PT WIJAYA KARYA (Persero) Tbk (WIKA) continues to demonstrate its commitment to being a national construction company with business performance excellence as well as sustainability and social responsibility performance. In April 2025, WIKA received two prestigious awards: InvestorTrust’s “Best Corporate Emission Reduction Transparency Award 2025” and The Iconomics’ “7th Indonesia CSR Brand Equity Awards 2025” for the Construction category.
The ”Best Corporate Emission Reduction Transparency Award 2025” was convened at the Sultan Hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday, 29 April 2025. The award was presented to companies that actively contributed towards national and global decarbonization efforts. WIKA was one of 95 selected awardees for its transparency and commitment to reporting and managing carbon emissions. Of the 370 companies nominated, WIKA was selected for having fulfilled the key criteria, including the timely release of the 2023 Sustainability Report, transparent emission declarations, and compliance with environmental governance principles without any serious legal conflicts.
On the same day, WIKA received another award in the “7th Indonesia CSR Brand Equity Awards 2025”, which was presented by The Iconomics dan Axia Research held at the Ministry of Transportation building. The event carried the theme “Developing Brand Companies with Government’s CSR Goals.” It served as a platform to recognize companies that have built strong and effective brand identities through CSR initiatives aligned with national development objectives. WIKA was recognized to have consistently incorporated sustainability values into its business strategy. The Company also demonstrated a strong commitment to implementing social responsibility programs that have a genuine impact on the environment and society.
“We believe a company’s success is determined not only by its financial performance but also by the good impact that it has on society and the environment. These two awards serve as motivation for everyone at WIKA to continue innovating and making meaningful contributions,” said Agung Budi Waskito (BW), President Director of WIKA.
As an important partner in national development, WIKA continues its active role in sustainability through various initiatives, from implementing inclusive and targeted CSR programs to energy efficiency and carbon emission management. WIKA remains committed to developing a responsible business that delivers added value to all stakeholders.
Eastern River Pty Ltd is proud to announce a major milestone in its growth trajectory with the appointment of Tom Paras as Managing Director – Head of Fund Investments. This appointment signals a significant evolution in the company’s leadership capability as it expands its footprint across the fund investment landscape.
With more than 30 years of executive experience in the property and investment sectors, Tom brings an extraordinary depth of expertise spanning office, retail, industrial, and residential asset classes. He has held senior leadership roles at several high-profile organizations, including CEO of Panda Global Funds, where he led operations across international markets, and as a senior specialist at Payton Capital, recently acquired by ASX-listed HMC Capital. He has also served as Senior Executive – Investments at Occasio Funds Management.
Before joining Eastern River, Tom played a pivotal role in a number of corporate advisory and capital raising mandates across both domestic and international markets, with deep investor networks in the UAE, Asia, and the Americas. His global perspective and strategic insight will be instrumental in driving Eastern River’s next phase of expansion.
Tom has also served as a Non-Executive Director for several China-based companies seeking ASX listings, further demonstrating his unique capability in cross-border corporate structuring and capital markets. Beyond the boardroom, Tom holds equity positions across multiple businesses and investment entities in property development, construction, and venture capital. He holds an MBA and several professional diplomas in corporate and investment disciplines.
“Bringing Tom into the business is a landmark moment for Eastern River. His track record and depth of experience align perfectly with our long-term vision of becoming a leading force in the private investment and funds management sector,” said Tekauri Ryan Hurst, CEO & Executive Director of Eastern River Pty Ltd.
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With six newly established, identical BSL-2 laboratories now operational, biologics CDMO Northway Biotech can conduct VCS programs for up to six clients simultaneously, significantly alleviating current market bottlenecks
Northway Biotech, a biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), today announced the expansion of its protein-based and gene therapy service offerings with the addition of Viral Clearance Studies (VCS) capabilities. This strategic growth follows the opening of Northway Biotech’s new Gene Therapy Center with dedicated cGMP facilities for virus-related projects.
With six newly established, identical BSL-2 laboratories now operational, Northway Biotech can conduct VCS programs for up to six clients simultaneously, significantly alleviating current market bottlenecks. Additionally, the company has expanded its capabilities to perform GMP-compliant manufacturing and testing under BSL-3 conditions, further strengthening its service offering across gene therapy and broader biologics development.
