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Tag: asia

  • Two more river bus routes proposed for HCMC

    Two more river bus routes proposed for HCMC

    Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7 has proposed to municipal authorities that two new river bus routes be established to connect it with downtown District 1.

    A private company will invest and operate the two routes on Saigon River for five years, with a total price tag of nearly VND260 billion ($11.5 million), District 7 authorities proposed.

    The No. 3 route will run 13 kilometers from Bach Dang Wharf to Mui Den Do with a total time of 56 minutes. There will be 11 stations. A boat will have 50 seats.

    The No. 4 route will run over 13 kilometers from Bach Dang Wharf to the Phu My Hung urban area. A boat will have 40 seats.

    Authorities of District 7 said both routes would help take advantage of the waterways as the city strives to recover its economy following the fourth Covid-19 wave, the proposal read.

    HCMC is operating the No. 1 route from District 1 to Thu Duc City. The No. 2 route from downtown to District 8 is pending operation.

    River buses are part of the city’s efforts to reduce traffic congestion.

    With 110 rivers and canals covering 1,000 kilometers, the city needs over VND21 trillion to develop this network in the next 30 years, according to its Department of Transport.

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  • Digital and data central as French retailer Carrefour speeds up turnaround

    Digital and data central as French retailer Carrefour speeds up turnaround

    French supermarket group Carrefour on Tuesday, € 3 billion (3.47 million) between 2022 and 2026 to strengthen digital commerce expansion and increase profits in line with Boss Alexandre Bomper’s future strategic plans. I promised to spend $ 10,000).

    E-commerce is the main driver of online push, as Europe’s largest food retailers aim to stay ahead of Amazon in grocery delivery and speed up ongoing turnarounds. -Boosted by Express Delivery and Innovative Services-Lamp-Upsizing Data and Retail Media, and Digitizing Financial Services.

    “Digital will be at the heart of our next strategic plan by 2026. This is a great opportunity for Carrefour,” Bompard Chairman and CEO told investors on Group’s Digital Day.

    By 1442 GMT, Carrefour shares were up 2.2% at € 15.70. However, when Bompard acquired it in July 2017, its shares were 30% below that level. He secured another three-year term in May.

    Carrefour has spent € 2 billion on technology and digital expansion in the first stages of its turnaround plan since 2018, trebling food e-commerce activity in the process.

    As a result of the new digital push, Carrefour has raised its total annual investment target to around € 1.7 billion. This is the € 1.5-1.7 billion cap given in early 2021.

    “Now that the first successful transformation plan is nearing its end, we’re bringing Carrefour, a traditional e-commerce retailer, a digital retailer that puts digital and data at the heart of all its operations and value creation. I want to transform into a model. “

    “Today, it’s very difficult for them to enter the food market, especially fresh food, and we have to find a model that they can’t replicate,” Bompard commented on the competition with Amazon.

    Carrefour said the additional investment could triple the total value of e-commerce products (the total value of products sold) from 2026 to € 10 billion.

    Digital forecasts an additional € 600 million in recurring operating profit in 2026 compared to 2021. “This will be minimal,” added Matthieu Malige, Chief Financial Officer.

    Carrefour, in the later stages of its five-year turnaround plan, which began in January 2018, has two planned partnerships. This year did not fail-one in Canada One with Couche-Tard and Auchan from France.

    Past digital initiatives ranged from strategic partnerships with Google to rapid grocery delivery service transactions with Uber Technologies.

    Carrefour announced on Tuesday that it would set up a dedicated venture capital fund to allow it to acquire minority shares in companies involved in innovation and emerging technologies.

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  • Nissan Triples Profit Forecast On Strong Quarterly Results

    Nissan Triples Profit Forecast On Strong Quarterly Results

    Nissan tripled its full-year net profit forecast on Tuesday as it rebounded from the impact of the pandemic with a strong quarterly performance, saying it expected to withstand challenges including the global chip crunch and rising raw material prices. The firm now projects 180 billion yen ($1.6 billion) in net profit for the fiscal year to March 2022, up from an earlier estimate of 60 billion yen. Nissan’s last yearly net profit in the black was in 2018-19.

    For the three months to September, Nissan logged a 54.1 billion yen net profit, reversing a 44.4 billion yen net loss for the same period last year. “Our strong results are the outcome of diligent financial management, improved quality of sales and continuing product offensive. This has helped us withstand several headwinds,” Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said in a statement.

    The firm has faced a series of trials in recent years, including weak demand during Covid-19 lockdowns and the fallout from the arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn, now a fugitive in Lebanon.

