Consumer Electronics Show 2020: Mercedes-Benz presents an exceptional glimpse into the future

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Consumer Electronics Show 2020: Mercedes-Benz presents an exceptional glimpse into the future

– Stuttgart/Las Vegas – In his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas (CES) from January 7th – 10th  2020, Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG, will provide a visionary outlook of the future interaction between man and machine. The highlight for the brand will be the world premiere of a pioneering concept vehicle inspired by one of the most innovative brands of the entertainment sector. This symbiosis will also be reflected in the redesigned presence at CES 2020. The keynote speech will be shown on Monday, January 6th from 8.30 p.m. (January 7th,5:30 am CET) via Livestream on Mercedes me media: https://media.mercedes-benz.com/ces2020.

The concept vehicle and its visionary technical solutions once again demonstrate the innovative strength of Mercedes-Benz. It completely redefines the term “Sustainable Modern Luxury” and symbolizes the brand’s aspirations to achieve sustainable mobility today, tomorrow and in the future. The creative and trendsetting features of the show car match the brand philosophy which places the focus on people and sets standards for the future of mobility.

Exciting presentations and a new stand design at CES 2020 in Las Vegas

Mercedes-Benz invites visitors to come by the show stand to take a glimpse into a world of forward-looking mobility. Visitors will be able to experience the highlights of the product and technology brand EQ – the all-electric EQC 400 4MATIC (combined power consumption: 20.8-19.7 kWh/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 0 g/km)*, the Vision EQS and also the new, futuristic concept vehicle. The 2020 show stand will give visitors the opportunity to dive into an adventure world, underscoring the consistent enhancement of the Mercedes-Benz trade show concept. The focal point comprises the brand world as well as its products, services and innovations.

On the first day of the show, Tuesday, January 7th, 2020, three interactive talks will take place on the Mercedes-Benz stand:

  • 10:30 am: Britta Seeger, Member of the Board of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG responsible for Sales & Marketing will be talking about the exceptional cooperation between one of the most innovative brands in the entertainment sector and the most valuable luxury automotive brand in the world. Furthermore, she will open the 2020 CES show stand – an experience of innovation, product and the brand for all visitors.
  • 11:30 am: Markus Schäfer, Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG responsible for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development, talks about “Pioneering the Future” and explains the connections and the effects of a holistic, sustainable development strategy in which the human being is always the focus.
  • 12:30 pm: Gorden Wagener, Chief Design Officer Daimler Group, will describe the development of human-centred design and also the link between design and functionality in the interior of the new show car.

Allianz partners with Cycology club to donate materials and cash to Lagos highway cleaners

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Allianz partners with Cycology club to donate materials and cash to Lagos highway cleaners

For the Highway Managers in Lagos, it was all smiles on the 26th of October as they received a friendly visit from members of Cycology Riding Club, sponsored by Allianz Nigeria Insurance plc.

“This group of people risk their lives on a daily basis to keep our roads clean, the least we can do is to support this kind of initiative that appreciates what they do” commented Bolade Odanye, Sponsorship and Events Manager. He further disclosed that Allianz Nigeria intends to collaborate with other organizations in order to create awareness on the need to ensure the safe use of roads among all road users.

Close to 100 highway managers were recipients of this charitable exercise which included the donation of bags and cash gifts. “We feel honoured to be part of such a noble initiative that rewards our highway cleaners who work hard to keep our roads clean and safe for motorists and other road users” mentioned Walter Bossman, Marketing Director at Allianz Nigeria.

Still, in an effort to promote a safer and more connected Lagos, he added that “Allianz just concluded a CARdiology initiative bearing the cost of free car check and service for motorists within Lagos’’.

“Allianz also recently emerged as the number 1 insurer in the world following the 2019 Interbrand Best Global Brands Ranking. This is a serious responsibility and we are determined to continue to optimize our service delivery to prove worthy of this enviable position”, concluded Walter.

The Allianz Group is one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers with more than 92 million retail and corporate customers. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing around 764 billion euros on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, their asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage more than 1.6 trillion euros of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in their business processes and investment decisions, Allianz holds the leading position for insurers in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2018, over 142,000 employees in more than 80 countries achieved total revenues of 132 billion euros and an operating profit of 11.5 billion euros for the Group.

KongaPay excites market with ATM card-less withdrawal, USSD features

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KongaPay excites market with ATM card-less withdrawal, USSD features

E-commerce giant, Konga has recorded another feat with the roll-out of card-less withdrawal and unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) features on its payment platform, KongaPay.

KongaPay is a secured payment platform licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It is imbued with features that allow customers to hold funds in escrow, complete peer to peer transfers, purchase digital goods, pay for Digital Satellite Television (DStv) subscription and airtime at discounted rates.

Explaining how the card-less withdrawal feature works, KongaPay Vice President, Joshua Fatoye, stated that the feature allows any account holder to withdraw cash from any Automated Teller Machine (ATM) nationwide, without using any debit card.

