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Amazon introduces new resources for local businesses to expand in Singapore and globally

  • Amazon Global Selling introduced its strategy in 2023 at the Amazon Southeast Asia Seller Summit 2022 today to support the digital transformation of Singapore sellers through cross-border e-commerce.
  • New resources will help local businesses establish their brands in new geographies with support at every step of the selling journey.
  • Day 2 of the Summit continues tomorrow focused on reaching Amazon’s customers in Singapore and opportunities to maximize sales during the peak season.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 26 October 2022 – (NASDAQ:AMZN) – On the first day of the Amazon Southeast Asia Seller Summit 2022, Amazon Global Selling introduced innovative tools and services to help sellers in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines grow their brands online locally and on an international scale. Nearly 4,000 small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) joined Day 1 of the Summit physically and virtually to learn how they can sell to international customers on Amazon stores worldwide, with thousands more expected to join on Day 2, covering Amazon Singapore opportunities. The event was organized to provide businesses with the information, skills and tools needed to grow along with the expanding cross-border e-commerce sector, while becoming more resilient against economic uncertainties in the future.

According to an Amazon survey with domestic e-commerce sellers and traditional export companies in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, nearly seven in 10 plan to expand to new countries in 2022. Almost all (96%) who were surveyed will also consider cross-border e-commerce activities in the future, motivated by the opportunity to build a global brand, and increase their customer base from overseas.

This comes as the e-commerce sector is projected to continue flourishing in the region. Based on the early commissioned research results by AlphaBeta, the value of Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce sales earned by Singapore firms from overseas sales has the potential to nearly double by 2027 if they invest in cross-border e-commerce. The share of e-commerce sales for Micro-SMEs is estimated to be 45% in 2022 and has the potential to increase to 69% by 2027.

There are nearly 2 million SMBs selling on Amazon, and third-party sales represent nearly 60% of total sales. Amazon Global Selling empowers sellers and supports their long-term development. Key initiatives in 2023 will focus on making going global faster and easier:

  • Support sellers’ cross-border digital transformation through Amazon’s global scale and resources
    o With the addition of the newly opened Amazon Belgian Store, Amazon now covers 22 stores in over 200 countries, and supports 27 languages. At the end of 2021, Amazon had more than 400 fulfilment centers across the globe. Same-day Amazon Prime delivery service now covers more than 50% of the US.

  • Incubate entrepreneurship and support brand owner success globally
    o On top of free brand-building tools such as Brand Registry and Brand Stores, Amazon.com has introduced more innovative brand-building tools such as Premium A+ Content and Amazon Creative Services hub. The new Growth Opportunities tool suggests and quantifies the sales impact of valuable actions to improve a brand’s storefront.
    o Amazon Global Selling is growing its local support for global sellers in Singapore, with expanding local support teams, Seller Community events, forums, and the addition of more Amazon Global Selling Ambassadors such as Naoki Matcha and Pristine.

  • Roll out more innovative tools and services to empower businesses at all stages of selling globally
    o Amazon is constantly listening to the voice of sellers and has made investments focused on several common themes that sellers face when expanding globally, namely, understanding local demand/preferences, compliance, inventory management and cross-border payments. This year, Amazon.com has launched many new innovative products and services available to global sellers that can help address those challenges, including Amazon Product Opportunity Explorer, Manage Your Compliance dashboard, Amazon Warehousing & Distribution and Seller Wallet.

  • Introduce more global initiatives and enhance local support to sellers
    o Amazon Global Selling will strengthen cooperation with local partners and third-party providers to jointly drive digital transformation and provide support in areas such as cross-border taxes, overseas warehousing, delivery service and brand compliance. We will continue to improve seller education resources and seller training programs for sellers at different stages of development. Besides, sellers new to selling on Amazon.com and the European stores can avail up to US$50,000 in new seller support, including Fulfilment by Amazon and Amazon advertising credits.

