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Merck Study: mRNA Technology a ‘Game Changer’ for Asia-Pacific Vaccine Manufacturers

  • 87% of respondents deemed mRNA a key modality for the future
  • More than 60% vaccine makers surveyed plan revamp or new facilities for mRNA manufacturing to meet demand
  • Skilled personnel, tech-transfer expertise, reliable supply chain, and regulatory guidelines critical to new technology adoption

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 31 May 2023 – According to a recent study sponsored by Merck, a leading science and technology company, mRNA technology is a “game-changer” for Asia-Pacific (APAC) vaccine manufacturers. Nearly 40 manufacturers participated in the survey.

Filling of Merck's synthetic cholesterol, a key component of mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics, at the company's Darmstadt facility
Filling of Merck’s synthetic cholesterol, a key component of mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics, at the company’s Darmstadt facility

“Vaccine manufacturers in APAC are looking to build capacity for mRNA technology over the next two to three years, while continuing to produce both traditional and modern cell-based vaccines,” said Josephine Cheng, Senior Consultant, Process Solutions APAC at the Life Science business sector of Merck. “Across APAC, governments are investing and supportive of driving therapeutic discovery and manufacturing. With the range of tools we offer, we can better equip vaccine manufacturers to treat the regional and global population.”

The study interviewed vaccine manufacturers across APAC, including research institutes, pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Eighty-seven percent deemed mRNA a promising technology, expecting it to be a key modality in the future. This is based on the perception that the mRNA platform benefits from shorter development time and templated manufacturing processes, proven efficacy, lower biohazard risk for operators, and flexibility in covering different types of diseases and variants.

Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, China and India are among the markets actively exploring to develop mRNA technology. Over sixty percent of the vaccine makers prefer to revamp or establish new facilities especially for mRNA with expansion planned over the next two to three years.

To effectively move mRNA forward, respondents highlighted the need for skilled personnel trained in these new technologies, tech-transfer expertise, a reliable supply chain, and mRNA-specific regulatory guidelines.

Merck’s contribution to future vaccine manufacturing
Merck’s Life Science business supports mRNA manufacturers helping accelerate speed to market, ensuring safety and efficacy, to reducing complexity across the entire mRNA process to help accelerate delivery of mRNA vaccines to patients worldwide. More information is available on sigmaaldrich.com/vaccines
Hashtag: #Merck

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

Merck

Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. More than 64,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2022, Merck generated sales of € 22.2 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck’s technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as MilliporeSigma in life science, EMD Serono in healthcare, and EMD Electronics in electronics.

All Merck news releases are distributed by email at the same time they become available on the Merck website. Please go to to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service.

GUCCI announces Vietnamese Superstar Sơn Tùng M-TP as the exclusive “Friend of the House” in Vietnam

First Male GUCCI FOH in Vietnam Exclusively & Surpasses 4 Million Streams Globally with his Latest English Single “MAKING MY WAY”

HO CHI MINH, VIETNAM – Media OutReach – 31 May 2023 – Luxury fashion brand GUCCI has recently announced Vietnamese superstar Sơn Tùng M-TP as the exclusive “Friend of the House” (FOH) in Vietnam. Sơn Tùng M-TP’s ambassadorship with GUCCI represents a significant milestone, as he becomes the first male FOH for GUCCI in Vietnam, further strengthening the brand’s connection with the Vietnamese audience.

Sơn Tùng M-TP in GUCCI
Sơn Tùng M-TP in GUCCI

To commemorate this exciting collaboration, Sơn Tùng M-TP made a captivating debut appearance at the GUCCI Cruise 2024 fashion show, held at the iconic Gyeongbokgung in Seoul on May 16th. The fashion show served as a mesmerizing platform for GUCCI to unveil its latest collections, and Sơn Tùng M-TP’s presence at this star-studded event not only marks a momentous occasion for the talented artist but also highlights GUCCI’s commitment to embracing global talent and celebrating cultural diversity. Among the esteemed guests in the front row together with Sơn Tùng M-TP were renowned personalities including popular Thai actor Gulf Kanawut Traipipattanapong, Davika Hoorne, talented Thai actress from Sơn Tùng M-TP’s music video CHẠY NGAY ĐI | RUN NOW.” as well as Juyeon and Younghoon of K-pop sensation The Boyz, adding star power to the already glamorous affair.

Jay Park and Sơn Tùng M-TP also came together at the event, and the two global icons of the entertainment industry created a buzz of excitement and anticipation among fans and fashion enthusiasts alike.

The attendance of Sơn Tùng M-TP at the GUCCI Cruise 2024 Fashion Show garnered attention from prolific fashion and lifestyle media such as Vogue Hong Kong, Elle Thailand, Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam and Elle Vietnam.

