HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 April 2024 – AS Watson is pleased to announce the promotion of Malina Ngai to GroupCEO, effective from 1st May 2024.
Malina Ngai currently holds the position of Group Chief Operating Officer, AS Watson, and Chief Executive Officer, AS Watson (Asia & Europe). Congratulating on her promotion, Dominic Lai, Group Co-Managing Director of CK Hutchison and Group Managing Director of AS Watson said, “After a very fulfilling 17 years of leading the AS Watson Group, I think it is the appropriate time to pass on the baton. Malina has been crucial in successfully driving AS Watson’s digital transformation, implementing the O+O (Offline plus Online) business model, and fostering positive cultural change in the past decade.
“Malina has worked in CK Hutchison and AS Watson for 24 years. Her career path started in corporate communications and later expanded to international management positions in international buying, technology development, sales operations, marketing, big data, and sustainability. She demonstrated strong adaptability, strategic agility, and the ability to drive tremendous momentum across the entire organisation. Her significant achievements have continued to propel our organisation forward. Malina is perfectly prepared for this role.”
“As the Group CEO of AS Watson, Malina will be fully in charge of defining our vision, leading the team to formulate strategies to meet our strategic objectives of putting customers first and continuing the growth journey of our global portfolio. All senior leaders who currently report to me will report to Malina. I will assume the position of Chairman of AS Watson.”
Malina joined CK Hutchison (formerly Hutchison Whampoa), the parent company of AS Watson, in 2000. She started with Hutchison Port Holdings, and then at Hutchison Whampoa Corporate Affairs Department. She was transferred to AS Watson in 2001 and has taken on various leadership roles, becoming Group Chief Operating Officer in 2013 and CEO of AS Watson (Asia & Europe) in 2019. Before joining CK Hutchison, Malina worked in sports marketing consultancy and the Hong Kong SAR Government’s statutory body for sports development.
Malina has a doctoral degree and a master’s degree in business administration, a master’s degree in finance, and a bachelor’s degree in sports administration. She was a competitive athlete and won a bronze medal for Hong Kong at the 1994 Asian Games.
The appointment is effective from 1st May 2024. Hashtag: #ASWatson
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 April 2024 – Kerry Logistics Network Limited (‘Kerry Logistics Network’, ‘KLN’; Stock Code 0636.HK), through its subsidiary Kerry eCommerce Limited (‘Kerry eCommerce’), has signed a memorandum of understanding (‘MOU’) on Global Customs Clearance with Menzies Aviation Limited (‘Menzies Aviation’) and Menzies Macau Airport Services Limited to launch the global customs clearance collaboration project. The tripartite MOU was jointly signed by Frankie Choy, Director of Kerry eCommerce, James Wong, Senior Vice President for Southeast Asia and China at Menzies Aviation, and Raymond Lo, Managing Director of Menzies Macau Airport Services Limited.
The signing of the MOU marks the official launch of the global customs clearance collaboration project, which aims to strengthen Macau Airport’s e-commerce cargo competitiveness and provide seamless customs clearance services for Kerry eCommerce export through Macau. Kerry eCommerce will leverage the strengths of Menzies Aviation’s network of 255 destinations around the world, with Macau Airport as a hub, to ensure that all goods handled by Kerry eCommerce passing through Macau can depart smoothly and achieve fast and efficient transportation through convenient customs clearance procedures in Macau.
Menzies Aviation is a global leader in aviation services, with operations across six continents, providing air ground handling services to 255 destinations in more than 60 markets. As a part of Menzies Aviation, Menzies Macau Airport Services Limited focuses on a full range of one-stop airport services and continues to empower the shipping of Macau International Airport.
Frankie Choy, Director of Kerry eCommerce, said, “Cross-border e-commerce is currently the fastest-growing segment of international trade. Consumers demand more reliable and faster deliveries than ever. This partnership will give us leverage on shipping internationally with swift and efficient cross-border deliveries that ensure a competitive advantage for our e-commerce customers.”
James Wong, Senior Vice President for Southeast Asia and China at Menzies Aviation, said, “Menzies Aviation is proud to be a part of this tripartite MOU with Kerry eCommerce and our Joint Venture at Menzies Macau Airport Services Limited. Together, we will explore new opportunities and effect positive changes for the mutual benefits of all parties. We look forward to working together.”
