Tag: APAC

  • Online retailers in APAC drew 154 million new customers last year

    Online retailers in APAC drew 154 million new customers last year

    Asia Pacific’s online retail market is in good form, despite being one of the slowest growth markets when compared to global rates.

    According to new research from Forrester, Asia Pacific’s online retail market will be worth $2.8 trillion by 2025, up from $1.7 trillion in 2020.

    Last year Asia Pacific achieved $230 billion in online retail sales, with China accounting for almost an entire third of global sales.

    Within the e-commerce space China also dominates with an 82% share of the market, supporting overall APAC market growth of 16%.

    The grocery category will reach $473 billion by 2025, surpassing the consumer electronics category for the first time.

    The pandemic also drove newcomers to online retail – in Asia Pacific, 154 million more people bought online last year, which Forrester says is the highest number of new users ever in a single year. Of all the new buyers added globally in 2020, 69% came from Asia Pacific and 53% specifically from China.

    The Australian market experienced the fastest growth, while India was the slowest. Retailers also see the online market as a key way to leverage their distribution centres as a way of improving their reach.

    Forrester notes, “Alibaba took a controlling stake in Sun Art Retail, China’s largest supermarket chain, which has 76% of its stores outside urban areas, allowing Alibaba to break into the underserved nonurban customer market.”

    The strong grocery category attracted players such as Reliance Retail in India, which opened an online grocery company that covers more than 200 cities across the country.

    Forrester notes, “Flipkart in India had a limited presence in grocery; it then added a 90-minute delivery service to make the most of the fastest-growing category in India. Tata Group acquired BigBasket, the largest online grocery player in India, to make inroads into the Indian e-commerce market.”

    Organisations are increasingly looking to livestreams as a way of promoting their companies and fostering brand engagement.

    “ Farmers used livestreaming sessions on Douyin — Tiktok in China — to sell fresh produce, with some earning more than $1 million per month.”

    Social commerce also gained momentum. Forrester notes, “Meesho, a pure-play social commerce retailer in India, reports seeing monthly users grow from just 0.5 million to 5.5 million and monthly orders jump by 500% from 2019 to 2020. In China, community buyers (i.e., buyers congregating on WeChat) purchase grocery in bulk and pick it up from a nearby drop location. Retailers save on the last-mile shipping cost, and buyers get groceries at a discounted price.”

  • North Asia Specialist Joins Indosuez Singapore

    North Asia Specialist Joins Indosuez Singapore

    He brings extensive knowledge of the regional wealth management industry, as well as the North Asia market, from his experience as a team leader for other global wealth managers.

    Indosuez, the global wealth management brand of Crédit Agricole Group, has appointed Alfred Low as the firm’s Head of North Asia Market and Strategic Partnerships in Singapore, effective September 2021, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

    Low joins the firm following senior management and advisory roles covering North Asia clients at HSBC Private Bank, Credit Suisse Private Bank, UBS Wealth Management, and Citigroup Private Bank. He previously held various functions with the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Singapore.

    Omar Shokur, Indosuez CEO, Asia, and Singapore branch manager, said the firm is committed to North Asia an is deepening its talent pool to better serve clients.

    North Asia, in particular, is one of the world’s fastest wealth creation region and is an important growth market for Indosuez, Shokur said.

    As of end-2020, the firm had €128 billion in assets under management.

  • Citi Hires Ex-EY Partner for Asia Digital Payments

    Citi Hires Ex-EY Partner for Asia Digital Payments

    Citi has hired a former partner from Ernst & Young to lead the upcoming launch of a new digital payment solution in the region.

    James Lloyd joins the treasury and trade solutions (TTS) unit as its Asia Pacific head of Spring by Citi – upcoming digital payments offering – according to an internal memo.

    In his Hong Kong-based role, Lloyd reports to Sanjeev Jain, APAC head of payments and receivables, TTS, and Anupam Sinha, global head of domestic payments and Receivables, TTS.

    Lloyd joins from EY where he was a partner within the strategy and transactions practice, leading the firm’s dedicated regional fintech capabilities and serving as APAC leader for its global payments practice.

