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Category: General

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest General Retail news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Indonesia hosts Asian SMEs event

    Indonesia hosts Asian SMEs event

    Indonesia is hosting the fourth Asian SME (small medium enterprise) Conference 2016, from Sept. 13 to 17 in Kota Kasablanka shopping mall in South Jakarta.

    Cooperatives and SMEs Minister Anak Agung Gede Ngurah Puspayoga said the conference should facilitate SME players in strengthening their competence to face the global competition.

    “I hope SME players get optimally empowered,” the minister said in a statement as quoted by tempo.co on Tuesday.

    He said he expected Indonesian SMEs to thrive in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). “Good products, good services are not enough to survive the AEC,” he said. Thus, the conference was expected to give SMEs solutions to thrive in the AEC.

    The conference is targeting 700 participants from 15 countries.

    Puspayoga said Asia had become the center of economic growth and the biggest market in the world. Asia is ready to compete with other continents, he said.

    The event is presented by Asian Council for Small Business (ACSB) and endorsed by the ministry and the International Council for Small Business (ICSB). The event will have seminars with speakers from Malaysia, the US, Taiwan, among others and visits to cosmetics company Martha Tilaar Group and to Bandung in West Java.

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  • AEON and Shell Partnering to Offer Special Cash Back

    AEON and Shell Partnering to Offer Special Cash Back

    Mr. Praphan Rangsiyopas (middle), Vice President Marketing and Mrs. Waraporn Nilpanich (right), Vice President Credit Card of AEON Thana Sinsap (Thailand) Public Company Limited together with Ms. Nopchanok Tantiwechwuttikul (left), Payment and Loyalty Manager of The Shell Company of Thailand Limited offer special promotion for AEON credit cardholders, Accumulate spending amount of 3,000 Baht and up at Shell Service Station via AEON Gold and AEON Classic credit card, cardholders will get cash back up to 500 Baht per month.

    AEON credit cardholders can enjoy this promotional campaign by registering through SMS by typing SH follow by 16 Digits of AEON credit card number without space, and send to 4589123 or register free at www.aeon.co.th. This campaign starts now until March 31st, 2017.

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  • Rising Asian start-up, “Pomo House” leads IoT products for Baby&Kids

    Rising Asian start-up, “Pomo House” leads IoT products for Baby&Kids

    Pomo House International, the leading brand of a child loss prevention smart watch and other innovative gadgets for modern family has successfully made a hit in SEA and is now expanding its brand to Europe, USA and LTA. “I believe the most important thing enabling me to become successful is to do what I love. There are always obstacles and a chance of going bankrupt in every businesses. However, if we do the business we love, we will have strength to move on”, says Mr. Chatchai Tangchittrong, Director of Pomo House International Co.,Ltd.

    “POMO Kids Watch is our first product that corresponds to our concept “Family Love is All Around”. Besides generating business, we have planned to lift up social awareness regarding family’s care and mutual happiness between parents and their kids.” The ideas of inventing the product to support family’s love and preventing missing children have been combined and conveyed through the development of what becomes child loss prevention smart watch to connect family members anywhere they are and allow children to explore the world with safety.

    With great success of the first two series of child loss prevention smart watch “Pomo Rainbow” and “Pomo Moji”, Pomo House has continued to develop the latest series called “Pomo R2”. This exclusive child loss prevention smart watch is equipped with unique functions that parents and their kids can enjoy together. Triple-Mode Smart Locator (Wi-Fi/GPS/LBS), splash proof and color touch screen are outstanding features of this model.

    This year Pomo House is launching a new product called “POMO Bebe,” another high technology of gadget for newborn baby. Coming with the concept of “God Fairy”, your baby will always be safe and protected. This device is designed to solve parents’ concern on their baby’s health. This latest innovation comes with unique features such as temperature scan mode, sleep quality, movement tracking and child loss prevention. “We realize how meaningful it is for parents to experience the moment when their baby opens the eyes to see the world. The first concern for baby is fever as it can affect baby’s immune system. Therefore, this device can be a little gift performing as a guardian for your little angel”, says Mr.Chatchai.

    Pomo House is also secretly working on product development process for another new innovation to answer every parents and their kids’ lifestyle. This product is expected to be released into the market by the end of this year.

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  • GMR Hyderabad Duty Free Ties up with American Telugu Association

    GMR Hyderabad Duty Free Ties up with American Telugu Association

    Hyderabad Duty Free (HDF), a 100% subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL), has announced a unique promotional scheme for American Telugu Association (ATA) under its ‘customer connect’ program to reach out to the Telugu diaspora residing in the US. This exclusive scheme for ATA members was formally announced by Mr.Hanmanth Reddy, founder of American Telugu Association in presence of Honorable Deputy Chief Minister of Telangana State, Mr. Mohammed Mahmood Ali; Dr Ausaf Sayeed, Counsul General of India at Chicago; Mr. Iftekhar Shareef, President of Telangana Association of North America among many more dignitaries, during the American Telugu Association Meet organized at Naperville, Chicago in the US state of Illinois.