Viral Clearance Studies are now offered both as part of Northway Biotech’s integrated CDMO programs and as a standalone service. This flexibility allows external clients to access VCS expertise independently, without requiring a manufacturing agreement.
Accelerated Delivery Timelines – Over One Month Faster Than Industry Leveraging expanded infrastructure and integrated analytical capabilities, Northway Biotech is positioned to deliver Viral Clearance Studies substantially faster than the current industry standard. Comprehensive studies, assessing viral removal and inactivation, can now be completed with final regulatory-compliant reporting in under 10 weeks from initiation of project design when two model viruses are employed, and within 12 weeks when four model viruses are used.
“Our expansion into Viral Clearance Studies is a natural extension of our CDMO services, enabling us to manage these critical studies in-house and significantly reduce project timelines for our clients,” said Prof. Vladas Algirdas Bumelis, CEO of Northway Biotech. “By investing in state-of-the-art BSL-2 and BSL-3 facilities, expanding technical capabilities, and further strengthening our scientific teams, we are uniquely positioned to deliver high-quality VCS data faster – a key advantage for clients advancing through clinical development and regulatory approval.”
For more information on Northway Biotech’s Viral Clearance Study processes, service offerings, and delivery timelines, please complete the contact form to connect with the Northway Biotech team.
Northway Biotech is a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) supporting customers worldwide. Its highly experienced and professional team executes projects at every stage, from cell line construction and process development to cGMP manufacturing of biopharmaceutical products. The company’s extensive expertise and vertically integrated service offering enables rapid execution of multiple projects from its state-of-the-art GMP facilities while ensuring full process and product compliance at all stages of research, development, and commercial manufacturing. Northway Biotech is a privately owned company founded in 2004 and operates locations in Vilnius, Lithuania; London, United Kingdom; and Waltham, MA, USA.
FWD Group Holdings Limited (FWD Group or FWD) today announced exceptionally strong first quarter new business highlights for the three months ended 31 March 2025.
– New business contractual service margin (New business CSM) growth of 55 percent year-on-year, to US$465 million. This adds to the company’s overall CSM balance, which is released over time to its income statement under IFRS 17. – New business sales (APE) growth of 46 percent, compared to the same corresponding period last year, to US$679 million. – Extended FWD Group’s partnership with JA Worldwide in April for a further three years to help primary school students in Asia develop financial literacy, through the award-winning programme, JA SparktheDream.
Huynh Thanh Phong, Group Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of FWD Group, said, “FWD Group had a very strong start to the year, with our customer-led strategy driving some incredible new business results. We continued to respond to rapidly evolving customer needs for protection, health, and savings, with 10 new products introduced in the quarter, including FWD Private’s first high-net-worth indexed universal life proposition.”
“FWD Group had a terrific quarter and maintained a strong balance sheet, however, we’re keeping a close watch on the volatility in global financial markets and the uncertain global macro-economic outlook. Risk management is always a top priority and FWD Group is taking a prudent approach in preparing for a range of possible scenarios and outcomes,” added Huynh Thanh Phong.
The growth in new business indicators was driven by most of the 10 markets FWD operates in.
In Hong Kong SAR & Macau SAR, the particularly strong trajectory of growth in new business sales and new business CSM continued, reflecting demand from both local and Mainland Chinese visitor customers.
In the Thailand & Cambodia reporting segment, new business indicators were impacted by weaker economic conditions as well as lower interest rates.
Double digit growth in new business sales in the company’s Emerging Markets segment was broad-based, while Japan posted steady new business indicators.
Quarter ended 31 March^
US$ millions, except for percentages
2024
2025
Growth (year on year CER basis)
New business growth indicators New business sales (APE)
460
679
46%
New business CSM
297
465
55%
Value of new business (VNB)
215
287
32%
About FWD Group FWD Group is a pan-Asian life and health insurance business that serves approximately 30 million customers across 10 markets, including BRI Life in Indonesia. FWD’s customer-led and digitally enabled approach aims to deliver innovative propositions, easy-to-understand products and a simpler insurance experience. Established in 2013, the company operates in some of the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world with a vision of changing the way people feel about insurance. For more information, please visit www.fwd.com
^The unaudited results are for the three months ended 31 March 2025 and are compared to the same period in 2024. Growth rates are represented on a constant exchange rate (CER) basis. New business sales are calculated on an annual premium equivalent (APE) basis, based on 100 percent annual premiums and 10 percent single premiums. New business CSM excludes the impact of one-off reinsurance contracts on in-force business.
