CHITOSE BEGINS OPERATING WORLD'S LARGEST MICROALGAE PRODUCTION FACILITY

KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 (Bernama) -- CHITOSE Group (CHITOSE), an entity formed by biotechnology startups managed by Chitose Bio Evolution Pte Ltd based in Japan and Singapore, has announced the construction of a five-hectare (ha) microalgae production facility, CHITOSE Carbon Capture Central (C4) was completed and the production of microalgae has been started in Sarawak, Malaysia.

According to CHITOSE in a statement, it plans to establish the stable, continuous and large-scale production of microalgae, and its production technology aims at proceeding with the development of applications for a wide range of industrial materials, including fuels and plastics.

CHITOSE aims for zero carbon emission through photoautotrophic microalgae production and through the MATSURI (meaning "festival" in Japanese) project, which is designed to establish a microalgae-based industry replacing the petroleum-based industry.

At the same time, the company plans to develop diverse products used in daily life from microalgae, including fuels, plastics, foods and toiletry, in collaboration with its business partners.

Backed by the Japanese government-funded New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, C4 is expected to demonstrate the efficient and scalable production of microalgal biomass (utilising photobioreactor technologies) and to produce 350 dry tonnes of microalgal biomass per year, fixing 700 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year.

At C4, gas exhausted from a neighbouring coal-fired power plant is used as a carbon source, and the produced microalgal biomass will be used for sustainable production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other products.

Towards 2030, CHITOSE is planning to expand the production to 2,000 ha and is currently in the process of raising funds for this move.

In algae production on a scale of 2,000 ha, approximately 140,000 dry tonnes of microalgal dry-biomass per year will be produced, and the production cost will be less than US$2.5 per kg biomass. (US$1=RM4.38)

Further, it also aims to expand the production to over 10,000,000 ha, which is approximately 1/20 of the world's maize-harvested area and will produce 700 million dry tonnes of microalgal biomass annually, hence the production cost will potentially fall to less than US$0.5 per kg biomass.

-- BERNAMA

Business messaging traffic swells 2.8 trillion by 2027 - Juniper Research

KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 (Bernama) – A new study from Juniper Research has forecasted operator business messaging traffic will reach 2.8 trillion messages by 2027; rising from 1.9 trillion in 2023.

This growth of 45 per cent over the next four years will be driven by Rich Communication Services (RCS) business messaging which is anticipated to surpass 630 million messages by 2027; playing an increasingly important role in platform vendors’ business messaging revenue.

As part of the study, Juniper Research released its latest Competitor Leaderboard for 2023. Underpinned by a robust scoring methodology and coupled with participant interviews, the new Competitor Leaderboard ranked the top 20 leading mobile messaging platforms, using criteria such as the completeness of their solutions and their future business prospects.

According to Juniper Research in a statement, the top five vendors for 2023 are Infobip, CM.com, Vonage, Route Mobile and Sinch.

The research found that the leading players scored well on the comprehensiveness of their platforms and their support for rich media technologies, most notably RCS.

The report warned that a potential new challenge is emerging in the form of the Global System for Mobile communications Association (GSMA)’s Open Gateway programme, enabling the development of new authentication services that could provide a low-cost alternative to business short messaging service (SMS).

These emerging authentication services will provide direct competition to authentication use cases, such as Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) and One-time Passwords (OTPs), causing the growth of SMS revenue for these messaging vendors to slow over the next four years.

In turn, the report urges messaging vendors to develop and monetise RCS messaging services that leverage the conversational nature of the technology to counter this slowing growth.

-- BERNAMA

GMAC TASK FORCE REVAMPS BUSINESS EDUCATION ADMISSIONS REPORTING STANDARDS

Revision aims to support business schools in today’s ranking efforts and help prospective candidates compare programs on leveled playing field

RESTON, Va., March 24 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), a global association representing leading business schools, today released an updated version of the Graduate Management Education Admissions Reporting Standards. The revision, led by a task force of 14 GMAC member schools, aimed to ensure the standards align with the shifting landscape of graduate business education and today's best practices of identifying gender, race and ethnicity, and undergraduate majors, among other criteria commonly used in the admissions process.

According to GMAC’s annual survey on prospective students worldwide, candidates rely heavily on school websites and rankings in their program selection process. The 2023 survey of thousands of business school aspirants – to be published early next month – shows that school websites and published program rankings were the top two factors in the decision making of individuals considering applying for graduate business degrees. Informed by this finding, GMAC believes it is vitally important that the information presented to prospective students is anchored in a common definition of the terms used by schools and various publications in collecting the data for reporting.

“This work, initiated in response to a strong desire for consistency and transparency from the business school community we serve, is being done to create trust with and among business school admissions professionals, especially those who are new to the field. Without a doubt, adopting the standardized reporting criteria at a large scale would allow prospective students and rankings organizations alike to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges across the wide spectrum of program options available in the market today,” said Joy Jones, CEO of GMAC. “On behalf of the Council, I extend our sincerest gratitude to the task force for the time, effort, and care dedicated to revising and promoting the standards.” 

