Author: Marie Jones

JAKARTA — Garuda Indonesia, the airline of Indonesia, will provide the first direct link between Indonesia and India by operating a new route from Jakarta to the Indian metropolis Mumbai, starting 12 December 2016. The new service will be served through Bangkok three times a week by the airline’s Boeing 738 aircraft with a two-class cabin configuration featuring its renowned Business Class service concept and the World’s Best Economy Class (Skytrax Global Airline Awards 2013). VP Corporate Communications of Garuda Indonesia Benny S. Butarbutar commented, “We are delighted to announce that this world’s five star services will soon be available…

TOKYO — H.I.S. Co., Ltd. (TSE1: 9603), a leading travel and airline ticket agency, has announced results for the full year ended October 31, 2016. Consolidated net sales were 523.7 billion yen, down 2.6% from last year; operating income was 14.2 billion yen, down 29.5%; and ordinary income was 8.6 billion yen, down 61.9% due to sharp foreign currency fluctuations. Net income attributable to owners of parent fell by 97.5% to 267 million yen compared to a year earlier. The Japan travel market in 2016 continued to transition, with international tourists visiting Japan hitting 20 million for the first time,…

HONG KONG — China Art Financial Holdings Limited (“China Art Financial” or the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”, stock code: 1572.HK), the leading art finance service provider in China is pleased to announce that, the Company’s 2016 autumn auction was successfully held on 11 December 2016 at Yixing city, Jiangsu province of the PRC. This auction is the first auction after the Company’s listing in Hong Kong. The market responded positively and the highest hammer price reached approximately RMB45 million. 2016 autumn auction has set three sessions, which are Jewel Artworks, Zisha Artworks, as well as Paintings and…

JCB International Co., Ltd. (“JCBI”), the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., CIMB Bank Singapore (“CIMB”), and Wirecard AG (“Wirecard”) are pleased to announce their signing of a License Agreement to begin JCB merchant acquiring services in Singapore. Through the partnership, JCB card acceptance facilities will be available at CIMB merchants. With its ASEAN footprint firmly in place, CIMB is a befitting partner with JCBI on both the local and regional front. Having established similar collaborations in Malaysia and Indonesia, this new License Agreement extends the collaboration into other parts of Southeast Asia and enhances cooperation in the region.…

DUBAI, UAE — Loyyal, the blockchain innovator building a global loyalty operator network, has signed a contract with Dubai Holding for a pilot deployment, both enhancing and connecting the consumer facing (B2C) loyalty propositions of the Jumeirah Group and new corporate (B2B) relationship value proposition with its sister company TECOM Group. “Dubai Holding has always been at the forefront of innovation with landmark projects and several industry first initiatives including the support to Dubai Future Foundation,” says Ahmad bin Byat, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Dubai Holding. “Loyyal will be leading a pilot deployment to create innovative, feasible and cost-effective…

HONG KONG — Jacobson Pharma Corporation Limited (“Jacobson Pharma” or the “Group”; Stock Code: 2633), a leading company engaged in the research, development, production, marketing and sale of generic drugs and proprietary Chinese medicines, today announces the acquisition of 100% interest in a Target Group (comprising “Karen Pharmaceutical Company Limited”, “Vincents Pharma Trading Company Limited”, and “Ho Chai Kung Medicine Manufactory Limited”) which carries a heritage household brand, Ho Chai Kung, at a total consideration of HK$568 million. This acquisition, along with the Group’s recent acquisition of Medipharma Limited back in October 2016, represents a major step forward in relation…

HONG KONG — China Goldjoy Group Limited (“China Goldjoy” or the “Group”; HKEX: 1282), notes that certain media reports have alleged that the Group had not made full disclosure regarding its holding in New Sports Group Limited (“New Sports”; HKEX: 299;) and Bank of Zhengzhou Co., Ltd. (“Bank of Zhengzhou”; HKEX: 6196). The Group hereby clarifies as follows: 1. China Goldjoy Credit Limited (previously known as KB Credit Limited) (the “Lender”) is a 80%-owned subsidiary of the Group. The Lender is licensed under Hong Kong law to carry on the lending business. The Lender is principally engaged in the provision…

BANGKOK — Shareholders of Group Lease Public Company Limited (“GL”, SET:GL), Asean’s leading digital finance firm, gave approval to the proposal to acquire shares in two finance firms in Sri Lanka and Myanmar as part of its ambitious plan to become one of the “world-class” players. With such approval, GL will acquire 22.27% shares in Commercial Credit and Finance PLC (CCF), a leading finance firm listed on Sri Lanka stock market, as part of the company’s plan to acquire a total of 29.99% equity stake in CCF. The acquisition of the remaining 7.72% shares from its two existing shareholders -…

Beijing and Singapore — Novogene, a leading commercial provider of genomic services and solutions with cutting edge next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics expertise; AITbiotech Pte Ltd, a Singapore biotechnology company; and the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) announced today that NovogeneAIT Genomics Singapore (NovogeneAIT) – a new joint venture between Novogene and AITbiotech – will establish a joint whole genome sequencing (WGS) centre at Biopolis, Singapore. The new centre will provide Illumina HiSeq X based whole genome sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of human, plant and animal samples for biomedical and agricultural researchers. The centre will devote a major portion of its…

