Retail News CRM

Author: Mei Ling Tan

  • 2,000+ Buyers Visit First HKTDC Lifestyle Expo in New Delhi

    2,000+ Buyers Visit First HKTDC Lifestyle Expo in New Delhi

    The inaugural HKTDC Lifestyle Expo in New Delhi welcomed more than 2,000 trade buyers during its two-day run on 19 and 20 December 2016, as 120 Hong Kong and mainland companies showcased a range of trendy, high-quality products, reaffirming Hong Kong’s position as Asia’s lifestyle trendsetter and “super-connector” in business.

    Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Trade Development Bureau (TDB) of the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, the expo took place at The Lalit New Delhi.

    Apart from bringing a slice of Hong Kong lifestyle to India, the event also helped develop stronger bilateral trade relations between India and the Chinese mainland.

    The Opening Ceremony was officiated by LC Goyal, Chairman and Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Orgnisation, Stephen Liang, Assistant Executive Director, HKTDC, Jin Hong, Deputy Director-General, Trade Development Bureau, Ministry of Commerce, The People’s Republic of China, and Li Bai Jun, Commercial Counsellor, Economic Counsellor’s office of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of India.

    Bridging India and China

    “We have very big hopes for the future of trade links between India and China, with Hong Kong serving as a ‘super-connector’ between two of the world’s most populous and fastest-growing large economies,” said Mr Liang.

    “India and China are two of the fastest-growing large economies on earth, with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) predicting GDP growth of 7.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively in 2017. Together, they have a combined population of some 2.7 billion potential consumers,” he added.

    Individual buyers and buying missions came from New Delhi and other cities and regions including Mumbai, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Punjab.

    At the Lifestyle Expo, the exhibitors paraded a variety of modern, high-calibre products including consumer electronics and ICT, gifts and premium, household products and electrical appliances, fashion and accessories and watches and clocks. The expo also featured trade-related services.

    These attracted buyers from different sectors, including importers, distributors, mass retailers, mail-order houses, department stores and specialised stores.

    Getting Connected

    The HKTDC arranged more than 1,600 one-to-one business matching meetings and various networking events during the expo to further connect Hong Kong and Chinese mainland suppliers with buyers.

    A brand new “Live Chat” service was offered at the Thematic Showcase Display zone, where staff connected buyers to off-site exhibitors via WhatsApp for real-time discussion of potential deals.

    The expo also featured the popular hktdc.com Small Orders showcase spotlighting 150 products available for orders in quantities of between five and 1,000 units. This allowed buyers to place small orders to test the market while minimising their risks. It also leveraged the growing trend of e-tailing that is changing the face of international trade.

    Business leads

    Exhibitors reported positive results from their participation in the event. Andy Lee, Managing Director of Hong Kong houseware supplier Star Express Asia Ltd. said he was happy with the quality of the Indian buyers. The company received about 25 serious enquiries, including a potential customer he had established contact with through the HKTDC Showcase Display at the China Products (Mumbai India) Exhibition 2016.

    Hong Kong LED lighting supplier Celex LED Technology Ltd Business Development Director Andrew Tsang said he was satisfied with the results, having been approached by “very good” Indian buyers including a lighting contractor and LED lighting distributors from Mumbai and New Delhi.

    Hong Kong online marketing services promoter CG Marketing Co Ltd, was keen to find local partners, and the company received more than 30 enquiries from various sectors, including online marketing, travel, toys and electronics products.

    The inaugural HKTDC Lifestyle Expo in New Delhi welcomed more than 2,000 trade buyers during its two-day run on 19 and 20 December 2016, as 120 Hong Kong and mainland companies showcased a range of trendy, high-quality products, reaffirming Hong Kong’s position as Asia’s lifestyle trendsetter and “super-connector” in business.

    Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and the Trade Development Bureau (TDB) of the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, the expo took place at The Lalit New Delhi.

    Apart from bringing a slice of Hong Kong lifestyle to India, the event also helped develop stronger bilateral trade relations between India and the Chinese mainland.

    The Opening Ceremony was officiated by LC Goyal, Chairman and Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Orgnisation, Stephen Liang, Assistant Executive Director, HKTDC, Jin Hong, Deputy Director-General, Trade Development Bureau, Ministry of Commerce, The People’s Republic of China, and Li Bai Jun, Commercial Counsellor, Economic Counsellor’s office of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of India.