“The card-less feature works this way. All the customers are required to do is to sign up on Kongapay.com and ensure that their KongaPay wallet is funded using any of the funding options. Then, the account holders need to log into their wallets via web or app. Then, click on cash out from the wallet, and next on cardless cash out feature and input the amount and the beneficiary mobile number,’’ stated Fatoye.

‘‘By default, the customer’s mobile number will be on display. The customers can, however, input any valid mobile number of any recipient they wish to send money to. The beauty of the process is that the mobile number does not have to be registered on KongaPay wallet.

‘’Next, the customers will then input their personal identification numbers (PINs) and One True Pairing (OTPs) to complete the transaction. Next, the customer who initiates the transaction will receive a message thus: “Your pay code request was successful”, and the beneficiary will get a short message service (SMS) notification with the withdrawal code details,” Fatoye said.

On how the recipient could process the cash at the ATM, Fatoye said: “The recipient should go to any ATM, tap on any of the keys on the keypad to get the screen active and select card-less withdrawal/pay code cash out, depending on the bank’s ATM. Next, s/he is expected to input the 8 to 14-digit withdrawal code, earlier sent via SMS, and input the cash out PIN (sent via SMS). Lastly, the customer will then input the amount (in multiples of one thousands) and wait to collect the cash.”

On the USSD feature, Fatoye said KongaPay launched the USSD channel as an alternative to the web and mobile channels. Further, he disclosed that the USSD channel will boost financial inclusion for millions of unreached and under-served Nigerians.

“This means that users who do not have access to smart devices or live in areas where there is no data coverage can still carry out their financial services on the go by dialling the KongaPay USSD code, which is *574#.” 

Meanwhile, Fatoye explained that KongaPay has the best competitive pricing in the fintech industry, even as he revealed that the platform offers a discount to customers who patronise it.

“On KongaPay, we offer very competitive pricing to our customers. For instance, on KongaPay, customers can transfer funds to any bank account in Nigeria at a price much lower than the industry pricing. We also offer our customers discounts when purchasing airtime. We even go as far as absorbing the convenience fee costs and also offer a discount to our customers when they pay bills on KongaPay. 

‘‘What this implies is that our customers do not need to pay the convenience fee while paying for DSTV subscription. Also, they do not need to pay the full amount for the subscription as KongaPay will offer them a further discount,” Fatoye said.

Equally important, the KongaPay Vice-President added that customers can do a lot with their KongaPay wallet, including peer to peer transfers (transfers to a KongaPay wallet as well as any bank account in Nigeria) as well as airtime purchase at discounted prices.

“Account holders can pay for their DStv subscription as well as other bills on the platform without a convenience fee and still enjoy a discount on their payments. Customers can also use their wallets as a payment tool online on e-commerce platforms like Konga.com, Konga Travel as well as at physical stores. With KongaPay, there are no limits to access to financial services. Now customers can have their wallet in hand and enjoy the comfort of banking with their phone,” Fatoye said.

To register for the platform, customers are expected to download KongaPay app on Google Play Store or sign up on www.kongapay.com to create an account.

To fund KongaPay wallet, customers need to link their bank card to top-up or transfer from an internet banking app to KongaPay account. Customers can also fund their KongaPay account at any KongaPay designated agent nationwide or through a KongaPay wallet transfer from a third party.

African Development Bank approves $5 million grant to scale up Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme

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African Development Bank approves $5 million grant to scale up Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme

The partnership will bring about future collaboration focused on strengthening small to medium-sized enterprises as well as talent and skills development for Africa’s youth

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, December 16, 2019,/ — The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a grant of $5 million to enable the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme to scale up its outreach and impact to 1,000 select youth entrepreneurs.

The grant follows the signing of a letter of intent between the Bank and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, which took place during the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme launch in March this year. The partnership will bring about future collaboration focused on strengthening small to medium-sized enterprises as well as talent and skills development for Africa’s youth.

The partnership will support 3,050 young entrepreneurs across 54 African countries. The Bank’s participation will enable an additional 1,000 entrepreneurs to benefit from the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Program, which provides much-needed opportunities to help stem the rising tide of unemployment and inequality facing the continent’s youngest citizens.

The programme aligns with the Bank’s ten-year Jobs for Youth in Africa strategy launched in 2016, to support the creation of 25 million decent jobs across the continent. The strategy is also expected to equip 50 million young African people with employable skills that enable them to access economic opportunities and realize their full economic potential across the continent.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme will deliver business training, mentoring, access to networks, markets and capital for business development to selected youth-led start-ups in order for them to grow and create jobs.

The Entrepreneurship Programme demonstrates a strong alignment with the Bank’s Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund objectives to build the African youth entrepreneurship ecosystem by scaling innovative youth-led start-ups, expanding youth market opportunities and improving youth access to finance.

Other development partners involved in supporting the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme are Agence Française de Développement, the German Agency for International Cooperation, the United Nations Development Programme and the International Committee of the Red Cross. They will also work to provide more business opportunities to youth entrepreneurs across the continent.

