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Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group’s ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center Holds Grand Opening

One of the World’s Largest Satellite Intelligent Manufacturing Facilities to Advance the Global Commercial Satellite Industry

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 25 July 2023 – Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group Limited (“Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group” or “the Group”; Stock Code: 1725) is pleased to announce the grand opening of its subsidiary, ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center, today. The center, which is Hong Kong’s first satellite manufacturing center and one of the world’s largest intelligent satellite manufacturing facilities, marks an important milestone in the development of the city’s aerospace technology industry.

ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center of Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group held Grand Opening on 25 July. The center, which is Hong Kong's first satellite manufacturing center and one of the world's largest intelligent satellite manufacturing facilities, marks an important milestone in the development of the city’s aerospace technology industry.
ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center of Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group held Grand Opening on 25 July. The center, which is Hong Kong’s first satellite manufacturing center and one of the world’s largest intelligent satellite manufacturing facilities, marks an important milestone in the development of the city’s aerospace technology industry.

More than 150 representatives from dozens of countries and regions engaged in commercial aerospace endeavors, including inter-governmental organizations, NGOs, business entities, and government agencies attended the opening ceremony, witnessing a new era of the global commercial space industry. In addition, memoranda of understanding with various overseas organizations and agencies from different countries were signed to facilitate cooperation in research, development and operation of commercial satellites. The scope includes satellite communications, monitoring, telemetry, command, data analysis and other relevant areas.

More than 150 representatives from dozens of countries and regions engaged in commercial aerospace endeavors, including inter-governmental organizations, NGOs, business entities, and government agencies attended the opening ceremony, witnessing a new era of the global commercial space industry.
More than 150 representatives from dozens of countries and regions engaged in commercial aerospace endeavors, including inter-governmental organizations, NGOs, business entities, and government agencies attended the opening ceremony, witnessing a new era of the global commercial space industry.

Professor Dong Sun, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, said, “We are pleased to see the official opening of ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center in the Advanced Manufacturing Centre at the Hong Kong Science Park in Tseung Kwan O. It serves as a good showcase of Hong Kong’s ‘New Industrialization’. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced its ‘Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint’ in December last year, outlining the direction and strategy of Hong Kong’s innovation and technology development in the future. The government will encourage and support the development of leading industries such as advanced manufacturing in Hong Kong, with the aim of realizing the city’s ‘New Industrialization’, which will stimulate the development of more other industries, and thus generate more job opportunities for skilled labor and further Hong Kong’s economic diversification. The Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau would like to encourage more advanced manufacturing businesses to establish a presence in Hong Kong and capitalize on the city’s status as a global city by expanding into more new markets.”

Mr. Sun Fengquan, Co-Chairman and CEO of Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group Limited, said, “Our hard work for more than four years has culminated in the official opening of ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center which marks an important step in the development of Hong Kong’s aerospace industry and precision manufacturing. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has been vigorously fostering the development of precision manufacturing and promoting re-industrialization in recent years. Such government policies provided support for the development of ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center. Hong Kong as a place for starting and running businesses has several advantages, namely its status as a member of the WTO in its own right, a separate customs territory and hub of globalization, its low corporate income tax rate and mechanism for attracting talent. Leveraging the city’s advantages, ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center will work together with the Group’s other subsidiaries, namely Hong Kong Satellite Telemetry, Tracking and Control Center and Hong Kong Satellite Data Application Center, which have been put into operation at the same time, to attain synergy in satellite manufacturing and satellite data services. This will enable the Group to decrease the costs of manufacturing satellites and providing satellite data services by more than 20% and will thus make it even more competitive in the global market in terms of efficiency and services.”

ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center is located in the Advanced Manufacturing Centre at the Hong Kong Science Park in Tseung Kwan O, covering a site area of approximately 200,000 square feet. It is equipped with 18 sub-systems and over 200 sets of sophisticated devices, including such comprehensive range of equipment for the intelligent manufacturing and testing of a satellite’s overall structure, optical calibration, vibration, mechanical performance, electromagnetic compatibility, thermal control and precision, etc. This, coupled with a team of research and development experts with rich experience in aerospace technology, will enable the center to produce more than 200 commercial satellites of 30 to 10,000 kilograms annually for communication, navigation, both optical and radar remote sensing, and carbon emissions detection.