    Under this program, ATA members can now enjoy exclusive offers at Hyderabad Duty Free stores at the arrivals and departures of GMR Hyderabad International Airport.  This connect program will also include periodic communication on Duty Free products, and round the year events and promotional activities happening at Hyderabad Duty Free.  The members will also receive quarterly magazines of Hyderabad Duty Free which covers interesting happenings in the city and region in addition to Duty Free updates.

    Under this unique promotional offer, the members of American Telugu Association will enjoy an additional top-up discount of up to 15% over and above the regular discounts & offers running in the store.  At the Arrivals store, ATA members will get additional flat discount of 10% and 15% on every purchase above $100 and $250 respectively. At the Departures store, the members will get an additional flat discount of 7.5% and 10% on the purchase above $50 and $100 respectively. 

    This discount will be applicable on the entire range of products available at Hyderabad Duty Free, making this one of the most unique schemes for any Duty Free in the world.  Furthermore, in-line with the objective to establish a connect with the Telugu diaspora, the program has a unique feature where these discounts will also be available to travelling family members (spouse and children) along with the main member. 

    With this unique promotional offer, Hyderabad Duty free will be offering lowest ever prices which would be give an overall benefit of up to 25-30% (considering the periodic regular offers) to ATA members.  To avail this attractive benefit, ATA members will have to present the valid ATA membership card or copy at the billing counter. 

    Speaking on this occasion, Mr. SGK Kishore, Chairman, Hyderabad Duty Free, said, “Hyderabad Duty Free represents the city of Hyderabad and entire Region.  With a wide range of international products along with attractive offers and gifts running round the year in our stores, we offer compelling value proposition to our valued customers and passengers travelling through the Hyderabad International Airport. We have recently started our initiative to further strengthen our relationship with key customer segments under the ‘Mana Hyderabad…Mana Duty Free” program.  Our association with the members of American Telugu Association is a major initiation in this regard through which we would like the ATA members to make ‘Hyderabad Duty Free’ as their preferred shopping destination while travelling.”

    Also speaking during this event, Mr. Hanmanth Reddy, Founder and former President ATA, said, “We are delighted that Hyderabad Duty Free has gone extra mile to initiate a promotional scheme dedicated to ATA members. I must appreciate and thank HDF for this initiative. I’m sure that every member of ATA will appreciate this gesture and shop at Hyderabad Duty Free to avail the benefit.” 

    American Telugu Association (ATA) is a not-for-profit organization which was started in early part of 1990 focussing Telugu origin people in the USA. The main purpose of the organization is to assist and promote literary, cultural, educational, religious, social, economic, health and community activities of the people of Telugu origin as well as to promote exchange programs for students, scientists, and professionals of Telugu origin between the United States of America, Canada and India and other countries.

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  • Garuda to Fly to the US in 2017

    Garuda to Fly to the US in 2017

    National carrier Garuda Indonesia plans to serve flights to the United States starting next year.

    Vice President Corporate Communications Garuda Indonesia Benny S. Butarbutar said Garuda’s plan to fly to the United States is one of the measures to strengthen its business expansion.

    “The plan to fly to the United States is business expansion to strengthen the position of Garuda Indonesia as a global player in the aviation industry,” Benny said in a press release on Saturday (10/9).

    Benny said Indonesia’s flight market potentials to the United States is quite high, reaching 400 thousand passengers per year.

    Based on this potential, Garuda Indonesia targets a return flight to Los Angeles will go and New York, as the two cities with the highest market potentials.

    Benny added, in realizing the strategic plan, Garuda Indonesia has initiated various preparations, including a feasibility study of the potential market, profitable routie, and the type of fleet to be utilized optimally, and many others.

    Garuda Indonesia plans to use large-bodied Boeing 777-300ER fleet to fly to America.

  • Viviana Mall launches new brand campaign “Celebrate Everyday”

    Viviana Mall launches new brand campaign “Celebrate Everyday”

    Celebrations never end at Viviana Mall. Well known as the leading retail destination mall in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Viviana mall in collaboration with its creative agency Thought Blurb is inviting customers to celebrate their everyday moments in their new brand campaign.

    With the season of festivities in tow, Thought Blurb plans to strengthen the brand’s celebratory proposition by launching their new campaign ‘Celebrate Everyday: Celebrations continue at Viviana Mall’. This campaign celebrates the individuality of Vivana’s customers. Knowing that every customer has different choices, likes, dislikes and preferences; the mall with its plethora of experiences promises every visitor a unique celebration.