Anand Palit, Head of Global Selling, Southeast Asia, said, “With many small and medium enterprises now selling online, they stand at the cusp of booming opportunities all around them. The opportunity for capturing a slice of the international e-commerce pie is ripe, which small businesses should look to leverage. Our new solutions will help them smoothen the journey in cross-border e-commerce development, and bring the world and its customers closer to them. Whether businesses are just getting started online or have been selling on Amazon stores worldwide, we will continue to support their growth so they can thrive in an international playing field.”

With the theme ‘Small Businesses, Big Ambitions‘, the Summit continues tomorrow in a hybrid format – online via an Event App, and in person at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre in Singapore. Day 2 of the Summit will dive into selling on Amazon.sg, and innovative features such as Amazon Easy Ship to support local sellers reach and fulfil orders to local customers. The Summit will also explore opportunities to scale and export to Malaysia via a single workflow.

Jan Lim, Country Leader Singapore Marketplace, Amazon Singapore, said, “I am proud to see that many local businesses on Amazon.sg, such as Bizgram and Spigen, have started relying on the tools and programs we offer sellers, including Fulfilment by Amazon and Easy Ship. We offer a robust service provider network and educational resources for support in logistics and storage, account management, support to create listings for sellers, and advertising optimization. SMBs are a part of Amazon’s DNA so we will keep ramping up investments as part of our firm belief in their success.”.

Register now to attend key sessions, including:

  • Keynote by Tiffany Lung, retail analyst for Inside Retail Asia, on the 2023 outlook of Asian e-commerce trends and how brands can connect with consumers.
  • Amazon Singapore presentation on how brands can make the most of Amazon.sg’s merchandizing tools during key shopping events.
  • Amazon Singapore’s insights into product selection and category trends.

For new and existing sellers to reach customers overseas (Day 1) and within Singapore (Day 2), the free two-day event provides opportunities to network with Amazon leaders, successful Amazon sellers, and third-party e-commerce service providers.

For more information and registration, please visit: https://sell.amazon.com.sg/seller-summit-2022.

About Amazon Global Selling
Amazon Global Selling helps businesses from anywhere in the world to launch a global business, reach Amazon customers around the world and build international brands. Through selling on Amazon online stores, sellers of different types and scale can reach Amazon’s millions of Amazon customers worldwide, including 200 million+ Prime customers in overseas Amazon online stores; and more than five million business and institutional buyers in the USA, Europe, and Japan.

For more information about selling on Amazon, please visit http://sell.amazon.sg

Appendix

Amazon Sellers featured at the Amazon Southeast Asia Seller Summit 2022

Stev Tam, founder of Petite Simone, a bags and accessories brand on Amazon (North America) said: “Built upon the concept of fast and approachable fashion, we listen to the needs and wants of consumers, and push out designs to cater to their feedback. Based on consumer reviews, we can optimize a product and make it available online within 30-40 days. This has helped us in our sales by setting Petite Simone apart from other brands in this saturated industry. This is how we stay true to our tagline ‘crafted to your style’. Besides using Amazon brand tools, our marketing team works with local influencers, key opinion leaders & live streamers, which has allowed us to gain more brand awareness and wider exposure. These are the main factors contributing to our month-on-month sales growth of 80-90% even as a relatively new brand.”

Quanda Ong, founder of Gnome & Bow, a brand offering leather bags and wallets inspired by storybook classics on Amazon.com, said: “For local Singapore brands, we need to dream big. I do strongly believe that Singapore can be known for craftsmanship, design, creative flair, and we can share this with the world. Within the first month of listing our products on Amazon.com, we received over 2 million views for 1 product – impressions we could not possibly see in Singapore alone. Now, we have our sights set for sales from North America to make up half of our total sales as the potential is huge. We are excited to offer consumers in Singapore, the US, and Europe good quality leather goods without breaking the bank.”

Steven Teo, Marketing Director for Baby K, a baby products brand for modern parents on Amazon (North America), said: “As parents ourselves, we understood first-hand what to look out for in baby products. As a marketer, Amazon’s rich data on consumer trends, searches, and reviews are a marketer’s dream. These two starting points helped us blend the art and science of product R&D. With the new Product Opportunity Explorer tool, we can collect even more product information — directly from Amazon — about popular or up-and-coming baby accessories that should be on our radar based on consumer preferences. Such data-driven insights help us make more confident decisions on what North American consumers want.”