    Bridging India and China

    “We have very big hopes for the future of trade links between India and China, with Hong Kong serving as a ‘super-connector’ between two of the world’s most populous and fastest-growing large economies,” said Mr Liang.

    “India and China are two of the fastest-growing large economies on earth, with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) predicting GDP growth of 7.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively in 2017. Together, they have a combined population of some 2.7 billion potential consumers,” he added.

    Individual buyers and buying missions came from New Delhi and other cities and regions including Mumbai, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Punjab.

    At the Lifestyle Expo, the exhibitors paraded a variety of modern, high-calibre products including consumer electronics and ICT, gifts and premium, household products and electrical appliances, fashion and accessories and watches and clocks. The expo also featured trade-related services.

    These attracted buyers from different sectors, including importers, distributors, mass retailers, mail-order houses, department stores and specialised stores.

    Getting Connected

    The HKTDC arranged more than 1,600 one-to-one business matching meetings and various networking events during the expo to further connect Hong Kong and Chinese mainland suppliers with buyers.

    A brand new “Live Chat” service was offered at the Thematic Showcase Display zone, where staff connected buyers to off-site exhibitors via WhatsApp for real-time discussion of potential deals.

    The expo also featured the popular hktdc.com Small Orders showcase spotlighting 150 products available for orders in quantities of between five and 1,000 units. This allowed buyers to place small orders to test the market while minimising their risks. It also leveraged the growing trend of e-tailing that is changing the face of international trade.

    Business leads

    Exhibitors reported positive results from their participation in the event. Andy Lee, Managing Director of Hong Kong houseware supplier Star Express Asia Ltd. said he was happy with the quality of the Indian buyers. The company received about 25 serious enquiries, including a potential customer he had established contact with through the HKTDC Showcase Display at the China Products (Mumbai India) Exhibition 2016.

    Hong Kong LED lighting supplier Celex LED Technology Ltd Business Development Director Andrew Tsang said he was satisfied with the results, having been approached by “very good” Indian buyers including a lighting contractor and LED lighting distributors from Mumbai and New Delhi.

    Hong Kong online marketing services promoter CG Marketing Co Ltd, was keen to find local partners, and the company received more than 30 enquiries from various sectors, including online marketing, travel, toys and electronics products.

    Lifestyle trendsetter

    The Lifestyle Expo is one of the HKTDC’s signature international promotion events and has a successful track record in fostering trade between companies from Hong Kong and emerging markets worldwide including Russia, Poland, Turkey, Dubai, India and Indonesia. The Lifestyle Expo in Mumbai was successfully held in 2010.

    The Lifestyle Expo is one of the HKTDC’s signature international promotion events and has a successful track record in fostering trade between companies from Hong Kong and emerging markets worldwide including Russia, Poland, Turkey, Dubai, India and Indonesia. The Lifestyle Expo in Mumbai was successfully held in 2010.

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  • SKT, Ericsson and Qualcomm collaborate on 5G NR trails

    SKT, Ericsson and Qualcomm collaborate on 5G NR trails

    SK Telecom, Ericsson and Qualcomm have announced plans to conduct interoperability testing and over-the-air field trials based on 5G New Radio (NR) standards currently under development by the 3GPP.

    In a statement, the companies said the trials will drive the mobile ecosystem toward rapid validation and commercialization of 5G NR technologies at scale.

    The interoperability testing and trials will launch in Korea starting in the second half of 2017.

    “As 5G rapidly gains momentum, a globally agreed and unified standard becomes imperative to achieve early commercialization of 5G and build an efficient ecosystem around it,” said Alex Jinsung Choi, EVP, chief technology officer at SK Telecom.

    “As 3GPP NR is a global 5G standard, we are delighted to announce early 3GPP NR trials with leading 5G players, Ericsson and Qualcomm, with which we have made remarkable world’s first footprints in the past with previous generations of groundbreaking mobile technologies.”

    During the trails, SK Telecom, Ericsson and Qualcomm will showcase new 5G NR technologies which utilize wide bandwidths available at higher frequencies to increase network capacity and achieve multi-gigabit per second data rates.

    The proliferation of 5G NR technology can make it more cost-effective and easier for multi-gigabit internet service to reach more homes and businesses.

    These technologies will be critical to meeting the increasing consumer connectivity requirements for emerging consumer mobile broadband experiences such as virtual reality, augmented reality and connected cloud services.

