The discussion featured Dr. Vo Hai Son, deputy general director of the Vietnam Administration of Disease Prevention under the Ministry of Health; Dr. Angela Pratt, head of World Health Organization (WHO), Vietnam Country Office; and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hung, deputy director of the Vietnam Paediatric Association and Former Director of Children’s Hospital 1.

Experts provided key insights and perspectives on the dengue fever situation. Photo: the Health & Life Newspaper

Dengue fever, ranked by the WHO among the world's top 10 public health threats, saw global cases surge tenfold from 2010 to 2019.

In Vietnam, the disease has spread nationwide. Many localities in the North that previously had no cases now report dengue fever, most notably during the 2022 outbreak, which sent hundreds of patients to hospitals across the northern provinces.

"The Aedes aegypti mosquito, which spreads dengue fever, thrives in warmer, wetter conditions and urban environments," said Pratt. "Three factors are driving this shift: climate change creating ideal breeding conditions for this mosquito; rapid urbanisation with unsynchronised infrastructure in densely populated areas; and the increasing difficulty in forecasting the disease, which challenges the health system in preparation and proactive response."

From a management perspective, Son stated, "The outbreak cycle has a tendency to shorten. The 2022 peak recorded 371,000 cases nationwide, and in subsequent years the country has continued to record an average of roughly 150,000 cases annually."

However, according to the representative of the Vietnam Administration of Disease Prevention, the disease no longer follows old patterns. In 2025, cases increased again but did not decrease at the end of the year as usual – November and December remained at high levels. As a result, the first five months of 2026 recorded over 50,000 cases, 2.5 times higher than the same period last year.

Dr. Vo Hai Son, deputy general director of the Vietnam Administration of Disease Prevention. Photo: the Health & Life Newspaper

Abnormal weather patterns, characterised by alternating hot, humid, and continuous rainfall since the beginning of the year, are ideal conditions for mosquitoes to breed.

"More concerningly, the DENV-2 serotype is currently dominant, increasing the risk of many severe cases," Son added. "Dengue prevention efforts will become increasingly difficult without determination and the synchronous implementation of many solutions to protect and care for health."

A significant change is that dengue fever is no longer just a disease of children – now anyone, at any age, can be infected. "More than 10 years ago, 60–70 per cent of dengue cases in the south were children under 15. Now, the incidence rate between children and people over 15 is almost equal," Hung said. "In other words, anyone in the family can contract dengue."

"The biggest barrier lies in complacency itself," he added. "Most people are aware of dengue fever yet still think of it as someone else's problem. When a high fever strikes, they self-medicate, and many young people believe the disease is not serious for them."

Meanwhile, dengue fever progresses in a way that contradicts common perception. The third to fifth day – when the fever has decreased and the patient thinks they have recovered – is the stage that can be the most dangerous. This is when the disease is most prone to becoming severe, with complications such as dengue shock syndrome, severe haemorrhage, and multi-organ failure. This combination of complacency and the disease's deceptive nature has led to many cases being detected too late, increasing the risk of death.

“There are families who have lost two children at the same time in one season because they were detected too late. Even though the health sector has tried its best, there are still cases where we could not save the children,” said Hung.

The burden of dengue extends far beyond case numbers. According to Hung, even severe cases that are successfully treated can leave lasting after-effects in both adults and children – ranging from memory impairment, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, and depression to hair loss and vision disorders.

Severe cases requiring dialysis or mechanical ventilation can cost hundreds of millions of VND, sometimes up to VND500–600 million ($20,000–24,000), creating great pressure on the healthcare system. The disease also weighs heavily on patients' families, forcing relatives to take days off work for round-the-clock care while causing prolonged anxiety and stress.

Over the past half-century, the fight against dengue fever has mainly relied on vector control (killing mosquitoes, killing larvae, eliminating breeding sites) and epidemiological surveillance – this remains the foundation and the first line of defence.

Currently, several new prevention tools are emerging. According to Pratt, early warning systems are increasingly improving thanks to technology and AI, helping to forecast transmission trends more accurately. Along with that, vaccines are becoming a proactive preventive tool, helping to reduce the risk of infection and the risk of severe progression, thereby reducing the burden of treatment and mortality.

"There's a vaccine now registered in Vietnam, and a pilot will happen soon to try rolling it out in a public health drive," said Pratt. "I'm personally very excited to see the results of that pilot because this is an essential new tool in the toolbox."

Dr. Angela Pratt, Head of WHO, Vietnam Country Office. Photo: the Health & Life Newspaper

"With the support of international organisations and businesses, the health sector is researching the implementation of a pilot dengue vaccination scheme in some localities to serve as a basis for evaluation before considering inclusion in the expanded immunisation drive," Son said. "In parallel, the health sector continues to promote mosquito control, communication, improve treatment capacity, and gradually apply environmental and weather data for early epidemic warning. New tools do not replace existing measures – they supplement them in a comprehensive prevention strategy."

The WHO has set a global target to achieve zero preventable deaths from dengue fever by 2030. According to Pratt, the key is to bridge the gap between information, awareness, and action: messages need to be clear, easy to understand, and actionable, accompanied by a capable health system.

This year, for the first time, the list introduces size-based categories, giving recognition that more accurately reflects the distinct people challenges facing organizations at different scales of operation. Determined largely by confidential employee feedback, the 2026 list recognizes 30 organizations across Large, Medium and Small categories that have demonstrated exceptional workplace culture and delivered a consistently high-trust employee experience.

The Best Workplaces recognized in the Philippines IT-BPM list for 2026 significantly outperform the broader market on key indicators.

• 91% of employees at recognized organizations say they would strongly endorse their company to friends and family as a great place to work, compared to 69% at typical Philippine companies.
• 88% say people in their workplace are willing to give extra to get the job done, compared to 75.6% at typical Philippine companies.
• 90.2% say people quickly adapt to changes needed for organizational success, compared to 72.2% at typical companies.

As the tech sector in the Philippines competes more globally for service quality and talent, the workplaces that will excel are more likely to be those where employees feel genuinely valued.

"The Philippine tech industry is at a real turning point. AI is changing the nature of work and global competition is raising expectations. Nearly two million Filipinos are navigating that shift every day" said Charles Plumley, General Manager, Great Place To Work® Philippines.

"This list champions thirty organizations who chose to face that reality head-on, and who made a choice to give their people a voice in how the industry is experienced on the ground. That's something worth celebrating."

Best Workplaces™ in the Philippines IT-BPM Industry 2026 top placing organizations

Large category: Synchrony (#1), Capital One Philippines (#2), Carelon Global Solutions Philippines (#3)
Medium category: Kollab (#1), AGS Health Private Limited (#2), hammerjack Pty Ltd (#3)
Small category: Interconnected Business Process Inc. (#1), Cisco (#2), Tech One Global Phils., Inc. (#3)

DISCOVER THE FULL BEST WORKPLACES™ IN THE PHILIPPINES IT-BPM INDUSTRY 2026 LIST HERE

A Word From Our Winners

Taking the #1 position in the Small category, Interconnected Business Process, Inc. has a people-first culture, "at the heart of everything we do. Through continuous learning and development, employee recognition programs, wellness initiatives, CSR activities, and open communication, we have created a workplace where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered," said Community Relations Associate Phileo Titus Cayabyab.