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Sun Hung Kai Properties Insurance Ltd Credit Ratings affirmed - AM Best

KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 (Bernama) -- Global credit rating agency, AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a” (Excellent) of Sun Hung Kai Properties Insurance Limited (SHKPI), Hong Kong.

The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable, reflecting AM Best’s expectation that SHKPI will maintain its strong operating performance, supported by a continued profitable underwriting portfolio, low acquisition cost structure and positive investment returns in the intermediate term.

The ratings reflect SHKPI’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assessed as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

SHKPI’s risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, is maintained at the strongest level, according to a statement.

The company’s higher-risk assets, including non-investment-grade bonds and unlisted equities, and some sector concentration in the company investment portfolio exposed its risk-adjusted capitalisation to considerable market and credit risks.

However, investment exposure to higher-risk assets was decreased during fiscal year 2022, and AM Best considers the company’s capital buffer sufficient to absorb the associated investment risks.

Though SHKPI’s operating performance during fiscal year 2022 was negatively affected by deterioration in investment performance, its overall operating performance has been consistently strong and above the market average over the past few years.

Supported by its parent in distribution with minimal gross acquisition expenses, SHKPI’s underwriting results continue to outperform industry peers.

SHKPI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited, one of the largest property development and investment conglomerates in Hong Kong, benefiting from its parental network to write most of its business from associated and subsidiary companies.

For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

-- BERNAMA

NTT COM, TOEI AND NTT QONOQ BEGIN DEMONSTRATING CUSTOMER SERVICES IMPLEMENTED WITH DIGITAL HUMAN

TOKYO, March 20 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- NTT Communications Corporation, Toei Company, Ltd. and NTT QONOQ, INC. jointly announced today the immediate launch of a customer-service demonstration using a digital human to communicate with people. In the demonstration, a realistic digital human, named "CONN," created by combining human-like visuals generated by Toei Zukun Laboratory’s digital human technology^₁ and human-like personalities (behavior and voice) developed with NTT Human Informatics Laboratories' body motion-generation and voice-synthesis AI technology, will interact with people visiting NTT Com's OPEN HUB Park^₂ virtual space. The results will be used to determine the possibility of using digital humans as new points of contact for commercial services.

CONN was developed from the faces of nine real people, or "catalysts," who were scanned with the latest version of LightStage^₃ from Toei Zukun Laboratory, based on which a realistic human (digital human) was created using computer graphics.

For CONN's personality, including behavior and voice, the motion-capture data and voice data of the catalysts were used to train an AI engine developed with NTT Human Informatics Laboratories, which reproduced the behavior and voice characteristics of real people in CONN.

In the final step, proprietary software developed by NTT Com converted the feature points of the captured facial and personality data to 3DCG.^₄ The software then generated digital motion and voice based on a learned program.

When people visit the OPEN HUB Park, CONN will communicate with them in a natural style, exhibiting various facial expressions, behaviors and voice tones, as if it were actually thinking, while guiding people through the various zones of the virtual park. 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=45686

Chiba Prefecture: 6 products take bite at specialty food prizes

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- The Chiba Prefectural Government and the Chiba Food Industry Liaison Council have awarded specialty food prizes to six local food products.

The six products won the "Discover the Excellent Foods in CHIBA 2023" contest organised by the prefecture and the council to discover and promote attractive products from among processed foods made mainly from local agricultural and fisheries materials.

According to a statement, the prefectural government will help expand the sales channels for the prize-winning products through various opportunities including its promotional events.

The Gold Prize was awarded to “Chiba-no Kodawari Pudding" (Chiba's Quality Pudding), with peanut flavours. Rich-tasting pudding with plain and peanut flavours which has a beautiful two-tone colouring is available for JPY365 for 80g. (JPY100 = RM3.41)

"Fukkura Kuromame Genmai Gohan" (Fluffy Brown Rice Boiled with Black Beans) won the Silver Prize. Boiled in a special broth, the fluffy brown rice is accented with black beans, a specialty of the prefecture and is highly recommended for gifts and is priced at JPY594 for 160g.

The winning product for the Bronze Prize is Chiba Peanut Gelato which is known for its smooth texture, as well as its well-balanced tastes with flavours of peanuts and milk costs JPY500 for 100g.

Meanwhile, the winning products for Jury's Special Prizes are Confitures "Nashikko" (Japanese pear preserves) which is made of pears produced in Funabashi City; olive oil-confit Japanese Spanish mackerel by on-board "ikejime"; and Sudo Farm Milk which is produced with an approach to curb methane gas emissions by cows.

