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WhatsApp customer engagement tool WATI.io raises $10 Mn as it grows revenues 5x in just 6 months

HONG KONG SAR – News Direct – 8 December 2021 – WATI.io (WhatsApp Team Inbox), a comprehensive WhatsApp customer engagement tool for small businesses, has raised $8.3Mn in Series A led by Sequoia Capital India with participation from Surge, Base Partners and several prominent angels including Gokul Rajaram, a member of the DoorDash executive team and and board member at Coinbase and Pinterest. WATI.io has over 3,000 customers  across 54 countries including India, Indonesia and Brazil. Over the last 6 months, WATI’s customer base has seen a 4x growth, revenue has grown 5x and 100 million messages have been processed. They are now a 41 member team across seven countries. With this fundraise, they have raised a total of $10M in the last six months. The funds raised will be used to bolster technology and product development by expanding product integrations. It will also be used to double the team size and improve their presence in Latin America.

WATI founder – Bianca Ho and Ken Yeung

 

Messaging is the most pervasive way humans connect today. COVID-19 has shifted our lives online. Customers expect brands to serve them on channels they are most comfortable with. So, when customers are able to reach out to brands on platforms like WhatsApp that they are already familiar with, it builds a higher level of trust for the brand. While many solutions for enterprises to achieve this shift exist, tens of millions of SMBs globally are left underserved. To meet customer expectations, SMBs resort to using WhatsApp on their personal phones. This leads to bottlenecks with relevance of the support and the inability to scale.

 

WATI.io, launched by Ken Yeung and Bianca Ho in late 2020, addresses this gap. Built on WhatsApp’s API, it helps small businesses personalise conversations with customers at scale. WATI.io helps ​​customer support, marketing and sales teams engage with customers using a single WhatsApp number. Since brands are able to get a holistic view of customer conversations across teams, they are also able to provide a better user experience. WATI.io solely focuses on building tailored experiences on WhatsApp enabling them to quickly iterate on new features on the platform as well.

 

“WATI’s mission is to help businesses do more with less. Our one-click integration with the most commonly used tools like Shopify, WooCommerce, etc. enables businesses to provide holistic customer experience at scale. We look to use this funding to attract world class talent to help us build this.” Ken Yeung, CEO

 

Businesses love WATI.io because it helps improve customer satisfaction without additional workforce and in turn helps improve revenue. This is possible with automation through WATI’s low-code workflow builder without being dependent on developers. Through WATI’s API, SMBs can send programmatic personalised notifications from their system.

 

Especially in the case of ecommerce businesses, WATI’s one-click integrations with tools like Shopify, reduces abandoned cart rate and helps increase revenues. Marketers also rely heavily on sending targeted notifications to drive sales. High growth startups are able to derive value with WATI’s suite of tools which empower them to collaborate and move fast. In addition to thousands of SMBs, WATI’s clients include Dukaan, Oppo, VU TV, Gojek, Grab, Aerostreet.

 

“WATI is on a mission to help hundreds of millions of SMBs across the world communicate more effectively with their customers on one of the most ubiquitous messaging platforms – WhatsApp. They’ve achieved terrific growth rates this past year while breaking even, but what is more exciting is the expansive set of product possibilities in front of the company as they capitalise on the market opportunity. Sequoia Capital India is excited to deepen the partnership with Ken and Bianca in the next stage of their journey of building WATI.” Abheek Anand, MD, Sequoia India

 

About WATI

Founded in 2020 in Hong Kong, WATI.io helps companies have personalised conversations with customers at scale. Built on WhatsApp’s Business API, it is an easy-to-use customer engagement software that focuses on automation and one-click integrations to help businesses do more with less.

WATI.io has been an official partner of WhatsApp since 2019, and was part of Surge 05, Sequoia India’s rapid scale up program for early stage startups.

For further information visit: https://www.wati.io/ or follow them on Instagram, LinkedIn or chat with them on WhatsApp .

#WATI

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

Over Ten Tons of Illicit Drugs Recovered in Three Months by Police in Laos

Deputy Director of the Central Police Department, Colonel Bouaphan Fongmany
Deputy Director of the Central Police Department, Colonel Bouaphan Fongmany.


Police in Laos have seized over fourteen metric tons of illegal drugs over the last three months across the country.

