The Lao National Socio-Economic Research Institute has released a report on the state of the economy in Laos for 2021, as well as predicted trends and forecasts for 2022.
Manulife and St. James’ Settlement launch “FinKids Academy” to help children-in-need continue learning during school holidays and beyond
- New program under multi-year “Go Paperless Education Aid Program” utilizes virtual reality and FinTech that aims to raise primary kids’ financial literacy
- Immediate support provided to 40 primary students during the extended school holidays, with over 600 students to benefit in the coming school year
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 28 March 2022 – Manulife Hong Kong today announced the launch of a “FinKids Academy” program in conjunction with community partner St. James’ Settlement, as an immediate initiative to support the community amid ad-hoc changes to the school schedule. The program is designed to help underprivileged children equip themselves with future-ready skills, improved financial literacy and greater technology know-how from the safety of home.
The new “FinKids Academy” runs under Manulife’s “Go Paperless” Education Aid Program from March to May 2022. Swiftly developed in response to the rapidly spreading fifth wave of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, the initiative aims to help primary students acquire new skills through digital learning. The program will be fully launched in September this year with a total of over 600 students from 24 schools joining. A total of over 10,000 learning hours under the program will incorporate innovative technology, such as virtual reality (VR) and FinTech, to provide an immersive learning experience for the students.
“Manulife is committed to supporting the community through our expertise and network. Part of our mission is to improve financial literacy starting with those at a young age, so that they can plan early and be more financially-resilient as they grow,” said Raymond Ng, Vice President and Head of Hong Kong Retirement for Manulife Hong Kong and Macau. “We’re very grateful to our partner, St. James’ Settlement, for its tremendous support. The program will help kids learn core skills including coding, money planning, design thinking– invaluable tools for the future.”
The program offers hands-on learning that combines theory with practice using various digital tools. It covers basic coding knowledge, while exploring different types and uses of FinTech, digital currencies and how the metaverse will impact our future. The game-based learning utilizes VR in simulated day-to-day life situations with design thinking and mind-mapping tools.
Josephine Lee, Chief Executive Officer of St. James’ Settlement, said: “Schools here have endured two years of pandemic-related disruption and we see its impact on children’s education and well-being especially in less affluent areas. Given the extended holidays for students at the moment, it is vital to offer meaningful online educational programs to children. We are glad to have the participation of C.C.C. Chuen Yuen First Primary School and Ching Chung Hau Po Woon Primary School within such a short timeframe. We believe that this program will be welcomed by participating schools as it helps equip our underprivileged children with the financial literacy and digital skills in a fun and engaging way.”
Echoing the focus of this year’s Hong Kong Money Month, the program calls for the community to develop financial management skills and plan for the future.
“The use of smart technology to really engage with the students is unique and pioneering. Through this initiative, Manulife hopes to continue nurturing children’s financial knowledge using emerging technologies, so as to prepare them for prudent money planning and to be more ready to meet the challenges of a fast-evolving and unpredictable environment,” Mr. Ng added.
In 2020, Manulife’s “Go Paperless” Education Aid Program was successfully launched as a community project in partnership with SJS, with donation of 400 iPads to 13 primary schools, and hosting of virtual AI and financial literacy workshops for 400 students. It also ran a design competition for an “AI and financial planning mobile app” and “My ideal AI financial planning robot” among the students over the following school year.
About Manulife Hong Kong
Manulife Hong Kong, through Manulife International Holdings Limited, owns Manulife (International) Limited, Manulife Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited and Manulife Provident Funds Trust Company Limited. As a member of the Manulife group of companies, Manulife Hong Kong offers a diverse range of protection and wealth products and services to individual and corporate customers in Hong Kong and Macau.
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we provide financial advice and insurance, operating as Manulife across Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Through Manulife Investment Management, the global brand for our global wealth and asset management segment, we serve individuals, institutions and retirement plan members worldwide. Our principal operations are in Asia and Canada, and the United States, where we have served customers for more than 155 years. We trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under ‘945’ in Hong Kong. In the previous 12 months we made CAD$31.8 billion in payments to our customers.
Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulife.com.