    Spring by Citi

    The Spring by Citi offering aims to help corporate and institutional clients reach end-customers by enabling digital payments across preferred methods, be it credit cards, instant payments or digital wallets.

    The offering is scheduled for launch in the fourth quarter this year starting with Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong before adding more markets in 2022.

    A spokesperson for the bank confirmed the new appointment.

  • Chubb Makes APAC Leadership Appointments

    Chubb Makes APAC Leadership Appointments

    The property and casualty insurer is making several senior management changes at its business in Asia Pacific, effective July 1, while launching a new division, it announced on Friday.

    Country president for Chubb’s general insurance business in Korea, Edward Ler, will take on a new role as head of Southeast Asia, responsible for the general management and business results in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

    Ler joined Chubb in 2013. His 18-year career in the insurance industry spans a variety of managerial roles covering the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and European markets. He will relocate to Singapore for his new role and continue to report to Paul McNamee, Chubb’s regional president for Asia Pacific.

    Ler replaces Glen Browne, who was appointed division president of consumer lines, Asia Pacific, a newly created role to oversee the accident and health and personal lines businesses in the region.

    Browne, who brings 25 years of industry experience, will also have oversight for direct marketing, consumer partnerships, and digital distribution for both the company’s general and life insurance divisions in Asia Pacific. He reports to McNamee and will work closely with Brad Bennett, Chubb Life’s chief operating officer.

    McNamee said the new division is «a response to the evolving customer and growing partnership dynamics of [Chubb’s] business, which will necessitate the sharing of data, technology, and talent to deliver superior customer and partnership outcomes.»

    Taking over Ler in Korea is Edward Kopp, who is currently the firm’s regional head for accident and health since 2019. He continues to report to McNamee in his new capacity.

    Kopp has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, including distribution, product development, underwriting, channel management, and has a deep understanding of the Korean market. Prior to joining Chubb in 2012, he held several leadership roles at leading banking and insurance firms.

    Kopp’s deputy, Ben Howell will replace him as regional head of accident and health, Asia Pacific. Howell will continue to be based in Singapore and report to Browne, in the latter’s new role as Division President – Consumer Lines, Asia Pacific.

    Mr. Howell has deep experience across both commercial and consumer insurance, with underwriting, product development, partnership and distribution management expertise spanning diverse product classes. He began his career with the company in Australia, then known as ACE, in 2002 before re-joining in 2016.

  • Backbase Grows Asia Leadership Team

    Backbase Grows Asia Leadership Team

    The engagement banking platform provider has appointed a digitalization specialist to support banks and financial institutions in the region with their digital transformation efforts.

    Backbase has appointed Abhijit Chavan as regional vice president of customer success for Asia, part of the company’s Asia leadership team, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

    Chavan brings more than 15 years of strategic experience at the top levels of management consulting, including at Accenture Strategy and PwC Consulting.

    In his new role, Chavan will look after customer success, ROI delivery, and prescriptive digital banking transformation for Backbase clients in the region and support customers in strengthening their market positions through Backbase’s Engagement Banking Platform.

    Backbase opened its regional headquarters in Singapore in January 2020. It subsequently partnered with Vietnam’s TPBank to accelerate digital transformation and transform the bank’s traditional products, services, and core banking system, and with the Philippines’ Uno digital bank to automate customer onboarding, account opening, origination, and self-service processes.

    The Netherlands-based company also opened a new office in Japan to help banks and financial institutions accelerate their digital transformation, improve customer engagements and optimize data insights as to the Japanese market transitions to digital banking.

  • Natixis Expands Global Markets Unit in APAC

    Natixis Expands Global Markets Unit in APAC

    Natixis has made a series of hires for its global markets team in Asia Pacific with a focus on bolstering its capabilities in China and Japan.

    The French investment bank made six new appointments to its APAC global markets unit, according to a statement, as part of its ongoing growth ambitions in the region.

    China and Japan are key geographies for our global markets business and these new appointments to bolster our sales teams will allow us to deepen our client dialogue and enhance our focused development of new activities and products, said APAC head of global markets Viet Linh Ha Thuc.

    Eddison An joins the Hong Kong office as global market sales for China reporting to Greater China head of global markets sales Kirk Liu. An has 19 years of global market sales experience and was most recently the China head of credit sales at Deutsche Bank.