    The trials will employ 3GPP 5G NR Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna technology with adaptive beamforming and beam tracking techniques to deliver sustained mobile broadband communications at higher frequency bands, including non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments and device mobility.

    It will also make use of scalable OFDM-based waveforms and a new flexible framework design which are also part of the 5G NR specifications.

    The trials will also provide valuable insight into the unique challenges of integrating 5G NR technologies into mobile networks and devices. This will enable timely commercial network launches based on 3GPP Rel-15 standard compliant 5G NR infrastructure and devices.

    “The roadmap of 5G technologies is incredibly complex, and trials based on the global 3GPP 5G standard, such as this, are critical to continuing our long history of leadership integrating advanced wireless technologies in form-factor accurate devices to ensure timely deployment of 5G networks,” said Matt Grob, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Qualcomm Technologies.

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  • Thailand targets counterfeit branded goods

    Thailand targets counterfeit branded goods

    Thailand is clamping down on counterfeit branded goods with plans for a campaign to target tourists.

    The Thai Commerce Ministry is seeking the support of foreign embassies as it launches its “Stop Fake Goods” campaign, aimed at travellers.

    Meantime, the government says it will stringently inspect traders for counterfeit goods, including examining their tax-payment history.

    New Year visitors to Thailand will be urged not to buy fake goods, says director-general Thosapone Dansuputra of the ministry’s Intellectual Property Department. He says the aim is to ensure Thailand moves away from its bad reputation for trading in fakes.

    He says it is illegal for visitors to buy counterfeit products, and the government will set up billboards in tourist spots to warn shoppers and traders not to buy or sell fakes. Both in Thai and English – and Chinese is some areas – the billboards will be posted at airports, BTS and MRT stations.

    Also, Commerce Ministry officers in each province will be on watch for any trading of counterfeit products.
    The department will also join forces with copyright owners, police and the Internal Security Operations Command to inspect areas known for selling fake goods, such as flea markets.

    Thosapone said that to boost the penalties for trading in counterfeit goods, the department is co-operating with the Revenue Department to investigate the tax history of suspected violators.

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  • Nike Singapore turns back on small outlets

    Nike Singapore turns back on small outlets

    Sports brand Nike Singapore will stop supplying smaller retailers from next month.

    This is a huge blow for mom-and-pop stores in Peninsula Plaza and Queensway Shopping Centre, which rely on top-selling brands to attract customers, as reported.

    “Its move would force many of us out of business soon,” says Salam & Sons manager Gurbachan Singh, who has run the business for more than 30 years.

    “We did business with Nike for more than 20 years. We followed their rules, never defaulted on payments nor brought in fake or parallel imports. Many of us don’t understand why they are doing this to us,” he says.

    Out of the US, Nike tops the 10 most-valuable apparel brands segment in market research company Millward Brown’s 2016 Brandz Top 100 Most-Valuable Global Brands report.

  • Vietnam Airlines prepares for Czech launch

    Vietnam Airlines prepares for Czech launch

    Vietnam Airlines has appointed a new General Sales Agent (GSA) in Prague, ahead of the launch of its first ever flights to the Czech Republic.

    A ceremony was held on 14 December 2016 to mark the occasion, attended by Vietnam’s Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Truong Manh Son. While details of the national carrier’s planned Prague services have not been confirmed, they are likely to make use of Vietnam Airlines’ new fleet of long-haul aircraft, including the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

    These modern jets have already been deployed on routes to several European cities, including London, Paris and Frankfurt.

    The new route, which would likely be served from Hanoi, would mark the first direct connection between the Czech Republic and Southeast Asia. The only other Asian carriers operating to Prague’s Václav Havel Airport at present are China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Korean Air and Sichuan Airlines.

    Vietnam Airlines and Czech Airlines are partners in the SkyTeam alliance and the new flights could also open up codeshare opportunities.

  • Siam Discovery Launched Year-End Campaign to Spread the Love and Spirit of Sharing

    Siam Discovery Launched Year-End Campaign to Spread the Love and Spirit of Sharing

    Siam Piwat, the owner and operator of Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery, invested over 30 million baht in the greatest year-end marketing campaign, which integrates the customer-centric strategy. Interpreting the festive season as the time when people send their love and good wishes to others, the Company launched “Citizen of Love: It’s time to Give Good Love” campaign.

