Hong Kong will begin issuing its first licences for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers in March, advancing its ambition to position the city as a regulated global hub for digital assets and virtual finance. Financial authorities have confirmed that the new regime will allow approved companies to issue stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies under a structured supervisory framework. The move follows months of consultation led by the Hong Kong […]
Amazon has unveiled a sweeping overhaul of Alexa, introducing selectable personality modes that allow users to tailor the assistant’s tone, humour and conversational style, marking one of the company’s most ambitious attempts to reposition its voice platform in the generative AI era. The update, rolled out as part of a broader AI upgrade to Alexa across Echo devices and select Fire TV products, enables users to choose […]
UAE and Czech Republic have stepped up efforts to widen economic cooperation across advanced manufacturing, clean energy and digital industries, with ministers from both countries reviewing a slate of joint projects targeted for rollout in 2026. Talks between UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri and Czech Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela focused on expanding collaboration in sectors described as central to the […]
By Saifur Rahman UAE’s leading telecom operator Etisalat & (e&) has reported a 33.6 per cent jump in net profit to Dh14.4 billion (US3.92 billion) in 2025, compared to Dh10.8 billion (US$2.94 billion) recorded in 2024 with revenue growing at 23.1 per cent to Dh72.9 billion (US$19.86 billion), compared to Dh59.2 billion (US$16.13 billion) in the previous year. Its Consolidated Earnings before Interest, Tax, Debt and Amortisation […]
Adoption of Bitcoin is expanding across institutions, banks, corporations and retail investors even as sharp price fluctuations continue to test market confidence, according to new research from River, a US-based Bitcoin financial services firm. River’s latest report argues that Bitcoin’s long-term trajectory is being shaped less by short-term volatility and more by structural shifts in how capital allocators, payment companies and sovereign actors perceive digital assets. The […]
The theme of the 2026-27 Budget, the fourth Budget of the current-term Government, is “Driving High-quality, Inclusive Growth with Innovation and Finance”.
“Over the past year, as a result of the booming economy and capital market, our tax revenue has increased. Coupled with the reinforced fiscal consolidation programme gradually bearing fruit, our public finances have improved sooner than expected,” Mr Chan said.
The Financial Secretary revealed that Hong Kong’s Consolidated Account was expected to register a surplus of $2.9 billion in the current fiscal year, instead of a deficit of about $67 billion as originally estimated. The Operating Account for 2025-26, which was originally estimated to record a deficit of about $3 billion, will register a surplus of $51.3 billion, he said.
It was also confirmed that Hong Kong’s economy expanded by 3.5% in 2025, with growth forecast to be between 2.5% and 3.5% for 2026.
Mr Chan noted that this year marks the beginning of the National 15th Five-Year Plan, and he stressed the need for Hong Kong to actively align with the Plan.
“Our country’s sustained high-standard two-way opening-up, coupled with scientific and technological innovation, have presented us with new opportunities,” he said. “We must embrace the 15th Five-Year Plan with an innovative mindset, fostering new quality productive forces in accordance with local conditions.”
Mr Chan set out a series of measures to drive I&T development, including establishing the Committee on AI+ and Industry Development Strategy; taking forward the Sandy Ridge data facility cluster project; promoting AI training; and accelerating digital intelligence transformation of the Government.
“We are pressing ahead with the industrialisation of AI and deepening its integration across various industries, while encouraging wider AI application, thereby achieving the target of adoption and utilisation by all,” he said.
The International Clinical Trial Academy will, he said, also be established to help enable the Chinese Mainland’s biomedicine technology to go global, attract foreign investment, and help develop Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub.
To facilitate the development of new industrialisation, the Budget has earmarked resources for establishing in Hong Kong the first national manufacturing innovation centre outside the Mainland, and the New Industrialisation Elite Enterprises Nurturing Scheme will be launched.
The Government will promote the full integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation through key infrastructure, including the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone, and the San Tin Technopole in the Northern Metropolis.
To support financial services, Hong Kong will proactively align with national development strategies, advance the internationalisation of the Renminbi, and continuously reform the securities market.