    Marcus Teng joins the Shanghai office as China head of corporate sales for the global markets unit, reporting to Liu and locally to Greater China senior country manager Hong Liu. Teng has 14 years of experience, most recently with ANZ Bank as a director in global markets.

    Beijing-based Jason Lee was named corporate sales for China reporting to Teng and locally to Beijing branch manager Simon Qin. Lee has 20 years of financial advisory and acquisition finance experience most recently also with ANZ Bank.

    Michael Man joins the Hong Kong office as global market sales reporting to APAC head of sales and financial engineering Eric Elbaz. Man has over ten years of experience in prime services and securities finance, most recently with BNP Paribas.

    Hiroshi Hara was named Tokyo-based regional fixed income sales reporting to head of regional financial institutions sales Kazuoki Shirase. Hara has 24 years of banking experience most recently with Nattiest Markets Securities Japan where he was its head of solutions sales for the country.

    Satoshi Harada joins in Tokyo as flow product sales reporting to Hirofumi Satoi, global markets sales, Japan. Harada has 8 years of banking and financial experience, most recently with Société Générale Securities Japan.

  • Huawei launches SME Support Program to support economic recovery in APAC

    Huawei launches SME Support Program to support economic recovery in APAC

    Global leading ICT provider Huawei launched its SME Support Program with trusted ecosystem partners in Asia Pacific, aiming to deliver further technical support for economic recovery amid the fight against the pandemic in the region.

    Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the engines of growth and innovation in the APEC region. They account for over 97 percent of all businesses and employ over half of the workforce across APEC economies. They contribute significantly to economic growth, with their share of GDP ranging from 40 percent to 60 percent in most APEC economies, according to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

    The pandemic has forced businesses to accelerate their digital transformation and move to the cloud one to three years ahead of schedule. HUAWEI CLOUD is currently working with over 19,000 partners and 1.6 million developers and is committed to strengthening the digital economy to support a sustainable economic recovery.

    For the SME Support Program, which will be available until December 31, 2021, each eligible SME applicant could receive coupons worth up to $3,000 USD and free professional consulting service including cutting-edge cloud solutions for a variety of industry scenarios including Financial Service, Education, E-commerce, Gaming, IoT, Application Development, and Enterprise Applications.

    SMEs that have an account on the HUAWEI CLOUD official website but have never used any paid service could apply on the SME Support Program page and receive consultation from cloud experts. Applications will be reviewed based on the company’s cloud needs and the readiness of workloads for cloud deployment.

    “We are still very small, but we have the ambition to grow into a big business. Therefore, choosing a reliable partner is our priority, this translates into reliable technology and reliable service and support. HUAWEI did a great job. I believe we get the same prompt responses any big client of yours,” Yongyan Liu, Co-Founder and VP of Strategy and Development at SYMBIONAT HEALTH, expressed confidence in the cooperation with HUAWEI CLOUD.

    Currently, HUAWEI CLOUD offers over 220 services in categories such as compute, storage, network, security, big data, AI, and IoT, plus over 210 solutions for full coverage of industries. Enterprises can rely on Huawei’s robust ecosystem to accelerate innovation by joining efforts with other eco-partners.

  • Tourism recovery can take off alongside flights resumption

    Tourism recovery can take off alongside flights resumption

    Tourism companies see a proposed plan to gradually resume international flights as a necessary first step for their sector to recover from the pandemic-inflicted slump. Nguyen Minh Man, head of marketing at the HCMC-based TST Tourist Co., said that a slow and careful reopening of Vietnam’s borders can form a strong foundation to resume tourism activities.

    “This is a golden time for the tourism industry to prepare their human resources and products to recover and achieve a breakthrough next year,” he added.

    Nguyen Cong Hoan, deputy director of Hanoi Redtours, said that although the flight resumption won’t be able to “save” Vietnamese tourism this year, it will be a necessary first step for recovery.

    International flights will first help resume trade and business activities, which will boost demand for niche tourism segments such as golf and luxury tourism, and after that, other popular segments will start to recover, he said.