Vetter Wins Frost & Sullivan’s 2021 Global Customer Value Leadership Award, and looks back on a stable year under ongoing pandemic circumstances

  • Best practices in collaboration with global customers in providing high-value
  • Significant role in customer success
  • Recognition for quality, innovation and loyalty as a strategic partner for aseptic fill & finish solutions


RAVENSBURG, GERMANY – Media OutReach – 7 December 2021 – Vetter, a leading global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), has been awarded the Frost & Sullivan‘s 2021 Global Customer Value Leadership Award in the aseptic fill & finish market for the company’s provision of high-value to its customers. The award, presented annually by the prestigious international growth and consulting firm focuses on both business and customer impact and takes into account the current situation as well as trends in the market.

 

The award decision process involved three major steps: first, Frost & Sullivan examined service providers from the global pharmaceutical and biotech industry and their focus on both business and customer impact. The examination incorporates ten criteria including financial performance, operational efficiency, growth potential, price/performance value as well as customer service experience. Second, an in-depth interview was conducted with a respective senior management representative based on a qualitative and quantitative measurement of the criteria as well as current market conditions and trends. Third, a nomination compendium was created that contains all the necessary substantiation and justification and was thoroughly reviewed by Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Recognition committee.

 

Vetter was recognized for providing high customer value, in particular, the company’s best practices in collaboration with global customers. The committee further acknowledged the CDMO for the significant role it plays in the success of its clients by providing crucial support from the early development phase of drugs through regulatory approval and market supply worldwide.

 

In explaining its decision, Frost & Sullivan’s Industry Expert Surbhi Gupta said, “Vetter is renowned for its quality, innovation and loyalty as a strategic partner for pharmaceutical and biotech clients. The company offers end-to-end development and manufacturing services for variable batch sizes and drug-delivery systems, backed by flexible, scalable, and reproducible processes. Thus, we believe Vetter to be a well-qualified recipient of this award.”

 

Vetter Managing Director Peter Soelkner was delighted to hear of the decision. “We always make our best efforts to provide customers with state-of-the-art services that help them improve the quality of life for patients worldwide. Our contributions to those mutual partnerships are intended to help secure their success in the global marketplace.” Managing Director Thomas Otto emphasized, “This recognition by Frost & Sullivan, one of the most prestigious international consulting firms, represents an impressive achievement. However, we do not view the award as an end in itself. Rather, it is a justification of our business model of resolute customer orientation and further acts as motivation for our ongoing company development.”

Vetter looks back on a year of stable company performance


The CDMO has attained a number of achievements throughout 2021, an especially rewarding accomplishment given the many difficulties presented by the still continuing coronavirus pandemic. These include ongoing expansion projects into the company’s development, manufacturing, and packaging resources alongside associated processes such as quality control and storage capacities.

In March, the company opened a new business entity in Shanghai, China. The new office, now its fourth in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, increases the visibility of Vetter’s presence in China and underlines its importance as an important strategic market to Vetter.

Additionally, in the fall, together with Syntegon, Vetter was honored by the Parental Drug Association for a joint development project that advances the production of (bio)pharmaceuticals. The collaboration resulted in a highly flexible and fully automated production cell.

The company’s new site in Rankweil, Austria, which is a European counterpart to its existing clinical manufacturing site near Chicago, has been modified to the high Vetter quality standards and is currently awaiting its manufacturing authorization by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES).

Another significant company-wide milestone was reached with the attainment of climate-neutrality and elimination of a CO2 footprint. Vetter’s production sites and sales offices in Austria, the US, and Asia have followed the example of its sites in Germany where climate neutrality was already achieved in the past year.

Find the Vetter press kit and more background information here.

About Vetter

Headquartered in Ravensburg, Germany, Vetter is a family-owned, global leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with production facilities in Germany, Austria, and the United States. Currently employing more than 5,500 individuals worldwide, the company has long-term experience in supporting biotechnology and pharmaceutical customers both large and small. Vetter services range from early stage development support including clinical manufacturing, to commercial supply and numerous packaging solutions for vials, syringes and cartridges. As a leading solution provider, Vetter appreciates its responsibility to support the needs of its customers by developing devices that contribute to increased patient safety, convenience, and enhanced compliance. Great importance is also given to social responsibility, including environmental protection and sustainability. Learn more about Vetter at www.vetter-pharma.com.