Niraj Agarwal, Co-founder, Bizgram, a computer and IT hardware brand on Amazon Singapore, said: “Since August 2021, we have grown tremendously on Amazon.sg and increased our monthly sales by more than 300%. We are thrilled to be able to expand our selection and now offer more than 3,000 products. These new products have helped increase our revenue too, thanks to Amazon’s support with optimized pricing, Sponsored Ads, help with customer service and sales events such as Prime Day. We hope to continue growing in Singapore and beyond with Amazon.”

Joon Seo An, founder of Spigen, a Korean phone cases and accessories brand on Amazon Singapore, said: “Our volume of products sold via Amazon has increased by 400% within a year, from July 2021. Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) has allowed us to focus on strengthening our brand and strategizing on new product launches, instead of worrying about our sales or operations. We are excited to increase our reach via Amazon.sg and soon start selling in Southeast Asia and other countries.”

Hashtag: #Amazon

Miss Brazil Crowned Miss Grand International 2022

Isabelle Menin, the winner of Miss Grand International 2022.

Isabelle Menin from Brazil was crowned the new Miss Grand International 2022 on Tuesday evening.

Infor Picks Singaporean Terry Smagh to Helm Asia Pacific and Japan

Asian leader and SaaS veteran sets sights on aggressive cloud adoption across the fastest-growing region for Infor

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 26 October 2022 – Infor, the industry cloud company, today announced the appointment of Terry Smagh as senior vice president and general manager for Asia Pacific and Japan. Based in Singapore, Smagh will be responsible for growing Infor’s business and driving customer success across key markets in the region, including Australia and New Zealand, Greater China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia and Korea.

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Singaporean Terry Smagh is named Senior Vice President & General Manager, Infor Asia Pacific & Japan

“Terry is a seasoned expert in the Asia Pacific enterprise software market and comes armed with over 20 years of international experience in driving exponential revenue and market growth,” shared Wolfgang Kobek, executive vice president and general manager for international business at Infor. “We are thrilled to have him onboard to lead our fast-growing APJ region, which is rife with opportunity. As Asia’s businesses seek to scale their investments in technology, they are looking for software that will help drive greater agility, efficiencies, resilience, and innovation across their operations, at speed and scale. With Terry’s passion for people and unyielding devotion to driving exceptional customer-centric outcomes, I am confident that he will lead our team and customers into the next stage of growth, and further strengthen Infor’s roots in the APJ region.”

Smagh brings a deep industry expertise in SaaS and data analytics to his role at Infor and has a proven track record in helping customers transform and grow their businesses across the region. He joins Infor following senior leadership roles at BlackLine, IBM, and Qlik, where he played an instrumental role in driving revenue growth opportunities and profitability.

A Singaporean at heart, Smagh also has an extensive understanding of local and regional market nuances and growth opportunities, having worked in regional roles for most of his career.

With a background in entrepreneurship, Smagh is passionate about scaling businesses and grooming leaders, and a huge believer of “get the right team, and the rest will follow”. “We are in a people business — empathy, humility and respect are the attributes I look for in a leader,” said Smagh. “It’s about developing and motivating a high-performing team that’s collaborative, thrives under pressure and enjoys coming to work every day. I believe that we can foster success and commitment through culture and constant reinforcements on holistic customer engagements and experiences. My goal for talent retention and recruitment is simple – we must continue to stay interested and vested in our people, and create a Best Place to Work in the process.”

“Businesses today have moved past the point of merely navigating economic recovery and uncertainty. Instead, they are doubling down and investing aggressively in building the competencies, technologies and skillsets that will truly position them to thrive in a new era of business, and fast. Cloud will continue to play a crucial role in that,” said Smagh. “I am honored to be joining the Infor family and I believe that Infor’s unique, purpose-built CloudSuites for industry position us well to deliver on these demands, and to accelerate greater time-to-value for businesses. This is an increasingly crucial competitive differentiator for organizations, and I look forward to working closely with my team to deliver on that crucial difference for our customers.”

