Leaves falling

Established in 1831, Generali is present in 50 countries around the world with total premium income of more than €69.7 billion ($85.2 billion) in 2019

To mark this occasion and leave a tangible and lasting recognition of the bond between the company and the regions where it was born and has prospered, Generali announces Fenice 190, a €3.5 billion ($4.2 billion) investment plan to support the recovery of the European economies impacted by COVID-19, starting in Italy, France, and Germany and to then targeting all European countries in which Generali operates throughout the five years of the plan.

Fenice 190 will make the extraordinary initiatives launched in 2020 to tackle the effects of the pandemic permanent, which included investments in support of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the real economy already surpassing the established objective of €1 billion ($1.2 billion).

The more than 70,000 employees of Generali will play a leading role in celebrating the milestone of 190 years of the group’s history.

To add to this initial amount, Generali is pledging an annual commitment of €500 million ($611 million) per year, over the next five years, for sustainable growth through international investment funds focusing on infrastructure, innovation, and digitalisation, SMEs, green housing, healthcare facilities, and education.

“Generali is one of the few companies in the world that can boast such a long history. It possesses an extraordinary wealth of knowledge and experience, thanks to which the group is able to face the challenges of today while contributing to a better future for the communities in which it operates, both as an insurer and a social innovator,” said Philippe Donnet, CEO of Generali Group.

“The 190 ^th anniversary falls in a decisive year in which we must overcome the most serious global crisis of the post-war era and lay down the foundations for a wide-scale global recovery. With Fenice 190, we want to be a leader in this journey, leaving a concrete legacy for the future, with significant support for the most innovative, sustainable, and strategic sectors for the restart of the European economy, while at the same time encouraging the inclusion of those most heavily impacted by the crisis.”

The Fenice 190 plan is implemented through the Generali Investments multi-boutique platform and is open to third-party funds and institutional investors as well as all companies of the group, that can participate in investment allocation based on their own objectives.

The selection of initiatives is guided by an investment committee of the Asset & Wealth Management Business Unit, led by CEO Carlo Trabattoni, with experts in real assets, sustainability, private markets, credit, and equity. The CEO of Generali Real Estate, Aldo Mazzocco, is in charge of the committee which uses an approach based on compliance with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the specific objective to generate a positive impact on the economic recovery and the real economy in Europe.

To date, 10 investment opportunities have already been identified for a multifaceted commitment of €1.05 billion ($1.28 billion), ranging from support to European SMEs, green housing, and infrastructure with a particular focus on digital, health, and energy transition that share a strong focus on environmental and social sustainability.

Continuing with the tradition of exploring contemporary issues through the language of advertising posters, Generali will give five young Italian and international artists the task of interpreting five key areas for the group with the “This is Tomorrow” project, creating posters capable of representing reality in a new way.

The more than 70,000 employees of the group will also play a leading role in celebrating the milestone of 190 years of history. Through a global initiative they will be asked to tell their personal “story” of Generali on a dedicated platform, combining personal experience with the company’s rich heritage.

The contest will select the best stories, identifying 190 Lions who will be able to actively participate in Generali’s 190 ^th anniversary initiatives.

On the group’s institutional website, generali.com , a new section dedicated to the anniversary will display the main initiatives as well as a series of editorial content related to the history of Generali.

New US President Joseph R. Biden was sworn in with his wife Jill Biden by his side, photo: AFP

Last Wednesday many Americans breathed a sigh of relief as Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th US President without any further incident from those who believe the election was “stolen” from former President Donald Trump.

Instead of attending the ceremony as is tradition, Trump and his family took one last trip on Air Force One to Florida, where he will be based until the former reality TV star decides whether to run for president again in 2024 – or perhaps even endorse a family member for the post.

Alongside Biden, Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice-president, becoming the first woman in American history – as well as the first woman of African-American and South Asian descent – to take on the role.

“Few people in our nation’s history have been more challenged or found a time more difficult than the time we’re in now,” Biden said in his inauguration speech.

He vowed to dedicate his “whole soul” to rebuilding a country battered by disease, economic turmoil, racial inequality, and political division.

The 78-year-old certainly has his work cut out for him, but he rushed into action to put his stamp on the presidency by signing a raft of executive orders within hours of entering the White House.