#Vetter

Capricorn Enters Partnership with Bibox in SEA Market

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 7 December 2021 – Malaysia-based finance solution provider, Capricorn Foundation, announce their partnership with Bibox, the world’s first AI digital asset trading platform, to expand their market to Southeast Asia.

Established in 2017, Bibox is committed to providing the best liquidity and depth for projects with their advanced AI technology to improve trading security and efficiency, “Bibox has always been strengthening our globalization strategy, dedicating to becoming one of the top digital asset exchanges with safe, stable and convenient digital asset management services for our global users,” said Vincent Cheung, the newly-joined partner for Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand & Singapore.

 

“The partnership with Bibox is a new milestone for us,” said Eric Lau from Capricorn foundation, “In addition to the advantages of crypto asset trading from Bibox, we are looking for a win-win future for this partnership with our solid resources and connection in local market.”

 

The two will work on accelerating blockchain product innovation and expanding its eco-system with the their new lending protocol. They will also collaborate on community management, tokenlization as well as blockchainization activities in South East Asia Region.

#CapricornFoundation

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

AWS Helps Pfizer Accelerate Drug Development and Clinical Manufacturing

AWS works with Pfizer to support more rapid innovation and improved clinical manufacturing operations to help develop tomorrow’s therapies

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 7 December 2021 – Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com, Inc. company (NASDAQ: AMZN), announced that it is working with Pfizer to create innovative, cloud-based solutions with the potential to improve how new medicines are developed, manufactured, and distributed for testing in clinical trials. The companies are exploring these advances through their newly created Pfizer Amazon Collaboration Team (PACT) initiative, which applies AWS capabilities in analytics, machine learning, compute, storage, security, and cloud data warehousing to Pfizer laboratory, clinical manufacturing, and clinical supply chain efforts. For instance, AWS is helping Pfizer enhance its continuous clinical manufacturing processes by incorporating predictive maintenance capabilities built with AWS machine learning services like Amazon Lookout for Equipment (AWS’s service for detecting abnormal equipment behavior by analyzing sensor data). As a result, Pfizer can maximize uptime for equipment such as centrifuges, agitators, pulverizers, coaters, and air handlers used in clinical drug manufacturing. The overall focus of this collaboration is to support Pfizer in more rapidly and reliably producing new drugs and evaluating their potential health benefit for patients.

 

“Our life sciences customers are increasingly looking for opportunities to scale expertise, insight, and secure access to the right information, at the right time, with the aim of reducing the time and cost for drug development and clinical trials,” said Kathrin Renz, Vice President of Business Development and Industries at Amazon Web Services, Inc. “AWS’s breadth and depth of cloud capabilities help support Pfizer’s teams through secure, novel research methods as they work to optimize drug development and clinical manufacturing processes. The past two years have reinforced for the world just how much speed and agility matter at every step of the research, development, and clinical manufacturing cycle when lives are on the line. We’re proud to work with Pfizer and lend our deep domain expertise to assist in developing solutions that could significantly improve the lives of patients globally.”

 

“Pfizer’s goal with AWS is to expedite the processes for drug discovery and development in ways that can ultimately enhance patient experiences and deliver new therapies to market. Working closely with AWS experts in machine learning and analytics, we aim to provide our scientists and researchers with the insights they need to help deliver medical breakthroughs that change patients’ lives,” said Andrew McKillop, Vice President of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Worldwide Research, Development, and Medical at Pfizer.

 

AWS is working with Pfizer to develop a prototype solution for detecting abnormal data points in its drug product continuous clinical manufacturing platform for solid, oral-dose medicines. The prototype solution uses Amazon SageMaker (AWS’s service for building, training, and deploying machine learning models quickly in the cloud and at the edge), Amazon Lookout for Equipment, Amazon Lookout for Metrics (AWS’s service for automatically detecting anomalies in metrics and identifying their root cause), and Amazon QuickSight (AWS’s scalable machine learning-powered business intelligence service for the cloud). The machine learning models used in the prototype were able to provide early warnings for alarms with minimal false positives and direct users to the relevant signals. As a result, Pfizer can process data from the equipment and sensors involved in Portable Continuous Miniature and Modular (PCMM) manufacturing to detect anomalies as they occur, predict maintenance needs, and reduce potential equipment downtime.

