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Xixinan village first went viral in 2023, when photos of its fairy-tale greenery spread on Chinese platforms. But the tourism boom also raised new questions: How could the village generate revenue without charging an entrance fee? And how could it share the benefits with neighboring villages rather than compete with them?

The video looks beyond Xixinan to five nearby villages that, together with Xixinan, form a six-village tourism network. The villages have developed a range of experiences, including bamboo raft rides, a sightseeing train, homestays and nighttime fish-lantern tours. By connecting these attractions into a complete travel route, the network encourages visitors to stay longer and spend more time in the town, allowing more local businesses to benefit from growing tourist traffic.

Rather than competing for visitors, the villages have embraced a cluster development approach, developing complementary businesses, connecting tourism resources and sharing opportunities.

At the heart of this cooperation is the villages’ revenue-sharing model: 70 percent goes to the village where a business operates, 20 percent is distributed according to the original equity ratio (Xixinan village takes 5 percent and the other five villages take 3 percent each) and 10 percent is retained by the town’s operating company as working capital. The mechanism allows different villages to benefit from shared tourism resources while encouraging each to develop its own distinctive businesses.

More than 70 percent of residents in this town work in tourism. In 2025, each village generated more than 1 million yuan (about $140,000) in revenue, helping ensure that the benefits of tourism are shared across the town.

This video follows the journey from Xixinan’s viral rise to the broader transformation of the six villages, showing how natural scenery, connected tourism routes and a shared-interest mechanism can turn visitor traffic into broader rural development.

By linking six villages into a development cluster, the model offers a glimpse of how rural communities in China are exploring new ways to share opportunities and prosperity.

Hashtag: #PeoplesDaily #DecodingRuralChinasGovernance #RuralChina

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Houston-based Alpha Energy forms Alpha Energy International to acquire and modernise mature oil fields; Tennor provides $500 million funding facility

HOUSTON, US – Media OutReach Newswire – 2 October 2026 – Alpha Energy, the Houston-based oil and gas upstream company, has formed Alpha Energy International to lead its expansion outside the United States and has sold a 65% stake in the new company to Tennor Global LLC.

Tennor has agreed to arrange Alpha Energy International with a $500 million funding facility, allowing the venture to move quickly on acquisitions in selected countries, including Venezuela. Alpha Energy International will be responsible for all of Alpha Energy’s future activities and investments outside the USA.

The new company will initially target mature producing fields and difficult-to-recover reserves. Alpha’s leadership team will develop the assets and run operations, while Tennor, as majority shareholder, will support the venture through its network of relationships in the target countries.

Lars Windhorst, Founder of Tennor Global, said: “Alpha’s team has a rare track record of turning around mature fields at scale, and we believe that expertise is exactly what many producing countries need today. Tennor’s role is to open doors and provide the capital to move quickly. Together, we intend to build an international oil company focused on getting more from existing fields, working in partnership with host governments and national oil companies.”

Thomas Reed, CEO of Alpha Energy International and founder of Alpha Energy, said: “The combination of Alpha’s technical and operating expertise with Tennor’s financial support and deep knowledge of key international markets provides the basis for a new type of international oil company.

“Our strategy is simple. More oil remains in existing conventional fields than has ever been produced, and since the late 1980s, improvements in technology and engineering have added more recoverable barrels from existing fields than the industry’s total greenfield exploration success. Alpha is on a mission to acquire and modernise these legacy fields. Better recovery of the world’s existing oil and gas resources is Alpha’s fundamental value proposition, and with Tennor we have the reach and resources to act.”

A team built on the Yukos turnaround

Alpha Energy has a thirty-year history of conventional reservoir development and operations across more than sixty fields, primarily on the US Gulf Coast and the shallow-water shelf of the Gulf of America. Its principals have also operated at scale internationally. The company’s COO spent more than a decade in Venezuela, including operatorship of a producing joint venture on Lake Maracaibo at over 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

Mr Reed, who will run Alpha Energy International from Houston, has 35 years of oil and gas experience with Yukos, RusPetro, JKX and Texas Petroleum Investment Company. The COO has 35 years of operations experience with Yukos and Gazprom, among others, most recently with the Venezuelan joint venture. Chris Hopkinson, CTO, has 38 years in the upstream business, including senior positions at Shell, Yukos, BG Group and KazMunayGas.

