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The Star
a day ago
- Business
- The Star
Bon Odori makes debut in Sunway City
Some attended the 49th Bon Odori at Sunway City Kuala Lumpur decked out in traditional outfits. - Photo: Bernama Bon Odori 2025 arrives in Sunway City Kuala Lumpur to celebrate culture and boost visit Selangor Year 2025 Tourism. -- fotoBERNAMA (2025) HAK CIPTA TERPELIHARA PETALING JAYA: The Bon Odori Festival has made its debut at Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, featuring cultural performances, traditional dances, and more than 100 stalls offering Japanese street food, snacks, charming trinkets, handmade crafts, and unique festival finds. Held over two days starting Saturday (July 12) from 4pm to 11pm, the 49th edition of the festival is jointly organised by The Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur and Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, with support from Tourism Selangor, the Embassy of Japan, and The Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur. Sunway Malls chief executive officer HC Chan said the festival's arrival in Sunway reflected a deepening of bilateral ties and community building. "Today marks an important milestone in the history of cultural exchange between Malaysia and Japan. It is with great honour and privilege that the 49th Bon Odori Festival is being held for the first time in Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, one of Malaysia's top tourist destinations with an annual visitorship of over 42 million people," he told a press conference here on Saturday (July 12). Also present at the event were Tourism Malaysia deputy director-general Lee Thai Hung, Selangor local government and tourism committee chairman Datuk Ng Suee Lim, Tourism Selangor CEO Chua Yee Ling, Japanese ambassador to Malaysia Shikata Noriyuki, The Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur president Dai Hoshiai, and The Japan Club of Kuala Lumpur Chairman Toru Nakabayashi. Chan noted that the support of the Selangor state government and Tourism Selangor had been crucial in making the festival a success, adding that Sunway's commitment to cultural diplomacy was also reflected in its extensive collaborations with Japanese institutions in business, education, and innovation. "Sunway University has established active collaborative partnerships with more than 20 Japanese universities, with eight more in the pipeline, focusing on research collaboration, technological innovation, and student exchange programmes," he said. Meanwhile, Ng stated that the celebration of Bon Odori was in line with the spirit of unity and multiculturalism promoted under Visit Selangor Year 2025. "As Visit Selangor Year 2025 continues to gain strong momentum into its second half, we are proud to welcome more multicultural celebrations across the state, a true reflection of Selangor as a model of unity and harmony, in line with the Kita Selangor spirit," he said. He added that Japan remained one of Selangor's key international tourist markets, with Japanese tourist arrivals climbing from 110,018 in 2023 to 132,526 in 2024, marking a remarkable 20.5% increase. "We are confident that with the continued strengthening of bilateral ties between Selangor and Japan, this upward trend will persist in the years to come," he added. Bon Odori is a traditional Japanese festival celebrated with dances and lively drum performances to welcome the homecoming of ancestral spirits. Since its inception in 1977, Bon Odori has attracted a diverse crowd, supported the local economy, boosted tourism, and solidified Malaysia's position as a leading cultural and lifestyle destination in the regional tourism landscape. – Bernama Selangor local government and tourism committee chairman Datuk Ng Suee Lim (left) with Japanese ambassador Shikata Noriyuki (middle) and Sunway Mall CEO HC Chan at the press conference. - Photo: Bernama
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ukraine says it's taken the top spot in the race to make combat drones
Ukraine has become the largest producer of tactical and strategic drones, its defense minister said. Ukraine has ramped up its drone production since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. In total, Ukraine delivered over 1.3 million drones to soldiers in 2024, its commander in chief said. Ukraine has become the world's largest producer of key military-use drones, the country's defense minister said. "We've become the biggest drone manufacturer in the world, drones of tactical and strategic level," Rustem Umerov said during a Sunday press conference at Ukraine's "Year 2025" forum. Tactical drones support smaller-scale battlefield actions, often at close ranges, by gathering intelligence and supporting strikes, either as the munition or by providing targeting data. Strategic drones, meanwhile, are often higher-end, high-altitude systems with the endurance to advance operations against higher-priority targets. Speaking at the same press conference, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine's commander in chief, said the country delivered over 1.3 million drones to front-line soldiers in 2024. The general added that its long-range drones can strike