In tandem with this remarkable milestone, Sơn Tùng M-TP’s latest English single, “MAKING MY WAY”, has surpassed an impressive 4 million global streams since its release on May 5th. The infectious beats and compelling lyrics of the single have resonated with listeners, further solidifying his position as a versatile and internationally acclaimed artist. Sung entirely in English, the song showcases Sơn Tùng M-TP’s dynamic vocals and innovative sound, delivering a powerful message of determination and resilience in the face of challenges.

The official visualizer of “MAKING MY WAY” also became the most viewed video on YouTube in both Japan and Vietnam on May 5th, solidifying Sơn Tùng M-TP’s status as an international superstar. In Vietnam, the song claimed the top spot as the #1 Top Video Trending on YouTube in the music category, as well as the #1 song on Apple Music and iTunes Daily Charts. These impressive accomplishments are a testament to the unwavering support of Sơn Tùng M-TP’s fans and the undeniable ability of his music to captivate audiences globally.

Stream “MAKING MY WAY” here.

Watch “MAKING MY WAY” Official Visualiser here.


Hashtag: #Gucci #Fashion #MakingMyWay #SonTungMTP #VietnameseMusic #VietPop #VPop #VietnamesePop #VietnameseSong #VietnameseSinger #VietnameseArtist #VietnameseCulture #VietnamMusic #VietnamPop




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

About Sơn Tùng M-TP

Known for his electrifying performances, Sơn Tùng M-TP has captivated local audiences at home and beyond. He was the first Vietnamese artist to reach 10M subscribers on YouTube as well as chart on the Billboard Global (excl. US) chart. His for “HÃY TRAO CHO ANH” featuring Snoop Dogg, which currently boasts over 260M views, was the fastest video to reach 100M views in Vietnam, and trended in multiple countries such as Vietnam (#1), South Korea (#1), Canada (#3), USA (#3), Australia (#5) and Germany (#5). His musical documentary , available globally on Netflix, showcases the singer-songwriter’s artistry and passion as well as how his music transcends borders.

With a broad social media reach of 14M followers on Facebook, 7.5M followers on Instagram, 10.3M subscribers on YouTube, 4.7M followers on TikTok, and 171.6K followers on Twitter, Sơn Tùng M-TP is very much a sought-after celebrity by brands and has collaborated on campaigns of household names such as Levi’s, Pepsi, Free Fire, and Tiger Beer

COMPUTEX 2023 Best Choice of the Year Awarded to MSI Z790 GODLIKE

Best Choice Award Winners to be Announced on May 30th & Displayed at the Best Choice Award Pavilion during the Exhibition

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – Media OutReach – 30 May 2023 – The Taipei Computer Association (TCA), the leading industrial organization in Taiwan and promoter of Asia’s leading B2B ICT exhibition, has stated COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2023 officially begins on Tuesday, May 30th with the morning announcement of COMPUTEX 2023 Best Choice Award Winners at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Hall 1, 4th Fl., M Area Lobby.

The exhibition event open from Tuesday May 30th to Friday June 2nd, 2023, where guests and visitors are welcome to join the Best Choice Award Pavilion booth No. L0307a to view the winning products.

Of the 37 products awarded this year, the highest honor, Best Choice of the Year Award, has been bestowed upon the MSI Z790 GODLIKE motherboard for its outstanding design, performance, and technical innovation.

This year, the Best Choice Awards focused on 15 categories, including: Vehicle Tech & Smart Cockpit, metaverse & XR applications, AI, ESG and more. The categories follow the current global ICT trends and are judged by an independent jury panel recruited from government representatives, academicians and research analysts to ensure neutrality and that the products truly represent the best of COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2023.

COMPUTEX Best Choice Award 2023 Winners’ List

Official Website: https://bcaward.computex.biz/

2023 COMPUTEX Best Choice Award Winners List

With the strongest show of trust and commitment to the international exhibition, a wide range of industry-leading global ICT companies have joined COMPUTEX 2023 to launch their latest solutions and exhibit their product catalogues. The official award of COMPUTEX, the Best Choice Award, has continued to be a reliable product procurement guide. This year, the winners of a Best Choice Award include, Acer Incorporated, ADATA Technology Co., Ltd., Amaryllo International, Inc., ASRock Inc., ASUSTek Computer Inc., AVerMedia Technologies, Inc., CHT Security Co., Ltd., Compal Electronics, Inc., Cypress Technology Co., Ltd., ELAN Microelectronics Corp., Frore Systems, FSP Technology Inc., Graid Technology, Inc., Jorjin Technologies Inc., K-Best Technology Inc., Maktar Inc., Micro-Star International, Mobile Pixels Inc, NVIDIA Corporation, Onyx Healthcare Inc., oToBrite Electronics, Inc., Quanta Cloud Technology, Realtek Semiconductor Corp., Trans Electric Co., Ltd, and Voltronic Power Technology Corporation.
Hashtag: #TaipeiComputerAssociation

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

About Taipei Computer Association (TCA)

Established in 1974, the Taipei Computer Association (TCA) is the leading industrial organization in Taiwan. Its 4,000 members engages various segments of the information communication technology (ICT) industry, generating over 80% of the total production value of Taiwan’s ICT industry. TCA facilitates the growth of the ICT industry by continuously seeking new opportunities, and acting as a bridge to the government, academic, general public, as well as a window for international professional bodies. Trade events such as the Taipei Game Show, Smart City Summit & Expo, COMPUTEX TAIPEI, InnoVEX, IT Month, and Edtech Taiwan. TCA offices are located in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung as well as overseas offices in China, Japan and India.

imBee and FUTR Strategy Alliance Puts the Power of Conversational Commerce In the Hands of Indonesian Consumers

Partnership unlocks potential for brands to tap into the USD146 billion Indonesian internet economy and streamline internal collaboration with the power of chat, paves way for imBee’s Southeast Asia growth ambitions.