All three built Alpha’s proprietary Alpha Technical Center on their experience at Yukos, where the same performance engineering techniques added nearly one million barrels per day of production in four years with a net reduction in the total well count. The Technical Center covers subsurface evaluation, reservoir engineering, well design and facilities design.

Alpha Energy International will recover production by optimising asset performance from the wells up, using a value-driven technical limit approach and current technologies. The company works alongside national oil companies, training and handing over to local engineers as it goes.

Hashtag: #AlphaEnergy

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About Alpha Energy

Alpha Energy is a Houston, Texas based oil and gas upstream company specialising in conventional reservoir development and operations. Over thirty years it has operated in more than sixty fields, primarily on the US Gulf Coast and the shallow-water shelf of the Gulf of America. Alpha Energy International, its majority-owned international arm, is responsible for all of the company’s activities and investments outside the USA.

About Tennor Global

Tennor Global is a holding and private equity company focused on energy, energy technology and artificial intelligence. It takes majority and minority stakes in public and private companies and invests in public and private debt, targeting special situations where its entrepreneurial approach and sector expertise can create value quickly. Its diversified portfolio also spans technology, industrials, natural resources, media, entertainment and sports, retail and real estate.

Initiative combines housing support with fire insurance protection to provide greater financial security for Orang Asli families

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 2 October 2026 – MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd (“MSIG Malaysia”), the country’s third largest fire insurer, has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to strengthening community resilience through its continued collaboration with EPIC Homes. The initiative reflects the joint effort of MSIG Malaysia and EPIC Homes to support Orang Asli families through housing initiatives and fire insurance protection.

As part of this long-standing collaboration, MSIG Malaysia continues to provide fire insurance protection for homes built by EPIC Homes for the Orang Asli families. This insurance coverage helps families manage the financial impact of unforeseen incidents while reinforcing the long-term resilience of the Orang Asli community, reflecting the company’s continued efforts to protecting communities beyond traditional insurance solutions.

This year, MSIG Malaysia supported Orang Asli families in Simpang Pulai with the completion of two new homes. In July, 31 employees, including Chief Executive Officer Ms. Ang Yien Chia, worked alongside EPIC Homes volunteers over three days to complete the first home. In September, another 25 employees came together for the second build. Through these efforts, MSIG Malaysia helped provide beneficiary families with improved living conditions and a stronger sense of stability.

Chief Executive Officer of MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd, Ms. Ang Yien Chia, said:

“We aim to give Orang Asli homeowners greater confidence that they have financial support, should unforeseen events occur. The value of this protection has already been demonstrated, such as in 2025, a home covered under the programme was damaged during a storm, and the insurance claim helped fund the necessary repairs.”

“This reinforces the important role insurance can play in helping families recover more quickly and protecting the homes they have worked so hard to build. Through our continued collaboration with EPIC Homes, we remain committed to strengthening the resilience of underserved communities.”

As of August 2026, MSIG Malaysia has contributed towards the protection of over 300 homessince partnering with EPIC Homes in 2018. The collaboration supports Orang Asli families by pairing sustainable housing initiatives with fire insurance protection, reinforcing the long-term resilience of these communities.

Mr. John-Son Oei, Founder and CEO of EPIC Homes, said:

“We are grateful to continue our partnership with MSIG Malaysia, whose unwavering commitment has helped transform the lives of families through safe and dignified housing. Building a home is about much more than constructing walls and a roof—it creates the foundation for families to live with security, stability and hope for the future.

What makes this collaboration especially meaningful is MSIG Malaysia’s commitment to extending insurance protection beyond the build itself through its fire insurance coverage. This thoughtful addition provides beneficiary families with greater financial security while highlighting the importance of long-term resilience and financial preparedness. Together, we are creating sustainable impact that will benefit not only individual families but the wider community.”

The continued collaboration with EPIC Homes translates MSIG Malaysia’s commitment to championing inclusive and community-empowering initiatives into meaningful action through funding, employee volunteerism and insurance protection for the Orang Asli communities.

Hashtag: #MSIG

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About MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd

MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Bhd (“MSIG Malaysia”) is one of the leading general insurers in Malaysia, providing a comprehensive range of insurance protection for both personal and business needs. With over 100 years of general insurance experience and a nationwide network of 20 branches, MSIG Malaysia offers strong capabilities across key classes including Fire, Engineering, and Motor, and is the No.1* in Marine Cargo.