    On Tuesday, the company revised down its full-year sales forecast to 8.8 trillion yen from 9.75 trillion yen, partially because of the impact of a semiconductor shortage plaguing auto firms worldwide. Supply disruptions have compounded the mismatch between demand for and availability of chips, a key component in modern cars.

    Nissan plans to slash its production by around 30 percent from its original plan in October and November because of the chip shortage, public broadcaster NHK reported.

  • Dark Mode arrives on the iOS version of Google Maps

    Dark Mode arrives on the iOS version of Google Maps

    Back in August, Google announced that the iOS version of Google Maps was getting Dark Mode. The feature has been available since September. We should point out that if you set your iPhone to system-wide Dark Mode by going to Settings > Display & Brightness and tapping on Dark, Google Maps will not go to Dark Mode. So if you want the app to run on the latter, follow these directions.

    Open Google Maps (which goes without saying although we just said it anyway, didn’t we?). Tap on the circle with your profile picture or first initial in it located on the right side of the Search bar at the top of the screen. Tap on Settings and under the USING MAPS headings, you’ll see a listing for Dark Mode.

    When you tap on Dark Mode, it will open a page with three options: On, Off, Same as device setting. Tap on On and the entire app goes into Dark Mode immediately. Menus that have black text on a white background will show a black background with white text which isn’t as likely to burn a hole in your retina as that intense white background is.

    Tap on Off and Dark Mode will not turn on at all. The last option is the Same as device setting. This means that the app will follow the settings you have chosen for your iPhone. Using Dark Mode reduces the strain on your eyes, makes the screen easier to read, and if you have an AMOLED display, it can save battery life.

    Since an AMOLED display doesn’t require a backlight, the color black is created by turning off the appropriate pixels.

  • European business sentiment inches up

    European business sentiment inches up

    The Business Climate Index of European companies rose 3 percentage points to 18.3 in Q3, showing improving perceptions on Vietnam’s economic outlook.

    The rise from the historic low of 15 points in September came as business leaders were more optimistic about Vietnam’s business environment as the country relaxed social distancing measures and aimed toward a new normal, according to a survey of European businesses by EuroCham.

    Forty-nine percent of business leaders and investors predicted a stabilizing and improving economic outlook next quarter, compared to less than 19 percent in the second quarter.

    “With the pandemic now back under control in Vietnam, the confidence and optimism of European business leaders should continue to climb as companies get back to normal and consumer confidence rises,” said EuroCham chairman Alain Cany.

    However, despite this positive progress, business leaders are still encountering challenges in their commercial operations, he added.

    Sixty-six percent of businesses were affected by staff leaving work after the fourth wave lockdown.

    Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they saw a reduction in operations after reopening.

    Prolonged international travel restrictions affected almost two-thirds of European businesses in Vietnam.

    The online survey polled 154 executives of European companies in Vietnam.

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  • How Cryptos Bait Clients

    How Cryptos Bait Clients

    Traditional banks look on as clients are cleverly lured away by cryptocurrency providers.

    How about a Lamborghini? The latest iPhone? Or simply five bitcoins? Cryptocurrency providers dangle potential prospects with the allure of never-ending riches as a way of smoothing their entry into the world of digital currencies.

    Greed is always the start. Bitcoin, as the world’s eminent cryptocurrency, is constantly at a new high. Kick yourself for not being invested. One thing is sure. You always want to know more.

    Landing on Some Platform

    You start searching the internet and find plenty of stuff when you look up crypto or bitcoin. That is also where many crypto platforms lurk, ably guiding users to their websites. An example of that is crypto.com. It paid a tidy sum for the domain name – and it almost always features at the top of any search engine.

    But cryptos do a great deal more than just that to get new clients. Their second play is a simple one. Get current clients to recommend their platform and they often spend a good deal of money doing just that.

    Starting Bonus

    Up to $50 or $100 a head are on offer for new clients. It allows them to start buying and selling coins immediately. They can also transfer them to other platforms or simply pay the money into their bank accounts if they want to. It allows them to experience the brave new crypto world without risking their own money. As it is often at the start that beginner’s mistakes are made – but when that happens at least they haven’t lost real money.

    Entry Quiz

    Crypto firms have been banging on the ad drum in the U.S. in a big way, particularly when the government was sending stimulus checks out. Cryptocurrency investments were touted as a great inflation hedge. The pitch worked and the main American platforms saw buoyant uptake as a result.

    Coinbase, a known listed crypto provider, has found another way to attract users. Anyone interested can answer a quiz. They are rewarded with coins that they can send to their private banking account should they want to. But what they are really after is getting them to playfully engage with virtual money early on.