The Government will legislate this year to enhance tax regimes for family offices and funds, as well as establish licensing regimes for digital asset dealing and custodian service providers.
“Despite the complex and ever-changing external environment, Hong Kong’s financial market has performed strongly and our financial system remains robust,” Mr Chan said. “We will continue to consolidate our existing strengths, tap into emerging fields, strengthen market systems and risk control and deepen financial co-operation in the GBA (Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area).”
Noting that Hong Kong saw a year-on-year 12 per cent increase in visitor arrivals last year, which had created business and job opportunities for related sectors, the Budget will allocate $1.66 billion (US$212 million) to the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB).
“The HKTB will scale up its flagship events and promotion, introducing new elements and extending event duration, and organise more signature festive events to highlight Hong Kong’s East-meets-West uniqueness,” Mr Chan said.
The Budget also earmarks an additional funding of $1 billion (US$128 million) for the Built Heritage Conservation Fund to enrich city culture. Elsewhere, the Government will launch the Northern Metropolis Urban-rural Integration Fund as a pilot scheme to support rural tourism projects.
To further promote sports development in Hong Kong, the Financial Secretary will inject $1.2 billion (US$154 million) to the sports portion of the Arts and Sports Development Fund.
Mr Chan said that the global environment has remained volatile over the past year, and Hong Kong has continued to undergo economic transformation.
“Technological innovation, in particular the development of AI, has brought us a mix of opportunities and challenges. Yet, Hong Kong has always thrived amid changes and progressed through innovation. We must make full use of our strengths and leverage the resolute support of our country to speed up and scale up our economic development sustainably for creating better development opportunities for the people and enhancing their quality of life,” Mr Chan said.
For more details on the 2026-27 Budget, click here.
Hashtag: #hongkong #brandhongkong #Budget #Inclusive #Growth #Innovation #Finance
https://www.brandhk.gov.hk/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/brand-hong-kong/
https://x.com/Brand_HK/
https://www.facebook.com/brandhk.isd
https://www.instagram.com/brandhongkong
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
By K Raveendran The political sparring between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi has entered a sharper and more consequential phase, with the balance of advantage appearing to tilt towards the Leader of the Opposition after an unexpected judicial intervention in the United States cast doubt on the durability of Donald Trump’s tariff regime. The rhetorical […]
The article Rahul Gandhi Making The Most Of Modi’s Tariff Blushes appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
Wayve has secured more than $1bn in fresh capital as it accelerates plans to bring fully autonomous vehicles to public roads in Britain, marking one of the largest single funding rounds for a European artificial intelligence company. The London-based start-up said it had raised $1.05bn in a round led by Japan’s SoftBank Group, with participation from Nvidia and Microsoft. The deal values the company at about $11bn, […]
Marine scientists have identified a sleeper shark gliding through Antarctic waters, a sighting that is reshaping understanding of how some of the ocean’s most elusive predators endure Earth’s harshest marine environments. Footage captured by an international research team operating in the Southern Ocean shows a large, slow-moving shark cruising at depths where water temperatures hover near freezing. Researchers believe the animal belongs to the sleeper shark family, […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi has launched construction of a AED150 million baby food manufacturing facility aimed at strengthening food security, expanding local production and easing supply concentration risks in the Gulf’s infant nutrition market. The project, located within KEZAD’s industrial ecosystem in Abu Dhabi, is expected to produce a range of infant and toddler nutrition products, including powdered milk formula and fortified […]
Microsoft has warned that threat actors are exploiting seemingly legitimate Next. js repositories to compromise software developers, embedding staged backdoors inside projects that mimic technical assessments and open-source tools. Security researchers at Microsoft said the campaign targets developers who routinely clone public repositories for evaluation, collaboration or recruitment exercises. The attackers publish projects that appear credible, often styled as coding challenges or portfolio pieces, and rely on […]
Hyundai Motor Group has proposed establishing hydrogen fuel-cell infrastructure across Canada as part of South Korea’s effort to secure a multibillion-dollar contract to build a new class of submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy, executives involved in the bid have said. The move, designed to appeal to Ottawa’s focus on broader industrial benefits beyond defence capabilities, envisages hydrogen production and refuelling corridors that could serve heavy-duty transport […]
