US$10 Billion in Venture Capital Convenes to Meet Hong Kong Start-ups; Government, Business and Young Professionals Explore Opportunities in the New Economy

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 7 October 2026 – The Global Youth Powerhouse Summit 2026, organised by Hong Kong Youth Professional Global Advocacy, was held on 5 October at the Conrad Hong Kong. Now in its third edition, the Summit coincides with the release of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development (2026–2030) and the latest Policy Address, which together set a clear blueprint for the city’s future. Anchored on these core themes and conducted entirely in English, the full-day programme focused on artificial intelligence, geopolitics, Hong Kong as an education hub, capital markets, life and health technology, and start-up financing. Government and business leaders, corporate representatives and young professionals were invited to examine Hong Kong’s strategic opportunities in the new economic landscape.

The Summit aims to connect young professionals with international resources, enabling participants to engage directly with industry leaders, grasp developments at the frontier of industry, and look ahead to the opportunities and challenges arising from artificial intelligence and Greater Bay Area integration. Previous editions have drawn a strong response. Across three editions, the Summit has attracted more than thousands of in-person participants and about 17,000 online participants from over 30 countries and regions, with social media reach exceeding 50 million.

This year’s Summit was the largest yet, bringing together more than 600 young professionals, government and business leaders and corporate representatives. Participants from over 60 countries and regions joined online. More than 30 distinguished speakers and moderators were invited, including officials of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and representatives of leading local and international organisations such as Huawei, the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Bullish and Endowus. In addition, consular representatives from up to 20 countries attended the Summit.

The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr John Lee, GBM, SBS, PDSM, PMSM, delivered a pre-recorded video speech, encouraging young professionals to seize the opportunities of the times and inject fresh momentum into Hong Kong’s high-quality development. He said: “For our young people, I firmly believe that your opportunities ahead outweigh the difficulties. The HKSAR Government will join hands with all sectors to build platforms for you to thrive in Hong Kong, in our country, and in the global arena.”

The Deputy Secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Dr Cheung Kwok-kwan, SBS, JP, delivered an opening keynote entitled “Opportunities for the Professional Development of Young People”, and stressed: “As the saying goes, ‘Change is the only constant’—or as our Cantopop classic famously put it, ‘變幻原是永恆’. Today, we no longer measure change in years or decades, but in months and days. For our young professionals, this fast-paced era unlocks unprecedented career horizons. By accelerating Greater Bay Area integration through our new GBA Task Force and empowering you to act as the ultimate ‘super-connectors’ and ‘super value-adders’ helping Mainland enterprises go global, we are turning rapid change into your greatest professional advantage.”

Dr Kevin Lau, MH, Founding Convenor of Hong Kong Youth Professional Global Advocacy, said: “This is more than a high-level forum. It marks a milestone in the maturing of our network of young professionals. This afternoon, venture funds managing an estimated US$10 billion in assets gathered in the room — and what they are looking at is Hong Kong’s next generation. In life and health technology, our core belief is clear: artificial intelligence can assist imaging and diagnosis, but a physician’s care, and the warmth of a human hand, can never be replaced by technology.”

Other distinguished guests included Mr Kevin Choi, JP, Permanent Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry; Professor Frederick Ma, GBS, JP, Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council; Ms Bonnie Y Chan, JP, Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited; and Mr James Chau, President of the China-United States Exchange Foundation and World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goals. Mr Bryan Che, Chief Strategy Officer of Huawei, and Ms Cindy Chow, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, also attended in person to exchange views with young professionals.

Artificial intelligence: from first-time users to advanced users
The opening session began with remarks by Mr Kevin Choi, JP, Permanent Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, and was moderated by Ms Stephaine Chan, Director of the Office of the Vice Chairman of Esquel Group. Panellists included Ms Ilaria Chan, Chair of the Tech For Good Institute; Mr Bryan Che, Chief Strategy Officer of Huawei; and Ms Cindy Chow, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund. The discussion focused on whether small and medium-sized enterprises, non-governmental organisations and schools can genuinely put artificial intelligence to use, and on the talent, trust and practical-application issues Hong Kong faces in driving “AI for all”.

Mr Kevin Choi, JP mentioned: “Every major technology shift brings uncertainty. Our theme today from entry-level shock to AI-powered users building the next talent leader.”

Ms Stephaine Chan said: “Every AI conversation ends in the same place, right? More investment, better people, better models and stronger policy.”

Ms Ilaria Chan said: “These days, Al is so powerful that they can scan the Internet and social media and find vulnerable young people or old people. They can find it instantly and have a very sophisticated way to trick them and fraud them from scamming.”

Mr Bryan Che: “One of the opportunities of Al is because the interface is much more natural for most people to interact with. On one sense, it’s a lot easier for everyone to get started.”

Ms Cindy Chow said: “So I guess some of the most damaging thing is not allowing people to use or not, you know, really have the attitude to embrace all this new technology, what this new technology has to bring to you.”

Geopolitics: the super-connector
This session was moderated by Mr James Chau, President of the China-United States Exchange Foundation and World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goals. Speakers included Ms Ilaria Chan, Chair of the Tech For Good Institute; Ms Ellana Lee, Senior Vice President, Managing Editor, Asia Pacific, and Global Head of Productions at CNN; and Professor Frederick Ma, GBS, JP, Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Mr James Chau said: “Against this backdrop, we often hear Hong Kong described as a super connector, typically framed in terms of trade volumes, capital markets and logistics but I think that these connections that we’re speaking of really only become very valuable and we understand and recognize the human bonds that pin these together.”

Professor Frederick Ma , GBS, JP said: “We are part of China. And yet we are under one country 2 systems connected to the rest of the world. That is the power of Hong Kong.”

Ms Ellana Lee said: “We made a very strategic decision when the times were tough to stay and remain in Hong Kong. I think that has and you know, we make these decisions not just out of a whim, but we are very calculative on why we need to stay. I have 8 cities across Asia Pacific. Hong Kong happens to be the hub for Asia Pacific. And there’s it boils down to four major reasons.”

Ms IIaria Chan: “Simple of how tech is helping people, there is an organization, WHO care for children that was founded 20 years ago that helps orphans in developing China back then Vietnam, Thailand now in Africa, Middle East to find loving permanent homes. But their bottleneck is how they train social workers and governments on how to take care of orphan welfare. Now this year we’ve actually been launching an online product that is able to scale these bottlenecks, especially in areas that are underfunded. This is a great example of Al tech.”

Education: Hong Kong as Asia’s education hub
This session was co-moderated by Mrs Jennifer Yu Cheng, JP, Founder of the Future Leaders Foundation, and Ms Jennifer Ma, Founder of JM Edu Consulting. Speakers included Ms Maggie Chau, School Partnership Advisor at the Academy for Educational Development and Innovation of The Education University of Hong Kong; Mr Dion CHEN, MH, Vice-Chairman of the Hong Kong Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools Council; and Professor Charles Ng Wang-Wai, Vice-President for Institutional Advancement of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Mrs Jennifer Yu Cheng, JP said: “An education hub is more than a place with excellent institutions. It is a place that students and families choose, where young people flourish, and connects education with research, innovation, careers and a wider community.”

Professor Charles Ng said: “With our national policy. And I think we should do better to support this great initiatives and thinking back actually 2023 and home government already in in the government policy in October, if I remember correctly to start to increase the local student quota from 20% to 40%.”