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 30 May 2023 – Prominent chat management company imBee Limited (imBee), based in Hong Kong, is reimagining the chat engagement experience and transforming the way businesses engage with their customers in Indonesia with its strategic partnership with PT LINI IMAJI KREASI EKOSISTEM Tbk (FUTR), the leading technology company in Indonesia.

Caption: Ken Chu, imBee's Co-founder & CEO (left) and Jeremy Quek, FUTR's CEO announced imBee and FUTR strategy alliance puts the power of conversational commerce in the hands of Indonesian consumers

Caption: Ken Chu, imBee’s Co-founder & CEO (left) and Jeremy Quek, FUTR’s CEO announced imBee and FUTR strategy alliance puts the power of conversational commerce in the hands of Indonesian consumers

The partnership puts the power of conversational commerce into the hands of brands looking to break into the lucrative Indonesia internet economy, which is expected to reach USD146 billion in value at a 20% CAGR by 2025. By marrying imBee’s conversational engagement patterns with FUTUR’s cutting-edge data analytics, the platform empowers brands to personalize customer interactions on a one-to-one basis. Brands can now tap into diverse cultural nuances in shopping to drive commerce and covert the region’s over 21 million new digital consumers.

By consolidating different messaging channels into a single dashboard, imBee’s exclusive ISO 27001-certified One Team Inbox allows merchants to enjoy a seamless one-chat experience and better understand customer journeys, affinities, and preferences, making the entire customer experience seamless. The same platform can also improve internal operational efficiencies with better collaboration based on context staff. By breaking down departmental silos and streamlining interdepartmental collaboration, brands can quickly identify and explore upsell and cross-sell opportunities, speed up response times and raise productivity to a new level.

Regional and global brands can use the conversational commerce platform to personalize their customer experience and tailor their products and services for the Indonesian market while staying true to their brand values. With imBee entering similar partnerships across the region, it also unlocks the ability to create a seamless and consistent approach tailored to individual preferences across different countries and cultures.

Ken Chu, imBee’s Co-founder & CEO, said, “The world has its eyes on Indonesia and Southeast Asia for the region’s thriving digital economy and exploding conversational commerce. The digital industry of Indonesia alone grew to US$77 billion in 2022. As Indonesian consumers engage with digital brands in new ways, conversational commerce is clearly leading the charts. We are proud to be at the forefront of this movement and thrilled that our partnership with FUTR will present brands in the region a timely opportunity to build affinity with Indonesia’s digital consumers and turn conversational insights into revenue opportunities. This is also a milestone of the imBee’s history.”

According to a Facebook and BCG survey, 94% of Indonesian customers prefer buying products from sellers who are responsive to chats. FUTR’s CEO, Jeremy Quek, said, “Ken and I believe the moment is now. Indonesian consumers demand chat commerce, and brands eying them have no choice but to get conversational. This partnership indicates our shared commitment to elevating eCommerce customer satisfaction indices in Indonesia on the foundation of data, insights, and empathetic and effective conversations.”

Both companies will focus on researching and developing more profound semantic models and robust data analytics capabilities while prioritizing data privacy and security protocols across all brand engagements.

Hashtag: #imBee

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

About imBee | Collaborate – Conversate – Accelerate

imBee makes working together easy. We are the leading chat management platform, providing world-class conversational engagement to help drive your business. Our team collaboration inbox creates a one-chat experience where a representative from your company can seamlessly share information between internal teams and a current customer or prospect. With imBee, the customer gets high-quality information and a faster response. If fast, easy, high-quality engagement is important to your company, choose imBee.

To find more details about imBee, please visit .

About PT Lini Imaji Kreasi Ekosistem Tbk (FUTR)

FUTR is a technology company that helps global brands, local conglomerates and MSMEs increase revenue and profit by providing accurate data analysis for business-owners to make effective decisions; designing products and services consumers love and protecting consumers’ privacy, which instill a sense of safety and confidence that will translate to repeat usage and purchase.

Positioned as Asia Pacific’s First One-Stop Service for Data, Design and Technology, FUTR has powered more than 200M user visits from a 25M active users base across a myriad of products and services to date.

