Chiba Prefecture welcomes tourists for strawberry picking season

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 (Bernama) -- Chiba Prefecture in Japan welcomes tourists to enjoy strawberry picking at its farms during the picking season from January to May, as the prefecture is currently flourishing with strawberry production.

According to a statement from the Chiba Prefectural Government, the prefecture is home to more than 100 strawberry farms.

Visitors can enjoy eating strawberries from a variety of species grown on about 50 strawberry-picking farms to compare their tastes including a new variety, ‘CHI-BA+BERRY’, which hit the stores in January 2017.

This variety is available only in Chiba Prefecture. The strawberry itself is big and has a beautiful shape, besides being sweet and delicious.

Chiba Prefecture is easily accessible from overseas as Narita International Airport is located in the prefecture, which is endowed with a mild climate and is currently welcoming spring full of flowers.

-- BERNAMA

HOSHI CORPORATION STARTS ACCEPTING ORDERS FOR MANUFACTURING MADE-IN-JAPAN COSMETIC PRODUCTS BY FULLY UTILIZING BONDED COSMETIC FACTORY

AsiaNet 77240

TOKYO, Jan. 29, 2019 /Kyodo JBN - AsiaNet/ --

Hoshi Corporation, the Tokyo-based OEM and ODM cosmetic company, has received a license from the Okinawa Regional Customs to operate Japan's first bonded cosmetic factory.

The company is strongly geared toward exporting OEM and ODM cosmetic products with its logistics base in Okinawa, as driven by growing international demand for made-in-Japan cosmetic products, mainly to Asian and Oceania countries. Currently Hoshi has been dealing with over 700 overseas clients.

The bonded cosmetic factory operation license has enabled the company to fully use its high manufacturing technology and quality to reduce costs and realize swift production, thereby offering you affordable manufacturing plans thanks to reduced tariff and storage costs.

Website: http://hoshicorp.jp/bondedfactory/
Devices available for access: PCs, mobile phones

- Features of the Okinawa factory:

The Okinawa factory is located in the Global Logistics Center (Okinawa GLC) that is operated by Okinawa Yamato Transport Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd., a major player in the logistic industry in Japan.

By operating the bonded factory in the Okinawa GLC area neighboring Naha International Airport, Hoshi can undertake filling, packaging, assembling operations and store materials in the bonded area.

- Business advantages by fully utilizing Okinawa bonded factory:

TARIFF CUTS
You are NOT required to bear import duties imposed on cosmetic packages.

EXPRESS DELIVERY
The Okinawa factory is adjacent to Naha International Airport, allowing the lead time of import and export to be reduced.

GLOBAL LOGISTICS NETWORK
Make use of the global network of the Yamato transportation group, the largest logistic company in Japan.

RELIABLE MADE-IN-JAPAN BULK
High quality is assured by manufacturing under the Japanese GMP.

SMALL-LOT PRODUCTION
Accept manufacturing orders starting with a lot of 500 units.

REDUCE STORAGE COST
Product storage inside the Okinawa GLC is available at low cost.

SUPPORT CROSS-BORDER EC BUSINESS
Hoshino supports cross-border e-commerce business by utilizing its logistic facility as your business hub.

- Business flow by utilizing Okinawa bonded factory:

STEP 1
Transfer cosmetic bulk to Okinawa factory from Hoshi's domestic cosmetic manufacturing factories.

STEP 2
Import Korean or Taiwanese cosmetic packaging.
*Selected high-quality Taiwanese and Korean packaging can be imported at preferential tariff rates.

STEP 3
Fill cosmetic bulk into imported containers.
Final finishing process of assembling and packaging.

