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Tag: asia

  • Starbucks, Shake Shack summoned over excessive personal data collection

    Starbucks, Shake Shack summoned over excessive personal data collection

    Chinese regulators in financial hub Shanghai summoned three firms including Starbucks and Shake Shack earlier this week for collecting excessive personal information, the city’s cyberspace regulator said on Wednesday.

    The regulators urged these firms to comprehensively rectify, protect personal information and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, Shanghai’s cyberspace regulator said in a statement.

    Currently, two firms including Shake Shack have made initial improvements to the issues, and Starbucks is actively making adjustments, the regulator said

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  • Former Japan Airlines leader to chair Bamboo Airways

    Former Japan Airlines leader to chair Bamboo Airways

    Oshima Hideki, the former chairman of Japan Airlines, has been appointed chairman of Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways for the 2023-2028 period.

    He is among seven new directors of the airline, according to decisions made at the company’s general meeting on Wednesday.

    Hideki has nearly 40 years of experience in the aviation industry.

    He was previously Deputy General Director of Japan Airlines, Deputy General Director of the Tokyo Narita Airport, and a Project Manager at Haneda Airport.

    Bamboo Airways’ new deputy chairmen are Nguyen Ngoc Trong, Doan Huu Doan and Phan Dinh Tue. The other members of the board of directors are Le Ba Nguyen, Le Thai Sam and Tran Hoa Binh.

    A new board of supervisors, comprised of three members, has also been appointed.

    Bamboo Airways plans to operate 30-36 aircraft by the end of this year, aiming for an occupancy rate of 81.5% and an on-time flight ratio of 90%.

    The carrier is targeting a revenue increase of 15-20% from last year’s VND11.73 trillion ($498.94 million). It also wants to expand its network in Europe, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia.

    Bamboo Airways is building an aviation ecosystem for itself by establishing subsidiaries for transportation, ground services, aviation technology and food services.

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  • Diesel price hikes

    Diesel price hikes

    Vietnam on Wednesday adjusted diesel price up while keeping gasoline prices unchanged for the second time in a row.

    Diesel went up 0.83% to VND18,170 ($0.77) per liter.

    Gasoline prices were kept stable at VND22,010 for RON95 and 20,870 for E5 RON92.

    Global prices in the last 10 days increased slight due to a reduced supply from OPEC+ countries, rising exports and production of Iran despite U.S.’s restrictions.

    RON92 price rose 0.2% to $88.09 per barrel, while RON95 went up 0.2% to $93.31.

    Diesel gained 1.7% to $91.71.

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  • Bayer Vietnam announces strategic partnership with National Obstetrics Hospital

    Bayer Vietnam announces strategic partnership with National Obstetrics Hospital

    Bayer Vietnam and the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology have announced a new strategic partnership to advance the health and well-being of women in line with a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

    The partnership aims to improve the knowledge and clinical experience of ob-gyn healthcare professionals while enhancing public awareness of gynecological health issues and empowering women to take control of their health and well-being.

    This collaboration will also utilize the partners’ complementary strengths and capabilities to improve knowledge and clinical expertise among obstetricians and gynecologists, while enhancing public awareness of women’s health issues and promoting self-care through educational online and offline platforms.

    The MoU spans from 2023 to 2025 to allow time for major initiatives to be launched and achieve results.

    For healthcare professionals, Bayer Vietnam and the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology (NHOG) will coordinate to develop and deliver training content. They will also continue medical education programs and scientific seminars focused on the correct and safe use of modern contraceptive methods.

    The latest treatments and therapies will focus on gynecological conditions like endometriosis, heavy menstrual bleeding, vaginal infections and menopause management, with up-to-date guidelines on pregnancy nutrition, and self-care solutions.

    The partnership will also include collaboration with international ob-gyn organizations and experts to exchange the latest knowledge and information, ensuring the local medical community stays abreast of global developments and innovations to deliver higher-quality healthcare for Vietnamese women.

    For the general public, disease awareness campaigns will be implemented across multiple channels, both online and offline, to educate women about reproductive health and gynecological problems, and encourage them to seek preventative care and early treatment, which will lead to improved quality of life and reduced risk of future health issues.