About St. James’ Settlement
Founded by the Rt. Rev. Bishop R.O. Hall of the Anglican Church in 1949, St. James’ Settlement began as a club for boys and girls in a temple in Stone Nullah Lane, Wanchai. Our first centre outside Wanchai (named Central and Western District Elderly Community Centre) was established in 1990. Since then, different service centres have been developed and most of them are located along the north coast of Hong Kong Island, from The Belcher’s in Western to Hing Wah Estate in Chai Wan. In recent years, in view of the society’s ever changing needs, we have opened service centres in Kowloon and the New Territories. To date, our 73 service points are in operation across Hong Kong. By the end of September 2021, we have over 1,800 staff members to provide a vast range of high quality services for people of different ages and needs. In the past year, around 1,000 volunteers have helped in different service units.
In 2020-2021, St. James’ Settlement served more than 2.2 million person-times, and our target beneficiaries include children, teenagers, families, the elderly and people with disabilities. We provide a broad spectrum of services ranging from community support to residential care.
#ManulifeHongKong
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Kerry Logistics Network Retains Outstanding Global 3PL Title
Wins Quamnet Outstanding Enterprise Awards for the Seventh Consecutive Year
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 28 March 2022 – Kerry Logistics Network Limited (‘Kerry Logistics Network’; Stock Code 0636.HK) is proud to retain the Outstanding Global 3PL title for the fifth year running at the Quamnet Outstanding Enterprise Awards (‘QOEA’) 2021, winning a QOEA for the seventh consecutive time. The awards winners were announced today.
William Ma, Group Managing Director of Kerry Logistics Network, said, “Kerry Logistics Network is gratified to win the Outstanding Global 3PL title again. It is a great recognition of our effort and the quality KLN delivers to customers every day. We owe this to the dedication and wonderful teamwork of our people across the globe, who have been working hard to tackle various disruptions to the global supply chains and support customers and international organisations to meet everyday challenges. We will continue to deliver real value to our customers leveraging our extensive network coverage, deep local connection and solid industry know-how across diverse verticals.”
Now in its thirteenth edition, the QOEA is organised annually by Hong Kong financial news platform Quamnet to appraise and recognise the distinguished enterprises in Hong Kong. The awards were nominated and evaluated by a judging panel comprising members of the Quamnet editorial team, the Quam Research team and independent financial analysts.
An Asia-based, global 3PL with the strongest coverage in Asia, Kerry Logistics Network has been expanding its global footprint. In 2021, it has launched a new Trans-Pacific air freight service to connect multiple Asian locations to the USA and extended its coverage to Peru.
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 the strongest coverage in Asia. It offers a broad range of supply chain solutions from integrated logistics, international freight forwarding (air, ocean, road, rail and multimodal), industrial project logistics, to cross-border e-commerce, last-mile fulfilment and infrastructure investment.
With a global presence across 58 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$53 billion in 2020 and is the largest international logistics company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
#KerryLogisticsNetwork
About Quamnet Outstanding Enterprise Awards
Instituted in 2009, QOEA is organised by Quamnet, a leading financial website in Hong Kong, to identify and praise the excellent performance of Hong Kong enterprises. It has developed into an annual event with wide recognition and support from independent investors, media and industries.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
‘Asia for Asia’ Powering the Growth of Supply Chain Networks in the Region
- China’s capacity set to be increasingly allocated to domestic demand
- Network configuration, facility location and building specifications are key considerations for optimization of supply chains
- South East Asia and India set to be rising stars in supply chain networks
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 28 March 2022 – The COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years has put the spotlight on supply chain networks across the world, as supply disruptions became a major issue affecting the flow of trade globally and within regions. Asia’s role in global trade has also changed and with the growing importance in intraregional trade in Asia, corporations are having to reconfigure and build-out their logistics and industrial networks in the region, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s report, The Role of Asia Pacific in Global Supply Chains.
“As the world economies recover and businesses look for effective ways to address supply chain volatility, there is greater emphasis on being more resilient and designing flexible, responsive and efficient supply chain networks in the region to cater to regional needs. The rising ‘Asia for Asia’ approach sets the stage for the growth of supply chain networks in the region, particularly in South East Asia and India, and also highlights the critical factors that contribute towards the optimization of these networks,” said Tim Foster, Head of Supply Chain & Logistics Advisory, Asia Pacific at Cushman & Wakefield.
