KUCHING, Malaysia, Aug. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Sarawak’s approach to creating lasting impact through business events has once again earned international recognition, with the destination named Best Sustainability Initiative (Destination) at the Meetings & Conventions Asia Stella Awards 2026. The win marks Sarawak’s second in the category, after 2024, reinforcing legacy impact as an important part of its approach to sustainable destination development.

The win was driven by Sarawak’s legacy impact approach, which demonstrates how business events can be intentionally designed to create meaningful long-term outcomes beyond the event itself. By focusing on economic development, social progress, and environmental responsibility, the approach connects business events with Sarawak’s Post COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

This year’s recognition carries added significance as the award was determined through public nominations and voting. Public support for Sarawak reflects the growing relevance of legacy impact beyond the business events industry, showing that the value of creating meaningful, lasting outcomes is resonating with the wider community.

“Winning this award for the second time demonstrates the importance of sustainability and legacy to Sarawak’s business events strategy and wider development,” said The Honourable Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak. “Sustainability must go beyond the environment to include social and economic progress, while legacy ensures that the value created through business events can continue long after an event has ended.”

Since its first M&C Asia Stella Award victory in 2024, Sarawak has continued to advance its legacy agenda through programmes and platforms focused on education, measurement and industry participation. The focus is increasingly on embedding legacy throughout the event journey and strengthening the industry’s ability to translate intent into meaningful outcomes.

“This recognition reflects the collective effort behind Sarawak’s legacy journey,” said Datu Hii Chang Kee, Deputy State Secretary (Operation) and Chairman of BESarawak. “What began with advocacy is gaining greater participation across the industry. Legacy is ultimately about shaping the future together, with government, industry, organisers and communities each playing a role in creating shared and meaningful outcomes.”

“This award signals that legacy impact is gaining greater relevance, not only for Sarawak but across the Asia Pacific business events industry,” said Jason Tan Chin Foo, Chief Executive Officer of BESarawak. “Our next phase is to drive greater adoption across the ecosystem, ensuring that legacy outcomes are consistently planned, measured and demonstrated, while strengthening the industry’s capability to deliver them. That is how we turn recognition into lasting value for Sarawak.”

The M&C Asia Best Sustainability Initiative (Destination) Award 2026 marks another milestone in Sarawak’s legacy journey, strengthening its commitment to advancing legacy impact as a driver of sustainable destination development.  

– END –

About Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) / Biro Konvensyen Sarawak / 砂拉越会展局
Established by the Sarawak Government in 2006, Business Events Sarawak (BESarawak) is the destination marketing organisation responsible for attracting high-value business events aligned with the Post COVID-19 Development Strategy 2030. Through business events, BESarawak drives visitor expenditure, innovation, global expertise, and strategic partnerships – creating economic, social, and environmental impact that strengthens Sarawak’s economy, intellectual capital and sustainability. More at www.businesseventssarawak.com.

About Legacy Impact
Legacy impact refers to the positive, long-term change generated through business events. In Sarawak, conventions and exhibitions are structured to create legacies, whereas corporate meetings and incentive programmes emphasise the experience of legacies. Through strategic event planning, programming, and curated experiences, Sarawak aims to build a legacy of innovation, collaboration, and sustainable impact, generating tangible benefits for communities, industries, and the region.

HONG KONG, Aug. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — BiFu, an all-asset trading platform, has completed the build-out of its Wealth suite, which runs on two product lines: a Wealth product line offering five funds managed by licensed asset management institutions across fixed income, gold, quantitative strategies, Hong Kong IPOs, and foreign exchange; and an RWA (real-world assets) product line that brings tokenized private-market equity on-chain, opening a category once reserved for institutions and high-net-worth investors.

These are not two separate features. They answer the same question: once a user’s capital crosses a certain threshold, what else can an exchange offer?