    By leveraging the power of digital platforms and social media channels, the initiative will combine the hospital’s expertise and patient insights with the company’s resources and capabilities. The impact of these efforts can be multiplied, increasing the reach and credibility of the campaign message, and contributing to the sustainable development of the healthcare industry.

    Associate Prof. Tran Danh Cuong MD Ph.D., Director of the National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said: “Educating both physicians and patients is essential for transforming healthcare quality, benefiting both patients and the medical community. Working together with Bayer Vietnam allows us to optimize our expertise in women’s health and broaden our outreach to improve public health literacy as well as the professional capacity of the healthcare workforce, not only at our hospital but also in satellite hospitals across the country. We hope this will open up the prospect of identifying new effective diagnoses and treatment options in the field of ob-gyn, and elevate the standard of care for women in Vietnam.”

    Ingo Brandenburg, Managing Director of Bayer Vietnam, emphasized: “At Bayer, care is the core of our work, and women’s healthcare is in our DNA. We are thrilled to partner with Vietnam’s National Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, which shares our mission of advancing care and addressing unmet needs in women’s health. I very much look forward to seeing the fruits of our collaboration, a future where each and every woman has access to quality healthcare services and is empowered to reach her full potential in life.”

    This MoU aligns with the company’s strategy of fostering collaborative relationships across the healthcare industry with a patient-and-consumer-centric approach to realize its vision of “Health for all, Hunger for none.”

    Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of healthcare and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population.

    In fiscal 2022, the group employed around 101,000 people and posted sales of 50.7 billion euros. R&D expenses before special items amounted to 6.2 billion euros.

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  • Mastercard launches global plan to recycle credit cards

    Mastercard launches global plan to recycle credit cards

    Payments company Mastercard on Wednesday launched a global project to recycle credit and debit cards as part of a plan to save the billions of cards in circulation across the industry from landfill.

    Initially partnering with British lender HSBC Holdings Plc in eight branches in Britain, Mastercard said banks across the world, some of which have launched local initiatives, would be able to join the programme and help build economies of scale.

    “We are inviting all card issuers around the world to partner with us, no matter what region they are in, and offer card recycling to their customers,” said Ajay Bhalla, president of cyber and intelligence at Mastercard.

    Under the plan, Mastercard will provide shredding machines to HSBC, each of which is capable of holding 10,000 cards, equivalent to 50 kg (110 pounds) of plastic. Once full, it will be transferred to a plastic recycling facility.

    Financial details about the plan were not disclosed. The pilot project, which will run for an initial six months, will allow customers to recycle any plastic card, including those from rivals.

    “This recycling pilot will provide us with some very important insight and will inform our longer-term plans,” said Jose Carvalho, head of wealth and personal banking at HSBC UK.

    Initiatives like Mastercard’s recycling programme not only promote sustainability but also offer banks opportunities to boost customer engagement through innovative offerings. For example, CIMB’s credit card promotion rewards users with attractive incentives for optimized card usage. By providing direct cash credit, CIMB’s promotion seamlessly blends financial rewards with responsible consumer behavior, underscoring the need for versatile credit card strategies in today’s market.

    Currently, Mastercard said it has around 3.1 billion cards in circulation. Each year, it estimates around 600 million cards are produced by the industry, each with a life span of around five years.

    The Nilson Report, which analyses the industry, put total cards in circulation at nearly 26 billion in 2022, and forecast that could rise to 28.4 billion by 2027.

    Soaring plastic use has created one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges, with plastic waste buried in landfills or polluting rivers and oceans. The manufacturing process for plastic is also a major source of planet-warming greenhouse gas.

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  • Grab cuts 1000 jobs

    Grab cuts 1000 jobs

    Singapore-based Grab Holdings, Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing and food delivery app, is cutting 1,000 jobs or 11 per cent of its workforce, its CEO said on Tuesday, citing the need to manage costs and ensure more affordable services long term.

    In a letter sent to employees late on Tuesday and seen by Reuters, chief executive Anthony Tan said the cuts, the biggest since the start of the pandemic, were not “a shortcut to profitability” but a strategic reorganisation to adapt to the business environment.

    “Change has never been this fast. Technology such as generative AI (artificial intelligence) is evolving at breakneck speed. The cost of capital has gone up, directly impacting the competitive landscape,” Tan said in the letter.