At #5 for the Medium category Etrading Software's Head of Operations Jennifer Danganan said that, "One of the key drivers behind our recognition as a Best Workplace in IT-BPM was our deliberate investment in people leadership and employee development as the organization continued to grow. These initiatives helped foster a culture built on trust, development, and flexibility creating a workplace where employees feel supported both professionally and personally."

Coming in at the #13 place in the Large category, Lexmark, now part of Xerox, sees becoming a Best Workplace in IT-BPM as the result of, "a more intentional approach to aligning employee experience, capability-building, and business growth. The organization maintained consistently high trust scores averaging above 92%, achieved five consecutive years of Great Place To Work Certification, and grew its workforce by over 10% between 2024 and 2025," said the company's Public Relations and Internal Communications Specialist, Julia Toledo.

Follow Great Place To Work on LinkedIn, Facebook or visit greatplacetowork.com.ph

"The overwhelmingly positive feedback we've received from surgeons strongly validates our optics leadership in the IOL market. The ZEISS AT LUCIA toric 721P raises the bar for precision, stability, and ultimately positive surgical outcomes. This is a new era for IOL technology and ZEISS is at the forefront," says Frank Seitzinger, Head of Business Sector Surgery Anterior Segment, ZEISS Medical Technology.

The ZEISS AT LUCIA toric 721P IOL will first be showcased at the International Congress of German Ophthalmic Surgery (DOC) in Nuremberg, Germany, from June 18 - 20, 2026. Currently CE marked, the lens is expected to be commercially available in select European countries later in 2026.

Early impressions from surgeons

"Being the first surgeon worldwide to implant the ZEISS AT LUCIA toric 721P was a privilege. The lens combines precision, stability and excellent surgical handling. And in modern cataract surgery, precision matters more than ever. Based on my first experience, the ZEISS AT LUCIA toric 721P has all the ingredients of a true game changer for refractive outcomes," says Dr. Andrea Janeková, Ph.D., FEBO, FEBOS-CR, Head of the Center for Cataract, Refractive and Vitreoretinal Surgery at Eye Center Prague, Czech Republic.

"Compared with other toric IOLs, the main advantages of the ZEISS AT LUCIA toric 721P are its platform, its bitoric design, and its outstanding rotational stability. I expect this lens to enhance the predictability of refractive outcomes in my practice. Its proven platform gives me confidence in achieving reliable visual results for my patients," says Dr. Helena Noguera, MD, Department of Refractive and Phaco-Refractive Surgery at Miranza COI Bilbao, Department of Anterior Segment and Glaucoma at Galdácano-Usansolo University Hospital, Bizkaia, Spain.

"Based on my early experience, the ZEISS AT LUCIA toric 721P with a non-constant aspheric profile truly enhances the quality of vision for patients. The step-vaulted profile and enhanced haptic-optic junction improves the rotational stability of this new toric IOL," says Prof. Sathish Srinivasan, FRCSEd, FRCOphth, FACS, FWCRS, FEBOS - CR (Hon), Founder and Medical Director, Ayrshire Eye Clinic, Ayr, Scotland, UK.

"The ZEISS AT LUCIA toric 721P stands out for its stability, ease of implantation, and consistent visual outcomes, which have been impressive in my initial experience. I expect this lens to expand our treatment options and help more patients achieve excellent vision with greater confidence and satisfaction," says Dr. Amin-Robert Kassem, Chief Physician and Clinic Owner, Värnamo Eye Center, Sweden.

For more information about the clinical trials and surgeons' early implantation success of the ZEISS AT LUCIA toric 721P, visit https://www.zeiss.com/at-lucia-toric.

Not all products, services or offers are approved or offered in every market and approved labeling and instructions may vary from one country to another. For country-specific product information, see the appropriate country website. Product specifications are subject to change in design and scope of delivery as a result of ongoing technical development. The statements of the healthcare professionals reflect only their personal opinions and experiences and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of any institution that they are affiliated with. The healthcare professionals alone are responsible for the content of their experience reported and any potential resulting infringements. Carl Zeiss Meditec AG and its affiliates to not have clinical evidence supporting the opinions and statements of the health care professionals nor accept any responsibility or liability of the healthcare professionals' content. The healthcare professionals have a contractual or other financial relationship with Carl Zeiss Meditec AG and its affiliates and have received financial support.

For further information visit: www.zeiss.com/med

The collaboration brings together two distinct but complementary industry capabilities: Mei Ah Entertainment's strengths in AI content, creative storytelling, product development and supply chain integration, and Synagie's AI commerce infrastructure, ecommerce operations and market experience in Southeast Asia. Together, they are pioneering a new model of AI-powered product IP development — one that is asset-light, low-risk, and built for scale.

MASYN: A New AI-powered Brand Commercialisation Engine

MASYN is built to demonstrate and deliver a new model of AI-powered brand development - utilising market intelligence, digital content and ecommerce infrastructure to support scalable and asset-light regional expansion.

The initiative will integrate Synagie's AI commerce capabilities with Mei Ah Entertainment's AI content production capabilities, covering Southeast Asia's most active digital commerce platforms. The scope of application includes AI-generated content, livestream commerce, short-form video marketing, while simultaneously utilizing digital commerce platforms such as TikTok Shop for data-driven product testing and market validation.

The launch of MASYN also marks an important step in the Group's development of an AI-driven brand incubation and cross-border ecommerce commercialisation framework, combining AI commerce infrastructure, content-driven consumer engagement and cross-border ecommerce execution capabilities into a scalable Southeast Asia market expansion model for Asian brands.

"At Synagie, MASYN represents more than a consumer brand collaboration — it is the first-of-its-kind deployment of a scalable AI commerce and IP commercialisation model that we believe can be replicated across multiple consumer categories and markets by combining AI-driven market intelligence, digital commerce infrastructure and content-driven marketing capability. We are building a more asset-light and efficient pathway for Asian brands to enter Southeast Asia." said Olive Tai, CEO and Co-Founder of Synagie.

She added: "MASYN is not positioned solely as a jewelry brand, but as a scalable commercialisation model. We believe the future of IP commercialisation will extend beyond products alone into three core areas — brands, creators and content. Through the integration of AI commerce, content marketing and cross-border ecommerce capabilities, we aim to help Asian brands and IPs scale more effectively across Southeast Asia."

Mei Ah Entertainment Bridging Content, Commerce, and Consumer Engagement

The name MASYN combines "MA" from Mei Ah Entertainment and "SYN" from Synagie, reflecting the convergence of entertainment, technology and commerce capabilities across Asia. MASYN is the first launch of an AI-driven ecommerce model, bringing together creative collaborations from around the world under one commercialisation infrastructure.

Mei Ah Entertainment will contribute its expertise in AI content, IP, product development and supply chain resources, and will leverage its self-developed AI platform "Wuji" to support MASYN with ecommerce content creation, product development and commercialisation execution; Synagie will provide AI commerce technology, ecommerce operations, digital marketing execution and Southeast Asia regional market capabilities. The two parties will jointly drive MASYN's brand commercialisation and regional expansion.

