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PT Prodia Diacro Laboratories Receives Frost & Sullivan’s 2026 Southeast Asian Contract Research Organization Customer Value Leadership Recognition for Customer-Centric Clinical Research Excellence

Prodia the CRO is recognized for its reliable, integrated clinical research ecosystem, customer-centric delivery model, and commitment to quality, innovation, and long-term sponsor value across Southeast Asia.

SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Frost & Sullivan is pleased to announce that PT Prodia Diacro Laboratories (Prodia the CRO) has received the 2026 Southeast Asian Customer Value Leadership Recognition in the contract research organization (CRO) industry for its outstanding achievements in customer-centric service delivery, integrated clinical research capabilities, and operational excellence. The recognition highlights Prodia the CRO’s ability to deliver measurable customer value while strengthening Indonesia’s position in Southeast Asia’s evolving clinical research landscape.

Frost & Sullivan evaluates companies through a rigorous benchmarking process across two core dimensions: strategy effectiveness and strategy execution. Prodia the CRO excelled in both, demonstrating its ability to align its capabilities with evolving sponsor requirements while executing clinical research programs with quality, consistency, and efficiency.

“Prodia the CRO has distinguished itself by combining deep local regulatory expertise with an integrated clinical research ecosystem and internationally aligned quality practices. Its ability to bring together clinical trial management, laboratory support, site management, regulatory consulting, consumer product clinical assessment and emerging pharmacovigilance capabilities enables sponsors to simplify study execution while maintaining strong standards of quality and compliance,” said Unmesh Lal, Vice President at Frost & Sullivan.

Guided by a long-term strategy focused on integrated service delivery, capability expansion, strategic partnerships, and ecosystem development, Prodia the CRO has evolved into a one-stop clinical research partner for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, nutrition, cosmetics, personal care, and other industries. Its heritage in the Prodia Group, combined with decades of laboratory expertise, provides a strong foundation for supporting increasingly complex clinical development programs in Indonesia and across Southeast Asia.

Innovation remains central to Prodia the CRO’s approach. The company brings together regulatory consulting, clinical trial management, site management organization services, central laboratory support, consumer product clinical assessment, and pharmacovigilance capabilities. The integrated model reduces vendor fragmentation, streamlines communication, and enables sponsors to access coordinated support across the clinical research life cycle.

“At Prodia, we see innovation as a commitment to continuously improving how clinical research and relates services are delivered. As the industry landscape becomes increasingly complex and regulatory requirements continue to evolve, we continuously expand our capabilities to provide reliable, compliant, and integrated solutions. Our latest Pharmacovigilance services reflect this commitment, supporting our partners in strengthening safety management and meeting evolving regulatory requirements which further positioning Prodia as a trusted and reliable partner for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries,” said Erizal Sugiono, Director at PT Prodia Diacro Laboratories.

Prodia the CRO’s commitment to customer experience strengthens its position in the market. By providing a single point of coordination, proactive feasibility support, structured project reviews, transparent communication, and continuous improvement mechanisms, the company helps sponsors improve study execution while reducing operational complexity. Its collaboration with Prodia Laboratory, the only CAP-accredited laboratory with widest network across in Indonesia, enhances end-to-end laboratory support, from sample management, study-specific testing, and laboratory support with consistent quality and reliable data across research sites.

The company has developed a deep understanding of Indonesia’s clinical research landscape and a wide network of investigators, key opinion leaders, and research sites through sustained engagement in the local clinical research community, including the development of at least 10 clinical research units and GCP certification for more than 5,000 physicians. Its capabilities have also supported more than 110 clinical studies actively recruiting participants in Indonesia, contributing to the country’s broader clinical research readiness.

Frost & Sullivan commends Prodia the CRO for establishing a high standard in customer-centric strategy, execution, and market responsiveness. Continued investment in quality systems, laboratory capabilities, technology-enabled study oversight, strategic partnerships, and specialized services, such as pharmacovigilance, positions the company to address the increasingly complex requirements of sponsors conducting clinical research across Southeast Asia.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents the Customer Value Leadership Recognition to a company that demonstrates outstanding strategy development and implementation, resulting in measurable improvements in customer experience, competitive positioning, and value delivery. The recognition highlights forward-thinking organizations that are reshaping their industries through innovation, customer centricity, and growth excellence.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Recognition
Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Recognitions honor companies across regional and global markets that exhibit exceptional achievement and consistent excellence in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer experience, and strategic product development. Each recognition is the result of a rigorous analytical process in which Frost & Sullivan industry experts benchmark performance through comprehensive interviews, deep-dive analysis, and extensive secondary research. The goal is to identify true best-in-class organizations that are driving transformative growth and setting new industry standards.
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Contact:
Tarini Singh
E: Tarini.Singh@frost.com 

