRI has been welcomed by the international community both as a public good and a cooperation platform, he pointed out, adding China is a major trading partner for more than 140 countries and regions, leads the world in total volume of trade in goods, and is a major destination for global investment and a leading country in outbound investment.

Xi also vowed that China will steadily expand institutional opening-up with regard to rules, regulations, management and standards.

Efforts will be made to accelerate the country’s transformation into a trader of quality, promote the high-quality development of the BRI, and preserve the diversity and stability of the international economic landscape and trade relations, he added.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-10-16/An-open-China-s-new-development-brings-new-opportunities-for-the-world-1ebpsL8hblC/index.html

BEIJING, Oct. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — China has set goals, tasks and policies for the cause of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the country for the next five years and beyond, as the CPC opened its 20th National Congress on Sunday.

The CPC has secured historic achievements and seen historic changes in the cause of the Party and the country over the past decade, said Xi Jinping, who delivered a report to the congress on behalf of the 19th CPC Central Committee.

“The next five years will be crucial for getting the efforts to build a modern socialist country in all respects off to a good start,” he said.

‘Historic feats’ in the past decade

Looking back at the last 10 years, Xi said the country has achieved many “historic feats.”

“We embraced the centenary of the Communist Party of China; we ushered in a new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and we eradicated absolute poverty and finished building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, thus completing the First Centenary Goal,” he said, adding that they were “historic feats” that will be forever recorded in the Chinese nation’s history and profoundly influence the world.

Toward ‘Chinese modernization’

Expounding on the CPC’s central task in the new journey ahead, Xi said the CPC will lead the Chinese people to realize the Second Centenary Goal and advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through “a Chinese path to modernization.”

The essential requirements of Chinese modernization are upholding the leadership of the CPC and socialism with Chinese characteristics, pursuing high-quality development, developing whole-process people’s democracy, enriching the people’s cultural lives, achieving common prosperity for all, promoting harmony between humanity and nature, building a human community with a shared future and creating a new form of human advancement, according to Xi.

“It contains elements that are common to the modernization processes of all countries, but it is more characterized by features that are unique to the Chinese context,” he said.

To build a modern socialist country in all respects, he further stressed several major aspects, such as creating a new development pattern and pursuing high-quality development, invigorating China through science and education and improving the people’s well-being.

“Our future is bright, but we still have a long way to go,” Xi said, urging the Party to meet obstacles and difficulties head-on, ensure both development and security, and dig deep to surmount the difficulties and challenges on the road ahead.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-10-16/China-charts-future-of-socialist-modernization-1eaYVW4kxbO/index.html

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVJrhVpWDVo

BERLIN, Oct. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Today at the World Health Summit, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it will commit $1.2 billion to support efforts to end all forms of polio globally. The announcement was made ahead of a key pledging moment that will be co-hosted by Germany and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

The new financial commitment will support implementation of the GPEI’s Polio Eradication Strategy 2022-2026, which aims to end wild poliovirus in the last two endemic countries—Pakistan and Afghanistan—and stop outbreaks of new variants of the virus. The foundation has contributed nearly $5 billion to GPEI.

“Polio eradication is within reach. But as far as we have come, the disease remains a threat. Working together, the world can end this disease,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “I want to thank Germany for co-hosting this week’s events and its longstanding support for polio eradication, and I urge other donors to support the eradication strategy to ensure no one is paralyzed by polio again.”

On October 18, Germany will co-host the GPEI pledging moment at the World Health Summit, where global partners, donors, and country leaders will make further commitments toward the GPEI Strategy 2022-2026, which requires $4.8 billion in funding. If fully funded, GPEI will reach 370 million children each year with polio vaccines and other essential health services. GPEI’s efforts include deepening relationships with communities, supporting governments in responding to outbreaks, and helping advance the rollout of a next-generation polio vaccine.

“The fight against polio has done far more than protect children against polio. It has played a key role in strengthening health systems,” said Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Polio workers have been especially vital in responding to COVID-19 and reaching communities about the importance of vaccination against preventable diseases.”

With its Strategy 2022-2026, the GPEI is working to further integrate polio campaigns with broader health services and essential immunization programs. Continuing to scale up the use of an innovative new tool—the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2)—is essential to stopping outbreaks of variant poliovirus more sustainably. Investments in GPEI also help strengthen national health systems and ensure that countries are better prepared to respond to future health threats. In addition, the strategy continues the GPEI’s commitment to achieving gender equality across all levels of the program.

“The last steps to eradication are by far the toughest. But our foundation remains dedicated to a polio-free future, and we’re optimistic that we will see it soon,” said Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Our investments in polio eradication not only bring us closer to that critical goal, they build long-term resilience by bolstering health care infrastructure and ensuring we’re prepared to respond to future pandemics.”

Working closely with governments across the globe, the GPEI has helped reduce polio cases globally by more than 99% and has helped prevent an estimated 20 million cases of polio paralysis since 1988. Despite this historic progress, interruptions in routine immunization, vaccine misinformation, political unrest, and the tragic floods in Pakistan in 2022 have underscored the urgent need to finish the job against polio.

Another concern is countries that had previously eliminated all forms of poliovirus have recently reported new detections of the virus. The United States and United Kingdom each confirmed outbreaks of variant poliovirus and were added to the World Health Organization’s outbreak list in September 2022. Malawi and Mozambique each detected cases of wild polio that originated abroad in 2022.

In 2019, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance became GPEI’s sixth core partner, further strengthening their collaboration. GPEI will continue its focus on interrupting virus transmission and eradicating polio through immunization campaigns using the oral polio vaccine (OPV). Gavi complements GPEI efforts by providing support to low-income countries with the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV).

Media assets can be found here.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the board of trustees.

About the Global Polio Eradication Initiative
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is a public-private partnership led by national governments with six core partners—Rotary International, the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. For more information on the global effort to end polio, visit polioeradication.org