The platform will utilise AI-powered consumer insights, real-time market testing and data analytics to support product positioning, pricing strategies and regional market deployment, further enhancing commercialisation and cross-border expansion efficiency.

Li Tang Yuk, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Mei Ah Entertainment Group Limited, said: "AI is reshaping how content is produced and commercialised. Mei Ah Entertainment's self-developed AI platform 'Wuji' will be extended into this collaboration to support short video production and ecommerce content creation. Through MASYN, we hope to explore a new model driven by AI content, data validation and supply chain support, and to extend it to more product categories and markets, helping more brands expand into Southeast Asia."

Synagistics and Mei Ah Entertainment Strengthen "AI + IP + Cross-border Ecommerce" Strategy to Accelerate Southeast Asia Expansion

The collaboration marks both parties' strategic expansion beyond traditional ecommerce services towards an "AI + IP + Cross-border Ecommerce" growth strategy, further accelerating the regional layout in Southeast Asia. As one of the world's fastest-growing digital commerce regions, Southeast Asia continues to see strong cross-border ecommerce demand and rising digital consumer adoption, creating significant opportunities for regional brand expansion.

Through MASYN, Synagie and Mei Ah Entertainment Group will integrate entertainment IP, AI-generated content, digital commerce infrastructure and data-driven market intelligence to develop a scalable and asset-light consumer brand growth model. Both parties believe IP commercialisation is no longer limited to products alone, but is increasingly expanding across three core areas — brands, creators and content. Through an integrated "IP → Content → Commerce" model, the initiative will combine creator-driven ecommerce, AI content marketing and cross-border digital commerce deployment to strengthen IP commercialisation and regional expansion capabilities.

The Group believes MASYN has the potential to generate approximately US$10 million in GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) across Southeast Asia over the next three to five years, supporting the Group's broader strategy of expanding AI-driven brand IP commercialisation and cross-border ecommerce capabilities. Looking ahead, the Group also plans to expand into "IP Co-Development Services", leveraging AI market intelligence, digital commerce infrastructure and Southeast Asia operational capabilities to support product incubation, cross-border ecommerce deployment and regional market expansion for China and Hong Kong brands. This will further consolidate and expand the Group's business presence in AI commerce and the regional digital commerce market.

"Shopware's role is to help merchants act early in this critical transition—stay in control, and turn uncertainty into opportunity, with the same community that has long shaped our platform," said Sebastian Hamann, co-CEO of Shopware.

The four products address distinct parts of a commerce environment where both AI-driven purchasing and human buying behavior are growing in importance. "Merchants need infrastructure built to serve both needs, while keeping their data and business logic under their own control," Hamann shared on stage to more than 1,500 attendees.

The products include:

• Shopware Nexus—A native, event-driven orchestration layer that replaces fragmented middleware and custom integrations with a central data synchronization hub, reducing integration costs by 40%.
• Shopware Copilot—Moves beyond analysis to execution, working across merchant workflows in a single task by drawing on a merchant's real business context, while keeping the merchant in control of data, rights, and access.
• Shopware Payments—A native payment layer built directly into the platform and powered by PayPal's global infrastructure. It is available today in Germany and Austria, with the EU and United States to follow. Merchants can add other payment providers at any time.
• Experience Studio—Introduced as a research preview developed with the Shopware community, will allow merchants to generate functional commerce frontends and story-led shopping experiences from a description, helping brands build differentiated storefronts that connect content, context, and commerce.

To learn more about each product or to view a recording of the keynote, head to shopware.com/en/products/updates/

EBANX has supported Pix Automático since the feature's launch. Amazon Prime, with more than 200 million paid members worldwide, is one of the merchants offering the solution in Brazil through EBANX. Prime members in the country can enjoy fast, free shipping, exclusive deals, Prime Video, Amazon Music, and other services, and are able to subscribe using a variety of methods, including Pix Automático, credit and debit cards, ensuring accessibility regardless of their preferred payment option.

Canva, Hotmart, and Nord Security are also among the merchants offering Pix Automático through EBANX. In addition, payment infrastructure providers such as Stripe, Spreedly, and Zuora have partnered with EBANX to enable more international companies to seamlessly access Brazil's recurring billing market via the Pix feature.

EBANX's operational data from the first year of Pix Automático reinforces the feature's strong growth trajectory. Active enrollments grew at an average monthly rate of 177% since June 2025, while transaction total value grew by 53% per month and the number of transactions 161%. EBANX currently processes 38% of all Pix Automático transactions in Brazil.

"One year in, Pix Automático has already delivered one of its most important projections: bringing new consumers into the digital subscription economy," said Eduardo de Abreu, CPO of EBANX and CEO of EBANX Singapore. "The 64% new-user rate reflects a population that was always willing to subscribe, but never had the right tool to do so," he added.

The arrival of this new consumer base also brings new payment habits to subscription-based businesses. "We are talking about new users, who might bring new behaviors, and demand new approaches. These differences come alongside an opportunity that simply did not exist before. If only cards were offered, many of these consumers would have never converted in the first place," said Abreu.

The potential of recurring alternative payment methods (APMs) extends beyond Brazil. Across emerging markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, over 1.3 billion adults lack access to credit or debit cards, relying on local APMs to access streaming, SaaS, gaming, and other subscription-based platforms.

EBANX has expanded its recurring APM offering across 12 emerging markets, unlocking a potential base of over 1 billion users for global merchants. Pix Automático is at the forefront of this wave in Latin America, a proof of concept that recurring payments built on local payment rails can work at scale.

Who is using Pix Automático

Brazil's Central Bank data analyzed by EBANX shows that nearly 4 in 5 Pix Automático transactions are made by users aged 30 and above, with the 40-to-49 age group leading adoption at 24%. "Pix Automático is being embraced by consumers with established purchasing power and longer subscription lifespans, a profile that holds huge potential for merchants," said Abreu.

Another finding from Pix Automático's first year of operation relates to its adoption by businesses. While business-to-business (B2B) transactions accounted for less than 5% of all Pix Automático payments, they represented nearly 90% of the financial volume processed through the system. B2B transactions also recorded an average ticket size of approximately USD 3,200, underscoring the feature's growing role in facilitating high-value recurring commercial payments.

For further information, please visit:

Website: https://www.ebanx.com/en/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ebanx

By highly integrating on/off-grid switching, metering, and other functions into a single compact switching device, EnergyBridge eliminates redundant hardware and wiring, helping reduce total system costs by around 12% while delivering a more efficient, economical, and reliable backup power solution for residential energy systems.

Compact 5-in-1 Design

In residential ESS, conventional backup solutions typically rely on externally mounted gateway devices that require complex installation. However, EnergyBridge changes this approach by integrating five independent devices: a changeover switch, a circuit breaker, a meter, a bypass switch, and a CT, into one compact unit. Compared with conventional solutions that require 14 poles, EnergyBridge occupies only 4–6 poles, reducing the distribution box integration space by 57%. *

Faster Installation, Lower Cost

20-Second Installation. Positioning, leveling with a spirit level, drilling, wiring, and other steps, the traditional installation procedure highly relies on the installer's expertise, which can take up to 1 hour to complete. In contrast, EnergyBridge is mounted directly onto the standard DIN rail using a snap-in design, and the entire installation process takes only 20 seconds.