About PT Prodia Diacro Laboratories
Prodia the CRO is an independent Indonesian Contract Research Organization (CRO) providing integrated and wide range of services. Its integrated capabilities span regulatory consulting, clinical trial management, site management, central laboratory services, consumer product clinical assessment, and pharmacovigilance services, enabling coordinated support across the clinical research lifecycle. With strong local expertise and access to the Prodia ecosystem, Prodia the CRO is committed to delivering reliable, high-quality solutions that help sponsors navigate the complexities of clinical research in Indonesia and beyond.

Ping An Digital Bank Celebrates 6th Anniversary with Exclusive 3 Hong Kong and 3SUPREME Collaboration

Unveils Cross-Sector Rewards with Up to HK$2,600 Early Bird Savings on Designated Handset


HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 8 September 2026 – Ping An Digital Bank (International) Limited (“Ping An Digital Bank”) marks its 6th anniversary through a cross-sector collaboration alongside 3 Hong Kong and 3SUPREME, mobile brands of Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) Limited (“HTHK”). The joint initiative debuts an exclusive dual promotion designed to elevate customers’ smart digital financial and mobile communications experiences, adding further excitement to Ping An Digital Bank’s suite of 6th-anniversary celebrations!

Mr. Ronald Iu, Chief Executive of Ping An Digital Bank, said, “As Ping An Digital Bank celebrates its 6th anniversary, our retail banking segment continues to experience rapid growth, a testament to the long-standing trust and support of our customers. On this special occasion, we remain dedicated to thinking ahead and going the extra mile for our customers. Collaborating with 3 Hong Kong and 3SUPREME allows us to combine the strengths of both parties, empowering customers to upgrade to the latest digital products while enjoying seamless and high-quality retail banking services.”

New Handset Rewards: HK$400 Upon Account Opening, Mobile Plan Subscription and Handset Purchase Up to HK$2,600 in Early Bird Savings

From now until 30 November 2026, eligible customers1 who successfully open a Ping An Digital Bank personal savings account using the designated promotion code [3HKPA] will receive a HK$400 cash rebate2 from Ping An Digital Bank.

To reward first movers, an exclusive early bird offer is available from now until 17 September 2026. Eligible customers1 will enjoy a waiver of the HK$500 prepayment amount3 from 3 Hong Kong and 3SUPREME, alongside handset discounts of up to HK$2,2003. Combined with the HK$400 cash rebate2 from Ping An Digital Bank, customers can unlock total savings of up to HK$2,600.

Deposit Rewards: Enjoy 16% p.a. 1-Month HKD Time Deposit Interest Rate

Additionally, new Ping An Digital Bank customers4 who open a Ping An Digital Bank personal savings account on or before 30 September 2026, and successfully place a 1-month HKD time deposit can enjoy an attractive annual interest rate of 16%5,6 on their first HK$100,000 deposit. This enables customers to effortlessly lock in privileged high-yield returns while upgrading to the new handset.

Looking ahead, Ping An Digital Bank will continue to uphold its vision of “Always with You, Always Ahead.” Dedicated to thinking ahead and going the extra mile, the Bank will actively explore cross-industry synergies and continuously enhance its diversified suite of financial products and services to deliver superior digital financial experiences for customers.

1 Eligible Customers refer to customers who have never held any account with Ping An Digital Bank, successfully open a savings account with promotion code “3HKPA” during the Promotion Period, subscribe to, renew or upgrade to a designated 3 Hong Kong / 3SUPREME service plan with a minimum contract period of 24 months and hold a valid Hong Kong Identity Card or Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macau at the time of such subscription, renewal or upgrade during the Promotion Period (from 7 September 2026 to 30 November 2026) , and successfully purchase a designated handset on or before 31 March 2027.

2 HK$ 400 cash rebate is available only to Eligible Customers who satisfy all relevant requirements. Each Eligible Customer can enjoy the HK$ 400 Cash Rebate and other offers once only. The Cash Rebate and other offers are non-transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash or other gifts. Cash Rebate will be credited to the savings account of eligible customer on or before 31 May 2027.