Smagh will be responsible for spearheading growth for Infor across a broad range of sectors in APJ, including industrial manufacturing, food and beverage, automotive, high tech, distribution and logistics.

Media Contact:
Phyllis Tan
Infor Asia Pacific & Japan
phyllis.tan@infor.com
+65 9799 9133
Hashtag: #Infor

About Infor

Infor is a global leader in business cloud software specialized by industry. We develop complete solutions for our focus industries. Infor’s mission-critical enterprise applications and services are designed to deliver sustainable operational advantages with security and faster time to value. Over 60,000 organizations in more than 175 countries rely on Infor’s 17,000 employees to help achieve their business goals. As a Koch company, our financial strength, ownership structure, and long-term view empower us to foster enduring, mutually beneficial relationships with our customers. Visit .

Rising Currency Exchange Rates Adversely Impact Vehicle Owners

As the value of Kip depreciates against foreign currencies, especially the US dollar, residents are finding it increasingly difficult to repay the installments on their cars or motorbikes.

Transamerica Life Bermuda Appoints Andy Wong As Chief Operating Officer

Expanding its leadership team with this key senior appointment, the company is solidifying its goal of being a progressive, competitive leader in the High Net Worth market.

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 26 October 2022 – Transamerica Life (Bermuda) Ltd. (TLB) announced today that Mr. Andy Wong has joined the firm as its Chief Operating & Transformation Officer (COTO).

In this role, Mr. Wong will be overseeing all of TLB’s global operations, covering New Business, Underwriting, Customer Service and Claims. He will also focus on driving TLB’s operational and digital transformation, helping to deliver innovation, efficiencies, and customer service excellence across the organisation. He is based in Hong Kong.

Mr. Wong comes to TLB with over 25 years of experience across multiple industries, out of which, 18 of those years were focused on IT and Operations in Financial Services. He comes with a wealth of technological and operational background in the insurance sector having worked in AIA Hong Kong, ING, FT LIFE, and most recently at Tai Kang Life, where he was responsible for setting up IT, New Business, Underwriting, Customer Service and Claims.

“At TLB we are committed to continuous innovation. I’m therefore delighted to have Andy join us at such an important point in our transformation journey,” said Chirag Rathod, CEO of TLB. “With his vast experience and strong implementation track record, I’m very confident that Andy will be able to build upon our current digital efforts and further accelerate our digital transformation, most importantly in helping us to deliver more innovative and value-added solutions and services to our partners and High Net Worth (HNW) customers,” he added.

TLB is a leading life insurance company dedicated to serving HNW and Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) individuals. With its singular focus on serving the HNW market, TLB has extensive experience in handling large sums assured and complex cases to support legacy and business planning for its customers.

Hashtag: #TransamericaLifeBermuda

About Transamerica Life Bermuda:

Transamerica Life (Bermuda) Ltd. (TLB) is a recognised leading HNW life insurance provider with extensive expertise in all aspects of HNW wealth protection, including handling large sums assured and complex cases supporting legacy and business planning. Transamerica has been in Asia for over 85 years and has been a pioneer in managing universal life portfolios for over 40 years. TLB was awarded an “Outstanding Responsible Insurer (2021)” award and a “Best-in-Class (2021)” award for its Universal Life Alpha product at the 12th Benchmark Wealth Management Awards in Hong Kong. TLB is part of the Aegon Group, an integrated, diversified, international financial services group that offers investment, protection, and retirement solutions. Further information about TLB is available here:

About Aegon:

Aegon is an integrated, diversified, international financial services group. The company offers investment, protection, and retirement solutions, with a strategic focus on three core markets (the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands), three growth markets (Spain & Portugal, Brazil, and China), and one global asset manager. Aegon’s purpose of Helping people live their best lives runs through all its activities. As a leading global investor and employer, the company seeks to have a positive impact by addressing critical environmental and societal issues, with a focus on climate change and inclusion & diversity. Aegon is headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, and listed on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange. More information can be found at aegon.com.