No Drilling. Zero Wall Damage. Since EnergyBridge can be directly embedded into distribution boxes, it eliminates the need for destructive wall modification works, such as drilling and penetrating walls required for traditional gateway installation. In addition, the solution also supports future system upgrades, as EnergyBridge can be easily removed when needed, leaving the installation area clean and unobtrusive.

Worry-Free Complex Scenarios. Simplified Wiring. Conventional box-type gateways often face installation challenges in homes where the distribution box is far from the gateway location or separated by walls, requiring additional drilling, exposed cable routing, or concealed wiring work. EnergyBridge removes the need for many of these wiring materials, accessories, and labor-intensive installation steps, simplifying the bill of materials from the source and significantly improving installation efficiency.

Millisecond-Level Backup Switching for Greater Energy Resilience

Robust Protection for Reliable Home Backup. In on/off-grid switching scenarios, EnergyBridge delivers more than 6,000 high-current switching cycles and offers a maximum breaking capacity of 6 kA, enabling it to withstand extreme surge events. Compared with the traditional solution that adopts relays and contactors for gateways, its safety and reliability are improved threefold. Meanwhile, traditional backup power solutions rely on the coordinated operation of five independent devices, where the failure of any single device will cause system malfunction. In contrast, the highly integrated architecture of EnergyBridge fundamentally reduces the probability of failure.

Seamless Backup Within 10 ms. In the event of grid fluctuations or power outages, EnergyBridge enables seamless switching from the grid power supply to the backup power supply within 10 ms, ensuring an uninterrupted power supply for homeowners. Meanwhile, with a rated current of up to 80 A, the solution supports whole-home high-power loads up to 18.4 kW for single-phase systems and 55.2 kW for three-phase systems.

Sungrow's newly unveiled mini backup power solution, EnergyBridge, represents a comprehensive rethinking of residential backup power, spanning solution architecture, product design, and installation experience. By transforming what has traditionally been a complex engineering process into a streamlined, ready-to-use solution, EnergyBridge sets a new benchmark for residential backup power deployment. Sungrow has also secured comprehensive intellectual property protection for the solution through patents and trademark registration.

* Each pole occupies 18 mm of space in the distribution board.

For more information, please visit: www.sungrowpower.com/en

Shanghai has issued a new plan to make its service sector more digital, intelligent, standardized, integrated, and international by 2030, with the service sector's added-value expected to reach about 6 trillion yuan ($886.98 billion).

By 2030, Shanghai's trade in services is expected to exceed $300 billion, and the city is expected to see around 300 new regional headquarters of multinational companies.

Priority service sectors

The plan highlights four main directions:

Urban services

Shanghai will strengthen services in finance, trade, shipping, and science and technology innovation. Key tasks include expanding high-quality financial services, enhancing the city's role as a global trade hub, upgrading high-end shipping services, and improving the transfer and commercialization of sci-tech achievements.

Producer services

Shanghai will accelerate innovation in information services, support emerging "AI plus" business models, expand professional services, and promote deeper integration between manufacturing and services.

Consumer services

The plan calls for deeper integration of culture, commerce, tourism, sports, and exhibitions, while improving healthcare, education and training, elderly care, childcare, household services, accommodation, and catering.

Emerging services

Shanghai will develop smart technology services, life and health services, and services related to the experience economy, including AI software and services, intelligent driving, targeted drugs, brain-computer interfaces, immersive cultural and tourism experiences, and branded cultural products and experiences.

Key zones to watch

Shanghai will develop its service sector across key functional areas and districts. The layout centers on a core urban hub, two strategic wings, three service belts, and multiple peripheral areas.

The core urban hub will offer a high concentration of high-level services. The plan also calls for stronger professional services in Pudong New Area, Xuhui district, Jing'an district, and other areas, as well as upgrades to major commercial areas such as East Nanjing Road and West Nanjing Road.

The eastern wing includes the Lin-gang Special Area and the Eastern Hub International Business Cooperation Zone, while the western wing includes the Hongqiao International Central Business District and the demonstration zone for green and integrated ecological development of the Yangtze River Delta. These areas will serve as key platforms for opening-up and innovation.

The city will also develop three service belts: one along the Huangpu River, one along the Suzhou Creek, and one linking key innovation hubs, while supporting coordinated development in the five suburban "new cities" of Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian, and Nanhui, as well as Baoshan and Jinshan districts.

The study evaluated several leading open-source models from Meta, TAIDE, TAME, NVIDIA and OpenAI. Preliminary results showed that, under the testing framework, fine-tuned SLMs may reduce dependence on complex prompt engineering and vector retrieval modules, potentially simplifying system architecture while lowering future operational and maintenance complexity.

The findings indicated that, when combined with carefully designed financial-domain datasets and targeted model fine-tuning, SLMs can further improve model stability, inference efficiency, and deployment controllability. In customer intent classification, the fine-tuned SLM achieved performance close to mainstream closed-source LLMs, approaching that of leading proprietary LLMs, providing enterprises with a practical reference for evaluating AI model training and deployment strategies.

From a data governance and privacy perspective, the study adopted a fully synthetic data approach, ensuring that no real customer information was used during model training. Through techniques including service-function clustering, single-intent and multi-intent dataset design, Taiwan-context localization, and keyword expansion, Cathay FHC strengthened the model's ability to understand local financial service contexts, industry-specific terminology, and ambiguous customer queries.

Potential future applications include mortgage balance inquiries, credit card payment assistance, and branch service navigation, laying the groundwork for intelligent search, service routing, and next-generation customer engagement experiences.

From a technical architecture standpoint, Cathay FHC integrated NVIDIA AI tools—including NVIDIA NeMo Customizer, NVIDIA NeMo Curator, and NVIDIA TensorRT-LLM—together with NVIDIA Hopper architecture computing resources to support data generation, model fine-tuning, inference optimization, and experimental evaluation. Leveraging NVIDIA AI ecosystem, Cathay FHC continues to strengthen its capabilities in financial-domain model development, data governance, and application validation.

In recent years, Cathay FHC has steadily expanded AI innovation across a wide range of financial scenarios, building scalable technological foundations spanning internal process optimization, customer service enhancement, financial knowledge understanding, and model governance. As financial institutions navigate an increasingly regulated environment, stringent data governance requirements, and rapidly evolving customer expectations, Cathay FHC remains committed to advancing AI research in a compliant, secure, and resilient manner.

Looking ahead, Cathay FHC will continue exploring long-context classification, advanced financial document understanding, and cross-scenario AI applications. By developing model training and deployment approaches tailored to the financial sector, the company aims to accelerate innovation and create more intelligent, efficient, and customer-centric financial services.

The paper argues that the opportunity goes well beyond basic coverage. For enterprise customers and event organisers, technologies such as private 5G, edge computing and IoT can support critical event operations including broadcasting, video assistant referee systems, public safety, crowd management, digital signage, connected cameras, drones and ambulances. As major US operators continue rolling out 5G Standalone, the report suggests advanced capabilities such as network slicing are likely to underpin many of these differentiated connectivity services.