    On the development, Rima Pradhan, Head of Marketing, Viviana Mall said, “The mall has always tried and created innovative ideas and campaigns to engage with customers. We regularly look for different avenues to give them a unique experience every day and hence we have collaborated with creative agency Thought Blurb for the ‘Celebrate Everyday’ campaign. We are confident that the campaign would create even stronger bonds with our customers.”

    “The idea behind the campaign is to give customers a reason to celebrate everyday and give them options to unwind themselves.” Ms. Pradhan added further.

    Thought Blurb with its team of communication experts have brought to life a vibrant and energetic campaign with a youthful tone of voice. The campaign is a successor of the equally fun ‘Celebrate Everyday’ launch campaign and is crafted to shine a spotlight on the mall’s various offerings and activities. The first phase of this campaign is going live with in-mall, outdoor and magazine releases.

    Commenting on the release of Viviana’s latest campaign, Thought Blurb’s Managing Partner, Vinod Kunj says, “Viviana since inception has been exhorting people to discover a reason to celebrate every day. So much so that today Viviana has become the happiness destination for Mumbaikars spanning all the way from Chembur to Ghatkopar going upto Palghar and beyond. It is the go-to destination for lighter moments of life in Thane. It’s today a reference landmark in Thane.”

    “This new Viviana campaign delves deeper in to core brand proposition of celebration every day. The visual treatment of the campaign celebrates the individual and the individual’s choice. Hence the larger than life imagery of the individual and his/her reason to celebrate. For some it’s that shade of nailpolish they have been searching in the country for, for others it’s a simple joy of popcorn and movie and escape in to fantasy for 3 hours at one of the best theater complexes that’s Cinepolis – 14 screen multiplex. This has been brought alive with interplay of the characters and objectifying the source of celebration.”

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  • Over 20,000 Buyers Attended HKTDC Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair

    Over 20,000 Buyers Attended HKTDC Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair

    The 35th edition of the Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair ended its five-day run (6-10 September) yesterday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), Hong Kong Watch Manufacturers Association Ltd and The Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades and Industries Ltd., the fair welcomed more than 20,000 buyers, up 2.4 per cent over the previous year. The fair saw good growth in buyer numbers from Asian markets such as India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, while growth from other regions including Australia, Sweden, Russia, Canada, the USA and Iran was also recorded.

    Smart and light-smart watches trending

    “Amidst the economic downturn, demand for luxury watches and clocks remains weak. We can see that the industry is shifting from traditional luxury brands to more mid-market brands, independent brands and even new smart watches in the market,” said HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau. “Since the smart and light-smart watch market is booming, more and more traditional watch companies are seeking to gain a share in the sector. I believe more varieties will be introduced into the market and offer more choices to buyers.”

    To match market demand trends, the fair this year introduced a new OEM Smart Watches zone to showcase the latest OEM watch designs. One of the exhibitors, Montrichard (HK) Ltd, has switched from manufacturing traditional watches to light-smart watches by adding smart features to traditional products over the past two years. Christine Pan, Product Manager of the company, noticed that fair exhibitors offering smart watches attracted many potential buyers from Europe and Asia. She believes that light-smart watches will be popular in 2017 and user-friendliness will be a major consideration for customers.

    The growing smart watch market attracted watch brands to develop that market segment. Matthieu Boileve, General Sales Manager of the local exhibitor Brasport HK Limited, said that in view of strong demand for smart watches and wearables, they had opened factories on the Chinese mainland and their sales of smart watch components doubled compared to two years ago and keeps growing fast. It is their second time to take part in the event. Mr Boileve believes that it is an international fair attended by buyers from all over the world, which helps to raise brand awareness and showcase their products. The company regards visitors to the fair as high-quality buyers, as about 60-70 per cent of their contacts are new.

    On the other hand, buyers were also eager to source smart watches. Franck Boudrie, President of Nouveaux Bijoutiers, which represents 170 retailers from France, was particularly interested in the brand Ringclock, which was exhibited at Salon de TE, as well as branded watches and smart watches. He foresees that half of the French population will be using smart watches, especially quartz watches with smart features in the next five to 10 years.

    International brands take advantage of the Hong Kong platform

    As the world’s largest timepiece trade fair, the Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair attracts buyers from all over the world every year. To match Asian customers’ demand for top-quality Swiss watch brands, the Swiss Eminence at Salon de TE returned to the fair to showcase six premium Swiss brands. The Swiss Independent Watchmaking Pavilion (SIWP) also brought seven watch brands with exceptional craftsmanship. In total, Salon de TE featured close to 40 Swiss brands this year.