Ransomware remains a top cyber risk for businesses, but new threats emerging

  • Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty cyber report: Growing cost of ransomware attacks impacting businesses of all sizes
  • Sophistication and frequency of business email compromise attacks also increasing
  • Emerging risk trends include: heightened risk of state-sponsored attacks, the evolving third party liability landscape, a shortage of cyber security professionals, and cyber governance under increasing ESG scrutiny
  • Better cyber risk insights help create a sustainable cyber insurance market

MUNICH, GERMANY – Media OutReach – 26 October 2022 Ransomware remains a top cyber risk for organizations globally while business email compromise incidents are on the rise and will increase further in the ‘deep fake’ era. At the same time, the war in Ukraine and wider geopolitical tensions are a major concern as hostilities could spill over into cyber space and cause targeted attacks against companies, infrastructure or supply chains, according to a new report from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS).

The insurer’s annual review of the cyber risk landscape also highlights the emerging threats posed by the growing reliance on cloud services, an evolving third-party liability landscape that means higher compensation and penalties, as well as the impact of a shortage of cyber security professionals. Such potential vulnerabilities mean that today a company’s cyber security resilience is scrutinized by more parties than ever before, including global investors, meaning many firms now rank it as their major environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk concern, the report notes.

“The cyber risk landscape doesn’t allow for any resting on laurels. Ransomware and phishing scams are as active as ever and on top of that there is the prospect of a hybrid cyber war,” says Scott Sayce, Global Head of Cyber at AGCS and Group Head of the Cyber Centre of Competence. “Most companies will not be able to evade a cyber threat. However, it is clear that organizations with good cyber maturity are better equipped to deal with incidents. Even when they are attacked, losses are typically less severe due to established identification and response mechanisms.

“Although we see good progress, our experience also shows that many companies still need to strengthen their cyber controls, particularly around IT security trainings, better network segmentation for critical environments and cyber incident response plans and security governance. As a cyber insurer we are willing to go beyond pure risk transfer, helping clients to adapt to a changing risk landscape and raising their protection levels.”

Around the world, the frequency of ransomware attacks remains high, as do related claims costs. There was a record 623 million attacks in 2021, double that of 2020. Although frequency reduced by 23% globally during the first half of 2022, the year-to-date total still exceeds that of the full years of 2017, 2018 and 2019, while Europe saw attacks surge over this period. Ransomware is forecast to cause $30bn in damages to organizations globally by 2023. From an AGCS perspective, the value of ransomware claims the company was involved in together with other insurers, accounted for well over 50% of all cyber claims costs during 2020 and 2021.

Double and triple extortion now the norm

“The cost of ransomware attacks has increased as criminals have targeted larger companies, critical infrastructure and supply chains. Criminals have honed their tactics to extort more money,” Sayce explains. “Double and triple extortion attacks are now the norm – besides the encryption of systems, sensitive data is increasingly stolen and used as a leverage for extortion demands to business partners, suppliers or customers.” Ransomware severity is likely to remain a key threat for businesses, fueled by the growing sophistication of gangs and rising inflation, which is reflected in the increased cost of IT and cyber security specialists.

Increasingly, smaller and mid-sized companies which often lack controls and resources to invest in cyber security are being targeted by gangs as larger businesses invest more heavily in security. Gangs are also using a wide range of harrassment techniques, are tailoring their ransom demands to specific companies and are using expert negotiators to maximize returns.

Sophisticated scams

Business email compromise (BEC) attacks continue to rise, facilitated by growing digitalization and availability of data, the shift to remote working and, increasingly, ‘deep fake’ technology and virtual conferencing. BEC scams totalled $43bn globally from 2016 to 2021 according to the FBI, with a 65% spike in scams between July 2019 and December 2021 alone. Attacks are becoming more sophisticated and targeted with criminals now using virtual meeting platforms to trick employees to transfer funds or share sensitive information. Increasingly, these attacks are enabled by artificial intelligence enabling ‘deep fake ‘audio or videos that mimic senior executives. Last year, a bank employee from the United Arab Emirates made a $35mn transfer after being misled by the cloned voice of a company director.

