CANGZHOU, China, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from xinhuanet:
The Year of the Snake ushers in an energetic Spring Festival in Cangzhou, Hebei Province. Locals and tourists alike are reveling in the festivities, with a selection of activities that captivate the spirit of the season. From welcoming the God of Wealth to enjoying acrobatic shows, exploring folk traditions at bustling temple fairs and strolling through illuminated night streets, there’s no shortage of cultural enrichment. This year’s celebrations feature new highlights, including a mesmerizing lantern festival and cutting-edge drone light shows, which light up the night sky with spectacular displays. Traditional performances like the ‘iron flower’ spectacle — a centuries-old art of casting molten iron into fiery sparks — add a unique touch to the energetic celebrations, creating a festive and harmonious atmosphere that marks a joyful start to the new lunar year.
On 10 February, the Lao Responsible Business Awards 2025 celebrated businesses in Laos, demonstrating a strong commitment to social and environmental good practice. The award seeks to show that responsible business practices are not only ethical but also key to business success and encourages more companies to adopt similar approaches.
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Gupshup, the world’s leading Conversational AI platform today announced the launch of its AI Agent Library, a groundbreaking suite of 15 pre-built and customizable AI Agents with deep industry knowhow to help businesses dramatically accelerate time-to-market. This Agent library enables enterprises to deploy advanced AI-powered interactions rapidly, enabling early adopters to substantially accelerate revenue growth, and improve customer experience and operational efficiency. The launch of these AI Agents reflects Gupshup’s mission of enabling businesses to thrive in the era of Conversational AI.
Gupshup’s AI Agents are set to transform everyday customer experience
These industry-tuned AI Agents are specifically designed for B2C engagement across the business lifecycle of marketing, selling, and support. They leverage LLMs for rich customer interactions, seamlessly integrate with backend systems and are rapidly deployable in omnichannel environments, i.e. across messaging channels including WhatsApp, SMS, RCS, Voice, Web, and Mobile
“Conversational AI Agents are fundamentally transforming how businesses connect with their customers. As a tech-first organization that has consistently been the leader at every stage of the evolution of the conversational messaging industry, Gupshup is uniquely positioned to bring these next-gen AI Agents”, said Beerud Sheth, Founder & CEO, Gupshup.
The initial release includes several specialized AI Agents designed to deliver immediate business results across multiple industries and key B2C engagement scenarios. Industries include Retail & e-Commerce, Fintech, Travel & Hospitality, Real Estate and CPG/FMCG.
For example- the Lead Generation AI Agent autonomously collects, qualifies, and nurtures leads while orchestrating targeted drip campaigns, tasks that traditionally require significant manual intervention. The Product Discovery AI Agent accelerates sales by providing consultative product discovery and intelligent recommendations.
As a rapidly evolving AI-native organization, Gupshup has integrated artificial intelligence across its entire product suite and internal operations from employee onboarding to finance, engineering and customer success.
About Gupshup
Gupshup is the leading platform for building and deploying industry-trained Conversational AI Agents for every business across marketing, commerce, and support use cases. Gupshup Conversation Cloud powers multimodal interactions with industry-trained AI agents so that businesses can go live faster across channels including Voice, WhatsApp, RCS, Web, Mobile Apps and more.
Trusted by 45,000+ customers in 60+ countries across industries, Gupshup handles 120B+ conversational messages annually. Gupshup works with many of the top brands across industries including eCommerce, retail, payments, fintech, payments, media, travel, automotive, and banking to deliver transformative conversational experiences that accelerate growth and optimize costs.
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (IDX: BBRI) continues to demonstrate resilience amid economic challenges, recording a consolidated net profit of IDR 60.64 trillion in 2024. BRI President Director Sunarso shared this achievement during the 2024 Financial Performance Press Conference in Jakarta (12/2).
