PM Edition: Top 10 Business Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for September 13, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Eco-Business

UNDP and Eco-Business also announced a new partnership – Unlocking AI for Sustainability – advancing AI governance and sustainable deployment of the technology.

Singapore, 11 September: Energy security and climate resilience must be treated as value drivers, not compliance costs, regional leaders said at the flagship Unlocking capital for sustainability (https://www.unlockingcapitalforsustainability.com/singapore/2026) summit in Singapore yesterday, calling for harmonised rules to channel capital into Asia’s underfunded energy transition and adaptation priorities.

Geopolitical conflicts and supply shocks have strengthened the urgency of the energy transition, especially in import-dependent Asia. Yet fragmented regulations and technical standards continue to constrain investment at scale.

In Asean alone, the region will need US$1.3 trillion by 2030 and US$11.9 trillion by 2050 (https://aseanenergy.org/blogs/how-can-asean-close-its-energy-investment-gap-to-foster-its-energy-transition) to finance the clean energy transition – but the region lacks the regulatory coherence to mobilise this capital efficiently.

In a keynote dialogue, Jeffrey Siow, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance for Singapore, said the energy transition in Singapore is especially constrained by the energy trilemma of ensuring secure, affordable and sustainable energy supply in the country.

“Our approach here is to create options as early as possible, and when some of these options become economically viable, we will scale them,” he said in a fireside chat moderated by Jessica Cheam, Founder and CEO of Eco-Business.

This includes the Asean Power Grid (APG) but progress hinges on resolving cross-border technical and infrastructure needs.

Siow said the major obstacle to accelerating the APG is regulation as Asean lacks a “unified framework for cross-border electricity”.

“As of now, domestic regulations differ in every country… It’s a patchwork at the moment which is not very helpful. The other constraints are export license durations and the lack of clear norms around how to inspect, maintain and repair subway cables, for instance.”

To accelerate deployment, Singapore and Thailand, as Asean chairs for 2027 and 2028 respectively, will aggressively push APG deployment. Singapore will lead the work on the Asean submarine power cable development framework and address hurdles in the bankability of energy trading projects, Siow said.

Adaptation finance gap widens as risks mount

Beyond mitigation, adaptation and resilience are critical as Asia warms at twice the global average, exposing economies to operational, credit and social risks.

Yet Asia accounts for an estimated 75 per cent of the global climate adaptation finance gap (https://www.temasektrust.org.sg/newsroom/new-CIIP-report-climate-adaptation-and-resilience-solutions-for-asia), with only US$19 billion (9.5 per cent) of the region’s US$200 billion in annual needs currently met. In this scenario, Asian companies could face US$336 billion in annual climate-related costs.

“There’s clearly a recognition of the importance of adaptation resilience, but there are some problems for accessing the finance. It’s not a cost – it’s an investment,” Edward Vrkić, Resident Representative for UNDP Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, said in his keynote address.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Eco-Business also announced a new partnership – Unlocking AI for Sustainability, a new initiative building on the success of Unlocking capital for sustainability.

The platform will bring together thought leadership and convenings to advance five priorities across the region: sustainable AI infrastructure; the use of AI for climate, energy and environmental action; AI’s role in mobilising finance and investment; stronger supply-chain resilience; and AI safety and governance.

Igniting capital, powering progress

Organised by Eco-Business in partnership with UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, and co-located for the first time with AT ONE IMPACT WEEK 2026 (https://impactweek.com/), the 2026 edition of Unlocking capital for sustainability – Singapore convened more than 300 delegates from government, finance and industry under the theme of “Igniting capital, powering progress”.

“Asia Pacific sits at the centre of the global climate finance gap. Beyond mitigation, adaptation needs here are rising faster than almost anywhere else, yet the communities most exposed to these remain largely outside the financial system altogether,” said Jessica Cheam, Founder and CEO, Eco-Business said.

“As weak local interventions, missing data on climate vulnerable borrowers, investors who are still unfamiliar with adaptation as an asset class and simply too few finance professionals fluent in both climate science and inclusive finance, and so this financing gap is widening exactly the time where our region needs it the most,” she added.