In 2017, the Bank established the Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund, in partnership with the governments of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands. The fund is a grant vehicle managed by the Bank to support the African entrepreneurship ecosystem directly and indirectly by leveraging on the Bank’s instruments. Its interventions will equip Africa’s youth with the right tools to establish start-ups and micro, small and medium enterprises.

What does Boris Johnson’s Britain mean for Nigeria?

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What does Boris Johnson’s Britain mean for Nigeria?

Anti-immigrant sentiment is seldom fully rational, and one cannot understand Brexit without understanding the anti-immigrant sentiment that drove it. The best guess we can come up with is that a combination of empire nostalgia, dissatisfaction with the political/economic status quo and an influx of immigrants motivated the British people to vote by a slim majority to leave the European Union. This was the political equivalent of a “spur of the moment” decision, and since its medium to long-term ramifications is yet to be fully grappled with, it is a bit brave to speculate on what the impact could be on countries such as  Nigeria in the near to medium-term.

Having said that it is possible to look at the key drivers and trends and make some educated guesses because even though the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is not as influential as it once was, it is still an important nation.

First, one needs to understand the immediate impact within Britain proper. Boris Johnson’s Conservatives won a decisive victory, but the pro-European Scottish National Party did extremely well in Scotland, virtually obliterating majority party control there. So, right after facing the exit from the EU and at the same time as the long trade negotiations that are sure to follow, Mr Johnson will have to deploy his considerable political talents to either prevent another Scottish independence referendum or to prevent a Scottish exit from the United Kingdom. There’s also the precarious situation in Northern Ireland, where Sinn Fein and the republican movement’s great showing at the polls and their stated commitment to preserving the Good Friday Agreement could lead to more agitation to join (or at least preserve closer economic integration with) the Republic of Ireland.

So, Boris Johnson will have to contend with keeping the pro-European parts of the union (a majority of people in Scotland and Northern Ireland voted Remain)  while negotiating an exit from the European Union and laying the foundations of a new trade deal with Europe. Such negotiations take time because the European Union is a hydra-headed institution – i.e. it must balance the needs of 28 different members, each with veto power. In addition, the EU has a vested interest in ensuring these negotiations are as painful as possible, for the simple reason that they don’t want to encourage other “errant” members to consider a similar course.

Since negotiations with the European Union are likely to drag on for years, Mr Johnson will have to go to Washington DC, to sign some sort of deal with the only other Western economy larger than the EU, the United States of America. Mr Trump, the US President, loves quick trade deals and is a tough negotiator, but he is also committed to his  “America First” doctrine, which translates to, “we win, and you lose”. Another US president might be more sympathetic and less transactional, but Mr Johnson will have to work with Mr Trump, who is at this moment, likely to secure a second term, and there’s nothing he can do about it.

Mr Johnson, the UK Treasury, and the Foreign Service are going to be very busy over the next four to eight years at least, dealing with the most important bilateral and multilateral relationships the UK has, so quite simply, there will be very little time for Nigeria or Africa. If everything goes to plan – i.e. a new trade deal is signed with the US, negotiations are completed with the EU and the UK recovers from a likely recession triggered by Brexit, then Britain will be ready to fully embrace the outside world again, in the mid-term – say, eight years’ time.

So, what would Britain’s competitors be up to in the next eight to 10 years in Africa?

India – Africa trade is likely to exceed $100 billion and a lot of progress would have been made on trade in services (which has been  Britain’s area of specialisation in the post-World War era). If the European Union is still a cohesive entity, then the combined strength of Europe’s economic relationship with Africa  (over $300 billion in trade in 2015 compared with $36 billion in UK – Africa trade in 2015) would make the competition a lot more challenging. China is already laying the foundation for dominance in e-commerce and logistics on the continent and other rising powers like Turkey (who is now doing $23 billion in trade with Africa) are stepping up their game. Brexit will put New York at an advantage with respect to London as a global financial centre, this will have an impact on the competitiveness of London’s banks, especially with respect to attracting African companies seeking global capital investment.

One of the fundamental problems the UK has is a mismatch between its service-based economy and Africa’s more natural resource-dependent economies (South Africa is an important exception due to its developed services sector). There doesn’t seem to be much enthusiasm on the part of the UK to lay a foundation for the growth of services in Africa (like China is attempting to do with e-commerce), so there is unlikely to be much traction here.

The UK’s manufacturing sector is more geared towards high-technology, high-value products, which once again, doesn’t match Africa’s immediate needs. So, despite a lot of rhetoric about increased UK engagement in the wake of Brexit, we are yet to see activity that matches this rhetoric. There could be an increased focus on  “international development”, as the institutions developed to implement it like DFID are world-class and Africa still possesses some serious human capital development needs, but there is some confusion as to whether the UK plans to increase its commitment to foreign aid or move in the other direction. A contracting UK economy may have a deep impact on aid interventions in Nigeria, especially since aid commitments remain a burning political issue in the UK.