    Amarildo Pilo, President, Pilo & Co SA, and representative of SIWP, said that some of the brands offer value-for-money limited-edition watches with excellent quality, and it is important to set up SIWP to promote them. He was very happy to join the fair again this year where he could find potential new distributors. Despite recent global economic challenges and the potential impact on Swiss exports, he is not too concerned as he believes that buyers have a constant demand for Swiss watches, and business will pick up again as the economy stabilises over time. The SIWP brought seven Swiss brands to the fair this year, showcasing classic, elegant and sporty watches. Mr Pilo also said that he had met buyers from the Chinese mainland, Malaysia, Iran, Japan, Thailand and Indonesia, and would pursue negotiations with them.

    Olivier Chlous, World Sales Manager of the Monaco exhibitor, Ciribelli, joined the fair for the first time. He said that, as the Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair attracts a lot of buyers from all over the world, it provides an ideal platform for promotion. He believes that since consumers on the mainland appreciate high-quality watches, the mainland is a niche market for them to develop. During the fair, they had met with potential distributors from the mainland, Iran and Japan.

    Orders from global buyers

    A first-time trade buyer, Alfred Gleiberman, Brand Development Director of US company Sterling Time LLC, said that he had met with potential suppliers and planned to source brand products to expand the market. He expects to place orders of US$100,000 and was particularly interested in two brands exhibiting at Salon de TE. He thinks that the fair is a business platform that offers a great variety of choices to buyers.

    Another first-time participant, Brian Kim, Manager-International Division of the Korean importer and distributor WOORIM FMG Ltd., met with brand suppliers from Denmark, Italy and Switzerland through the HKTDC’s business matching services. He was interested in their automatic watches and quartz watches and would enter into further negotiations after the fair.

    Jacob Juul, CEO, Bulbul ApS, from Denmark, found five new suppliers at the fair and would place an order worth US$200,000 of analogue watches with one of the suppliers in Hong Kong. They will also explore the possibility of cooperating with smart watch suppliers.

    Senthil Kumar.N, Manager – Procurement of Rivoli Group LLC from United Arab Emirates, said that sporty watches and fashion watches were selling well in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Countries) countries and each consumer had at least two to three watches to match clothing outfits. He visits the Watch & Clock Fair every year to look for new buyers and new brands, as it helps him monitor the industry and keep abreast of the latest technologies and design trends. He found three new suppliers at the fair and planned to place an order worth US$60,000-US$75,000.

    Fashionable and casual watches have best potential

    To understand fair visitors’ views on such issues as market outlook, product trends and Hong Kong suppliers, the HKTDC commissioned an independent research agency to conduct surveys on-site. The agency interviewed 834 buyers and exhibitors. The survey found that 58 per cent of respondents anticipate overall sales to remain unchanged in 2017, while 28 per cent anticipate an increase and 14 per cent expect a decrease. As for retail prices, 65 per cent of the respondents anticipate they will remain unchanged. Most of the responding industry players believe that the markets with growth prospects in the next two years are North America and Western Europe among the traditional markets, and the Chinese mainland and Middle East for emerging markets.

    For product and market trends, the respondents think that the most popular product category in the coming year will be smart watch (31%), digital analogue (26%) and automatic watches (15%), while the product category with the most growth potential are fashion watches (44%), casual watches (39%) and smart watches (38%). On product development strategies, watches interactable with smart devices (54%), collections that align with seasonal fashion trends (39%) and wearable technology with time functions (24%) will be the most prevalent in 2017.

    Fifty-eight per cent of responding buyers sourcing products from Hong Kong suppliers say they are most satisfied with compliance with safety regulations/standards, quality and function. Responding exhibitors, on the other hand, believe that the three strongest aspects of the Hong Kong watch and clock industry are quality, function and innovation.

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  • Indonesian Aircraft Maker Showcases N219 Cockpit Simulator

    Indonesian Aircraft Maker Showcases N219 Cockpit Simulator

    Indonesian aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) is showcasing its new product, N219 cockpit simulator, at the Indonesia Business & Development (IBD) Expo 2016 being held from September 8 – 11.

    “We are showcasing CN235 model and N219 cockpit simulator,” the spokesperson of PTDDI, Irland Budiman, said on Friday.

    The simulator is the main attraction at the PTDI booth as visitors are allowed piloting the N219 and fly as if they are in N219.

    Irland said N219 was included in the booth of best innovation products created by Indonesian human resources.

    N219 is a multi-purpose twin-engine aircraft designed to be operated in remote areas. It is a developed version of NC212, produced by PTDI under CASAs license.

    Indonesia Business & Development (IBD) Expo 2016 is witnessing the participation of 118 companies with 700 subsidiaries and 1,100 local government enterprises.

    The event, which features the BUMN (the state-owned enterprises) awards, an exhibition, an international conference, seminars, and many other programs, is being held under the theme: State-owned Enterprises are Agents of Development.

    The Expo is a platform to promote and market various innovative products as well as an opportunity for stakeholders to explore investment opportunities.