3 The waiver of HK$ 500 prepayment amount, up to HK$2,200 discount upon purchase of a designated 3HK handset model, designated service plans, designated handset models, and other designated 3HK offers are provided and managed by 3 Hong Kong / 3SUPREME, and are subject to relevant terms and conditions.

4 New Ping An Digital Bank customers refer to customers who have never held any account with the Bank and successfully open a savings account during the 1 September 2026 to 30 September 2026 using a promotion code obtained through any channels.

5 The 16% p.a. HK$ Time Deposit rate offer will be displayed on the Time Deposit page in the Ping An Digital Bank’s personal mobile banking app within 3 working days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays) after successful account opening.

6 HKD Time Deposit interest rate is calculated daily on the basis of a 365-day year and is subject to the Bank’s decision from time to time.

Ping An Digital Bank is not the supplier of any products or services provided by 3 Hong Kong / 3SUPREME and shall not be liable for any matters relating to the quality, supply, use, payment, refund, handset collection, warranty or after-sales services of 3 Hong Kong / 3SUPREME’s products or services. Offers subject to the relevant terms and conditions. For details, please refer to the “Ping An Digital Bank x 3 Hong Kong / 3SUPREME New Customer Exclusive HK$400 Cash Rebate Promotion Terms and Conditions” and “New Customer Time Deposit High Interest Offer Programme Terms and Conditions”

Hashtag: #平安數字銀行 #PingAnDB #3HK #3Supreme

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Ping An Digital Bank

Ping An Digital Bank (International) Limited (“Ping An Digital Bank,” “PingAnDB”) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufax Holding Ltd (“Lufax”) (SEHK: 6623; NYSE: LU) and a member of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (“Ping An”) (SEHK: 2318; SSE: 601318). Ping An Digital Bank was granted a banking licence by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in May 2019 to offer retail banking and business banking services. Backed by Ping An’s advanced technology, Ping An Digital Bank is elevating banking experience, serving customer in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, establishing itself as Ping An Group’s comprehensive financial platform in Hong Kong.

Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) Limited

Hutchison Telecommunications (Hong Kong) Limited (“HTHK”), a leading mobile operator in Hong Kong, offers diverse and advanced mobile telecoms services under the 3 Hong Kong, 3SUPREME, SoSIM and MO+ brands, addressing different needs of the consumer market. HTHK is also dedicated to developing business and enterprise solutions under the 3Business brand in the corporate market spanning mobile commerce, information technology, smart city, the Internet of Things and big data. HTHK channels the latest technologies into innovations that set market trends and steer industry development.

Amber Beila’s ‘Within’ Named Only Beauty Finalist in Hashtag Asia Awards Facebook Category

Marking a milestone for Singapore’s beauty industry, Amber Beila’s “Within” campaign has been named a Hashtag Asia Awards 2026 finalist in the Best Social Media Campaign: Facebook category. The recognition comes as the skincare sanctuary celebrates its anniversary with a new skincare collection and recent expansion on Orchard Road.


SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 7 September 2026 – Amber Beila has been named the only beauty brand shortlisted in the Best Social Media Campaign: Facebook category at the Hashtag Asia Awards 2026, organised by Marketing-Interactive. Built around stories of confidence, “Within” leads the brand into its next chapter, alongside a signature four-piece skincare collection launch and a second Orchard Road outlet at The Heeren.

Amber Beila's
Amber Beila’s “Within” campaign, a Hashtag Asia Awards 2026 finalist, alongside its four-piece Luminous Series.

Redefining Beauty Through Personal Confidence

Singapore’s beauty industry is navigating greater consumer caution around trust, transparency and brand communication. As audiences grow more wary of influencer-led promotion and increasingly value relatable voices, Amber Beila places personal stories of everyday confidence at the heart of its brand storytelling. Through “Within”, the brand follows three people navigating different life chapters, from putting themselves first to ageing with confidence, reflecting its wider focus on personalised skincare and confidence beyond appearance.

Expanding the Vision Behind “Within”

This trajectory of placing everyday confidence at the centre is reflected in Amber Beila’s showing at the Hashtag Asia Awards 2026. In the Best Social Media Campaign: Facebook category, “Within” was shortlisted against established names from the property, food manufacturing and social advocacy sectors, making Amber Beila the only beauty brand among the four-campaign finalist field.

