Author: Marie Jones

When talking about Sarawak, many will focus on the state capital of Kuching, the administrative centre since the time of James Brooke, steeped in history and rich in cultural diversity of people from various ethnic backgrounds. Many tend to overlook another interesting district, Miri, which is undergoing rapid development and not short of its own travel attractions. The district, which is the second largest in Sarawak, is a fascinating tourist destination with its own history. This is the town where oil was first discovered in Malaysia and an archaeological site where the oldest human remains in Southeast Asia were found.…

HKTDC’s latest survey reveals hybrid fairs as the future The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption to global sourcing patterns. According to a new survey commissioned by Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) Research, the vast majority of international buyers (93%) have used online sourcing platforms since the pandemic began, with more than 85% attending virtual fairs to meet their sourcing needs. However, most buyers surveyed said they would prefer to source via physical fairs (63%) or hybrid fairs (59%) once travel restrictions are lifted. HKTDC’s Irina Fan – hybrid and physical fairs are complementary Commenting on the findings of…

As the pandemic continued to affect the market, China Biotech Services (HKG: 8037), which owns one of the largest nucleic acid testing laboratories in Hong Kong, recently announced its 2021 annual report. According to the annual report, China Biotech Services recorded revenue of HK$624 million and a net profit of HK$133 million during the reporting period due to strong demand for nucleic acid testing, as a result of the ongoing epidemic in Hong Kong. Thanks to the overall decline in the cost of materials used for nucleic acid testing, the Company’s gross profit margin increased by 5.69 percent to 57.4%.…

The Blue Book on Brand Value of Chinese Listed Companies 2021 (the Blue Book) was recently published by the mainland China publication National Business Daily in collaboration with the China Business Research Centre, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University. The brand value ranking of the listed companies in China’s environmental protection industry was also revealed in the Blue Book. China Everbright Environment Group Limited (Everbright Environment or the Company) (HKG: 257) topped the list with a brand value of RMB14.622 billion – the only listed environmental protection company with a brand value of over RMB10 billion. Not only does the…

MuskMelon, the latest entrant to the NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) and Gaming segment, rose during its first trading day on Bitmart and XT briefly returning 6000% to investors. MuskMellon is a utility token developed on Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum. 10,000 unique 3D NFTs came to the marketplace, tradeable in the gaming ecosystem. The evolutionary and disruptive industry is focusing on the utility of these NFTs. Metaverse integration has picked up pace, and the growth and benefits for the gaming industry are already prevalent. Experienced players entering the space with unique play to earn and NFT avatar models will lead to…

SinoMab BioScience Limited (SinoMab or the Company, together with its subsidiaries, the Group, HKG: 3681), a Hong Kong-based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of therapeutics for the treatment of immunological diseases, is pleased to announce that, on 19 April 2022 (after trading hours), an Investigational New Drug application (“IND”, for multiple sclerosis) for SN1011 was approved by the National Medical Products Administration of China (the “NMPA”). The IND approval would enable the Company to initiate the Phase II clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of SN1011 in patients with multiple sclerosis in China.…

Ev Dynamics (Holdings) Limited (the Company, HKG: 476, together with its subsidiaries, collectively Ev Dynamics or the Group), a provider of new energy vehicles and integrated technology solutions, has delivered 10 units of a tailor-made 6-meter electric van to a major customer in Mexico for its last-mile delivery activities. The vehicles are a customization order involving the development of a cabin chassis to which the customers can build their own cargo boxes on top. Ev Dynamics has developed two battery packs for different ranges, and different cooling systems that can overcome the volatile temperature conditions in Latin American regions. The…

Very Clean Planet (VCP) today announced the launch of its global digital engagement hub for carbon asset management and the inaugural OTC (over-the-counter) I-REC (international renewable energy credit) trade between Hebei Construction and Investment Group Co., Ltd. (HECIG) and BroadVision Hong Kong, Ltd. (BVHK). VCP is the world’s first blockchain-enabled platform where each carbon credit certificate can be traced end-to-end, preventing any fraudulent offering or double counting that is difficult to verify in today’s market. Specifically, VCP empowers insight into each I-REC in much finer granularity regarding its origin, process, seasonality, and a host of other pertinent environmental attributes, ensuring…

Avance Clinical, the largest premium Australian Contract Research Organisation (CRO) for international biotechs, has been selected as a finalist for the Best Contract Research Organization in APAC by Informa Pharma Intelligence. Avance Clinical has undergone significant expansion in recent years, including new offices in Sydney and Melbourne to accommodate the growing clinical team in Australia. The award winner will be announced on 1 September 2022. The finalists are:  Avance Clinical Calyx CMIC Group EPS ICON Parexel Syneos Health Avance Clinical’s CEO Yvonne Lungershausen said: “Avance Clinical is extremely pleased to be selected as a finalist for this prestigious award. It…

TechCreate Solutions Private Limited (“TechCreate”), a Singapore-based technology services group specialising in innovative digital payment and digitalisation solutions, and Diginius Pte. Ltd. (“Diginius”), a provider for IT security and infrastructure solutions, are pleased to announce a merger between both companies via a share swap transaction that will value the enlarged fintech enterprise, TechCreate Group, at USD$30 million, based on a valuation that was recently completed by one of the Big 4 accounting firms. From left: Mr Lim Heng Hai, (Group CEO of TechCreate Group) and Mr Ronald Vong, (Managing Partner of TechCreate Group) As a trusted leader in digital solutions,…