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  • Singapore F&B sector ‘running out of manpower’

    Singapore F&B sector ‘running out of manpower’

    The Singapore F&B sector is set for a radical transformation under the government’s Industry Transformation Maps, aimed at getting industry “future-ready”.

    Tharman Shanmugaratnam, deputy PM and coordinating minister for economic and social policies, revealed some insights in a speech at the opening of Select Group’s new corporate headquarters on Thursday.

    He said with 160,000 people working in the F&B industry, it was a significant employer in the city state, 205,000 if hawkers’ centres were included, more than 5 per cent of the nation’s workforce.

    “But that is also the industry’s biggest challenge. We are running out of manpower in the industry. Our strategies for the future have to address this squarely.

    “We must develop a food services industry that is highly efficient, with no loss in quality of food offerings, and with high quality jobs. It has to be a major makeover.”

    The Food Services Industry Transformation Map (ITM) would involve “intensive collaboration” between Spring Singapore, the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS), enterprises themselves and trade unions such as the Food, Drinks & Allied Workers Union.

    The Food Services ITM will aim to push ahead with more ‘manpower-lean formats’ in the industry and upgrade jobs and job satisfaction, while maintaining the quality and range of Singaporeans’ dining options.

    There are four main thrusts of the Food Services ITM:

    * Developing innovative formats like Ready-to-Eat meals.

    * Promoting mass adoption of technologies even within established business formats.

    * Raising employees’ skills and versatility, and making the industry more attractive through job redesign and clear progression pathways.

    * Expanding the footprint of Singapore F&B in overseas markets.

    “Spring estimates that by 2025 three out of eight dining experiences in Singapore will involve new formats such as grab-and-go and vending machines, as opposed to traditional dine-in options. It will be more efficient, and will also meet changing consumer demands.

    “Ready-to-eat (RTE) meals, for instance, are a viable alternative for consumers looking for convenience. The new generation of RTE meals is much more than just “microwavable food”. Utilising “cook-chill technologies” as well as innovations in packaging material, the taste, quality and nutritional content of foods can be retained well in RTE meals,” he said.

    “Last month, we launched VendCafé in Anchorvale. The response has been encouraging, with an average of 400 meals served per day in the first month. Residents have given feedback that they welcome the additional amenities. However, some have expressed concerns about the noise patrons generate, sometimes late at night.”

    Coffee shops are not immune to new systems, he said.

    “Spring and the HDB have reviewed the tender requirements for new coffee shops. The requirements will now include productivity proposals, in addition to a good variety of affordable food. I urge operators to make use of this opportunity to rethink how existing coffee shop models can be redesigned. For a start, the new system will be piloted at two sites, in Tampines and Choa Chu Kang. The tender will open from mid-September onwards.”

    Manpower challenge

    The minister said employers have to work on the basis that there will be no further manpower growth in the Singapore F&B industry.

    “The heavy reliance on low-skilled workers also cannot continue. New entrepreneurs have to come into the business knowing how tough it is to find workers. The industry sees a high churn of enterprises. On average, 28 per cent of food establishments are replaced yearly. Some churn in the industry is not a bad thing – it adds vibrancy and reflects Singaporeans wanting to do their own thing as entrepreneurs. But every new enterprise has to be aware of the realities of the labour market before they get started.”

    One of the ways forward is to embrace digital service, including electronic payments.

    “In Sweden, cash transactions represent less than 2 per cent of the value of all payments made. From retailers to street level vegetable and fruits traders, Swedish businesses have embraced the use of electronic payments via credit cards or mobile apps. This enables companies to increase productivity through payments integrated with business processes. We will be promoting this very actively.

    “We must transform the food services industry so that it achieves. Spring together with its partners plans to have at least 50 per cent of the industry having adopting technology-enabled operations by 2020. They estimate that it will make possible productivity growth in Food Services of 2 per cent per year on average from now until 2020.”

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  • Kantar unveils a new corporate identity across its operating brands

    Kantar unveils a new corporate identity across its operating brands

    Kantar today launches a new corporate identity, for the parent brand and its 12-strong family of operating brands, designed to create a much more unified look and feel across the whole business.

    The new identity, developed in close collaboration with WPP branding specialists The Partners, will be rolled out across all external and internal communications channels in the coming months.

    Operating brands not previously Kantar-branded will now take a Kantar prefix and a new, common typeface. For example: TNS and Millward Brown now become Kantar TNS and Kantar Millward Brown just like Kantar Worldpanel. The only exception is Lightspeed GMI, which now rebrands as Lightspeed.

    Along with the rebranding, Kantar is introducing a new tagline, “Inspiration for an extraordinary world”, drawn from its new corporate purpose statement, “To inspire our clients, our people and society to create and flourish in an extraordinary world.”