In a collaboration between Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), researchers have built a comprehensive new database of dielectric material properties curated from thousands of scientific papers. The study, published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods, also offers insights that could accelerate the development of next-generation electronic materials and energy storage technologies.
Large-scale dielectric materials database built with the open database project “Starrydata” and generation of a materials map using machine learning-based data visualization.
AI-driven materials discovery has great potential to accelerate innovation, but it relies on large and diverse datasets. The lack of such data remains a major bottleneck in the field.　To address this challenge, researchers used the Starrydata2 web system to collect experimental data on over 20,000 material samples from more than 5,000 publications. The NIMS team has developed a standardized approach to extract data from graphs, including temperature-dependent properties, which are often omitted in other databases. “What makes our work unique is the meticulous process of manually tracing graphs and correcting inconsistencies in original research papers to create a clean, high-quality dataset,” the researchers said.
The database focuses on a specific class of materials necessary for electronics and is the largest ever reported, significantly surpassing previous collections. With this wealth of information, the team used machine learning (ML) to predict the properties of materials and how they would behave electronically.
Although the ML models were effective, they initially worked as “black boxes” — the researchers couldn’t see why the models made their predictions. To understand the context for predictions, the team created visual maps of the data, making complex information easier to interpret. They used clustering algorithms to automatically group similar materials. This analysis helped them spot patterns in how a material’s composition affects its properties. The team was also able to categorize the materials into distinct groups, including seven important ferroelectric families, providing a global landscape of the entire compositional space.
The team took a closer look at ABO3 Perovskites, a family of materials which are essential components in everyday electronic devices and energy storage technologies, such as smartphones, computers, and solar cells. Their visualizations showed a simple link between the basic structure of the material and its dielectric permittivity, which coincides with previous academic knowledge.
This work advances our understanding of dielectric materials and moves research beyond traditional trial-and-error approaches. “By curating the largest dataset as ever and combining various machine-learning methods, we succeeded in visualizing the landscape of the entire compositional space in unprecedented detail,” the team explained.
The NIMS team plans to make the dataset publicly available next year, allowing scientists worldwide to leverage it for new discoveries. Future work may involve expanding data collection to include manufacturing methods and processing conditions, allowing for more comprehensive predictions that would link production processes to material properties.
“We hope that this foundational work will inspire similar data collection initiatives and new approaches to materials discovery, ultimately leading to smarter materials development pathways that benefit society through improved electronic technologies,” the researchers concluded.
About Science and Technology of Advanced Materials: Methods (STAM-M)
STAM Methods is an open access sister journal of Science and Technology of Advanced Materials (STAM), and focuses on emergent methods and tools for improving and/or accelerating materials developments, such as methodology, apparatus, instrumentation, modeling, high-through put data collection, materials/process informatics, databases, and programming. https://www.tandfonline.com/STAM-M
Sensiba LLP, a Top-75 U.S. accounting and consulting firm, is pleased to announce the acquisition of AssuranceLab Pty. Ltd., a high-growth cybersecurity audit and risk assurance firm headquartered in Australia, with operations across the Americas, APAC, and EMEA.
This milestone expands Sensiba’s international reach and deepens its security, privacy, and compliance framework capabilities. Together, the combined firm now supports over 2,300 startup and technology-driven enterprise clients worldwide-providing streamlined, high-quality audits across more than 15 compliance standards, including SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27001, HIPAA, CSA STAR, and HITRUST.
“We’re honored to welcome AssuranceLab to Sensiba. Their reputation in the market is well-earned, driven by innovation, credibility, and a commitment to raising the bar for cybersecurity audits. What makes this such a strong fit is the alignment across our values and client service philosophies, as well as our vision for the future,” said John Sensiba, managing partner at Sensiba.
“Both of our firms have built deep relationships with startups and technology companies, businesses that increasingly recognize how cyber threats, ESG risk, and privacy concerns impact investor confidence, market relevance, and talent retention in a global landscape. AssuranceLab’s technology-forward approach and entrepreneurial spirit will be central to how we continue supporting clients with the insight, scale, and expertise they need for rapid growth.”