Ms Jennifer Ma said: “As a consultant we need demand to meet supply and we are definitely seeing the demand for Hong Kong education at K12 level…….The advocacy for Hong Kong to be the gateway for China Resources and talents to leave China and go into international arenas. But at the same time, we also see a lot of international people interested in what’s happening in mainland, and therefore Hong Kong is a great gateway. So, with that global education, global education philosophy, that means they really appreciate Hong Kong trilingual education by cultural mindset.”

Mr Dion CHEN, MH mentioned: “In 2026, a lot of DSS schools will work very hard to try to welcome and also promote welcome to Hong Kong and also promote Hong Kong’s education to the students in different countries.”

Ms Maggie Chau said: “Maggie: I can see that all the universities are actually implementing AI in their curriculum. Talking about teacher education, the programs we offer, I mean, not just The Education University of Hong Kong, the programs we offer in all universities implement Al in the curriculum in a way that we draw attention to the use of Al is it has to be ethical.”

Capital markets: AI listings, asset tokenisation and the new economy
This session was moderated by Ms Emily CHAN Tan, a former CNBC anchor. Speakers included Ms Bonnie Y Chan, JP; Ms Clara CHAN Ka Chai, Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited; Mr Michael Lau, Senior Vice President and Head of Group Business Development at Bullish and Chairman of Consensus; and Mr Samuel RHEE, Co-founder, Chairman and Group Chief Investment Officer of Endowus.

Ms Clara CHAN Ka Chai said: “We always say that from zero to 1 is the most challenging part. So, the patients in terms of having staying power is the core, but it has to go in hand with other qualities like being proactive, being professional.”

Mr Michael Lau said: “I think it’s an interesting proposition to consider that these types of companies that are so capital. I would start looking beyond the current horizon of where we are to see where it could go next. And so I do think that there is a demand looking to that future where this idea of a tokenized capital market could be quite interesting.”

Mr Samuel RHEE mentioned: “First of all, maybe we just take a step back and just try to understand all of the capital markets, not just equities.”

Ms Bonnie Y Chan, JP said: “I want to point out one thing. I mean, we are operating a stock exchange and I think capital markets at the end of the day, the basic function is to match capital with opportunity. So what I’m very focused on is that I’m not just focused on technology or AI.”

Ms Emily CHAN Tan said: “We are not just witnessing a cyclical recovery, but also some would call this the threshold of a capital markets renaissance.”

Life and health technology: building a health-industry hub
This session was moderated by Professor Lo Yuk-lam, BBS, Founding President of the Hong Kong Biotechnology Organisation. Speakers included Professor LI King-Chuen, Founding Dean of the School of Medicine at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Dr Sarah SALVILLA, Director of Health and Strategic Partnerships at FWD Group; and Professor Anthony Wu Ting-yuk, GBS, JP, former Chairman of the Hospital Authority and Non-executive Chairman of Trinity Medical Group. The discussion focused on how AI in healthcare can strengthen the competitiveness of Hong Kong’s health industry.

Professor Lo Yuk-lam, BBS said: “Building HK’s holistic wellness hub, this year marks a defining moment for HK. With the release of our first ever five year plan and their chief executive policy address just a few weeks ago, our city’s road map for healthcare and biotechnology knowledge has never been clearer or more ambitious.”

Professor Anthony Wu Ting-yuk, GBS, JP said: “Every country every city is trying to recruit more talent and I think Hong Kong is an ideal position to attract talents.”

Professor LI King-Chuen said: “Our education system will be individualized. And we will do the factual knowledge transfer through mostly self-directed learning. So we guide them, we build an AI system with prescribed information.”

Dr Sarah SALVILLA said: “Prevention for sure in terms of how do we educate people to be much more proactive in their everyday lives, yes you know, kind of the lifestyle things.”

Start-up pitching: connecting with capital
The closing session was moderated by business journalist Ms Elaine Yu, with Mr LU Chin Yung, Senior Vice President (Start-ups) of the Sector Specialist Group at Invest Hong Kong. Representatives of 11 venture funds were present, including the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, Clee Capital, Click Ventures, GT Healthcare Capital Partners, Gobi Partners GBA, HKSTP Ventures, MindWorks Capital, Ryoden Medical Holdings, Seveno Capital, Verge HealthTech Fund and W2 Venture Partners. Together, the funds manage an estimated US$10 billion, have invested in more than 600 start-ups across more than 30 economies, and have backed at least nine unicorns, including Airwallex, Animoca Brands, Prenetics and GoGoX. Start-ups taking part in the pitching session included CELLmeric, Entoptica, PointFit, Syngular, Kodifly, AilsynBio, EveryBaby, A-grade, Orimmune Biotech, Nordia Biotech, Oncolmmu Nostics Limited, The Harbour School (THS), VisionBridge, Eden’s Garden, and CARE CONNECT.

Ms Elaine Yu said: “We have 15 startups and I think a group of students as well, very precocious students WHO are already thinking of ideas, real businesses with commercial viability at the cutting edge of science, research, healthcare and so forth. So, this should be a fun dynamic session.”

Mr LU Chin Yung pointed out: “Hong Kong is great in a lot of rankings in the world and this is not given, this is hard earned by your parents, by some of you sitting here. But as a young founder in Hong Kong, if you come to Hong Kong, you get to enjoy all this very safe environment. You have efficiency and then you also have a very clean government. This one I can say for sure. Yeah. And and all this, it helps the the founders to focus on your business, focus on grow, growing instead of you have to deal with many, many things.”

The Summit closed amid lively exchange. Hong Kong Youth Professional Global Advocacy said it will continue to build the Summit into a platform for dialogue between young professionals and leading figures in government and business, helping Hong Kong’s young talent seize the opportunities of the new economy.

Photos and video: Selected materials can be downloaded here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XowvT4PLTkLo-Vx6k8UJ_YyuM0O0wSlQ?usp=sharing .
Official hashtag: #GYPS2026

Annex 2: Attending guests (in no particular order)

Hashtag: #全球青年力量峰會 #GYPS2026

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Hong Kong Youth Professional Global Advocacy

Hong Kong Youth Professional Global Advocacy is a community organisation founded in 2023 by young professionals in Hong Kong. It seeks to serve as a bridge between Hong Kong and the world, uniting Hong Kong young people globally through a range of exchange activities and cultivating an overseas youth network that supports “Hong Kong opportunities”. The organisation brings together more than 120 young professionals across finance, real estate, building surveying, manufacturing, environmental protection, healthcare, law, accounting and technology, and works closely with professional bodies, industry associations and the media. Through monthly salons and online exchanges with the Greater Bay Area, Southeast Asia and countries along the Belt and Road, it promotes understanding of the development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Chinese Mainland, explores opportunities for collaboration, and ultimately aims to build a stronger network of professional youth and deepen exchange and cooperation with young people around the world.

Curated by Artistic Director Es Devlin, this year’s theme for Homo Faber, An Island of Light, examines the interplay between light, materials and creativity, placing the work of craft artists from around the world at the heart of the experience. In keeping with Homo Faber’s focus on the maker, their materials, tools and processes, Parata will weave live in the A Rooted Ascent room alongside presenting Diware, a new sculptural work created with Mabeo Studio.

A member of the Ngamiland Basket Weavers, from the north-western region of Botswana, Parata will present basket-weaving techniques using locally gathered materials drawing on skills and practices passed through generations. Parata learnt her skills from her mother and grandmother, and continues to experiment with different approaches to technique, pattern and colour.