    Kantar’s new identity reflects and externalises an on-going change programme that started in January. The programme includes the fostering and rewarding of much greater collaboration between operating brands and the creation of a new insights group through much closer alignment of the company’s custom brands. In addition, global operations capabilities have been brought together into a single entity and the company is moving towards more aligned shared services in HR, finance and IT. We will shortly be adding to our portfolio of expert brands with the launch of Kantar Public, uniting our global expertise in governmental and public policy work; and Kantar Consulting, which will draw expertise from several of our brands to provide a full and broader range of marketing and sales consulting solutions and capabilities to our clients.

    Kantar CEO Eric Salama commented: “The rebranding is a tangible, visible expression of our desire to present clients with more easily-navigable and connected solutions that bring together the best of Kantar’s expertise.

    “We believe our clients and partners have started to experience the benefit of this approach – in more rounded, detailed and holistic research and recommendations. And it is helpful that for the first time we really look like a single family of brands serving a common purpose.”

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  • LeoSat pre-signs first customer for LEO network

    LeoSat pre-signs first customer for LEO network

    Low-earth-orbit satellite network operator startup LeoSat Enterprises has signed up its first customer – a globally operating financial trading company.

    LeoSat is building a constellation of up to 108 low-earth-orbit communications satellites that aim to provide fiber-like speeds with lower latency than traditional satellite and terrestrial networks.

    The financial trading company customer plans to take advantage of this low latency to improve its automated algorithmic trading efficiency.

    LeoSat can offer an average round trip latency of less than 93ms from London to Tokyo and under 119ms from Singapore to London, by using optical inter-satellite links to create fiber-like symmetry at Gigabit speeds.

    Data is also encrypted and secured from end-to-end across the network, with no terrestrial touch points to expose the data.

    “We are excited to be in a position to announce our first customer almost four years ahead of the commercial launch of our system and while doing so, also venture into a market sector where traditional satellite systems have never had any suitable product offering,” LeoSat chief commercial officer Ronald van der Breggen said.

    “In addition to it being proof of our claim to be a game changer in the satellite communication industry, we take this customer contract as a very strong endorsement of our plans to offer global, low-latency, high-throughput satellite capacity, using a Low Earth Orbit constellation.”

    He said the company has already seen a high level of interest from the finance, enterprise, government and energy sectors ahead of the planned launch.

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  • World’s Largest Watch & Clock Fair Opens in Hong Kong

    World’s Largest Watch & Clock Fair Opens in Hong Kong

    The 35th HKTDC Hong Kong Watch & Clock Fair, the world’s largest timepiece event of its kind, opened today and continues through 10 September at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). Organised by Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), Hong Kong Watch Manufacturers Association Ltd and the Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades and Industries Ltd, the fair features more than 800 exhibitors from 27 countries and regions, including first-time participating countries and brands from Australia, Hungary, Iran, Lithuania, Monaco, Thailand and Turkey.

    Gregory So, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong SAR Government, was guest of honour at this morning’s opening ceremony. A highlight of the five-day fair is Salon de TE, a top-tier brand showcase for the trade that will also be open to public visitors (aged 12 or above) free of charge on the last day of the fair (10 September), with timepieces from more than 80 brands available for sale to the public.

    Premium watches at Salon de TE

    Salon de TE spotlights premium watch brands and unique watch designs, gathering 150 international brands at five thematic zones: World Brand Piazza, Chic & Trendy, Craft Treasure, Renaissance Moment and Wearable Tech. World Brand Piazza presents artisan masterpieces from 13 renowned international brands, including Blancpain, BOVET, Breguet, BVLGARI, Chopard, CORUM, DeWitt, FRANCK MULLER, Glashutte Original, H. Moser & Cie, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget and Zenith.

    Chic & Trendy gathers a wide range of stylish wrist watches. Craft Treasure showcases high-end functional mechanical watches and jewellery watches. Renaissance Moment presents classic European watches in various styles, including the Swiss Eminence pavilion showcasing six top-quality Swiss brands and the Swiss Independent Watchmaking pavilion showcasing seven Swiss independent watchmakers’ collections. Wearable Tech features watches that combine new technology and stylish design.

    Salon de TE and the Watch & Clock Fair gather a wide range of eye-catching wrist watches, including:

    – Piaget’s world’s slimmest mechanical jewellery wrist watch Altiplano, priced at over HK$1.4 million. (around US$181000) (Booth no.: 3E-WBP)

    – Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso Cordonnet Duetto, featuring a double-dial design with a single movement driving both front and back dials to show time, valued at HK$1.9 million. (around US$245000) (Booth no.: 3E-WBP)

    – Boegli’s Grand Opera series musical watches are equipped with a musical module and mechanical movement, capable of producing 17 notes to play classical musical pieces. Only 99 pieces are available for this limited edition watch. (Booth no.: 3E-D44)

