Companies
The world’s first refugee camp powered by renewable energy
The plant, funded by the Ikea Foundation, is the first in the world to be built in a refugee camp and will supply residents free of charge.

With only sporadic access to electricity, cooking and washing was a daily challenge for thousands of refugees living in Jordan’s Azraq refugee camp.
Managing the desert extremes of heat and cold was a constant problem, even getting to the washroom at night was a safety concern for women and children.
Now, a solar power plant is bringing reliable and free electricity to 20,000 refugees living in 5,000 of Arzaq’s shelters.
The two megawatt plant means thousands of families displaced by the Syrian war will now be able to power a fridge, fan, television and easily charge their phones to stay in contact with family and friends.
The plant, funded by the Ikea Foundation, is the first in the world to be built in a refugee camp and will supply residents free of charge. Until this year, the camp had no electricity, leaving households reliant on solar lanterns given to them on arrival and street lighting installed in one of the two camp villages.

Affordable and sustainable
With electricity in Jordan an expensive commodity, by going green the UN Refugee Agency will make immediate savings of $1.5 million per year. It plans to plough these savings back into other areas where help is needed.
With plans to upgrade the photovoltaic plant from two to five megawatts further down the line, it will soon cover all of Azraq’s energy needs for its 36,000 residents.

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Alongside a green power source, the plant has also created income for 50 of the refugees, who helped build the solar farm alongside Jordanian solar company Mustakbal. Some of these refugees will also be in charge of maintenance work in the future.
Since 2011, 5 million people have fled Syria for Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. There are estimated to be 6.3m million internally displaced Syrians.
Bright idea
At a cost of €8.75m, the solar farm has been entirely funded by the Ikea Foundation’s ‘Brighter lives for refugees’ campaign, that has raised €30.8m for UNHCR projects across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The Ikea Foundation donated €1 to UNHCR for every LED light-bulb sold during the campaign period with the aim of bringing renewable energy and education to refugees.
Other projects funded by the Foundation include 22 biogas plants in Bangladesh, which process 15% of human waste to generate green fuel for cooking. It has also helped to train 740 teachers in Bangladesh, Chad and Ethiopia, enrolling 37,000 refugee children in primary school.
Business
Thailand Approves Latest Economic Relief Package for Businesses
Some 250 billion baht (US$8 billion) was allocated for soft loans while the remaining 100 billion baht (US$3.2 billion) will go towards an ‘asset warehousing’ program whereby debtors can use their assets as loan collateral but will have the right to redeem their assets under a specific time frame.

On March 23, 2021, Thailand’s government approved its latest economic relief package, valued at 350 billion baht (US$11.2 billion), to support businesses in the country.
Business
Asia-Pacific sees 3.9% growth in deal activity in February 2021

The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region saw a 3.9% month-on-month growth in deal activity (mergers & acquisitions, private equity and venture financing deals) from 1,126 deals to 1,170 deals in February 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Banking
Thai cabinet approves 350 billion baht Aid for COVID-hit Businesses
Thailand unveiled new measures to help small and medium COVID-hit businesses in the tourism industry hit by a liquidity crunch.

The Thai cabinet has approved assistance worth 350 billion baht($11 Billion) to help businesses affected by COVID-19 with soft loans and asset warehousing.