SINGAPORE — Having established Datacloud as Europe’s foremost networking and business deal making forum for data center and cloud players, customers, investors and suppliers, the widely acclaimed event is now scheduled to take place in the growth markets of Asia on February 23, 2017. BroadGroup, the consulting, publishing and professional events firm has announced the early speakers’ rostrum which includes experts from Asia, the US and Europe. Set to be the first deal-making forum for the region, the event offers a return on investment for attendees: it uniquely brings together data center operators with IT infrastructure leaders looking to deploy…

SINGAPORE — With reference to recent corporate developments and media reports, Mr Chen Tong, the Executive Chairman of ISR Capital Limited (“ISR Capital” or “the Company”), wishes to make following statement: Having been appointed as Executive Chairman of ISR Capital on 18 November 2016, I wish to make the following statement to emphasise my confidence in the Company’s business direction, to outline the contribution that I wish to make and to address possible misconceptions arising from recent media reports and the suspension of trading of the Company’s shares on the Singapore Exchange (“SGX”) since 27 November 2016. As has been…

HONG KONG — PuraPharm Corporation Limited (“PuraPharm” or the “Group”, HKEX: 1498), a leading Hong Kong-based Chinese medicine company specialising in the research and development, production and sale of Concentrated Chinese Medicine Granules (“CCMG”) products under the “Nong’s” brand, announced that Mr. Abraham Chan, Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of PuraPharm, has been awarded “Directors of the Year Awards 2016” (Non-Hang Seng Indexes Constituents on SEHK – Executive Directors) by The Hong Kong Institute of Directors (“HKIoD”). The award acknowledges his outstanding performance in leading the Group in business development and also recognises his contribution in enhancing…

The Pioneer with Global Attention; A Revolutionary Audio Enhancement Technology “4D Psychoacoustics” Strikes a New Pose on the International Stage HONG KONG — X-Spatial Media Technology Limited ( “X-Spatial” or “the Company”) held the grand launch of “X-Spatial 4D Psychoacoustics” technology and movie preview of “Beyond Skyline” at UA Cine Times, Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong today (7 December 2016), indicating that such epoch-making audio optimization technology is officially available with the highest regard from the Hollywood. Being the first movie utilizing “X-Spatial 4D Psychoacoustics” technology in post audio production, “Beyond Skyline” is the sequel of Hollywood-based science fiction…

Yangon and Tokyo — Co-Operative Bank (CB Bank), a major commercial bank in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Myanmar), Myanmar Payment Union Public Co.,Ltd (MPU), and JCB International Co. Ltd. (JCBI), the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., today announced that CB Bank will start to issue JCB debit card in December 2016. The CB MPU-JCB Co-Brand Card combines the MPU brand and JCB brand. Cardmembers can use MPU’s nation-wide merchant network in Myanmar and JCB’s international merchant network with over 31 million locations globally. The Card offers 3 different card types, Platinum debit card, Gold debit…

Daejeon, KOREA – Researchers from Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) have developed a high performance processor for autonomous vehicles called Aldebaran. Increased focus by the automotive and IT industries on enhancing autonomous vehicle technology has increased the market for dedicated core processors customized for autonomous vehicles. Aldebaran is a high performance processor designed using all-Korean technology for autonomous vehicles. It consists of four superscalar processors and an object recognition vision engine integrated to meet all functional safety requirements as specified by ISO 26262. Electronics components are indispensable to new cars as they play vital roles in critical functions.…

HONG KONG — E Fund HK is proud to announce that its Alternative Investments (AI) Division has been named the ‘Best Alternative Manager’ in recognition of its unique business model which results in excellent returns for investors. The 2016 Offshore China Fund Awards event, jointly organized by the Chinese Asset Managers Association of Hong Kong (HKCAMA) and Bloomberg, was in its second year and aims to recognize outstanding performers among Chinese firms. “We are honoured to be conferred the Best Alternative Manager title from amongst various Chinese firms. The winning proposition of the team is to provide differentiate alternative investment…

Daejeon, KOREA — Exobrain, a language intelligence software for communicating between human and machine developed by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), defeated four human champions in a quiz show on EBS Korea. South Korea’s Educational Broadcasting System is a children’s educational television and radio network. On November 18 Exobrain went “head-to-head” with human competitors on the television quiz show, “Janghak Quiz”, which was recorded at the ETRI auditorium. Exobrain outpaced all competitors by scoring 510 out of 600 points, providing correct answers for 25 questions out of 30 (10 multiple-choice and 20 short-answer questions). The Exobrain defeated four…

HONG KONG — Jinchuan Group International Resources Co. Ltd (the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries, collectively referred to “Jinchuan International”, Stock Code: 2362.HK) entered into a Strategic Framework Agreement with Junhe Holdings Limited (“Junhe Holdings”), in which Junhe Holdings will make equity investment in the Company by either subscribing for new shares of the Company or by acquiring existing shares of the Company, and establish several Joint Ventures in Shanghai with Junhe Holdings for different businesses, including a trading joint venture for trading commodities including non-ferrous metals, precious metals and chemical raw materials, a factoring joint venture and a financial…