    The shoppers will not only find a wide array of gift items for themselves and loved ones, but also enjoy a big promotion that serves the government’s Shop for the Nation campaign. To add the sentimental value to the campaign, Siam Discovery hosts an art exhibition displaying the genius of the late King Bhumibol, including his great love and generosity for his citizen. In response to the royal wish on endless giving, Siam Discovery will organize “Gifts for Them” CSR activity that gives the gifts to 300 children in Community Children Foundation (CCF) under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. During the festive season, the shopping center expected to welcome 80,000 – 100,000 Thai and foreign shoppers a day.

    Year-End Campaign: “Citizen of Love: It’s time to Give Good Love”

    Mr. Charnchai Cherdchoowongthanakorn, Senior Executive Vice President – Retail Business Development, Siam Piwat Co., Ltd., said, ” In each year, December is considered the high season with the greatest spending. However, the shopping sentiment this year differs from the past. Siam Discovery, considering itself as a friend of shoppers, understood their feelings and translated the season of joy into the joy of sharing. It therefore hosts the integrated campaign called “Citizen of Love: It’s time to Give Good Love”. Siam Discovery started from creating its ambience, in which encourages everyone to participate under the concept of ‘exploration, creation, and cultivation’. In addition, it holds an art exhibition to commemorate the talent of H.M. the late King, who worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life of his people. He did this out of love and wanted nothing in return. Moreover, Siam Discovery offers Thai people a space to express their love and give the moral support to one another. The shoppers can take photos and share their love in the Living Room of Love. It also displays the art installation that presents the Royal Rainmaking Initiative Project and Reforestation Initiative Project. The exhibitions are open for the public to help them feel connected.”

    Siam Discovery spent more than 30 million baht on “Citizen of Love: It’s time to Give Good Love” campaign, which includes the creation of shopping ambience, promotion and CSR activity. It expected to daily attract 80,000 – 100,000 Thai and foreign shoppers on average, with 50:50 ratio. The survey revealed that 80% of foreign tourists are Free Individual Traveler (FIT), which are considered high-quality tourists with high purchasing power.

    Launching a big promotion to boost the holiday shopping in response to Shopping for the Nation campaign

    Siam Piwat responds to the government’s economic stimulus policy that encourages the people to shop and use the tax invoice of December 2016 for the tax deduction. Expecting an influx of shoppers, Siam Piwat prepared the staff and equipment to facilitate the shoppers who request the formal tax invoice and to ensure the fast and convenient service.

    In addition, Siam Piwat holds special promotion, to create the unique shopping experience at Siam Paragon shopping mall , Siam Center , and Siam Discovery from now – December 31, 2016. Spending at least 15,000 baht, the shoppers will receive Siam Gift Card worth 1,500 baht. VIZ cardholders and the members of Siam Discovery Mobile Application will enjoy more benefits

    “Gifts for Them” CSR activity for the disadvantaged

    Miss Chanisa Kaewruen, Senior  Deputy Managing Director of Siam Piwat Co., Ltd., revealed, “Besides the value-added promotion, Siam Discovery infuses the sentimental value into the customers’ mind because we believe that our customers care for the society and wish to share good things with the people around them. We therefore come up with “Gifts for Them” activity, inviting the customers to spread the joy to others by giving the gifts to 300 children in Community Children Foundation (CCF) under the Royal Patronage of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. The customers can buy gift items for the children on 50% discount and Siam Discovery will subsidize the other half. We will host an event where the donors can present the gifts to the children themselves.

    In preparing the product  to serve the customer demand, Siam Discovery, with the expertise in matching the right products for each lifestyle, has selected the perfect gift items for each target segment. It also displays the recommended gift items on each floor.   To increase the value to the gifts, it offers the personal gift wrapping as the customized service in addition to the regular gift wrapping service.

    In “Think Giving”, Siam Discovery offers a wide variety of products from the Royal Project Foundation, PatPat shop under Chaipattana Foundation, Phufa and Doi Kham as the special gifts for special people. The event will take place on the 5th floor from now until February 19, 2017.

    Customer-centric marketing focuses on capturing the customers’ interest. Siam Discovery therefore launched the marketing promotion activities that add the sentimental value to the shoppers. It expected that “Citizen of Love: It’s time to Give Good Love” campaign will not only increase the sales volume by 15 – 20%, but also make the holiday shopping more meaningful and bring the spirit of giving to this season of joy.