In response to the growing global demand for trade and freight, this collaboration project fully integrates the expertise and resources of Kerry eCommerce, Menzies Aviation and Menzies Macau Airport Services Limited to provide faster, more efficient and reliable customs clearance services, achieving a win-win situation for all three parties. The three parties will work together to ensure the smooth customs clearance of goods and collaborate on end-to-end solutions on a global scale to support the strong development of e-commerce logistics. Hashtag: #KerryLogisticsNetwork
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About Kerry Logistics Network Limited (Stock Code 0636.HK)
Kerry Logistics Network is an Asia-based, global 3PL with a highly diversified business portfolio and extensive coverage in Asia. It offers a broad range of supply chain solutions from integrated logistics, international freight forwarding (air, ocean, road, rail and multimodal) and e-commerce to industrial project logistics and infrastructure investment.
With a global presence across 60 countries and territories, Kerry Logistics Network has established a solid foothold in half of the world’s emerging markets. Its diverse infrastructure, extensive coverage in international gateways and local expertise span across the Mainland of China, India, Southeast Asia, the CIS, Middle East, LATAM and other locations.
Kerry Logistics Network generated a revenue of over HK$47.4 billion in 2023. It is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Benchmark Index.
About Menzies Aviation Limited
Menzies Aviation, a global leader in aviation services, operates across six continents and provides ground services to 255 destinations in over 60 markets. As part of Menzies Aviation, Menzies Macau Airport Services Limited specialises in comprehensive one-stop airport services, contributing to the efficient operation of Macau International Airport.
People donating their blood (photo: World Health Organization)
The National Blood Transfusion Center, operated by the Lao Red Cross, is facing challenges in meeting hospitals’ demand for blood due to an increasing need for treating road accident victims and patients with thalassemia.
The service center sees over 90 percent increase in facility space and is equipped with a fully automated sorting system to support the growing demands of air trade and international express delivery
Highlighting eco-friendly and innovative features, the new center stands as DHL Express Hong Kong’s first LEED Gold certified service center.
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 April 2024 – DHL Express, the world’s leading international express service provider, has announced the launch of the DHL Express Hong Kong West Service Center (KWC). With an investment of HKD$1.5 billion, the new fully automated, eco-friendly facility substantiates DHL’s long-term growth plan and infrastructural investments in Hong Kong. As the first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold-certified service center in Hong Kong, the facility has incorporated sustainability from the design to operations to ensure the new facility is aligned with the company’s 2050 net-zero emissions mission.
DHL Express today announces the launch of the DHL Express Hong Kong West Service Center (KWC). With an investment of HKD$1.5 billion, the new fully automated, eco-friendly facility substantiates DHL’s long-term growth plan and infrastructural investments in Hong Kong. Officiating guests include: Boris Chui, Vice President of Operations of DHL Express Hong Kong (second from left); Sean Wall, Executive Vice President of Network Operations and Aviation of DHL Express Asia Pacific (first from left); Ken Lee, CEO of DHL Express Asia Pacific (middle); Andy Chiang, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of DHL Express Hong Kong and Macau (second from right); and Andrew Tsoi, Hong Kong West Service Center Manager of DHL Express Hong Kong.
Boosting an increase of over 90 percent in the site area, the new facility is now more efficient with enhanced capacity to address the increasing demand for international express services within the city and from around the world. Featuring a fully automated sorting system, the new facility can handle over 50,000 shipments a day and highlights a double increase in sorting capacity compared to its predecessor. The facility is also newly equipped with inline reweighing and dimensioning machines and 100% inline X-ray screening to facilitate greater operational efficiency and accuracy in shipment handling.
“The recent launch of our expanded Central Asia Hub at the Hong Kong International Airport and the opening of this fully automated Hong Kong West Service Center strengthen our network and capabilities. It also reinforces our commitment to enhancing Hong Kong’s position as an international trade and logistics hub,” said Andy Chiang, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of DHL Express Hong Kong and Macau. “At DHL, we keep sustainability close to heart. Earning the first LEED Gold certification for our service center in Hong Kong is a testament to our ongoing efforts to reduce our carbon footprint across all operations. DHL will continue to invest in low-emission solutions, sustainable energy sources, greener vehicle fleet and facilities to further enhance operational efficiency while minimizing the environmental impact.”