Many countries’ national development strategies have already covered the aerospace industry, thus accelerating the development of the commercial aerospace industry. The global annual demand for satellites reaches more than 30,000 units (based on an average lifespan of 3 to 5 years for each low-earth orbit satellite). However, the present global satellite manufacturing capacity is only about 6,000 to 8,000 units per year, well short of the aerospace industry’s demand. The target market of ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center is expected to reach US$30 billion by 2027, indicating huge potential for business growth. ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Manufacturing Center will work together with the Group’s other subsidiaries, namely Hong Kong Satellite Telemetry, Tracking and Control Center and Hong Kong Satellite Data Application Center as well as a new operation which is being planned, ASPACE Hong Kong Satellite Launch Center, to attain synergy. This means that the Group’s various business segments such as research and development, manufacturing, testing, telemetry, tracking, and control of satellites, Golden Bauhinia Constellation, and satellite data application will be put into operation successively. ASPACE will provide a one-stop solution that encompasses satellite payload design, the manufacturing, testing and qualification, launch, telemetry, tracking and control of satellites as well as satellite data application for customers worldwide. This will add impetus to the development of the global commercial aerospace industry and serve its needs.

Mr. Sun said, “Looking ahead, Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group and ASPACE will adhere to the concept of sustainable development, contribute to the world’s technological advancement and enable the adoption of smart technology in everyday life.”

Hashtag: #HKATG

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

About Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group Limited (HKATG)

Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group Limited (HKATG) is Hong Kong’s first commercial aerospace enterprise focusing on satellite network engineering and precision satellite manufacturing. Formerly known as Hentech Technologies Ltd which was established in 2003, HKATG is a pioneer in the commercial aerospace industry and technological innovation in the city. HKATG owns five technology centers and manufacturing bases, including a satellite manufacturing center, a space environmental monitoring center, a satellite telemetry, tracking and control center (TT&C), a center for satellite data application and a precise electronic manufacturing center. HKATG’s core business consists of several operations, including satellite constellation engineering (Golden Bauhinia Constellation and Aurora Constellation), satellite data application, satellite design and manufacturing, satellite assembly and testing, satellite payload selection and specification, satellite TT&C service, printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) and electronic manufacturing, and the launch of satellites.

For further information, please visit

WIN SOURCE Ranks Among the 2023 Top 50 Electronics Distributors List by Supply Chain Connect

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 25 July 2023 – WIN SOURCE, the largest independent distributor of electronic components in Asia with the most direct and extensive distribution network, has been ranked on the 2023 Top 50 Electronics Distributors List by Supply Chain Connect. It features amongst numerous leading electronics distributors from around the world, signifying its prominence within the industry on a global scale. The company currently collaborates with over 3,000 manufacturers and holds over a million SKUs, dedicated to procuring electronic components for global B2B customers in various fields. The industries involved include artificial intelligence and big data, the Internet of Things, industrial control and automation, medical, communications, printed circuit boards, and more.

Fair rankings by reputable news and trends organization Supply Chain Connect are determined each year based on factors such as the company’s revenue, reputation, and local recognition. This achievement emphasizes WIN SOURCE’s capability as a reliable supply chain partner for quality electronic parts, which is also widely known for its competitive pricing flexibility, intelligent supply chain big data system, and professional global technical support team.

This is the third time that WIN SOURCE has been recognized by Supply Chain Connect for its excellent service. The company ranked 2nd on the 2022 Top 30 Asia-Pacific Distributors List, 17th on the 2023 European Distributors List, and 18th on the global distributors list this year. This means they have successfully expanded their reach to impact the global international market and achieved revenue growth in the past, where they achieved a revenue of $613 million USD in 2022, compared to their revenue of $389 million USD in 2021.

“We are thrilled to be ranked as one of the top 50 global electronic component distributors by Supply Chain Connect,” said Ethan Tsai, CEO of WIN SOURCE. “With over 23 years of experience dedicated to optimizing the supply chain of the electronics industry, we are proud that our hard work and efficient services have been recognized for the second year in a row, this time on an international scale. This achievement truly strengthens our commitment to providing excellent supply chain solutions and establishing trusted partnerships with customers worldwide.”