    Simple Apps

    The providers also do everything they can to cut complexity and become as attractive to as many people as possible. Internet domain names are difficult to remember – so they offer simple apps with very few functions for beginners. Practiced, experienced users are directed to broader websites.

    Storytelling is also rampant. Investors and clients are frequently relayed heartwarming stories about how the lives of some have been changed since they started investing in crypto.

    Ask the CEO

    Such stories can also be told live at so-called Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) rounds. The heads of the platforms make themselves available online to tell everyone what their business model is. They also try to allay the uncertainties of anyone interested. It provides a genuine, real-world touch.

    They also answer one of the main burning questions proactively. How do investors actually get their money back? The companies cooperate with the main credit card companies including Visa and Mastercard. You can use crypto for normal purchases online. Not only does that build confidence – but it also integrates digital money into daily life.

    Naturally, they don’t refrain from pointing out the regulatory licenses they have in order to leave a serious, institutional impression. But new clients have to look closely if they actually want to understand what license the providers have and what it is for.

    Using it for Mortgages

    In the meantime, crypto providers have a range of products on offer. No one really needs a legacy bank anymore. Mortgage anyone? No problem. High-interest deposit? No problem. Instantaneous payment to the other side of the world? No problem.

    What are the established banks doing against all of this? Instead of actively trying to keep clients, they instead try to scare them off by threatening a dire picture of catastrophic losses. They often build barriers when clients appear to become interested in digital money. Banks and sometimes credit card companies often don’t execute payments for crypto platforms.

    But with that, they risk angering their clients – possibly pushing them away completely.

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  • HSBC Mulls Private Banking Re-Entry in India

    HSBC Mulls Private Banking Re-Entry in India

    HSBC wealth and personal banking chief Nunos Matos reportedly shared that the British lender was eyeing a reentry into private banking in India, noting that the market demands a strategic decision this year.

    After exiting the Indian private banking business in 2015 as part of the group’s strategic rejig, HSBC is considering a re-entry into the onshore market in addition to serving the global segment out of hubs in Singapore, London and the Middle East.

    We want to bank mass affluent and high net worth customers. At this moment, the two major pillars we are expanding in India are insurance and asset management, said HSBC’s Nuno Matos.

    On the private banking side, we are not there yet and that’s something that demands a strategic decision this year.

    Elsewhere in the region, HSBC remains in growth mode with the China onshore private banking business expecting headcount to increase from 20 at the end of last year to 64 by 2021-end and doubling again by 2022-end.

    Matos also highlighted growth opportunities in Singapore, where it bought French insurer AXA’s assets for $575 million, and the broader Southeast Asia region.

    Asian wealth is expanding twice as fast as the rest of the world. This is a compelling opportunity for us, Matos added. I’m not going to redo now our goals but what I can say is that in 2021, we will over-deliver our goals on the wealth side.

  • UBS Brings TV Sports Closer To Life

    UBS Brings TV Sports Closer To Life

    CEO Ralph Hamers wants banking services to be more like Netflix. Now the bank is sponsoring a mini-series that fits with UBS’ private banking plans.

    On November 14, the television mini-series Front Office starts on Players TV channel and – as its says in its title – will be presented by UBS. Switzerland’s biggest bank paid a seven-figure sum for a multi-year sponsorship agreement with the producer Players Media.

    The mini-series revolves around top American athletes discussing business ideas with their fans. The show uses a similar format to The Lion’s Den.

    The series will feature among others, NBA basketball Phoenix Suns player Chris Paul. A year ago, UBS launched a client segment of athletes and entertainers in the U.S.

    It hired former professional football player Adewale Ogunleye (pictured below) to head the unit. Ogunleye, who has an MBA from George Washington University, reports to local private banking chief Jason Chandler.

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  • Hendrick’s super-premium premixed cocktail helps Covid-19 hit bar trade

    Hendrick’s super-premium premixed cocktail helps Covid-19 hit bar trade

    For the first year on the market, William Grant & Sons will donate $1 from each bottle sold to the company’s StandFast fund that supports the hospitality industry struggling through Covid-19 trading restrictions.

    The range comprises Monkey Shoulder Lazy Old Fashioned, Reyka Rhubarb Cosmopolitan, Glenfiddich Scotch Manhattan and the Gin Martini.

    Teams from each of the five participating bars developed three variations of Hendrick’s Martini using ingredients often unique to their location. Gracie, Hendrick’s master distiller together with global ambassador Ally Martin, drew from the best of the different flavour elements that were presented and developed the Batch & Bottle Hendrick’s Gin Martini, seeking feedback from the bars at every step.