The Industry Backdrop: RWA Is Now a $38 Billion Market

According to industry data platform RWA.xyz, as of August 2026, total on-chain RWA value stands at roughly $38 billion, total asset holders have surpassed 2 million, up more than 60% in 30 days, and asset issuers number 281.

Two numbers deserve a closer look. First, holder growth is far outpacing growth in total value: new inflows are dominated by smaller tickets, and RWA is moving from an institutional niche toward retail adoption. Second, 281 issuers against two million holders means supply remains scarce, which helps explain why leading offerings fill their subscription windows quickly.

The asset mix, however, is a reminder that RWA is not shorthand for “low risk.” US Treasuries, at roughly $14.7 billion, are a conservative core holding; but commodities, private credit, equities, private equity, and alternative funds sit closer to the medium-to-high end of the risk spectrum.

BiFu’s read: Treasuries and commodities solve a yield problem, but the real growth frontier lies in private equity and alternative funds, because those solve an access problem. What retail investors lack is not an extra point of yield. It is access to assets they simply cannot buy.

The Wealth Line: Five Funds, Five Distinct Sources of Return

BiFu’s Wealth product line currently hosts five funds, all rated Medium Risk, whose underlying assets do not overlap: a compact allocation shelf rather than a product list.

FX Stable Return Fund: expected annualized rate of return of 8.00% to 10.00%, a 365-day offering cycle, initial investment of 10,000 USDT, and a subscription quota of 5,000,000 USDT. The fund invests in a master fund established by Trivesta Group in the Cayman Islands, managed through foreign exchange (FX) and precious metals (including gold) trading strategies within an established risk management framework focused on controlling volatility and drawdowns.

Gold Spot Enhanced Fund: It adopts a classic strategy of “gold spot base holdings + dynamic option yield enhancement (e.g., covered calls)”, capturing gold’s long-term appreciation Beta through spot positions while earning option premium Alpha during market consolidation. Managed by Duxton Asset Management.

Ark One Quantitative Fund: expected annualized rate of return of 15.00%, a 365-day cycle, initial investment of 20,000 USDT, a quota of 5,000,000 USDT, and recruitment progress of 69.85%. The only fund with digital assets as the underlying, it is an arbitrage yield-enhanced quantitative fund of funds combining “steady arbitrage + flexible timing enhancement” to navigate bull and bear cycles. Primary manager Wellspring Asset Management holds a BVI Approved Manager license, with over 7 years of crypto quantitative experience and historical AUM exceeding USD 140 million; Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (Singapore) acts as co-manager.

Stable Yield Fixed Income Fund: expected annualized rate of return of 7.00%, a 180-day cycle, initial investment of 5,000 USDT, a quota of 5,000,000 USDT, and recruitment progress of 75.39%. The only six-month product, it adopts the MAS-regulated VCC structure and invests in supply chain finance assets with a real trade background, targeting counter-cyclical industries such as packaging, plastics, and deep processing of agricultural products. Duxton Asset Management is primary manager, with Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (Singapore) as co-manager.

HKEX Anchor Investment Flagship Fund: expected annualized rate of return of 15.00%, a 365-day cycle, initial investment of 10,000 USDT, a quota of 5,000,000 USDT, and recruitment progress of 56.92%. Managed by Duxton Asset Management, it directly participates in the offline anchor placement of high-quality unicorn IPOs on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), capturing initial offering dividends while avoiding long-term secondary market volatility.

The shelf has a clear layered design: fixed income, FX, Hong Kong IPOs, gold, and crypto quant each contribute a distinct return stream, with entry points tiered from 1,000 to 20,000 USDT.

All product information is drawn from BiFu’s public website and does not constitute investment advice or any promise of returns. Expected annualized rates are projections, not guarantees; past performance is not indicative of future results, and investments involve the risk of principal loss.