The UK will, in the interim, remain focused on exploiting its competitive cultural advantages with respect to Africa’s largest economy, especially in attracting young, high net worth talent to its universities and educational institutions as well as fostering closer links through a combination of official interventions and cooperation on such issues as education, counterterrorism and migration as well as the cultural and financial linkages afforded by Nigeria’s second-largest diaspora population. Linked to this is a likely upswing in skilled Nigerian migration to the UK as Mr. Johnson enacts laws to attract skilled workers and raise revenue for UK businesses such as he has done with the post-study two-year work permits he introduced.

In conclusion, we expect the UK to remain a significant player in Africa, but a less significant player than it is today.

SB Morgen Intelligence

QURAS project team and Bona Trust Corporation successfully joint developed beta version of fully anonymized file sharing software with multiple approvers for Information Security Management

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QURAS project team and Bona Trust Corporation successfully joint developed beta version of fully anonymized file sharing software with multiple approvers for Information Security Management

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach
– December 16,
2019 – QURAS Project Team (Information Security
Management Service Provider, Hong Kong S.A.R) and Bona Trust Corporation (Trust
and Corporate Service Provider, Federal Territory of Labuan, Malaysia) jointly
developed beta version of fully anonymized file sharing software for Information
Security Management.

This effort was the first in the world to produce a product that implement
a fully anonymized smart contract. Both project teams are preparing for an update
for the QURAS platform test net scheduled for January 2020.

https://youtu.be/-x7cbqvAKaQ (Quras Wallet | File Encryption and
Delivery)

The cyber security crisis awareness and challenges for companies in the
industrial field, financial sector and the governments, have rapidly increased,
and caused an urgency for all organizations, to review their countermeasure
policies in order to secure their organizations’ network security.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) ‘s facing cyber security challenges
are not able to afford the budget to hire specialists or spend a significant
amount of cost on these initiatives when compared to large corporations and
governments.

As a solution to the above, the technical teams of QURAS and Bona Trust
Corporation have jointly developed a fully anonymized file sharing software by
setting multiple authorized persons on a completely anonymized smart contract.

With fully anonymized file sharing software, SMEs can achieve extremely
sensitive information management just with a small budget.

In addition, QURAS Gas (XQG) consumed as a budget is distributed to the
wallet of all holders according to the number of possessions by staking every
18 seconds by holding QURAS coins (XQC).

https://youtu.be/It2wsldPekA (Quras Wallet | Smart Contact with Assets)

An overview of the specifications and features of this software is briefly
described:-

1. Set up multiple approvers, pay QURAS gas
(XQG), and upload the file to the blockchain (strictly speaking, “node”).


2. When downloading the file, the download
is completed by the approval (multi-signature) of multiple authorized persons.


The above is a very simple mechanism using smart contracts, but this may
be easy to understand if we imagine multiple signers of bank transfer.

For example, the accounting department manages company funds and has a lot
of funds incoming and outgoing every day. When performing this work, a
mechanism is needed to prevent inadvertent input mistakes by the staff and to
prevent erroneous remittance.

If multiple signing authorities are set at this time, the remittance
process cannot be executed unless the person in charge in the accounting
department confirms that the appropriate accounting process has been performed.
Also, since multiple approval authority is required, even the person in charge
cannot perform malicious operations alone.

Certainly, this mechanism can do the same with traditional blockchain with
smart contracts. The existing smart contract can also specify the public range
as a private chain, so the public content is protected within the specified
range.

On the other hand, the characteristics of QURAS’s private chain are
significant from the viewpoint of privacy protection, in addition to the
conventional function that allows specification of the scope of disclosure, as
well as the fact that the entire scope of disclosure can be made anonymous.
This is the essential difference between QURAS smart contract and existing one.

Therefore, when using the QURAS platform, it is possible to anonymize all
data and prevent the leakage of unintended information.

In conclusion, anonymous technology includes “financial institutions” that
handle remittance and confidential information, “administrative institutions”
such as governments that handle large amounts of personal data, and “defense
industry” that exchanges national secrets and military information. It will be
indispensable in all industrial fields in the future.

This joint development was the result of an experiment that showed one
effective solution for privacy protection, and it can be said that it has given
great social significance to the history of the blockchain.

About QURAS

◇   Mr. Shigeki Kakutani – QURAS
Project Team (Founder / CEO)


First of all, I would like to inform you the joint development with Bona
Trust Corporation was successful. Mr. Yudai is my important friend, a seed
stage investor in the QURAS project, and an Executive Advisor contributed
greatly to   project development
management and strategy proposals.

What we always talk about again and again is “What is technology?” No
matter how great a technology is developed, it has no meaning unless it is
accepted by many people and used in the real world. QURAS is like an
all-purpose kitchen knife when compared to cooking, and it has true intrinsic
value for the first time by providing cooking (application of technology) that
makes people happy. In other words, QURAS is essentially a platform, just a
tool.

