Iran eyes US$1b annual trade volume with Saudi Arabia: finance minister

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The Iranian minister of economic affairs and finance said Tuesday that Tehran aims to raise annual trade volume with Riyadh to US$1 billion in the first step of resuming economic ties.

Speaking at a press conference in Tehran, Ehsan Khandouzi said the target was set by the Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) of Iran and is based on the two countries’ capacities, Iran’s IRIB news agency reported.

The minister said over the past few days, the TPO has been preparing a roadmap for developing economic relations with Saudi Arabia, adding that it will be finalized soon.

Khandouzi said given that Iran and Saudi Arabia are both seriously determined to resume bilateral interaction and cooperation, the launch of the joint chamber of commerce is on the agenda, Iranian official news agency IRNA reported.

He stressed that during the past years, the two countries have held a total of seven meetings of the joint economic commission and exchanged 20 trade and cooperation documents with each other.

The Iranian minister said the two countries have had no bilateral trade in some years, but last Iranian year, amid the two countries’ efforts to ease tensions, the value of Iranian exports to the kingdom reached US$15 million.

Khandouzi also noted that he will take a trip to Saudi Arabia in the coming weeks.

China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran announced on March 10 that the latter two had reached a deal that includes the agreement to resume diplomatic relations and reopen embassies and missions within two months.

In a meeting in Beijing on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud signed a joint statement, announcing the resumption of diplomatic relations with immediate effect.

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016 in response to the attacks on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran after the kingdom executed a Shiite cleric.

 

China, India to account for half of global economic growth in 2023: IMF chief

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Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday said the world economy is expected to grow less than 3 percent this year, with India and China projected to account for half of global growth in 2023.

“Growth remains weak by historical comparison, both in the near and medium term,” Georgieva said in a speech in Washington, D.C., ahead of the IMF-World Bank spring meetings next week.

The IMF chief said some momentum comes from emerging economies, with Asia a bright spot.

“India and China are expected to account for half of global growth in 2023. But others face a steeper climb,” she said.

The IMF sees economic activity in the United States and the Euro Area slowing, where higher interest rates weigh on demand.

About 90 percent of advanced economies are projected to see a decline in their growth rate this year, Georgieva said.

“With rising geopolitical tensions and still-high inflation, a robust recovery remains elusive,” she warned.

The IMF projects global growth to remain around 3 percent over the next five years, the lowest medium-term growth forecast since 1990 and well below the average of 3.8 percent from the past two decades.

“This makes it even harder to reduce poverty, heal the economic scars of the COVID crisis and provide new and better opportunities for all,” Georgieva said.

The IMF will release more details about its growth outlook when it publishes its updated World Economic Outlook next week.

WFP secures 71 mln USD to address food crisis in Africa

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The World Food Programme (WFP) said Thursday it has received a 71.44-million donation from the European Union to tackle the food crisis in 11 countries in eastern and southern Africa.

WFP said the funds received through its humanitarian aid department have been immediately put to work to address the unprecedented needs caused by the global effects of the war in Ukraine, climate shocks, conflict, and economic pressures.

“Targeting 11 countries, the contribution allows WFP to provide life-saving assistance at a time when humanitarian needs continue to soar,” it said in a statement issued in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The special funding will be used for WFP’s operations in DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

WFP said much of the funding will go toward meeting the basic food and nutrition needs of millions of people across eastern and southern Africa.

“This includes, among other emergencies, the millions of people in need of assistance in Sudan, those affected by conflict in northern Mozambique, and Burundian and Congolese refugees in Tanzania,” it said.

Tlycleanroom Company introduction

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TLY Technology Co., Ltd was established 2014,its headquarter is Fuyong Town, Shenzhen City. TLY is a diversified enterprise integrating design, production, sales and service, which is specializing in the production of industrial purification cotton swabs, e-cigarette clean cotton swabs. The main productsare industrial purification cotton swabs, cosmetics daily cotton swabs, polyester wipers, polycellulose wipes, anti-static coveralls series and  labour protection appliance.

The company has passed the ISO9001 quality management system certification, obtained a number of national invention patents, utility model patents, its production of various types of cotton swabs have obtained ROHS, REACH, halogen test and other product certification.Continuous study, unremitting efforts, TLY has accumulated rich experience in research and development and production, the company has advanced integrated production equipment, level 10 clean dust-free workshop, and a systematic and professional production process and quality inspection method, to provide a strong guarantee for the quality stability and cost-effective products.