Gearing up to address growing trade demand
The timely unveiling of this new facility is aligned with the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s plan to develop the city into a sustainable, international, smart logistics hub focusing on high-value goods and e-commerce markets. Building upon the growth potential of the Greater Bay Area, the completion of the Three Runway System this year and the projected increase in Hong Kong’s exports by four to six percent[1], the new facility is well poised to capitalize on potential business opportunities.
Taking steps towards green and sustainable logistics
In line with the HKSAR Government’s aim to promote the development of green and sustainable logistics, and DHL’s commitment to the environment, the new KWC has incorporated eco-friendly design principles into its operations. It is DHL Express Hong Kong’s first service center to earn the LEED gold certification, a globally recognized green building rating system of sustainability achievements. The new KWC, addresses customers’ demand for sustainable logistics solutions, along with DHL’s fleet of electric vehicles and its GoGreen Plus service, a recent offering that allows carbon emission reduction associated with shipping through the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
Key sustainable features of KWC include:
Expandable electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, with the capacity to support over 30 EV chargers and meet DHL Express’ future demands of EV fleet expansion
100% battery-operated forklifts to reduce carbon emissions
Building management system and smart meters are deployed for remote monitoring and control of energy consumption
All lightings are equipped with dimmable LEDs powered by smart controls, thereby minimizing electricity consumption. The system is programmed to turn off lights during non-peak hours and switch off lights when rooms are unoccupied
Highly efficient air-conditioning system and big ceiling fans are installed for better ventilation and for more efficient energy consumption
Strategically located in the Tuen Mun West – a dedicated logistics site assigned by the HKSAR Government to support modern logistics development, the new KWC enjoys direct access to Hong Kong’s major transport network. It takes only a 20-minute drive to the Hong Kong International Airport via Tuen Chek tunnel – and is close to container terminals and mainland China. The robust transportation network offers shippers faster access to markets and enhanced connectivity through DHL’s global network covering over 220 countries and territories.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
DHL – The logistics company for the world
DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With about 395,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global sustainable trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, engineering, manufacturing & energy, auto-mobility and retail, DHL is decisively positioned as “The logistics company for the world”.
DHL is part of DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 81.8 billion euros in 2023. With sustainable business practices and a commitment to society and the environment, the Group makes a positive contribution to the world. DHL Group aims to achieve net-zero emissions logistics by 2050.
Representatives from Mekong Basin nations, along with development partners, convened at the Mekong River Commission (MRC) Secretariat to mark the 29th Mekong Day, focusing on initiatives to preserve and improve the health of the Mekong Basin.
Diverse and vibrant activities showcased the value of engineering profession Nurturing the young generation to inherit the responsibility of urban development
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 April 2024 – “Hong Kong Engineers Week 2024”, organised by The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE), concluded with a diverse array of captivating and inspiring activities and competitions. It brought unforgettable moments for citizens and the industry, receiving enthusiastic responses from all sectors and achieving unprecedented success, thus providing a perfect ending to “Hong Kong Engineers Week 2024.”
Ir Dr Barry LEE Chi Hong, the HKIE President stated, “The ‘Hong Kong Engineers Week 2024’ featured seven activities that were planned and implemented over several months. Among them, the annual family event, ‘Hong Kong Engineers Week Carnival,’ was eagerly anticipated by the public and received unprecedented success, attracting over 46,000 participants. By organising the carnival, we not only provided the public with joyful moments but also demonstrated how engineering technologies are applied in daily life, allowing citizens to understand the importance and value of engineering. A remarkable attendance of more than 1,300 visitors was recorded throughout the ‘Career Fairs’. On behalf of the HKIE, I sincerely thank the industry and the public for their active support and participation.”
The Carnival with the theme “Be the Change”, successfully organised a series of activities with different perspectives, including the “Hong Kong Engineers Week Carnival,” “Engineer Alliance”, “Our Dream City” Primary School Design Competition”, “Our Future Engineers” Secondary Student Quiz Contest, “Guangdong – Hong Kong – Macao Greater Bay Area Tertiary Institution Innovation Project Invitational Competition”, “Career Fairs”, and “The HKIE Grand Awards 2024”.