    – Kronsegler’s da Vinci automatic mechanical watch KS 745 combines art with function by featuring a rotating 24-dial of Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man with the figure’s head indicating the current time. (Booth No.: 3D-B43)

    – Memorigin’s Marco Fu watch series is themed around snooker with three black diamonds set at the 1, 4 and 7 dial markers, representing snooker player Mr Fu’s 147-point scoring record. (Booth No.: 3E-E18)

    – AKTEO’s finance-themed watch Wall Street 42, in which the hour hand shows the Wall Street Journal, the minute hand a US bank note, and the second hand a 999.9 gold bar. (Booth No.: 3D-A38)

    – FIYTA’s 3D Time, which emphasises 3D art, was awarded the Red Dot Academy Awards in industrial design in 2014. (Booth No.: 3E-E37)

    Smart watches as market spotlight

    Responding to the increasing popularity of smart watches, the industry is focused on creating more high-tech timepieces. Pure Performance Distribution Limited’s Garmin fenix(R) 3 HR multisport training GPS watch, with feature sets for fitness training and outdoor navigation, provides users with reliable fitness and GPS data for their daily life and for professional training. As such, this year’s fair introduces a new zone, OEM Smart Watches, showcasing the latest OEM designs. Among the exhibits, Montrichard (HK) Ltd’s smart watch Chronologia is capable of dual-time display and alarm, and can be connected to a smartphone to display lost-phone notification, SMS, fitness tips and more.

    Another dedicated zone, Pageant of Eternity returns this year to spotlight an endless range of complete watches. Other exhibiting categories consist of Complete Watches, Clocks, Machinery & Equipment, Packaging, Parts & Components and Trade Services.

    Over 70 buyer missions coming to do business

    During the fair period, the HKTDC has organised more than 70 buyer missions, comprising about 4,000 buyers from 50 countries and regions, including renowned watch and clock manufacturers, buyers and retailers, such as Rivoli Group from the Unite Arab Emirates, Abiste from Japan, Dakota Watch from the United States, Birks Group from Canada, Gmarket from South Korea, S Bacher & Co. from South Africa and Crystal Time from Singapore. Apart from Salon de TE, the popular hktdc.com Small Orders zone is featured in the lobby of Hall 1D with some 160 clock and watch showcases, targeting buyers looking to source products in minimum quantities of five to 1,000 pieces. Some of the items are also available for orders online. The award-winning entries of the 33rd Hong Kong Watch & Clock Competition are also on display in the lobby of Hall 1B to showcase local designs to international buyers.

    More than 30 events, including seminars, networking events and watch parades will be organised during the fair period to facilitate exchange of market information among industry players. Highlighted events include the Hong Kong International Watch Forum held this afternoon while the Asian Watch Conference, to be held tomorrow afternoon, will look at developing trends related to the smart wearable tech sector and the Internet. Celebrities, including Alex Lee, Lisa Ch’ng, Derek Wong, Karena Ng, Wong You-nam, Ma Wing-shing and Marco Fu, will take part in product launches. On Public Day (10 September), visitors can take part in a series of entertaining activities as well as two lucky prize draws.

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  • Visit ASEAN@50 Tourism Branding Unveiled

    Visit ASEAN@50 Tourism Branding Unveiled

    The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) today revealed the branding for its “Visit ASEAN@50 Golden Celebration 2017” tourism campaign.

    The branding was unveiled by the 10 ASEAN heads of state at the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos today.

    The new campaign will promote the twin objectives of commemorating the 50th anniversary of ASEAN in 2017, and embracing the ASEAN region of Southeast Asia as a single and united, yet diverse, tourism destination.

    Further objectives of the Visit ASEAN@50 campaign include raising international visitor arrivals to Southeast Asia from 108.9 million in 2015 to 121 million by the end of 2017 and increasing tourism receipts from USD75 billion in 2014 to USD83 billion, also by the end of next year.

    Multiple activities and promotions will be announced to drive the campaign. Visit ASEAN@50 partners will be revealed at the ITB Asia travel industry show in Singapore in October. Special travel experiences and offers will be announced at the World Travel Market in London in November. 

    “ASEAN’s Golden Jubilee serves as a great opportunity for our 10 member states to celebrate Southeast Asia’s strength through diversity as the world’s fastest growing tourism destination,” said Mr Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime Minister of Lao PDR and Chairman of the ASEAN Summit. “Visit ASEAN@50 will contribute towards our vision of creating a cohesive ASEAN economy,” he said.

    Key target markets for ASEAN’s 50th anniversary tourism campaign in 2017 will be long-haul markets such as Europe, Middle East and North America, as well as intra-ASEAN, China, Japan, Korea, India and Australia.