  • Indonesian property players welcome house price increases for foreign buyers

    Indonesian property players welcome house price increases for foreign buyers

    The government’s decision to increase house prices for foreign buyers has been met with positively by Indonesian real estate business players, who reason that it will help to protect the domestic property market.

    “If the government keeps the price low for foreign buyers, Indonesians will be forced to bear the high price jump. Therefore, I think this is a right decision,” Association of Housing Development in Indonesia (Apersi) chairman Eddy Ganefo said on Tuesday. He explained that the higher purchasing power of foreigners might hurt the domestic industry.

    The price increase is stipulated in a regulation issued by the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry.

    The minimum house price set for foreigners in Yogyakarta and Bali now stands at Rp 5 billion (US$371,112) per unit, up from Rp 3 billion under a previous regulation.

    In West Nusa Tenggara and North Sumatra, the minimum price also jumped to Rp 3 billion from Rp 2 billion.

    Indonesian Real Estate Association (REI) chairman Eddy Hussy said he was optimistic that the changes in price would not affect demand from foreigners to purchase houses.

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  • Philippine Airlines Partners With Translations.com to Localize Website

    Philippine Airlines Partners With Translations.com to Localize Website

    Translations.com, a division of TransPerfect, the world’s largest privately held provider of language and technology solutions for global business, today announced that Philippine Airlines has chosen its GlobalLink Connect technology to launch and maintain the company’s corporate site as well as its Mabuhay Miles loyalty site in four languages.

    Translations.com will support the launch and maintenance of www.philippineairlines.com and www.mabuhaymiles.com in four languages — Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. GlobalLink’s Sitecore Experience Platform connector will provide Philippine Airlines with a powerful solution to initiate, automate, control, track, and complete all facets of the translation process within their existing Sitecore user interface.

    Because the Sitecore integration is pre-built, no additional IT requirements or development hours were required to enable the integration. With GlobalLink Connect, Philippine Airlines is able to automate translation workflows, simplify review processes, and release in-language content to their target audiences quickly and on-brand.

    “The launch of our corporate and loyalty sites in these four languages marks a significant breakthrough for us,” said Snooker Jaranilla, Assistant Vice President of Philippine Airlines. “With GlobalLink’s ability to integrate directly with our existing Sitecore platform, managing our multilingual content is easy, familiar, and cost-effective. GlobalLink has made a significant positive impact on our international strategy.”

    “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Philippine Airlines,” said Phil Shawe, Co-CEO at Translations.com. “It’s fulfilling to know that our GlobalLink Connect technology is helping such a strong Asian brand provide a better online experience to their customers both at home and abroad.”

    Translations.com Co-CEO Liz Elting added, “As its country’s flagship carrier, we knew that it was important for Philippine Airlines to represent their country with a strong online presence. By launching their corporate and loyalty sites in four new languages, they are making a strong statement showing the care and value they place on customers across all languages.”

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  • Lotte Mart opens 46th store in Indonesia

    Lotte Mart opens 46th store in Indonesia

    Lotte Mart, a discount store chain operated by retailer Lotte Group, said Wednesday it has opened its 46th store in Indonesia in line with its global growth strategy.

    With floor space of 5,572 square meters, the Pramuka shop opened on the underground floor of a commercial-residential building in Jakarta with some 7,000 households.

    Lotte Mart’s 16th retail outlet in Indonesia has a health and beauty section, as well as young children and fresh food corners, the company said.

    Lotte Mart also operates 26 wholesale stores and two supermarkets in the world’s fourth most populous nation.

    Currently, Lotte Mart runs a total of 290 stores in South Korea, China, Indonesia and Vietnam, and plans to raise the number of shops to over 300 next year.

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  • Indonesia challenges Google to disclose financial reports

    Indonesia challenges Google to disclose financial reports

    The Directorate General of Taxation will intensify its investigation on the suspected unpaid taxes by tech behemoth Google, claiming that the company’s tax settlement offer was too small.

    The government said that it would continue investigating Google as it has gathered preliminary evidence indicating that the firm has allegedly committed a criminal act.

    “Next year, it is not going to be about a tax settlement anymore,” Muhammad Haniv, the head of the Taxation Directorate General’s Jakarta branch, who is also the main investigator in the case, said on Tuesday.

    “We have to accelerate the process. We want Google to disclose its financial reports and the tax office will calculate the tax owed,” he said.