PLS Plantations Berhad today announced their receipt of Silver3 ratings by RAM Sustainability for its principal plantations and trading segments, reflecting some gaps and the early stages of the Company’s ESG practices that are crucial for reforestation and plantation-related sectors. The sustainability ratings by RAM Sustainability, a leading provider of independent ESG analytics, captures the Company’s corporate sustainability performance based on all the environmental, social and governance (ESG) themes, as well as relevant international and domestic guidelines by Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) Climate Change and Principle-based Taxonomy (CCPT). PLS Plantations’ Independent Non-Executive Chairman, Tan Sri Nazir Razak said, “This rating…

Welcome to this edition of 101 article exploring one of the staking coins on Moonstake. This time, we’ll be looking at FIO Protocol and its native coin FIO. A Brief Introduction to FIO and FIO Protocol FIO (short for Foundation for Interwallet Operability) was founded in 2020 and aims to enable easier, safer and more joyful crypto transactions on any type of token or coin. The FIO Protocol is designed to ensure the cryptocurrency user experience is uncomplicated and lays the foundation for cryptocurrency mass adoption. Long complex addresses have been replaced with user-customized FIO Crypto Handles such as “user@fio”…

The VaaS solution will help NFT marketplaces, NFT collection creators, auction houses and other online platforms to crack down finally, on fraud, piracy and theft. UREEQA, a leading digital validation company helping creators to protect, manage and monetize creative work, has today announced the launch of its new Validation-as-a-Service (VaaS) solution, designed to tackle NFT fraud and protect NFT creators. Certainly, any solution will involve validating a creator’s identity. However, Ureeqa was conceived of the notion that it was as important to validate the authorship and ownership of every creation as well, a factor lacking in current NFT marketplaces, most…

Society Pass Inc (SoPa) has restructured Leflair’s Vietnam operations, spinning-off Leflair Group, an integrated lifestyle retail ecosystem for Southeast Asia’s 100B+ USD retail market. SoPa also announces the appointment of Loic Gautier, Co-founder and Former CEO of Leflair, as Leflair Group CEO, and Ngo Thi Cham, Vietnam Country Head of SOPA, as Leflair Group COO. As CEO of Leflair Group, Loic will be responsible for managing Group P&L, sourcing and acquisitions to enlarge the Leflair ecosystem, expanding across Southeast Asian markets. Society Pass Inc (SoPa) (NASDAQ: SOPA), a leading Southeast Asian loyalty and ecommerce ecosystem, today announced the completion of…

The 3rd global edition of World Data & Analytics Show, with a special focus on the ASEAN market, is all set to take place virtually on 19 April 2022. The event will gather top experts from ASEAN region where they will shed insights on analytics to improve an organization’s operational performance, boost consumer engagement, and simplify supply chains. Notable speakers include Celine Le Cotonnec, Vincent Toh, Hartnell Ndungi, Juan Intan Kanggrawan, Benedict Benoit, Bhaskar Vetrimani, Dr. Shidan C Murphy, Sam Majid, Bhaskar Vetrimani, Meenakshi Nissim Ghoge, Balaji Jayaraman, Martijn Wieriks, Ram Kumar & more. These experts will present eye-opening keynotes,…

The 12th Global edition of World Cyber Security Summit aims to bring together global CISOs, Cyber Security leaders, investors, media outlets and government representatives all under one roof. Leading cyber security specialist agency, CyberSecurity Malaysia will join the Summit as the Supporting Partner. World Cyber Security Summit – ASEAN, is set to take place on 12 April 2022 virtually. Dato’ Ts. Dr Haji Amirudin Abdul Wahab; CEO, CyberSecurity Malaysia, will enlighten the attendees on ‘New Danger of Digital Society: Why Cyber Security is so important today and what to be ready for tomorrow?’ – Strategic approach: How Governments are handling…

A deep interest in forestry prompted Januarie Kulis, 37, to turn this field into a career. She has been the Niah National Park Ranger since 2011, and has never regretted leaving the city’s busy atmosphere and making flora and fauna as her ‘office’. Born in Sibu, Sarawak, Januarie is a graduate in Bachelor of Forestry Science from Universiti Putra Malaysia and has been with the Sarawak Forestry Corporation since 2006. As park ranger, Januarie is responsible for managing overall field operations at Niah National Park including protection and conservation, management and eco-tourism. “When I graduated from university, I chose to…

Despite regulation and a suspension of new game licenses in China, CMGE (0302.HK) grossed RMB3,957 million in 2021, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.6%, according to its 2021 annual earnings report. The company’s gross profit margin increased to 37.2% in 2021 from 32.0% in 2020, while gross profit totaled RMB1,473 million, a year-on-year increase of 20.5%. Jian Xiao, Executive Director, Chairman and CEO of CMGE, stated at the Performance Meeting that several games to be released in 2021 had been delayed due to the failure of achieving the game license as scheduled, as well as greater contributions to development and…

Monetary policy greatly affecting Cryptocurrency The OKLink team released the Global Crypto Market 2022/Q1 report on April 10, which contains a thorough review on the market performance of various public blockchain as well as in-depth discussion of popular fields and topics in the first quarter. According to OKLink data, MicroStrategy is by far the largest holder of bitcoin amongst overseas listed companies. It has been hoarding bitcoin since August 2020 and held a total of $5.8 billion worth of 129,218 BTC by the end of the first quarter of 2022, an amount even more than the market capitalization of MicroStrategy…

UREEQA, a leading digital validation company that helps creators protect, manage and monetize creative work, has announced a progressive new partnership with fellow Canadian digital start-up Venusverse. UREEQA is on a mission to modernize intellectual property standards, particularly when it comes to the digital space, while Venusverse endeavors to close the gender gap by removing the barriers to entry for women in Web3. And that’s what makes this such a match made in metaheaven. “Both UREEQA and Venusverse are focused heavily on supporting creators by setting a higher standard in this realm, and on the elements of education and equality…