The threat of cyber war

The war in Ukraine and wider geopolitical tensions are a major factor reshaping the cyber threat landscape as it increases the risk of espionage, sabotage and destructive cyber-attacks against companies with ties to Russia and Ukraine, as well as allies and those in neighboring countries. State-sponsored cyber acts could potentially target critical infrastructure, supply chains or corporations. “As yet the war between Russia and Ukraine has not led to a notable uptick in cyber insurance claims, however it does point to a potentially increased risk from nation-states,” Sayce explains. Although acts of war are typically excluded from traditional insurance products, the risk of a hybrid cyber war has accelerated efforts in the insurance market to address the issue of war and state-sponsored cyber attacks in wordings and provide clarity of cover for customers.

AGCS experts identify a number of other trends in the Cyber: The changing threat landscape report including:

  • Hackers zero in on vulnerable supply chains: Supply chain attacks – whether on critical infrastructure such as the Colonial Pipeline or on cloud services – have emerged as a significant risk. Increasingly, ransomware gangs use the threat of disruption to pressure firms into paying ransoms, with manufacturing companies particularly vulnerable.
  • Cloud outsourcing: Companies continue to shift their services and data storage on to the cloud, despite growing concerns around security and risk aggregation. By relying on a small number of providers for cloud services or cyber security, society is creating large concentrations around a few single points of failure. It is a common misconception that the outsourcing or cloud vendor will assume full responsibility in the event of an incident.
  • Third-party liability, including fines and penalties, is becoming more relevant with advances in technology, organizations collecting more information and enforced data privacy regulation. Almost any cyber incident – including double-extortion ransomware – can lead to litigation and demands for compensation from affected parties.
  • A shortage of professionals is hindering efforts to improve cyber security. While there is growing awareness among boards, the number of unfilled cyber security jobs worldwide has grown 350% over the past eight years to 3.5 million, estimates show, meaning many companies struggle to hire, impacting their ability to improve their cyber security posture.
  • Cyber security increasingly seen through the ESG lens. Today, companies’ cyber security resilience is scrutinized by far more stakeholder groups than in the past. Increasingly, cyber security considerations are incorporated into the ESG risk-analysis frameworks of data providers, who look into companies’ practices to evaluate their preparedness for cyber crime. Making sure a company’s cyber processes and policies are understood at the board level and that risk monitoring processes are in place has never been more important.

In response to a more complex risk environment and increasing cyber claims activity, the insurance industry is more diligently assessing companies’ cyber risk profiles in a bid to incentivize companies to improve their security and risk management controls.

“The good news is that we are now seeing a very different conversation on the quality of cyber risk than a few years ago,” says Sayce. “We are gaining much better insights and appreciate clients going the extra mile in order to provide comprehensive data to us. This also helps us to provide more value and offer useful information and advice to customers, such as which controls are most effective or where to further improve risk management and response approaches. The net result should be fewer – or less significant – cyber events for our customers and fewer claims for us. Such collaboration will also help in creating a long-term sustainable cyber insurance market which not only relies on traditional coverages but, increasingly, on integrating cyber risks into captive programs and other alternative risk transfer concepts.”

Hashtag: #Allianz

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

About Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty

is a leading global corporate insurance carrier and a key business unit of Allianz Group. We provide , and for a wide spectrum of commercial, corporate and specialty risks across nine and .

Our customers are as diverse as business can be, ranging from Fortune Global 500 companies to small businesses. Among them are not only the world’s largest consumer brands, financial institutions, tech companies and the global aviation and shipping industry, but also floating wind farms or Hollywood film productions. They all look to AGCS for smart solutions and to their largest and most complex risks in a dynamic, multinational business environment and trust us to deliver an outstanding .

Worldwide, AGCS operates with its own teams in and through the Allianz Group network and partners in over 200 countries and territories, employing around 4,250 people. As one of the largest Property-Casualty units of Allianz Group, we are backed by strong and stable . In 2021, AGCS generated a total of €9.5 billion gross premium globally.