Since its establishment as Asia’s first overseas B2B e-commerce platform, WIN SOURCE has also widely been applauded for its sustainable development and social responsibility, where the company actively promotes environmentally friendly business practices. The very nature of WIN SOURCE’s product replacement solution emphasizes sustainability, where customers are not only provided with obsolete and commonly used parts, but also provided with innovative replacement solutions and services to help them meet current and future business goals. Simultaneously, WIN SOURCE helps reduce excess inventory of components, meaning less waste and provision of multi-source options via alternative solutions.

The company also focuses largely on digital transformation, where it has recently streamlined its processes by implementing intelligent analysis methods and concentrating on energy-saving data indicators. WIN SOURCE has developed its own unique quality control system, from packaging inspection and cargo label inspection to product appearance testing, which comprises visual inspection and nondestructive testing, alongside compliance with precise environment and humidity control. This entire flow has helped the company achieve efficient and accurate quality control over all its products, demonstrating how the power of innovation can streamline and elevate supply chain processes.

In the future, WIN SOURCE will continue building on its digital strategy, integrating transformative and powerful technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, and the Internet of Things to spur efficiency across all its operations, whilst also advocating for the sustainable development of the semiconductor supply chain. This involves enhancing its internal supply chain operation system, including sales, procurement, warehousing logistics, marketing, and other subsystems in order to support the global supply chain. The company remains dedicated to helping all its customers truly achieve one-stop BOM procurement by automating more customer-facing functions, optimizing the online shopping platform and supplier network, whilst continuously reducing procurement and production costs to allow customers from all industries and backgrounds to develop their businesses to their full potential.

Since 1999, WIN SOURCE has remained committed to providing one-stop BOM procurement for all its customers’ needs within its B2B online platform. Currently, the company has over 230 employees working across 7 locations, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, Italy, the United States, and Japan, as well as its headquarters in Shenzhen, China. All operations at WIN SOURCE are AS9120B, ISO 9001:2008, ISO13485, ISO28000, ISO14001, and ERAI certified, including order entry, customer service, receiving, picking, shipping, purchasing, and inventory.

WIN SOURCE continuously works towards reducing procurement and production costs, aiming to become the preferred partner for electronic components distribution and supply chain management in Asia Pacific and across the world.

For more information and to shop for electronic products, visit win-source.net.
Hashtag: #WINSOURCE

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

Novel Chinese medicine for constipation developed by HKBU authorised by U.S. FDA for clinical trial

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 25 July 2023 – The Centre for Chinese Herbal Medicine Drug Development (CDD) of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has made significant progress in developing novel Chinese medicine for treating chronic constipation. With its success in the Investigational New Drug Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), CDD has been authorised to conduct a phase I clinical trial of the new drug. This is the first time that a new botanical drug developed in Hong Kong was authorised to conduct a clinical trial in the US.

Professor Bian Zhaoxiang (middle), Associate Vice-President (Chinese Medicine Development) and Director of the CDD; Ms Emily Au (left), Assistant Director (Research and Development) of the CDD; and Dr Lam Yan-yan (right), Assistant Professor of the CDD at HKBU, announce that CDD-2101, a novel Chinese medicine for treating chronic constipation, has been authorised by U.S. FDA to conduct a phase I clinical trial of the new drug in the US.
Professor Bian Zhaoxiang (middle), Associate Vice-President (Chinese Medicine Development) and Director of the CDD; Ms Emily Au (left), Assistant Director (Research and Development) of the CDD; and Dr Lam Yan-yan (right), Assistant Professor of the CDD at HKBU, announce that CDD-2101, a novel Chinese medicine for treating chronic constipation, has been authorised by U.S. FDA to conduct a phase I clinical trial of the new drug in the US.

The clinical trial will be launched later this year to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics profile of the new drug on healthy individuals.

Research based on traditional Chinese herbal formulation

A research team led by Professor Bian Zhaoxiang (middle), Ms Emily Au (left) and Dr Lam Yan-yan (right) develops CDD-2101, a novel Chinese medicine for treating chronic constipation based on the traditional Chinese herbal formulation “MaZiRenWan”.
A research team led by Professor Bian Zhaoxiang (middle), Ms Emily Au (left) and Dr Lam Yan-yan (right) develops CDD-2101, a novel Chinese medicine for treating chronic constipation based on the traditional Chinese herbal formulation “MaZiRenWan”.