STEP 4
Export to your clients/agents (a third country) without custom clearance.
Image: Comparison chart https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/
M104323/201901212418/_prw_PI1fl_1S4u95E7.jpg

Geographical advantage of Okinawa, the southernmost island of Japan:
- The only 24-hour operating customs clearance system in Japan
- Less than 4 hours on flight to major Asian cities
- Located at the center of the mass Asian market of 2 billion customers

Advantages of choosing Hoshi Corporation as your OEM partner:
- Track record of exports to more than 20 countries
- Decades of cosmetic OEM business experience with over 700 domestic and overseas clients, with over 20,000 product types handled
- 4 manufacturing factories in Japan (Tokyo, Gunma, Saitama and Okinawa)
- A proven and trusted service that has been steadily forged since Hoshi's founding

Company Profile
Name: Hoshi Corporation
Address: 31-2, Kanda Higashi Matsushita-Cho, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo, 101-0042, JAPAN
CEO: Tsuneo Hoshino
Founded: April 30, 1975
Capital: 80,000,000 yen

Business lines:
- Sales of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and health foods
- Planning and sales of containers and packaging materials
- Planning and contract manufacturing of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and health foods

SOURCE: Hoshi Corporation

--BERNAMA

COLLIBRA RAISES $100 MILLION LED BY CAPITALG AND SURPASSES $1 BILLION VALUATION

Data governance and catalog leader to accelerate growth and double down on machine learning and artificial intelligence
 
NEW YORK and BRUSSELS, Belgium, Jan 30 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Collibra, a leader in enterprise data governance and catalog software, today announced $100 million in series E funding at a post-money valuation of more than $1 billion, bringing the company’s total venture funding to $233 million. CapitalG, Alphabet’s growth equity investment fund, led the round, with participation from existing investors ICONIQ Capital, Index Ventures, Dawn Capital and Battery Ventures.
 
The funding comes on the heels of a record revenue year, with an 80 percent increase in annualized recurring revenue and rapid expansion across the globe. The investment is expected to be used to fund the expansion of the product portfolio and to accelerate growth across the business. Collibra plans to extend its artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities both within its cloud-native platform — building more automation into its smart catalog product — and in its support of data science teams for their own advanced analytics initiatives.
 
“Collibra is putting organizations back in control of their data, helping them comply with changing legislation, embrace emerging technologies and capture the information that will enable them to design services and solutions built for the future,” said Derek Zanutto of CapitalG. “We look forward to partnering with Collibra and marrying Google and Alphabet's machine learning and AI expertise with Collibra’s leadership in data collaboration, workflow management and risk management.”   
 
More than 300 global customers in industries ranging from financial services to healthcare, retail and technology, are leveraging Collibra’s platform to bolster their data-driven digital transformations. Collibra has become the de-facto choice for chief data officers tasked with implementing a strategic approach to their data and maximizing its value for their organizations.
 
“Now more than ever, we live in an economy where the most innovative companies are fueled by data. It has become our most valuable asset,” said Felix Van de Maele, CEO and co-founder of Collibra. “This investment is a testament to Collibra’s leadership and our ability to help customers transform their market proposition through data-driven insight. With this latest round, we are well-positioned to leverage our heritage in understanding data to help our customers utilize the most cutting-edge innovation to power their digital transformation journeys.”
 
Collibra continues to receive significant accolades from the data and technology community, and was recently named to Forbes’ Cloud 100 list for the second consecutive year. It was also named a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Metadata Management Solutions for the third consecutive year, as well as in The Forrester Wave™: Machine Learning Data Catalogs and The Forrester Wave™: Data Governance Stewardship and Discovery Providers.
 
About Collibra

As the leader in data governance and catalog software, Collibra helps organizations across the world gain competitive advantage by maximizing the value of their data across the enterprise. Collibra is the only solution purpose-built to address the gamut of data stewardship, governance, and management needs of the most complex, data-intensive industries. Our flexible and configurable cloud-based or on-premises solution puts people and processes first – empowering every data citizen to find, understand and trust the data to unlock business value. Learn more at www.collibra.com.
 
Contact:
Jennifer Harlan
Highwire PR
jennifer@highwirepr.com
248-701-6846
 
Source: Collibra
 
--BERNAMA

SANTEN HOSTS EVENT TO RAISE PUBLIC AWARENESS OF IMPORTANCE OF CONTINUED GLAUCOMA TREATMENT PRIOR TO SPONSORING WORLD GLAUCOMA WEEK IN MARCH

OSAKA, Japan, Jan. 30, 2019 /Kyodo JBN-AsiaNet/ --
 
As part of its efforts to raise public awareness of glaucoma, Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Santen"), based in Osaka, will sponsor glaucoma awareness-raising activities to be conducted around the world during the World Glaucoma Week, from Sunday, March 10, to Saturday, March 16, 2019.
  