-- BERNAMA

NIKKISO CLEAN ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL GASES GROUP EXPANDS SALES, SERVICE, ENGINEERING CAPABILITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA

KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 (Bernama) -- Nikkiso Clean Energy & Industrial Gases Group (Group), a part of the Nikkiso Co Ltd (Japan) and operating under Cryogenic Industries Inc (USA) has expanded its sales, service and engineering capabilities for the African market.

“This expansion positions us to be able to respond rapidly to the growing energy needs of Africa, and to provide greater service and support to our customers with our local presence,” said Cryogenic Industries Chief Executive Officer and Group President, Peter Wagner.

Located in Waterfall, KZN, South Africa, the facility was established to provide a stronger footprint in Africa and support South Africa’s engineering hub and economic centre.

According to a statement, local engineers and field service support will bring specific knowledge of the region and local markets, allowing highly customised solutions.

In addition to offering technical sales for all the Group’s products, they have added an air separation unit commissioning team which includes customer support.

The additional engineering support will provide process and design optimisation and innovative solutions for the region.

The facility will also provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) equipment, to support the large natural gas expansion off Mozambique, and potential development of virtual pipelines for LNG fuel to mitigate the electricity crisis.

Bruce van Dongen will serve as Managing Director and a service facility is planned for the future which will support pumps and turboexpanders.

-- BERNAMA

MIXI RELEASES UPDATES ON CHARLIE PUTH’S FREE LIVE SHOW ON HUMY, MARCH 25

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- MIXI Inc has unveiled the latest details regarding the free online event “humy presents: the Charlie Puth Livestream Experience" to be held on March 25, on Charlie Puth's official fan communication platform, humy.

Proven to be one of the industry's most consistent hitmakers and sought-after collaborators, Puth has amassed eight multi-platinum singles, four GRAMMY nominations, three Billboard Music Awards, a Critic's Choice Award and a Golden Globe nomination.

According to a statement, the first 10 minutes of the event will be simultaneously streamed live on Charlie Puth's official YouTube channel.

The songs performed will be picked by fans through a poll before the event, and questions from fans that were submitted in advance will be answered during the event.

In addition, a campaign leading up to the event is underway whereby 10 lucky winners will get three-month Premium subscriptions to "humy with Charlie Puth".

Available in select regions, the event is open to anyone with a humy account and registration is free.

With the purpose of enriching communication and inspiring moments of joy, MIXI is committed to providing enjoyable communication services for friends and families, including mixi, MONSTER STRIKE, FamilyAlbum and TIPSTAR.

More details at https://mixi.co.jp/en.

-- BERNAMA

World's largest alternative asset manager Blackstone will open new office in Germany

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, announced that it will open a new office in Frankfurt, Germany.

According to Blackstone in a statement, the new flagship location will occupy 1,300 square metres in the OMNITURM in Frankfurt’s financial district and serve as a hub for Blackstone in Germany.

Blackstone President and Chief Operating Officer, Jon Gray said: “We are very excited to be opening a new office in Frankfurt, and to be expanding our presence in Germany. Germany is an economic powerhouse, a great country to do business in and we look forward to investing here for a long time to come.”

The new office will host professionals across Blackstone’s private equity, real estate, and credit businesses, in addition to providing a hub for Blackstone’s private wealth solutions business, which serves investment professionals and individual investors across Europe.

The firm Senior Managing Directors, Juergen Pinker will lead on Private Equity, with Jurij Puth, leading on Credit.

Blackstone has been an active and significant investor in Germany for more than two decades, with currently more than 7,000 people employed by its portfolio companies in the country.

The opening of the new office in Frankfurt highlights Blackstone’s conviction in Germany, and its plan to build on its success and expand its activity in the German market going forward.

Currently, Blackstone investments in Germany include Leica and Schenck Process. In the past, the firm invested in Scout24, Gerresheimer, as well as Meerwind, the first privately financed offshore wind farm in Germany.

The firm also has significant investments in German real estate, particularly logistics assets and commercial real estate. 

-- BERNAMA

AM Best assigns Credit Ratings to Indonesia’s Asuransi Astra

KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (Bernama) -- Global credit rating agency AM Best has assigned a Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) to Indonesia’s PT Asuransi Astra Buana (Asuransi Astra).

The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable reflecting Asuransi Astra’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assessed as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

According to AM Best in a statement, the ratings also factor in a neutral impact from Asuransi Astra’s ultimate parent, Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited (Bermuda).

Asuransi Astra’s balance sheet strength is underpinned by its risk-adjusted capitalisation, which was at the strongest level at Dec 31, 2021 and is expected to maintain at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio.

The company’s capital adequacy is supported by its internal capital generation and low net underwriting leverage.

AM Best viewed Asuransi Astra’s investment portfolio to have moderate risk, comprising mainly bonds held directly and through mutual funds. More than half of its mutual funds consisted locally rated bond funds.

In addition, Asuransi Astra’s operating performance viewed by AM Best as strong, demonstrated by its five-year average combined ratio of 88.5 per cent and return-on-equity ratio of 18.0 per cent (2018-2022).