The Manager Lineup: A Licensed Roster Rarely Seen in Crypto Wealth Products

Duxton Asset Management, founded in 2009, is dually regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS, holding a CMS license) and Australia’s ASIC. Its core team originated from the Asset Management division of Deutsche Bank, with 17 years in cross-border investment and wealth management. Shenwan Hongyuan Securities (Singapore) is a holding subsidiary of a large comprehensive securities firm directly under China Investment Corporation (CIC) and Central Huijin. Wellspring Asset Management holds a BVI Approved Manager license and specializes in digital asset quantitative hedging. Trivesta Group covers the FX and precious metals mandate and issues two equity projects on the RWA line.

Under BiFu’s roadmap, the Wealth suite will operate as an open venue: the platform provides the compliance rails, user base, and settlement infrastructure, and invites additional licensed asset managers to issue products and assets.

The RWA Line: Turning Private-Market Tickets into Stablecoin-Sized Shares

BiFu’s RWA Project List currently features three investable projects, all structured as funds and rated Medium Risk:

StepFun Equity Project: initial investment of $15,000, issued by Trivesta Group, scale upper limit of $5,000,000, recruitment progress 56.91%. It invests in the Pre-IPO equity of StepFun, a leading unicorn in China’s Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) sector, standing in the domestic first tier for multi-modal large model technology.

Sunrise Equity Project: initial investment of $20,000, also issued by Trivesta Group, scale upper limit of $5,000,000, recruitment progress 41.65%. It invests in Sunrise, a scarce target in China’s AI computing infrastructure sector focused on the independent R&D of dedicated GPUs for large model inference.

Musk Unicorn Opportunities Fund: initial investment of $50,000, managed by Duxton Asset Management, scale upper limit of $10,000,000, now marked Fundraising Closed. A Pre-IPO unicorn opportunities fund holds scarce equity of pre-listing tech giants through a compliant fund structure.

All three are private-market equity that ordinary investors can barely reach through traditional channels. This is where RWA delivers its most tangible value: allocations that once started at a million dollars compress to $15,000 to $50,000, subscribable in stablecoins. It converts what people could not buy into products they can hold by the share. Private-market equity remains medium-to-high risk, and expected annualization figures do not constitute any guarantee of returns.

For Asset Issuers: BiFu’s Next Phase

RWA is a two-sided market. BiFu has laid out the path it will offer asset issuers going forward, in three steps: asset tokenization, market trading, and investment allocation. Projects move from application through compliance structuring to token issuance; tokens then list, connect to liquidity, and open to global investors, who allocate in stablecoins and can exit through the secondary market. 

BiFu’s support spans compliance architecture, smart contracts, and full-cycle issuance services, underpinned by partner law firms, auditors, and custodians. For asset owners, fundraising and liquidity get solved together: a tokenized issuance creates a continuously tradable market the moment the raise completes.

The Second Half for Exchanges Is a Contest of Asset Supply

As the industry settles into a battle for existing users, pure trading-efficiency gains yield less and less. BiFu’s Wealth suite points to a different path: the core competency of an exchange is shifting from matching trades to organizing assets. Whoever can source assets others cannot, and package institutional-grade structures into retail-accessible shares, will keep the users with the largest balances.

Users still need only one account. What that account can hold is expanding from crypto to gold, foreign exchange, supply chain finance, Hong Kong IPOs, and private-market equity.

About BiFu

BiFu is a next-generation all-asset trading platform connecting trading, assets, and future markets. Through a unified account system, BiFu offers crypto derivatives, FX CFDs, tokenized stocks and RWA, prediction markets, Earn, and copy trading.

One Account, Trade the World.

HONG KONG, Aug. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — When Blossom & Wood Media says “global creators, powered by Blossom & Wood Media”, they mean it literally.

The agency runs local hubs in Bangkok, Jakarta, São Paulo, and Mexico City, managing an influencer network of nearly 100,000 creators across Europe, the Americas, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. At any given time, the agency coordinates multi-market campaigns — matching creators to briefs, managing tight production schedules, handling approvals, and tracking performance across platforms.