Glaucoma is an eye disease that causes damage to the optic nerve, resulting in progressive visual field loss. Although this disease can lead to loss of vision when left untreated, early treatment often allows patients to maintain visual field throughout their lifetime. Therefore, early detection through regular ophthalmic consultation is the desirable starting point when treating glaucoma. The World Glaucoma Association, of which Santen is an Associate Glaucoma Industry Member, defines one week every March as the World Glaucoma Week and hosts various events and awareness-raising activities around the world to encourage people to detect and begin treating glaucoma as early as possible.
  
Santen has also implemented various initiatives to increase public awareness of the importance of early detection and continued treatment of glaucoma. As part of such initiatives, Santen hosted the disease awareness-raising event "Recommendations for Continued Treatment and Care" targeting glaucoma patients in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, on November 17, 2018. This event included a makeup lesson given by facial therapist Ms. Reiko Kazki (hereafter "Ms. Kazki"), a pioneer in rehabilitation makeup*, and a lecture by glaucoma specialist Dr. Aiko Iwase (Director of Tajimi Iwase Eye Clinic, hereafter "Dr. Iwase").
 
Photo:
https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105326/201901292640/_prw_PI1im_hkGVy617.jpg

Although many types of eye drops are available for treating glaucoma, they can sometimes bring about adverse effects, such as hyperpigmentation (abnormal coloring) around the eyes and deepening of the upper eyelid sulcus (sunken eyes).
  
An important challenge of glaucoma treatment is that some patients hesitate to receive continued treatment out of concern about such side effects or stop using eye drops based on their own judgment. This event was held to provide such patients with the opportunity to overcome their feelings about the adverse effects and increase their awareness of the importance of continued treatment.
  
At the event venue, Ms. Kazki's demonstration of rehabilitation makeup* aimed at making the adverse effects of eye drops for glaucoma inconspicuous met with cries of surprise from both female and male audience members. Ms. Kazki also gave a hands-on makeup lesson to some in the audience. Dr. Iwase explained in her lecture, "Continued glaucoma treatment allows patients to maintain vision field. Drug side effects sometimes inevitably accompany glaucoma treatment, and discourage some patients to continue receiving treatment. My strong desire to change this situation motivated me to participate in this event."
 
Santen also continues to regard the World Glaucoma Week as a period for employees to learn about glaucoma on their own initiative and impart their learning to their loved ones, including family members and friends. The company will devote further efforts to encouraging all employees, including those working around the world, to deepen their understanding about glaucoma.
  
* Rehabilitation makeup: Makeup for nullifying a defect or helping return to the original condition
  
About Santen
 
As a specialized company dedicated to ophthalmology, Santen carries out research, development, marketing and sales of pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter products, and medical devices. Santen is the market leader for prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals in Japan and its products now reach patients in over 60 countries. With scientific knowledge and organizational capabilities nurtured over a nearly 130-year history, Santen provides products and services to contribute to the well-being of patients, their loved ones and consequently to society. The company's Chairman and CEO is Akira Kurokawa. For more information, please visit Santen's website (www.santen.com).
  
Source: Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
 
--BERNAMA

AMPER MUSIC LAUNCHES FIRST AI MUSIC COMPOSITION PLATFORM FOR ENTERPRISE CONTENT CREATORS

Amper Score™ enables teams to create custom music in seconds
 
NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Amper Music, the leader in artificial intelligence music creation, today announced the launch of Amper Score™, the world’s first end-to-end AI music composition platform for enterprise content creators, as well as a developer API. Businesses of all kinds are adopting and scaling content strategies to reach new customers, and Score harnesses the power of AI to help teams make custom music that fits the style, length, and structure of their unique projects.
 