The sustainable finance forum also marked the launch of 2027 edition of The Liveability Challenge (TLC), Asia’s largest sustainability solutions platform, which announced a record of over S$5.5 million in catalytic funding to invest in and subsequently scale the next groundbreaking solutions for urban liveability.

Going into its 10th year, and presented by Temasek Foundation, the global crowdfunding platform announced a new Oceans theme where, with the support of co-presenter Asia Ocean Fund, it will seek out pioneering solutions across areas such as maritime and energy and ocean data and intelligence.

Together with the Decarbonisation and Cool Earth themes, these deep-tech solutions are timely as global warming continues to rise, while ocean health and marine ecosystems come under increasing environmental pressures.

“As we mark the 10th edition of TLC, Temasek Foundation remains committed to catalysing greater support for solutions with the potential to scale, reflected in a record funding pool of more than S$5.5 million. The addition of a new Oceans theme, with Asia Ocean Fund coming onboard, also broadens our focus to an area critical to Asia’s climate resilience,” said Heng Li Lang, Head, Climate and Liveability, Temasek Foundation.

The Singapore edition of Unlocking capital for sustainability was also supported by key business partners such as United Overseas Bank (UOB), City Developments Limited (CDL), BDO Unibank, CapitaLand Investment and OCBC Bank, covering a wide range of issues from closing Asia’s adaptation investment gap to pricing nature risks and addressing the climate-human health nexus and more. (see Appendix for partner quotes).

In partnership with Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), the forum also hosted closed-door briefing which saw focused on the policy and regulatory constraints to mobilising and allocating climate capital through a new report (https://www.sei.org/publications/policy-barriers-climate-finance-asia-case-studies/), as well as the Regional Adaptation Investment Facility (RAIF) – a regional financing scheme to de-risk and catalyse climate adaptation finance for vulnerable communities.

Unlocking capital for sustainability is hosted in six markets across Asia in 2026. In addition to Singapore, the flagship forum was hosted in Jakarta in June, Kuala Lumpur in July, Manila in August and it will be hosted in Bangkok in September as well as in Hong Kong in November.

Appendix

Melissa Moi, Head of Sustainable Business, Group Corporate Sustainability Office, UOB:

“As climate risks intensify across Asia Pacific, financing for adaptation and resilience will need to scale rapidly as they are critical elements that shape business continuity, supply chain resilience and future growth. We will continue to help advance the conversation on how adaptation and resilience can become a mainstream investment priority across the region. By strengthening partnerships across the public and private sectors, developing common standards and scaling innovative financing solutions, more capital can be unlocked to address a broad range of resilience challenges, including water security.”

Mike Ng, Group Chief Sustainability Officer, OCBC:

“Recent geopolitical conflicts and the growing frequency of natural disasters have reinforced why sustainability and the energy transition remain more important than ever. Energy security, resilience and sustainability have become inextricably linked. Building resilient, low-carbon energy systems is no longer solely about decarbonisation, it is also critical for strengthening the ability of economies and communities to mitigate climate and energy-related risks. Our partnership with Eco-Business reflects our shared commitment to mobilising capital at scale, to help businesses and countries translate sustainability ambitions into impact.”

Esther An, Chief Sustainability Officer, City Developments Limited:

“The line between land and ocean is an illusion; our survival and our supply chains are completely interdependent. As Dr Sylvia Earle famously said, ‘No water, no life. No blue, no green.’ The built environment has a critical role to play, we must shift from just ‘minimising harm’ to actively restoring marine life through superior design, circularity and nature-based solutions. The next chapter of Asian leadership requires businesses to look past short-term trade-offs, be bold and co-create ‘Blue Alpha’ in addition to ‘Green Alpha’, where financial performance and ecological regeneration thrive together. Unlocking investment in the blue economy is the ultimate economic opportunity of our decade to solidify long-term resilience and scale cross-sector growth.”