In that sense, the anonymized platform “QURAS” is finally a small building
in the wilderness. Our current location is just one step away. From now on, many project teams and
engineers will use the QURAS platform to create many products and open up the
wilderness. Through this development, I was able to visualize the sight of a
large city spreading in this cyberspace.

QURAS is a word born from the word meaning “Cure”.
Our origins were a project born out of the
philosophy of completely anonymizing the privacy contained in medical charts
and providing medical services similar to those used by home doctors to people
undergoing medical examinations anywhere in the world.

This time, the development so far has bear fruit and has the potential to
be used by actual financial institutions. We will proceed with development to
get the production network up and running.

Website: https://quras.io/en/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/qurasofficial

Telegram Group: https://t.me/QurasOfficialGroup

Medium: https://medium.com/@qurasofficial

 

About Bona Trust Corporation

◇   Mr. Yudai Watanabe – Bona
Trust Corporation (Founder / Managing Director), and QURAS Project Team
(Executive Advisor)

This joint development was carried out as a part of our ISM (Information
Security Management) project. As a result of this joint development, we have
taken a major step towards protecting the privacy of client information through
complete anonymization.

There is nothing perfect in the world. All
theories are wrong if we say wrong, and correct if we say correct. Verifying the wrong and correctness of the theory is nothing
more than verifying one’s incomplete knowledge and ideals, that is, verifying oneself.
The most important thing is to find some useful clues from there.

DLT (Blockchain) is extremely difficult to tamper with, and by
implementing an anonymous smart contract that can only be viewed by the
parties, it is possible to automatically execute from contract conclusion to
contract condition confirmation / performance and ownership transfer procedure.
Mainly, it can be expected to prevent the leakage of non-public company
registration information, NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) etc. in financial
institutions.

The era of being automatically executed on smart contracts (trustless
society) will soon come, instead of existing trusted third parties. That is why
I feel that financial institutions that use brokerage services with credit as
collateral need to respond quickly to changes. Bona Trust Corporation will
continue to develop as a trust venture in the Fintech field.

Finally, QURAS platform will be running a test net shortly. I think that having decided to test develop
the product at this timing has great significance for the following developers.

The QURAS platform has many challenges for the main network scheduled for
February 2020. For example, scalability issues, preparing a multilingual
development environment, and stress testing for quantum tolerance etc. We need
to re-balance and orbital adjustment with repeated updates again and again.

I can’t wait to see what future QURAS will bring to us when these balance
of encryption technologies working together is optimized and accepted as part
of people’s lives.

Company name

CIPHER TECONOLOGY LIMITED(QURAS
Project management company)

Project manager

Shigeki Kakutani (Director)

Nature of Business

Blockchain development,
Cipher technology development, Anonymity smart contract service provider

Date of Incorporation

March 26, 2019

Company Address

Unit 2302, 23/F, New World
Tower 1, 18 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong S. A. R., China

 

Company name

Bona Trust Corporation

Project manager

Yudai Watanabe (Director)

Nature of Business

Trust and Corporate Service

Date of Incorporation

October 17, 2018

Company Address

Unit Level 9F(2), Main Office
Tower, Financial Park Labuan, Jalan Merdeka, 87000 Federal Territory of
Labuan, Malaysia

Sirex connects startups and investors with IEO Plus

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Sirex connects startups and investors with IEO Plus

SINGAPORE – Media
OutReach – 16 December 2019 – A newly established Sirex exchange attracts public attention.

Cryptocurrency
based on blockchain technology is given innovative value by
the people. There are many crypto exchanges in the
market and the numbers of the exchanges keep growing.

Under these circumstances, investors have
had questions about the meaning of a newly established crypto exchange.

Sirex offers opportunities to invest in
startups and trade token freely, breaking down the barriers between investors
and startups.

 

Many startups have difficulties in
raising funds because of cost, regional barriers, and lack of IR (Investor Relations) specialty. But in Sirex’s startup specialized IEO (Initial Exchange Offering) Plus, a startup company can get a lot more opportunities
to meet potential investors and raise fund. You can meet more
investors in Sirex than in 1,000 IR meetings. The only thing a
startup needs is a clear vision and a business plan.

 

Every Investor hopes
and dreams about hitting the jackpot 100 times through investing in future unicorn companies. But if the
budget is limited, it has been almost impossible. Because Investment
opportunity in the early stage startup were only given to professional and
institutional investors.

 

In Sirex, however, it is possible to invest in early stage startups
even with small amount of money. In addition, there is a much faster
exit option through Sirex listed token market.

Firstly, it is Sirex IEO
Plus, startup specialized IEO. The general IEO systems give the
purchase opportunity to the people who come first. In those systems, some buyers
will take the most part of profit only because they got first position on the
list. On the other hand, Sirex IEO Plus maximizes the total sum of
every participant’s benefit through Dynamic Pricing Sequence of One-priced Periods.