The Challenge: Aligning Financial Infrastructure with Global Scale

At Blossom & Wood Media’s scale, managing global campaign funds requires coordinating hundreds of payouts across dozens of currencies and time zones.

For the finance team, executing these disbursements through traditional banking networks created continuous friction:

• Unpredictable Intermediary Fees: Intermediary banks frequently deducted hidden fees mid-transit, creating discrepancies between the amount sent by the agency and the net amount received by overseas creators.
• Operational Bottlenecks: Manually processing batch transfers across disparate local payment methods consumed valuable finance bandwidth and increased administrative error rates.
• Delayed Campaign Schedules: When creator bank details contained minor errors, resolving returned transfers required multi-party coordination between business managers, finance teams, and creators, which slowed down campaign momentum.

As Blossom & Wood Media expanded its footprint, it sought a specialized fintech partner to solve both the volume and complexity of its global capital flow.

“We needed a partner who genuinely understands overseas business models. Compliance, the ability to handle complex operational scenarios, and rapid response speed when edge cases arise were our three non-negotiables.”

— Eva Long, Co-founder of Blossom & Wood Group

Consumer Electronics in LATAM: One Campaign, Two Markets, Zero Fragmentation

Blossom & Wood Media brought PhotonPay in to manage the payment complexity that comes with running multi-market campaigns at scale. The consumer electronics vertical illustrates clearly how that works in practice.

For a consumer electronics client running concurrent campaigns across two key LATAM markets, Blossom & Wood Media built a tiered creator structure: vertical creators in tech and fitness for product demonstrations, and crossover creators in streetwear, entertainment, and anime to reach broader youth audiences. One market alone generated close to 3 million content impressions, with the overall CPM held below $10.

Behind those results was a disbursement operation involving multiple creator cohorts, two separate market budgets, and staggered payment timelines running in parallel. Using PhotonPay’s multi-currency accounts and batch payment tools, Blossom & Wood Media consolidated disbursements for both markets into a single management flow. Payments were batched by cohort and campaign phase, fees were transparent and predictable, and reconciliation was tied directly to campaign milestones, so finance always had a clear view of which payments belonged to which market and which phase, without piecing together separate processes manually.

Short Drama Goes Global: Production Payments and Flexible Settlements

Blossom & Wood Media has built significant capability in short-form drama. These projects move fast: local casting, on-the-ground production crews, and post-production partners may be spread across several countries, with tight delivery windows from pre-production through final delivery.

Blossom & Wood Media uses PhotonPay to handle project-level disbursements — payments to local production teams, actors, and collaborators across markets, managed in batches with full reconciliation visibility. Payment details are verified before disbursement, and when exceptions do arise, PhotonPay’s team resolves them quickly enough that they rarely affect the production schedule.

Furthermore, in high-growth markets like Latin America, local currency volatility and banking restrictions lead some clients to settle campaign and media buying budgets (for TikTok and Meta ad spend) in USDT or other stablecoins.

To accommodate client preferences without creating accounting friction, Blossom & Wood Media leverages PhotonPay’s multi-asset wallet and conversion capabilities. PhotonPay helps accept stablecoins from clients and seamlessly converts digital assets into USD or other fiat currencies.

What Made PhotonPay the Right Fit

PhotonPay’s global infrastructure aligns directly with Blossom & Wood Media’s localized corporate structure:

• End-to-End Local Collection & Payouts: With support for over 19 local accounts and direct access to local clearing rails across 113 regions, PhotonPay enables clients to collect funds and pay global creators locally, eliminating unnecessary FX markups and multi-hop intermediary deductions.
• Automated Batch Processing & Reconciliation: Transparent fee structures reduce payment discrepancies, allowing finance teams to upload mass payout files and reconcile campaign budgets automatically.
• Dedicated Exception Management: When account details need correction, PhotonPay’s 24/7 dedicated support team resolves exceptions rapidly, protecting fixed campaign delivery schedules.
• Enterprise-Grade Compliance: PhotonPay maintains financial licenses across major global jurisdictions. Its infrastructure features SOC 2 Type I attestation, full Travel Rule enforcement, real-time AI transaction screening, and strict data protection protocols.