The company continues to strengthen its market presence through ongoing investment in digital innovation, customer focused service enhancements, and the development of insurance solutions that meet the evolving needs of Malaysians. It has also developed exclusive B2B business tools for its business partners to support more efficient collaboration and service delivery. As part of its ongoing sustainability journey, MSIG Malaysia remains committed to supporting initiatives that strengthen community resilience.

MSIG Malaysia is a subsidiary of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited and a member of the MS&AD Insurance Group, Inc. (MS&AD), an insurance group with operations across Asia and various international markets. The Group manages a diverse portfolio of insurance companies worldwide and is recognised for its longstanding presence in the industry.

For more information on MSIG Malaysia, visit www.msig.com.my or facebook.com/MSIGmy.

*As of Dec 2025

About EPIC Homes

EPIC (Extraordinary People Impacting Communities) is a multiple award-winning social enterprise. Its flagship movement, EPIC Homes, builds relationships across the urban-rural divide through the act of building homes for underprivileged communities, with a current focus on the indigenous Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.

Since 2010, EPIC Homes has mobilised 9,000+ individuals and 200+ organisations to provide safe homes for over 350 families in need. EPIC Homes team building programmes foster empathy, leadership, and cross-functional collaboration – enabling companies and organisations to forge stronger teams while contributing to long-term community development.

The Singapore state-owned investment company said on Wednesday that the two offices, subject to statutory approvals, would operate as strategic hubs for Temasek and its portfolio companies. Some portfolio companies are expected to co-locate at the new sites, giving them a base from which to develop business and partnerships in Gulf markets.

Temasek said it sees broad opportunities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. It intends to increase engagement with institutions in Qatar and other Middle Eastern markets while using the Riyadh and Abu Dhabi bases to improve access to investment opportunities across Central Asia and Africa.

“The Middle East is an important part of Temasek’s global network,” chief executive Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara said. He cited the pace of economic transformation across the region and said its long-term fundamentals remained attractive, with strong alignment between regional priorities and Temasek’s investment focus.

Pillay said Temasek had built relationships in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar over several years through partnerships, co-investments and the activities of its portfolio companies. The planned offices represent a shift from managing those relationships remotely towards maintaining permanent teams in two of the Gulf’s principal financial and investment centres.

The expansion comes as Gulf governments continue programmes intended to diversify their economies, develop infrastructure and attract international capital. Temasek said its investment experience, global networks and partnership-led approach, together with the sector expertise of companies in its portfolio, could support opportunities created by that transformation.

Temasek said the new hubs would also give portfolio companies closer access to local partners and markets, allowing them to collaborate alongside the investor while pursuing opportunities generated by economic diversification and infrastructure spending.

Chia Song Hwee, chief executive of Temasek Global Investments, was appointed chairman for the Middle East and Africa with effect from September 1. Temasek said he would provide senior leadership and oversight for its engagement and long-term growth in the two regions.

Chia said having teams on the ground would strengthen engagement with partners and improve access to investment opportunities for Temasek and its portfolio companies. He added that the offices would allow the group to bring expertise from across its wider ecosystem into regional markets.

Ankit Khemka will remain managing director for the region and continue to lead Temasek’s strategy and expansion. The leadership arrangements put the Middle East and Africa under dedicated senior oversight as the investor increases its institutional presence beyond its established Asian, European and American locations.

The two offices will increase Temasek’s global network to 15 offices across 11 countries in 2027, from 13 offices in nine countries. Its existing locations include Singapore, Beijing, Hanoi, Mumbai, Shanghai and Shenzhen in Asia, alongside Brussels, London, Mexico City, New York, Paris, San Francisco and Washington.

Temasek’s net portfolio value reached S$518 billion for the financial year ended March 31, 2026, up from S$469 billion a year earlier. Its one-year total shareholder return was 10.5 per cent, while its 10-year and 20-year returns were 7.1 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively.

The investor’s portfolio remains anchored in Singapore while spanning major global markets. Singapore-based portfolio companies accounted for 43 per cent of the portfolio at the end of the financial year, while direct investments in companies globally represented 38 per cent. The remaining 19 per cent was held through partnerships, funds and asset-management businesses.

Temasek has also been increasing investment activity across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Earlier this week, it acquired a 9 per cent minority stake in the management company of Milan-based private equity group FSI and committed capital to future FSI investment vehicles targeting growing Italian companies.