Using the Amper Score™ platform, content teams can create and edit music to accompany videos, podcasts, and many other types of content. Score’s workflow allows users to upload videos, spot key moments in project timelines, and render original compositions in real time in dozens of different musical styles. Music created using Amper Score™ is royalty-free and comes with a global, perpetual license for subscribers when synced to content. With Score’s fine-grained control, video editors, who typically work with stock music libraries, have reported greater than 90% time savings in sourcing and editing music for their projects.
 
"With Amper Score™, it is easy for me to find the music I need for the videos that we create,” said Anna Green, a video producer at Minute Media. “It takes me less than five minutes to create music for a short-form video, and the track is the exact mood I’m looking for. At past jobs, it could take me as long as two hours to search for the right track and edit it for the video. The tracks that I make with Amper Score have variation, and I like being able to spot the intro to add a gradual build. I can't imagine a better process than this.”
 
Businesses can also integrate Amper’s API into their own creative tools, distribution platforms, and other applications where music is created or consumed. Amper is excited to announce its API launch partner, QQ Music of Tencent Music Entertainment Group.
 
“As a leading online music entertainment platform in China, QQ Music is constantly looking for ways to utilize the most competitive technologies,” said Dennis Hau, Vice President of Tencent Music Entertainment Group. “In collaboration with Amper and leveraging its advanced technology, we look forward to continue providing more unique and innovative experiences to our users.
 
“In our collaboration, we are impressed by Amper’s leading technology, speed, quality, and user control design.”
 
“The decision to partner with QQ Music was a no-brainer,” said Drew Silverstein, CEO of Amper Music, Inc. “They are at the very forefront of the music, media, and entertainment markets, and their staggering reach will bring our AI Composer technology to millions of new users. QQ Music is one step ahead—they clearly understand that diversity and efficiency are the future of content, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with such a forward-thinking company within the digital music space.”
 
Amper’s patented AI is built from the ground up and utilizes a massive dataset created by an internal team of composer-developers. Rather than employing a “black box” approach that limits contextual awareness and the ability for Score to collaborate with its users, Amper’s data team describes every facet of music, including genre, mood, and instrumentation. Amper’s technology draws on these foundations to generate fully editable, bespoke music that users can tailor virtually instantaneously.
 
About Amper:

Amper was founded in 2014 with the mission to enable anyone to express themselves creatively through music regardless of their background or expertise. Amper builds tools powered by a Creative AI to help teams create and customize original music. Using a proprietary library of over a million individual samples and thousands of instruments, Amper’s technology is built with an emphasis on offering high quality music through the fusion of music theory and AI innovation.
 
Interested teams should contact sales@ampermusic.com or visit www.ampermusic.com to arrange a trial.
 
Source: Amper Music

--BERNAMA

AM BEST AFFIRMS CREDIT RATINGS OF MEIJI YASUDA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY

HONG KONG, Jan 28 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of “aa-” of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company (Meiji Yasuda) (Japan). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.
 
The ratings reflect Meiji Yasuda’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
 
Meiji Yasuda’s balance sheet strength assessment mainly reflects its risk-adjusted capitalization being at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). This assessment also is supported by a large adjusted capital base, which consists of reported capital, contingency reserves and price fluctuation reserves, as well as some equity credit for subordinated debt. In addition, while balance sheet debt has grown, the company’s financial leverage ratios remain conservative, with adjusted debt leverage ratios generally under 25%.
 
Meiji Yasuda’s operating performance also has remained consistently positive, generating ordinary profits in excess of JPY 300 billion per annum on a consolidated basis in each of the last five years (fiscal-year ended from 2014-2018). Additionally, its key operating metrics, which include operating return on assets, also have been relatively stable, owing largely to the large mortality and morbidity gains from Meiji Yasuda’s in-force portfolio, as well as stable net investment yields of approximately 2% over the five-year period.
 
Meiji Yasuda is a leading life insurance company in terms of premium income in Japan’s life insurance market. The company also has maintained a leading position in the group insurance market with the largest market share over a long period. More recently, the company has started to diversify its business by expanding overseas, though its geographic diversification remains modest for now.
 