For consumers, the World Cup also opens up new monetisation opportunities. These include travel eSIM offers for international visitors, premium experience-based tariffs with features such as guaranteed speeds, priority access and low latency, and network-native services such as live translation that do not depend on app downloads or specialist hardware. GSMA Intelligence notes growing consumer interest in these types of connectivity-led propositions.

The report also highlights complementary revenue opportunities for operators that may not hold content rights directly. These range from partnerships with official broadcasters, to enabling immersive and adjacent content such as XR and multi-angle viewing and supporting fan journey services with location-aware information and integrated travel or venue access. Overall, the paper concludes that major sporting events such as the 2026 World Cup are becoming important showcases for operators to demonstrate the value of advanced networks, develop new service models and strengthen their role in the wider digital experience economy.

GSMA Intelligence has shared further insights via its recent LinkedIn post and podcast available on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, and Amazon Music

The Glovis Lighthouse is among a small number of vessels globally to exceed 10,000 CEU, representing the largest class of car carriers available to date. The vessel demonstrates the company's commitment to delivering next-generation vessels that combine scale, efficiency, and future-ready fuel capabilities.

Developed in collaboration with Hyundai Glovis, a global leader in automotive logistics, the vessel features 14 decks, including four liftable decks, and hoistable ramp systems that improve cargo flexibility and capacity and helps lower the emissions intensity per vehicle transported.

The Glovis Lighthouse is powered by dual-fuel LNG propulsion and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 24% when compared to conventional fuels. Its energy efficiency performance significantly exceeds current regulatory standards. The vessel is also equipped with next-generation engine and fuel systems, as well as a shaft generator, to improve overall efficiency and help minimize methane slip, positioning it among the most environmentally advanced PCTCs in operation today.

The vessel is methanol and ammonia ready, supporting longer-term emissions reduction strategies through alternative fuels, as availability expands.

"The delivery of the Glovis Lighthouse is a defining moment for Seaspan and a clear demonstration of our ability to deliver world-class assets at scale," said Bing Chen, Chairman, President and CEO of Seaspan. "This vessel sets a new benchmark for the PCTC market—bringing together size, efficiency, and fuel-transition readiness to help our customers lead through the next era of automotive logistics."

Delivered under a long-term time charter to Hyundai Glovis, the Glovis Lighthouse reflects Seaspan's focus on customer partnerships that combine technical innovation with reliable, long-term asset deployment.

"By combining scale, cargo flexibility, and fuel transition readiness, this series is well positioned to support the long-term evolution of global automotive supply chains," said Kun Li, Chief Commercial Officer of Seaspan.

This performance marks Lockton's sixth consecutive year of double‑digit organic growth, underscoring the strength of its client relationships, diversified business model, and long-term investment strategy.

"Fiscal year 2026 was another exceptional year for Lockton," said Ron Lockton, chairman and chief executive officer. "Our results reflect the trust our clients place in us, the quality of our people, and the advantages of our private and independent model. Our structure allows us to invest with a long-term horizon, adapt quickly to emerging client and market needs, and continually reinvest in the capabilities, insights, and innovations that help clients navigate an increasingly complex risk environment."

Resilient Performance in a Challenging Market

Lockton's results were particularly strong given market conditions during fiscal year 2026, which ended April 30. Global property rates softened as capacity improved and competition increased, while casualty lines in the U.S. continued to experience pricing pressure and elevated loss-cost trends. Against that backdrop, Lockton's diversified platform delivered balanced growth across regions and businesses.

• Lockton International and Lockton Re each delivered approximately 15% growth.
• U.S. operations delivered an eighth year of double-digit growth, despite uneven conditions across regions and product lines.

U.S. Highlights

Lockton's U.S. business delivered another strong year, continuing a pattern of sustained momentum across the market. U.S. revenue finished just under $3 billion, up 11% year over year, marking the U.S. business's eighth consecutive year of double-digit growth.

This performance was supported by strong client retention and continued growth in key parts of the business. Backed by one of the industry's strongest producer groups and highly collaborative service teams, Lockton achieved a 94% client revenue retention rate.

The firm also continued to strengthen its U.S. platform by expanding national industry verticals and specialty practices across Risk and People Solutions. In People Solutions, revenue surpassed $1 billion for the first time, reflecting sustained demand for integrated benefits, wellbeing, and advisory services. Together, these investments concentrate expertise, improve consistency, and make advanced capabilities more accessible to clients across markets.

International Highlights

Lockton's international business also delivered a strong year, continuing to build momentum across key markets. Despite uneven conditions across regions, the business achieved 15% growth, driven in part by 27% growth from People Solutions and ongoing strength in retail and specialty lines.

Lockton also continued to strengthen its international platform during the year, expanding operations in Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, and Italy while further investing in its operating model, leadership, and client service teams across Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific. Together, these investments reflect a deliberate strategy to be closer to clients, operate with greater local relevance, and deliver integrated expertise across borders as risk grows more global and interconnected.

Lockton Re

Lockton Re, the firm's global reinsurance business, continued its strong trajectory, delivering meaningful growth supported by expanded client relationships, geographic expansion, and targeted people, leadership, and capability investment. The business benefited from increased demand for sophisticated advisory support as insurers navigated evolving market dynamics, capital constraints, and portfolio optimization challenges.

Lockton Re continued to build out its capital markets and capital advisory capabilities, enhance global portfolio solutions, and invest in cyber‑ and credit‑related offerings, positioning the business to support clients across a broader range of risk transfer and capital solutions. These investments reinforce Lockton Re's role as a long‑term partner to clients amid changing reinsurance and capital markets conditions.

Technology, AI, and Innovation

Over the last year, Lockton made significant investments in data, analytics, and artificial intelligence to enhance client service, improve insight, and empower Associates across its global platform. These efforts are central to the firm's strategy to lead through advisory expertise while reducing friction and increasing consistency in how clients are served.

At the center of this work is Lockton SAGE, a proprietary, AI‑enabled technology ecosystem designed to connect data, analytics, and expertise to deliver smarter insights, faster decisions, and greater confidence across critical business decisions. Broader deployment of the platform will begin in fiscal year 2027, with continued investment planned across digital, analytics, and data capabilities.

"Artificial intelligence will reshape every aspect of risk and insurance," said Ron Lockton. "We see AI as an accelerator of human expertise, not a substitute for it. Our focus is on using technology to enhance judgment, insight, and the value we deliver to clients."

Culture and Talent

Lockton's performance continues to be underpinned by its unique culture and people. The firm employs nearly 15,000 Associates globally and is consistently recognized as an employer of choice. During fiscal year 2026, Lockton earned multiple workplace and industry accolades across the world, including Business Insurance's Best Places to Work in Insurance, Glassdoor's Employees' Choice Awards, Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal's U.S. Best Managed Companies, and Axco's Global Broker of the Year, among others.

For more information, visit www.lockton.com.

As organizations move beyond AI pilots and proofs of concept, a new challenge is emerging: AI agents struggle to retain memory, maintain state, and preserve context across sessions, workflows, tools, and teams. While many agents can perform tasks in isolated environments, scaling them into enterprise-grade systems often requires stitching together multiple disconnected components for memory, retrieval, file storage, and operational data.