Her work is guided by her personal connection to the Okavango River, the movement of its seasons and the materials it yields. Through Parata’s work, the project recognises both an individual practitioner and the wider community and traditions of making of which she is part.

Alongside a live weaving presentation at Homo Faber, Parata and Mabeo Studio have created a new sculptural work called Diware, that brings together natural materials from Botswana including woven palm leaves, naturally gathered porcupine quills, carved wood and semi-precious stones.

The work is founded on Manyevora, a traditional Mbukushu attire associated with Diware, a historic healing ceremony that today is more commonly represented through dance. The Manyevora is the most prominent element in the Diware sculpture, comprised of foraged materials from nature. The natural and crafted materials have been brought together deliberately, each retaining its own character. This combination of elements reflects an interest in convergence, between maker and material, individual and community, people and place.

Through Homo Faber, De Beers explores the craft skills and organic materials that originated from the same landscape as natural diamonds. Parata’s presentation follows South African artist Abongile Sidzumo’s participation in August. De Beers’ wider collaboration with Mabeo Studio will continue at Frieze Masters in London this October, where the studio is working with basket weavers from this collective, as well as potters and wood carvers from across Botswana on a new commission for Voyage Through the Diamond Realm, Chapter Two.

Lynn Serfaty, General Manager – Natural Diamonds, De Beers, says: “Shakunona Parata’s work at Homo Faber reflects the skill, dedication and heritage that shape the relationship between natural materials and craft. We are pleased to support her collaboration with Beullah Serema and Peter Mabeo of Mabeo Studio as part of this year’s Homo Faber.”

Shakunona Parata, says: “My life and that of the river are connected. The flood plains of the Okavango river guides my activities and rituals. My basket weaving practice is an extension of nature, of the river through the materials it yields, the movement of the seasons and my hands, seeing through my eyes with conscientiousness of all that is around me and within me, through my work.”

Mabeo Studio, says: “Homo Faber presents an opportunity to consider relationship. While it is helpful to recognise the highly valued and respected individual maker, in our studio, we also see it as worthwhile to be aware of how any practice is but a small expression of a whole. To see the indivisible wholeness of life and living, intangibly in approach and physically with how natural materials are related with, across cultures, through simple and dedicated craft acts.”

Hashtag: #DeBeers #HomoFaber2026 #MabeoStudio

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About De Beers Group

Established in 1888, De Beers Group is the world’s leading diamond company with expertise in the exploration, mining, marketing and retailing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers Group employs more than 20,000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with diamond mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. Innovation sits at the heart of De Beers Group’s strategy as it develops a portfolio of offers that span the diamond value chain, including its jewellery houses, De Beers London and Forevermark, and other pioneering solutions such as diamond sourcing and traceability initiatives Tracr and GemFair. De Beers Group also provides leading services and technology to the diamond industry in the form of education and laboratory services and a wide range of diamond sorting, detection and classification technology services. De Beers Group is committed to ‘Building Forever,’ a holistic and integrated approach to sustainability that underpins our efforts to create meaningful impact for the people and places where our diamonds are discovered. Building Forever focuses on three key areas where, through collaborations and partnerships around the globe, we have an enhanced ability to drive positive impact; Livelihoods, Climate and Nature. De Beers Group is a member of the Anglo American plc group. For further information, visit www.debeersgroup.com.

About Homo Faber

Homo Faber Biennial is an international celebration of contemporary craftsmanship in Venice, curated by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship. The flagship project of Homo Faber, a cultural movement centred on creative artisans worldwide, it brings together the work of hundreds of master artisans, rising stars and designers in the magnificent setting of Fondazione Giorgio Cini. Homofaber.com.

About Mabeo Studio

Mabeo Studio is a collective instigated in Botswana. Mentally, it is not geo politically constrained. Operating between the various fields of art, design, architecture, and associated means of communication; each field is applied in its own right yet, with a sense of nonspecific, broad curiosity, consideration and observation. Disciplines and classification are only used as a particular mode of implementation in and through time as actual life continues.

With art and design at times being viewed through topical issues and thought patterns of the day, ideas around aestheticism and fresh directions are all either as significant or as insignificant as the physical materials being manipulated and, as significant or insignificant as the psychology of all involved.

The studio interest is to engage in ways that subtly go beyond structured norms and to question the widespread preoccupation with visual sensuality and the unfounded appearance of originality and responsibility. Ongoing initiatives to attract attention are not a priority, other than to increase the probability of meeting collaborators who are conscientious and curious about simpler and more natural approaches.

Perceiving resonance and discord between international art or design influences from the past and present, within the valued natural environment, old cultures and clear attitudes surrounding the studio locale; a craft rooted approach, combined with basic industrial methods that can be contaminated with technology on the rare occasion is adopted.

A universal, free and accommodating approach that is premised on the ability to observe and to relate humanely is practiced. Looking beyond and through industry experience into a non-constrained sense, all materials, including the sustainable use of thought as actual material, are engaged with.

By Annie Domini Jeffrey Archer, British writer and politician synonymous with pot-boilers, page-three scandals and perjury, but also page-turners that were among the biggest publishing blockbusters of all times, has died at 86. Archer was a household name in India, and incidentally sold more copies his books here than in his home turf, the UK, […]

The article Best-Selling British Writer And Icon Jeffrey Archer Dies At 86 appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

The Republic of Korea is one of the world’s leading countries in film and entertainment and a major hub for Asia’s content industry. Its annual content exports exceed USD 12 billion, and it plays a prominent role in global digital media and over-the-top (OTT) platforms. DITP supported Thailand’s film and entertainment industry at ACFM consistently from 2012 to 2019. However, Thai Night activities has been on hiatus since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The return of the event reflects the growing international interest in and recognition of Thai films, series, animation, and digital content.

DITP is deeply honoured that Her Royal Highness Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi will graciously preside over the opening ceremony of Thai Night Busan 2026. Her Royal Highness’s longstanding support has provided great encouragement to Thailand’s entertainment industry. Her gracious presence will lend great distinction to the event and further enhance its international profile. The event will take place on October 11, 2026, at Park Hyatt Busan, under the theme “Reimagining Thailand,” presenting the country’s capabilities and fresh perspectives through creativity and its content industry.

DITP and the Department of Cultural Promotion will jointly organise the Thailand Pavilion at ACFM 2026, bringing 20 Thai companies to participate in business matching alongside Thai Night Busan 2026. These activities aim to facilitate co-production discussions, sales and licensing of Thai content, expansion into overseas markets, and networking between Thai companies and international buyers, investors, creators, directors, and media representatives across film, television, series, animation, and related services.

The initiative also aims to showcase Thailand’s creative capabilities and approaches to producing quality content, while connecting business development with the country’s food, culture, lifestyle, and tourism destinations. This initiative will drive exports, strengthen Thailand’s global brand, and support the growth of Thailand’s creative economy.

Hashtag: #DITP #ThaiNightBusan2026 #ReimaginingThailand

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Under the contract, all trains designed and manufactured by Alstom for Hanoi’s urban rail lines will be new-generation five-car trains, offering advanced features in design, operational efficiency and safety. The aluminium car body reduces axle load, saving energy and reducing track wear. The wide-body design maximises interior space and increases passenger capacity. The train runs fully automated and driverless, at GoA4, the highest grade of automation. The modern braking system combines regenerative and disc brakes, ensuring safety while recovering energy during braking.