 

Through this mechanism, IEO Plus
satisfies two principles:

(1) The market determines the price

(2) To find the equilibrium
point that maximizes market total welfare

 

The success of Sirex IEO Plus is already
substantially demonstrated through the actual result and numbers.
6 projects were listed successfully through IEO Plus, and one of the 6 has performed
tremendous profit greater than 13,000%. The more impressive point is that half
of the IEO listed companies are real economy startups.
Their product/service are real-world applicable, and they have the
different way of doing business with some fantasy-world
companies.

 

It shows that Sirex’s vision (i.e.
raising fund for startups) has already been materialized partially.

 

Secondly, Sirex has
introduced an automated D/W (Deposit and Withdraw) system
through an individual wallet. Some exchanges have been criticized because
they used one wallet for multiple users and made non-existent accounts. Sirex,
however, provides an automated D/W process through actual transaction in an actual
wallet for each user. Therefore, D/W related accidents are fundamentally
impossible in Sirex.

 

It is a common that a visionary company
collapses today and that a profitable company collapses
tomorrow. Sirex, however, shows noticeable vision and the
capability to make it real. So, I strongly recommend that Sirex will be a
promising player in the 2020 crypto market.

 

Sirex has produced a welcome
airdrop event from 16-Dec-2019 to 15-Jan-2020. You can get an Adward
(ADW) token if you are newcomer in Sirex.

 

SIREX Website – (https://www.sirex.exchange/main.do)

SIREX IEO Plus – (https://www.sirex.exchange/invest/ieoLists.do)

ADWARD Website – (https://www.adwardplace.com/)

SIREX AirDrop Event – (https://sirex.exchange/board/noticeboard_detail.do?bn_idx=77)

Banyan Tree Holdings Prepares for Disruption to Steer New Directions

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Banyan Tree Holdings Prepares for Disruption to Steer New Directions

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 16
December 2019 – Known as an
innovative disruptor with responsible entrepreneurship at its heart, Banyan
Tree Holdings strengthens its founding competitive edge in people to future
proof its mission of sustainable value creation for all stakeholders.

 

L-R: Banyan Tree Group’s big family celebrating its 25th
Anniversary; Founder and Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings Mr Ho Kwon
Ping receiving the HICAP Lifetime Achievement Award from The BHN Group
President Mr Jeff Higley; Annual Talent Development Programme.

Celebrating its
25th Anniversary this year, Banyan Tree Holdings continues to stand
tall as one of the few steadfastly independent hospitality companies in a rapidly
consolidating industry. “Set against an increasingly competitive and uncertain
landscape, we are now in the middle of the river of change. We have left the
home bank but not reached the safety of the farshore. And we need to be aware
that we are in this zone. Being an independent company is to our advantage for timely
business decisions and expansions. We have the conviction and the game plan of
using our Group’s size to play to our strengths – being nimble and responsive
to change. With an emphasis on integration, process redesign and strengthening
of our digital infrastructure, we are confident of stronger brand delivery and performance
as we step into the next 25 years and beyond,” said
Mr
Ho Kwon Ping, Founder and Executive
Chairman
of Banyan Tree Holdings.

 

Catalysing the next phase of growth, the Group is staking
its edge on its agile organisational structure and lateral capabilities of an
integrated hospitality ecosystem. It has evolved from a boutique chain to a
multi-branded global hospitality leader in its own right, with a footprint set
to double in the next five years and consistent brand recognition with over 140
awards in 2019 and 2535 awards won since inception. This year, the list included
<Travel+Leisure US World’s Best Awards
2019 Top 25 Hotel Brands in the World>,
<Beijing News Travelling Award 2018 Most Influential Hotel Group>,
<Voyage Travel Awards 2019 Best Hotel Group> and <29th
TTG Travel Awards 2019 Travel Hall of Fame Best
Spa Operator> for the 5th year since induction.

 

Leadership with a difference

Banyan Tree Group
prides itself in being a global company with a start-up mentality. It has a strong
talent force from over 50 nationalities, yet stays simple in structure to drive
quick implementation and results. Looking beyond, the Group sees the inherent
collaborative strength of diverse talents to create innovative disruptions for
its transformational leadership thrust forward.

A testimony to the Group’s entrepreneurial spirit and
passion for change to enhance the industry, Mr Ho Kwon Ping was conferred
the prestigious HICAP Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent Hotel Investment
Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP). He is the only recipient of both HICAP’s Innovation
Award (2003) and Lifetime Achievement Award (2019) — in honour of his innovative outlook and accomplishments in the
expansion of Banyan Tree Group and his contributions to advancing the hotel
industry in Asia Pacific region and the world. An avid journalist turned
hospitality veteran, Mr Ho embodies and believes in creativity and diversity of
talents.

 

Drawing inspiration from its
founder, the Group has injected 3 new senior appointments with distinct backgrounds
and experiences into its management team. Combined with the current team in
senior positions (whereby a notable 50% is promoted over the last 12 years
through its internal talent development programme), the Group believes this newly
reinforced team will take the company to its next leap.