Century-old Sauce Brand Continues Drive Toward Sustainable Packaging

HONG KONG, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 September 2026 – Lee Kum Kee Sauce (“Lee Kum Kee”), the century-old sauce brand, has been honoured with the Gold Award in the inaugural Packaging Reduction Charter by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Recognised for outstanding performance in driving packaging reduction and sustainable development, Lee Kum Kee was among the first signatories to the Charter and is one of the first cohort of food manufacturers to receive the award. The honour reflects its role as a responsible corporate citizen committed to advancing sustainable packaging.

Launched by the EPD on 31 March 2025, the Packaging Reduction Charter encourages businesses to reassess and reduce packaging usage, foster a waste-reduction culture in the commercial sector, and support Hong Kong’s long-term goal of carbon neutrality. To date, over 140 companies across sectors including retail, logistics, electronics, and food & beverage have joined, with Lee Kum Kee being one of the first. Participating companies undergo an annual professional assessment for packaging reduction, recyclability, reuse/recycling, sustainability, and promotion of packaging reduction. Lee Kum Kee demonstrated multiple packaging optimisation achievements during the assessment process, ultimately earning the Gold Award.

Dodie Hung, Executive Vice President – Corporate Affairs at Lee Kum Kee Sauce, said, “This award is a significant recognition of Lee Kum Kee’s long-standing commitment to sustainable packaging transformation. Guided by our value of ‘Si Li Ji Ren’ (Considering Others’ Interests), we are committed to integrating sustainable development into every aspect of our business operations. Through innovative thinking, we continuously optimise packaging design for greater efficiency and recyclability, delivering high quality, delicious and environmentally responsible products to consumers. Moving forward, we remain dedicated to collaborating with the industry to support Hong Kong’s vision of achieving carbon neutrality.”

Lee Kum Kee continuously refines its packaging with reference to the Practical Guides on Packaging Reduction and Management published by EPD and the Golden Design Rules developed by the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), driving packaging weight reduction while enhancing recyclability and circular value. Since 2002, Lee Kum Kee has consistently reduced the weight of its glass bottles; for example, in 2025, it cut the weight of its 32-ounce oyster sauce bottles from 410 to 390 grams, saving 10 tonnes of glass throughout the year. Additionally, the company has saved more than 200 tonnes of carton material annually through improved carton designs. Over 95% of packaging materials, by weight, are recyclable.

Lee Kum Kee’s sustainable packaging was featured in the 2026 Golden Design Rules Case Study Booklet during the CGF China Day in early September, confirming that its initiatives align with both local policy directions and international best practices.

For details on Lee Kum Kee and sustainability, please refer to the Lee Kum Kee Global Sustainability Highlights 2025: https://corporate.lkk.com/en/csr
Hashtag: #LeeKumKee #LKK

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Lee Kum Kee Sauce

Lee Kum Kee Sauce is the global gateway to Asian culinary culture, dedicated to promoting Chinese culinary culture worldwide. Since 1888, it has brought people together over joyful reunions, shared traditions and memorable meals. Beloved by consumers and chefs alike, Lee Kum Kee Sauce’s range of more than 300 sauces and condiments sparks creativity in kitchens everywhere, inspiring professional and home chefs to experiment, create, and delight. Headquartered in Hong Kong, China and serving over 100 countries and regions, Lee Kum Kee Sauce’s rich heritage, unwavering commitment to quality, sustainable practices and “Constant Entrepreneurship” combine to enable superior experiences through Asian cuisine for people worldwide. For more information, please visit www.LKK.com.

The Packaging Reduction Charter was launched by the Environmental Protection Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in 2025. The Charter aims to bring together enterprises and organisations to advance sustainable packaging solutions through collaborations, reduce packaging waste, and contribute to Hong Kong’s long-term goal of carbon neutrality. The Charter assesses signatories against five key areas, packaging reduction, packaging recyclability, packaging reuse, sustainable packaging, and promotion of packaging reduction, to recognise companies with outstanding performance. For more information, please visit: www.lesspackaging.hk

By Ashis Biswas Nearly a month after the shocking glacial slide in the Himalayas close to the China/Nepal border that killed hundreds of people, angry Nepalis are pressing for immediate ‘climate justice’ in well attended rallies at home and abroad. Sadly international response to one of the worst natural disasters the world has seen has […]

The article Nepal Struggles After Tragedy That Killed Over A Thousand appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

Under the partnership, a selected range of funds offered by Kenanga Investors and its Institutional Unit Trust Adviser partners will be available to Cashku users with no sales charge and from a minimum investment starting from RM10.