Andrew Jasudasen, Chief Sustainability and Sustainable Investments Officer, CapitaLand Investment:

“As climate risks intensify, the built environment has a critical role to play in strengthening climate resilience and safeguarding human well-being. As a leading global real asset manager with a strong foothold in Asia, CapitaLand Investment believes that responsible capital stewardship and sustainable real assets can deliver lasting value for both communities and stakeholders. To accelerate progress, we need stronger partnerships, innovative solutions and scalable financing mechanisms that can bridge ambition with implementation, taking into consideration real world constraints. Platforms such as Unlocking capital for sustainability help bring together policymakers, investors and industry leaders to catalyse meaningful action and mobilise capital at scale.”

About Eco-Business

Established in 2009, Eco-Business is Asia Pacific’s leading business intelligence and advisory platform dedicated to advancing sustainable development. We produce trusted, high-quality multimedia content exploring the world’s most pressing challenges–and the solutions driving change. Our work is aligned with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and supported by a 15-year archive of news, analysis, research, and events on sustainable development topics. Headquartered in Singapore, we have a presence in Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Beijing, and London.

For more information, visit www.eco-business.com (https://www.eco-business.com/)

UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative

UNEP Finance Initiative brings together a large network of banks, insurers and investors that collectively catalyses action across the financial system to deliver more sustainable global economies.

For more than 30 years the initiative has been connecting the UN with financial institutions from around the world to shape the sustainable finance agenda. We’ve established the world’s foremost sustainability frameworks that help the finance industry address global environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges.

Convened by a Geneva, Switzerland-based secretariat, more than 500 banks and insurers with assets exceeding US$170 trillion work together to facilitate the implementation of UNEP FI’s Principles for Responsible Banking and Principles for Sustainable Insurance, as well as three UN-convened net-zero alliances. Financial institutions work with UNEP FI on a voluntary basis and we help them to apply the industry frameworks and develop practical guidance and tools to position their businesses for the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy.

Founded in 1992, UNEP FI was the first organisation to engage the finance sector on sustainability and incubated the Principles for Responsible Investment, now the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment.

Today, we cultivate leadership and advance sustainable market practice while supporting the implementation of global programmes at a regional level across Africa & the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean and North America.

For more information, visit https://www.unepfi.org/ (https://www.unepfi.org/)

About Unlocking capital for sustainability

Unlocking capital for sustainability is an annual flagship event organised by Eco-Business in partnership with UNEP FI that brings together high-level decision makers in finance, business, government and civic society to discuss and commit to actionable initiatives that mobilise the capital markets for sustainable development projects. Our full list of knowledge partners – past and present – can be found on our website: www.unlockingcapitalforsustainability.com (https://www.unlockingcapitalforsustainability.com/)

At the ceremony, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man congratulated Labor Hero Nguyen Thi Nga, BRG Group and SeABank, expressing his hope that they would continue advancing their vision, determination and pioneering spirit in developing and contributing to Vietnam’s economic growth.

In response, Labor Hero Nguyen Thi Nga affirmed: “We will transform these prestigious honors into concrete actions to expand international relations, promote sustainable development and create greater practical value for our country.”

BRG Group is Vietnam’s leading private multi-sector economic and services group, founded by entrepreneur Nguyen Thi Nga. The Group provides high-quality products across key sectors, including real estate, golf, hospitality and tourism, retail, banking and finance, manufacturing and trading, and services, currently employing more than 22,000 people nationwide.

BRG Group partners with Hilton, Marriott International, IHG, Accor and Sumitomo Corporation to bring international governance and service standards to Vietnam. The Group also pioneers in the golf industry with 10 international-standard golf courses, collaborating with world-leading names such as Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus. BRG Group is also dedicated to preserving and promoting Chu Dau Ceramics, a nearly 600-year Vietnamese ceramic tradition with artifacts displayed at 46 museums across 32 countries.