The first 83 trainsets will be designed and manufactured at Alstom’s Valenciennes Petite-Forêt site in France, one of Alstom’s centres of expertise for metros. In addition to supplying the 83 complete trainsets, Alstom will provide technology, engineering expertise, tooling support and key components, enabling Vingroup to develop local capabilities to manufacture and assemble the next 117 trainsets in Vietnam.

The contract between Vingroup and Alstom lays an important foundation for strengthening Vietnam’s self-reliance and modernising its rail industry ecosystem. The partnership also opens opportunities to establish a long-term industrial partnership and progressively expand Vietnam’s participation in the global value chain.

Mr. Martin Sion, Alstom CEO, said:“This agreement is a major milestone for Alstom in one of the fastest-growing mobility markets in the world. By combining Alstom’s global expertise with VINGROUP’s industrial strength and long-term vision, we are creating a unique partnership that supports both the expansion of Hanoi’s metro network and the development of local rail capabilities. This agreement also demonstrates the strength of French rail technology and reinforces Alstom’s position as a trusted partner for major mobility projects across the region.”

Mr. Nguyen Viet Quang, Vice Chairman and CEO of Vingroup, said: “High-speed rail, urban rail, bridges, ports, logistics and other next-generation transport infrastructure are among the key areas under Vingroup’s Infrastructure pillar. Our strategy is to connect world-class international resources, technologies and expertise with the strong execution capabilities of Vingroup’s ecosystem, enabling us to contribute to the development of infrastructure platforms with long-term significance for Hanoi and Vietnam.”

Vingroup is the general contractor for Hanoi’s metro projects through its subsidiary Vinhomes. The partnership with Alstom aims to provide rolling stock for Hanoi’s urban rail projects while progressively developing local capabilities, enabling Vingroup to contribute over the long term to the development of the city’s urban rail network.

Under Hanoi’s Capital Master Plan with a 2045 vision, the city’s urban rail network is planned to reach 979 kilometres, comprising 18 lines and serving as the backbone of the city’s public transport system.

With a total planned length of nearly 1,000 kilometres, the network would also represent one of the largest urban rail development programmes in Southeast Asia, helping reduce traffic congestion, mitigate environmental pollution and improve the quality of life for Hanoi’s residents.

Hashtag: #Vingroup

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About Vingroup

Established in 1993, VINGROUP is one of the leading diversified private economic groups in the region, operating across six core sectors: Industrials & Technology, Real Estate & Services, Infrastructure, Green Energy, Culture and Social Enterprises.

For more information, please visit: www.vingroup.net/en.

About Vinhomes

Vinhomes is Vietnam’s leading real estate brand, pioneering the development of large-scale, high-quality urban communities with professional planning, comprehensive amenities and a modern, green and clean living environment, helping shape new lifestyles for Vietnamese residents.

Alongside 32 urban developments currently in operation across the country, Vinhomes continues to focus on developing new-generation mega and super-scale urban developments of leading regional scale and stature, aspiring to create “some of the world’s most desirable places to live” while contributing significantly to the transformation of Vietnam’s urban landscape.

For more information, please visit: https://vinhomes.vn/vi.

About Alstom

Alstom is the pure rail leader, committed to making rail the backbone of sustainable transportation. We design and deliver a complete range of future-ready solutions – from high-speed and regional trains to metros, monorails, trams, turnkey systems, end-to-end services, infrastructure, signalling and digital rail solutions. With 87,800 people in 61 countries, Alstom brings together global expertise and multi-local presence to make every journey smarter, cleaner and more enjoyable. Together with our partners and customers, we realise the power of rail. Listed in France, Alstom generated revenues of €19.2 billion for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2026.

For more information, please visit www.alstom.com

Upgrades improve print quality, strengthen security and simplify ID card issuance

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 6 October 2026 – HID, a global leader in trusted identity solutions, is rolling out enhancements across its FARGO^® DTC ID card printers, including the DTC1250e, DTC4500e and DTC1500 models, to help organizations issue secure, professional-quality ID cards faster, with less IT support and the ability to easily scale as needs evolve.

Organizations that issue ID cards — from schools and healthcare systems to government offices, corporate campuses and others — need printers that are easy to operate, produce consistently high-quality credentials and keep pace with growing security requirements. The latest enhancements address each of those priorities.

Built to Print: Faster, Sharper Output and Stronger Security
Speed and reliability are essential for high-volume credential issuance. Printing more cards in less time with fewer interruptions, these printers have been updated with newer, faster hardware and electronics platforms. Support for high-capacity ribbons also streamlines the issuance workflow and maintains high productivity, reducing reloads and lost time. For front-desk and HR staff who issue dozens of badges a day, this means shorter lines and less time waiting on a stalled print job.

“We’ve been at this for a long time. For more than three decades, organizations have trusted us to power their ID badging programs,” said Apryl Erickson, VP and Head of FARGO. “With thousands of printers in the field worldwide, we’re excited to build on that legacy by delivering enhanced solutions that provide greater value to our end users and support their mission-critical issuance processes.”

Card quality matters just as much as issuance speed. With 300 x 600 dpi resolution, an enhanced color profile and adjustable K-panel printing, organizations benefit from having professional-quality ID cards that look sharper, have crisper text, cleaner logos and more accurate color.

When an organization issues credentials, they need to enhance card security and safeguard cardholder data. As such, all DTC printers offer enhanced AES-256-GCM encryption and resin scramble data protection. On the DTC1500 and DTC4500e, a built-in, customizable watermark overlay adds a layer of security at no added cost.

Built to Last: Secure, Reliable, Sustainable Performance and Less Downtime
Reliable and sustainable, the enhancedDTC printers are backed by three-year product warranties, provide ongoing printer health monitoring and are specifically engineered for efficient energy use.

Organizations also need to keep operator maintenance low. An integrated diagnostic utility and Color Assist tool are now built directly into the printer driver, so common issues can be identified and resolved without a support call. An optional OLED SmartScreen on the DTC1250e further simplifies day-to-day operation, helping non-technical staff be productive from day one with no IT ticket required.

Built for More: Room to Grow Without Starting Over
Programs rarely remain static, and organizations need to scale as their needs grow without incurring the cost of new hardware. FARGO DTC printers offer field-upgradable dual-side printing and encoding options that let organizations start with what they need and add capabilities later, without having to buy new base hardware, as programs expand.

These upgrades build on more than 30 years of DTC printing expertise. The portfolio also integrates with HID’s broader ecosystem for access control and identity management, helping organizations expand their credentialing programs as needs evolve. The DTC1500 and DTC4500e are also compatible with FARGO Connect™, a secure, cloud-based card printing platform that provides real-time fleet visibility.

The enhanced DTC printer portfolio is commercially available now. Product availability for enhanced FARGO DTC1250e and DTC4500e printers is slated for late October/early November, varying by region. Enhanced FARGO DTC1500 units will follow later in Q4 2026.

Building on these enhancements, HID plans to further expand the FARGO DTC portfolio later this year with a streamlined, single-sided printer designed for organizations with lower-volume issuance needs. It will not be available in the United States and Canada. It will be offered only in select regions outside these markets. The new model will bring the same reliability and ease of use while providing an accessible entry point into the broader FARGO portfolio.

FARGO printers are available through HID’s partner and distributor network.