Returning for its fifth edition, the awards span 42 categories reflecting emerging audience behaviours and platform trends. Judges highlighted this year’s shortlisted work for its strategic rigour, calculated creative risks and effective amplification, alongside its ability to balance commercial objectives with emotional resonance and measurable brand impact.

Building on this recognition, Amber Beila is extending its confidence-led approach through the four-piece Luminous Series, together with existing signature facials such as the Deep Pore Cleansing Facial, and a second Orchard Road outlet at The Heeren.

“Over the years, we have seen our customers become more informed and intentional about how they care for their skin. Our Signature Skincare Collection was created to extend the Amber Beila experience beyond our salons, giving customers thoughtfully developed products that complement their professional treatments and become part of their everyday skincare routine,” said Ms Agatha Lee, Operations Director of Amber Beila.

Together, these developments carry the “Within” message forward, reinforcing the belief that every story deserves to be seen.

Hashtag: #AmberBeila

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Amber Beila:

Established in 2012, Amber Beila is a beauty salon offering personalised facials and body care for a range of skin and body concerns. Its team combines skincare knowledge, beauty technology and sensory rituals to tailor each session to individual needs across four locations in Singapore. For more information, please visit:

HiDream.ai Launches HiDream-O1-Embodied, Extending Its Native Omni-Modal World Model Strategy into Physical Interaction

HiDream-O1-Embodied tops RoboColiseum’s Robustness leaderboard, highlighting the model’s ability to maintain stable performance under complex real-world conditions


BEIJING, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 8 September 2026 – HiDream.ai has officially launched HiDream-O1-Embodied, an embodied world model designed to advance physical interaction for embodied intelligence. Built on HiDream.ai’s native omni-modal technology strategy, the model enhances robots’ physical perception, dynamic prediction, and execution capabilities, enabling more robust interaction with the physical world.

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The launch marks an important step in HiDream.ai’s broader effort to connect image, video, 3D, and action modalities within a unified architecture. By extending its world model capabilities from understanding and reasoning to action and execution, HiDream.ai is building a closed-loop technical foundation for native omni-modal intelligence.

Alongside its release, HiDream-O1-Embodied made its debut on RoboColiseum, an embodied intelligence model evaluation platform. The model ranked No. 1 on the platform’s Robustness leaderboard, achieving an average score of 0.692.

“We believe a complete world model foundation requires three core capabilities: omni-modal representation, causal reasoning, and physical-world modeling — all centered on the ability to express, understand, and generate within the real world,” said Ting Yao, CTO of HiDream.ai. “From the beginning, HiDream.ai’s native omni-modal world model architecture was designed to support unified representations across modalities, including action. The release of HiDream-O1-Embodied marks a critical milestone in our technology roadmap, as we move from simulating the world to enabling AI to operate in the real world.”

HiDream-O1-Embodied Tops RoboColiseum’s Robustness Leaderboard with a Score of 0.692

RoboColiseum is a standardized simulation benchmark for embodied intelligence models, designed to provide a multidimensional and reproducible evaluation framework. Through high-fidelity simulation tasks that closely approximate real-robot performance, the platform helps developers assess model strengths and limitations while continuously tracking progress across the field.

Open to universities, research institutions, model developers, and researchers worldwide, RoboColiseum continuously updates its evaluation results with the goal of establishing a reliable benchmark for embodied models.

Built on high-fidelity simulation environments that closely mirror real-world conditions, RoboColiseum evaluates models across four major dimensions: instruction following, spatial understanding, robustness, and general-purpose manipulation. These dimensions are assessed through four capability leaderboards and 78 high-fidelity simulation tasks.

Since entering internal testing, RoboColiseum has attracted dozens of leading models from China and abroad. Among its evaluation dimensions, Robustness is widely regarded as one of the most challenging. It measures a model’s stability and generalization under non-ideal conditions by varying backgrounds, lighting, materials, robot initial states, camera positions, and image quality, while also introducing diverse paraphrases of instructions.

In other words, this is not a test conducted in the “greenhouse” of a lab environment. It is designed to evaluate how well a model performs when faced with the kinds of uncertainty, variation, and interference that robots are likely to encounter in the real world.

