State enterprises in Laos are to be reformed under a new plan outlined by the government that could see top executives sacked.
Riot Games Southeast Asia Announces Challengers Playoffs for VALORANT Champions Tour 2021: Stage 3
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 12 August 2021 – Due to emergent COVID-19 developments in our key tournament markets, the group stage of the VCT Stage 3 – Challengers SEA – Playoffs will be pushed back by one day and will now take place between 13 – 16 August. This change does not affect the Playoffs finals dates which remain from 19 – 22 August, and the overall tournament format and our roster of casters will remain the same.
The health and safety of our teams and crew are our top priority. Given these recent developments with the pandemic, we are opting to hold a more streamlined event that will ensure the safety of all participants while delivering an exciting viewing experience to fans across the region.
VCT STAGE 3 – CHALLENGERS SEA – PLAYOFFS OVERVIEW
16 teams in the VALORANT Champions Tour Stage 3 – Challengers SEA will meet for two intense weekends of competition on 13-16 and 19-22 August as the region’s best teams compete for one of two slots to represent Southeast Asia at the upcoming Masters 3: Berlin in September 2021, where they will play shoulder-to-shoulder with the best teams from North America, EMEA, Brazil, LATAM, Japan and Korea. These teams are also competing for championship points that will count towards qualification at VALORANT Champions, the final event of the 2021 VCT.
WHICH TEAMS ARE QUALIFIED?
16 teams have proven their mettle against hundreds of participants during the VCT Stage 3 Challengers Qualifiers period that took place throughout the month of July. The following teams have demonstrated strong regional performances and have earned their country slot in the VCT Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs through the qualifier tournaments. Here are the qualified teams –
GROUP A ● Bren Esports (PH) ● CBT Gaming (TW/HK) ● EGO (VN) ● Sharper Esports (TH)
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GROUP B ● Onic Esports (ID) ● Full Sense (TH) ● Five Aces (TW/HK) ● Paper Rex (MY/SG)
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GROUP C ● X10 Esports (TH) ● Galaxy Racer (PH) ● Team Big BAAM (VN) ● BOOM Esports (ID)
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GROUP D ● UwU (MY/SG) ● Alter Ego (ID) ● Cerberus Esports (VN) ● Oasis Gaming (PH)
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Teams have been segmented into groups based on regional performance at previous events throughout 2021. Given Vietnamese teams were unfortunately unable to participate in the VCT Stage 1 competitions back in March 2021, Riot has allotted 3 seeds to Vietnam for the Stage 3 Playoffs in Pool 3 providing Vietnamese teams with an opportunity to gain circuit points in this playoff round.
HOW DO THE VCT STAGE 3 – CHALLENGERS SEA – PLAYOFFS WORK?
Playoffs will take place over two weekends. In the 1st weekend (13-16 August), teams will be drawn into 4 groups that will play single round robin, best-of-2 matches where they will be awarded points based on the best-of-2 results. Groups in this first weekend cannot have two teams from the same region. Points in this group stage will be awarded along the following outcomes:
- A 2-0 result would provide the winner with 3 points
- A 1-1 draw will award 1 point to both teams
- Tiebreakers will be decided by head-to-head scores based on maps and then rounds
The 2 best teams from each group will then move on to the Playoff finals in the 2nd weekend (19-22 August). These teams will be drawn into an 8 team, double elimination bracket with the added rule that teams from the same group cannot meet each other in the first round. 2 teams will emerge victorious and will move on to represent Southeast Asia in Masters 3: Berlin in September 2021.
All 16 teams will be competing for a combined prize pool of USD 100,000 and a total of 260 championship points.