Profitable business from its parent group, PT Astra International Tbk (Astra group), is the key contributor to Asuransi Astra’s strong operating performance. This performance remained robust during 2022, as the negative impact of claims normalisation on the company’s loss ratio was offset by an improved expense ratio and stronger investment income.

Asuransi Astra is a large insurance organisation in Indonesia, ranking third by market share in 2021 in the country’s general insurance market. Its portfolio is diversified by line of business with key lines being motor, personal accident and health, and fire insurance.

-- BERNAMA

CLOUDFLARE DEMOCRATIZES POST-QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY BY DELIVERING IT FOR FREE, BY DEFAULT

Already powering more than 99% of all websites that support NIST standard track post-quantum cryptography today, Cloudflare aims to help defend online users against threats of advanced computing

SAN FRANCISCO, March 17 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the security, performance, and reliability company helping to build a better Internet, today announced it will provide post-quantum cryptography for free by default to all customers to help secure their websites, APIs, cloud tools and remote employees against future threats. Now, all Cloudflare customers will be able to seamlessly migrate to the next era of cybersecurity standards–instantly and for free. Cloudflare is making this commitment at the 2023 Summit for Democracy in support of a more responsive and resilient Internet, and will additionally publish vendor-neutral roadmaps based on NIST standards to help businesses secure any connections that are not protected by Cloudflare.

Quantum computers–which perform complex computations at an exponentially faster rate than today’s machines–are expected to become advanced enough in the coming years to decrypt much of the encrypted data on the Internet. The Biden Administration recently mandated government agencies, and is encouraging the private sector, to prepare for quantum computers that could break encryption in the future of data stolen today. Today’s CISOs and CIOs know they need to prepare today to migrate to post-quantum cryptography before this happens. Unfortunately, emerging vendors want to capitalize on this to charge unnecessarily high fees–limiting the access and affordability for businesses, as well as non-profits and civil society organizations.

“There are companies out there that want to charge CISOs exorbitant amounts to prepare for future attacks from quantum computers. At Cloudflare, we believe that privacy should be a human right and that post-quantum security should be the new baseline for the Internet–not an exploitative expense for businesses. That’s why we are promising today to help equip businesses as well as non-profits and users with the most advanced cryptography available and to never charge for it,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare.

Cloudflare has helped lead the development of post-quantum cryptography standards since 2018, and made post-quantum cryptography available as a beta to interested customers in 2022. Cloudflare believes that over 99% of websites on the Internet that already support NIST-approved post-quantum cryptography for their connections are powered by Cloudflare, and over 1 billion HTTP requests have been protected with post-quantum cryptography by Cloudflare since 2019. 

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KBFG INSURANCE (CHINA) CREDIT RATINGS AFFIRMED EXCELLENT - AM BEST

KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Bernama) -- Global credit rating agency, AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) of KBFG Insurance (China) Co Ltd (KBFG China).

The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable, reflecting KBFG China’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assessed as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

According to AM Best in a statement, the ratings also reflect the wide range of support that the company receives from its parent, KB Insurance Co Ltd, in areas including underwriting and pricing, business development and reinsurance.

The agency assessed KBFG China’s balance sheet strength at the very strong level, supported by its risk-adjusted capitalisation at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio.

The company’s capital and surplus has steadily increased driven by favourable operating performance with full profit retention. Given its relatively small capital base and the nature of its underwriting portfolio, KBFG China’s risk-adjusted capitalisation is exposed to volatility in the event of large losses.

KBFG China has achieved positive operating profit for five consecutive years, with a low-to-mid single digit return-on-equity ratios reported during that period, and its operating expense ratio has been favourable due to low acquisition costs and positive reinsurance commission income.

As a foreign-owned insurer focusing on serving Korean Interests Abroad business, KBFG China has a defensible competitive advantage in this niche market.

However, with a limited market presence in China’s non-life industry with market share less than one per cent, the company intends to maintain its underwriting risk tolerance appetite and plans to explore investment opportunities with higher yields.

-- BERNAMA

ACAMS SCHOLARSHIP FOR KOREAN PROFESSIONALS SEEKING ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING TRAINING

KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 (Bernama) -- The Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) has launched a new scholarship programme for South Korean compliance professionals seeking to become Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (CAMS).

According to ACAMS in a statement, this is part of its efforts to support the fight against financial crime throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Under the initiative, ACAMS will award the CAMS Scholarship to 10 Korean compliance practitioners in the anti-financial crime (AFC) space, granting them a one-year membership to the association and a full waiver of all fees for the CAMS exam package.

“This scholarship is a reflection not only of our mission to fight illicit finance around the globe, but also of our commitment to the talented professionals in Korea’s dynamic anti-financial crime sector.

“As South Korea’s financial markets continue to grow, it is critical that compliance professionals are prepared to meet evolving regulatory expectations and face emerging criminal threats,” said ACAMS chief executive officer, Scott Liles.