Both firms are Certified B Corporations, with a shared commitment to responsible business practices, transparency, and fostering healthy communities. This acquisition brings a broader range of services, including cybersecurity consulting and penetration testing, while maintaining a client-centric, tech-enabled audit experience that both teams are known for.
“We’re excited to take this next step in AssuranceLab’s journey,” said Paul Wenham, cofounder and co-CEO of AssuranceLab and now a Sensiba partner. “Sensiba shares our client-first and technology-led approach to client service, and their people radiate the kind of values we deeply respect. Joining Sensiba gives us a platform to bring our innovative programs, audit models, and tech to a broader audience, and to have more impact as our clients navigate increasingly complex assurance and compliance challenges.”
“What excites us most about coming together with Sensiba is the opportunity to build on our tech-forward foundation while tapping into new expertise, geographies, and ideas,” said Nicholas Lew Ton, cofounder and co-CEO of AssuranceLab and now a Sensiba partner. “The compliance and risk landscape is changing rapidly, and clients value innovation as we lead the next wave of modern, meaningful audits.”
Clients will continue working with their existing teams, and there will be no reintroductions or disruptions to service. What’s new is the expanded scale, broader framework coverage, and global footprint across The Americas, APAC, and EMEA to better support their cross-border compliance needs and demonstrate their commitment to data security and privacy.
About AssuranceLab AssuranceLab is a modern cybersecurity audit and advisory firm, serving hundreds of fast-growing digital businesses worldwide. Headquartered in Australia, the firm offers streamlined, tech-enabled compliance services across global frameworks. AssuranceLab is a Certified B Corp, recognized for its people-first culture and commitment to excellence. Learn more at AssuranceLab.cpa.
About Sensiba Sensiba’s global accounting, tax, risk assurance, and consulting services help businesses and people solve problems, establish trust, and build a foundation for sustainable growth. Independent and partner-owned, we’re a top-75 U.S. firm with a global footprint, maintaining operations across The Americas, Europe, Australia, and beyond. We’re passionate about collaborating with clients to increase efficiency, mitigate risk, and embrace emerging opportunities. As a certified B Corp, we foster a culture where people, families, and communities thrive. As a member of Morison Global, we support our clients’ international accounting and tax needs. For more information, visit Sensiba.com.
Contact: Marc Stevens, Brand & Communications Manager 925-271-8700 x7166 mstevens@sensiba.com
– Lifestyle and licensing trade fairs foster cross-sector business opportunities – strengthen resilience and expand market horizons
– The seven lifestyle and licensing events organised by the HKTDC concluded successfully today, with buyer numbers increasing across all exhibitions and some 100,000 buyers from 131 countries and regions attending in total – Non-local buyers came primarily from Mainland China, Taiwan and Malaysia, underscoring Hong Kong’s influence as an international trade platform – On-site surveys conducted at the events indicated that nearly half of respondents (49.2%) expected overall sales to rise in the next one to two years
The seven large-scale trade events organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council(HKTDC), covering lifestyle products and licensing opportunities, concluded successfully today, with buyer numbers increasing across all exhibitions and some 100,000 buyers from 131 countries and regions attending for on-site purchasing and business negotiations. Among the lifestyle fairs, the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair recorded some 36,000 buyers, Home InStyle attracted over 20,000 buyers, Fashion InStyle drew over 11,000 buyers, while the Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair and DeLuxe PrintPack Hong Kong saw over 11,000 buyers attend the concurrent events. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong International Licensing Show (HKILS) attracted over 20,000 buyers, and the Asian Licensing Conference (ALC) featured nearly 20 international licensing industry leaders as speakers. Non-local buyers at the six fairs came primarily from Mainland China, Taiwan and Malaysia, highlighting Hong Kong’s influence as an international trade platform.
Sophia Chong, HKTDC Deputy Executive Director, said: “The seven major events held by the HKTDC in late April brought together some 6,000 exhibitors from over 30 countries and regions. Despite the current challenges in the global economic and trade environment, we actively attracted buyers to our fairs to enhance trade resilience and assist exhibitors in gaining a foothold in new markets such as the Middle East and ASEAN regions. The HKTDC remains committed to promoting cross-sector and international trade cooperation among exhibitors, reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as an international trade hub and showcasing its unique advantage in building connections regionally and globally.”