HOW TO WATCH & STAY UPDATED
The action starts on Friday, August 13th, with matches commencing from 11:00am GMT+8 during the two tournament weekends. Twitch will continue to be the English broadcast partner for VCT Challengers Stage 3. Full details of the schedule can be found on VALORANTesports.com or on our local partner pages, with broadcasts for the following languages –
- English: PPGL Twitch, VALORANT Twitch
- Tagalog: PPGL Facebook, PPGL YouTube
- Thai: VALORANT TH Facebook, ESL TH Twitch, ESL TH YouTube, ESL TH Facebook
- Bahasa Indonesia: VALORANT ID Facebook, VALORANT Esports ID YouTube (operated by One Up)
- Mandarin: Talon Esports Twitch
- Vietnamese: VALORANT VN Facebook, VALORANT VN YouTube, VALORANT Esports Vietnam Facebook (operated by VNG)
#RiotGames
Online Rich establishes a cross-border e-commerce startup ecosystem to help Hong Kong’s original brands enter the global market
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 12 August 2021 – The coronavirus pandemic has brought upon unprecedented challenges to Hong Kong’s economy. With a high unemployment rate, making the situation more challenging for many Hong Kong people. Online Rich, an e-commerce system founded by Good Timing Holding Ltd (Asia’s leading e-commerce solutions company), has launched a new and innovative e-commerce operation model, committed to assisting Hong Kong’s brands to go worldwide and creating a global cross-border e-commerce ecosystem. Online Rich’s innovative e-commerce business model provides potential entrepreneurs a low-cost and automated cross-border platform to create business opportunities without any geographical and time restrictions.
Online Rich – introducing the new model for low-cost E-SHOP. Provides one-stop service with dropship newbies
Online Rich innovative e-commerce business model
The Online Rich platform provides a one-stop entrepreneurial system for zero-experience entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises with limited operational risk costs. Online Rich has a team of professionals using big data to prudently select and analyse a wide range of products for the targeted markets, which allows the entrepreneurs to easily hand-pick a large range of hot-selling products at cost prices and lists automatically on their own online store. Online Rich handles the sales for the entrepreneurs, so they do not have to worry about warehousing or keeping inventory. In addition, Online Rich has a local and an international professional team to provide comprehensive support and assistance to e-commerce novices, including onboarding services, tailor-made localized content for social media, other e-commerce platforms, which greatly improves the success rate of starting an online business.
Online Rich automatic integrated sales system
Online Rich’s new automatic sales system combines product selection, sales and customer service functionality to simplify traditional and cumbersome management procedures. After the user completes the design of the online store, s/he only needs to add the products to sell on the platform, and the professional team of Online Rich will handle the inventory and logistics. Users can use the Online Rich App to monitor the real-time sales and profits at any time. The system can also help entrepreneurs to capture more leads and increase the conversion rates by sending emails regularly to customers, broadcasting new product information, keeping tracks of purchased customers, etc. Online Rich’s professional assistance and its automatic integrated sales system enable users to focus on products launch and marketing. It is simple and easy to operate, suitable for entrepreneurs with zero experience.
Break all boundaries and be the first to enter overseas markets
The local online business is highly competitive, yet the market is small. Online Rich is committed to establishing a barrier-free cross-border e-commerce platform for entrepreneurs, helping users to enter overseas markets smoothly by minimising the “language barriers” and “cultural differences”. Online Rich’s professionals assist in tailor-designed for brand websites, creating marketing content that caters to local culture and promoting sales via social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to accurately target customers overseas such as Europe and North America.
Online Rich’s innovative e-commerce business model is well differentiated from the high cost and high threshold of entrepreneurship in the past. It is suitable for novice entrepreneurs to establish e-commerce business with low cost and low risk, and for SMEs which are looking for solution to turn loss into profit.
About Online Rich
Online Rich was established in 2018. Within 3 years, it has successfully helped more than 260 entrepreneurs to establish their e-commerce stores internationally. Among them, more than 119 have successfully established their own brands, accounting for a total sale of c. US$50 million.
For more information, please visit: https://online-rich.com/landing
#OnlineRich #ecommercesolutions
Laos and Russia Commence Joint Military Exercises Under Laros-2021 Program
Laos and Russian troops commenced joint drills in the Primorsky Region of the Russian Far East yesterday under the Laros-2021 program.