After intense competition, the results of multiple matches have been determined. In the “Engineer Alliance”, Ir Eva LEE Ho Yan emerged as the Captain, while Mr Anthony CHAN Chun Yip and Miss Miro CHAN Sum Chau became Vice-captain. In the “Our Dream City” primary school design competition, Precious Blood Primary School, St. Francis of Assisi’s Caritas School (Team 2), and Chai Wan Kok Catholic Primary School (Team 1) were crowned as the Champion, First Runner-up, and Second Runner-up, respectively. The Champion, First Runner-up and Second Runner-up of “Our Future Engineers” Secondary Student Quiz Contest were awarded to Shun Tak Fraternal Association Leung Kau Kui College, Immaculate Heart of Mary Collegeand Shun Tak Fraternal Association Yung Yau College. As for the joint team composed of the Hong Kong Metropolitan University and Shenzhen Institute of Technology emerged as the Overall Champions of the invitational competition tournament in the “Guangdong – Hong Kong – Macao Greater Bay Area Tertiary Institution Innovation Project Invitational Competition”.
Ir Dr Barry LEE Chi Hong, said” Through various industry and academic competitions, we witnessed a group of talented young engineers and students who showcased their innovative spirit and problem-solving abilities. It is truly gratifying and proud to see the unlimited potential of the younger generation in the field of engineering. Moving forward, we will continue to cultivate the interest of the younger generation in engineering work, inheriting the responsibility of driving Hong Kong’s development.”
The successful conclusion of “Hong Kong Engineers Week 2024” marks the end of an exciting chapter but also signals a new beginning. The Institution will continue its efforts to promote the development of the engineering field and organise more educational and impactful activities in collaboration with various sectors, working together to build a better future.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About the HKIE
The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) – previously The Engineering Society of Hong Kong – was founded in 1947. In 1975, the HKIE was incorporated under the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Ordinance, Chapter 1105 of the Laws of Hong Kong. Today the HKIE has over 34,000 members, of which around 17,000 are Corporate Members.
The Institution aims to bring together engineers of different disciplines for their common good. The HKIE is committed to upholding the quality of membership, and sets standards for the training and admission of engineers from 22 engineering disciplines. It also has strict rules governing members’ conduct and is dedicated to raising the ethical standards of professional engineers in Hong Kong. For more information about the HKIE, please visit https://hkie.org.hk
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 April 2024 – Geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) is an interdisciplinary field that combines geospatial science and artificial intelligence (AI). The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is harnessing innovative GeoAI technologies to provide ground-breaking solutions for some of the environmental and social challenges facing the world today, in various fields including transportation, urban and public safely, planning, climate change and natural disasters.
Prof. Qihao Weng, Chair Professor of Geomatics and Artificial Intelligence of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, and Global STEM Professor, is also the Principal Investigator and Director of the PolyU Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Geomatics.
Prof. Qihao WENG, Chair Professor of Geomatics and Artificial Intelligence of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, and Global STEM Professor, established the PolyU Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Geomatics (RCAIG), to focus on the development of original and innovative AI methodologies and technologies for geomatics and their applications in urban areas, with the goal of it becoming a global R&D hub in GeoAI. Prof. Weng has recently been honoured with the 2024 American Association of Geographers (AAG) Wilbanks Prize for Transformational Research in Geography and the 2024 AAG Remote Sensing Specialty Group Lifetime Achievement Honor Award for his ground-breaking contributions in geography.
One direction for the Research Centre is investigation into human-environment interactions in urbanisation by utilising geospatial analytics, GeoAI and big data methods. Another direction is to create various data products of global urban areas using Earth Observations (EO) and to provide EO-based urban data services.
As RCAIG Principal Investigator and Director, Prof. Weng said, “Earth observation is important as a guiding compass for understanding changes in the environment and society. Our research focuses on diverse fields including geospatial big data and AI, remote sensing, ground-based sensors, navigation and positioning, surveying and geodesy, laser scanning, and photogrammetry. These technologies play a crucial role in addressing and resolving key environmental and social challenges.”
In particular, GeoAI has revolutionised building monitoring by utilising thousands of learnable parameters. An illustration of this is its ability to automatically learn and identify general patterns of buildings such as colour and shape. This technology is crucially applied to detect disaster-damaged buildings, retrieve building height, identify structural changes and estimate building energy consumption. As a result, GeoAI has emerged as a mainstream solution for more efficient and insightful building monitoring.
Environmental monitoring
In the field of urbanisation monitoring, an RCAIG research team has developed an impervious surface area based urban cellular automata (CA) model that can simulate the fractional change of urban areas within each grid by utilising annual urban extent time series data obtained from satellite observations. By categorising the historical pathways of urban area growth into different levels of urbanisation, the model offers more detailed insights compared to traditional, binary, CA models. This demonstrates its great potential in supporting sustainable development.