Nearly half of respondents forecast sales growth To gain deeper insights into current trends in the lifestyle products industry, the HKTDC conducted a survey of 1,583 exhibitors and buyers at the Gifts & Premium Fair, Home InStyle, and Fashion InStyle. Key market overview and product trends include:
– Nearly half of respondents (49.2%) expected their overall sales would rise in the next one to two years, while 44.5% foresaw that sales will remain stable. The greatest challenges identified were growing protectionist measures (45.7%), fluctuations in the global economy (43.3%) and the impact of inflation (32.0%). – Respondents believed sales prospects are promising or very promising over the next two years in Mainland China (77.3%), India (74.2%), Taiwan (67.6%), Republic of Korea (66.4%) and ASEAN countries (65.8%). – The following are the markets that the respondents are actively exploring: Europe (30.5%), ASEAN countries (17.2%), Japan (13.1%), North America (12.3%) and Republic of Korea (9.5%). – In the gifts and premium market, respondents believed cultural gifts (17.6%), tech gifts (17.0%) and fashion accessories (16.9%) had the most growth potential. – In the furniture and houseware market, smart home technology (21.0%), designer furniture and houseware products (17.0%) and kitchenware and tableware (15.7%) were considered to have the most growth potential. – Respondents identified womenswear (40.3%), urban clothing (39.1%), and fashion accessories (32.0%) as having the most growth potential in the fashion market.
Concurrent mega events create synergies and promote new market opportunities The seven concurrent events this year, spanning gifts, houseware, fashion, printing and packaging and IP licensing, helped to foster cross-industry collaboration for exhibitors and buyers. Jimmy Lo, Business Strategy Manager of Homelover Products Limited, a Hong Kong exhibitor at Home InStyle, said: “The number of new buyers visiting our booth has doubled over last year, coming mainly from Asia, the Middle East and South America. The fair attracted fashion buyers and also drew a children’s product exhibitor’s interest in partnering with us to develop eco-friendly tableware. It is expected that this fair will bring us approximately US$100,000 in sales.”
A German buyer at the Gifts & Premium Fair, Michael Baumann, a partner in Know How International GmbH & Co KG, said: “I sourced products from India, Vietnam and Bangladesh as souvenirs and giveaways for the European football league. Additionally, I identified a sports bag supplier and a recycled paper box supplier from Mainland China, as well as a metal souvenir supplier from Hong Kong, with a potential total order value of approximately US$2.3 million to US$2.8 million. I am also highly interested in the licensed animated characters from a mainland exhibitor, with a potential order value of up to US$600,000.”
In response to global trade challenges, exhibitors are prioritising market diversification and actively pursuing new customer acquisition. Hong Kong exhibitor Moral Team Holdings Ltd has participated in the Gifts & Premium Fair for 17 years, focusing on the development of eco-friendly bag products. The company’s Marketing & Ecommerce Manager, Charlotte Chui, said: “The new US tariff policies have impacted 10% of our export share, prompting us to focus more on the Asian market at this stage. The Gifts & Premium Fair has provided us with a platform to connect with buyers from Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. Our mid- to long-term plan is expanding into the Australian and European markets. The concurrent fairs have attracted interest from fashion and houseware buyers. On the first day alone, we secured several orders from the Asian market and anticipate achieving total sales of over US$500,000 at the fair.”
Fairs drive the development of high-value cultural and creative industries Cultural and creative products that combine design and functionality are attracting significant attention from buyers. Stanley Kwok, Director of KnitWarm Ltd, a Hong Kong exhibitor at Home InStyle, said “We showcased our patented heat-conductive smart textile technology products in the Cultural and Creative Avenue and Gerontech Living Pavilion. Buyers from Japan, Mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, the UK and the US, as well as social workers in Hong Kong, have expressed interest in our four-in-one warmer blanket cushions and warmer band series. We are confident that the fair will generate at least US$200,000 in sales for our company.” Taiwan buyer William Wu, owner of Royal Best Group Corp, said: “I was impressed by the home trends highlighted in the collaboration between the Cultural and Creative Avenue and Pantone. I connected with exhibitors from the Czech Republic, Taiwan, Hong Kong and more, and plan to make purchases of houseware products totalling US$50,000 to US$100,000 this year. I’m particularly interested in the Czech incense stick holder and look forward to future collaboration opportunities.”