HiDream-O1-Embodied ranked first on the Robustness leaderboard with a score of 0.692, supported by HiDream.ai’s native omni-modal foundation. A native omni-modal world model provides an inherent basis for cross-modal understanding, generation, and action. At the execution level, HiDream-O1-Embodied introduces advances across three core capabilities, enabling more precise instruction understanding, more reliable perception, and stronger resistance to environmental interference.

Language Understanding: Moving Beyond Keyword Matching

Traditional robots often interpret language instructions at the level of keyword matching. A robot may understand “Bring me the cup,” but change the phrasing to “Get me a cup” or “Hand me the cup,” and it may fail to respond correctly. HiDream-O1-Embodied covers an equivalent instruction space encompassing diverse verbs, sentence structures, and expressions. Rather than being constrained by specific wording, it focuses on the underlying intent. No matter how an instruction is phrased, the model can move beyond the literal wording and accurately identify what the user actually means.

Visual Perception: Multi-View Collaboration for Greater Reliability

In the physical world, a robot’s visual input is rarely ideal. Camera positions may shift, calibration accuracy can change over time, and individual visual feeds may be obstructed or disrupted. HiDream-O1-Embodied integrates information from multiple viewpoints, allowing different visual channels to complement one another rather than relying on a single fixed perspective. When part of the visual information becomes inaccurate or temporarily unavailable, the model can still leverage other viewpoints to understand the scene, assess the task, and continue execution. This transforms the system from one where “a single failure causes the entire system to fail” into one where “local limitations do not prevent the system from operating as a whole.”

High Fault Tolerance: Learning to Execute Reliably in an Imperfect World

Most models are trained primarily on “perfect” data — clear images, complete frames, and standardized viewpoints. The real world, however, rarely provides such ideal conditions. Changes in lighting, image degradation, occlusion, signal fluctuations, and scene variation are all common challenges robots face during real-world operation.

HiDream-O1-Embodied proactively introduces a wide range of non-ideal conditions during training. By repeatedly exposing the model to incomplete, noisy, and unstable information, the system learns to make reliable decisions based on limited visual cues.

This approach means the model is not optimized solely for peak performance under ideal conditions. Instead, it is designed to maintain stable task execution in complex, dynamic environments. Its fault tolerance is not limited to any single type of visual anomaly. When faced with changes in lighting, object appearance, scene layout, or visual quality, the model can make more flexible use of available information and reduce the impact of environmental variation on execution.

For HiDream-O1-Embodied, the real measure of capability is not simply whether it performs well when everything is clear, but whether it can continue to complete tasks reliably when conditions are far from ideal.

Model + Data: Building a “Real-World Foundation + Generative Augmentation” Data Production Paradigm

The ability to perform reliably under imperfect conditions does not emerge by chance. It points to a fundamental challenge in embodied intelligence: the cognitive boundaries of a model are largely shaped by the data it can access.

High-quality embodied data remains one of the scarcest and most decisive resources in the field. HiDream.ai’s dual-driven “model + data” strategy is a key factor behind the performance of HiDream-O1-Embodied on the Robustness leaderboard.

The core breakthrough lies in making data production an integral part of model iteration. To achieve this, HiDream.ai has developed a “real-world foundation + generative augmentation” data production paradigm. Instead of passively consuming existing data, the model actively participates in creating and refining the data it needs to improve.

A collaboration with Noitom provides a representative example. Using Noitom’s high-precision human motion-capture data as the real-world foundation, HiDream.ai leverages its native omni-modal capabilities to achieve 100x-scale data augmentation and refinement.

Starting from a single real-world motion sample, the model can generate physically consistent video variations by changing variables such as background environments, lighting conditions, object forms, and scene configurations. This produces a large and diverse set of training samples while preserving underlying physical constraints.

The key to this mechanism is that the model acts as both the “student” and the “teacher.” It generates targeted training samples based on the capabilities it needs to improve, creating a growth flywheel in which data and models continuously reinforce one another. This data-model flywheel helps HiDream-O1-Embodied maintain exceptional robustness when confronted with severe disturbances and real-world variability.

HiDream.ai’s Native Omni-Modal World Model Matrix Continues to Take Shape

Less than a month ago, HiDream.ai launched HiDream-O1-World, an interactive world model that took the top spot on the Navi sub-leaderboard of WBench, an interactive video world model benchmark, with an average score of 80.9.