    “We must combine our scale with nimble execution and cost leadership, so that we can sustainably offer even more affordable services and deepen our penetration of the masses.”

    Tan said that even without layoffs, Grab had managed costs and should hit its target for group adjusted EBITDA breakeven this year.

    The “superapp”, founded in 2012, offers deliveries, rides and financial services in eight Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

    Its shares were up 4.7 percent premarket after Tan’s announcement to staff. The stock had climbed as much as 5.6 percent premarket, extending earlier gains on a Bloomberg News report of the cuts.

    The layoffs follow a similar move last year by Indonesian tech firm GoTo, which offers rides, e-commerce and financial services. It has undergone strict cost-cutting, including axing 12% of its workforce in 2022. It laid off a further 600 staff in March.

    Its incoming CEO is planning to head the firm only temporarily and quit after improving profitability, sources told Reuters last week.

    In May, Grab reported a quarterly loss of $250 million but said revenue in the first quarter of this year rose 130.3 percent to $525 million from a year ago.

    In February, it issued an upbeat forecast for full-year revenue for 2023 and brought forward its profitability timeline.

    The US-listed Grab’s last job cuts were in 2020, when 360 people were laid off in response to the impact of the pandemic. The company had 11,934 staff as of the end of 2022, including about 2,000 from its acquisition of a grocery chain last year, its latest annual report said.

    In September last year, it said it had no plans to undertake mass layoffs despite the weak market. In December, Tan told staff the company was freezing most hiring, payrises for senior managers, and cutting travel and expense budgets.

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  • South Korean c-store chain CU launches in Kazakhstan

    South Korean c-store chain CU launches in Kazakhstan

    South Korean convenience store chain CU is setting its eyes on the Central Asian region, entering Kazakhstan under a partnership with CU Central Asia, the c-store operation arm of local ice cream manufacturer Shin Line.

    CU’s first store there is set to open next year. The chain’s parent company BGF Retail said it plans to open more than 500 locations in the country in the next five years and is also considering expanding into neighbouring markets.

    The company expanded into Malaysia in 2020 through a 10-year franchise agreement with MyNews. Since then, the chain has opened more than 130 stores in the country. Before Malaysia, BGF Retail also launched the CU chain in Mongolia and currently operates about 320 stores in the market.

    Founded in 2012 by BGF Retail, CU is one of South Korea’s biggest c-store chains with more than 16,000 outlets as of last year, according to Statista.

    BGF Retail reported a 6.5 per cent increase in net income for the first quarter of this year, reaching 27.7 billion won (US$20.6 million).

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  • LPBank appoints new CEO

    LPBank appoints new CEO

    Lender LPBank, formerly LienVietPostBank, has named Ho Nam Tien its new CEO.

    Tien, 52, has been with the bank since 2010 and has 30 years of experience in the financial and banking sector, including in senior positions at several companies.

    He replaces Pham Doan Son, who resigned as CEO in March due to personal reasons.

    LPBank is focused on digital transformation in the next five years and has ambitions of becoming the top retail bank in Vietnam.

    LPBank targets a pre-tax profit of VND6 trillion this year, up 11% from 2022.

    The company eyes to increase its capital by VND11 trillion ($468 million), mostly by rights issue.

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  • Instagram enables download of public Reels in the US

    Instagram enables download of public Reels in the US

    Instagram introduced Reels in 2020, and since then, this feature’s popularity has grown, reaching over 2.35 billion monthly active users. Now, Instagram is rolling out a new feature for its users in the US.

    Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram, announced on his broadcast channel that the company will allow users to download Reels to their camera roll. The process is simple: just tap the share button and select the download option.

    It’s important to note that only Reels from public accounts can be downloaded, and even if you have a public account, you can choose to turn off the Reel download option.

    Mosseri did not mention whether the downloaded Reels would have watermarks, but based on the picture he uploaded, it is safe to assume that downloaded Reels will indeed bear watermarks, much like they do right now.

    Currently, every Instagram user can download and share their own Reels on different platforms. However, with this new feature, users will also be able to share other people’s Reels on platforms like TikTok, for example.

    TikTok has had this feature for years, and videos with the TikTok logo are now prevalent on various social platforms, contributing to the Chinese video-sharing app’s increasing popularity.