Global new materials at Fashion InStyle drive cross-sector interest This year saw the launch of NEXT@Fashion InStyle at Fashion InStyle a new highlighted zone organised by the HKTDC and sponsored by the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) of the HKSAR Government. Han Chong, founder and creative director of Self-Portrait, joined as the zone’s ambassador. NEXT@Fashion InStyle was dedicated to establishing a collaborative platform for sustainable and new materials for buyers and exhibitors, as well as designer brands, successfully connecting a buyer from Malaysia, Richard Tsen, founder of CollbStore, with Indonesian exhibitor PT Miko Bahtera Nusantara (MYCL). Mr Tsen said: “I am very interested in the company’s mushroom leather material and was amazed by its solidness and coating after the baking process. This inspired me to apply it to my designer label. I also referred them to the Malaysian Furniture Design Institute to let them explore the creation of mushroom leather furniture. I believe it has the potential to make a significant impact and resonate within the Malaysian and wider Asian market.”
Mary Ma, owner-principal of Textile Library, a mainland exhibitor at Fashion InStyle, expressed keen interest in leveraging the exhibition to explore establishing a base in Hong Kong. She said: “Hong Kong is a vibrant crossroads where eastern and western cultures meet. It connects factories across Southeast Asia and attracts European and American buyers.” Chinamind Next Interculture Group, the parent company of renowned fashion industry publication WWD China, also recognised the strategic advantages of Hong Kong as a gateway connecting the mainland with the world, signing a memorandum of understanding with the HKTDC during the fair.
Diverse creativity unlocks new licensing opportunities
Chengdu Chenghau Butterflies Huatian Culture Development Co Ltd, one of the exhibitors at the HKILS, signed a cooperation agreement with Sureka.Z Limited worth RMB2 million during the show. The former granted Sureka.Z Limited the performance rights for 10 shows of Panda the Musical in Hong Kong and Macao. At the ALC, meanwhile, leaders from the industry shared their insights on the trends and opportunities in the creative industry. Gabriel Kwong, Panda IP Creator, Ocean Park Hong Kong and Co-Founder of Air World Limited said: “Our edge is being able to see the world from a panda’s perspective, and as a park that raises pandas we can immediately gather real-life materials and transform them into IP content. The interplay between reality and virtual elements makes our IP increasingly entertaining.”
The Printing & Packaging Fair and DeLuxe PrintPack Hong Kong also created business opportunities for the industry. Zahoor A Qurashi, CEO of Regal Pack, a buyer from the UK, shared: “The fair featured a wide range of sustainable products, including luxury options such as skincare and perfume packaging, as well as ribbons, alongside practical everyday solutions like food and beverage packaging. I placed an order worth US$80,000 with one supplier and am optimistic about future collaborations. Additionally, I made an initial order of US$40,000 with another supplier for heat-expandable cups, which has the potential to grow significantly, possibly reaching US$1 million.”
Seamless online-offline integration drives business engagement The seven events adopted the EXHIBITION+ online-offline integrated model, enabling buyers to continue discussions with exhibitors online during and after the fairs, extending business interactions beyond the physical event.
About HKTDC The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 to promote, assist and develop Hong Kong’s trade. With over 50 offices globally, including 13 in Mainland China, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a two-way global investment and business hub. The HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to create business opportunities for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the mainland and international markets. The HKTDC also provides up-to-date market insights and product information via research reports and digital news channels. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus.
FWD Group Holdings Limited(FWD Group or FWD) today announced a three-year extension of its partnership with JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide – a youth-focused charity and Nobel Peace Prize 2025 nominee – to reach 40,000 more students across Asia by the end of 2027 with its award-winning financial literacy programme.
The JA SparktheDream programme gives students aged from nine years old to early teens financial education that’s integrated with social and life skills. It does this via a range of engaging learning experiences such as interactive games, digital activities, and classroom sessions supported by FWD volunteers in eight markets across Asia. In the next phase from 2025-2027, the goal is to educate another 40,000 students, engage more parents and teachers, and introduce new programmes to foster mental health resilience skills.