SeABank is one of the earliest-established JSC banks in Vietnam. For many consecutive years, SeABank has been ranked among the best banks by the State Bank of Vietnam and among the Top 10 most reputable private JSC banks in Vietnam. SeABank currently serves more than 4.2 million customers and holds Ba3 credit ratings with a Positive outlook from Moody’s. To promote green finance and financial inclusion while supporting SMEs and women-owned businesses, SeABank has mobilized nearly US$1.1 billion in funding from international financial institutions, including IFC, DFC, AIIB, ADB and others.

https://seabank.com.vn/

Hashtag: #SeABank

The third rebuild of Ramco’s platform in thirty years, moving enterprise software from a system of record towards a system of intelligence and action

At the event, the company provided a preview of its upcoming AI-native enterprise platform, built to move enterprise software from a system of record to a system of intelligence, and ultimately a system of action. The first two shifts in Ramco’s platform changed how enterprise software was delivered; this one changes what the software is.

The new platform is designed to move away from software that people must log into and interpret, towards a system that surfaces what needs attention and drafts the resulting action for a human to approve. A walkthrough during the keynote showed how the platform would identify a projected stock shortfall across multiple warehouses and prepare the corresponding replenishment requests for approval.

Abinav Raja, Managing Director, Ramco Systems, said, “Nobody running a business today is short of information. They are short of the time to go and assemble it into something they can act on. What we are building is meant to do that assembly for them, and bring the next step with it, while leaving the judgement where it belongs.”

Payroll offers one example of what this looks like in practice: a monthly processing cycle gives way to continuous validation, with anomalies flagged as they arise rather than surfacing at the end of the period. The AI and Machine Learning technology carries out the processing while payroll teams retain the review and the sign-off.

Ramco has operated in Malaysia since 1996 and today processes payroll for more than 100,000 employees every month across more than 50 Malaysian organisations in over 15 industries. Kuala Lumpur serves as one of Ramco’s regional support hubs for HR and Global Payroll, with Singapore as its Asia headquarters.

Sandesh Bilagi, Chief Executive Officer, Ramco Systems, said, “We have spent thirty years in Malaysia solving problems our customers could not afford to get wrong. Some of the organisations we recognised today started with us decades ago. They have been part of our journey and been with us as our platform transformed and modernized over the years. Thirty years is not the achievement. Those relationships are.”

At the event, Ramco recognised its Malaysian clientele, including:

• Valiram Group, the Kuala Lumpur headquartered luxury retail specialist with more than 600 stores across Southeast Asia and Oceania, was Ramco’s first retail customer in the region. Ramco provided an integrated solution that could replace the disparate HRIS systems in each country, which were working in silos.
• Hitachi Energy used Ramco to build a unified payroll model spanning 20 countries and 8,000 employees. Ramco enabled Hitachi Energy to supplement and empower its retained payroll resources and amplify its expertise across countries.
• Aurecon, an Asia Pacific engineering consultancy, went live on Ramco Payce this year, replacing legacy payroll processes across seven Asian markets, including Malaysia, with a single consolidated service. The service covers gross and net pay calculations, retroactive pay and increments, and payslip generation, alongside country-specific statutory compliance. The shift improved payroll accuracy and timeliness and delivered cost efficiencies across payroll and other teams.

Ramco expects the domain knowledge and experience built over three decades in Malaysia to reinforce how the new platform reaches customers across the region.
https://www.ramco.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ramco-systems/
https://www.ramco.com/blog

Hashtag: #RamcoSystems

Ramco Systems

Growth reflects Prudential’s continued investment in adviser development and career progression

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 10 September 2026 – Prudential plc (“Prudential”) has retained its No. 2 position among multinational companies in the 2026 Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) rankings. First-time qualifiers increased 14 per cent year-on-year, reflecting continued momentum in Prudential’s agency business and the impact of its strategy to build a more professional and productive agency force across Asia and Africa.

This momentum is reflected across Prudential’s markets:

• Indonesia has held the No. 1 in-country ranking for more than a decade and continues to have the largest number of MDRT members in the market.
• Hong Kong climbed three places in MDRT rankings to No. 3 globally and No. 2 in-country, with the second-highest number of Top of Table (TOT) and Court of Table (COT) qualifiers.
• Singapore ranked No. 1 in-country for TOT qualifiers, with an 83.8 per cent MDRT member retention rate, and sits in the global top three. It also led the 2026 MDRT Culture of Excellence Awards, with 29 Agency Leader award recipients from a total of 68 winners worldwide.
• In Africa, Prudential remains the only insurer represented in the MDRT Global Top 100 company rankings in the last three years, with Nigeria and Ghana each ranked No. 1 in-country.
• In the Chinese Mainland, Prudential grew MDRT qualifiers 40 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2026.