Cushman & Wakefield’s report, which looks at the impacts of disruption, customer buying behavior and the underlying megatrends on the design of supply chain and logistics networks, noted that Asian consumers are expected to buy more products originating from within the region and this trend is supported by the robust economic and demographic growth prospects for the region. By 2030, Asia is expected to account for over 40% of global economic output, 54% of the global population and a staggering 65% of the global middle class. The amount of trade taking place within Asia will therefore grow and have significant ramifications on the design of supply chain networks in the region.

While many businesses are still experiencing acute volatility in their supply chains due to COVID-related pressures, the situation is expected to ease somewhat towards the end of 2022. Given the predicted growth in the region over the next decade, the manufacture of technology-based products in Asia will grow, with South East Asia and India set to be the rising stars in the region’s supply chain networks.
“Asia will continue to be a key source of finished goods for global markets. The manufacture of components and sub-assemblies will increase in markets like Vietnam, Indonesia and India and these markets will move up the value chain and begin producing more finished goods. Food and beverage will drive growth in intraregional trade given their perishable nature and the need for cold chain integrity and traceability, with Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Malaysia being key markets,” noted Mr. Foster.

“China is the leading example in the growing trend of consumers in Asia consuming more of the product made in Asia. Ahead, and into the next decade, we can expect that more and more of China’s supply chain capacity will go towards servicing domestic demand. Supply chain success for China will be dependent on adopting a customer-centric view, such as with the growth of e-commerce adoption. China’s online retail penetration rate is already the highest in the region by a considerable margin,” said Tony Su, Managing Director, Head of Industrial & Logistics Property Services, China at Cushman & Wakefield.
Designing and configuring supply chains to meet changing consumer demands, taking advantage of the megatrends around demographics, urbanization and technological advances, and factoring in structural shifts and disruption have a direct impact on demand for logistics and industrial real estate.
The growth of online retail has resulted in the rapid infill of last mile eCommerce networks, driving demand for space in sub-markets near major metropolitan areas that are well serviced by transportation networks. New development of real estate facilities must also adopt technology, automation and predictive analytics to plan and flow inventory from vendors to consumers to accelerate order fulfilment and space efficiency. Transparency and sustainability are also becoming increasingly important, with suppliers often required to provide information on their health, safety, labour and environmental practices, which then cascade downstream through the supply chain as corporations seek to meet their own Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) targets.
Given the rising cost of industrial property and the fact that approximately 80% of the value and cost of a supply chain network is locked in at the design stage, Cushman & Wakefield identified three key real estate considerations to optimize supply chain across the region.
- Network configuration – this will be dependent upon several factors, not least the footprint required for fast and efficient material and product flows as well as required storage capacity. Pressure on lean supply chains drives the need to consolidate the number of facilities to build scale while an agile network will be designed across a greater number of facilities.
- Facility location – understanding lead times is a significant driver of location requirements and it is important to know how much inventory needs to be held in relation to the consumer compared to further back in the supply chain.
- Building specifications – the pace of innovation has meant that specifications for prime-grade logistics buildings continue to advance. Building specifications should follow the needs of the customer, business requirements and facility processes, flows, layouts and automation.
Mr. Foster said, “Corporations need to focus on building resilience and flexibility into the supply chain. From a real estate perspective, the implications for industrial property abound but it is important to remember that real estate demand is the product of supply chain optimization. The key is to first design the optimal supply chain network, then execute on real estate requirements. Bringing these factors together in a coherent way provides the strongest approach to navigate short term and longer-term transformation.”
Click here to download The Role of Asia Pacific in Global Supply Chains report.
Please click here to download the images.
About Cushman & Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global real estate services firm that delivers exceptional value for real estate occupiers and owners. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest real estate services firms with approximately 50,000 employees in over 400 offices and 60 countries. Across Greater China, 22 offices are servicing the local market. The company won four of the top awards in the Euromoney Survey 2017, 2018 and 2020 in the categories of Overall, Agency Letting/Sales, Valuation and Research in China. In 2021, the firm had revenue of $9.4 billion across core services of property, facilities and project management, leasing, capital markets, valuation and other services. To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com.hk or follow us on LinkedIn (
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cushman-&-wakefield-greater-china).
#Cushman&Wakefield
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Laos Confirms 1,263 New Cases of Covid-19
Laos has recorded 1,263 cases of Covid-19 across the country today.