    He said the consequence of the tax office’s findings would be that Google had to pay taxes owed plus a 150 percent penalty.

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  • Aussie telco complaints on the decline: ACMA

    Aussie telco complaints on the decline: ACMA

    Australian operators are delivering better levels of customer service with the number of complaints moving lower and “bill shock” less prevalent, according to a major annual national study.

    The Australian Communication and Media Authority’s (ACMA) report “Reconnecting the Customer – Tracking Consumer Outcomes” reveals that the overall incidence of complaints has decreased from 36% in 2013 to 31% this year.

    A significantly lower number of complaints related to mobile phone services was a feature of the result.

    The study also showed that the incidence of consumers complaining about unexpectedly high bills was now at 19% for post-paid mobile services, down from 33% in 2013.

    Complaints for product bundles fell from 26% to 31% over the same period.

    The extra amount consumers are complaining about has fallen from an average AU$94 ($68) to AU$60 ($44).

    In more evidence that Australian consumers are more engaged with their telecom services, consumers are monitoring their expenditure with SMS alerts and apps.

    “In good news for consumers, fewer are experiencing unexpectedly high bills, and they are making better use of spend management tools to monitor and track their expenditure,’ said ACMA’s acting chairman, Richard Bean.

    “They have a clearer understanding about the cost of their communications services, and are better able to plan and budget accordingly.”

    A separate study looking at consumer migration to new technologies also had some positive results, showing that 82 percent of Australian consumers saying it was either easy or not difficult to connect to the new National Broadband Network (NBN).

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  • New retail hub rises in Xiamen

    New retail hub rises in Xiamen

    YCH Group, a supply chain management, and logistics company in Asia-Pacific, has launched a retail hub in Xiamen, China, which is envisioned to support the Pilot Free Trade Zone project in the region.

    The project, which will be the first major mall in the region, will serve the needs of the population in the immediate vicinity and the rapidly growing city of Xiamen. It will be managed by YCH Group on behalf of XPD-YCH Logistics, a joint venture between YCH Group and Xiamen Port Development, a subsidiary of the Xiamen Port Group.

    Spanning 55,000 square meters with a built-up space of 100,000 square meters, the facility was converted from XPD-YCH Logistics’ existing warehouse in Xiamen and will be fully operational this month.

    This comes at an opportune time as Xiamen, which is currently one of the fastest growing cities in China, is growing at 6.7 percent with a population of 4.4 million. Aside from local demand, the mall aims to cater to the burgeoning Chinese retail scene while playing a key role in strengthening Xiamen’s status as one of China’s most popular tourist destinations.

    According to the Xiamen Tourism Bureau, Xiamen receives 1.63 million tourists from home and abroad, and rakes in RBM1.853 billion ($258.9 million) in tourism revenue. Moreover, China has also overtaken the US to become the world’s largest retail market in 2016 with total sales of $4.886 trillion.

    Two of the most well-known brands in China – Sam’s Club and Red Star Macalline – will form the mall’s anchor tenants, occupying approximately 85 percent of the facility. This will be the first Sam’s Club Store opened in Xiamen by Wal-Mart, and will be the 15th Sam’s Club store across 13 cities in China.

    Sam’s Club is a division of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer. It offers an extensive inventory with exceptional value on famous-brand merchandise at “member only” prices for both business and personal use.

    Red Star Macalline, on the other hand, is the largest national home improvement and furniture retail platform in China, with stores in most major cities in China. It targets the rapidly growing middle class in China through the operation of malls that offer home improvement and furniture materials, including flooring, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, with approximately 18,000 well-known brands.

    Strategically situated within the Pilot Free Trade Zone, the mall is located in a highly populated region in Xiamen and is in close proximity to both air and sea ports and numerous famous hotels, bringing numerous trade and business benefits for prospective clients.

    “With the dynamic and growing retail sector in the country, we want to equip retailers with game-changing capabilities that help them simplify processes and optimize costs. This will enable them to remain competitive while simultaneously boosting trade and facilities investment for China with the Pilot Free Trade Zone,” said Koh Yong Seng, Operations Director of North Asia, YCH Group.

  • Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia and Cisco join forces on NFV testing

    Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia and Cisco join forces on NFV testing

    Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia and Cisco have teamed up to launch a new initiative that aims to help telecoms operators address the challenges related to NFV deployment and cloud transformation within multi-vendor network environments.