Prince Group Partners with Caring for Cambodia, Sponsors Career Prep Program
Prince Charitable Foundation will work with leading education-focused charity to enhance academic and career prospects of 7,000 students in new post-pandemic normal
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – Media OutReach – 12 August 2021 – Prince Charitable Foundation, the charitable arm of Prince Holding Group (“Prince Group”), one of Cambodia’s largest and fastest growing conglomerates, will sponsor the Career Preparation program run by Caring for Cambodia, a leading charity that provides free education for 7,000 impoverished students, for the coming academic year. The partnership with Caring for Cambodia, announced on International Youth Day, highlights how Prince Group has embarked on a new journey at a crucial time when youth unemployment is expected to increase due to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic situation in Cambodia. By supporting the Career Preparation program, Prince Group is looking to invest in the future of Cambodia by empowering and validating an institutional approach to youth development.
“We are pleased to partner with Prince Holding Group as we look to expand and enhance our Career Preparation program,” said Jamie Amelio, Founder and CEO of Caring for Cambodia. “In the new environment defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, high school and university students will need substantial support to help them secure a strong foundation for their futures. To achieve better educational outcomes, Caring for Cambodia believes that public-private partnerships involving potential employers like member companies of Prince Holding Group and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport will be key.”
Launched in 2006, the Career Preparation program helps more than 3,000 students every year by imparting information related to scholarships, carrying out career-related training (bolstering their interview skills, for example), offering internships, organizing career fairs, arranging visits to universities and introducing high school students to inspirational speakers from diverse fields. The program equips high school students with a post-graduate toolkit that makes a crucial difference, as students graduating from Caring for Cambodia schools are 18 times more likely to enroll in universities compared to the national average.
“Prince Holding Group is excited to support a high-impact initiative like Caring for Cambodia’s Career Preparation program,” said Cliff Koh, Secretary-General of Prince Holding Group. “As a responsible Cambodian conglomerate that contributes to sustainable development via education, healthcare and community engagement initiatives, sponsoring Caring for Cambodia’s Career Preparation program will help Cambodian youth at an important juncture in their lives.”
Further, the program also helps Caring for Cambodia alumni currently studying at universities with their job search process. Schools supported by Caring for Cambodia are some of the only ones in the country that prepare students with the skills they need to help them qualify for work in growth fields like telecommunications, logistics and conservation.
In the realm of education, Prince Group has offered regular support over the years and most notably brought the art of Swiss watchmaking to Cambodia by establishing the country’s first independent watchmaking school last year, which gives Cambodian youth the opportunity to learn a new artisanal skill and gain the necessary experience to help them in job markets in Cambodia and abroad. The Group follows an established environment, social and governance (ESG) strategy on behalf of member companies, with educational initiatives that bring a long-term impact a key focus.
As a part of an overarching strategy, Prince Group Chairman Neak Oknha Chen Zhi (陳志公爵) has also answered the call for assistance from the Cambodian Government to combat the February 20 COVID-19 outbreak by announcing plans to donate US$3 million to anti-pandemic efforts. Towards the end of 2020, Chen Zhi also committed US$3 million to help Cambodia purchase COVID-19 vaccines.
Over the years, Prince Charitable Foundation has organized more than 250 charitable events and donated funds and other materials worth more than US$14 million, benefitting more than 500,000 people.
Prince Group will continue to support Cambodians from all walks of life and take a holistic approach to education support in the Kingdom, regularly engaging with the best-in-class solution providers and seeking high-impact initiatives that will ensure sustainable and enduring progress.
About Prince Holding Group:
Prince Holding Group is one of the largest conglomerates in Cambodia, with its various units focusing on three core areas: real estate development, financial services and consumer services.
Prince Holding Group’s key business units in Cambodia include Prince Real Estate Group, Prince Huan Yu Real Estate Group, Prince Bank, Cambodia Airways, Belt Road Capital Management, as well as Awesome Global Investment Group. Via its subsidiaries, Prince Holding Group has over 80 businesses in Cambodia operating in real estate development, banking, finance, aviation, tourism, logistics, technology, food and beverages, and lifestyle sectors etc.
Rising foreign direct investment, free trade agreements with leading countries and future participation in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership are expected to act as key drivers for the Cambodian economy, supported by pro-industry policy initiatives by the government.