“The next round of competition will be won by whoever can make their money and operations truly local, not just their content. We’ve built local entities and local settlement capabilities across multiple markets. That’s where the industry is heading, and we need our payments infrastructure to move at that exact same pace.”

— Eva Long, Co-founder of Blossom & Wood Group

In an era when global growth demands seamless localization, money movement must evolve alongside creative execution. Together, Blossom & Wood Media and PhotonPay are bridging this gap by co-architecting a flexible, borderless financial network that unlocks access to emerging markets, accommodates evolving payment preferences, and shapes the future of global creator commerce.

About PhotonPay

PhotonPay is a stablecoin-powered financial operating system built for global infrastructure. Designed for modern enterprises, PhotonPay enables businesses to send, receive, convert, and settle funds across both fiat and stablecoin rails through a single, compliance-first integration, spanning 200+ countries and territories.

For more information, visit [www.photonpay.com].

TOKYO, Aug. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — TIER IV, the pioneering force behind open-source software for autonomous driving, has joined Open Invention Network (OIN) 2.0, a new framework established by OIN, a global network dedicated to protecting open source software from patent risks. As the leading developer of Autoware, open source software for autonomous driving, TIER IV will leverage its participation in OIN 2.0 to help reduce patent risks and create an environment where a wide range of partners, including automakers, suppliers, and semiconductor makers, can confidently leverage open-source technologies, while promoting the expansion of the open-source ecosystem for autonomous driving from a patent strategy perspective.

OIN provides a global patent non-aggression framework that supports the development and growth of open source software, with thousands of companies and organizations around the world participating in the network. Through the OIN framework, participants grant one another royalty-free cross-licenses to patents covering the Linux System as defined by OIN, helping to reduce patent risks associated with Linux and related open source software. Launched in January 2026, OIN 2.0 expands the scope of the Linux System, broadening the range of technologies covered by OIN’s patent non-aggression framework.

TIER IV has led the development of Autoware since its initial release in 2015. Built on open source software, including Linux and ROS, Autoware serves as the foundation of TIER IV’s software platforms for bringing autonomous driving into society. In recent years, TIER IV has been expanding the autonomous driving ecosystem by collaborating with automakers, suppliers, semiconductor makers, and other partners to leverage an open technology foundation spanning software, AI, and automotive computing.

To advance the deployment of autonomous driving in collaboration with partners around the world and help create a safer and more sustainable society, it is essential to foster an ecosystem built on open source software, in addition to advancing technological development within individual companies. This requires creating an environment that reduces patent risks associated with open source software and enables its use with greater confidence. By joining OIN 2.0, TIER IV will participate in OIN’s framework for patent non-aggression and enhanced governance, while also pursuing a patent strategy that balances the use of open-source software with the protection of intellectual property. Through these efforts, the company will contribute to the healthy and sustainable development of the open-source ecosystem supporting autonomous driving.

About TIER IV

TIER IV stands at the forefront of deep tech innovation, pioneering Autoware, open-source software for autonomous driving. With a comprehensive suite of platforms and services built around Autoware, TIER IV provides everything from software development and vehicle procurement to operational support. Through the Autoware ecosystem, TIER IV works with partners worldwide to shape the future of intelligent vehicles with open-source software, aiming to create mobility that is safer, more sustainable, and accessible to all.

The word marks and logos of TIER IV are trademarks or registered trademarks of TIER IV, Inc. in Japan and other countries. All other company names, product names, service names, and logos referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Autoware is a registered trademark of the Autoware Foundation.