BRI (Bank Rakyat Indonesia) executives posing together during BRI Financial Performance Presentation 2024 event
“As of the end of 2024, BRI successfully posted a net profit of IDR 60.64 trillion. This achievement reflects BRI’s resilience and ability to consistently create value for shareholders, stakeholders, and the wider community while maintaining its support for MSMEs,” Sunarso said.
By December 2024, BRI’s total assets grew 1.42% year-on-year (yoy) to IDR 1,992.98 trillion, driven by selective and quality loan disbursement, primarily in the MSME segment, which accounted for 81.97% of total loans (IDR 1,110.37 trillion). Loan disbursement reached IDR 1,354.64 trillion, up 6.97% yoy, while the Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio improved from 2.95% to 2.78%. BRI also maintained strong reserves with an NPL Coverage ratio of 215.01%.
Driving the People’s Economy Through MSME Services and Empowerment
As an agent of development, BRI remains committed to government initiatives by supporting MSME growth through various programs:
Ultra Micro Holding (UMi) – A collaboration with Pegadaian and PNM to provide financial services for ultra-micro businesses, currently serving over 180 million savings customers and 36.9 million loan customers.
People’s Business Credit (KUR) – A government-backed financing program for MSMEs, with BRI disbursing IDR 184.98 trillion in 2024, the highest among national banks, benefiting over 4 million MSMEs.
AgenBRILink – A network of 1.06 million banking agents facilitating transactions worth IDR 1,583 trillion, covering 80% of Indonesia’s villages.
Desa BRILian – A rural economic development program supporting 4,327 villages through tourism, handicrafts, and agriculture.
PARI (Indonesian People’s Market) – A digital platform connecting 85,000 MSME users based on commodity ecosystems.
Klasterku Hidupku – A cluster-based business support program with 38,574 MSME clusters nationwide.
LinkUMKM – A digital platform tracking MSME progress, used by 8.9 million entrepreneurs.
Rumah BUMN – A collaborative space for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to train and mentor 433,000 MSMEs across 54 locations.
Sunarso emphasized BRI is committed to supporting the people’s economy, particularly through inclusive and sustainable financing, as well as various empowerment initiatives to help MSMEs become a key pillar of Indonesia’s economic growth.
For more information about BANK BRI, visit www.bri.co.id.
JAKARTA, INDONESIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 13 February 2025– At the Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) 2025, VinFast officially opened for sales for its mini-SUV VF 3. The company also announced a special policy providing free charging for all VinFast electric vehicles at VinFast charging stations operated by V-GREEN across Indonesia, reaffirming its commitment to delivering smart, accessible, and sustainable mobility solutions.
VinFast announces the launch of VF 3 and a free charging policy for its electric vehicles in Indonesia.
At IIMS 2025, VinFast announced listed price for VF 3 as 227,650,000 IDR, applied for battery purchase only. In particular, VinFast also applies an attractive incentive program of 7,850,000 IDR in cash for the first 1,000 VF 3 cars. Deliveries are expected to begin in April 2025.
Notably, together with V-GREEN, VinFast also help lower the total cost of ownership by eliminating charging expenses by introducing a free charging policy at VinFast charging portals operated by V-GREEN across Indonesia, applicable for VF 3 users until March 1, 2028, and for VF e34 and VF 5 users until December 31, 2027. Additionally, V-GREEN is unveiling its plan to develop 30,000 VinFast charging portals across the country by the end of 2025. This will enhance convenience for users, make electric mobility more accessible and cost-effective and further accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation in Indonesia.
Mr. Pham Sanh Chau, CEO of VinFast Asia, said: “With the launch of the right-hand drive VF 3, VinFast is thrilled to offer Indonesian consumers more exciting and smart green mobility options. The VF 3 will unlock endless possibilities for urban commuting, making electric transportation more accessible. For Indonesia’s tech-savvy younger generation seeking practicality and personalization, we believe the VF 3 will be the ideal companion in the global green mobility revolution.”
VinFast’s booth attracts a large number of visitors.