    “If vaccinated passengers can enter the country in September, that would be an ideal time to travel to Vietnam’s warm beaches or visit terraced fields during the harvest.”

    The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) is considering the resumption of international flights starting July, with Japan, South Korea and Taiwan the first destinations, each side operating four flights a week.

    All passengers will be quarantined upon arrival as per the Health Ministry protocol. It is expected that around 6,000 to 7,000 passengers would enter the country each week from the three Asian destinations.

    The CAAV has proposed that starting September, vaccinated foreign passengers into the country are allowed into the country without requiring centralized quarantine.

    Vietnamese carriers are eagerly awaiting the government’s green light to take to the skies again.

    Budget airline Vietjet resumes regular flights to Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan this month, serving Vietnamese citizens wishing to study and work abroad, as well as stranded foreigners wanting to return home.

    On return trips, the carrier will only carry Vietnamese citizens being repatriated or foreign experts with permission to enter the country as per government regulations.

    Meanwhile, national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has said it will reopen international commercial flights connecting Hanoi and HCMC with several Asian destinations including South Korea, Japan, and Australia this month.

    However, tourism companies are not too optimistic about a quick recovery. Hoan of Hanoi Redtours said that for this year and the next, domestic travel will be the main revenue source for his company, and prospects for international travel will only look up in 2023 as the earliest.

    “We are seeing rising numbers of individual and company trips bookings domestically, and this will be our main focus for the time being. Until the Covid-19 situation is well under control globally, we should not pin our hopes on international travel.”

    Vietnam closed its national borders and canceled all international flights in March 2020. Since then, only Vietnamese repatriates, foreign experts, and highly-skilled workers are being allowed in under strict conditions.

    The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam in the first quarter fell 98.7 percent year-on-year to 48,000 with travel restrictions in place to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19.

  • Knight Frank Boosts Research Team in APAC

    Knight Frank Boosts Research Team in APAC

    The global property advisor has appointed an industry veteran to oversee its research teams across the region. Knight Frank has appointed Christine Li as head of research, Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore, it said in an announcement on Monday.

    Li brings over 15 years of industry experience delivering research and strategic analysis for both commercial and residential real estate markets. She joins from Cushman & Wakefield, where she spent six years, most recently as head of research, Singapore and Southeast Asia.

    Li will oversee the firm’s forecasts and insights across office, industrial and residential sectors as well as specialist asset classes such as student accommodation, multi-family and data centres, and will provide an Asia-Pacific perspective on Knight Frank’s global reports, the announcement said.

    Christine’s experience working with Singapore’s leading institutional and private investors, alongside her breadth of expertise across Asia and profile in the market make her the ideal candidate to lead Knight Frank’s research in the region, Kevin Coppel, managing director, Knight Frank Asia Pacific, said.

  • Vietnam Airlines to resume commercial flights to Asian destinations this week

    Vietnam Airlines to resume commercial flights to Asian destinations this week

    Vietnam Airlines will reopen international commercial flights connecting Hanoi and HCMC with several Asian destinations including South Korea, Japan and Australia, starting this Saturday.

    The national flag carrier said flights from Hanoi to South Korea’s Incheon City will depart every Thursday while there will have seven flights from Hanoi to Japan’s Narita City in April, with the first scheduled to depart on April 3.

    The carrier will also operate one flight from Hanoi to Australia’s Sydney every Saturday, while flights from HCMC to Sydney would depart every Thursday and Sunday.

    On return trips, the carrier would only carry Vietnamese citizens being repatriated or foreign experts with permission to enter the country. Vietnam is yet to open its doors to foreign tourists.

    A representative of the carrier said the resumption of these international routes are meant to meet growing travel demand of Vietnamese citizens wishing to study and work abroad as well as stranded foreigners longing to return home.

    In addition to these routes, the national flag carrier is planning to operate inbound commercial flights to carry passengers from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, but is awaiting the government’s approval for this move.

    Vietnam closed national borders and canceled all international flights in March last year. Since then, only Vietnamese repatriates, foreign experts and highly-skilled workers are being allowed in with stringent conditions.

    Vietnam Airlines had said earlier that it is awaiting approval from the U.S. government to launch regular direct flights to that country.