 

Pfizer scientists will also collaborate with AWS healthcare and life sciences professionals to explore how researchers in Pfizer’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Small Molecules teams can extract and mine information from legacy documents by leveraging AWS analytics and machine learning services. Pfizer has an extensive collection of documents that contain valuable data from a variety of drug development processes. The documents include data related to synthetic chemistry routes, recipes, analytical tests, method development, formulation composition, clinical manufacturing campaigns, batch records, technology transfer, and many other types of work. Housed within these documents are potentially powerful insights that could point Pfizer researchers in the right direction for developing new drugs or repurposing existing ones—if the researchers can identify and link the right information efficiently. To gain quick, secure access to the right information at the right time, Pfizer’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Small Molecules teams are working with AWS to develop a prototype system that can automatically extract, ingest, and process data from this documentation to help in the design of lab experiments. The prototype system is powered by Amazon Comprehend Medical (AWS’s HIPAA-eligible natural language processing (NLP) service to extract information from unstructured medical text accurately and quickly) and Amazon SageMaker, and uses Amazon Cognito to deliver secure user access control.

 

About Amazon Web Services

For over 15 years, Amazon Web Services has been the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud offering. AWS has been continually expanding its services to support virtually any cloud workload, and it now has more than 200 fully featured services for compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, security, hybrid, virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), media, and application development, deployment, and management from 81 Availability Zones within 25 geographic regions, with announced plans for 27 more Availability Zones and nine more AWS Regions in Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Israel, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—trust AWS to power their infrastructure, become more agile, and lower costs. To learn more about AWS, visit aws.amazon.com.

About Pfizer: Breakthroughs That Change Patients’ Lives

At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products, including innovative medicines and vaccines. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world’s premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 170 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at www.Pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on www.Pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer and @Pfizer News, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer.

Pfizer Disclosure Notice: The information contained in this release is as of December 2, 2021. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments.

This release contains forward-looking information about an agreement between Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) and Pfizer to use AWS analytics, compute, data warehousing, machine learning and storage services to experiment with innovative solutions, including its potential benefits, that involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development; uncertainties regarding the commercial success of and the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the collaborations; uncertainties regarding the impact of COVID-19 on our business, operations and financial results; other business effects, including the effects of industry, market, economic, political or regulatory conditions; and competitive developments.

A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizer’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 and in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, including in the sections thereof captioned “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results,” as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov and www.pfizer.com.

#AmazonWebServices

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

The 2021 Jilin Cultural Tourism Week comes to a successful end

CHANGCHUN, CHINA – Media OutReach – 7 December 2021 – Like mountains slowly being wrapped in mist, the 2021 Jilin Cultural Tourism Week, which was sponsored by the Publicity Department of Jilin Provincial Party Committee, came to a successful end on December 3. Dozens of international friends from more than ten countries happily ended their wonderful trip to experience the diverse culture and fine powder snow of Jilin in northeast China.

 

Musical performance during the opening ceremony of the 2021 Jilin Cultural Tourism Week, held in the Changying concert hall.

 

The 2021 Jilin Culture and Tourism Week was officially kicked off on November 29 at the Changying Concert Hall. During the last five days, international friends have learned about the economic characteristics of China’s Jilin Province, which has the automobile industry as its pillar, through visits to local companies such as the FAW Hongqi Exhibition Hall and Tontine Wines. They also learned about the historical and cultural characteristics of Jilin Province by visiting the Jilin Provincial Museum, the Changying Old Site Museum, the Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition, an ethnic Korean-style restaurant and, the Jinjiang Cabin Village. At the Changbai Mountains Ski Resort and the volcanic hot springs, they experienced the rich natural landscape of Jilin, and by participating in various activities, the international friends learned to knit ropes, make figurines, and make foodstuffs such as noodles, jianbing pancakes, bibimbap, glutinous rice cakes, kimchi, and so on. The international friends also watched a symphony concert. Finally, they experienced the powder snow of the Changbai Mountains and soaked in hot springs in the snow for a truly magical “powder snow encounter”. After participating in this event, the international friends truly fell in love with Jilin and shared the beauty of Jilin with even more friends.

 

International friends visit the First Auto Hongqi exhibition hall.