The pressure to solve this is intensifying. According to Gartner, fewer than 5% of enterprise applications included task-specific AI agents in 2025, a figure expected to reach 40% by the end of 2026. Yet while 75% of organizations are piloting or deploying AI agents, only 15% are working with fully autonomous agents, a gap that points directly to the missing infrastructure layer beneath them.

The TiDB Agent State Stack closes that gap. It brings memory, state, and context management onto a single distributed SQL foundation, so the data an agent needs to act reliably lives in one place rather than scattered across systems that were never designed to work together.

"The agents our customers run in production spin up and discard millions of database instances a day. That starts with the database: Agents need a backbone that is ephemeral, concurrent, and stateful at once, and persistent and elastic enough to scale with them. TiDB is that backbone," said Max Liu, Co-founder and CEO of TiDB. "The TiDB Agent State Stack goes a layer further, adding specialized tools for memory, files, and artifacts on top. That is how teams finally move agents from prototype to production without stitching together a separate system for every kind of state."

The TiDB Agent State Stack combines three core components:

• TiDB Cloud Zero provides a zero-friction database foundation for agent workloads. With a single command, or an embedded skill inside the agent itself, developers provision a fully functional SQL backend to store session histories, task records, tool outputs, retrieval metadata, structured data, and runtime state.
• mem9 offers persistent memory for AI agents, letting them retain information across interactions, recall previous conversations, and build continuity over time. Rather than locking memory into a single model or framework, mem9 runs on TiDB Cloud as a portable memory layer.
• drive9 delivers a persistent workspace for files, artifacts, and agent-generated content. Agents can create, store, retrieve, and reason over documents and outputs while maintaining continuity across sessions and environments.

Together, these capabilities keep memory, operational data, retrieval metadata, files, and execution history connected as agent deployments scale. Most teams currently solve this with three or four disconnected systems, slowing time to market and creating multiple points of failure in production.

This launch strengthens TiDB's position as a foundational data platform for agentic AI. As model providers introduce their own proprietary memory and workflow features, the TiDB Agent State Stack keeps memory and state portable, governed, and independent of any single AI platform, giving enterprises the control and flexibility to own their agent architecture rather than renting it from a model vendor.

By bringing together TiDB Cloud Zero, mem9, and drive9, the TiDB Agent State Stack gives developers a practical path from prototype to production, so the next generation of enterprise AI agents can operate with the persistence, continuity, and reliability that real-world deployments demand.

Website: https://www.tidb.io/.

The partnership will support the deployment of Fox ESS's advanced residential, commercial, and industrial energy storage solutions throughout Australia, one of the world's most dynamic markets for renewable energy.

Anson Zhang, CEO of OSW, said:

"OSW and Fox ESS are both scaling rapidly across global markets, and this 5GWh two-year target reflects the strength of our shared vision. By combining OSW's global distribution network with Fox ESS's world‑class energy storage technology, we are well positioned to deliver greater value to customers in Australia and beyond. We look forward to deepening this partnership as both companies continue to expand worldwide."

Michael Zhu, CEO of Fox ESS, commented:

"OSW is an ambitious partner with a strong international footprint, and we are proud to strengthen our collaboration through this 5GWh agreement. Together, we will continue to expand the availability of high‑performance energy storage solutions across Australia while supporting the broader global transition to clean energy."

The agreement underscores Fox ESS's long‑term commitment to the Australian market and its strategy of partnering with leading distributors who share a strong global outlook and a dedication to delivering high‑quality renewable energy solutions.

For more information about Fox ESS, please visit: https://au.fox-ess.com/

Together, the companies will train a dedicated workforce of tens of thousands of forward-deployed, Claude-certified engineers and builders to bring Claude models into production inside the mission-critical technology infrastructure systems DXC operates for the world's largest banks, airlines, insurers, manufacturers, and government agencies.

The alliance builds on DXC's existing use of Claude in its own operations, including as the primary development tool used to build DXC OASIS, the company's AI-native orchestration platform for managed services. Using Claude models, DXC accelerated DXC OASIS software delivery by an estimated 10x, with more than 95% of code generated by Claude before human review. Claude now serves as the default foundation model powering DXC OASIS's agentic workflows. Launched in April 2026, DXC OASIS is currently deployed across more than 50 customers and will be rolled out across the DXC global customer base.

The alliance and its investments are built around DXC Xponential, the company's AI blueprint that connects technology with people and processes — while the Anthropic partnership strengthens it with certified Claude expertise and direct access to Anthropic's resources.

"DXC helps the world's largest banks, airlines, insurers, and government agencies put new technology to work. They proved Claude inside their own operations first, under the same security and compliance requirements their customers face. Now we're bringing Claude inside those environments together, industry by industry, with engineers who have already done it themselves." — Paul Smith, Chief Commercial Officer, Anthropic

"For more than fifty years, DXC and the companies it was built from run the systems that run the world. We know what it takes to deliver in these environments. This alliance with Anthropic combines trust and experience with the most advanced AI technology available and gives our customers something they cannot get anywhere else. We are already using Claude across our own operations and our new DXC OASIS platform. Now we are scaling that capability directly into the mission-critical technology systems we run for our customers. This is a defining moment for DXC and for the industry."

— Raul Fernandez, President & CEO, DXC Technology

Forward-Deployed Engineers: Recruited by DXC, Certified by Anthropic

At the center of the alliance, DXC is establishing a dedicated team of forward-deployed engineers to work directly inside customer environments. These engineers will be selectively recruited from DXC's existing engineering talent, trained and certified in 90 days through the Anthropic Partner Academy, receiving persistent, daily access to Claude and progressing through increasingly rigorous levels of proficiency in designing, deploying, and governing agentic AI systems. DXC has also developed additional certification curriculum to enhance its engineers' capability to operate in mission-critical environments.

The model reflects DXC's Customer Zero philosophy: the company validated Claude inside its own operations first, under production-grade security and compliance requirements, before bringing that capability to customers.

What's Next: New Offerings
Initial focus areas include insurance, cybersecurity, and application services, where DXC brings significant domain and operational expertise, and Claude's agentic AI capabilities can deliver value fastest inside customers' mission-critical environments.

• Insurance: Across organizations, DXC will leverage Claude to deploy agentic solutions and transform core systems aligned to each firm's unique context, operating model, and strategic intent.
• Modernization as a Service (MaaS): DXC is using Claude to accelerate large-scale code modernization for enterprise customers, applying agentic AI to analyze, refactor, and transform legacy codebases faster and with greater accuracy than traditional approaches.
• Cybersecurity: DXC OASIS security engineer sub-agent built on Claude Security will give DXC's cybersecurity team a decisive edge by deploying Claude across security operations centers (SOCs), realizing always-on, AI-driven cyber resilience.
• Application Services: DXC is leveraging Claude to develop Anthropic-certified DXC OASIS agents designed to embed Claude directly into the enterprise application maintenance and management environments DXC operates for its customers.

Learn more at dxc.com.