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About HID

HID powers the trusted identities of the world’s people, places and things. We make it possible for people to transact safely, work productively and travel freely. Our trusted identity solutions give people convenient access to physical and digital places and connect things that can be identified, verified and tracked digitally. Millions of people around the world use HID products and services to navigate their everyday lives, and billions of things are connected through HID technology. We work with governments, educational institutions, hospitals, financial institutions, industrial businesses and some of the most innovative companies on the planet. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, HID has over 4,500 employees worldwide and operates international offices that support more than 100 countries. HID is an ASSA ABLOY Group brand. For more information, visit www.hidglobal.com.

© 2026 HID Global Corporation/ASSA ABLOY AB. All rights reserved. HID, the HID Blue Brick logo and the Chain Design are trademarks or registered trademarks of HID Global, ASSA ABLOY AB, or its affiliates(s) in the US and other countries and may not be used without permission. All other trademarks, service marks, and product or service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Combining real-time AI credit monitoring with Ethereum smart contracts and USDC settlement, Asia’s digital trade finance leader addresses a US$2.5 trillion SME trade financing funding gap opportunity.

Hashtag: #Qupital

https://www.qupital.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/qupital/
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The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About Qupital

Qupital is a Series C stage fintech platform and Asia’s leader in data-driven financing solutions for digital businesses. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Qupital empowers e-commerce businesses trading on global platforms including Amazon, JD.com, Tmall, TikTok Shop, and Pinduoduo. As the first platform in Asia to securitize e-commerce merchant loans, Qupital combines industry-leading credit performance and sustained profitability with backing from global financial institutions including HSBC and MUFG, as well as strategic investors including M Capital, Alibaba, MindWorks Capital, Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund, and the Innovation and Technology Ventures Fund of the Hong Kong SAR Government.

The agreement gives Qualcomm access to technology Huawei has presented as an alternative route to higher semiconductor performance when conventional transistor shrinking becomes harder and more expensive. It also marks an important commercial endorsement of Huawei’s expanding patent portfolio as the company seeks a larger role in global AI and computing markets.

Huawei and Qualcomm said the arrangement includes cross-licences to their patent portfolios across multiple technology fields. Qualcomm will separately purchase certain Huawei patents registered in the United States covering computing, AI, networking and other technologies. That purchase remains subject to required regulatory approvals.

Financial terms and the duration of the agreement were not disclosed. Huawei said completion of the transaction would lift the cumulative value of its patent licensing agreements above $6.9 billion. The company has said its intellectual-property licensing operation has generated positive revenue since 2021.

LogicFolding forms part of Huawei’s Tau Scaling Law, a semiconductor design framework unveiled in May. Rather than depending solely on geometric scaling — making transistors progressively smaller — the approach seeks to reduce the time required for signals to travel through chips and electronic systems.

Huawei says LogicFolding can shorten critical signal paths by reorganising circuits across vertically integrated layers. The company argues that compressing signal-propagation delay can raise effective transistor density and improve performance and energy efficiency without relying entirely on successive advances in lithography.

The technology has particular strategic importance for Huawei because US export controls have restricted its access to some advanced semiconductor equipment and technologies. China-based chipmakers cannot obtain the most advanced extreme-ultraviolet lithography systems made by ASML, complicating efforts to manufacture chips using leading-edge processes through conventional methods.

Huawei has therefore increasingly emphasised architecture, packaging, interconnection and system-level optimisation as ways of extracting more computing performance from available manufacturing technology. LogicFolding is one element of that effort, although Huawei’s performance claims and longer-term projections remain subject to commercial-scale validation.

Huawei has already introduced the architecture in its latest Kirin processors. The Kirin 9050 Pro used in the Mate XT 2 foldable smartphone incorporates LogicFolding, providing an early commercial application of the design approach. Huawei has also outlined plans to extend the underlying method beyond mobile processors towards AI accelerators and other high-performance computing systems.

The patent arrangement does not mean Qualcomm is adopting Huawei’s complete chip architecture in its products. Patent licensing provides legal rights to use covered inventions under agreed terms, while individual product designs, manufacturing decisions and implementation choices remain separate. Neither company disclosed which Qualcomm products, if any, could eventually incorporate technologies covered by the LogicFolding patents.

The broader agreement also deepens a long-running intellectual-property relationship between the companies. Huawei made its first patent-licensing payment to Qualcomm in 2001, while the new pact is their first licensing agreement to encompass 5G technologies.

John Han, executive vice-president and general manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing, said the agreement recognised Huawei’s continuing innovation and intellectual property in 5G and other technology fields. He also said it reaffirmed recognition of Qualcomm’s 5G technology and its standard-essential-patent licensing programme.

Huawei chief intellectual property officer Alan Fan said the agreement demonstrated the value of Huawei’s innovations while recognising Qualcomm’s foundational contributions to modern communications technology. Both companies said their licensing practices were intended to be consistent with fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory principles.

The deal comes as Qualcomm broadens its business beyond smartphone processors into personal computers, automotive systems, networking and data-centre computing, areas where efficient AI processing and high-speed interconnects are increasingly important.

Qualcomm’s licensing business remains central to its model, with the company saying its portfolio contains 200,000 granted and pending patents across more than 100 countries and jurisdictions, including foundational cellular and AI inventions.

By Nantoo Banerjee The hand-picked 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of Bombay Stock Exchange, which has long been seen as the country’s overall industry performance barometer, seems to be losing its reliability under profit-booking punters’ whims. The Sensex faced sharp selling pressure last week, closing down at 72,972.56 after plunging over 1,000 points earlier in the […]

The article Corporate Sector Is Growing Well Despite Iran War, Poor Monsoon appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

By R. Suryamurthy Nine years after GST replaced a maze of central and state indirect taxes, the most revealing measure of its success may no longer be the monthly collection number. The harder question is whether India has built a tax system in which the government can distinguish between a taxpayer who is trying to […]

The article GST 3.0 Needs A New Bargain With Taxpayers, A Climate Without Fear appeared first on Latest India news, analysis and reports on Newspack by India Press Agency).

Grade A Office Availability Rate Drops Further, High Street Leasing Activities Focus on Kowloon

• Residential Market: Market sentiment turned more cautious in Q3, with total residential transaction numbers slipping by 40% q-o-q and 21% y-o-y to record around 13,240 cases. Home prices softened by 0.8% between July and August, yet, supported by stronger 1H performance, still recorded a cumulative rise of 7% in the first eight months of 2026.
• Grade A Office Market: Citywide net absorption reached 412,400 sq ft in Q3, mainly driven by expansion activities by the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector. Rents in Greater Central continued to pick up, while rental level declines in non-core submarkets narrowed. The overall office market rental level is expected to rise by +5% to +7% in 2026.
• Retail Market: Overall retail sales growth remained resilient on the back of growing tourist arrivals and stronger economic fundamentals supporting local consumption sentiment. The overall high street vacancy rate remained broadly stable in Q3, with leasing activities concentrated in Mongkok and Tsimshatsui.