Although Ms. Kim Mi-Young from South Korea has lived in Changchun, Jilin Province for more than 7 years and visited many places, this is the first time she has visited the Changbai Mountains. She said excitedly, “The feeling of soaking in the hot spring in the snow is so amazing. I have to bring my friends here the next time.” Anna from Russia said in an interview at the ski resort that, “I’ve been skiing in Sochi before. The snow here in Jilin is amazing, the environment and service are both great.” Hansen from Bangladesh, who has previously been working in the south of China, also thought that Jilin is a sight to see: “We usually travel by ourselves and there are some places we won’t be able to go. So, it’s a rare opportunity for us to get to visit the FAW Hongqi Exhibition Hall and the Tontine winery! When I go back, I’ll write some travel notes and post them to my social platform with photos from these activities for my friends to see.”

 

International friends at a Tontine wine tasting.

Jilin Cultural Tourism Week is a key brand project to promote international cultural exchange in Jilin province. It has been successfully held in 12 countries. This year’s event integrated elements of the Winter Olympics and winter activities and combines “going out” with “inviting in”. It included field trips, interactive experiences, exchanges and sharing, exhibitions, and other online and offline activities. By comprehensively showing Jilin’s majestic natural scenery, rich history and culture, colorful customs, and its ever-changing urban and rural landscape, the event aims to make more people want to learn about Jilin, understand Jilin, love Jilin, and promote Jilin.

 

“The Winter Olympics may be in Beijing, but the winter experience is in Jilin.” Beautiful Jilin opens its arms to the world!

 

International friends take a group photo at the Wanda Changbaishan International Ski Resort.

 

Journalists: Tong Yanling, Yang Huiyan  Photographers: Zhang Qiulei, Luo Hao

The Mills from Nan Fung Group is the first historical building in Hong Kong to achieve BEAM Plus Platinum Rating (Comprehensive Scheme)

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 7 December 2021 – Hong Kong’s private conglomerate, Nan Fung Group, is honoured to announce that the Group’s landmark revitalisation project The Mills has been awarded a Platinum Rating in the Final Assessment of the BEAM Plus Existing Building category (Comprehensive Scheme). This makes The Mills the city’s first historical and retrofitted building recognized with the award’s highest rating.

 

The Mills, located in Hong Kong’s industrial district of Tsuen Wan, was once three separate buildings operating as textile mills, together supplying much of the region’s denim during the city’s industrial and textile heyday in the 1950s. The success of these mills was the cornerstone of Nan Fung Group’s strength that eventually enabled the Group to become one of Hong Kong’s largest private conglomerates. In 2018, to honour the textile legacy of the Group and give back to the community, the three buildings were transformed into a single coherent complex, collectively named The Mills, and became a popular local cultural destination.

 

After years of groundwork integrating sustainable, innovative designs and solutions into this massive revitalisation, The Mills has been recognised for its outstanding performance in seven key areas: management, site aspects, materials and waste aspects, water use, energy use, indoor environmental quality, innovations and additions. BEAM Plus is Hong Kong’s leading initiative for independent assessments of buildings sustainability performance, recognised and certified by the Hong Kong Green Building Council.

 

Vanessa Cheung, Founder of The Mills and Group Managing Director of Nan Fung Group, said, “We are thrilled and delighted that The Mills has received such prestigious recognition. This Platinum Rating is an affirmation of the Group’s commitment to weaving sustainability into business. More importantly, the awarded project redefines and recontextualises sustainability for a revitalised space.”

 

In 2019, The Mills was awarded the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation under New Designs in the Heritage Contexts category. Other certifications include winning the Grand Award under the Existing Building (Completed Projects – Commercial Building) category at The Green Building Award 2019 and achieving LEED Gold rating in 2018.

 

Sustainability at The Mills: from upcycled materials to the community

 

The design of The Mills strives to preserve the original architecture and its half-century history while enhancing existing facilities into a user-friendly complex that meets the highest sustainability standards. Seamlessly woven into the neighbourhood, a series of accessible new entrances, lanes, rooftops, and glass bridges are carefully thought-out additions, such that the community can enjoy open spaces at The Mills to their fullest. Efficient lighting automation, solar hot water systems, and a mobile-based BMS system are also utilised at The Mills to maximize energy savings.