Prudential’s base of quality producers is driving year-on-year double-digit growth in new business profit per MDRT agent, as reported in its 2026 Half Year Results.

Pankaj Banerjee, Group Chief Agency Officer, Prudential plc, said: “Our agency transformation is gathering pace, and our direction is clear: we are building a higher-quality, more professional and more productive agency force, equipped to deliver the trusted advice our customers increasingly need, at every stage of their lives. The continued growth in first-time MDRT qualifiers reflects the progress we are making and the commitment of our advisers, agency leaders and colleagues to raising professional standards across the industry.”

As customer needs become more complex, particularly in health, protection and wealth planning, the demand for trusted, high-quality advice is rising. For Prudential, upholding agency excellence is about providing advisers access to learning, role models, communities and opportunities that help them progress and deliver better outcomes for customers.

This commitment is reflected in Prudential’s long-standing partnership with MDRT, which gives advisers access to a global professional community, learning opportunities and standards of excellence. At every stage of the adviser journey, Prudential continues to invest in attracting high-quality talent, strengthening capabilities and productivity. This includes equipping advisers with deeper wealth planning capabilities, insights and AI-enabled tools to meet evolving customer needs and drive sustained MDRT growth.

To accelerate this progress, Prudential recently established the MDRT Advisory Council, a Group-wide platform bringing together leading producers in 11 agency markets to share best practices, accelerate adviser growth and support advisers in their professional progression across the force.

Prudential’s commitment to adviser development was also reflected at the 2026 MDRT Global Conference in Sydney, where it was recognised as MDRT Premier Sponsor and joined by 400 of its advisers and agency leaders from across different markets.

As MDRT approaches its 100th anniversary, Prudential looks forward to continuing its partnership with MDRT with a focus on expanding development pathways, raising professional standards, and supporting the next generation of advisers to achieve their full potential.

Hashtag: #Prudentialplc

About Prudential plc

“At thirty, one stands firm,” wrote Confucius in the Analects, describing an important stage in a person’s life. For businesses, the idea may be more relevant than ever, although standing firm today can mean something very different: knowing when to change before the market forces the issue, especially as the lifespan of large companies has been falling. In 1958, companies in the S&P 500 was estimated to have an average lifespan of 61 years. By the 2010s, that had fallen to about 18 years. The process of creative destruction is accelerating as technology creates new competitors and new business models.

Why do large companies disappear when they once seemed “too big to fail”? Size can bring capital, scale and resilience, but too much stability can also create inertia. A business that spends too much time protecting what it has built may find that the market has already moved on and that it has failed to move fast enough.

That kind of inertia poses an even greater challenge for conglomerates, which are built to last across generations, yet the industries around them can change within a decade. The answer, increasingly, is reinvention: entering new fields while using the experience, capital and capabilities accumulated in the old ones.

Vingroup, fresh from its 33rd anniversary, offers an interesting example from Vietnam. Its story has evolved from food production and tourism to real estate, hospitality and healthcare, and then now to electric vehicles, green energy and infrastructure.

There are signs that the strategy is gaining recognition. In June, Fortune ranked Vingroup No. 26 among Southeast Asia’s 500 largest companies, up from No. 37 in 2025 and No. 45 in 2024. Just this week, TIME placed Vingroup at No. 340 in its World’s Best Companies 2026 ranking, up 477 places from No. 817 a year earlier. It was the only Vietnamese company to make the list for a second consecutive year. Today, companies across Vingroup’s ecosystem are present in 12 countries and employ around 400,000 people worldwide.

Among them, VinFast is perhaps the clearest example of rapid diversification combined with a global push. Founded in 2017, the electric vehicle maker has become Vietnam’s leading automotive brand by sales and is targeting 300,000 electric cars and 1 million electric motorcycles globally in 2026. From Vietnam, it has expanded into North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

But more than just shipping vehicles, VinFast is also exporting something less visible but equally important: the service capabilities it has developed in Vietnam. By the end of 2025, it had nearly 400 service workshops in Vietnam, while its global network is targeted to exceed 1,100 in 2026, supported by standardized technician training, operating procedures, quality controls and parts delivery targeting 24 hours in key markets.