    “I worked closely with some of the very best martini-making bars in the world, taking inspiration from what they do and translating it into something you can easily pour at home that’s fresh, floral, round and smooth like Hendrick’s,” said Gracie. “Each bar had a wildly different take on what made the perfect martini. It sent me down a rabbit hole of flavour discovery, experimenting endlessly with different ingredients and flavour combinations.”

    To create the final martini, each bar worked alongside Gracie and Martin to hone and develop the recipe with ingredients that inspired them.

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  • Wright Electric’s Spirit 100 Seat Electric Aircraft Announced

    Wright Electric’s Spirit 100 Seat Electric Aircraft Announced

    Wright Electric has announced the Wright Spirit a 100 sweater electric aircraft that now joins its flagship electric aircraft the 1. It has four-megawatt class motors and the design is based on its BA4 146 platform. “The Wright Spirit aircraft design builds on the BAe 146 platform – a 100 passenger, 4-engine aircraft known for its operation out of noise-sensitive airports,” the company said in a statement.

    “To develop the integrated propulsion system, Wright has assembled an innovative team of companies with expertise in generation, energy storage and propulsion design. The program now proceeds with on-going ground testing and final selection of the propulsion system. In 2023, the aircraft will begin flight testing with one all-electric propulsor. The development program will then accelerate towards flight testing with two all-electric propulsors by 2024 leading to the full-electric aircraft by 2026,” it added.

    The tests for the prototype will interestingly happen just on one motor but will be coupled with three conventional engines. Then gradually in 2024 Wright will start using two electric motors and then it will go fully electric in 2026.

    In comparison, the Wright 1 has a 186 person capacity and it has 10 electric motors with a total peak output of 20 megawatts but that electric plane will launch only in 2030.

    Wright Electric has explained its development of 2-megawatt motors which scale from 500 kilowatts to 4 megawatts with inverters with ultra-high efficiency and power density.

    “The path was set in early 2020 with Wright’s announcement and development of their megawatt propulsion system for an all-electric commercial aircraft. Throughout the last two years, the company has been proving key components of the system including a high-efficiency, high-power-density inverter and a 2 MW (2,700 HP) motor. The existing hydrocarbon-based propulsion system will be replaced with Wright’s all-electric, emissions-free propulsion system,” explained the company

    Interestingly while it uses electric propulsion, there is no word on the presence of batteries, leave alone the capacity of the battery pack or the weight of the aircraft.

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  • Meta looking into launching its own retail stores in the US

    Meta looking into launching its own retail stores in the US

    Facebook’s parent company Meta is looking into opening its own retail stores in the United States, according to a report.

    The stores will largely be used to show off the business’ physical goods, such as its virtual reality headsets and video chat tablets which are already sold in other chains across the country, and allow customers to try them out in a bid to get them hooked into Meta’s forthcoming ‘metaverse’.

    “Today we are seen as a social media company, but in our DNA we are a company that builds technology to connect people, and the metaverse is the next frontier just like social networking was when we got started,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said when announcing Facebook’s name change.

    The first Meta flagship store is likely slated for Burlingame, California. The store was likely going to be called the ‘Facebook Store’, though it remains to be seen if this will still be the case after the business’ rebrand last week.

    Meta is late to the party on launching its own physical stores, with fellow tech giants Amazon and Google both having launched their own stores in the last few years.

    However, with its roughly 2.9 billion monthly active Facebook users globally as of the third quarter of 2021 (according to Statista), the business has a large pool of potential consumers to market itself toward.

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  • Disney Plus Day brings a special 2$ offer for the first month of subscription

    Disney Plus Day brings a special 2$ offer for the first month of subscription

    Disney Plus first got released in 2019 on November 12th, which Disney refers to as Disney Plus Day. This year, for Disney Plus Day, the entertainment giant is making a special offer for new-to-be and returning subscribers. For their first month of subscription, the fee drops from 8$ to 2$.

    In addition to the 6$ cut for its streaming platform, Disney has some other special perks and offers under its sleeve as well. For example, you can get a five percent discount on Disney Plus products at WizKids and a 10 percent on Funko ones if you use the code DISNEYPLUSDAY.

    What’s more, over 200 AMC movie theaters will have surprise Disney movies playing for only 5$ a ticket between November 12th and 14th. On top of that, you will get a Disney Plus poster and some special concessions.

    On a different note, it seems the house of Mickey is keeping up with the new trends of the digital world. Disney will apparently be releasing NFTs in the form of golden statues of some of its most popular characters.