Cathy Knezevic, Group Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, FWD Group said, “Children are the most important asset any community has – they’re our inspiration, future leaders and innovators. We know that financial literacy helps people to make better decisions for their future, empowering them to celebrate living. It’s also an important enabler for long-term economic and social development in the community. That’s why we’re delighted to continue our partnership with JA. We want to help more children to gain these skills early in life, to support their well-being later in life.”
From 2022-2024, the FWD Group partnership with JA Asia Pacific – the regional operating centre of JA Worldwide – reached more than 37,000 students, exceeding the initial target by 49 per cent. Among participants, 88 per cent gained an understanding of money’s role in daily life, while 80 per cent developed a greater awareness of community needs. Over 1,650 students also participated in the JA SparktheDream Social Challenge where they put their new skills and creativity into practice to solve real-world challenges in their communities.
Asheesh Advani, Chief Executive Officer, JA Worldwide said, “Our partnership with FWD has provided tens of thousands of students with access to practical and impactful financial education. As we embark on this next phase, we look forward to deepening our impact and enabling even more young people to become financially capable and socially conscious individuals.”
FWD Group co-created the JA SparktheDream programme with JA, successfully piloted it in Hong Kong SAR and Singapore in 2022 and expanded it to eight markets – Hong Kong SAR; Indonesia; Japan; Malaysia; the Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; and Vietnam – in its first three years from 2022-2024. The programme included almost 900 classes, supported by over 800 FWD employee volunteers.
JA SparktheDream was recognised with a Silver Award in the 2023 Investor and Financial Education Awards from the Investor and Financial Education Council in Hong Kong SAR; a Bronze Stevie® Award at the Asia-Pacific Stevie® Awards 2024 for Innovative Achievement in Corporate Social Responsibility in the Philippines; and a Special Mention in the 2024 Bisnis Indonesia Corporate Social Responsibility Awards in Indonesia.
About FWD Group FWD Group is a pan-Asian life and health insurance business that serves approximately 30 million customers across 10 markets, including BRI Life in Indonesia. FWD’s customer-led and digitally enabled approach aims to deliver innovative propositions, easy-to-understand products and a simpler insurance experience. Established in 2013, the company operates in some of the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world with a vision of changing the way people feel about insurance. For more information, please visit www.fwd.com
About JA Asia Pacific JA Asia Pacific, a regional operating centre of JA Worldwide, empowers young people with the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities—and to actively shape it. As the voice of a region that holds 60% of the world’s youth, JA Asia Pacific delivers real-world learning in work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship—preparing young people not just for the jobs of tomorrow, but to create them. With a network spanning 17 countries and territories, we connect students to the global economy through hands-on experiences that spark innovation, grow resilience, and build purpose-driven leadership. Backed by over a century of global impact, JA is building the future of work, one young person at a time.
To learn more, visit jaasiapacific.org or follow on social media @JAAsiaPacific
About JA Worldwide As one of the world’s largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs, JA Worldwide provides hands on, immersive learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial health. By partnering with 700,000+ business volunteers and teachers in 118 countries, JA Worldwide delivers more than 19 million student experiences each year—leveraging our scale, expertise, and passion to build a boundless future for the next generation. Visit jaworldwide.org
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah is the official government entity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia responsible for regulating and overseeing the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. Its mandate includes organizing pilgrimage operations, ensuring the safety and well-being of pilgrims, and enforcing relevant policies. This announcement clarifies the Ministry’s position on the mandatory requirement of Hajj permits for domestic pilgrims and Hajj visas for international visitors in order to ensure an orderly and secure pilgrimage experience.
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has affirmed that the performance of Hajj rituals will only be permissible through adherence to the necessary regulations and laws, specifically by obtaining a Hajj permit for domestic pilgrims and a Hajj visa for pilgrims from abroad.
The Ministry indicated that this requirement aims to foster a culture of compliance with regulations, which will, in turn, facilitate the Hajj rituals with ease and tranquility. This is being achieved in collaboration with the embassies of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, media offices, and Hajj and Umrah offices in various countries worldwide to ensure comprehensive and effective outreach.