For more information please visit our website

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

This document includes forward-looking statements, such as prospects or expectations, that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance figures, or events may differ significantly from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Deviations may arise due to changes in factors including, but not limited to, the following: (i) the general economic and competitive situation in the Allianz’s core business and core markets, (ii) the performance of financial markets (in particular market volatility, liquidity, and credit events), (iii) adverse publicity, regulatory actions or litigation with respect to the Allianz Group, other well-known companies and the financial services industry generally, (iv) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, including those resulting from natural catastrophes, and the development of loss expenses, (v) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (vi) persistency levels, (vii) the extent of credit defaults, (viii) interest rate levels, (ix) currency exchange rates, most notably the EUR/USD exchange rate, (x) changes in laws and regulations, including tax regulations, (xi) the impact of acquisitions including and related integration issues and reorganization measures, and (xii) the general competitive conditions that, in each individual case, apply at a local, regional, national, and/or global level. Many of these changes can be exacerbated by terrorist activities.

No duty to update
Allianz assumes no obligation to update any information or forward-looking statement contained herein, save for any information we are required to disclose by law.

Privacy Note
Allianz SE is committed to protecting your personal data. Find out more in our privacy statement.

Imprint
Further company information here.

METASENS’ Utility Feature Creates New Ways for Web3 Projects Collaborations

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 26 October 2022 – METASENS, the Web3 gaming platform, has introduced the Utility feature, which provides NFT projects with various ways to boost utilities. METASENS now supports Web3 projects in one-stop NFT publishing, Web2 games blockchain reform services, NFT breeding, and more. This marks the beginning of a new era in Web3 marketing.

(METASENS the Web3 gaming platform has launched the Utility feature)image download: METASENS - achieve multi-IPs, cross-chain, and more in the Web3 game world.png

(METASENS the Web3 gaming platform has launched the Utility feature)

The Web3 gaming platform METASENS, led by Hong Kong-listed Imperium Technology Group, has a vision to build an ecosystem for Web3 games. Within one year, METASENS has launched a game-specific NFT market, offering NFTs with customized background music, special fields for checking game character abilities, and remaining time for breeding.

METASENS’ latest Utility feature helps the blockchain game PetaRush establish cross-brand collaborations with Asian blue-chip NFT projects PhantaBear and Demi-Human NFT. Owners of the two NFT projects can contact Utility to claim a 3D version of NFT for use in the game. This provides a good ecological foundation for multi-IPs Web3 marketing in one fell swoop. Currently, 10,000 PhantaBear NFTs and 3,344 Demi-Holim NFTs can be claimed as 3D versions at METASENS Utility. It automatically authenticates the holder’s NFT assets and issues them for the corresponding NFT.

METASENS Utility also provides a cross-chain service so that NFTs from different blockchains can authenticate each other to complete utilities. For example, NFTs held on the Ethereum blockchain can go through certification on Utility and benefit from discounts or other activities directly on the BNB chain. The entire process can be completed on a single METASENS website.

To further integrate asset circulation in Web3 games, METASENS also provides an automatic in-game asset exchange feature so that players who own in-game NFTs can automatically receive rewards via airdrops. Players just need to log into the game as usual and can receive the rewards automatically without any cumbersome processes. Game publishers can set different rewards for holders according to the needs of marketing activities; the long-term plan to strengthen NFT utilities can be easily implemented.

Collaboration on the NFT project has so far been mostly limited to a joint announcement. NFT holders do not feel the benefits or advantages. When projects seek deeper collaboration, they usually rely on acquisitions or use expensive technology to achieve it. Yuga Labs, for example, had to collaborate with the two main NFT IPs, CryptoPunks and Boring Ape, through expensive acquisitions.

METASENS is leading the way in creating a convenient and friendly platform for cross-IP or cross-brand collaboration. Brands or game publishers can conduct various deep collaborations and marketing activities through METASENS Utility.

Charles Gong, director of METASENS, said METASENS provides a platform for collaboration between Web3 projects, blockchains, NFTs, and gaming assets. METASENS has facilitated the development of collaborations in the Web3 era. It also allows players to participate in the Web3 game in a very intuitive way.