The company’s products are widely recognized and accepted by the global market, and have been exported to more than 100 countries such as Europe,

America, Japan and South Korea.And it has become the designated supplier of many well-known brands at home and abroad for Industrial purification cotton

swabs products.TLY is adhering to the business philosophy of “attention to demand, continuous innovation, quality first, service to the best” , ceaseless

development innovation, takes technology as the core, Considers quality as life.We will continue to improve our work environment, create a good working

atmosphere,and build the core value system of corporate culture. Going hand in hand because of mutual recognition, developing significantly because of

cultural integration!

Economic rebound hopes to cool global inflation

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The recovery of the Chinese economy is expected to cool global inflation instead of pushing it up, and China’s inflation growth and overall prices will remain tame and stable, according to economists and analysts.

Robin Xing, Morgan Stanley’s chief China economist, said China’s reopening will help curb surging global inflation, as the normalization of economic activities will stabilize supply chains and make them function more effectively. He added that will avoid the supply shock related to global supply, one of the drivers of inflation.

Over the past year, many economies around the globe witnessed the biggest surge in inflation in 40 years due to runaway energy and food prices amid geopolitical tensions and massive fiscal and monetary stimulus that many countries adopted.

Against that background, China, the world’s second-largest economy, has managed to deal with inflationary pressures with the government’s effective measures to stabilize prices and supplies of daily necessities and bulk commodities.

The country’s consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose by 2 percent year-on-year in 2022, well below the country’s annual inflation target of around 3 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

When it comes to concerns that the revival of the world’s second-largest economy may push up global commodity prices, Xing said China’s economic rebound will mainly be driven by consumption rather than forceful infrastructure spending.

“That means China’s reopening will not boost inflation via commodities, especially as the United States and Europe may suffer from weak demand this year,” he said.

Considering China’s abundant labor force and their strong willingness to dedicate their efforts to work, Xing said the recovery in consumption of services will not add too many inflationary pressures.

Despite a strong recovery of mobility and in-person service sectors in the second half of January, China continued to print low inflation data. In January, China’s CPI increased by 2.1 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, CPI in the US climbed 6.4 percent in January.

Lu Ting, chief China economist at Nomura, said the uptick in year-on-year CPI inflation was mainly driven by the timing of the Chinese New Year holiday, which took place in January this year and February last year.

Looking forward, he said his team expects China’s CPI inflation to edge down marginally to 2 percent in February, reflecting some pullback after the January Spring Festival holiday effects.

Should you double mask in a cleanroom?

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Masks are essential personal protection equipment (PPE) for proper cleanroom protocols. But are two masks better than one? A new study published by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that double masking can be more effective at reducing aerosol exposure. In light of these findings, the CDC now offers protocols for double masking. While there are clear benefits, double masking is not always the best practice in every situation. It’s unlikely that you’ll find double masking protocols in any cleanroom management plan. Here’s what you need to know about double masking and your cleanroom.

What the CDC says about double masking

When it comes to protection, it’s not really about wearing multiple masks. It’s about wearing multiple layers. In a study published in February 2021, researchers found that when compared to either a cloth mask or a surgical mask alone, wearing a double mask was more effective at reducing aerosol exposure.1

The CDC recommends two ways to increase your layers of protection:

Choose a mask with multiple layers of fabric.

Wear a surgical mask underneath a cloth mask (double masking).

The CDC cautions against combining two disposable masks or combining an N95 mask with any other mask. These methods will compromise the fit of your mask.2

Quality over quantity

A quality fit is the most crucial component of effective mask wearing. If double masking compromises the fit, then it defeats the purpose.

The CDC provides these tips to ensure that your mask fits properly:

  • Your mask should completely cover your nose and mouth.
  • Make sure your mask fits snugly against the side of your face and that there are no gaps.
  • Choose masks with nose wires. Bend the metal strip along the tip to conform to your face. This prevents air from leaking through the top of your mask.
  • Wear a mask fitter or brace. When worn over a cloth or surgical mask, this device will prevent air leakage from around the edges of the mask.
  • People with facial hair are encouraged to trim or shave their beard, use a mask fitter, or double mask.3

Proper mask use in a cleanroom

Neither The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nor the CDC set guidelines for cleanroom equipment. The FDA only regulates PPE like surgical masks and N95 masks when they are marketed as medical devices.4 If your cleanroom’s purpose is outside of the medical field, you are likely following International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) recommendations for your equipment.