Jada Fund of Funds, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is preparing to channel more capital into private credit as Gulf investors reposition their portfolios amid volatility affecting segments of the global lending market. Chief executive Bandr Alhomaly said the Riyadh-based fund has agreed to back India-headquartered venture debt manager Stride Ventures, marking a step in its strategy to widen access to alternative financing for […]
Paramount Skydance has raised its takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery to $31 per share, putting its bid in direct contention with Netflix and prompting the Hollywood giant’s board to reopen talks that could reshape the media landscape. Warner Bros. Discovery said it was reviewing Paramount’s enhanced proposal, which includes a higher regulatory termination fee and other financial incentives, even as it continues to recommend the existing […]
Meta Platforms is redirecting its Horizon Worlds platform towards smartphones, marking a decisive pivot away from its earlier emphasis on Quest virtual reality headsets as the primary gateway to its metaverse ambitions. The company has indicated that development efforts for Horizon Worlds will centre almost entirely on mobile devices, reflecting a broader reassessment of how users access immersive social experiences. Executives have acknowledged that while virtual reality […]
Amazon Games has confirmed that its online multiplayer title King of Meat, developed by UK-based Glowmade, will cease operations on 9 April 2026, less than six months after its launch as an ambitious co-op dungeon crawler and party platformer. The move follows sustained low player engagement, with the title removed from digital storefronts and refunds being offered to all purchasers, marking a swift reversal from its high-profile […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai UAE has emerged as the fastest-growing market worldwide for artificial intelligence hiring, with demand for AI specialists accelerating sharply over the past year as Gulf economies deepen their technology push. New data from the RemotePass 2025 Hiring Report shows AI-related recruitment in the UAE climbed from 32 per cent of total tech hiring in 2023–24 to 48 per cent in 2024–25, marking […]
South Korea’s Bithumb has added GoPlus to its Korean won market, prompting a swift surge of more than 20 per cent in the token’s price before gains eased amid heightened trading activity. The listing, announced by one of the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges by volume, allowed users to trade GPS directly against the won, expanding the token’s accessibility in a market known for strong retail participation. Within […]
Meta Platforms has struck a landmark long-term agreement with Advanced Micro Devices to buy tens of billions of dollars’ worth of AI processors and data-centre hardware over the next five years, a deal that could exceed $100 billion and reshape the competitive landscape for artificial-intelligence infrastructure. This multiyear pact will see Meta deploy up to six gigawatts of AMD-based computing capacity, starting with initial shipments in the second […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai A consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth vehicle, the Public Investment Fund, alongside private equity firm Silver Lake and Affinity Partners has launched a strategic tender offer for about $1.5 billion of debt tied to Electronic Arts as part of efforts to reshape the financial structure underpinning its landmark acquisition of the gaming giant. The move could signal a shift in how major […]
By Nitya Chakraborty Only a week has passed since the BNP supremo Tarique Rahman has taken over as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh after the resounding victory of his party in the February 12 national elections. The 60 year old PM who is back to the country after an exile of 17 years in Britain, […]
The article US-China Rivalry Suddenly Intensifies In Bangladesh As Tarique Takes Over As PM appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).
New Delhi has set a target of raising ₹1.79 trillion, equivalent to about $20 billion, through public listings of state-run enterprises by the 2029/30 financial year, signalling a recalibration of its privatisation strategy towards stake sales rather than outright transfers of ownership. The plan forms part of a wider asset monetisation programme aimed at generating $183.7 billion over the next four years, according to a report issued […]
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, a publicly traded crypto-focused firm, has scaled its treasury to US$9.6 billion, driven predominantly by its growing Ethereum holdings and staking operations, officials announced as of 22 February 2026. The accumulation comes as the broader crypto market contends with persistent price weakness, yet Bitmine’s strategy underscores its intent to cement a dominant position within the Ethereum ecosystem and global crypto treasuries. Bitmine’s balance sheet […]
The implementation spans the Group’s schools and education brands, including EBridge Pre-School, an Anchor Operator, extending AI integration beyond classroom experimentation into enterprise-wide infrastructure supporting operations, marketing and admissions, finance, human resources, school administration and technology development.