As part of the programme, scholarship winners will train on a broad array of skills and strategies to detect, track and report illicit financial activity, including global best practices on the effective implementation of anti-money laundering (AML) and counterterrorism financing (CTF) policies and procedures, risk-mitigation controls and suspicious transaction reporting.

Widely recognised as the global standard for AML/CTF credentials, the CAMS programme helps to shield financial institutions worldwide from criminal exploitation, regulatory fines and reputational harm.

The initiative is the third of its kind for ACAMS following the launch in 2021 of the CAFCA Scholarship and CCAS Scholarship in 2022. The CCAS Scholarship attracted entries from AFC professionals from over 100 countries worldwide.

Applicants can apply for the CAMS Scholarship through April 28 and winners will be announced in June.

-- BERNAMA

Nippon Express (Belgium) becomes maiden Japanese forwarder joining Pharma.Aero

KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 (Bernama) -- Nippon Express (Belgium) N.V./S.A. (NX Belgium), a group company of Nippon Express Holdings Inc, became the first Japanese forwarder to join Pharma.Aero on Jan 25, this year.

Pharma.Aero is a collaborative coalition of pharmaceutical companies, the CEIV Pharma certification community, airport operators and others in the air cargo industry, with the aim of devising and developing projects to address the challenges of pharmaceutical air transport across industries.

In December 2021, NX Belgium obtained Good Distribution Practice certification, a standard for the proper distribution of pharmaceuticals, for its facilities in the cargo area of Brussels International Airport.

According to a statement, the certification evidenced its expertise in temperature control, quality control and other aspects of the international air transport of pharmaceuticals.

By joining Pharma.Aero, NX Belgium will share and build on its knowledge and expertise with pharmaceutical companies, airport operators and airlines specialising in the transport of pharmaceuticals worldwide.

It will also combine the international temperature-controlled transport services and warehousing functions of the Nippon Express Group's global network to provide a high-quality pharmaceutical logistics platform.

The Nippon Express Group is committed to supporting its customers in the global pharmaceutical industry by building a reliable and safe global pharmaceutical logistics platform with the aim of contributing to the health of people globally.

More details at https://www.nipponexpress.com/

-- BERNAMA

EasyView seals Noah International as new client

KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Bernama) -- EasyView, a fast-growing business-to-business (B2B) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company in Hong Kong has announced Noah International as a new client.

Noah, a leading and pioneer wealth management service provider in China and winner of Asian Private Banker’s Best Independent Wealth Manager, China 2022, is going live with EasyView’s platform, which was launched in 2022.

EasyView is thrilled to be part of Noah’s ambitious plan to accelerate expansion of its high net worth clients solutions in Asia and enhance its ability to innovate quickly and effectively across its entire wealth management value chain, from client onboarding, compliance to fulfilment and trading.

EasyView Chief Operating Officer, Hongbin Shi said the private wealth management industry had traditionally been a personal, relationship-based business, and engaging with clients via digital capabilities is now holding more and more weight.

“Through integrating with EasyView solutions, Noah’s clients will be able to view their real-time consolidated portfolio from assets across multiple custodian banks as well as non-bankable assets such as real estate and digital assets,” Shi said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Noah International Chief Executive Officer at International Wealth Management, Oscar Liu said: “We are truly excited to be working with EasyView to craft and execute digital capabilities for our clients, across portfolio management, investing, risk management and other topics.

“The expanding scope of our clients’ needs require Noah and EasyView to work as one team, driven by the same vision to transform wealth management through digital technology.”

EasyView’s technology leverages on best-in-class security certifications and allows users to carry on performing duties even from home without any business or region disruption.

-- BERNAMA

Cloudflare goes 'marketing' helping businesses swiftly nail online fraud

KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Bernama) -- Cloudflare Inc announced it is entering the fraud detection market to help businesses quickly identify and stop online fraud including fraudulent transactions, fake account signups and account takeover attacks before it impacts their brand or their bottom line.

Powered by sophisticated machine learning models and global threat intelligence, the company is developing Cloudflare Fraud Detection to quickly stop account and payment fraud while also blocking the bots and humans behind it, automatically, and at global scale.

“Customers have long trusted us to help protect them online, and now we are taking that even further by tackling online fraud. With our massive global network, we can see more and secure more.

“We believe we can use our network to stop online fraud faster than anyone else, so business leaders will no longer be kept up at night worrying that online fraud will hurt their brand, their customers’ experience or their revenue,” said its co-founder and chief executive officer, Matthew Prince in a statement.

Cloudflare’s global network spans more than 285 cities in over 100 countries to power millions of websites, Application Programming Interfaces and mobile applications, including major online retailers, global financial institutions and payment providers.

This will allow Cloudflare to develop real-time advanced detection models that provide greater insights into online fraud threats, and run those models in near-real time to stop threats without any impact on performance.