Biden signed a letter retracting Trump’s decision to leave the World Health Organization, which would have been effective in July. There was widespread criticism and an almost complete lack of international support last year for Trump’s move in the midst of a pandemic.

In the most noteworthy but also most unsurprising move, the US is to be reinstated to the Paris climate agreement. The accord, which looks to curb the heating of the planet, will be much boosted by the return of second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. Biden has previously warned that climate change poses the “greatest threat to the country”, which was battered by record wildfires and hurricanes in 2020.

“It’s a huge day to welcome in a new president who manifestly is committed to strong, meaningful action,” said Todd Stern, who was the lead US negotiator in Paris. “Rejoining the Paris agreement is just the first step, but it’s a big first step.”

Biden’s top climate adviser, Gina McCarthy, said the new president will look to reverse “more than 100” climate-related policies enacted by his predecessor.

Global rebalance

With Biden pushing climate to the top of his agenda alongside battling the coronavirus pandemic, other strategies and policies are set to take a back seat. Of most concern to many onlookers is how the States will build or rebuild its relationship with countries big and small – something Biden did touch on in his inauguration speech in Washington.

“To those outside our borders, I say this – we will engage with our allies again,” said Biden. “We will lead, not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.”

Chuck Hagel, who was a US defence secretary during the Obama administration, said it is unprecedented times for US foreign policy. “We’ve never been in this situation before, domestically and internationally,” he said. “What Biden has to do goes well beyond the first hundred days. He is going to have to move immediately to rebuilding and restoring our alliances, reassuring them that America is back in the game to lead.”

Biden will inherit a long list of early national security challenges involving Russia, for example. Less than two weeks after Biden’s inauguration, the New START treaty with Russia – the last remaining check on the world’s two biggest nuclear arsenals – is set to expire, but both sides have displayed willingness to extend it.

In the Middle East, Biden has vowed to return to diplomacy with Iran, after Trump followed through on promises to undo the Obama-era nuclear pact with Tehran.

But with Iran taking steps to revive its nuclear weapons programme, analysts say picking up where Barack Obama left off is not possible. The Trump administration has, as recently as a fortnight ago, placed further sanctions on the country.

“We are going to see Biden try and leverage some of the more extreme positions that Trump staked out on China, Iran, and Cuba to extract additional concessions and to be able to plausibly claim that any nuclear deal isn’t Obama’s deal and this isn’t Obama’s foreign policy,” said Brett Bruen, a former global engagement director during the Obama administration.

Over in Europe, the new president may have an easier time in strengthening relations with Europe after four years of Trump indifference. “I think he doesn’t have to do much. Biden just has to show up,” said Marina Kaljurand, a former Estonian Foreign Minister who now works in the European Parliament.

Biden will still have to grapple with ongoing disputes, such as in defence spending, but with Trump having shunned much of Europe, many countries on the continent have tasted more life with less overbearing US involvement, and could continue to chart a course to lessen their reliance on American diplomatic and military might, as well as economic influence.

Asian commitments

Kurt Campbell, a former Assistant Secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, has been appointed to the Biden administration as Indo-Pacific coordinator. According to Japan Times, the 63-year-old has called for confidence-building steps to stabilise US-China ties, including easing visa restrictions and restoring closed consulates.

But although the new president’s methods may be less antagonistic, he has previously echoed many of his predecessor’s complaints about China’s trade practices, accusing the country of stealing intellectual property, dumping products in foreign markets, and forcing technology transfers from American companies.

In addition, Biden has indicated that he will not immediately abandon the “phase one” bilateral trade agreement reached last year, or remove the 25-per-cent tariffs that now affect about half of China’s exports to the States.

“With such high costs and strict limitations on exports, China cannot possibly fulfil its commitment in the phase one agreement to purchase some $200 billion in additional US goods and services during 2020-2021,” noted Zhang Jun, director of the China Center for Economic Studies in Shanghai. “As long as Biden upholds Trump’s confrontational approach, the phase one accord will be fundamentally unworkable, and further progress towards a mutually beneficial trade relationship will be all but impossible.”

Indeed, the outgoing US administration warned that Biden would be “too soft” on China, akin to how Obama dealt with the issue, but experts pointed out that the US was already adopting a tougher stance on China during Obama’s second term in office.