The stable outlooks reflect AM Best’s expectation that Meiji Yasuda will maintain strong and consistent operating performance, supported by an in-force book that AM Best expects to generate favorable returns on embedded value and a stable economic solvency ratio over the medium and long term.
 
Negative rating actions could occur if there is material deterioration in its risk-adjusted capitalization due to substantial investment losses, or if Meiji Yasuda experiences sustained deterioration in its operating performance.
 
Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.
 
This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases.
 
AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information.
 
Copyright © 2019 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190125005357/en/

Contact

Jason Shum          
Associate Director, Analytics
+852 2827 3423
jason.shum@ambest.com

Christie Lee
Director, Analytics
+852 2827 3413
christie.lee@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Jim Peavy
Director, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com
 
Source : AM Best
 
--BERNAMA

AM Best gives New India solid rating

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (excellent) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of ‘a-’ for The New India Assurance Company Ltd (New India), India.

In a statement today, AM Best said the ratings reflect New India’s very strong balance sheet, as well as its adequate operating performance, favourable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

The company’s balance sheet strength reflects solid risk-adjusted capitalisation that is supported by low underwriting leverage and the quality of its investment portfolio.

In addition, the company’s capital and surplus is the largest among all non-life insurers in India, standing at US$5.9 billion (US$1 = RM4.10) as of March 31, 2018.

New India is the largest non-life insurer in India with a 15 per cent share of the market, and is a clear leader in almost every line of business based on gross premium.

It also maintains an underwriting portfolio that is well-diversified by geography and line of business in India and overseas.

Positive rating momentum could result from New India showing a consistent improvement in its underwriting and operating performance, while maintaining its very strong risk-adjusted capitalisation.

For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

-- BERNAMA

Credit rating of FMG Insurance Ltd affirmed

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- Insurance industry global credit rating agency, AM Best, has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (excellent) and Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of ‘a’ for FMG Insurance Ltd (FMGIL), New Zealand.

FMGIL’s strong balance sheet is underpinned by its risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), which AM Best expects to remain at the strongest level over the medium term, a statement today said.

AM Best also views FMGIL’s operating performance as adequate, with the company having generated a five-year average return on equity ratio of 4.5 per cent (fiscal years 2014-2018).

Besides this, the rating agency considers FMGIL’s business profile as neutral with the company continuing to benefit from its position as a leading rural insurer in New Zealand, albeit occupying a relatively small overall market share of 5 per cent, based on 2018 non-life gross written premiums.

FMGIL’s enterprise risk management (ERM) framework is deemed to be developed by AM Best, and its approach to managing key risks as appropriate given the size and complexity of the company.

For more details, visit www.ambest.com.

-- BERNAMA

SALIHIN SHARIAH ADVISORY ACCREDITATION BY GENERAL COUNCIL FOR ISLAMIC BANKS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING OF ISLAMIC FINANCE IN MALAYSIA

L to R: En Salihin Abang (Founder/Managing Partner & Group CEO of SALIHIN); Mr. Abdelilah Belatik (Secretary General of CIBAFI); Dr Ahcene Lahsasna (CEO of SALIHIN Shariah Advisory); Ms Zainab Hassan Al Owainaty (Director of Administration & Finance, CIBAFI)

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) -- The General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (Bahrain) and SALIHIN Shariah Advisory (Kuala Lumpur) signed an agency agreement for enhancing Islamic finance education in Malaysia. With this agreement, SALIHIN Shariah Advisory becomes an accredited agent of CIBAFI for the main objective of promoting the professional certifications and training programmes of CIBAFI in Malaysia. These include ten (10) professional certificates, five (5) diplomas and one (1) executive professional master programme.
 
In this context, CIBAFI expressed its appreciation to SALIHIN Shariah Advisory for their support and collaboration for the marketing and promotion of CIBAFI professional development programmes in Malaysia. Malaysia is a pioneer player in the Islamic financial services industry and it is a key stakeholder to CIBAFI. It deserves high focus and interest from all perspectives, including professional development initiatives and activities.  
 