Cloudflare Fraud Detection will first synthesise different threat activity it sees across the globe and across many different Cloudflare products.

For example, Cloudflare Fraud Detection will combine insights from Cloudflare's cloud email security, like phishing attacks, with information about emerging attacks from the Cloudforce One threat intelligence team to determine if a new user signup may be fake.

With Cloudflare Fraud Detection, businesses will have a consolidated fraud management solution with several threat-specific detection capabilities to stop bots at global scale; safeguard brand reputation and consumer trust; protect consumers who fell victim to a past breach; and prevent the use of stolen credit cards.

-- BERNAMA

CBDC transactions to exceed US$213 billion by 2030 - Juniper Research

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Bernama) -- A new study from Juniper Research revealed that the value of payments via Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) will reach US$213 billion annually by 2030, up from just US$100 million in 2023. (US$1=RM4.51)

According to the foremost experts analysing the fintech & payments market, this radical growth of over 260,000 per cent reflects the early stage of the sector; currently limited to pilot projects.

The research found that by 2030, 92 per cent of the total value transacted via CBDCs will be paid domestically, reflecting a change from almost 100 per cent during current pilot stages, as of 2023.

In a statement, Juniper Research said, adoption will be driven by governments leveraging CBDCs to boost financial inclusion and increase control over how digital payments are made.

A digital coin issued by a central bank and pegged to the country’s fiat currency, CBDCs will improve access to digital payments, particularly in emerging economies, where mobile penetration is significantly higher than banking penetration.

Since CBDCs are issued by central banks, they will be closely targeted to domestic payment challenges initially, with cross-border payments coming later, as systems become established and links made between CBDCs used by individual countries.

The research also identified lack of commercial product development around CBDCs as a key limiting factor for the current market, with few well-defined platforms for central banks to leverage.

To enable the realisation of CBDCs’ potential, the research recommended prospective CBDC platform providers develop a full end-to-end solution, including wholesale capabilities, wallet provision and merchant acceptance.

-- BERNAMA

Nippon Express Holdings launches tool measuring CO2 emissions in transport

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Bernama) -- Nippon Express Holdings Inc has launched the “NX-GREEN Calculator”, a tool for calculating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from international air, ocean, truck and rail transport.

The “NX-GREEN Calculator” calculates and visualises CO2 emissions from origin to destination when users simply enter the origin and destination of a shipment, the quantity and weight of goods being shipped, and the transport mode(s) involved.

According to a statement, meticulous calculations of distances between airports, ports and rail freight stations as well as between origins and destinations worldwide identified by city name or postal code allow for more precise estimates of CO2 emissions.

The service also enables users to calculate emissions for each leg of a complex transport route by specifying transit points and total emissions for multiple shipments based on transport data for a given period.

Accessible on Nippon Express Holdings’ website, the calculator will be offered in three languages namely Japanese, English and simplified Chinese for global use.

The Nippon Express Group has positioned "tackling climate change" as one of the material issues it must address in realising its long-term vision of becoming a logistics company with a strong presence in the global market.

It has also developed and released "One-Stop Navi" and "EcoTrans Navi” tools for visualising CO2 emissions from domestic transport.

The Group is offering this latest tool to encourage greater environmental, social and governance (ESG) management among its customers, supporting their efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by visualising CO2 emissions for international transport as well.

-- BERNAMA

AM Best upgrades issuer Credit Rating of Blue Cross

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Bernama) -- Global credit rating agency, AM Best has removed from under review with positive implications and upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “a+” (Excellent) from “a” (Excellent) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) of Blue Cross (Asia-Pacific) Insurance Limited (Blue Cross), Hong Kong.

According to a statement, the outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings of Blue Cross were placed under review with positive implications in August 2022, following the announcement that the incumbent immediate parent, AIA Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of AIA Group Limited (AIA), had completed the transaction to acquire 100 per cent of shares in Blue Cross from The Bank of East Asia, Limited (BEA).

The ratings reflect Blue Cross’ balance sheet strength, which AM Best assessed as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. It also incorporates the rating enhancement that Blue Cross receives from AIA.

Blue Cross’ balance sheet strength is assessed at the very strong level, underpinned by the strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio.

While the company’s capital and surplus saw a material decline in 2022 due to a net loss and negative fair value changes in investments, AM Best expects the company to benefit from capital support from AIA to underpin a faster-than-average business expansion over the short to intermediate term, according to its business plan.

Blue Cross reported a 71.5 per cent decline in net profit in 2021 due to a higher loss ratio, mainly attributed to a low base effect from deferred medical treatments amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Total earnings turned negative in 2022 as net investment loss on its run-off life portfolio hampered the overall performance.

On Nov 1, 2022, this residual life portfolio was fully transferred to AIA Everest Life Company Limited. Going forward, according to its business plan, the company projects to deliver marginal operating profitability and negative return on equity in 2022 and 2023, driven by significant investments and expenses as it integrates with AIA.