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 5 October 2026 – Global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield today held its Hong Kong Property Markets Q3 2026 Review andOutlook press conference. The Hong Kong residential market entered a consolidation phase in Q3 amid a shift in the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook, increased stock market volatility, and tighter cross-border capital controls in the Chinese mainland. Against this backdrop, residential transaction numbers dropped by 40% q-o-q to record around 13,240 cases in Q3, while home prices declined by 0.8% during July and August. In the Grade A office market, the total new leased area for Q3 reached 1.4 million sq ft, the highest quarterly level since 2019, supported by expansion activities from the BFSI sector. Citywide net absorption reached +412,400 sq ft for the quarter, bringing the overall availability rate to trend further downward, while YTD rental growth recorded +6.1%. In the retail sector, total retail sales remained resilient in Q3. The overall high street vacancy rate remained broadly stable during the quarter, chiefly supported by more active leasing commitments in Mongkok. Leasing activity in Hong Kong Island districts moderated somewhat.

Grade A office leasing market:BSFI expansion demand fuels leasing momentum

The Q3 2026 period marked another active quarter for Hong Kong’s Grade A office market. Total new leased area reached 1.4 million sq ft in Q3, the highest quarterly level since 2019. The banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector, and consumer products / manufacturing sectors, were the key demand drivers, with BFSI occupiers largely expansion-led. Citywide net absorption reached +412,400 sq ft in the quarter. This performance helped pull down the overall availability rate 0.4 percentage point q-o-q to 19.1%. Core district rents continued to outperform non-core areas. Greater Central rents continued to climb by a further 3.0% q-o-q in Q3, while non-core area rental level declines further narrowed. Rents in Hong Kong East and Hong Kong South edged up slightly in Q3. The overall citywide rental level rose by 1.7% q-o-q in Q3, bringing YTD rental growth to +6.1%.

John Siu, Managing Director, Hong Kong, Cushman & Wakefield,said, “Rents in Greater Central grew by 13% YTD, reflecting strong demand for prime offices. However, mid-priced Grade A offices, particularly those with net effective rents of around HK$45-60 psf, are expected to continue facing headwinds, as abundant existing space and forthcoming supply across multiple submarkets within this price range is likely to sustain intense competition.”

Siu added, “Looking ahead, positive market momentum is likely to partly offset the scheduled 1.2 million sq ft of new supply in Q4, keeping the availability rate broadly stable at 19% to 20% at the year-end. With a decelerating supply pipeline beyond 2026, availability may have passed its cyclical peak in 2025, but non-core areas will continue to face absorption pressure. Full-year rental growth in Greater Central is now projected to grow by +12% to +14%, supporting the citywide Grade A office rental level to rise by +5% to +7% in 2026.”

Retail leasing market: Retail sales growth remains resilient, with Mongkok leading high street leasing activities

Hong Kong retail sales growth remained resilient in Q3, driven by growing tourist arrivals and stronger economic fundamentals supporting local consumption sentiment. The city’s overall retail sales for the January to August 2026 period reached HK$266 billion, up 8.5% y-o-y. Among key retail categories, the Jewellery & Watches sector recorded the strongest performance, recording y-o-y sales growth of 22.6%. Other sectors, such as Medicines & Cosmetics (+5.0%) and Fashion & Accessories (+3.2%), recorded more modest low single-digit growth.

The overall high street vacancy rate remained broadly stable at 5.4% in Q3, chiefly supported by more active leasing commitments in Mongkok, with the district’s vacancy rate dropping to 4.8% from 8.6% in Q2. In Tsimshatsui, although the vacancy rate moved up to 9.5%, notable new transactions were also recorded during the quarter. On Hong Kong Island, vacancy rates in Causeway Bay and Central increased in Q3, rising to 5.1% and 1.4%, respectively, after remaining at 0% for two consecutive quarters. With prime retail spaces in both districts fully occupied in previous quarters, leasing activity moderated in Q3.

High street retail rents in both Causeway Bay and Tsimshatsui remained unchanged in the quarter. In Mongkok, stronger leasing momentum supported a 0.4% q-o-q rise in rental levels. As for Tsimshatsui, a slowdown in the luxury segment combined with relatively high vacancy weighed on the district’s rental performance, resulting in a fall of 1.1% q-o-q. In the F&B sector, rents remained under pressure amid high availability, dropping within a 1% range q-o-q across the four key districts.

John Siu commented, “We have observed stronger leasing demand from Japanese, South Korean and Thai brands in recent months. Looking at the first-stores recorded so far this year, approximately 36% originated from Japan, South Korea and Thailand, similar to the share accounted for by Chinese mainland brands, while exceeding the 29% recorded for 2025 full-year. We expect this trend to continue through the remainder of the year. Looking ahead, the Hong Kong retail market is expected to remain supported by resilient local consumption resulting from stronger economic fundamentals, together with greater tourist spending underpinned by a stronger RMB, and a pipeline of planned mega-events. These factors will bring continued momentum to the city’s retail market. We also expect local and non-local retailers to remain selective, with demand focused on well-located retail spaces in core districts offering attractive rental packages. In turn, the city’s retail market is likely to maintain a gradual recovery trajectory. We forecast high street retail rents in Causeway Bay and Central to pick up by 2% to 3% y-o-y in 2026, with Tsimshatsui and Mongkok recording modest rental growth of 1% to 2% y-o-y.”

Residential Market: Home prices consolidate as transaction numbers cool in Q3, rate hikes remain key

The Hong Kong residential market consolidated somewhat in Q3 following the strong momentum recorded in 1H. After the sustained release of purchasing power over the past year, coupled with the shift of the U.S. Federal Reserve rate direction, increased stock market volatility and heightened uncertainties, some prospective buyers reverted to a wait-and-see stance. This resulted in a noticeable slowdown in transaction activity from July onwards. The monthly transaction number, which averaged more than 7,000 cases in Q2, fell back to around 4,000 deals between July and September. A total of 13,242 residential transactions were recorded in Q3, down 40% q-o-q, bringing cumulative transactions to reach 54,052 cases for the first nine months of the year, representing an 18% increase y-o-y.

Edgar Lai, Senior Director, Valuation and Consultancy Services, Hong Kong, Cushman & Wakefield, commented, “Housing price growth momentum decelerated in Q3 2026. Rating and Valuation Department data suggests that the overall residential price index softened by 0.8% in the two months from July to August, yet still achieved 7.0% growth for the first eight months of 2026. Meanwhile, our Cushman & Wakefield mid-and-small size units price index shows that home prices mildly dropped 0.1% q-o-q, yet still registering a cumulative increase of 7.7% year to date. Our tracking of popular housing estates shows that prices softened in Q3 across different market segments. Prices at City One Shatin, representing the mass market, declined by 5.7% q-o-q, while prices at Taikoo Shing, representing the mid-market, dropped by 0.6% q-o-q. Residence Bel-Air, representing the luxury segment, retreated by 3.8% q-o-q. Following the sustained release of purchasing power over the past year, coupled with tighter cross-border capital controls from the Chinese mainland, and the U.S. Fed rate hike of 0.25% in September, our September Verbal Enquiry Index declined by 35% compared with the peak seen in May.”

Rosanna Tang, Deputy Managing Director, Head of Research, Hong Kong, Cushman & Wakefield, added, “The city’s residential market consolidated in Q3, with monthly transactions retreating to around 4,000 cases. The slowdown reflects a more cautious stance among homebuyers amid shifting interest rate expectations and heightened external uncertainties. Looking ahead, the frequency and pace of rate hikes, together with whether local banks will follow suit, will be the key factors affecting homebuyers’ purchasing decisions and affordability. Given the slower pace of transactions in Q3, we have revised our full-year residential transaction forecast to around 67,000 to 68,000 cases.