    It’s worth noting that although videos with TikTok’s logo are no longer promoted by Instagram’s algorithms, their number on the platform remains substantial. With this new update, there is a chance for Instagram’s logo to appear frequently on its rival platforms as well.

    While it is likely that this feature will eventually be available for users worldwide, the exact timeline for its global release remains unknown. We will have to wait and see when that happens.

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  • Google tests badge for Messages that quickly points out RCS chats

    Google tests badge for Messages that quickly points out RCS chats

    Rich Communication Services (RCS) is the platform that Google offers Android users in its Messages by Google app. Similar to iMessage in iOS, RCS uses your phone’s data connection and Wi-Fi instead of the cellular connection used for SMS/MMS messaging. With RCS, users can type messages with as many as 8,000 characters as opposed to 160 for SMS. RCS also offers end-to-end encryption, read receipts, typing indicators, high-quality images and video, and text inside blue bubbles.

    Yup, RCS is very much like iMessage. So much so in fact, that if an iOS user were to infiltrate a group chat held by Android users, all of these features would disappear and everyone’s texts would be inside green bubbles-just like with iMessage when an Android user joins a previously all iOS chat.

    Google has added a new feature that now shows you from the Messages home screen in Android which of your conversations are eligible to use the RCS platform. Previously, you could figure this out by opening a conversation and looking at the text field at the bottom of the screen. If the conversation was with someone using an Android phone and RCS, you would see the words “RCS message.” If you were texting an iOS user or an Android user using a non-RCS messaging app, you’d see the words “Text message.”
    With the new feature, which shows up in the latest beta release to Google Messages (version 20230615_02_RC00), a badge that looks like the Google Messages icon appears on the bottom right of the avatars on individual and group conversations that will use the RCS platform when you tap to reopen them. Nothing shows up on the avatars that belong to those conversations on your Messages home screen that were conducted using SMS/MMS instead of RCS. The RCS badges have appeared on my Pixel 6 Pro running Android 14 Beta 3.1.
    If you don’t have the Messages by Google app on your Android phone, tap on this link to install it from the Google Play Store. To see which version of Google Messages your Android phone is running, go to Settings > Apps > See all xxx apps and scroll down until you see the Messages app. Tap on it and scroll to the very bottom and you’ll see which version of the app you have.
    Since this feature is on the beta version of Google Messages, it should be available to all Android users running the Messages by Google app soon.
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  • L’Oreal Group ANZ appoints Alex Davison as its new CEO

    L’Oreal Group ANZ appoints Alex Davison as its new CEO

    Alex Davison has been appointed the new CEO of L’Oreal Group ANZ, succeeding Rodrigo Pizarro.

    Davison has served as the CEO of L’Oreal Greece for the past three years. According to the group, Greece has continuously been among the fastest-growing markets in Europe under his leadership, with the company achieving three years of double-digit growth, and building market share in every business channel.

    “This aligns with my personal leadership values and I’m looking forward to working with the team as we build brands tailored for Australian and New Zealand consumers, and a business focused on sustainability and diversity,” said Davison.

    He also oversaw the group and was honoured in Greece as a ‘Top 20 Company Changing the World for Good’, award by Fortune magazine.

    In 2016, Davison began working for the L’Oreal Group as the UK GM of the business division for Dermatological Beauty. Prior to that, he worked for Procter & Gamble for 17 years.

    L’Oreal purchased Australian luxury cosmetics business Aesop from Brazil’s Natura & Co Holding earlier this year for US$2.525 billion (A$3.7 billion).

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  • Ernest Hillier Chocolates enters administration

    Ernest Hillier Chocolates enters administration

    Australian confectioner Ernest Hillier Chocolates has appointed voluntary administrators to sell off its business and related entities.

    Established in 1914, the company is Australia’s oldest chocolate brand and operates a manufacturing facility in Coburg, Victoria. Its Ernest Hillier and Newman’s brands have been stocked across supermarkets for many years.

    Administrators Alan Walker and Glenn Livingstone from WLP Restructuring Partners are seeking urgent expressions of interest from interested parties who could recapitalise or acquire the business’ assets.

    Partner Alan Walker, said it is “unfortunate” that such a “storied” chocolate brand has encountered distress amid rising operating costs.