Two Jockey Club innovation and technology teaching content to be adopted and adapted in EDB Curriculum Modules

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 30 May 2023 – Content from two initiatives supported by The Hong Kong Jockey Club through its Charities Trust to promote innovation and technology (I&T) in primary and secondary schools will be adopted and adapted in two Curriculum Modules on Innovation and Technology Education soon to be launched by the Education Bureau (EDB). The initiatives, the Trust-created and funded CoolThink@JC programme and Trust-funded CUHK Jockey Club AI for the Future Project, were created to achieve that very purpose. They are intended to equip students with essential skills needed for a 21st-century workforce and enhance the digital competency among youngsters through the promotion of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education.

A Computational Thinking and AI Education – Mainstreaming and Commendation Ceremony was held today. Officiating guests included HKSAR Government Secretary for Education Dr Christine Choi and The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director of Charities and Community Dr Gabriel Leung.

The Club’s Executive Director of Charities and Community Dr Gabriel Leung noted that The Club has created and funded many projects over the years to help children and young people from different backgrounds thrive and to equip them with skills for their future success. The Club is delighted that both programmes’ materials are adopted and adapted by the EDB, to enable primary and secondary school students gain essential skills, knowledge and digital literacy. The Club will continue to support the growth and development of the next generation to nurturing future talent.

Speaking at the ceremony, Secretary for Education Dr Christine Choi especially thanked The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for its generous support. She appreciated the Trust for the collaboration with the Education Bureau to consolidate and draw on the experience accumulated by the schools from the two projects, distil and develop them into two sets of learning and teaching materials on Innovation and Technology Education – the “Enriched Module on Coding Education for Upper Primary Level” and the “Module on Artificial Intelligence for Junior Secondary Level”. The curriculum modules will soon be issued for use by all publicly-funded schools in Hong Kong to help teachers integrate innovation and technology elements into school curricula more systematically. Schools are expected to implement enriched coding education at the upper primary level and to integrate learning of artificial intelligence into the junior secondary curriculum to cultivate students’ interest and capabilities in learning information technology and innovative technology at an early age, dovetailing with the EDB’s strengthened promotion of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education and to foster I&T learning for all students in primary and secondary schools. The Secretary also thanked all primary and secondary school principals and teachers for their active participation in the two projects, creating a rich learning experience of innovation and technology for students, working together to promote innovation and technology education.

Talent is crucial in fostering innovation and technology development, and therefore nurturing students’ capabilities to learn science and technology should start from an early age. By adopting innovative, forward-looking approach, the Club seeks to create more social impact. To achieve this goal, it supports innovative service models and technology applications to enhance innovation capabilities in the community. Club-supported innovation and technology education programmes cater to primary and secondary students. They provide teaching materials, training and support to teachers, as well as public educational activities such as interschool coding and AI competitions and summer training camps, to enhance mathematical skills, logical thinking and scientific knowledge among the younger generation, thereby strengthening research capabilities. These programmes include:

CUHK Jockey Club AI for the Future project launched in 2019, aims to enrich junior secondary school students’ knowledge of AI, inspire creativity, instil AI ethics and promote the use of AI for social good. So far, the programme has benefited over 10,000 students.

CoolThink@JC programme created in 2016, aims to encourage upper primary students to employ digital creativity for tackling challenges in an increasingly digital future, empowering them to become technology creators. Since its creation, it has been used to train over 1,200 teachers to support computational thinking education in primary schools and benefited over 80,000 students. It has also received three worldwide accolades, attesting to its effectiveness, including a Silver Award in the Engineering & IT category and a Bronze Award in the Presence Learning & Teaching category of the QS Reimagine Education Awards 2021, and accreditation from the International Standards for Technology Education (ISTE).

The Club’s support for these projects, like all of its charity donations, is made possible by its unique integrated business model through which racing and wagering generate tax and charity support for the community. Indeed the Club’s support goes well beyond the financial. Together with its partners, the Club initiates and co‐creates programmes targeting emerging or unmet community needs, while also working to build capacity in the community.

Promoting digital education together with stakeholders

The Jockey Club and various stakeholders have worked tirelessly to promote computational thinking and artificial intelligence education. It is expected more than 110,000 upper primary students are anticipated to have benefited from the CoolThink@JC computational thinking courses by 2024. As the EDB rolls out the “Enriched Module on Coding Education for Upper Primary Level” curriculum to all primary schools, CoolThink@JC will provide more support to facilitate the new curriculum, including furthering support for teacher development, parent education, on-site support and teacher support networks, and providing assistance to students from underprivileged families.

The CUHK Jockey Club AI for the Future Project co-created the first-of-its-kind “Artificial Intelligence Curriculum for Junior Secondary Students in Hong Kong – Teaching and Learning Pack”, which is ideally coupled with the delivery of certain introductory modules. The project has also developed a robotic car, “CUHK-JC iCar”. CUHK Jockey Club AI for the Future Project has entered a second phase, with the aim to engage close to 50% of secondary schools in Hong Kong and broaden AI education in senior forms, as well as to work closely with the industry to establish and strengthen a sustainable AI learning and teaching ecosystem.