Blue Cross maintains a solid market presence in the Hong Kong general insurance market, with a primary focus on medical insurance that accounted for 85 per cent of its net premium written in 2022 and was the sixth-largest provider of accident and health (A&H) products in terms of direct premium written.

For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

-- BERNAMA

Revealed: Winners in 17th Annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (Bernama) -- Winners in the 17th annual Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service, were unveiled on March 3 at a gala ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada USA, attended by more than 400 executives from around the world.

According to a statement, DP DHL which headquartered in Bonn, Germany, with 46 Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award wins, was the most honoured organisation this year, earning the top Grand Stevie Award trophy.

This is the 11th year in a row in which the multinational package delivery and supply chain management company has won a Grand Stevie in the programme, and the ninth year of the 11 in which they placed first on the list of most honoured organisations.

Other Grand Stevie Award winners, in descending order, include IBM, Sales Partnerships, Support Services Group, ValueSelling Associates, UPMC Health Plan, PowerSchool Group, GoHealth, TalkDesk and Michael Kors.

In this year’s competition, more than 2,300 nominations from organisations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were evaluated. Finalists were determined by the average scores of over 170 professionals worldwide in seven specialised judging committees.

Entries were considered in more than 60 categories for customer service and contact center achievements, including Contact Center of the Year, Award for Innovation in Customer Service, and Customer Service Department of the Year.

There were also 60 categories for sales and business development achievements, ranging from Senior Sales Executive of the Year to Sales Training or Business Development Executive of the Year to Sales Department of the Year; and categories to recognise new products and services and solution providers, among others.

Nominations for the 2024 edition of the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service will be accepted starting this July.

The complete list of Stevie Winners by category is available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/Sales.

-- BERNAMA

Nippon Express Holdings bolsters pharmaceutical logistics quality system globally

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 (Bernama) -- Tokyo-based Nippon Express Holdings Inc has compiled the NX-Pharma Global Quality Manual to unify and standardise pharmaceutical logistics quality standards on a global basis, applicable as of Jan 1, 2023.

In a statement, it said the Nippon Express Group has positioned the pharmaceutical industry as a key industry in its "Nippon Express Group Business Plan 2023 -- Dynamic Growth" and has acquired Good Distribution Practice, CEIV Pharma and other certifications for pharmaceutical logistics at 34 business locations in 24 countries/regions.

This is to meet increasingly stringent and diverse pharmaceutical logistics needs as the Group develops a safe and secure worldwide pharmaceutical logistics network centred on these certifications.

In addition to further improving the quality of its existing transport, storage and other services, the Group is striving to build a pharmaceutical logistics platform that creates new value.

Furthermore, the Group has established Pharmaceutical Logistics Global Quality Assurance Division within the Global Business Headquarters and appointed the Head of NX-Pharma Global Quality to bolster the quality management system on a global level.

The Nippon Express Group remains committed to providing logistics support to customers in the global pharmaceutical industry by building a reliable and secure global pharmaceutical logistics platform and thereby contributing to the health of people worldwide.

More details at https://www.nipponexpress.com/

-- BERNAMA

Studyfin Group completes AUD$20 million merger with Singapore-based TaisEdu

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (Bernama) -- Leading Melbourne-based fintech and international education services aggregation firm, Studyfin Group, has announced the successful completion of a scrip merger with Singapore-based TaisEdu Pte Ltd, the international education arm of Tais TIC group.

The deal resulted in a post-merger valuation of AUD$20 million, with leading global legal firm, Baker McKenzie acting as legal adviser for the deal. (AUD$1 = RM3.00)

Founder of Studyfin Group, John Du said in a statement that Studyfin is delighted to have completed this merger with TaisEdu, which represents a significant milestone for the company.

“This transaction brings together the strengths of two leading fintech and education companies, creating a powerful platform that is uniquely positioned to serve the needs of international students across the Asia-Pacific region, for years to come,” he added.

Meanwhile, Alfred Yu, Chairman of Tais Group, the parent entity of TaisEdu said: “By leveraging the educational channels and resources of both Studyfin and TaisEdu, we can provide a more comprehensive range of services to students, including financial services that are tailored to their specific needs.

“We expect this deal to be a game-changer in the international education and fintech sectors, as the newly combined group seeks to provide freshly innovative solutions to the complex issues faced by international students studying in the Asia-Pacific region.”

The merger between the two companies will establish dual HQ's in both Australia and Singapore, thereby providing coverage across the Asia-Pacific region.

With educational channels and resources from Australia, Greater China, Southeast Asia, North America, and the UK, the new company will open up upstream and downstream channels related to the industry.

It will also enrich cross-border financial services and further integrate its Asia-Pacific markets to cope with the complex cross-border education and financial environment.

The new company aims to provide a more valuable and enjoyable international education and lifecycle experience for the millions of international students throughout the region.