 

Rosalynn Tay is the newly-appointed Senior Vice President, Head of Growth and Demand of
Banyan Tree Holdings. With extensive geographical and multi-industry experience, Rosalynn has
a 28-year strong track record in transformational work and leadership. She was most
recently Dentsu Aegis Network Country Head and Dentsu CEO. At DBS Bank, she was
Managing Director, Head of Marketing for Consumer Banking and also Managing
Director of Tiger Airways Singapore, responsible for taking the airline public.
Throughout these diverse appointments, her keen commercial acumen, ability to
build high-performing team culture and push through change management
initiatives were evident in her winning both Campaign
Asia’s SEA Agency Head of the Year 2017 and Campaign Asia’s Women Leading
Change Awards Business Leader 2017.

 

Rosalynn will be leading the charge to drive the Group’s multi-brand
growth strategy while charting customer engagement across current and new
digital channels. She will also define the strategic approach to sales,
marketing, distribution, revenue and channel management.

 

Jonathan Ye is the new
Vice-President, Head of Demand. He has recently moved
from the consumer tech world where he was the Head of Digital Marketing, Asia
Pacific since 2017 and Chief Marketing Officer in Singapore for the Chinese
tech giant, Huawei. Prior to it and right after the acquisition by Marriott, he
was part of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Asia Pacific (including China) driving social,
mobile and emerging technologies for the region. He has rich digital marketing
experience across hospitality and telco industries with proven success. As the global head for marketing, Jonathan will be leading strategic
integrated marketing directions and functions across offline and online
channels for multi brands’ campaigns, digital performance marketing and
content.

Boris
Sertic is the new Senior Assistant Vice President, Head of Revenue. He
is an accomplished travel industry professional with over 20 years’ commercial
experience in the fields of pricing, revenue, distribution, group loyalty
programmes and fares database. For the first 12 years of his career, he was in
senior management positions for wholesale international tour operations,
focusing on long-haul worldwide strategy. He next joined Centara Hotels
& Resorts as corporate director in 2008 and had piloted numerous company-wide
projects for revenue management structure implementation, distribution and commercial
contracting strategies. Boris will provide global directions and
implement group revenue management and distribution strategies in collaboration
with the Growth & Demand team at the Group and Hotel levels.

More than a global lifestyle
hospitality company, Banyan Tree Group is also in the business of developing a
strengths-based culture to build individual strengths within its organisation.
In every decision made, it goes beyond what is necessary to help its people
maximise their potentials. This passion for talent development is a vehicle of
purpose that reinforces its mission
of sustainable value creation.

 

For high-resolution images, please
download here. (using latest version of Chrome browser)       


ABOUT BANYAN TREE HOLDINGS LIMITED

Banyan Tree Holdings Limited (“Banyan Tree”
or the “Group”) is a leading international operator and developer of premium
resorts, hotels, residences and spas, with 47 hotels and resorts, 63 spas, 73
retail galleries, and three golf courses in 24 countries. Each resort typically
has between 75 to 300 rooms and commands room rates at the higher end of each
property’s particular market.

The Group’s primary business is centered on
four brands: the award-winning Banyan Tree and Angsana, as well as newly
established Cassia and Dhawa. Banyan Tree also operates the leading integrated
resort in Thailand — Laguna Phuket — through the Group’s subsidiary, Laguna
Resorts & Hotels Public Company Limited. Two other integrated resorts —
Laguna Bintan in Indonesia and Laguna Lăng Cô in Central Vietnam — complete the
status of the Group as the leading operator of integrated resorts in Asia.

As a leading operator of spas in Asia,
Banyan Tree’s spas are one of the key features in their resorts and hotels. Its
retail arm Banyan Tree Gallery complements and reinforces the branding of the
resort, hotel and spa operations.

Since the launch of the first Banyan Tree
resort, Banyan Tree Phuket, in 1994, Banyan Tree has received over 2,480 awards
and accolades for the resorts, hotels and spas that the Group manages. The
Group has also received recognition for its commitment to sustainability for
environmental protection and emphasis on corporate social responsibility.

In
addition to its currently operating hotels, resorts, spas and golf courses, the
Group currently has 21 hotels and resorts under construction, and another 31
under development.

www.banyantree.com   
www.angsana.com   
www.cassia.com   
www.dhawa.com

 

Awards Listings

With 2535 awards won since its
inception in 1994, Banyan Tree Group is consistently honoured as a leading
hospitality leader for its experiential brands in top global brand listings.