 

The Mills‘ commitment in sustainability is evident in all that it does – from its extensive range of community programmes, down to oft-overlooked details in daily operations – sustainability is in its DNA. For instance, The Mills launched a paper recycling initiative in partnership with Mil Mill, Hong Kong’s first carton recycling mill, to advocate for a self-sustaining circular economy; a blend of legacy and innovation – a demonstration of textile recycling and upcycling using the iconic Garment-to-Garment Recycling System (G2G); The Mills also houses eco-conscious tenants, such as Green Ladies & Green Little, who sells pre-loved clothing to raise awareness towards sustainable living habits. Last but not least, extensive textile-related exhibitions, tours, and workshops are regularly curated on-site to educate students and the community on fusing sustainability into daily routines.

 

The innovation arm of The Mills, The Mills Fabrica is a solution platform dedicated to supporting techstyle and agtech companies and helping society transition into a more sustainable future.

 

Nan Fung Group: An ambitious vision for sustainability

 

The Group believes that sustainable development requires a visionary plan and a nuanced, thorough understanding of the community. The Group’s flagship commercial-retail complex, AIRSIDE, in the Kai Tak area encapsulates and channels this belief. AIRSIDE is the first building in Hong Kong to achieve five of the highest green-building certifications. These include platinum pre-certification of US LEED®, provisional platinum certification of Hong Kong BEAM Plus New Building, platinum pre-certification of WELL Building Standard™, final platinum certification of BEAM Plus Neighbourhood, and final certification of the China Green Building Label 3-Star. AIRSIDE is set to open in Q4 2022 and will surely bring an innovative, new model of sustainability that encompasses a holistic balance of community interaction with city development.

 

About Nan Fung Group

Nan Fung Group is one of the largest privately held conglomerates in Hong Kong with global interests in real estate development and investment and holds a well-diversified, substantial financial investment portfolio. The Group was founded in 1954 and has a track record spanning over 50 years with over 165 projects including residential, commercial and industrial buildings. The Group also strategically focuses on first-tier cities in Mainland China and recognises attractive opportunities for development and investment overseas, including New York and London.

In recent years, the Group expanded its investment focus on ICE (Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship), exemplified by its signature project, The Mills, a revitalisation of its legacy yarn factories into a hub promoting techstyle (intersection of technology and style) and an integrated destination housing an experiential shopfloor, startup incubator and interactive gallery. The Group also made significant progress in investments related to life sciences in the US via Pivotal; and in Mainland China via an affiliate, New Frontier, which focuses on healthcare, elderly care, education, and new technology.

About The Mills

Opened on 6 December 2018, The Mills is a landmark revitalisation project by the Nan Fung Group that celebrates the shared industrial legacy of Hong Kong by taking a step towards a future of applied creativity and innovation. The Mills is built on a foundation of legacy and heritage, where visitors can explore the continuity of an authentic Hong Kong story, with themes of textile and the industry woven into experiences of innovation, culture, and learning.

The Mills project transformed and revitalised Nan Fung’s former textile factory into a destination for innovation, culture, and learning for the company’s 60th anniversary in 2014. The Mills has three pillars, each offering a unique take on the Group’s rich history: Fabrica – A business incubator, fund, and space/lab for techstyle startups and strategic partners; Shopfloor – A landmark for experiential retail and a physical manifestation of Hong Kong’s evolving character; and The Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT) – A non-profit arts centre interweaving textile arts, history, and science.

#NanFungGroup #TheMills

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

CPA Australia: Confidence improves but uncertainty weighs on Hong Kong’s economic outlook

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 7 December 2021 – Hong Kong’s economic outlook has improved and is in line for modest growth next year, according to a new survey by one of the world’s largest professional accounting organisations, CPA Australia.

(from left to right) Mr Peter Lee, Divisional President 2013 of CPA Australia in Greater China; Mr Eden Wong, Divisional Deputy President 2021 of CPA Australia in Greater China; Mr Janssen Chan, Divisional President 2021 of CPA Australia in Greater China; Mr Anthony Lau, Divisional President 2020 of CPA Australia in Greater China

 

CPA Australia surveyed 214 Hong Kong-based accounting and finance professionals about the local economy. Sixty-seven per cent of respondents indicated they expect Hong Kong’s GDP to grow in 2022. Of those, 52 per cent expect the economy to grow by up to 2.9 per cent, while 15 per cent believe it will grow by 3 per cent or more during the year.