Research conducted by Ms Wanru HE, an RCAIG doctoral research assistant, and her team was reported in the paper “Modeling gridded urban fractional change using the temporal context information in the urban cellular automata model“, and has been published in Cities. Their model effectively captures the dynamics of urban sprawl with significantly improved computational efficiency and performance, and will help enable the modelling of urban growth at regional and even global level, under diverse future urbanisation scenarios.
GeoAI for traffic management
In the area of smart traffic management, to enhance the efficiency of ride-hailing platforms and achieve intelligent management of their services, the RCAIG research team has developed a multi-agent order matching and vehicle repositioning approach. This innovative technology focuses on coordinating the supply and demand of ride-hailing services, ultimately aiming to improve their overall efficiency.
Their approach provides a ground-breaking solution to tackle two critical aspects necessary for efficient ride-hailing services. Firstly, it addresses order matching by efficiently assigning orders to available vehicles. Secondly, it incorporates proactive vehicle repositioning, strategically deploying idle vehicles to regions with potentially high demand.
Based on multi-agent deep reinforcement learning, this innovation solves the complex planning issues in transportation and offers a new perspective on a long-term spatio-temporal planning problem. The research conducted by Ms Mingyue XU, another RCAIG researcher, and her team, was reported in the paper “Multi-agent reinforcement learning to unify order-matching and vehicle-repositioning in ride-hailing services“, and has been published in the International Journal of Geographical Information Science. The study achieved outstanding results, including reduced passenger rejection rates and driver idle time.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About RCAIG
With a focus on GeoAI, RCAIG is dedicated to conducting research in diverse fields, including urban building and energy, urban safety and security, environmental monitoring and conservation, urban resilience and public health. This aligns with the 11th United Nations Sustainable Development Goal, which aims to create inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements. Website: https://rcaig.com/
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 April 2024 – 2024 is without doubt is a year for Asia’s boom and India’s resilience against atrocities of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing geopolitical tensions, and elevated interest rates. The latter of which has been catching a lot of attention recently from a foreign direct investment perspective. Many analysts speculate that India might be entering a decade-long era of infrastructure development, especially after it surpassed China as the country with the world’s largest population.
The administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has focused on supporting economic growth, reducing the fiscal deficit, and working around fostering businesses. Pro-growth policies included liberalisation of corporate tax and reduced caps on foreign ownership along with infrastructure development, an area that was earlier lagging, has been in focus in the last couple of budgets.
India’s expanding, working-age labour force could also help propel the next leg of economic growth. India’s demographic advantage – a population with a median age of around 29 years makes India more attractive to domestic and foreign companies. By 2030, India will be home to 1 billion working-age adults who are also becoming wealthier and driving domestic demand. Its strategic location and tax incentives along with its young, well-educated, and inexpensive labour force, are also enticing.
From a financial market standpoint, the Gift Nifty index represents an emerging market with an elevated growth outlook driven by robust domestic consumption. Multi-faceted opportunities across large, small, and mid-caps can be witnessed and presently the retail flows into domestic mutual funds, by Indian investors, is pretty significant. Attractive earnings pose as the cherry on top with ample room for improvement as businesses focus on ramping earnings and Return on Equity. Double-digit growth in corporate earnings is starting to reflect India’s high GDP growth forecasts which many analysts believe is likely a trend that will continue.
From a long-term perspective, analysts believe that India is on the cusp of a new era, as it benefits from wide-ranging pro-growth reforms. India’s real GDP growth rate of the past 20 years has averaged 6%–7% annually, which is not just higher than many developed and emerging markets, but is showing sufficient signs to indicate that it could potentially continue.
Capturing Opportunities in the Indian Market
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About Phillip Nova
Phillip Nova (formerly known as Phillip Futures) was inaugurated in 1983 as a member of PhillipCapital Group and is one of the founding clearing members of Singapore Exchange Derivatives Trading (SGX-DT). Phillip Nova have since grown to become one of the region’s top brokerages for the trading of Stocks, ETFs, CFD, Forex, global Futures and Commodities. The Group has clearing memberships in 21 global exchanges, including APEX, BMD, CME Group exchanges, DGCX, HKEX, ICDX, ICE Singapore, JPX Group exchanges, NSE, TFEX, TOCOM and SGX Group exchanges.