Vincent Chen, vice president of METASENS, said blockchain is the trend in the gaming industry. With METASENS’ ecological services, any gaming company interested in Web3 can use the most efficient way to develop a new business model to create a new brand value in the blue ocean of Web3 games before anyone else.

METASENS Website: https://metasens.com/

Hashtag: #METASENS

About METASENS

METASENS is a Web3 gaming platform funded by Hong Kong-listed Imperium Technology Group. It owns a Web3 gaming platform, an NFT marketplace, and a variety of blockchain games, with the governance token MSU along with the game token to build a sustainable token-economic ecosystem. METASENS team also provides technical support and guidance for blockchain game development and promotion. METASENS aims to provide an open GameFi platform and build a Universal Amusement Park for players worldwide.

METASENS Website:

QBE Asia launches Premiums4Good initiative to channel customer premiums into Social and Environmental investments

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 26 October 2022 – QBE Asia today launched Premiums4Good, a global initiative that invests everyday premiums to make a difference to communities across the globe. Through Premiums4Good, a portion of customers’ premiums are put into investments that create social and environmental impact alongside a financial return, at no extra cost to the customer.

The investments include projects that help the environment, like renewable energy, waste management and water conservation, and ones that deliver direct, sustainable benefits to communities such as helping the homeless or providing additional social care to adults and young people.

“Climate change is an important issue globally and all progress taken in this space needs to be sustainable. While we have taken steps as an enterprise to be better stewards of the environment, Premiums4Good takes it a step further and allows our customers to put their hand up and get involved in our collective effort to do better for the world – all without the need for them to put in additional resource or cost expenditures to do so,” said Jason Hammond, CEO for QBE Asia.

An example of a programme supported through Premiums4Good where participating customers’ premiums are invested into is QBE’s investment in the Asian Development Bank (ADB)’s Gender Thematic Bond, which brings gender equality support and women’s empowerment to the fore. Through targeted initiatives like this, communities have been able to improve social protection and health programmes, reduce poverty and better support the prevention of and response to gender-based violence. This has also seen more tangible strategies to further women’s entrepreneurship opportunities and to help them secure green and more financially stable jobs. As of July 2021, ADB has raised over US$2.9 billion through this programme.

Believing in social and environmental responsibilities that extend beyond compliance, another investment undertaken through Premiums4Good is OCBC Bank’s Green Bond, which supports green investment portfolios and projects in the renewable energy and green buildings categories in the Asia Pacific region. Projects through these bonds have to date collectively surpassed OCBC’s S$10 billion sustainable finance portfolio set in 2020, with a goal to reach a S$25 billion sustainable finance portfolio by 2025.

Premiums4Good is offered across QBE’s operations in Australia Pacific, Asia, Europe and North America, with an investment portfolio spanning multiple asset classes, geographies and impact areas. As of 31 December 2021, QBE has invested US$1.4 billion through Premiums4Good, with a goal to reach US$2 billion by 2025. To acknowledge the contributions its customers and partners can make, QBE issues a certificate of recognition for their Premiums4Good contributions.

“There is growing recognition for investment initiatives that drive a positive environmental and/or social impact including their real potential to contribute to addressing climate change issues. Premiums4Good is our commitment to putting purpose into action, to help our customers and partners to do the same and contribute actively to long-term sustainable and social change,” said Andy White, Chief Underwriting Officer for QBE Asia. “Premiums4Good demonstrates our leadership in the impact investment sector and how social value can integrate perfectly with business value to deliver both attractive risk-adjusted returns and positive social and environmental impact,” he continued.

This initiative is aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) to support advancement of these global goals. As a universal agreement to work towards a better future, the SDGs align closely with QBE’s own purpose of enabling a more resilient future. QBE recognizes the importance of our transition to net-zero and is committed to net-zero emissions across our operations by 2030, and our investment and underwriting portfolios by 2050.

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About QBE Asia

QBE Asia is part of the International Division of QBE Insurance Group Limited, one of the world’s top general insurance and reinsurance companies. Headquartered in Sydney, QBE is listed on the Australia Securities Exchange (ASX). To learn more about QBE Insurance Group, please visit