Chronic constipation is a common gastrointestinal disorder affecting approximately 14% of the global population. Currently, many patients with chronic constipation are not completely satisfied with their current treatments due to side effects and/or limited efficacy. In response to the patients’ needs for better therapeutics, CDD has been eyeing the international market and has developed a new drug called CDD-2101, which is based on previous pilot clinical studies and basic research on the traditional Chinese herbal formulation “MaZiRenWan”.

The main ingredients of CDD-2101 include hemp seed, rhubarb, officinal magnolia bark, bitter apricot seed, bran stir-fried immature orange fruit, and white peony root. The HKBU research team collaborated with partners including the University of Chicago and the University of Macau to submit an Investigational New Drug Application for CDD-2101 according to the requirements for botanical drug development of the U.S. FDA and was authorised to conduct a phase I clinical trial.

Milestone of standardisation and internationalisation of Chinese medicine

Professor Alexander Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU, said: “HKBU is committed to promoting the development of Chinese medicine, and conducting cutting-edge scientific and translational research in this area. The University received funding from the Innovation and Technology Commission’s InnoHK initiative to establish the CDD in 2020, which significantly boosted our comprehensive capabilities in the research and development of Chinese medicine. The clinical trial in the US will provide us with invaluable experience in conducting clinical trials at Hong Kong’s first Chinese Medicine Hospital in future.”

Professor Bian Zhaoxiang, Associate Vice-President (Chinese Medicine Development), Director of the Clinical Division of the School of Chinese Medicine, and Director of the CDD at HKBU, said: “CDD-2101 is a novel drug developed by combining a traditional Chinese herbal formulation and advanced technologies, with research and manufacturing conducted in compliance with international standards. Obtaining U.S. FDA’s authorisation to conduct a clinical trial for this new drug is an important milestone in the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong, and it reflects HKBU’s capabilities in and dedication to promoting the standardisation and internationalisation of Chinese medicine.”

Authorisation from the U.S. FDA was secured in April this year to conduct a phase I clinical trial of CDD-2101 in the US. The trial will start later this year and will recruit 20 healthy participants in the US. It will be a randomised, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics profile of the drug. Participants will take a single dose of CDD-2101 or a placebo and be monitored for 24 hours. The study will be conducted at a phase I clinical research centre in the US.

Phase I trial focuses on safety

The phase I clinical trial is expected to be completed in 2024, followed by a phase II study to collect the safety and efficacy data from patients with chronic constipation. A large-scale phase III study will then be launched to further evaluate the treatment efficacy of CDD-2101 in patients with chronic constipation, and monitor any unforeseeable side effects.

Professor Bian said: “The ultimate goal of the drug development programme is to collect sufficient safety and efficacy data, so that CDD-2101 can be evaluated and approved by the U.S. FDA as a new pharmaceutical for sale and marketing in the US. This is essential in establishing CDD-2101 as an internationally recognised, safe and effective drug for the treatment of chronic constipation. It is anticipated that another three to five years are needed to complete the phase II and III clinical trials, after which the data gathered during the animal studies and human clinical trials, together with details of the manufacturing of the drug, will be included in a New Drug Application to be submitted to the U.S. FDA for review.”

The CDD, funded by the Innovation and Technology Commission’s InnoHK initiative, is the first integrated Chinese medicine research and development centre at a local university. Located in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks and equipped with advanced facilities, the CDD aims to gather world-class partners to translate the wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine wisdom into pharmaceutical products that meet international standards. Since its establishment in 2020, the CDD has been focusing on innovative Chinese medicine research for gastrointestinal and immune-related diseases such as chronic constipation and ulcerative colitis.

Hashtag: #HKBU

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

Disaster Emergency Is Underway in Asia and the Pacific, Warns New UN Study

A mother holding a daughter (Photo credit: UNICEF)

The Asia-Pacific region has a narrow window to increase its resilience and protect its hard-won development gains from the socioeconomic impacts of climate change, according to the latest report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). In the absence of immediate action, temperature rises of 1.5 °C and 2 °C will cause disaster risk to outpace resilience beyond the limits of feasible adaptation and imperil sustainable development

Lao PM Visits Vientiane Province to Encourage Tourism Development

Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone with relevant authorities during his visit in Vientiane Province on 22 July (Photo: Pasaxon)

Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone visited Vientiane Province last Saturday with ministers and deputy ministers from relevant ministries and agencies to encourage local authorities to further develop tourism in the area.