    The ASEAN Tourism Competitiveness Committee, which is responsible for the tourism campaign implementation with partners, says planned ASEAN@50 marketing activities include: 

    • “VisitASEAN@50” official launch at the ASEAN Tourism Forum early January 2017 in Singapore
    • Media familiarisation trips showcasing ASEAN connectivity and multi-country travel routes
    • Special tour packages with offers, special airfares, shopping discounts for travel in 2017 (details to be revealed at WTM London, November 2016)
    • Campaign promotion in international travel trade shows in key source markets
    • Cooperative marketing programs with travel, media and airline partners (to be announced at ITB Asia, October 2016)
    • Print and online advertising, as well as TV, video and promotions
    • Social media campaigns to enhance consumer engagement
    • Promotional programs by ASEAN’s national tourism offices targeting trade, consumer and MICE markets throughout 2017

    The 2017 50th anniversary tourism campaign is part of the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2016-2025, which was adopted by the association’s tourism ministers in Manila in January 2016.

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  • AirAsia’s Tune Labs, rewards program startup ZAP form JV

    AirAsia’s Tune Labs, rewards program startup ZAP form JV

    Tune Labs, a venture capital vehicle formed by AirAsia founders Tony Fernandes and Kamarudin Meranun, has entered into a joint venture with top Philippine rewards and loyalty program ZAP.

    The partnership will see AirAsia BIG, the loyalty program for AirAsia and the Tune group of companies, leverage on ZAP’s platform to allow BIG members to earn and redeem points from daily purchases at physical stores with just a mobile number.

    Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tune Labs was launched last April 2015 as a startup incubator and accelerator program aimed mostly at the Southeast Asia region. Its goal is to identify, fund and nurture early stage companies in the travel, finance and retail sectors.

    The advanced AirAsia BIG loyalty program will be launched in the third quarter of this year tartegeting over 100 partner establishments in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before expanding to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia. Partners will include restaurants, services, and retail shops in commercial centers.

    AirAsia BIG has over 17 million members across the Asia-Pacific region and was recently named Loyalty Programme of the Year at the 2016 Loyalty & Engagement Awards.

    AirAsia BIG CEO Eddy Leong said customer loyalty is a large part of AirAsia’s success and the joint venture is part of their retail strategy.

    “ZAP is the tech partner to help AirAsia BIG achieve our goal of having loyal customers earn BIG points and redeem for their flights faster and easier than ever, by rewarding members’ everyday life,” Leong said.

    According to ZAP CEO Dustin Cheng, the partnership will fast-track ZAP’s expansion through the region.

    “The joint venture allows us to leverage on millions of AirAsia’s customers,” Cheng said. “Our goal in ZAP has always been to empower merchants of all sizes with an easy-to-use loyalty and CRM platform.”

    Founded in 2012, as a mobile number-based loyalty program for brick-and-mortar merchants, ZAP is one of 26 digital tech startups funded by Kickstart Ventures Inc, a wholly-owned venture capital subsidiary of Globe Telecom Inc.

    ZAP today caters to over 300,000 members and works with close to a thousand partner establishments within Metro Manila in the Philippines.

    Kickstart president Minette Navarrete said the ZAP co-founders have the high energy and agility to expand across the region, and the joint venture capitalizes on AirAsia BIG’s scale and ZAP’s growth momentum.

    “AirAsia and the Tune group of companies are among Southeast Asia’s success stories, with an ethos we truly admire. The ZAP founders have proven their ability to effectively drive customer and revenue growth, and adoption of a technology platform in a high-touch retail environment,” Navarrete said.

     

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  • AirAsia to lease two aircraft from Indonesia AirAsia Extra

    AirAsia to lease two aircraft from Indonesia AirAsia Extra

    AirAsia Bhd has entered into a wet lease agreement with PT Indonesia AirAsia Extra (IAAX) to lease two Airbus A330 widebody aircraft for US$12.9mil (RM52.5mil).

    In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday, AirAsia said one aircraft would be leased from Sept 16, 2016 till March 15, 2017 for US$9.8mil (RM39.9mil).

    The other’s lease would be from Oct 1, 2016 till Nov 30, 2016 for US$3.1mil (RM12.62mil), it said.

    AirAsia said the leasing was due to operational requirements.

    “The lease of the aircraft is in the form contained in the agreement which shall include the flight crew, all maintenance of the aircraft and insurance,” it said.

    AirAsia said the agreement provided up to additional six crew sets daily to AirAsia’s manpower supply.

    “Additionally, extra capacity from the A330s allows AirAsia to rationalise its network by reducing flight frequencies, which results in lesser crew requirement,” it said.

    It said the additional capacity from A330s will also allow for AirAsia to overcome slot constraints in some airports as well as enable AirAsia to better manage its network.

    “For routes with low load factor, AirAsia could reduce frequency, thus reducing fixed costs required to operate them. Whereas additional capacity could be added for routes with high load factor to capitalise on the high demand,” it said.

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