For investors, the effect is practical: investors can review fund information, open an account, set their investing goals, invest and make additional investments within a single application, with suitability assessed at the point of investment and monitored continuously thereafter.

Cashku has rebuilt the advice layer of wealth management around agentic AI; software that does not simply answer questions, but carries out risk profiling, goal-based portfolio construction, suitability assessment and ongoing portfolio monitoring, under the oversight of licensed human advisers and within the SC’s regulatory framework. That architecture, for which Cashku received a DIGID award for data-driven advisory under the SC’s Digital Innovation Fund in 2024, is what allows the platform to reach investors at a materially lower cost to serve.

The partnership arrives as Malaysia’s fund management industry reaches record scale. Assets under management rose 6.9% to a record RM1.14 trillion in 2025, with unit trust funds forming the largest single category at roughly half of that total. The SC’s Capital Market Masterplan 2026–2030 targets a capital market of over RM6 trillion by 2030 and names an inclusive capital market for all Malaysians as one of its four strategic themes — an agenda that depends on reaching the Malaysians who are not investing today. Individual participation in the capital market currently stands at 25%, and the Masterplan finds that around 60% of non-investors are under the age of 40.

“Malaysia’s problem has never been the quality of its funds — it has been access to the advice that helps people use them well. Financial planning has traditionally been reserved for those wealthy enough to pay for it, which is why most households have never had a plan at all. Cashku exists to change that: to give every Malaysian a plan built around their own goals. Partnering with managers like Kenanga Investors is how that gap closes.”

— Raevendren Ramachandran, Chief Executive Officer, Cashku

“Digital distribution is a natural extension of the Group’s own digitalisation agenda. Working with a licensed platform such as Cashku allows us to reach investors who are starting earlier and investing in smaller amounts than traditional channels are built to serve, without compromising the standards of suitability, transparency and governance our clients expect.”

— Datuk Wira Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Kenanga Investors.

Hashtag: #Kenanga

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About Kenanga Investors Berhad 199501024358 (353563-P)

Kenanga Investors Berhad is a licensed fund management company regulated by the Securities Commission Malaysia and a wholly owned subsidiary of Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad. It provides investment solutions spanning collective investment schemes, portfolio management services, alternative investments, and wills and trusts for retail, corporate, institutional and high net worth clients through a multi-distribution network.

The LSEG Lipper Fund Awards 2026 recognised four funds under the Malaysia Provident Funds category; Kenanga Growth Fund was named Equity Malaysia (5 Years), Kenanga Growth Fund Series 2 was awarded Equity Malaysia Diversified (3 Years), Kenanga Malaysian Inc Fund was awarded Equity Malaysia Diversified (10 Years) while Kenanga Managed Growth Fund was recognised with the title Mixed Asset MYR Balanced – Malaysia (10 Years).

The Hong Kong-based Asia Asset Management’s (“AAM”) 2026 Best of the Best Awards awarded Kenanga Investors under the following categories, Malaysia Best Impact Investing Manager, Best Impact Investing Manager in ASEAN, Malaysia Best Equity Manager, Malaysia CEO of the Year (Co-Winner), Malaysia CIO of the Year, Malaysia Best House for Alternatives and Malaysia Best ESG Engagement Initiative.

At the AAM ETF Awards 2026, Kenanga Investors received an accolade under the category Malaysia Leverage and Inverse ETF of the Year for the Kenanga KLCI Daily (-1x) Inverse ETF. The IFN Investor Awards 2025 awarded the Kenanga Islamic Balanced Fund under the categories of “IFN Investor Best Balanced Mixed Assets Fund in Malaysia — MYR 2025”, “IFN Investor Best Balanced Mixed Assets Fund in Asia Pacific 2025”, and “IFN Investor Best Global Balanced Mixed Assets Fund 2025”.

For the ninth consecutive year, we were affirmed an investment manager rating of IMR-2 by Malaysian Rating Corporation Berhad, since first rated in 2017. The IMR rating on reflects the fund management company’s well-established investment processes and sound risk management practices.