“As for pricing, should the U.S. Fed rate further increase in Q4, the residential market is expected to remain in a consolidation phase, with 2026 annual home prices likely to fluctuate in a narrow range near +7%. The rental market, however, will be more resilient underpinned by rental demand brought by the inflow of talent, non-local students, and new entrants to the city. With rental growth of 4.9% recorded in the first eight months of the year, we project a 5% to 7% y-o-y increase for the full year of 2026.”

Hashtag: #CWK

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About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) is a leading global commercial real estate services firm for property owners and occupiers with approximately 53,000 employees in nearly 350 offices and 60 countries. In Greater China, a network of 23 offices serves local markets across the region. In 2025, the firm reported revenue of $10.3 billion across its core services of Valuation, Consulting, Project & Development Services, Capital Markets, Project & Occupier Services, Industrial & Logistics, Retail, and others. Built around the belief that Better never settles, the firm receives numerous industry and business accolades for its award-winning culture. For additional information, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com.hk or follow us on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/cushman-&-wakefield-greater-china).

Introduced in September 2022 to attract high-potential foreigners to reside and conduct economic activities in Thailand, the LTR visa program has generated an average economic value of more than USD 107,000 (THB 3.6 million) per recipient, according to BOI data. The calculation covers visa fees, spending in Thailand by visa holders, direct investment, and tax revenue from highly skilled professionals.

Amid intensifying global competition for highly skilled personnel, the LTR visa is an important mechanism for bringing global talent into Thailand. This is particularly relevant as the country prepares for a new wave of investment in advanced-technology industries, including semiconductors and advanced electronics, digital technology and AI, humanoid robotics, aviation, and biotechnology.

“The LTR visa is a strategic pillar to attract global talent as Thailand absorbs a new wave of advanced technology investments,” said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary General of the Board of Investment. “Drawing top-tier executives and technical specialists from around the world is vital to strengthening our national competitiveness and securing technology transfers from international partners.”

Approved LTR visa recipients primarily come from leading economies. The United States accounts for the largest group, with more than 2,400 approvals, followed by Japan with more than 1,300 and the United Kingdom with more than 1,000. Japanese nationals comprise a notable share of the specialist bracket, aligning with Japan’s heavy footprint in Thailand’s automotive and precision-electronics supply networks.

The 12,010 approved LTR visa recipients fall into five categories: 1,779 Highly-Skilled Professionals; 1,043 Work-from-Thailand Professionals, who work from Thailand for overseas employers; 737 Wealthy Global Citizens; 4,561 Wealthy Pensioners; and 3,891 Dependents of recipients in the first four categories.

Among recipients in the Highly-Skilled Professionals and Work-from-Thailand Professionals categories, 54% hold executive-level positions and 36% are professionals in various fields; the remainder are at the technical level. Applicants in each category must meet specific criteria, such as requirements relating to assets, income, investment evidence, work experience, and health insurance, and undergo rigorous checks by the relevant agencies.

To handle rising application volumes and remove long-standing administrative bottlenecks, the BOI rolled out an integrated digital processing portal in September 2026. The platform centralizes review procedures across four primary state bodies: the Department of Consular Affairs, the Immigration Bureau, the Department of Employment, and the Revenue Department.

Complementing the portal, the Thailand Investment and Expat Services Center (TIESC), a one-stop service center, is located on floors 6-7 of the Parade Zone at One Bangkok. “The center is intended to strengthen Thailand’s competitiveness in continuously attracting high-potential talent from around the world,” said Mr. Narit.

In addition to attracting foreign talent through the LTR visa, BOI also facilitates visas and work permits for executives and personnel working in BOI-promoted businesses through the BOI Visa, and offers the Smart Visa for startups. BOI also supports the skills development of Thai personnel through the Skill Bridge measure, and helps Thai entrepreneurs adopt modern technology to enhance their competitiveness through the Business Transformation measure. These measures work hand in hand to attract international experts, develop Thai personnel, and upgrade Thai businesses, strengthening Thailand’s readiness for the transition to a new economy driven by technology and innovation.

Note: Currency conversions are based on the Bank of Thailand’s average selling rate of approximately 1 USD = 33.6 THB.

Hashtag: #Thailandboardofinvestment #BOI #FDI #Investment

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Thailand Board of Investment (BOI)

Established in 1966, the Office of the Board of Investment (BOI) has played an important role for more than 60 years in promoting value-creating investment by both foreign and Thai investors, strengthening competitiveness and supporting Thailand’s sustainable economic restructuring toward the new economy.

Future Foods Opens New Revenue Opportunities for Restaurant Operators

Born out of the Kitchens business, Future Foods was created to help restaurant operators generate additional revenue through virtual delivery brands. Today, it is the largest virtual brand company in the restaurant space, with more than 1,500 live locations.

The Future Foods model allows restaurants to launch established delivery brands from their existing kitchens without investing in another location or major infrastructure. With their existing kitchens, operators can optimise food costs, reach more customers and increase delivery sales.

Future Foods also provides support with storefront setup, delivery platform integration, marketing and operations, allowing restaurant teams to focus on preparing great food while strengthening their delivery business.

Restaurant partners can choose from a portfolio of nationally recognised brands across a range of cuisines, including Pasta Glory, Brooklyn Calzones, Sunny & Fine’s, Poke Picnic and Brekkie Bagels, fulfilling customer demand in the market.

Picnic Brings a Simpler Workplace Dining Experience

Alongside Future Foods, NAMAA has introduced Picnic, a workplace dining platform built around the idea of “food at work, simplified.” By combining CloudKitchens with local brick-and-mortar restaurants, Picnic gives employees a wide variety of lunch options through a digital food court experience.

Orders are delivered to a designated Picnic shelf on each office floor within a 20 to 30-minute delivery window, making lunchtime easier while reducing the need to manage individual food deliveries.

Picnic also offers a more cost-effective approach to workplace dining. With no delivery fees, tips, administrative charges, nor minimum order requirements, both employers and employees benefit from greater convenience at no extra cost.

The platform offers flexible corporate solutions, including subsidised lunch programmes, non-subsidised daily deliveries, group ordering and fee-free catering for larger corporate events, allowing businesses to tailor to their employees’ needs.

Together, Future Foods and Picnic reflect NAMAA’s commitment to supporting restaurant growth while making workplace dining easier. As food delivery continues to evolve across the Middle East, both platforms give restaurants, businesses and consumers more flexibility and choice.

Hashtag: #NAMAA

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About NAMAA

NAMAA is a leader in driving the growth of digital food solutions, quick commerce, and the underlying real estate foundations. The founding members have been laying the groundwork since 2019, guided by a philosophy centred on developing infrastructures that give consumers fast and dependable access to meals, groceries, and essentials. Part of the wider ATOMS Group, the company has since grown into a multi-sector network with operations spanning the Middle East.

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 5 October 2026 – Amid rising operating costs and accelerating digital transformation, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Hong Kong are facing increasing pressure from equipment investment, limited manpower resources, and the growing complexity of print management across multiple departments. For organizations with multiple teams, office locations, or hybrid work arrangements, maintaining a reliable and efficient printing environment at a reasonable cost has become an important operational challenge.