targets up to 1,700 kilometers inside Russia. At a separate press conference on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country produced 2.2 million drones in total in 2024 and planned to ramp up production further in 2025. Ukraine's defense ministry didn't respond to a Business Insider request for comment. Up-to-date and comprehensive data on various countries' respective drone production is scarce, making direct comparisons difficult. June 2024 data from Statista Market Insights, a data analysis service on market trends, said China was set to be the world's largest overall drone manufacturer in 2024 and was on track to produce 2.9 million drones. However, the data does not include drones for military purposes, though off-the-shelf drones for civilian use have been heavily repurposed for military use in Ukraine and further afield. In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was ramping up its own drone production to nearly 1.4 million in 2024, a tenfold increase from the previous year. Drones are increasingly being used in conflicts around the world for intelligence and reconnaissance, bombing missions, precision strikes, and other military purposes by both state-level and non-state actors. This has led to an increased demand for counter-drone capabilities. In December, the Pentagon released a new counter-drone strategy aimed at coordinating how different branches of the US military are responding to the threat of drones and making "countering unmanned systems a key element of our thinking." Drones have been a hallmark of the war in Ukraine, with both sides using the evolving technology to devastating effect. Even so, Ukrainian tactical drones face significant challenges, according to a February report by the UK's Royal United Services Institute, with a 60-80% failure rate in hitting targets "depending on the part of the front and the skill of the operators." Despite this, it said that they still account for 60 to 70% of damaged and destroyed Russian military systems. In an October speech to executives from dozens of foreign arms manufacturers, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was capable of producing 4 million drones a year, up from the one million he predicted in December 2023. Kyiv has tried to smooth the process of drone acquisitions for its troops. Last week, Umerov said Ukraine's defense ministry was launching a new drone supply model to facilitate a "fast and uninterrupted supply of the best UAVs for our soldiers," and to provide its armed forces with an additional $60 million a month to purchase drones. Ukraine's growing defense industry has led some to believe that drones, among other military capabilities, could play an important role in Ukraine's postwar economic recovery. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Economy Minister: Occupied Ukrainian territories have over $350 billion in natural resources
Ukraine has $350 billion worth of natural resources in the Russian-occupied territories, First Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said at the 'Ukraine. Year 2025' forum in Kyiv on Feb. 23. The minister's comment comes as Kyiv and Washington negotiate a deal for Ukraine's natural resources in return for support and security guarantees. The exact value and reserves of Ukraine's natural resources, which include critical minerals like lithium and titanium, are only estimated and further calculations are underway. Kyiv turned down the White House's first proposal stating that it did not contact security guarantees although the U.S. has pressured Ukraine into signing an agreement over the last week. U.S. President Donald Trump first said that he wanted $500 billion in minerals to recuperate American aid to Ukraine. 'The agreement that may emerge must meet the national interests of Ukraine and at the same time be interesting for our partners,' Head of the President's Office Andrii Yermak said at the forum. 'We view American and European investments in mineral extraction primarily as an element of security guarantees,' he added. Details of the agreement have not been made public. However, the media leaked the White House's initial proposal on Feb. 12 revealing that the U.S. is seeking a 50% interest in minerals and other natural resources like oil and gas, as well as critical infrastructure, sparking outrage in Ukraine with some officials calling the deal 'colonial.' Since then, there has been a back and forth, with Kyiv presenting its own proposal to the U.S. during the Munich Security Forum on Feb. 14. If done right, it could be a win-win for Ukraine, several figures in Ukraine's business community told the Kyiv Independent. One idea could be sharing a large amount of the resources in the occupied territories, which have resources like gas and lithium, with the U.S. if it helps Ukraine liberate them from Russia, said Ukrainian MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak. Ukraine will start working to conclude an agreement with the U.S. on Feb. 24, Ruslan Stefanchuk, speaker of Ukraine's parliament, told Japanese media outlet NHK on Feb. 22. Read also: US mineral deal offers no security guarantees for Ukraine, NYT reports We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