Media contact

pr@tier4.jp 

• Unveiling its latest generation of smart pool care and irrigation innovations in Australia, Aiper is introducing the Scuba V3, Scuba S3, and IrriSense N2 SE to deliver a simpler, smarter approach to outdoor maintenance
• The new product range builds on Aiper’s Smart Yard Ecosystem, helping homeowners spend less time maintaining their outdoor spaces and more time enjoying them
• The latest innovations were showcased at Aiper’s 2026 Pool Party on the Gold Coast, celebrating the future of smart outdoor living alongside Australia’s coastal lifestyle

GOLD COAST, Australia, Aug. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Aiper, the world’s No.1 smart robotic pool cleaner brand and a global leader in smart yard innovation*, is announcing the arrival of its latest generation of smart outdoor care innovations in Australia, expanding its vision for a connected and effortless backyard experience.

The launch introduces the next evolution of Aiper’s Smart Yard Ecosystem, featuring the Scuba V3, Scuba S3, and IrriSense N2 SE – a new generation of smart solutions designed to simplify pool and lawn maintenance through intelligent technology, automation, and user-focused design.

The new products were unveiled on August 20th at Aiper’s 2026 Pool Party on the Gold Coast, where media, creators and industry experts experienced the future of outdoor living through interactive demonstrations of Aiper’s latest innovations.

Building on Aiper’s commitment to redefining outdoor maintenance, the new range reflects the brand’s focus on creating products that are neat, reliable, and carefree, reducing the time and effort traditionally required to maintain a backyard, while helping Australians make the most of their outdoor spaces.

Designed to make everyday pool care smarter and more effortless, the Aiper Scuba V3 brings Cognitive AI to an essential robotic pool cleaner. Its front-facing camera powers AI Patrol Cleaning to detect and target debris in real time, while VisionPath™ Adaptive Path Planning helps it navigate the pool efficiently and reduce unnecessary repeat cleaning. Cognitive AI Navium™ Mode goes a step further, using pool size, weather conditions and cleaning history to build autonomous cleaning plans for more hands-free maintenance. JetAssist™ Horizontal Waterline Cleaning extends care from the pool floor to the waterline, helping Australians spend less time maintaining their pools and more time enjoying their backyard.

Also joining the range is the Scuba S3, a next-generation robotic pool cleaner designed to provide reliable, hands-free pool care. Engineered for everyday convenience, the Scuba S3 is lightweight, features quick water release, and delivers intelligent cleaning performance while eliminating the hassle of traditional manual pool maintenance.

Expanding Aiper’s smart yard capabilities beyond the pool, the IrriSense N2 SE brings intelligent irrigation technology to lawn care, whilst saving up to 40% of water. Designed to provide a seamless watering experience, the smart irrigation system helps homeowners maintain healthier lawns with automated scheduling and efficient water management. Together with Aiper’s robotic pool cleaners, the IrriSense N2 SE extends the brand’s vision of carefree outdoor living from the pool to the garden. 

For those looking to take pool care even further, Aiper will soon introduce the flagship Scuba V3 Ultra to Australia. Combining dual-camera AI with VisionPath™ 2.0 navigation and Cognitive AI Navium™ Mode, it can intelligently identify and tackle areas throughout the pool, from the floor and walls to the waterline and surface. Powerful dual-pump suction and MicroMesh™ ultra-fine filtration further enhance its cleaning performance, delivering a premium, hands-free solution for keeping pools pristine with minimal effort.

“At Aiper, we believe outdoor maintenance should be effortless, giving people more time to enjoy the spaces they love,” says Andres Gomez, Aiper’s Vice President of Sales. “Our Smart Yard Ecosystem represents our commitment to creating smarter, more sustainable solutions that take the complexity out of pool and lawn care. With our latest innovations, we’re continuing to deliver products that are neat, reliable and carefree, helping Australians transform their backyards into places to relax and enjoy.”

The Scuba V3 is now available through Aiper’s online store and selected retail partners, with the Scuba S3 and IrriSense N2 SE launching in September. For more information, visit aiper.store/au/store.