    “We are working closely with all affected parties as we move with urgency to understand the business’s affairs and find a suitable buyer or investor.

    “While this process is underway, we have had to make the unfortunate decision to cease manufacturing activity and stand down employees at this stage.”

    He added the brand’s existing relationships with large multi-national food and beverage providers alongside its supply agreements may “appeal to potential suitors”.

    The first statutory meeting of creditors will be held on June 30.

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  • Gold prices fall

    Gold prices fall

    SJC gold price fell 0.15% to VND67.1 million ($2,852.04) per tael Wednesday morning.

    Gold ring price dropped 0.18% to VND56.45 million per tael. A tael equals 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces.

    Globally gold traded in a narrow range on Wednesday as traders refrained from making big bets ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony, which could offer further insight into the central bank’s interest-rate hike plan,.

    Spot gold was almost unchanged at $1,936.99 per ounce. U.S. gold futures too were little changed at $1,948.20.

    Powell’s congressional testimonies due on Wednesday and Thursday will be scanned for U.S. interest rate outlook.

    Two Federal Reserve policymakers and an economist nominated to join them on the Fed’s Washington-based board on Tuesday said their focus is on bringing down too-high inflation so that the U.S. economy can get back to sustainable growth.

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  • WhatsApp update adds option to automatically silence unknown callers

    WhatsApp update adds option to automatically silence unknown callers

    WhatsApp users have been spoiled lately, as Meta’s acquisition rolled out several important updates in the last few months, something that doesn’t happen too often. Today’s update introduces a couple of privacy features that we’re pretty sure users will find extremely useful.

    As the title says, a new option to automatically silence unknown callers is now available for WhatsApp users. Specifically designed to prevent spam, scams, and calls from unknown people, the new feature provides increased protection and peace of mind.

    The new feature can be enabled from the Privacy tab / Calls and while all calls from unknown numbers will be silenced, they will still be shown in the Call list just in case you recognize one of the numbers or you know it’s coming from someone important.

    In addition to the Silence Unknown Callers feature, WhatsApp announced that it’s bringing Privacy Checkup to its app. It’s a step-by-step feature meant to guide users through important privacy settings and familiarize them with certain levels of protection.

    WhatsApp users can now select “Start checkup” from their Privacy settings to browse through multiple privacy layers that increase the security of messages, calls and personal information.

    These two new features should be available globally for all WhatsApp users, but make sure to update to the latest version of the app before trying to use either of them.

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  • Google apps like Maps, Translate, Calendar and Lens are getting integrated into the iOS Chrome app

    Google apps like Maps, Translate, Calendar and Lens are getting integrated into the iOS Chrome app

    There are some changes being made by Google to the iOS version of Chrome in order to “help you quickly get more done from your browser.” Google notes that Chrome is using “AI to detect addresses on webpages.” Press on an address inside of a webpage and you’ll see an option to “View with Google Maps in Chrome.” Tapping on this option will reveal a mini Google Maps in Chrome that will allow you to “Get Directions” to the address on the webpage that you tapped, or open the full Google Maps app.
    Tap on a date listed on a webpage in the iOS version of Chrome and you’ll see two options: one to add that date to the Google Calendar app, and one to add that date to Apple Calendar. If you choose to add it to Google Calendar, contextual information will be used to fill out some of the blanks and you can adjust some of the information to meet the particulars of the appointment you are adding to the calendar.
    Now here’s another cool feature coming to the iOS version of Chrome. Tap on a passage found on a website written in a foreign language and a toolbar will appear on the display that includes a “Google Translate” option. Tap on it and the section of the webpage you wanted to be translated will appear in English (or your home language).
    And in the coming months, the search/URL bar at the top of the iOS version of Chrome will include the iconic Google Lens camera icon on the right side of the bar found near the top of the screen. Tap on it and you can “use your camera to search with new pictures you take and existing images in your camera roll.” Think of Lens as another way to access Google’s search engine using photos to input what you want to search for. Currently, an icon for Lens can be found in the search bar near the top of the iOS Google Search app.
    It isn’t clear when these new features are coming to the iOS version of Chrome so it will be a matter of trial and error until you find that each of these new features is available on your iPhone.
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