-- BERNAMA

Juniper Research predicts 5G roaming connections increase 900 per cent by 2027

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- The total number of 5G roaming connections will increase from 53 million in 2023 to 526 million by 2027, according to a new Juniper Research study.

According to Juniper Research in a statement, this substantial growth will require the development of new roaming tools that are able to autonomously identify roaming connections as 5G connectivity proliferates.

The research identified artificial intelligence (AI)-based real-time analytics and roaming fraud mitigation services as two critical solutions that will enable operators to protect their networks against an influx of data traffic from roaming subscribers.

It also predicts that amidst the growth of 5G roamers, these emerging traffic analytics and anti‑fraud solutions must enable the enhanced identification and authentication of roaming connections over 5G networks.

However, given the increased complexity of 5G networks, the research anticipates current roaming analytics services will be insufficient in monitoring 5G roaming connections, and the subsequent increase in mobile roaming data.

To maximise the benefits from these new 5G roaming services, operators must invest in 5G Next‑generation Cores (NGCs), which are highly virtualised and can more efficiently assess traffic and connectivity.

By deploying NGCs, roaming vendors can better protect networks’ processing power and signalling capabilities amidst rising levels of roaming data consumption. This will ensure a continuous level of service essential to attracting high-spending enterprise customers.

Additionally, the report predicts that 5G NGCs will be imperative to enabling operators to handle the growth of data from roaming subscribers, forecasting that 5G data roaming traffic will grow 3,500 per cent over the next four years.

-- BERNAMA

KROLL LAUNCHES CYBER PARTNER PROGRAM DELIVERING LIFETIME RETURNS

Fueled by Kroll’s Cyber Risk solution portfolio, partners worldwide now have lifetime resale commission opportunities

NEW YORK, March 1 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Kroll, the leading independent provider of global risk and financial advisory solutions, today announced the Kroll Cyber Partner Program which will offer lifetime returns to partners on its extensive suite of cybersecurity solutions. As a recognized global incident response provider, handling more than 3,000 incidents per year and with more than 650 experts across 19 countries, Kroll’s Partner Program represents a unique opportunity for partners to tap into an ongoing revenue stream, with tech-agnostic solutions which enable its clients to be more resilient.

The Kroll Cyber Partner Program offers continual returns to partners as customers seek leading trusted cyber practitioners to deliver various protection, detection and response to cyber challenges. Kroll’s Cyber Risk business delivers over 40 solutions such as digital forensics and incident response, managed detection and response and penetration testing and application security. It also offers a cyber risk retainer. This model means that partners also benefit from a mature direct sales team, rather than compete against it.

The Kroll Cyber Partner Program recognizes the different business models that partners have and will adjust accordingly, providing the investment, resources, tools and enablement needed to help build out partners’ cyber risk businesses.

Keith Carter, Global Head of Channel & Alliances in Kroll’s Cyber Risk business, said: “The lifetime commissionable and resale opportunities offered in the Kroll Cyber Partner Program are unmatched in the industry. We have regularly experienced 10x returns on initial deal value over five years, an opportunity we're now opening up to partners, which they may be able to realize in as little as 24 months. We are delighted to now be able to extend these offerings to partners, creating lifetime value to them and their customers’ businesses for many years. "

Jason Smolanoff, President of Kroll’s Cyber Risk business, said: “The Kroll Cyber Partner Program is an important evolution of our go-to-market strategy and recognizes the breadth of solutions we can offer to customers looking to enhance their cyber resilience. The Cyber Risk business has seen year-over-year growth during the past six years, and the Kroll Cyber Partner Program will enable us to continue to grow alongside our partners. As we generate further momentum, it is a priority for Kroll to enable our partners to benefit from the repeatable, profitable service offerings we bring to the market, helping secure their clients from cybercrime."

The Kroll Cyber Partner Program is open to managed service providers (MSPs), managed security service providers (MSSPs), value-added resellers (VARs), technology partners/independent software vendors (ISVs), distributors and master agents/service distributors. Sign up to be a partner here. 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=45534

TDCX attends 19th CITIC CLSA Asean Forum March 10

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Bernama) -- TDCX Inc (TDCX), an award-winning digital customer experience (CX) solutions provider for technology and blue-chip companies, has announced its attendance of the 19th CITIC CLSA Asean Forum, an investor conference, on March 10.

According to a statement, the presentation will be available on the investor relations section of the TDCX website investors.tdcx.com.

Singapore-headquartered TDCX provides transformative digital CX solutions, enabling world-leading and disruptive brands to acquire new customers, build customer loyalty and protect their online communities.

TDCX helps clients achieve their customer experience aspirations by harnessing technology, human intelligence and its global footprint.

It serves clients in fintech, gaming, technology, home sharing and travel, digital advertising and social media, streaming and e-commerce.

TDCX employs more than 17,400 employees across 27 campuses globally, specifically Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, India, Romania, Spain, Colombia and Türkiye.

-- BERNAMA