    The four signed Tuesday a MoU to create the NFV Interoperability Testing Initiative (NFV-ITI), which will address NFV multi-vendor interoperability challenges for telcos, enabling them to optimize NFV deployment and integration costs, and reduce time-to-market for new services.

    While telecos are at different stages of implementing NFV into their networks, the deployment and integration of virtual network functions within today’s multi-vendor environments can introduce new interoperability challenges.

    To addresses these challenges, NFV-ITI members will cooperatively support the interoperability of NFV elements in specific customer situations to accelerate the commercial implementations, and to reduce the time-to-market for new applications and services.

    All existing NFV interoperability related testing activities are triggered by different industry needs, including the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) NFV Testing WG, OPNFV testing projects, Network Vendor Interoperability Testing (NVIOT) testing, and the New IP Agency (NIA) interoperability testing.

    NFV-ITI will complement all existing NFV interoperability testing activities in the industry and focus on testing interoperability configurations of commercial NFV solutions used in the telcos’ networks, the companies said.

    It will recommend generic principles, including interoperability test cases, test criteria, processes, methods, guidelines, templates and testing tools, and will also apply best practices from all existing interoperability testing activities in the industry, such as NVIOT forum efforts.

    In addition, NFV-ITI will be well-aligned with the ETSI NFV Industry Specification Group and the OPNFV project.

  • India’s internet population to reach 600m by 2020

    India’s internet population to reach 600m by 2020

    India’s rapidly expanding digital population is expected to double to approximately 600 million users by 2020 from 343 million users today, a new study reveals.

    The joint study, conducted The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and Deloitte, also showed that of India’s over one billion mobile subscriptions, smartphone users account for approximately about a fourth or 240 million subscriptions. This is expected to grow to 520 million by 2020.

    While India is the second largest mobile phone market globally, the study noted that over 55,000 villages remain deprived of mobile connectivity, largely because providing mobile connectivity in these locations is not commercially viable for service providers.

    Spectrum availability in Indian metros is also just about a tenth of the same in cities in developed countries, which is a major roadblock to providing high-speed data services.

    The study noted that public Wi-Fi penetration remains low, with only about 31,000 hotspots available. For India to achieve the global average of one Wi-Fi hotspot for every 150 citizens, the country needs over eight million hotspots.

    Rural adoption of data-enabled devices, however, is expected to increase with the BharatNet initiative under the Digital India program, which itself has been hampered by many challenges including a lack of technical skills and capabilities or competent organizations to support the program.

    Other factors include lack of awareness of internet services among Indian consumers and non-availability of most of these digital services in local languages. Moreover, with the proliferation of cloud-based services like DigiLocker, data security has also emerged as a major challenge.

    The recent data breach in August 2016, in which debit card data for more than 3.2 million subscribers was stolen, highlights the importance of implementing foolproof security systems.

    The study recommends that the government should make efforts to make additional spectrum available to telecom service providers for deployment of high-speed data networks and must effectively collaborate with the private sector to develop the digital infrastructure.

    Moreover, it noted that in rural and remote areas, private sector players should be incentivized to provide last mile connectivity. Satellite communication solutions could also be used to speed up broadband access in rural and remote areas. For instance, banks can use VSAT technology to connect remote ATMs, remote branches which need instant access to customer data.

    “In order for the benefits of the Digital India program to reach all sections of the population, improving digital literacy is imperative. A strong skill base is required to support the initiatives and services that are envisaged under the Digital India umbrella,” the study concluded.

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  • AirAsia to deploy 84 more flights this CNY

    AirAsia to deploy 84 more flights this CNY

    There’s good news for travellers with more flights servicing selected domestic and international routes ahead of the Chinese New Year festive period.

    AirAsia Berhad will deploy an additional 84 flights from Jan 25 to Feb 1.

    “We would like to encourage travellers to book their flights early for the upcoming festive season,” said AirAsia’s head of commercial Spencer Lee in a statement.

    “These flights will have an added capacity of 15,000 seats to facilitate the high demand of air travel during that period.”

    Among the routes are from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, Penang, Sibu and Tawau, as well as from Penang to Singapore and from Johor Baru to Miri and Sibu.

    “Whether it’s a family reunion or a quick getaway, we hope that these additional flights with everyday low fares will help everyone to have a memorable Chinese New Year celebration,” Lee added.

    Travellers are advised to book their flights early at airasia.com or through the airline’s mobile app on the iPhone and android devices.

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