Capella Hotel Group Wins Praise For New Commitment To Source Only Cage-Free Eggs
“The Capella Hotel Group places a high value on ethical and environmental standards in its operations and is aware of its customers’ concern about animal welfare,” said Eric Guth, the group’s Food & Beverage Corporate Director. “The goal to source only cage-free eggs for our global services by 2024 reflects our commitment to working toward a supply chain that is more compassionate to animals and safer for consumers.”
The leading luxury hospitality group, with locations in Singapore, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Maldives, will implement the shift at all locations for all eggs purchased by the Group, and will later extend the policy to cover all externally sourced food products. Despite the severe impact caused by the ongoing global outbreak of COVID-19, Capella Shanghai, along with its partnered Michelin-starred French fine dining restaurant Le Comptoir de Pierre Gagnaire and French café La Boulangerie, has already completed the shift to using only cage-free eggs in all operations.
“We applaud Capella Hotel Group’s commitment on this important animal welfare issue”, said Lily Tse, Sustainability Program Director at Lever Foundation, which worked with the group on its commitment. “The pledge to go cage-free reaffirms the Group’s commitment to providing the finest hospitality experience for all their guests and demonstrates their ethical business standard.”
An increasing number of international hospitality brands and hundreds of leading food companies have committed to using only cage-free eggs, which have dramatically lower risks of salmonella contamination than caged eggs, higher food quality, and are more humane to animals. Cage-free production improves animal welfare conditions by allowing laying hens to move around freely in their environment and engage in natural behaviors.
ABOUT LEVER FOUNDATION
Lever Foundation is a global NGO with staff operating across Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America. Lever Foundation works with leading companies to help them upgrade their protein sourcing for a more humane, safe and sustainable supply chain, with a focus on cage-free eggs and alternative protein.
About Capella Hotel Group
Capella Hotel Group is a leading hospitality management company specialising in luxury hotels, resorts, and serviced residence. Based in Singapore, the rapidly-expanding group has two brands under its portfolio and properties across eight destinations. The award-winning Capella Hotels and Resorts is renowned for its service excellence, crafted luxury design and immersive experiences celebrating the locale, while Patina Hotels and Resorts is the group’s sophisticated lifestyle brand, designed for progressive travellers with a creative mindset and penchant for sustainability.
Capella Hotel Group is also the founder of award-winning spa concept, Auriga, as well as Flow, which offers a refreshing, high-tech perspective to wellness.
#LeverFoundation
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Korean Organization Donates Ambulances to Laos
Korean Organization Donates Ambulances to Laos
Korea’s ASA Foundation has donated a fleet of ambulances to Laos to assist in the country’s Covid-19 prevention efforts.
NCS completes quad of investments in Australia, accelerates digital regionalisation with acquisition of ARQ Group
- Acquisition scales up NCS NEXT in Australia with compelling end-to-end digital transformation value proposition for clients
- Completes quad of investments in Australia that transforms NCS into regional IT and digital powerhouse across Singapore and Australia
- Increases in-market headcount to 1,900 and accelerates digital talent development
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 28 March 2022 – NCS today announced its acquisition of fast-growing digital services firm ARQ Group (ARQ) in Australia for A$290 million. The move brings to scale NCS NEXT in Australia, which now offers a compelling end-to-end digital transformation value proposition for clients. Headquartered in Melbourne, with offices in Sydney and Brisbane, ARQ has deep expertise in cloud, digital, data and analytics solutions, and is one of the fastest-growing digital services company in Australia.
ARQ’s revenue is projected to reach A$118M by end 2022 representing a year-on-year increase of 38%, while EBITDA is projected to increase to A$18.4M. The acquisition price represents an EV/EBITDA multiple of 15.7 times[1], reflecting NCS’ confidence in the prospects of ARQ and expected synergies with the rest of its operations.
This investment is NCS’ fourth in Australia in the past 15 months as it expands its footprint in a market strategic to its regionalisation plans. NCS recently acquired Australia’s largest privately-owned IT services company, The Dialog Group (Dialog) following 2 previous investments: cloud consultancy Riley that specialises in Google cloud applications and a majority investment in cloud transformation specialist Eighty20 Solutions that has unique capabilities across Microsoft platforms.