Professor Rocky S. Tuan, Vice-Chancellor and President of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, before the event, said, “AI and machine learning represent some of the most profound changes to potentially all aspects of society since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Literacy in AI, and an understanding of these technologies will be fundamental to economic competitiveness in the 21st century. This work must start at school, and that is why this project will be transformative for Hong Kong’s capability to thrive in a vital area of economic activity. CUHK has a responsibility to leverage its longstanding capability in AI so that more people across society can thrive in an era that will be driven by this rapidly evolving technology. Hong Kong has a once in a generation opportunity to be at the forefront of the AI economy and this project represents a major effort in producing the AI leaders of tomorrow.”

Prof. Stephen Cheung, President, The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), one of the co-creators of CoolThink@JC offered his congratulations on the success of the programme, and said, “EdUHK is committed to promoting coding and STEAM education, as well as other innovative learning initiatives. Making computational education as part of the school curriculum is what we have been championing. The incorporation of the CoolThink@JC Programme into one of the new curriculums to be launched by the EDB represents due recognition of the shared vision and concerted efforts of The Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Programme creators. It is particularly encouraging to see that many more students will have access to the CoolThink@JC learning experience with its wider application.”

Professor Matthew Lee, Vice-President (Development and External Relations) of City University of Hong Kong, another co-creator of CoolThink@JC, believes that the project can inspire student’s digital creativity for their proactive use of technologies for social good, nurturing future talents in innovation and technology in Hong Kong. City U designs a series of diversified parent-child coding workshops to help parents master computational thinking skill, promoting computational thinking as a mainstream education curriculum.

57 schools commended for their outstanding contributions

The CoolThink@JC Commendation Scheme 2023 presented awards including in the CoolThink@JC Fellow and CoolThink@JC High-flyer categories to students and teachers to acknowledge their immense passion and contributions to computational thinking and artificial intelligence education. The awardees were selected by a panel of judges from The Hong Kong Jockey Club, The Education University of Hong Kong, MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node, and City University of Hong Kong. While the teachers and students of pioneering schools participating in the CUHK Jockey Club AI for the Future Project were presented with certificates of appreciation.

For the full list of awardees:
https://ctc.coolthink.hk/
https://cuhkjc-aiforfuture.hk/index.php/en/home/

Hashtag: #TheHongKongJockeyClubCharitiesTrust

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

Bowtie Achieved HK$60 Billion In Protection in Four Years

Defends championship title in direct sales channel once again with 30% market share

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 30 May 2023 – Bowtie, Hong Kong’s first virtual insurer, will share key financial and operational milestones to celebrate its fourth anniversary. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong has eased, Bowtie still continued to achieve strong sales performance. Bowtie’s total insured amount exceeded HK$60 billion, and Bowtie was again ranked number one in the direct sales channel in terms of number of policies sold.

Online insurance purchases have tripled

Four years ago, Bowtie was launched in Hong Kong with the mission of reshaping the insurance landscape through technology and helping to close the insurance protection gap. When Bowtie launched, policy sales in direct sales channel (including online and other channels) in Hong Kong accounted for only 2.9%[1] of total sales. Through four years of effort, Bowtie has grown together with the overall growth of the online channel, helping to triple the direct channel market share to 8.5%[2] along with industry peers.

Fred Ngan, Bowtie’s Co-Founder and Co-CEO said, “With changing consumer channel preferences and the increasing health awareness, we firmly believe that Hong Kong’s online application rate has room to further grow to 30%, catching up with other developed insurance markets, and becoming the mainstream channel for the next generation.”

He continued, “With a market share of over 30%[3] in the direct sales channel, Bowtie has emerged as the preferred choice of one in three consumers who purchase insurance online. Also, Bowtie has once again ranked number one in the direct sales channel in terms of number of policies sold for two consecutive years, this accomplishment surpasses all banks and insurance companies.”

VHIS sales reached a historic high after COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for private healthcare services and medical insurance among Hongkongers, leading Bowtie’s accumulated website traffic to grow over a staggering one hundred million. Even after the pandemic situation has improved, the online search volume for Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS) products remains strong.

Bowtie has also once again become the most searched VHIS brand on Google[4], indicating that the brand is winning customer awareness. This has led to a historic high of VHIS product sales in March of this year.

Reaching HK$60 billion in protection

Thanks to the trust of over 90,000 customers, Bowtie’s overall recurring revenue recorded over 100% growth to HK$170 million last year, with the total insured amount exceeding HK$60 billion.

In terms of VHIS product sales, Bowtie’s premium income reached HK$80 million last year and is expected to grow to HK$100 million this year, with the number of in-force VHIS policies exceeding 20,000; while in group medical insurance product sales, Bowtie’s premium income recorded a growth of over 100% last year, serving over 500 small and medium-sized enterprises and technology-embracing companies, including virtual banking, companies from telecommunications and airlines industry.