    Last but not least, Disney Plus Day is a good day to visit one of the famed Disney theme parks like Disney World or Disneyland. Visitors with a subscription can enter the parks 30 minutes earlier than usual, as well as free Disney PhotoPass photo downloads. There will also be new merchandise from Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar, so parents get their wallets ready. Additionally, some e-books will get discounted to as little as 1$ a piece until November 17th.

    As for the 2$ special offer for your first month of Disney Plus, it will be available from November 12th until the 14th, so make sure you catch it. It’s a great opportunity to see if you would like the shows Disney has to offer if you haven’t jumped on that bandwagon yet. Just remember that after the first month the price jumps back to that monthly 8$ fee.

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  • Jollibee takes stake in Milkshop

    Jollibee takes stake in Milkshop

    Jollibee Foods Corp has acquired a majority stake of Milkshop International, operator of Taiwanese milk tea chain Milksha, through its subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide.

    The acquisition deal, equivalent to 51 per cent ownership, is valued at approximately US$12.8 million. Meanwhile, one of the co-founders of Milkshop will retain the remaining 49 per cent.

    “This gives JFC the opportunity to participate in this fast-growing beverage category and together with Milkshop’s Founder, grow the Milksha brand globally,” the Philippine multinational company said in a disclosure statement.

    Founded in 2008, Milkshop International is primarily involved in the development, operations and franchising of specialty tea shops under the trade names Milkshop and Milksha (for international markets). Currently, the company operates more than 250 outlets, with 231 stores in Taiwan, four in Hong Kong, two in Melbourne, two in Vancouver and 12 in Singapore.

    Despite the pandemic, the chain generated $47.7 million in system wide sales, higher than the year before when the sales amounted to $66.5 million.

    “Milkshop is generating modest net income and positive earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation,” the company said.

    JFC and its subsidiaries, Fresh N’ Famous Foods and Mang Inasal Philippines, now have the exclusive rights, through a licensing agreement with Milkshop, to sell and market products under the Milksha brand in their stores. Jollibee said Milksha products will be sold in Chowking stores soon.

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  • WhatsApp multi-device support will roll out to all in mandatory update

    WhatsApp multi-device support will roll out to all in mandatory update

    The multi-device supportability was introduced this summer in a beta version to select users, and much more recently, became available for testing on a stable version of WhatsApp. Thousands of users took advantage of this and joined the multi-device beta program to be able to use WhatsApp from their laptops or tablets.

    It was a feature you could opt into at your discretion through the phone app itself. If you wanted to be able to log in through a different device, you’d have to specifically enable the feature on your phone, as it’s still technically in beta—that is, until now.

    A report by WaBetaInfo reveals that multi-device support will very soon be more or less forced upon users in an upcoming WhatsApp update. The team at WaBetaInfo discovered that the option to opt-out of the multi-device support program has been removed for users, meaning it is now a permanent feature of their account.

    They can now no longer leave the program, which is certain proof that multi-support is soon to be rolled out to everyone on the platform. And, as it turns out, it will be mandatory rather than optional after the upcoming WhatsApp beta version 2.21.23.10 goes live.

    How will this affect users, you may ask? Well, if you are already using the multi-device support feature, as soon as the update arrives to bring it to everyone, you will be logged out of all your additional devices, and you will have to re-link them to your account if you want to use your WhatsApp on more than just your phone.

    For the record, WhatsApp just recently removed the requirement for users’ phones to be online if they want to use WhatsApp from a secondary device. And for what it’s worth, we know that WhatsApp is already working on bringing the ability to link WhatsApp to more than one phone (and iPads, for that matter). When that update is coming, however, is still far too early to say.

  • WhatsApp will introduce Communities, evidence suggests

    WhatsApp will introduce Communities, evidence suggests

    WhatsApp has been adding new features by the numbers in the past few months, and now the guys at WABetaInfo have dug up yet another upcoming change to the popular messaging app.

    The new feature is called Communities and it was first spotted by XDA Developers as a simple reference in the code of the latest beta version of WhatsApp. Now there are some more details about the upcoming feature, along with screenshots, courtesy of WABetaInfo.

    Judging from the aforementioned screenshots, a Community is a place similar to a group but with a tad more options for the admins. At the moment a Community chat looks much like a group chat, and it’s still a private, encrypted place – not a social network-like feed.

    There are some visual differences too – community icons seem to be more square to distinguish the new feature from group chats. The layout leaked when WhatsApp briefly enabled it by mistake only to remove it soon after.

    The Community feature will offer the ability to host different groups under its hat, and admins will have extended tools to manage those groups. The new feature is still under development for Android and iOS, and there’s no clear rollout schedule yet. More details will become available when Communities hit the Beta version of WhatsApp.