Mr Ng Kuo Pin, CEO of NCS, said, “This latest acquisition completes a jigsaw of strategic investments in Australia, ramping up our presence in a market that is critical to our regional expansion. Combined with Dialog’s core IT capabilities and extensive reach across 8 Australian cities, ARQ brings on board the right digital competencies that help create a highly compelling end-to-end digital transformation value proposition. Taken together, our four investments to date have given us the necessary scale, capabilities and credibility to compete as a regional digital powerhouse as we help governments and enterprises in Singapore and Australia achieve their digital transformation goals.”
Accelerating digital sector growth in Australia
As one of the largest fast-growing digital services providers in Australia, ARQ has a strong client coverage and serves half of ASX’s top 20 companies across diverse sectors in financial services, utilities, retail, healthcare, travel and government. This includes ANZ bank, AustralianSuper, Domino’s, Qantas, Transurban, nib, NAB, The Coffee Club, NSW Rural Fire Services, Queensland Government – Department of Education, Victoria State Government – Department of Transport, and more.
ARQ has a strong partnership ecosystem across major cloud hyperscalers in Australia and its expertise in delivering tailored tech innovation at scale through its 560-strong team will bolster NCS NEXT capabilities in digital, cloud, data and platforms to fulfill growing digital transformation demand in Australia’s large addressable market.
IDC expects that Digital services in APAC will grow at a CAGR of 14.6% from 2020 to 2025, reaching US$170.6 billion in 2025. In Australia, Digital services are expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.7% from 2020 to 2025 to US$12.1 billion in 2025.[2]
Mr Tristan Sternson, CEO of ARQ, said, “Joining the NCS family is a tremendous opportunity to continue growing the business as it now allows us to go international and serve regional clients besides capturing more domestic market share by leveraging synergies within NCS. We are well primed for expansion, having grown our government footprint to over a third of our business, acquired many new customers and hired 300 new talents on board. We intend to keep optimising NCS’ world-class IT and digital capabilities to keep building innovative solutions for our clients.”
NCS NEXT as a regional digital powerhouse
As part of its transformational growth plan, NCS has been scaling its presence in Australia since December 2020 to serve Australian clients through NCS NEXT, its digital innovation and services arm – which supports enterprises’ growing demand for digital transformation solutions.
Ms Wynthia Goh, Senior Partner of NCS NEXT, said, “We look forward to welcoming ARQ into the NCS NEXT family. ARQ’s highly experienced and scalable agile teams will become part of NEXT as one regional digital team to serve clients across the region in the post-pandemic era. Together, we will unlock more synergies between Australia and Singapore and enable cross-pollination of tech innovation.”
Spurs digital talent development
ARQ’s 560-strong team will increase NCS’ headcount in Australia to 1,900 and build a robust tech talent pipeline to support the growing digital transformation needs of clients in the region. With increased workforce mobility, employees and future talents will be able to explore diverse and exciting career opportunities across various geographies and industries to serve clients through a hybrid delivery model.
ARQ embraces a strong people culture and its talents adopt an innovation-first mindset to design and develop solutions – evident in their 572 technical certifications, 62 design awards and 17 certified partnerships. NCS’ focus on an apprenticeship-based learning culture is similar to ARQ Academy’s emphasis on self-learning and innovation, and the combination of both teams will reinvent talent development and answers the tech talent crunch in both Australia and Singapore.
The acquisition is subject to the receipt of the relevant regulatory approvals and is expected to complete by May 2022.
About NCS
NCS, a subsidiary of Singtel Group, is a leading technology services firm with presence in Asia Pacific and partners with governments and enterprises to advance communities through technology. Combining the experience and expertise of its 10,000-strong team across 55 specialisations, NCS provides differentiated and end-to-end technology services to clients with its NEXT capabilities in digital, cloud and platforms, as well as core offerings in application, infrastructure, engineering and cybersecurity. NCS also believes in building a strong partner ecosystem with leading technology players, research institutions and start-ups to support open innovation and co-creation. For more information, visit ncs.co.
#NCS
About ARQ
ARQ Group is a multi-award-winning digital and tech services firm with a client base spanning Government, enterprise, and more than half of Australia’s top 20 ASX-listed companies. A local company with a 26-year heritage of technological innovation, ARQ also delivers advisory, design and managed services of digital solutions. As part of its transformation since 2019 and under the leadership of Australian tech pioneer and CEO Tristan Sternson, the company launched education programs ARQademy, TDx, and ARQ Bootcamp, designed to provide meaningful impact on the local skills shortage. For more information, visit arq.group.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.