Delivering on claim promise

While achieving business growth, Bowtie has also maintained excellent customer service. Bowtie handled over 50,000 customer inquiries with 93% satisfaction rating last year; around 90% of customers were able to complete their insurance application online by themselves.

Based on Bowtie’s claim data from the past 12 months, the vast majority of claims are approved, with the overall approval rate of over 99.7%[5]; the reimbursement ratio[6] for VHIS products alone is 88%, while the reimbursement ratio of high-end VHIS plan, Bowtie Pink, is about 100%. Even with a fourfold increase in the number of claim cases, Bowtie’s claim turnaround time has kept up and even improved.

Bowtie also invests in customer’s long-term health via promoting preventive care for them, maintaining a retention rate of nearly 94%.

Up-to-date medical protections

As medical inflation in Hong Kong intensifies, Bowtie strives to carefully balance policy coverage with long-term premium levels, and is committed to limiting the average medical expense borne by customers to an affordable level of HK$10,000, in order to reduce their economic pressure caused by unexpected medical expenses.

Looking back at 2022, the average out-of-pocket amount under Bowite’s VHIS product was maintained at HK$3,000, which is in line with the product positioning. Therefore, Bowtie decided to allocate their resources in enhancing user experience and the contractual terms with the following upgrades:

  • Launching “No-Claim Reward Program” — The program will automatically deposit BowtieCash for customers who have no claims records during the designated policy period. BowtieCash can be used to offset any out-of-pocket amounts customers need to pay after Bowtie’s claim reimbursements.
  • Expanding “24-Hour Worldwide Emergency Assistance Service” to all VHIS plans
  • Increasing the coverage limit of Bowtie Pink (Private Room) The annual benefit limit increased from HK$10 million to HK$20 million, and the lifetime benefit limit increased from HK$50 million to HK$80 million.
  • Enhancing the terms of all VHIS plans, including Bowtie VHIS Flexi: The waiting period for unknown pre-existing conditions reduced from 1 year to 180 days, allowing the insured to receive 100% coverage earlier.

For details about the VHIS product upgrade of this year, please refer to this article.

Michael Chan, Bowtie’s Co-Founder and Co-CEO said, “As medical costs in Hong Kong become increasingly unaffordable, insurance companies have an obligation to ensure their customer’s medical protection is up-to-date. Through our technological advantages, we aim to further reduce operating costs and provide customers with higher cost-effectiveness VHIS products that keep pace with times.”

John Tsang, Bowtie’s Senior Advisor said, “Witnessing the growth of Bowtie has been a meaningful journey for me, I am honoured to participate in Bowtie’s VHIS upgrade campaign. We have already made significant contributions to relieving pressure on public hospitals by filling a protection gap of over HK$60 billion for Hongkongers via pure protection products; we hope to unlock private hospital services for more people in the near future.”


[1] The percentage of policies sold through the online channel (direct sales) compared to the total number of policies sold among long term business in all channels

[2] With reference to the Provisional Statistics For Long Term Business for 2018-2022 published by the Insurance Authority

[3] According to Insurance Authority’s Provisional Statistics for Long Term Business 2022, Bowtie Life ranked first in number of new individual paid policies through online sales channel (Direct channel) in Hong Kong

[4] Google search based on “Insurance company brand + VHIS”, within 12 months from May 2022

[5] All insurance products including both individual and group insurance plans

[6] Calculation method: Number of paid claim ÷ (number of paid claim + number of declined claim)

Hashtag: #Bowtie #VirtualInsurance #VoluntaryHealthInsuranceScheme



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

About Bowtie

The Bowtie Life Insurance Company Limited is an authorised life insurance company and Hong Kong’s very first virtual insurer approved under the Fast Track pilot scheme. Through the use of modern technology and medical expertise, Bowtie offers a commission-free convenient online platform for customers to quote, apply and claim for health insurance plans certified by the Health Bureau under the Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme (VHIS), and . Bowtie is backed by Sun Life Financial, Mitsui & Co., Ltd and supported by leading international reinsurers. Stay up to date at .

HKU spin-off company Stellaris AI Unveils Ground-breaking Language Model “Stellaris GPT”

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 30 May 2023 – In a game-changing announcement, Stellaris AI, a trailblazing spin-off company from the HKU Department of Computer Science (CS), introduced Stellaris GPT (SGPT), a truly innovative large-scale language model boasting hundreds of billions of parameters. Uniquely, SGPT has been developed entirely from scratch by the Stellaris AI team, without relying on OpenAI or any pre-existing ChatGPT-like systems. This breakthrough achievement offers a powerful AI-driven language model without the encumbrance of copyright or legal risks.

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China’s AIGC (Artificial Intelligence (AI) Generated Content) market is forecast to surpass RMB 1 trillion by 2030. Language models powered by AI, such as ChatGPT, are crucial to support this burgeoning industry. The brainchild of Professor Siu-Ming Yiu, Executive Director of the HKU-SCF FinTech Academy and Professor in the Department of Computer Science, along with his former PhD student, Dr. Jacob Jikun Wu, CEO of Stellaris AI, SGPT v2.5 enters the scene as a game-changing, independent solution.