Cleanroom masks are multi-layered and made from materials such as polypropylene that will not shed lint or fibres. The goal is to limit the amount of particles that could contaminate the air or surfaces in the cleanroom.

Some cleanroom management plans require face masks that are “cleanroom rated” based on the amount of particles that flake off of the mask. The ISO classification of the cleanroom will determine just how clean the mask needs to be.

The only CDC protocol for multiple masks is to don a surgical mask underneath a cloth mask. Since cloth masks do not meet cleanroom standards, double masking is not recommended in a cleanroom.

When in doubt about current best practices, turn to the experts. The certification team at Sure-BioChem Laboratories has experience with all classifications of cleanrooms in both scientific and industrial applications. Trust us to certify your cleanroom and train your staff according to ISO 14644-1 and 2 specifications.

Phizzle and GlassHouse collaborate on automated cleanroom monitoring

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Phizzle and GlassHouse Systems of Toronto have joined forces to create a managed service offering that provides a flexible way to automate cleanroom monitoring and enable remote, real-time operations of environmental equipment used in R&D and manufacturing cleanrooms by both large and small organisations.

Phizzle is a pioneer in automating scientific devices such as particle counters used in pharmaceutical manufacturing to monitor environmental conditions in drug production; GHS is a leading enterprise IT services and infrastructure solutions provider.

The two companies are working in partnership with IDSC (Institute for Data Science and Computing) to deploy a remote environmental monitoring solution for the Biomedical Nanotechnology Institute at the University of Miami.

There’s no longer a need to see testing as something that is only affordable on an annual or semi-annual basis

“Phizzle and GHS have shattered the test and trust paradigm for cleanroom validation by leveraging their proven technology to create a cleanroom monitoring managed service that allows us to automate testing and remotely monitor the status of our cleanroom in real-time,” said Sung Jin Kim, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the facilities director for the BioNIUM cleanroom facility. “We believe that this best-in-class monitoring solution will substantially bolster our ability to drive industry partnerships and student opportunities.”

Due to the high cost of lab technicians to manually perform repeated air quality measurements, many smaller cleanroom operators struggle to economically perform consistent or real-time tests of environmental conditions; many are also challenged by the high cost of compliance requirements for ISO standards.

“The breakthrough of this offer is the ability of all sized cleanrooms to access real-time scientific data that validates successful cleanroom processes or experiments at an affordable price,” said Robert Moniz, President of GlassHouse Systems, US. “There’s no longer a need to see testing as something that is only affordable on an annual or semi-annual basis.”

The service

Phizzle Software and GHS’ Automated Cleanroom PaaS provide an economical solution and is based on Phizzle’s EDGMaker IoT solution. By automating particle counter operation for consistent intervals, and providing the ability to remotely initiate ad-hoc measurements, cleanrooms can be effectively and economically monitored in real time.

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The Cleanroom PaaS offers four benefits in an affordable model:

  • The ability to demonstrate evidence of the environmental state at the time of a process or experience.
  • The ability to monitor the effect of processes and personnel on air quality in real-time and respond to maintain optimal room quality.
  • The ability to perform proactive maintenance in response to declining air quality to prevent special events that cause errors or downtime.
  • Increased use and engagement of university cleanrooms by outside parties due to the implementation of best-in-class monitoring solutions.

“Our joint managed service with GHS makes it possible for smaller companies and university labs to access the same industrial-grade technologies used in pharmaceutical manufacturing by the largest companies in the world,” said Jeff Cristee, Phizzle Chief Revenue Officer.

Backgrounds

Phizzle’s EDGMaker is the only IoT solution to remotely operate and automate multi-vendor particle counters for scientific data applications. The EDGMaker software stack offers fully digitised testing and compliance processes to reduce labour, human error, and wasted batches in regulated manufacturing.

For over 26 years, GlassHouse Systems (GHS) has been designing, implementing and servicing the enterprise IT community with best in class mission-critical infrastructure and professional services. GHS offers fully managed IaaS, PaaS both in the cloud and on premise.