Leveraging a network of industrial, business and financial professionals across Asia, Prince Holding Group has laid the foundation to be a vital conduit for local and international capital. The Group is firmly committed to the long-term development of Cambodia. For example, Prince Holding Group is developing Ream City, an upcoming tourism and residential project that will be one of Cambodia’s leading sustainable real estate projects, aiming to secure close to $16 billion in total investment for the region. Located conveniently within a 10-minute drive from the Sihanoukville International Airport, the project aims to contribute to economic recovery in Sihanoukville.
Moving forward, Prince Holding Group will continue to seek out opportunities to play an important role in Cambodia, through partnerships or direct investments into key industries for the betterment of Cambodians and the local economy.
#PrinceHoldingGroup
About Prince Charitable Foundation:
Being dedicated to public charity, advocating corporate duty, and promoting social harmony and progress, Prince Charitable Foundation, a member of Prince Holding Group, focuses on social welfare projects, including municipal development and ecological protection with specific attention towards helping school dropouts, disabled, and the elderly. With a national mandate, Prince Charitable Foundation was seeded with US$1 million by Prince Holding Group, with the sum procured from the sales revenue of properties. It has also attracted a significant amount of donations from other individuals and organization. Prince Charitable Foundation Organization has launched more than 250 charity events, benefiting 500,000 people, with donations exceeding $14 million.
About Caring for Cambodia:
Caring for Cambodia (CFC) is a nonprofit, nongovernmental, charitable organization dedicated to educating a generation of Cambodian children today, to make a difference for Cambodia’s tomorrow. CFC’s philosophy is that only through education can true change occur. By providing a multi-pronged approach, CFC removes barriers and provides quality education to 7,000 students annually across 21 schools from preschool through 12th grade in the Siem Reap area of Cambodia. This is accomplished through 10 innovative programs including Health Education, ICT/STEM, and Gender Equity, all at no cost to the students. CFC is committed to Cambodian leadership in order to ensure its mission is sustainable.
Laos-China Railway Scheduled to Open in December this Year
Laos has announced that the Laos-China Railway is scheduled to officially open in early December this year.
VideoMonster is a One-stop Video-making Platform for Effortless Professional Videos
The free video maker can create captivating videos of 30-second within minutes with over 4000 video templates & 400 tunes. VideoMonster is currently available in five languages.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – Media OutReach – 12 August 2021 – Video is a very effective form of communication, and with the rise of social media, the popularity of video creation has increased. Whether it is for Facebook and Instagram reels, Tiktok snippets, or YouTube videos, everyone wants to post exciting short videos to increase followers, bring in more views, build their brand, and market their businesses.
Shooting videos has become accessible with better smartphones, but creating excellent professional-level videos is still tricky. Korean startup VideoMonster has developed the technology to equip everyone to make professional-level videos. The startup’s short-form video-making platform allows creating captivating videos of 30-seconds duration in just 3 minutes.
The demand for video making is skyrocketing. However, there is a lack of expert video editors that can affordably support the customers’ needs. Video Monster is all set to fill that gap.
This free video editing application has transformed experts’ design files into an easy-to-use UI that makes video editing as simple as just drag and drop. Once the video is placed on the app, it takes care of the rest with its 3900+ video templates integrated into a cloud rendering engine. As a result, this free video editor makes professional video creation easy. VideoMonster’s popularity is validated by more than 200,000 users, including startups, corporates, advertising agencies, and government institutions.
VideoMonster’s services are available in 5 languages
VideoMonster is also planning on scaling up its customer base, including the B2B market with SaaS application allowing customized API SW embedding for e-commerce, live commerce digital signage platforms. The company is also working on an overseas expansion plan with its service already available in Japan, Vietnam and Thailand. Videomonster offers complete localization in English, Korean, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese languages, with assistance and design fonts available in the local language. In 2021, VideoMonster plans to launch its service in India, Indonesia, and the MENA region.
VideoMonster‘s CEO, Donghyuk Chun, shared his plan to secure Series A investment this year. With the additional investment, Chun hopes to surpass 2 million users by 2023 with more advanced services on offer to cater to the rapid growth of video production demand at home in Korea and abroad.
#VideoMonster
Ninth Covid-19 Death Reported in Laos
A woman in Champasack Province has become the country’s ninth death as a result of Covid-19.