“With this ground-breaking model (SGPT), there could be tremendous emerging and non-trivial applications, e.g., medical-related, financial-related, and educational-related applications, to be developed that can benefit Hong Kong, GBA, the whole country and even the world,” said Professor Yiu.

During a live demonstration on May 10, 2023, SGPT astounded participants with its exceptional performance across various tasks, including text generation, language understanding, knowledge-based question answering, news commentary, financial queries, technical commentary, programming question answering, code understanding, code generation, general knowledge, numerical computation, logical reasoning, multilingual and cross-language interpretation, multi-round dialogue, and human-like empathy. Remarkably, SGPT excelled even in complex corner cases involving intricate mathematics, logic, ethics, and other areas where other large models had faltered.

Stellaris AI’s future development plans prioritize technological excellence, industry-leading research and development, and unwavering support from a top-tier scientific research team. SGPT v3, an even more powerful and faster version, is slated for public testing in June 2023. This next iteration will feature multimodal conversation, plugins, open API calls, longer context and memory, local deployment, auto mode, industry-specific large models, a secure LLM security framework, and compliance protection.

Stellaris AI’s groundbreaking SGPT is set to captivate the international audience as it redefines the AI industry and ushers in a new era of language models.

Hashtag: #HKU

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

“Collaboration with the GBA – Opportunities for Youth and Industries in the Northern Metropolis Forum Series” Showcase New Development Insight with Innovative and Creative Industry Landscape for Hong Kong

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 30 May 2023 – Steering Committee on the Northern Metropolis and the Advisory Committee on the Northern Metropolis have been set up in March 2023. The Harbour Metropolis in the South and Northern Metropolis in the North will become the major economic engine of Hong Kong and achieve new industries and landscapes. Therefore, opportunities in the Northern Metropolis have become a hot discussion topic in Hong Kong. As a result, JCI North District started the “Collaboration with the GBA – Northern Metropolis: Opportunities for Youth and Industry Forum Series”.

During the panel discussion, guest speakers shared various development opportunities in the Northern Metropolis
During the panel discussion, guest speakers shared various development opportunities in the Northern Metropolis

Through Study Missions, Surveys, and Discussion Forum in the project series, JCI North District aims to provide new angles for young people to understand the development of the Northern Metropolis. During the forum, speakers shared their views on the development of the Northern Metropolis from the employment, entrepreneurship, housing, and community development point of view. The forum also explored Northern Metropolis’ collaboration with nearby regions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The organizer believes Northern Metropolis can help Hong Kong integrate into the national development plan under the new industry landscape.

Raymond Lai, 2023 President of the JCI North District, remarked, “Our forum series provided high-quality youth and industry development solutions for the Northern Metropolis. Furthermore, the Northern Metropolis will create opportunities for youth and provide platforms for different industries. The forum also demonstrated the R.I.S.E. concepts of the Junior Chamber International — Reset, Invest, Sustain, and Evolve. Subsequently, young people are empowered to cultivate a fantastic and diversified Northern Metropolis.”

Edward Lau Kwok-fan MH JP, member of the Legislative Council, stated that “the Northern Metropolis is the new centre of Hong Kong, the centre of the Greater Bay Area, and the first centre planned to integrate into the country’s overall development. The Northern Metropolis can provide land to solve Hong Kong’s housing problems, develop innovation and technology industries as a new growth point for Hong Kong’s economy, and cooperate with the Greater Bay Area to build high-quality development. The new government has established the Steering Committee on Northern Metropolis and is amending the development procedures. We hope that the government will continue to use new thinking, new speed, and new policies and accelerate the construction of the Northern Metropolis through comprehensive planning and public-private cooperation.”

Professor William Wong Kam-fai MH, member of the Legislative Council, said, “Young people need room for living and development. They need space to showcase their abilities. Our mother country supports Hong Kong in developing into International Innovation and Technology hub. The position of Northern Metropolis should be ‘Hong Kong’s Silicon Valley.’ Upon completion of the Northern Metropolis, we can expect young people can get extra room to innovate and fly high.”

Professor Witman Hung, JP, Adjunct Professor, College of Business of City University of Hong Kong, claimed that the Northern Metropolis should adopt an innovative development model to seek for support national policy support. Through constructing the “Shenzhen-Hong Kong Boundary Control Points Economic Belt”, cross-border cooperation could be deepened. Furthermore, Northern Metropolis should have a diversified industry structure and create the area as a ‘Special Zone of the Special Zone’.

Through Study Missions, Surveys, and Discussion Forum in the project series, JCI North District aims to provide new angles for young people to understand the development of the Northern Metropolis. During the forum, speakers shared their views on the development of the Northern Metropolis from the employment, entrepreneurship, housing, and community development point of view. The forum also explored Northern Metropolis’ collaboration with nearby regions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The organizer believes Northern Metropolis can help Hong Kong integrate into the national development plan under the new industry landscape.