That makes aftersales more than a support function for international expansion. It is becoming a capability that VinFast can take from Vietnam and adapt to markets abroad, turning the experience built around its domestic network into part of its global offering. The Middle East is one of the markets where that approach is now being put to the test.

At thirty, a person may be expected to stand firm. For a company, longevity may require something else: the ability to keep moving.

In her keynote speech, “Consumer-Centric: Creating Value Across the Entire Ecosystem,” Dr. Xing shared Lee Kum Kee Sauce’s perspective on the future development of the food industry, linking them to China’s 15^th Five-Year Plan for consumption upgrading and broader industry trends.

Dr. Xing highlighted that consumers today are experiencing a threefold awakening of value, awareness, and health. Consumers are more proactive in researching product ingredients before buying, and seeking out low-sugar, low-salt and low-fat options. Consequently, health consciousness is shifting from a premium selling point to a default industry expectation.

Dr. Xing said, “Faced with increasingly diverse consumer demands, no single company can succeed in isolation. Consumer goods companies must build a comprehensive innovation portfolio over the next three to five years, spanning the entire value chain — from products and consumption scenarios to experience, channels, and business models. Only by breaking down silos and collaborating through cross-sector co-creation can we put consumers at the centre and forge new pathways for industry growth through shared value creation.”

During the roundtable session, Lee Kum Kee joined consumer goods leaders to discuss emerging industry trends and the drive toward a more resilient consumption ecosystem that creates greater value for consumers in the new era. Dr. Xing engaged in dialogue with Ken Murphy, Global CEO of Tesco and Co-Chair of the CGF Global Board; Pu Shaohua, Chairman of Bailian Group and Co-Chair of the CGF China Board; and Anne Tse, CEO of PepsiCo Asia Pacific, on “Reshaping Growth Logic, Co-creating Long-Term Value.” Moderated by Derek Deng, Senior Global Partner at Bain & Company and Chairman of the Consumer Products Practice for Greater China, the four panellists shared insights on AI applications and efficiency improvements in the consumer industry, as well as how to sustainably create consumer value through a long-termism approach. Dr. Xing shared Lee Kum Kee’s experience in applying AI in supply chain optimisation and consumer insights, and noted that innovation investment often yield results over multi-year horizons, requiring leadership resolve and patience to balance short-term returns with long-term strategic positioning.

CGF China Day 2026 spanned two days. On the second day, Dodie Hung, Executive Vice President – Corporate Affairs at Lee Kum Kee Sauce shared the Company’s experience in embedding sustainable development across three areas: green production, responsible product packaging, and community giving during the “China Green Sustainable Development Day” session.

Moreover, CGF announced that Lee Kum Kee’s sustainable packaging cases were featured in the 2026 Golden Design Rules Case Study, and the China Research Report on the Design-for-Recycling (DfR)Standards for Plastic Packaging in the FMCG Industry, for which Lee Kum Kee served as a member of the Chinese Expert and Advisory Group, was officially released. Both achievements demonstrate Lee Kum Kee’s innovative practices in packaging design that balance product safety, user experience, and environmental sustainability, reflecting the brand’s commitment to providing consumers with products that combine great taste with sustainable development value.

As CGF’s flagship annual event in China, CGF China Day is one of the most influential exchange platforms in the consumer goods industry. This year’s conference brought together over 350 industry executives and professionals from retailers and manufacturers across China and the global FMCG ecosystem, engaging in in-depth discussions on strategic opportunities and development trends in China’s consumer goods market.

Looking ahead, Lee Kum Kee will continue to work hand in hand with partners to advance industry alignment, foster a healthier, more sustainable, and more vibrant consumption ecosystem, and deliver value to consumers.

Hashtag: #LeeKumKee #LKK

About Lee Kum Kee Sauce

About Consumer Goods Forum

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