Originally launched as part of Madame Tussauds' biggest figure release in its 250-year history, this Taylor Swift wax figures celebrates the Lover era, showcasing the look that became the post image for the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour concert film. The figure is dressed in a replica of the pink, blue and silver embellished Versace leotard. The look is completed with mesmerising, hand-applied strass Christian Louboutin knee-high boots, donated by the Maison, and bespoke embellished microphone created by Rebel Stage Gear UK, the specialist customisation company behind the original microphones Taylor used during the tour.

The campaign will run from 26 June to 27 September 2026. Designed as the ultimate fan celebration, it combines interactive experiences, limited-time activities and social moments inspired by Taylor Swift as one of the most influential and enduring artists of the 21st century.

Guests can enjoy an exclusive online promotion from 26 June to 12 July 2026, with 20% off tickets using promo code TAYLOR20; fans can also participate in a special social media giveaway activity following Madame Tussauds Singapore's Instagram account to win two pairs of attraction tickets.

Inside the attraction, Swifties will have the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the experience through a series of themed activities, including:

• DIY Friendship Bracelet Booth (26 June to 12 July) – All ticket holders can create their own friendship bracelets inspired by the fan-favourite tradition made famous during The Eras Tour. Available while stocks last.

• Concert-Inspired Photo Props – Strike a pose with our exclusive concert-style blazer photo props for the ultimate concert-style photo moment.

• "Show Us Your Era" Challenge (26 June to 31 July) – Guests who take a photo with Taylor Swift wax figure, post it on social media and tag Madame Tussauds Singapore with #MadameTussaudsSG #MTSG will receive a free gift onsite, limited to the first 100 participants only.

Steven Chung, General Manager of Madame Tussauds Singapore said: "Last year's global Taylor Swift figure launch became a cultural moment in itself, and we're thrilled to bring one to Singapore. This summer, we welcome all Swifties to celebrate the joy, nostalgia and connection Taylor Swift has created for millions of fans around the world at Madame Tussauds Singapore."

The Taylor Swift touring figure will be available exclusively at Madame Tussauds Singapore from 26 June to 27 September 2026. For this limited time only, Swifties in Singapore will have the rare opportunity to step into one of her most iconic eras and create unforgettable moments of their own.

Madame Tussauds Singapore continues to bring fans closer to the world's biggest stars through immersive and interactive celebrity experiences, creating unforgettable memories for guests of all ages.

For more information, please visit www.madametussauds.com/singapore/

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

In the 2026–27 Budget, the Government allocated additional funding to schemes such as the "BUD Fund" to help enterprises strengthen competitiveness and expand into new markets through technologies like AI. Various initiatives will also be rolled out to support upgrading and development of enterprises. However, amid rapid market changes, many SMEs are unsure where to start. HKPC's "SME ReachOut" bridges policy resources with practical business needs, providing comprehensive, tailored support to address SMEs' challenges. This Expo is a key initiative by the team, offering a one-stop platform that guides SMEs step by step, from strategy formulation to execution, empowering brands to achieve borderless expansion through e-commerce.

5 Thematic Zones to Help SME's Going Global in One-stop

The Expo will feature 5 thematic exhibition zones, including Cross-border E-commerce Experience, New Retail Tech Application, Brand x IP Value-added, Smart Operations, and E-commerce Go-Global Support. Gathering 80+ exhibitors, the zones bring together e-commerce platforms, technology and business service providers, IP licensors, and Government funding booths. From platform selection and brand building to smart operations and worldwide expansion, all the key pillars of going global are precisely addressed.

10+ workshops and live showcases will be held, offering expert insights, success stories, practical examples, innovative solutions, instant consultations, and business matching opportunities to help SMEs develop effective plans for going global.

A dedicated Government funding zone will also guide SMEs on Government funding to accelerate their upgrade and expansion. To cater to the needs of relevant groups and stakeholders, exclusive guided tours will be arranged. Led by specialists, the tours will cover all five zones and help SMEs identify the most suitable support.

10 Seminars with Valuable Expertise Experiences for SMEs to Learn, Apply, and Go Global

To assist SMEs in grasping opportunities to go global, a total of 10 seminars will be hosted with various industry experts sharing insights on cross-border strategies, market trends, technology innovation, and inspiring IP brand collaboration stories. Details of the seminars can be found in Appendix I.

The sessions will cover key e-commerce topics, with highlights including:

• Cross-border E-commerce: How to convert online traffic into orders
• New Retail Technology: Utilising AI to save time and increase sales
• Brand x IP Value-added: Enhancing brand value and expanding into overseas markets through IP collaborations
• Smart Operations: Unlocking global payments and green supply chains, and leveraging logistics technology
• Go-Global Strategies: Avoiding cross-border trade pitfalls and opening up business opportunities with relevant Government funding schemes

HKPC cordially invites all SMEs to participate in this Expo, leveraging the rich cross-border e-commerce and funding information available on-site to capture opportunities for expanding brands and markets through e-commerce. SMEs are welcome to register and participate in the event with free admission.

[E-commerce Innovation Expo 2026]
Date: 25-26 June 2026 (Thursday to Friday)
Time: 10:00 – 18:00
Address: HKPC Building, 78 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon
Admission Fee: Free (Pre-registration required)
Registration Link: https://ecommexpo2026.com
Enquires: SME ReachOut Hotline: (852) 2788 6868; Email: sme_reachout@hkpc.org

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

In Asia Pacific (APAC), that pressure is even more pronounced as 37% of organizations admit investing aggressively with little evaluation – nearly double the global average, and well ahead of the US (10%) and Europe (13%). The pressure is most acute in Australia (45%) and Vietnam (44%), while in Singapore, more than one in three organizations admit the same.
The IDC InfoBrief, based on a survey of 800 technology leaders across APAC, Europe, and the US, found that AI has become one of the most prioritized technology investments globally, with 51% of organizations planning to prioritize AI or machine learning investment over the next 12 months – rising to 61% across APAC. However, returns are failing to keep pace with the hype. Just 19% of global organizations surveyed say their AI implementations have exceeded expectations, and only 5% report they have significantly exceeded them1.

Across APAC, 40% say implementations have exceeded or significantly exceeded expectations – ahead of the global average but still leaving the majority falling short. Globally, the most-cited reasons for underperformance are inadequate or poor-quality training data (51%), higher-than-expected costs or ROI not achieved (47%), and AI not performing as well as expected (46%). For APAC specifically, the picture is broadly similar – though costs bite harder: 49% cite poor-quality training data, 54% cite cost overruns or ROI not achieved (rising to 80% in Malaysia), and 46% say AI has simply not performed as expected.

Where organizations have the right foundations in place, the results speak for themselves. Across APAC, 87% report productivity improvements in the business units most affected by AI, and 82% say quality of work has improved.

Underpinning many of these challenges is also a network and infrastructure readiness gap. Globally, 26% of organizations whose AI implementations have failed to meet expectations cite inadequate network or connectivity performance as a contributing factor. Looking ahead, 54% of organizations say they need more flexible and scalable networks to thrive in an AI-driven environment, and 51% need greater resilience and reliability to maximize uptime2. In APAC, the gap is acute as only 9% of organizations describe their network infrastructure as fully ready to support new AI, cloud, and digital initiatives, and 37% say it will need upgrading or replacing soon. The need is most acute in Thailand (74%) and Singapore (58%), both of which rank above the regional average on demand for flexible, scalable networks. In Indonesia, nearly half of all organizations (48%) say their infrastructure will need upgrading or replacing soon.