Mr Wing Chu, Head of Special Projects and Business Advisory Section, HKTDC Research – The Northern Metropolis is close to Shenzhen. Hong Kong companies should make good use of Hong Kong’s advantages and use the Greater Bay Area as a springboard to explore the huge mainland market.

Kenneth Yu, 2023 National President of Junior Chamber International Hong Kong said that Hong Kong aims to become an “international innovation and technology hub,” with the northern metropolis as a new focal point for the city’s future development. The area is essential for promoting diversified industries and innovation, with available land combining high-quality living, emerging economies, and cultural leisure. In addition, it can attract international talent, enhance Hong Kong’s development momentum, and promote economic cooperation with the Greater Bay Area, bringing unlimited opportunities to Hong Kong’s youth. It is truly a dream factory for realizing aspirations.

The Junior Chamber International Hong Kong has always played a role in training international youth leaders and connecting people. It brings international talent to Hong Kong and the other cities of the Greater Bay Area, nurturing our future leaders through comprehensive leadership training and practical work plans that cater to the needs of society.

During the panel discussion, guest speakers shared various development opportunities in the Northern Metropolis for youth and industries from the perspective of career development, innovation and entrepreneurship, housing, and smart community.

Calvin Tse Hoi Fat, Chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs, said, “Northern Metropolis is one of the key drivers to Hong Kong’s future development and possesses huge potential. Therefore, Hong Kong youth should equip themselves to seize this rare opportunity.”

Joseph Ho, Councilor and Past President of The Cosmetic & Perfumery Association of Hong Kong, “All things are possible if you believe. The Northern Metropolis Development Strategy is not only a picture, but we can also visualize the roadmap of Hong Kong Future supported by the National 14th Five-Year Greater Bay Area Plan. Small economies need to be open to being successful economically. Economies of scale lower the average cost of production, but large-scale production is economical only if there is sufficient final demand for the output. The domestic demand of small economies is usually too small to support large-scale domestic production. In fact, openness is essential to growth for economies of all sizes. Medium to large economies must also be open to international trade and investment to maintain economic growth.”

President of the Cyberport Startup Alumni Association, Kelvin Lei, believed that “Hong Kong, as an international financial centre, has a deep accumulation of talents reserves and capital markets in the financial market, making it very suitable for the entrepreneurship and development of fintech companies. Moreover, it can reach the mainland market through the Greater Bay Area and have broad development prospects.”

Ms Yvonne Wong, Chairlady of the Hong Kong United Youth Science and Technology Association, believed that North Metropolis is a vital innovation engine for Hong Kong and shared the mission to synergize with nearby regions through deepening cooperation. However, to maximize collaborative efforts, homogenous development should be avoided.

Sunny Cheung, Chairman of the “Collaboration with the GBA – Opportunities for Youth and Industries in the Northern Metropolis Forum Series”, remarked that the forum on May 19 was the 4th event of the project series. Following the previous study missions in Shenzhen and Zhuhai, the delegates visited the Greater Bay Area’s innovative technology and culture enterprises. A visit to the major projects in Fanling of the Civil Engineering Development Department (CEDD) was paid on April 28.

Esteemed forum speakers presented different industry opportunities in the Northern Metropolis for youth. Opportunities in innovation and technology, e-health, professional services, education, culture and creative industries are mentioned. Besides, the forum audience was updated with the latest progress of Northern Metropolis. To assist young people in understanding opportunities in Northern Metropolis, the organizing committee will organize a Study mission in Northern Metropolis and a questionnaire survey subsequent to the forum.

Event’s photo Link: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1FL4ZDxgFCz6QdXiOmqUHedYwgVeCVYl1

ABOUT “Collaboration with the GBA – Opportunities for Youth and Industries in the Northern Metropolis Forum Series”

Through Study Missions, Surveys, and Discussion Forum in the project series, JCI North District aims to provide new angles for young people to understand the development of the Northern Metropolis. The organizer believed that Northern Metropolis is an essential platform for Hong Kong to integrate with the National Development Plan and deepen the collaboration with different regions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Therefore, we wish to provide different perspectives to help youth explore opportunities in North Metropolis, such as career development, innovation and entrepreneurship, housing, and smart community.

Hashtag: #NorthernMetropolis #JCINorthDistrict

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

About Junior Chamber International North District

Junior Chamber International North District was established in 1985. It is one of the 21 chapters under the Junior Chamber International Hong Kong. Junior Chamber International provides leadership development, business affairs,

community development and international affairs opportunities for youth aged

18-40. Through project organization and execution, young people are upskilled through community services. When the association was founded, it was mainly

based in the North District. However, to cope with the organization’s new development, members are now from different regions in Hong Kong.

Sponsors
HKJC Foundation
匯生會 SDLIVINGCULTURE
安健中醫ONKIN CMC
BOBO仔

Support Organization
Cyberport Startup Alumni Association (CSAA)