As a mini-SUV, the VinFast VF 3 is meticulously designed to meet the urban commuting needs of consumers with its compact dimensions of 3,190 x 1,679 x 1,652 mm. Equipped with 16-inch alloy wheels and a ground clearance of 175 mm, the VF 3 offers exceptional maneuverability across various terrains.In addition to the four standard exterior colors – Jet Black (exclusive to the Indonesian market), Infinity Blanc, Crimson Red, and Zenith Grey – VinFast will also offer four premium two-tone options: Summer Yellow, Urban Mint, Sky Blue, and Rose Pink, all featuring a white roof.
With a range of 215 km on a full charge and a rapid charging capability from 10% to 70% in just 36 minutes, this vehicle offers impressive performance. It accelerates from 0 to 50 km/h in 5.3 seconds and reaches a top speed of 100 km/h.
Despite being in the mini-SUV segment, the VF 3 boasts a large 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system and steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, similar to luxury cars, providing a comfortable and impressive user experience.
Similar to other VinFast electric vehicles, the VF 3 comes with a comprehensive warranty of up to 7 years or 160,000 km for the vehicle (whichever comes first) and an 8-year unlimited mileage warranty for the battery.
On February 15, at IIMS 2025, Indonesian customers can take the VF 3 for a test drive and experience firsthand the most accessible model in VinFast’s smart and modern product range.
Within just one year of its presence in the market, VinFast has successfully broken ground for its new EV assembly plant, delivered two models – the VF e34 and VF 5, and continuously expanded its sales and service network. VinFast is actively contributing to the green transition in Indonesia through pioneering sales policies and building the “For a Green Future” ecosystem with partners such as Xanh SM and V-GREEN. Hashtag: #vinfast
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About VinFast
VinFast (NASDAQ: VFS), a subsidiary of Vingroup JSC, one of Vietnam’s largest conglomerates, is a pure-play electric vehicle (“EV”) manufacturer with the mission of making EVs accessible to everyone. VinFast’s product lineup today includes a wide range of electric SUVs, e-scooters, and e-buses. VinFast is currently embarking on its next growth phase through rapid expansion of its distribution and dealership network globally and increasing its manufacturing capacities with a focus on key markets across North America, Europe and Asia. Learn more at: https://vinfastauto.id/en
HARBIN, China, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — On February 7, 2025, the 9th Asian Winter Games (AWG) officially kicked off in Harbin, marking the largest edition of the event in history, with over 1,200 athletes from 34 countries and regions registered to compete. Marking a new milestone of Asian winter sports, this sporting and cultural gala becomes a global focus with its innovative technologies to support the Games and diverse cultural exchanges that take place during the event.
The Poster of The 9th Asian Winter Games Harbin, China
For the first time in a major sports event, the Harbin AWG has deployed 5G-A millimeter wave (MMW) technology, making the downlink rates exceed 10Gbps. This enables seamless 8K live sports streaming for global audiences, real-time athlete data monitoring and intelligent allocation of event resources. To ensure smooth communication during the event, the Games have established a “1 Cloud + 4 Networks” communication system which comprises a cloud data center, a competition dedicated network, a backup network, an event internet, and a media data transmission network. The system guarantees seamless connection for scoring, information release and emergency response.
In addition, Harbin has further enhanced services for athletes, spectators, and on-site staff by adding dedicated point-to-point shuttle trains, streamlining airport services and improving hotel reception capacity. The Games also provide athletes with various Northeastern Chinese delicacies such as guobaorou, or fried pork slices with sweet and sour sauce, chicken stewed with mushrooms and Harbin red sausage. Athletes with special dietary needs are given tailored care. Athletes unable to dine in the restaurant due to injuries or other reasons can order nutritious take-out food. As an open and inclusive international city, Harbin will continue to provide considerate services and support, inviting visitors worldwide to experience the unique culture and charm of the Ice City.
Currently, the winter sports competition is in full swing, with thrilling events like freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing and ski mountaineering underway. Athletes are competing and interacting on the ice and snow, embodying the spirit of the Harbin AWG.