    Vietnamese aviation authorities Wednesday proposed allowing vaccinated foreign passengers into the country from September without requiring centralized quarantine.

  • New Ripple Acquisition to Enhance Cross-Border Payments in APAC

    New Ripple Acquisition to Enhance Cross-Border Payments in APAC

    Its investment in an Asia-focused cross-border payments specialist aims to address challenges associated with cross-border payments in Southeast Asia’s fragmented payments landscape.

    Ripple has acquired a 40-percent stake in Tranglo, which will allow the blockchain payments company to meet growing customer demand in the region and expand the reach of on-demand liquidity (ODL), the company announced on Tuesday.

    ODL uses digital asset XRP to send money instantly. As Ripple broadens its regional footprint, RippleNet customers using ODL will be able to leverage Ripple’s line of credit to free up working capital and scale cross-border payments into more markets, the announcement said.

    Southeast Asia is the fastest-growing region for RippleNet adoption, according to the company. Tranglo will play a «critical role» in supporting existing corridors, such as the Philippines, and introducing new ODL corridors within its current network.

    Founded in Malaysia in 2008, Tranglo operates a cross-border payment hub that provides smart services for mobile airtime top-ups, as well as foreign remittance and business payments.

    Following the completion of the transaction, which is expected later this year, Amir Sarhangi, VP of product and delivery at Ripple and Brooks Entwistle, the company’s new regional managing director, will join Tranglo’s board of directors. TNG Fintech Group will remain the majority shareholder in Tranglo.

  • Mary Kay names new Asia Pacific regional president

    Mary Kay names new Asia Pacific regional president

    Mary Kay announced Wendy Wang will be appointed President of the company’s Asia Pacific Region. In her new role, Wang will provide strategic vision and leadership and drive growth in the region and beyond.

    “We want to congratulate Wendy as she transitions into her new role as President of Mary Kay Asia Pacific,” said David Holl, Mary Kay Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Wendy is passionate for the Mary Kay independent sales force and is a proven leader within Mary Kay. During her tenure, she has tirelessly built a strong and talented legal team that created a culture of compliance and compassion for China and the entire Asia Pacific Region. We are thrilled to welcome her as a member of the executive committee as we build on our efforts to enrich women’s lives around the globe.”

    Wang joined the company’s legal department in 2002 as Counsel for the Asia Pacific region and worked in China until 2012, when she was promoted to Vice President and Associate General Counsel over all four regions. In 2019, she returned to China and was promoted to Chief Commercial Officer for the Asia Pacific Region in 2020.

    “I am committed to empowering women and their families in the Asia Pacific region,” Wang says. “Supporting Mary Kay’s independent sales force is my greatest honor and always brings me hope, love, and confidence in our future. We are a people business with a mission to enrich women’s lives and a vision to empower the Independent Beauty Consultant. My team and I are committed to delivering the very best business opportunity, building upon the values Mary Kay upholds as cornerstones of our corporate culture and mission.”

    This promotion is a continuation of Mary Kay’s commitment to empowering women leaders. As of March 2021, the company’s global executive team is more than 50 percent female.

  • Cybersecurity Startup Plots APAC Expansion

    Cybersecurity Startup Plots APAC Expansion

    London-based cloud-native application security startup Snyk is eyeing Asia Pacific and Japan, following a breakout year in 2020.

    Snyk has announced plans to expand in Singapore, India, Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, and has appointed vice president of APJ sales Shaun McLagan to lead and build out dedicated teams in the region, the firm announced in a blog post on Thursday.

    The appointment comes as Snyk announced its latest $300 million Series E funding, led by new partners – Singapore state investor Temasek and Geodesic Capital, a venture capital firm that specializes in helping technology companies expand into Asia.

    The startup cited an explosion of digital transformation initiatives across the region and a greater need for security among companies. Its customers include Revolut and Volt Bank.

    With an estimated 27 million software developers worldwide today, and the strongest growth for developers expected in Asia Pacific specifically, Snyk collectively recognizes that there has never been a better time to serve this market, Peter McKay, Snyk CEO said.

    Founded in 2015, the company had a breakout year in 2020, recording a 200 percent year-over-year increase in revenue and making strategic acquisitions of DeepCode and Manifold.