Most businesses primarily print A4 documents such as contracts, invoices, reports, and administrative paperwork. When A4 printing is sufficient to meet the majority of daily business requirements, investing in larger and more expensive printing equipment may not be necessary. Brother’s Managed Print Service (MPS) allows businesses to flexibly deploy printing resources according to actual operational needs without incurring substantial upfront capital expenditure. The service also provides comprehensive consumables management, maintenance, and professional technical support, making print management simpler and more efficient.

Comprehensive Print Management That Reduces Administrative and IT Workloads

Traditional printer ownership often involves purchasing equipment, replenishing consumables, arranging repairs, and managing technical support, all of which can increase administrative efforts and hidden operating costs, particularly for SMEs without dedicated IT or administrative teams.

Brother’s Managed Print Service includes printer usage, consumables supply, maintenance services, and technical support. This enables businesses to enjoy a reliable printing experience without spending additional time managing day-to-day printing operations, allowing resources to be redirected toward core business development.

Eliminate Large Capital Expenditure and Improve Cash Flow Management

For growing businesses and startups, major investments in office equipment can significantly impact cash flow planning.

Under the monthly subscription model, businesses pay a fixed monthly fee to access professional-grade Brother printing equipment without making a substantial upfront investment. The service also does not impose a fixed monthly print volume limit, enabling organizations to adjust printing usage and device deployment according to operational needs. This flexibility helps businesses control costs more effectively while minimizing resource underutilization and wastage.

Flexible Multi-Device Deployment for Greater Departmental Productivity

For organizations with multiple departments or work teams, relying on a single shared printer can often result in wait times and reduced document processing efficiency.

Brother’s Managed Print Service solution enables businesses to deploy multiple printers according to actual operational requirements. For example, administrative, human resources, finance, and sales departments can each be equipped with printers tailored to their specific needs. This helps minimize waiting time, reduce cross-department disruptions, improve workflow efficiency, and enhance document confidentiality.

The solution is also well-suited for organizations with multiple offices, retail outlets, or distributed business teams, providing centralized management of multiple devices while ensuring consistent technical support and after-sales service.

Proactive Consumables Replenishment Minimizes Business Disruptions

Many businesses have experienced workflow interruptions caused by depleted toner or consumables, potentially delaying important document production, customer service, and internal operations.

Brother’s Managed Print Service automatically monitors printer performance and consumables usage, proactively arranging replenishment before supplies run low. For industries with high printing demands, such as insurance, financial services, logistics, professional services, and education, this not only reduces administrative workload but also minimizes inventory management and procurement-related tasks.

Designed for Hong Kong Offices and Hybrid Work Environments

As hybrid working becomes increasingly common, businesses require more flexible approaches to printer deployment.

Brother offers a range of compact yet feature-rich printers that are particularly suitable for Hong Kong’s space-constrained office environments, departmental workspaces, and shared offices. With a smaller footprint while still meeting everyday business printing requirements, these devices help organizations make better use of valuable office space.

In addition, Brother provides remote technical support services to assist with device setup, network connectivity, and other technical issues, reducing the day-to-day support burden on IT teams.

Five Key Benefits of Choosing Brother “Managed Print Service”

• Reduce large upfront procurement costs and adapt flexibly to changing business needs
• Proactive consumables replenishment to minimize inventory management and purchasing efforts
• Maintenance and professional technical support to reduce equipment downtime risks
• Automated usage monitoring to lower administrative and management workload
• Compact printer design ideal for Hong Kong’s limited office space

Focus on Growing Your Core Business

Through its monthly subscription model, flexible device deployment, automated consumables management, and professional technical support, Brother’s Managed Print Service helps businesses simplify print management, reduce overall operating costs, and improve productivity across departments and locations.

When most printing requirements consist primarily of A4 documents, businesses can select the most suitable device configuration based on their actual operational needs without allocating additional resources to infrequent printing demands. By adopting a more flexible and streamlined print management approach, organizations can focus on growing their business, serving customers, and driving innovation, ultimately strengthening their competitive advantage.

Learn more about Brother “Managed Print Service” and limited-time offers:
Website: https://www.brother.com.hk/en/solutions/mps
WhatsApp Enquiries
Email: [email protected]

Information contained in this release is accurate at the time of publication and is subject to change without prior notice.
Hashtag: #BrotherHK #BrotherMPS #BusinessSolutions #OfficeSolutions #PrintManagement #PrinterRental #OfficeSolutions #Sustainability

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About Brother International (HK) Limited

The Hangzhou-based AI developer released Ascend versions of several key components on September 30, including its DeepGEMM matrix-multiplication library and DeepEP communications software. The projects are designed to work with Huawei’s Ascend processors while keeping public interfaces aligned with versions built around Nvidia hardware, reducing the amount of code developers may need to rewrite when moving workloads.

That portability targets a critical part of Nvidia’s competitive advantage. Nvidia’s CUDA software platform has become deeply embedded in AI development, giving programmers mature libraries, tools and optimisation techniques built over years. Competing chips therefore have to overcome not only differences in raw computing performance but also the cost and complexity of shifting software away from CUDA.

DeepSeek’s DeepJIT project takes a further step by providing a shared runtime interface for Nvidia CUDA graphics processors and Huawei Ascend neural-processing units. It handles compilation, caching, loading and launching of specialised AI kernels while retaining backend-specific code where necessary. The approach does not make the two architectures interchangeable, but it can reduce friction for developers maintaining software for both.

DeepGEMM-Ascend is fully API-compatible with DeepSeek’s original DeepGEMM package and supports BF16, FP8 and FP4 calculations used in demanding AI workloads. DeepSeek says the library uses Ascend-specific optimisation methods to approach the hardware’s performance limits while shielding programmers from lower-level complexities including memory layouts, alignment constraints and address calculations.

Its DeepEP-Ascend library similarly aligns its public buffer interfaces with the Nvidia version while using Huawei’s communications technologies underneath. DeepSeek has also added Ascend support to DeepSelect, a specialised component used for sparse-attention and sampling operations, and released Ascend sparse-attention kernels for its model infrastructure.

Huawei, meanwhile, has been opening more of the software surrounding Ascend. Its CANN platform — the company’s counterpart to the programming infrastructure required to exploit AI accelerators — supports frameworks including PyTorch and works with open-source projects such as Triton, vLLM and veRL.

Huawei said last month that CANN had moved to sustained community-driven open-source development, with external programmers accounting for 61 per cent of its CANN developers. The company said the community had more than 5,200 monthly active developers, while more than 40 models had been natively pre-trained using Ascend and CANN.

The combination matters because China’s challenge to Nvidia has increasingly shifted from producing an alternative accelerator to assembling a usable full computing stack. Hardware can win orders only if model developers can train and run workloads efficiently without sacrificing too much engineering time or performance.

DeepSeek’s software also gives Huawei an influential independent developer helping test and improve that stack. The AI laboratory became prominent for building capable models with an emphasis on computational efficiency, and its infrastructure code is closely watched by developers seeking lower-cost approaches to training and inference.

The effort comes as US export controls continue to restrict China’s access to Nvidia’s most advanced processors, creating stronger incentives for technology groups to adopt domestic alternatives. Those restrictions have helped expand the strategic importance of Huawei’s Ascend line, even though China still faces constraints in advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

Nvidia nevertheless retains formidable advantages. CUDA has a vast installed developer base and an extensive collection of mature libraries, while Nvidia’s leading accelerators remain central to major AI training systems outside China. Compatibility layers and open-source libraries also require sustained testing, documentation and optimisation before they can match the reliability of an established platform across diverse workloads.