 

Janssen Chan FCPA (Aust.) CPA Australia Divisional President of Greater China said, “Measures to combat the pandemic and stimulate the local economy, such as the consumption voucher scheme, have bolstered the city’s economic recovery and prospects. Most respondents are cautiously optimistic about Hong Kong’s economic outlook and think the economy will grow at a modest pace.

 

“However, restrictions on cross-boundary travel and the pandemic remain the top barriers to economic growth nominated by respondents. Despite improvements in overall business and economic sentiment, we should be mindful of the risk of an unequal economic recovery among different industries and the ongoing challenges posed by COVID, such as the emergence of the Omicron variant.”

 

Fifty-three per cent of respondents predict their company’s revenue will increase next year, with 47 per cent expecting revenue growth of up to 29 per cent. Reflecting a more positive outlook, 36 per cent of respondents report their company will increase staff count in 2022, up from 13 per cent in 2021. Fifty-nine per cent of respondents expect their salary to increase in 2022, compared to only 15 per cent in 2021.

 

Chan observed, “The survey findings indicate that business confidence in Hong Kong has improved over the past 12 months. Last year, only 26 per cent of respondents expected their company’s revenue to increase in 2021. In contrast, reflecting a better-than-expected recovery, 50 per cent of respondents said revenue will grow this year.

 

Meanwhile, 78 per cent of respondents expect their company to expand its business activities outside of Hong Kong in the next three years, with Mainland China being the top destination of choice followed by Southeast Asia.

 

“Strong intentions to expand business activities into other markets is another sign of economic recovery. As an international city, expanding Hong Kong’s economic and trade connections will help accelerate the city’s economic recovery and enhance its competitiveness.

 

“China recently upgraded its ties with ASEAN to a comprehensive strategic partnership. With ASEAN being Hong Kong’s second largest trading partner, companies in Hong Kong will be eager to seize the markets opportunities from ASEAN economies as well as greater connectivity with other parts of the Greater Bay Area (GBA).”

 

Six in ten survey respondents think strengthening Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre will improve the city’s international competitiveness. When asked what measures are needed to achieve this, most respondents chose supporting FinTech and other digital finance innovation, followed by Hong Kong’s status as an offshore renminbi (RMB) centre and attracting and retaining finance talent.

 

Chan commented, “Greater cooperation with Qianhai to expand the scope of Hong Kong’s offshore RMB product offering will bolster Hong Kong’s position as a leading offshore RMB centre. We also expect the financial integration schemes launched in the GBA this year to boost economic growth in 2022.

 

The ambiguous timetable for resuming cross-boundary travel and risks of further COVID-19 outbreaks continue to weigh on economic sentiment. Chan said, “While Hong Kong’s economy is recovering, challenges such as the emergence of the Omicron variant continue to present significant uncertainty. Businesses should keep focusing on innovation and technology including digital transformation, attracting, nurturing and retaining talent, and improving business efficiency in 2022 to adapt and thrive in this volatile environment.”

 

Chan suggested that the government may wish to consider several initiatives to support Hong Kong’s economic growth in 2022.

 

“One option to support Hong Kong businesses is developing a roadmap to resume cross-boundary travel with fewer restrictions with Mainland China and some ASEAN countries. Other possible initiatives include allocating additional resources to the Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD) Fund and the SME Export Marketing Fund, and signing more free trade agreements and comprehensive double taxation agreements with other economies.”

 

“Further, we believe the government should consider promoting green and sustainable finance by introducing incentives and regulatory reforms to encourage financial institutions to expand their offerings of green and sustainable funding options, as well as offering more RMB-denominated green financial products.”

 

About CPA Australia

CPA Australia is one of the largest professional accounting bodies in the world, with more than 168,000 members in over 100 countries and regions, including more than 20,000 members in Greater China. CPA Australia has been operating in Hong Kong since 1955 and opened our Hong Kong office in 1989. Our core services include education, training, technical support and advocacy. CPA Australia provides thought leadership on local, national and international issues affecting the accounting profession and public interest. We engage with governments, regulators and industries to advocate policies that stimulate sustainable economic growth and have positive business and public outcomes. Find out more at cpaaustralia.com.au

#CPAAustralia

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