Alibaba Cloud Upgrades AnalyticDB with Vector Database Engine as a One-Stop Solution for Building Generative AI Capabilities

Sector-specific AI-powered applications are made more accessible via cloud-native vector engine

Upgraded One-stop, cloud-native data management and data serving platform for enhanced enterprise-level data management

JAKARTA, INDONESIA Media OutReach – 25 July 2023 – Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, announced an enhancement to its AnalyticDB vector engine, making it easier than ever for enterprises to access various large language models (LLMs) for building their customized generative AI capabilities. At its Data Management Summit hosted in Jakarta, Alibaba Cloud also upgraded its one-stop, cloud-native data management and data serving platform by introducing ApsaraDB HTAP (Hybrid Transactional & Analytical Processing), a dynamic solution that integrates cloud-native database PolarDB and cloud-native data warehouse AnalyticDB to provide comprehensive data processing and analysis capabilities to international customers.

Through an innovative integration framework, the AnalyticDB vector engine can connect with LLMs to deliver question answering features powered by the robust capabilities of LLMs. Enterprises can now input sector-specific knowledge into their vector databases, enabling them to build and launch generative AI applications in as little as 30 minutes. These customized AI models draw from each enterprise’s internal knowledge base to create content with specific enterprise details, enhancing operational efficiency and fostering innovation via business insights gleaned from efficiently and accurately retrieved data.

Building enterprise-specific generative AI models using fine-tuned training data can be a costly endeavor. However, the one-stop solution powered by AnalyticDB vector engine effectively lowers the financial and technical thresholds while offering strong cloud-native enterprise-level data protections through the Alibaba Cloud database management platform. AnalyticDB has already been utilized to support customers’ demand in scenarios such as text search and image search on e-commerce platforms with enhanced accuracy.

“As enterprises globally discern how best to adopt and use generative AI, we are seeing an increasing demand from our customers for database services that can support the creation of efficient, scalable, affordable and customizable AI models. With our upgraded AnalyticDB analytical database, enterprises can now leverage generative AI models that are tailored using their own knowledge base.” said Feifei Li, President of Database Products Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.

One-stop, cloud-native data management and data serving platform upgraded to create more value for customers

At its Data Management Summit hosted in Jakarta, Alibaba Cloud also announced that ApsaraDB HTAP, a solution that integrates cloud-native databases PolarDB and AnalyticDB, is now available for international customers. ApsaraDB HTAP provides users with a unified platform that syncs the data from PolarDB’s transactional processing with AnalyticDB’s data analysis capabilities. This one-stop database management tool increases performance as well as provides extensive data processing capabilities that are highly elastic and cost effective. For example, by adopting the cloud-native HTAP solution, a customer from gaming industry recently achieved performance increase by 100% with a cost reduction by 50%.

HTAP is a key technology improvement of the overall capability upgrade of PolarDB, Alibaba Cloud’s one-stop, cloud-native data management platform. With industry-leading technology features of serverless, three-tier decoupling, multi-master, and HTAP, the self-developed PolarDB help customers better manage and fully utilize their enterprise data.

“The trend of cloud-native, data fabric, integration, intelligent is driving the new wave of innovation for databases and has become the de facto standard of database industry. We look forward to further investing in our cloud-native database systems and finding new ways to help our customers grow amidst a rapidly changing business landscape,” said Feifei.

Alibaba Cloud is launching a database free trial program for the international customers to try out ten database products, including PolarDB, AnalyticDB RDS, Redis, among others. This portfolio of solutions covers backup, restoration, monitoring and migration, all designed to facilitate effective database management.

Driving the success of over 150,000 enterprise customers worldwide

Alibaba Cloud’s database product offerings support an exceptional amount of business activity worldwide and across a wide range of industries, including insurance, logistics, fintech, retail, education, manufacturing, gaming and more. Alibaba Cloud was named a leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud Database Management Systems (DBMS) for the third consecutive year in 2022.

“The acceleration of global digitalization has been a key driver of demand for cloud-native database services, and we’ve been working hard to ensure our customers have the solutions they need to thrive. From increasing access to cutting edge technologies and capabilities to working with customers to leverage their data intelligence effectively, the market for database solutions is only set to grow and we’re excited to be supporting businesses capture the resulting opportunities.” said Selina Yuan, President of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.