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahcene Lahsasna, CEO, SALIHIN Shariah Advisory believes that the collaboration will contribute significantly to the enrichment of the quality of Islamic finance education in Malaysia. He said, “The CIBAFI professional certifications and training programmes cover Islamic accounting, auditing, takaful, capital market, trade finance, risk management, governance and compliance. These internationally recognized professional certificates will complement the existing Islamic Finance courses offered in Malaysia.”
 
He added, “SALIHIN Shariah Advisory, through its education facilities at the HQ in Malaysia, would like to take this opportunity to invite interested professionals, students and academicians to join CIBAFI programmes and become CIBAFI Certified”.
 
CIBAFI is an international organization established in 2001 and Headquartered in the Kingdom of Bahrain. CIBAFI is affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). 
 
CIBAFI represents the Islamic financial services industry globally, defending and promoting its role, consolidating co-operation among its members, and with other institutions with similar interests and objectives.
 
With more than 125 members from more than 34 jurisdictions, representing market players, international intergovernmental organizations and professional firms, and industry associations, CIBAFI is recognised as a key piece in the international architecture of Islamic finance.
 
SALIHIN Shariah Advisory is a registered Shariah Adviser with the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) providing advisory services on all Shariah-based products and services regulated by the SC and qualified to be appointed as a corporate Shariah adviser. Its vision to be the preferred global provider of Islamic finance services and solutions, going by this vision, SALIHIN Shariah Advisory has recently won a Global Islamic Finance Award (GIFA) as the Best Emerging Islamic Shariah Advisory Firm 2018. Leveraging on its experienced pool of international and local Shariah advisers, SALIHIN Shariah Advisory provides services in the areas of advisory and consultancy, fintech solutions, training and education, and research, development and publication. As a group member firm of SALIHIN, it also draws on the diverse capabilities of SALIHIN to render end-to-end value-for-money services and solutions to clients globally. SALIHIN is the brand under which independent member firms of SALIHIN International LLP (SALIHIN International) operate and provide professional services in the areas of audit and assurance, taxation, corporate advisory Shariah advisory, IT and digital consulting.
 
SOURCE: SALIHIN SHARIAH ADVISORY
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Tel: 603-6185 9970  
Fax: 603-6184 2524
Website: www.salihin.com.my  / www.shariah.salihin.com.my 
E-mail: info@salihin.com.my  / ssa@salihin.com.my 
 
For more information about CIBAFI, please visit www.CIBAFI.org 
Tel: +973 17357300  
Email: media@cibafi.org 
 
--BERNAMA

Lay down your nuclear weapons urges Buddhist leader

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 (Bernama) – Soka Gakkai International (SGI) president, Daisaku Ikeda, in his 2019 peace proposal published recently, called for concerted effort in disarmament and for the youth to become agents of contagious change.

Entitled ‘Toward a New Era of Peace and Disarmament: A People-centered Approach’, Ikeda asked for progress in the abolition of nuclear weapons around the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to be quickened.

According to a statement today, he also stressed the dangers of emerging Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) and proposed the prompt convening of a conference to negotiate a treaty banning these weapons.

He asked for a shift from seeing security solely in terms of state or military, towards one with a human focus in order to build a world with meaningful security.

He acknowledged that the complexity of global challenges can make the youth feel that positive change is impossible, but he wants them to resist feelings of resignation and "meet the severe challenges of our age as agents of proactive and contagious change".

He called for an expansion of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) network of universities committed to supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and proposed a world conference of such universities in 2020.

On the abolition of nuclear weapons, he spotlighted the need to expand the ratification of the TPNW to achieve its entry into force, and urged the creation of a group of like-minded states to deepen the debate and promote it.

Looking ahead to the 2020 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Ikeda called for steps such as the removal of nuclear warheads from high-alert status.

He further proposed that a fourth special session of the UN General Assembly devoted to disarmament (SSOD-IV) be held in 2021.

For more details on Ikeda’s 37th annual peace proposal, visit www.sgi.org.

-- BERNAMA