While education was not named among the initial priority sectors identified under Singapore’s national AI strategy, EtonHouse views schools as foundational to building long-term AI capability and literacy across society.
Governance-led AI deployment
The rollout has been structured around enterprise governance principles. Access is managed through role-based access controls, single sign-on authentication and automated provisioning, ensuring that AI tools and information remain aligned to defined job responsibilities and permission boundaries.
ChatGPT Edu operates within a centrally managed internal workspace governed by consistent policies across the Group. External sharing and third-party integrations are enabled only where explicitly approved and aligned with business requirements, reinforcing a secure and compliant AI environment.
This governance-first approach reflects a deliberate shift from isolated experimentation to structured, scalable adoption.
From classroom innovation to enterprise infrastructure
EtonHouse previously developed Lumina, its proprietary AI-powered lesson planning platform. The deployment of ChatGPT Edu represents the next phase of integration, extending advanced artificial intelligence capabilities into enterprise functions.
Within the secure workspace, teams can upload documents for structured analysis, generate comparative reports, conduct scenario modelling and retrieve institutional knowledge more efficiently. Technology teams are also leveraging Codex, OpenAI’s agentic coding tool, to enhance development workflows, supporting code drafting, review and testing while maintaining human oversight and established engineering standards.
The Group is concurrently developing internal AI assistants and structured workflows within defined governance parameters to streamline routine processes and standardise how knowledge is accessed and applied across departments.
Augmentation, not replacement
EtonHouse emphasises that artificial intelligence is being implemented as an augmentation layer rather than a substitute for professional judgement.
“Artificial intelligence is not a shortcut or a replacement technology. It is a learning infrastructure,” said Mr Ng Yi-Xian, Group CEO of EtonHouse International Education Group. “We are developing tools that help students learn more confidently, support teachers to plan and differentiate more effectively, and equip HQ teams to serve schools faster and with higher quality. AI should amplify good practice, not replace it, so we are building the governance and capability to deploy it responsibly at scale.”
The rollout will be supported by structured staff training alongside OpenAI experts clear usage guidelines and ongoing oversight to ensure transparency, responsible usage and alignment with internal policies and regulatory obligations.
“As Singapore advances its national AI ambitions, many institutions are working to bridge the gap between rapidly advancing AI technologies and their ability to deploy them effectively and responsibly. EtonHouse’s rollout of ChatGPT Edu shows how forward-thinking education organisations can translate AI into practical, trusted enterprise-wide systems that empower teams today, while building confidence for the long-term.” added Oliver Jay, Managing Director, International at OpenAI.
Education’s role in Singapore’s AI future
Budget 2026 outlined the formation of a National AI Council to guide coordinated deployment across priority sectors including advanced manufacturing, connectivity, finance and healthcare.
EtonHouse’s implementation reflects how education institutions can apply similar principles of governance, security and enterprise readiness, positioning schools not only as adopters of technology but as contributors to Singapore’s broader AI capability building.
With this move, EtonHouse signals a transition from exploratory AI usage to secure, scalable integration across its global network, reinforcing its commitment to innovation anchored in institutional discipline and responsible deployment.
Hashtag: #ArtificialIntelligence #EnterpriseAI #AIGovernance #AIDeployment #EdTech
https://www.etonhouse.edu.sg/https://www.linkedin.com/company/etonhouse-international-education-group/https://twitter.com/EtonHouseGrouphttps://web.facebook.com/EtonHouseInternational/https://www.instagram.com/etonhouseinternational/
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
At EtonHouse, collaboration with governments is a cornerstone of its mission. The partnerships include:
In 2015, the EtonHouse Community Fund (ECF) was established, dedicated to enhancing the lives of underserved children and youth through education.
The Eton Academy was launched in 2020, providing English, Maths, and Science academic programmes for Nursery 1 to Primary 6 in centres across the island. Building on this success, The Eton Academy expanded in 2025 with the introduction of Elevate After School Care, offering primary school children a holistic, well-rounded after-school experience that complements their academic development.
EtonHouse International Education Group remains unwavering in its commitment to shaping futures and making a meaningful impact on the world through education.