Ben Elms, CEO, Expereo, says: "Every enterprise we speak to is investing in AI, yet the data shows a clear gap opening up between AI ambition and AI outcomes. More often than not, that gap comes down to the network underneath. AI only delivers on its promise when the infrastructure carrying it is built to support it.

Without resilient, scalable, cloud-optimized networks, even the most well-funded AI programs will struggle to deliver ROI. Getting the network right is no longer an IT decision; it is one of the most important conversations happening in the boardroom today to help fulfill AI ambition."

APAC is also leading on adoption, with 35% of organizations reporting extensive AI use across the business, against a global average of 25%3. Yet adoption alone is not enough without the right foundations beneath it.
Eric Wong, President, APAC, Expereo, says: "Asia Pacific is moving aggressively on AI adoption, but many organizations are discovering that scaling AI successfully requires more than just investment in applications and models. The underlying network, cloud connectivity, and operational readiness matter just as much. Across the region, we are seeing enterprises reassess whether their infrastructure is truly ready to support AI at scale, particularly around performance, resilience, governance, and visibility. Organizations that address those foundations early are generally seeing stronger outcomes and faster operational impact from their AI initiatives."

Boardrooms are also waking up to the longer-term risks of unchecked AI investment. According to the survey, 54% of global tech leaders cite the creation of new security risks as a significant potential future threat for their organization's use of AI, while 39% globally are concerned about losing track of AI-related costs and ROI once the technology is embedded across the business4. In APAC, that concern is sharper still as 41% of technology leaders in the region are worried about losing oversight of AI-related costs and ROI as adoption deepens – a figure that rises to 54% in Malaysia. Digital sovereignty is also moving up the strategic agenda, with 38% of APAC organizations rating it a high or top priority as they look to retain control over data and navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.

For the full IDC InfoBrief, commissioned by Expereo, "Enterprise Horizons 2026: Where Innovation Meets Reality" (doc #EUR154457526-IB, May 2026)

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

According to Ly Nguyen, Market Research manager at Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, key transport arteries such as Mai Chi Tho Boulevard and the Saigon River Tunnel have played a pivotal role in shaping a 'core-to-core' urban structure, directly linking the city's existing financial centre in former District 1 with the emerging urban hub of Thu Thiem, creating a dual-core growth corridor of Ho Chi Minh City.

“Major infrastructure projects such as Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh–Suoi Tien), Ring Road 3, the An Phu Interchange, and the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway are reducing travel times while reshaping real estate values across the entire area. Both investors and end-users are reassessing the long-term potential of eastern Ho Chi Minh City within the context of the city's evolving urban landscape,” said Nguyen.

In Ho Chi Minh City’s broader urban planning framework, infrastructure development in the eastern area serves to enhance connectivity and plays a critical role in the city’s polycentric development strategy, aimed at easing the population and economic pressures concentrated in the traditional urban core, including former Districts 1, 3, and Binh Thanh.

This direction is clearly reflected in the city’s revised Master Plan to 2040, with a vision to 2060, under which Ho Chi Minh City is transitioning from a monocentric model to a multi-centre urban structure featuring several distributed growth poles. In this framework, the eastern is positioned as a centre for economic activity, innovation, and high-end urban services.

This strategic positioning provides a strong long-term foundation for real estate values in the area. When an urban growth pole is clearly defined through policy and supported by adequate infrastructure, the relocation of residents, businesses, and investment capital from the inner city to surrounding districts is no longer a spontaneous trend but rather a structured and increasingly irreversible process.

Eastern Ho Chi Minh City is also among the few urban areas that still possess significant development potential along major riverfront corridors, particularly the Saigon and Dong Nai rivers. This comes as the city accelerates plans to develop riverside corridors aimed at enhancing public spaces and improving overall urban quality. Combined with strategic transport connectivity, these natural landscape advantages provide a rare opportunity for the long-term development of high-quality residential communities.

Beyond transport infrastructure, the eastern area is increasingly establishing itself as a knowledge-based economic hub, anchored by two key growth drivers: the Saigon High-Tech Park (SHTP) and the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City more than 80,000 students are enrolled, as well as numerous research institutes and R&D centres operated by multinational corporations.

According to Cushman & Wakefield, this ecosystem provides a solid foundation for attracting sustainable foreign direct investment while fostering a high-quality residential community comprising expatriates, technology professionals, and a growing pool of knowledge workers.

This group typically prioritises housing close to employment centres and tends to have well-defined residential preferences, including completed infrastructure, a secure living environment, premium amenities, and spacious living areas. These are requirements that the current housing supply in the eastern corridor has yet to fully satisfy.

The gradual completion of infrastructure across the eastern region is also creating a new filtering mechanism within the local real estate market. As infrastructure transitions from a future expectation to a tangible and verifiable reality, buyers, particularly in the mid- to high-end segments, are becoming increasingly selective in their purchasing decisions.

In the real market, a clear movement in buyer behaviour is seen, which shifts from increased value towards a stronger focus on intrinsic value. Factors such as planning quality, legal transparency, the actual delivery and operation of amenities, and the long-term livability of a community are becoming key considerations in the decision-making process.

For high-income homebuyers, real estate is no longer viewed solely as a financial asset but also as a reflection of lifestyle quality. This requires consistency between a developer's vision and its ability to deliver on that promise in practice.

This poses a significant challenge for projects with incomplete internal infrastructure, unresolved legal procedures, or amenity development plans that are scheduled to be delivered over an extended period.

In contrast, projects that have achieved a high level of completion in terms of legal status, infrastructure, amenities, and connectivity are well positioned to benefit directly from this shift in buyer preferences.

Against this backdrop, IKI Village, developed by An Khai Hung Investment, is seen as a project that reflects the evolving preferences of the high-end end-user segment in eastern Ho Chi Minh City. The development enjoys direct access to the Go Cong-Ring Road 3 interchange, one of the city's most strategically important regional transport corridors for the coming decade.

IKI Village is being developed as a low-density riverside urban community, guided by a design philosophy that places people and long-term wellbeing at its core. Rather than competing on the sheer number of amenities, the project focuses on the attributes increasingly sought after by affluent owner-occupiers such as extensive green spaces, thoughtfully designed living environments that offer privacy and depth, and a sustainable residential setting suitable for multi-generational families.

This approach mirrors a broader trend emerging across more mature urban markets in the region, where real estate value is no longer defined solely by location or floor area, but increasingly by a project's ability to enhance residents' quality of life and deliver meaningful long-term livability.

IKI Village is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2028

With its people-centric positioning and the increasingly robust connectivity infrastructure of eastern Ho Chi Minh City, IKI Village represents a new generation of real estate developments that are gradually redefining market standards: not competing on short-term speculative appeal but genuine end-user value, long-term livability, and sustainable growth potential.

An Khai Hung launches IKI Village residential project in Ho Chi Minh City An Khai Hung Investment has broken ground on a residential project in Ho Chi Minh City, featuring private green gardens and direct access to Ring Road 3.