DOKU is one of Indonesia’s leading payment technology companies serving more than 150,000 merchants and more than 5 million e-wallet users in the country. DOKU looks for reliable, secure, scalable and cost-effective cloud computing services and has deployed a series of Alibaba Cloud products ranging from elastic compute service, network, to database. By adopting Alibaba Cloud database products including PolarDB and ApsaraDB RDS for Redis, Doku benefited from increased stability and the built-in high-availability option. The solutions freed the company’s personnel from many typical database management activities and helped implement a robust disaster recovery strategy.

Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), headquartered in Hong Kong and one of the world’s largest commercial Chinese TV program producers, used Alibaba Cloud’s PolarDB to enhance their data management and help scale their services as viewership increased. Notably, PolarDB’s rapid elasticity and large volume storage capacity supported automatic scaling during viewer traffic peaks, while PolarDB ability to sync data allowed TVB to engage in real-time data analysis to improve decision-making.

enish Inc, a mobile game development company in Japan, leveraged Alibaba Cloud’s database solutions to enhance their business insights and game development journey. Alibaba Cloud’s data transmission and PolarDB offerings were combined with AnalyticDB to enable real-time analysis that helped developers enhance the player experience. A test environment for a new game was built in just 10 days, which was half the time it took previously. Moreover, the average data processing time was reduced by 50% while server costs were lowered by 30%.

Presto, Malaysia’s largest loyalty e-commerce redemption app adopted Alibaba Cloud’s PolarDB, a cloud-native relational database to power its next phase of growth while maintaining cost efficiency, witnessing over 30% cost optimization after the data migration according to the company. Following the successful database migration in the year 2020, Presto has since moved its e-commerce platform to Alibaba Cloud and is in the midst of migrating its entire IT system to Alibaba Cloud.

So Funny Company, a gaming studio with more than 200 million users globally and the developer of the popular games “Sausage Man” and “Idle Adventurers”, used Alibaba Cloud PolarDB to fulfill its requirement for automatic scaling, high availability, and high reliability to provide seamless experience for users. PolarDB helps So Funny Company significantly shortened maintenance time during game upgrades and server restart scenarios.

Hashtag: #AlibabaCloud

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

About Alibaba Cloud

Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com) is the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. It offers a complete suite of cloud services to customers worldwide, including elastic computing, database, storage, network virtualization services, large-scale computing, security, management and application services, big data analytics, a machine learning platform and IoT services. Alibaba maintained its position as the third leading public cloud IaaS service provider globally since 2018, according to IDC. Alibaba is the world’s third leading and Asia Pacific’s leading IaaS provider by revenue in U.S. dollars since 2018, according to Gartner.

B Capital Inks MoU with SAP to Drive Innovation in the Asia-Pacific Region

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 25 July 2023 – B Capital, a global multi-stage investment firm, today, announced that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SAP to support growth and innovation for B Capital’s portfolio companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Under the signed MoU, B Capital’s portfolio companies will benefit from a joint go-to-market strategy (GTM) as well as access to SAP’s global reach, resources, business networks and best practices. They will also be able to learn more about and evaluate SAP’s suite of enterprise solutions, including fit-to-standard cloud offerings such as GROW with SAP, that are designed to help SMEs and start-ups scale quickly. The collaboration aims to offer B Capital’s portfolio companies tailored, end-to-end support for their software solutions, helping progress them through development to being available for purchase on the SAP Store, an online marketplace of software solutions from SAP and its partners, available in more than 200 countries and territories globally.

“We are thrilled to deepen our collaboration with SAP and look forward to providing our founders and portfolio companies with the support and resources to supercharge their growth and scale their businesses globally,” said Arijit Sengupta, General Partner at B Capital. “This collaboration reaffirms our commitment to bridging the gap between today’s industry leaders and tomorrow’s emerging companies, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.”

“SAP’s partner ecosystem is more important to SAP and our customers today than ever before, as we increasingly tap into partner innovation to accelerate cloud transformation, together,” said Utkarsh Maheshwari, Chief Partner Officer, Asia Pacific Japan, SAP. “Our collaboration with B Capital connects us to start-up talents from its portfolio companies and injects new technology innovations that can be readily integrated into SAP environment through SAP Business Technology Platform. This opens up more opportunities for SAP customers and other partners as well, as we continue to build future-readiness, especially for the AI economy.”