“Obama was already trying to form an alliance to keep China in check, including through the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that excluded China and that Trump later disavowed,” said Keith B. Richburg, director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at Hong Kong University. “More recently, China has joined the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and now this time it is the US on the outside looking in. Biden will have to decide whether to negotiate to join either or both of those pacts.”

These agreements made over recent times are putting the US at a growing strategic disadvantage, explained Zhang Jun in Shanghai. “ASEAN countries – which, collectively, form America’s fourth-largest export market – are likely to shift more trade to their RCEP partners,” he noted.

“The deal is also likely to increase the Chinese demand for agricultural and energy exports from the likes of Australia and New Zealand. Furthermore, by indirectly establishing a free trade zone among China, Japan, and South Korea it will consolidate supply chains in East Asia and the West Pacific.”

While weighing up these huge cross-border entanglements, Americans will be forgiven for looking no further than their own borders as they come to terms with the catastrophic handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the eve of the inauguration, Biden memorialised the more than 400,000 Americans who have died from the virus during a vigil in Washington.

The grim milestone was passed earlier that day as the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University show that about 401,128 people have now been killed by the virus in the US amid more than 24 million cases – both numbers being by far the highest in the world.

“To heal, we must remember,” Biden said at the memorial. “It’s hard sometimes to remember, but that’s how we heal. It’s important to do that as a nation.”

US President Joe Biden(C) leaves Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington,DC on January 24, 2021. Joe Biden has begun his presidency with sharp breaks from Donald Trump in both substance and tone, from climate change to immigration to a general openness to working with the rest of the world.(Nicholas Kamm / AFP)

Biden will also on Monday extend the ban to travelers who have recently been to South Africa amid warnings that new, more transmissible coronavirus variants are already establishing themselves in the United States, the official said, confirming US media reports.

The new president last week tightened mask wearing rules and ordered quarantine for people flying into the United States, as he seeks to tackle the country’s worsening coronavirus crisis.

Biden has said that the Covid-19 death toll would likely rise from 420,000 to half a million next month — and that drastic action was needed.

“We’re in a national emergency. It’s time we treated it like one,” he said on Thursday.

In his last days in office, Donald Trump announced that a Covid-19 ban on travelers arriving from much of Europe and Brazil would be lifted — but the Biden administration immediately said it would reverse the order due to come into effect on January 26.

Trump had announced an initial ban on January 31, 2020 on non-American travelers entering from China to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The ban was extended to European countries on March 14 as the pandemic entered full force.

More than 25 million Covid-19 cases have been recorded in the US since the pandemic began, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally on Sunday.

The milestone was reached only five days after the US, the world’s wealthiest and hardest-hit nation, recorded 400,000 deaths from the disease.

Biden has made fighting the coronavirus a priority and is pushing for Congress to approve a $1.9-trillion relief package that would include billions of dollars to boost vaccination rates.

The president, who was inaugurated on January 20, has said he wants 100 million people vaccinated within his first 100 days in office, and he has called for Americans to wear masks for 100 days.

Head coach Park Hang Seo of Vietnam’s national football squad wants to have more time training his players before the World Cup second qualifying round, but his request will be difficult to meet.

This 22nd free medical program of the AVD provided 1,256 locals with heart disease screening and checkups for other common diseases. In the program, locals were given blood tests, electrocardiogram and ultrasound practices, etc., and provided with free medicines to treat common diseases.

Apart from the medical examination, the AVD also presented 170 gifts to needy people and national contributors. At the same time, the “Books for students” program of the AVD was held, giving away 250 gifts for students and handed over a large volume of textbooks and storybooks, worth VND 26.11 million, to the library of the Secondary School of Pa Thom. Furthermore, the AVD showed students how to brush their teeth and wash their hands to prevent getting infected by common diseases.

Pa Thom is a mountainous commune which borders Laos along the 27km of borderline. The commune has 1,300 needy households; therefore, a lot of people have yet to pay due attention to their health conditions. The free medical examination program  of the AVD this time has helped raise locals’ awareness of health and prevention of common diseases, serving as a deed of “La lanh dum la rach” (the good leaves cover worn-out leaves), a precious tradition of the Vietnamese people.

Translated by Huu Duong