    With the new funding round, the company has now raised $470 million to date, bringing the company valuation to US$4.7 billion, quadrupling it since the beginning of 2020.

  • Most APAC Institutionals Undergo ESG Conversion

    Most APAC Institutionals Undergo ESG Conversion

    Sustainable investing continues to establish roots within the industry especially in Asia where over half of the region’s institutional investors will have largely implemented related factors in their processes by the end of the year.

    Almost 60 percent of APAC investors expect to have incorporated environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors completely or «to a large extent» within their own investment analysis and decision-making processes by 2021-end, according to a recent survey by MSCI.

    The combination of climate-related events, such as devastating wildfires, floods and droughts, and a global pandemic have accelerated the paradigm shift on ESG and climate change, MSCI president and chief operating officer Baer Pettit, highlighting outperformance by sustainable investing during the pandemic. Once an issue for ‘green funds’ and side-pockets, ESG and climate are now firmly established as high priority issues.

    The survey involved 200 institutions, including 70 from the APAC region, with approximately $18 trillion of assets under management.

    Although Asia is a relative laggard in sustainable investing compared to more mature markets, it is rapidly accelerating efforts.

    According to the survey, 79 percent of APAC investors increased ESG investment significantly or modularity in repossess to the coronavirus, compared to the 77 percent average worldwide. This figure rises to 90 percent for the largest institutional investors (more than $200 billion of assets).

    General growth aside, the region is also particularly focused on risks related to climate change.

    50 percent of APAC ex-Australia, New Zealand and Japan investors consider climate change metrics for decision-making compared to the global average of 42 percent.

    The reality is, climate change links to a rapidly shifting social context that in turn drives changes to investor demands, all within a very dynamic regulatory environment, Pettit added. These trends are amplified by technology innovation, adding significant cost and time pressure. Quite simply, investing has never been a more complex ecosystem.

  • IntSights grows APAC footprint with Pacific Tech partnership

    IntSights grows APAC footprint with Pacific Tech partnership

    IntSights, the threat intelligence company focused on democratizing threat intelligence, announced the appointment of Pacific Tech as its regional distributor in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. The collaboration further strengthens IntSights’ network in the region to meet the fast-growing demand for threat intelligence as enterprises look to gain greater visibility and control over threats outside the wire.

    IntSights offers unique cyber reconnaissance capabilities and patented data-mining algorithms that give customers the deepest and most actionable intelligence on the market. The IntSights platform has the ability to discover, analyze, and mitigate external threats across PaaS, SaaS, and IaaS, which is critical in the remote work scenario. The new partnership with Pacific Tech aligns with IntSights global growth initiatives and affirms the company’s commitment to the region.

    Pacific Tech is an award-winning value-added distributor with more than a decade of experience in providing cybersecurity, data protection, managed security services, and IOT security solutions to customers in APAC. Pacific Tech will be distributing the full range of IntSights products, services, and solutions to the system integrator and value-added reseller channel communities; as well as end clients from target verticals including e-commerce, energy, financial services, government, healthcare, and retail.

    “We are delighted to work with IntSights as we continue to deliver value-added solutions to our partners and customers,” said Andy Woo, Regional Director, Pacific Tech. “With our regional business-coverage, especially in ASEAN, we are well-positioned to bring IntSights best-in-class solutions to enterprises in the region. IntSights has taken the complexity out of threat intelligence, and the broad accessibility to IntSights solutions will address today’s organizations’ need for effective cyber intelligence solutions.”

    “Amidst the challenging environment, IntSights continued to grow at more than 60 percent YoY in 2020 with a record fourth quarter. Asia Pacific has been one of the focus regions for growth, and we are increasing our investments in engineering, product management, sales, and marketing in the region,” said Michael Tan, Regional Director of APJ, IntSights.

    IntSights has adopted a channel-driven GTM and is being distributed by some of the biggest, most influential partners in the world. We see synergy and opportunities through our partnership with Pacific Tech as we continue our growth momentum. It is an opportune time to extend the alliance ecosystem to scale our capabilities to aid enterprises of any size to counter cyber threats today.”