Interactive world models address “understanding and reasoning,” enabling AI to develop a comprehensive understanding of space, time, motion, and object relationships in digital environments. Embodied world models, by contrast, address “operation and execution,” enabling AI to perform real-world tasks in physical environments. Together, the two form a powerful complement to one another and lay a solid foundation for the development of native omni-modal world models.

As Dr. Tao Mei, Founder and CEO of HiDream.ai, previously noted, the key to the next generation of foundation model competition lies not in improving the capabilities of individual modalities alone, but in moving from single-modal to multimodal intelligence, and ultimately toward natively unified omni-modal intelligence.

From HiDream-O1-Image to HiDream-O1-World and now HiDream-O1-Embodied, HiDream.ai is steadily building a model family spanning vision models, interactive world models, and embodied world models. This not only demonstrates the expanding capabilities of its native omni-modal technology across multiple domains, but also reflects the technology’s strong capacity for intrinsic evolution.

At a pivotal moment when advances in world model technology are accelerating, HiDream.ai is continuing to accelerate innovation and push the field forward.

Hashtag: #HiDreamAI

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

iFAST Hong Kong and J.P. Morgan Asset Management Partner to Expand Discretionary Portfolio Solutions for Wealth Advisers


HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 8 September 2026 – iFAST Financial (HK) Ltd (“iFAST Hong Kong”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of iFAST Corporation Ltd, today announced an expansion of its Discretionary Portfolio Management Solutions (DPMS) lineup in Hong Kong with the launch of two new portfolios powered by J.P. Morgan Asset Management (“JPMAM”), with the portfolios officially available to wealth advisers and their clients from August 2026.

(From left) Supreet Bhan, Head of Hong Kong Intermediary Business, J.P. Morgan Asset Management; and Glory Lau, General Manager, Platform Services, iFAST Financial HK
(From left) Supreet Bhan, Head of Hong Kong Intermediary Business, J.P. Morgan Asset Management; and Glory Lau, General Manager, Platform Services, iFAST Financial HK

The collaboration underscores iFAST Hong Kong’s commitment to its Business-to-Business (B2B) partners, giving wealth advisers and their clients access to a professionally managed investment solution that saves time and broadens choice.

“Partnering with J.P. Morgan Asset Management allows us to bring institutional expertise to advisers and their clients here in Hong Kong. By outsourcing alpha generation through our DPMS, advisers can focus on nurturing trusted client relationships while delivering comprehensive financial planning.” said Ms Glory Lau, General Manager, Platform Services of iFAST Hong Kong.

The DPMS advised by JPMAM leverages JPMAM’s comprehensive range of active ETFs globally, giving investors access to active management at a lower cost.

“Our approach to active investing is grounded in extensive global research and a disciplined asset allocation process that’s been tested across market cycles. By partnering with iFAST, we’re making our leading actively managed ETF capabilities and portfolio solutions available to iFAST’s clients in Hong Kong. We look forward to helping iFAST’s clients pursue long-term objectives through the model portfolios striving for diversification, robustness across market cycles, and more consistent outcomes,” said Yuejue Jin, Asia Head of Multi-Asset Solutions, J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Empowering Advisers, Enhancing Client Experience

The new DPMS portfolios give wealth advisers using iFAST Hong Kong platform greater choice and flexibility to align client portfolios with specific goals and risk profiles, while removing much of the administrative workload that typically consumes adviser and client time. Beyond asset allocation advisory services, JPMAM also provides investment insights and trainings, adding to iFAST Hong Kong’s adviser enablement ecosystem of exclusive content, courses, and events.

Hashtag: #iFAST #JPMAM #Business #Finance


The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About iFAST Corporation Ltd.

iFAST Corporation Ltd. (“iFAST Corp”, Stock code: AIY) is a digital banking and wealth management platform, with assets under administration (AUA) of S$36.13 billion as at 30 June 2026. Incorporated in 2000 in Singapore and listed on the SGX-Mainboard in December 2014, the Group is also present in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, the UK and the US.

The Group’s B2B platforms serve more than 980 financial advisory companies, financial institutions, banks and internet companies with over 15,300 wealth advisers across its markets. The Group offers access to over 29,600 investment products including mutual funds, bonds, stocks, ETFs, and insurance products, as well as services including wealth management solutions, online discretionary portfolio management services, banking services, pension administration, trust services, research and investment seminars, fintech solutions, banking, and investment administration and transaction services.

iFAST Corp entered the Hong Kong market in 2007. iFAST Financial (HK) Limited is a fintech wealth management platform and a wholly-owned subsidiary of iFAST Corp. iFAST Financial (HK) Limited holds Type 1, 4, and 9 licences issued by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and is a registered Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Intermediary under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA).