BEIJING, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — A report from People’s Daily:
The ongoing 9th Asian Winter Games held in Harbin, northeast China’sHeilongjiang province, themed “Dream of Winter, Love Among Asia,” embodies the shared aspiration of the Asian people for peace, development and friendship.
Ahead of the opening ceremony of the Games, Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed a welcoming banquet, during which he called on Asia to uphold the shared dream for tranquility and harmony, pursue the shared aspiration for prosperity and development, and fulfill the shared desire for friendship and affinity. His remarks reaffirmed China’s sincerity and commitment to promoting peace, development, and friendship.
“Light up Asia, light up the stars, with the beating of our hearts… Light up Asia, hold our hands high, together we form a bond that’s tight…”
These lyrics of the theme song “Light Up Asia” reflect the Asian people’s shared aspiration of using sports to promote peace, unity, and inclusiveness.
President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach praised China for advocating and practicing the concepts of unity, cooperation, equality and respect, and upholding multilateralism. He expressed the confidence that China will continue to achieve greater accomplishments and make greater contributions to world peace, development, and progress.
Every snowflake is unique, and every civilization is distinctive. All civilizations are rooted in their unique cultural environment. Each embodies the wisdom and vision of a country or nation, and each is valuable for being uniquely its own.
The opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games showcased Asia’s diverse traditions through dancers clad in the traditional attires of various Asian countries, creating a vibrant picture of beauty in diversity and shared prosperity. At the Harbin Ice and Snow World Park, ice sculptures of iconic landscapes in Asian countries, such as China’s Temple of Heaven, India’sTaj Mahal, and Singapore’s Merlion, stood side by side.
All of these have demonstrated Asian culture that is inclusive, vibrant and always keen to learn from others. As the Asian winter sports athletes chase their dreams in Harbin, they are also strengthening their friendships and writing a new chapter of unity and solidarity in Asia.
Supitr Samahito, vice president of the Thai Olympic Committee, said that the Asian Winter Games is not just a sporting event but also a unique opportunity for Asian countries to showcase their cultures and deepen mutual understanding.
Xi once said, “Asian countries are just like a cluster of bright lanterns. Only when we link them together, can we light up the night sky in our continent.”
China is dedicated to presenting a splendid winter sports spectacle to the world, creating beautiful and unforgettable memories of ice and snow for all countries across the globe.
TOKYO, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Applibot, Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya, Tokyo; President: Koki Ukita) is launching a smartphone app “Chiikawa Pocket,” in 43 countries and regions worldwide in late March 2025.
Based on the popular manga “Chiikawa” posted on X (formerly Twitter) by illustrator Nagano, this smartphone game app is designed around the concept of “being with Chiikawa and friends, anytime, anywhere.” It is packed full of activities that immerse players in the world of “Chiikawa.”
Chiikawa Pocket
We will be launching “Chiikawa Pocket” in late March 2025 in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, the United States, and a total of 43 countries and regions worldwide.
Ahead of the official release, a pre-registration campaign, offering rewards based on the number of pre-registrations has started.
Additionally, the official promotional video for “Chiikawa Pocket” will be released with subtitles in English, Korean, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese. Official websites in each language have also been launched.
A pre-registration campaign has started today. The campaigns and in-game items distributed upon the app’s release will be determined based on the number of pre-registered users for this campaign. In Japan, the pre-registration count has currently reached 1 million, and the goal is to reach a total of 1.5 million pre-registrations worldwide.
“Chiikawa” is a popular manga posted by illustrator Nagano on X (formerly Twitter), which began serialization in 2020. The story of Chiikawa and friends, who lead lives that are fun, bittersweet, and sometimes a little tough, has gained wide popularity among both adults and children, with the number of X followers surpassing 3.7 million to date. “Chiikawa” also won the Grand Prix at the 2022 Japan Character Awards and the 2024 Japan Character Awards.
The anime “Chiikawa” is currently airing in Japan and is available for limited-time catch-up streaming on the official YouTube channel.