  • <Travel+Leisure US World’s
    Best Awards 2019 Top 25 Hotel Brands in the World>
  • <Beijing News Travelling
    Award 2018 Most Influential Hotel Group>
  • <Voyage Travel Awards 2019 Best
    Hotel Group>. 
  • <29th TTG Travel Awards 2019
    TTG Travel Hall of Fame Best Spa Operator> for 5th year since induction for
    the well-loved Banyan Tree Spa
  • <Sustainable Business Awards 2019 Best Land Use
    and Biodiversity>
  • <Sustainable Business Awards 2019 Special
    Recognition Strategy and Sustainability>
  • <Singapore Apex Corporate Sustainability Awards
    2019 Sustainable Business Category>.
  • <2019 AMCHAM Thailand CSR Excellence Awards —
    Gold> for Laguna Phuket.
  • <2019 International Property Awards Best
    Residential High-rise Development Australia (Five-Star)> for Banyan Tree
    Residences Brisbane
  • <2019 International Property Awards Best
    Residential Property Thailand (Five-Star)> for Laguna Village Residences
  • <6th Annual World Golf Awards 2019 Thailand’s
    Best Golf Course> for Laguna Golf Phuket
  • <6th Annual World Golf Awards 2019 Thailand’s
    Best Golf Hotel > for Banyan Tree Phuket
  • <Travel Weekly Asia Readers’ Choice Awards 2019
    Best Resort for Service Excellence – Asia Pacific> for Banyan Tree Phuket
  • <Singapore Corporate Awards 2019 Best Managed
    Board in Mid Cap Category – Gold Award> for corporate governance

Wärtsilä Modular Block solution to modernise power generation in a West African gold mine

Brand Spur
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Wärtsilä Modular Block solution to modernise power generation in a West African gold mine

The technology group Wärtsilä announces the first order of its innovative new Wärtsilä Modular Block solution for power generation to Aggreko, a global provider of mobile, modular power, temperature control and energy services. Four Wärtsilä Modular Block enclosures with one medium-speed Wärtsilä 32 engine in each, will provide 40 MW of energy to an off-grid gold mine in West Africa. The Modular Block order was placed by Aggreko in November 2019. This contract is the first one signed under the cooperation agreement between Wärtsilä and Aggreko, that was announced in June this year.

The Wärtsilä Modular Block is a pre-fabricated, modularly configurated, and expandable enclosure for sustainable power generation.

The Wärtsilä Modular Block solution will replace the existing diesel generators currently powering the mine. Thanks to the high efficiency of the engines the new solution will create substantial monthly savings in fuel costs. Fast-starting and load-following capabilities will facilitate the integration of renewables into the mine’s energy system. The mine will be powered by a reliable, flexible and affordable solution, which will help to enhance the mine’s environmental impact.

The Wärtsilä Modular Block is a pre-fabricated, modularly configurated, and expandable enclosure for sustainable power generation.

Three Wärtsilä Modular Blocks, providing a total of 30 MW of power will be installed next to the existing power station in 2020. The fourth 10 MW Modular Block will be installed in 2022. The agreement with Aggreko includes an option to add a fifth 10 MW unit to the power plant. The scalability of Wärtsilä Modular Block solution enables the mine to add additional power capacity if needed to support future growth.

“The Wärtsilä Modular Block solution opens up exciting new opportunities, both for permanent and rental electricity generation. We are delighted to be partnering with Aggreko in this rapidly growing market, and this first order is encouraging for the future success of our cooperation,” added Jean Nabb, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Wärtsilä Energy Business.

Aggreko is working at the forefront of a rapidly changing energy market and is focused on solving its customers’ challenges to provide cost-effective, flexible and greener solutions across the globe. More information here.

Wärtsilä Energy Business is leading the transition towards a 100% renewable energy future. As an energy system integrator, we understand, design, build and serve optimal power systems for future generations. Wärtsilä’s solutions provide the needed flexibility to integrate renewables and secure power system reliability. Our offering comprises engine-based flexible power plants – including liquid gas systems – hybrid solar power plants, energy management systems and storage and integration solutions. We support our customers over the lifecycle of their installations with services that enable increased efficiency and guaranteed performance. Wärtsilä has 70 GW of installed power plant capacity in 177 countries around the world.

Gov. Ishaku Attends Orchestra and Praise Choir Festival 2019 (Photos)

Brand Spur
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Gov. Ishaku Attends Orchestra and Praise Choir Festival 2019 (Photos)

Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku attended the Praise Choir and Orchestra Festival which took place in Abuja.

The Governor was among the dignitaries that graced the occasion together with top highly placed personalities both from within and outside the country.

Gen. T.Y Danjuma in his remarks during the festival applauded the planning committee of the 2019 Praise Choir and Orchestra Festival for their innovations that added colour to this year’s event.

Gen. TY Danjuma expressed happiness that more choral, soloist and other singing groups were added to this year’s event that made the annual praise program very unique.

Chairman of the occasion Gen. Yakubu Gowon charged the FG to do what they can to ensure that Leah Sharibu, a Christian girl under Boko haram captivity and other Nigerians in incarceration are freed.

Gowon expressed happiness that Abuja is relatively peaceful during the Christmas season and urged Nigerians to pray for the sustenance of peace and for the restoration of permanent peace at various crisis spots in the Country.

The Chairman of the praise planning committee, Professor Jerry Gana said there is every need for people to praise God because of the radiance of his glory, riches of his mercy, depth of his love, purity of his ordinance and magnitude of his power.

The festival was well attended among which were His Excellency the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku, Senator Rochas Okorocha etc.

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