The Group’s mission statement is, “To help investors around the world invest globally and profitably”.

For more information, please visit or

Luang Prabang Economy Grows Despite Sharp Drop in Tourists

Luang Prabang Scores Silver for Sustainable Tourism 2025–2027
Luang Prabang busy street (photo credit: Wander Laos)

Luang Prabang’s economy grew 3.9 percent in the first half of 2026, even as one of its biggest economic drivers, tourism, took a major hit.

The province recorded just over 1 million tourist arrivals in the first six months of the year, down by 884,775 from the same period in 2025.

Yet the broader economy continued to grow, reaching LAK 11.67 trillion (USD 520 million), more than half of the province’s annual target, according to figures presented by provincial authorities on 3 September.

Services led the expansion, while industry, handicrafts and agriculture also posted growth. Agriculture and forestry remained the backbone of the provincial economy, accounting for nearly 43 percent of output.

The Laos-China Railway has also become an increasingly important part of economic activity. Around 1.3 million passenger trips were recorded in Luang Prabang during the first half of the year, while more than 564,000 tonnes of goods moved into and out of the province.

Provincial authorities said the railway has made it easier to move people and goods, while connecting Luang Prabang more closely with other parts of Laos and regional markets.

The growth comes as Laos as a whole recorded 5 percent economic growth during the first half of 2026, according to Ministry of Finance figures.

Tourism is a Different Story

Tourism, however, is a much less positive picture.

While Laos welcomed 2.59 million international visitors in the first six months of the year, a 9.9 percent increase from the same period in 2025, the growth has been uneven.

Almost 58 percent of the increase came in January, when arrivals jumped 30.7 percent. Take January out of the picture and growth drops to just 5.1 percent.

Much of the increase also came from neighboring countries. Visitors from nearby markets accounted for 81.6 percent of all arrivals and around 71 percent of the overall increase. Thailand and China alone added nearly 174,000 visitors.

Meanwhile, visitors from the wider Asia-Pacific region declined, largely because arrivals from South Korea fell 33.2 percent.

Luang Prabang is a different story. Tourist numbers have fallen sharply, but the provincial economy still grew in the first half of the year.

Trying To Bring Visitors Back

Provincial authorities are now looking at ways to make Luang Prabang more attractive to visitors by upgrading tourism sites and services.

The province is also revising its conservation plan for the UNESCO-listed World Heritage site. The updated plan has been submitted to UNESCO’s Bangkok office.

For the rest of the year, authorities are also turning their attention to tax collection, with plans to expand the tax base and bring more businesses into the formal system.

Convenience stores, restaurants, cafes, hotels and guesthouses will be among those targeted. Authorities also plan to keep a closer eye on electronic tax invoices and receipts to improve collection and reduce revenue losses, state media reported.

Media’s future tense in AI-driven world

BEIJING, Sept. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — This is an op-ed from China Daily.

Philip K. Dick’s 1969 novel Ubik imagined a door that demands payment before opening — a fantasy then, but eerily prescient in today’s AI-driven world. While Elon Musk predicts AI will bring global abundance, for traditional media that abundance has already arrived — with devastating consequences.

The question is no longer whether AI changes media, but what role professional journalism can play when information is plentiful, yet truth, context and reality grow scarce.

Dick’s own life — overlooked, depressed and penniless — belied his extraordinary foresight. In The Man in the High Castle, he imagined alternate realities. Today, personalized algorithms, misinformation and AI-generated content make such alternate realities all too real.

Yet Dick’s vision also offers hope through an unexpected link with the ancient Chinese I Ching (Book of Changes). Both suggest reality is not fixed, but a pattern of ever-shifting possibilities. The I Ching asks not “What will happen?” but “What situation am I in, and how should I respond to its changing pattern?” That, arguably, is precisely the role media must adopt in the AI age: providing orientation, credibility and meaning when information itself has lost its scarcity and economic value.

Not all sci-fi is dystopian. Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics embodied faith that humans could impose rules on technology — yet today’s AI race is far more complex. Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek imagined a moneyless, post-scarcity civilization; AI may be bringing that closer, just as Google’s free search and maps once upended the world.