B Capital and SAP have a longstanding relationship. Several of B Capital’s portfolio companies, including Kopi Kenangan – Indonesia’s fastest-growing coffee chain, have adopted SAP’s solutions to improve enterprise resource planning (ERP) workflows and enhance experiences.

The MoU reaffirms B Capital’s and SAP’s continued commitment to the Asia-Pacific region, a fast-growing hub for innovation. B Capital has been investing in the region since 2016, and SAP has been working with Asia-Pacific enterprises since 1989. Together, B Capital and SAP will support entrepreneurs as they launch cutting-edge technologies and expand their innovations to new markets and geographies.

-END-

SAP and SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries.

Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Hashtag: #BCapital

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B Capital

B Capital is a multi-stage global investment firm that partners with extraordinary entrepreneurs to shape the future through technology. With more than $6 billion in assets under management across multiple funds, the firm focuses on seed to late-stage venture growth investments, primarily in the enterprise, financial technology and healthcare sectors. Founded in 2015, B Capital leverages an integrated team across nine locations in the US and Asia, as well as a strategic partnership with BCG, to provide the value-added support entrepreneurs need to scale fast and efficiently, expand into new markets and build exceptional companies.

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Malaysian Consumer Price Index rises 2.4% y-o-y in June, in line with analysts’ estimates

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 25 July 2023 – The annual growth in Malaysian consumer prices moderated in June, driven mainly by easing transport inflation as well as slower price increases for meat, fish and seafood. The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.4% in June from a year earlier, the Department of Statistics said on Monday. That compares with an increase of 2.8% in May and is in line with the median forecast of 13 economists polled by Reuters. The annual core inflation rate has slowed to 3.1% (from 3.5% recorded in May).

‘Inflation rate in Malaysia has now dropped to a 14-month low’, said Kar Yong Ang, the OctaFX financial market analyst, adding that it was ‘certainly not the kind of macro environment that will prompt the BNM [Bank Negara Malaysia, Malaysia’s central bank] to consider more rate hikes in the near-term.’

Malaysian ringgit (MYR) lost 0.1% immediately after the CPI report came out, trading at around 4.576 vs the U.S. dollar. Still, USDMYR is down almost 2% so far this month, despite the fact that BNM opted not to raise its benchmark interest rate on July 6. ‘The recent strength of the ringgit has very little to do with the local factors’, said Kar Yong Ang. ‘USDMYR plunged primarily because disinflationary trends in the U.S. have accelerated and the Fed [Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank] is now widely expected to deliver just one more rate hike this year’, he added.

The question now is—can BNM afford to pursue a less aggressive or more dovish monetary policy? Has BNM reached a peak in rates and can it now consider to focus on rate cuts? Not so fast, the analysts claim. Rate cuts are normally associated with an imminent recession or declining economic activity, which is not currently observed in Malaysia. Industrial output surged 4.7% y-o-y in May, while trade balance improved to +25.8 billion USD in June.

‘I think that BNM is certainly pleased to see price pressures ease, but core inflation is still above 3.0%, which is not entirely comfortable’, said Kar Yong Ang. ‘The economy is not doing all that bad, but I think BNM will just stay on the sidelines for now, observing how the situation unfolds. It is too early to relax and turn dovish’, he added.

Like every other central bank, BNM officials will watch carefully the Fed’s press conference this Wednesday for any cues on the trajectory of rate hikes in the near term. ‘Forward guidance will be key. If the Fed claims that inflation is under control, the market might interpret it as a dovish sign and then the ringgit might appreciate, with USDMYR falling towards 4.500 and possibly lower’, said Kar Yong Ang.

Hashtag: #OctaFX

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About OctaFX

is an international broker that has been providing online trading services worldwide since 2011. It offers commission-free access to financial markets and various services already utilised by clients from 180 countries who have opened more than 42 million trading accounts. Free educational webinars, articles, and analytical tools they provide help clients reach their investment goals.

The company is involved in a comprehensive network of charitable and humanitarian initiatives, including the improvement of educational infrastructure and short-notice relief projects supporting local communities.

In the APAC region, OctaFX managed to capture the ‘Best Forex Broker Malaysia 2022’ award and the ‘Best Global Broker Asia 2022’ from Global Banking and Finance Review and International Business Magazine, respectively.