So where does this leave traditional media? In a Dickian dystopia, media could become a modern-day I Ching — helping people navigate uncertainty, distinguish illusion from reality, and make informed choices when no single truth prevails. In a Roddenberry-esque future, media could guide humanity on how to live wisely with AI-driven abundance.

The practical challenge remains: financing itself in the first scenario and inspiring itself in the second. As Dick warned in The Man in the High Castle, humanity’s “destiny lies in the hands of a few men.” We can only hope some of them are traditional media editors.

USI Launches AI Smart Camera Solution to Accelerate Smart Manufacturing

NANTOU, Sept. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — USI today announced its next-generation AI Smart Camera solution, a comprehensive edge AI and vision platform that empowers manufacturers to accelerate digital transformation through AI-driven quality inspection, process automation, logistics optimization, and smart factory initiatives.

Moving beyond conventional camera hardware, USI’s AI Smart Camera integrates a high-performance, low-power edge computing platform, high-resolution imaging technology, and proprietary AI vision software to deliver real-time image analysis and actionable insights at the edge. Designed for modern manufacturing environments, the solution enables automated inspection, early defect detection, and faster, more consistent quality decisions. By reducing inspection costs, improving production efficiency, and enhancing product quality, it helps manufacturers accelerate their transition toward smarter and more autonomous production operations.

For manufacturers, the journey to AI-powered vision extends beyond object detection and defect identification. Success depends on turning AI from a proof-of-concept project into a production-ready solution that delivers consistent performance, scales efficiently, and seamlessly adapts to evolving manufacturing requirements.

USI addresses this challenge with an integrated AI Smart Camera platform that supports the complete AI development lifecycle—from data collection and dataset generation to model training and deployment. Its no-code/low-code AI model training platform further simplifies development, enabling customers to develop and deploy vision applications with greater efficiency and less dependence on specialized AI expertise.

Key features of USI AI Smart Camera include:

  • Real-Time Edge AI Processing: Performs image analysis and AI inference at the edge, enabling fast visual decisions and timely responses without relying solely on centralized computing.
  • High-Quality Imaging for Industrial Inspection: Combines a high-resolution, low-lux-capable camera module with powerful Edge AI computing to support demanding inspection and machine vision applications.
  • Faster AI Deployment: Integrates hardware, embedded software, and AI vision development tools into a production-ready platform, helping customers shorten development cycles and accelerate the transition from proof of concept to production.
  • Flexible AI Vision Applications: Supports object detection, defect identification, OCR, key-part positioning and tracking, assembly verification, product classification, and operation behavior detection and analysis.
  • Seamless Integration with Industrial Environments: Ruggedized design with industrial-grade interfaces, including Ethernet, Power over Ethernet (PoE), HDMI, and MicroSD, ensuring seamless compatibility with existing equipment, machine vision systems, and automation platforms.

By automating visual inspection and defect identification, the AI Smart Camera can reduce reliance on manual QA operations while improving inspection consistency. Its real-time visual intelligence can also provide actionable data to help manufacturers quickly identify process deviations, reduce defect rates, and lower production costs. The platform can further serve as an intelligent visual decision layer for automated production, providing real-time visual guidance and feedback to robotic systems. This enables manufacturers to move beyond inspection automation toward more responsive and autonomous production processes.

“Demand for AI-powered vision applications is growing rapidly across the manufacturing sector. Today’s manufacturers are seeking more than just camera hardware. They need complete, end-to-end solutions that can be deployed quickly and deliver measurable business value,” said Justin Chang, Director of the Vertical Mobility Solution Center at USI. “By combining advanced Edge AI capabilities with our integrated vision platform, we enable customers to accelerate the adoption of smart manufacturing, quality inspection, and industrial automation applications. Our solution helps bring AI from proof of concept to production faster and more efficiently.”

As a global ODM partner, USI combines expertise in product design, manufacturing, and Edge AI integration to deliver complete solutions tailored to customer requirements. The AI Smart Camera is already deployed within USI’s own manufacturing operations, providing a production-proven reference platform for industrial AI vision applications.

Building on this experience, USI can customize AI vision solutions around customers’ specific production environments and business requirements, helping shorten development time, reduce implementation risks, and accelerate their smart manufacturing journey.