Through its continuous efforts, the Ministry seeks to guarantee the smooth, safe, and easy performance of the Hajj pilgrimage by organizing pilgrim numbers, efficiently implementing field plans, and improving the quality of services provided to pilgrims. This contributes to enhancing the Hajj experience and achieving pilgrim satisfaction through strict adherence to the necessary permits.
As software teams increasingly rely on AI-generated code to build applications faster, traditional testing methods are becoming a critical bottleneck. Today, Katalon Inc., the category leader in AI-augmented software testing, announces the general availability of TrueTest™, the world’s first AI-native automated testing system that continuously learns from real users in production to create and maintain test coverage that actually matters.
TrueTest eliminates guesswork and redefines the testing process. Traditional testing often relies on assumed user flows based on requirements documents or input from stakeholders. But real users rarely behave as expected. Guesswork leads to blind spots in test coverage, which TrueTest resolves by using actual production behavior as its source of truth.
Instead of relying on pre-scripted, guess-based models, TrueTest observes real customer behavior, identifies business-critical user journeys, and auto-generates test cases that reflect how the application is truly used. As applications evolve, TrueTest keeps pace by automatically updating tests without the need for manual maintenance or brittle scripts.
TrueTest was built from the ground up for the AI-native era. It does not treat AI as a bolt-on feature. It is an entirely new approach to quality, driven by usage, powered by intelligence, and built for change. Its key capabilities include:
Live Usage Intelligence: Observes real user interactions in production and turns them into ready-to-run automated tests.
Accelerates the Shift to Automation: Enables teams to quickly transition from legacy test scripts to intelligent automation with auto-generated tests.
Self-Maintaining Test Suites: Frees QA teams from repetitive test upkeep by continuously adapting to application changes in real time. Automatically adapts to application changes, removing the manual effort for test upkeep.
Prioritized Test Coverage: Highlights the most critical workflows based on actual user behavior, helping teams focus on what matters.
Shared Visibility Across Teams: Gives QA, development, product, and even marketing teams a shared view of user journeys and digital experience quality.
“Model-based test automation was built on guesswork. TrueTest ends that era. By learning directly from real users in production, it delivers AI-generated, always-relevant automated test coverage, without the need for scripts or guesswork. This isn’t a bolt-on AI feature; it is a ground-up reinvention of testing for the AI-native world. For the first time, QA has something every team wants: real visibility into how customers actually use their applications. Now, developers, product managers, and marketers are the ones asking to see what QA sees. TrueTest isn’t just our vision. It is shaped by our customers, who asked for a better and smarter path to quality.” – Vu Lam, CEO of Katalon
Market Validation: 2025 State of Software Quality Report
According to Katalon’s 2025 State of Software Quality Report, released earlier this month, 61% of QA teams are adopting AI tools to reduce repetitive tasks, and nearly half of QA pros surveyed report needing to update up to 30% of their test scripts on a regular basis.
These trends reflect a clear need for more intelligent automation. Teams want to spend less time on maintenance and more time delivering quality. TrueTest was created in direct response to this demand. It provides testing that adapts to real usage, maintains itself, and focuses on the experiences that matter most to users.
Trusted by Global Technology Leaders
Strategic partners across the QA and DevOps landscape are already embracing TrueTest™:
“TrueTest aligns perfectly with our mission to help clients release faster without compromising on quality. In modern CI/CD pipelines, test maintenance is often the hidden cost that slows everything down. By generating and updating tests based on real user behavior, TrueTest helps us eliminate that bottleneck entirely. Our teams now focus on enabling smarter quality engineering, while TrueTest ensures continuous coverage of what matters most.” — Amalesh Mishra, Chief Growth Officer, QualityKiosk Technologies
“For us, innovation in software quality must be practical, scalable, and aligned with user outcomes. TrueTest checks all those boxes. It allows our teams to reduce test debt, accelerate feedback loops, and deliver continuous value across client applications. By turning real user behavior into self-maintaining tests, TrueTest gives our QA engineers superpowers and frees them to focus on optimizing digital experiences, not just catching bugs.” – Du Nguyen, Managing Director, KMS Technology
Learn More About TrueTest™ – Product Overview – Video: Vu Lam, Katalon CEO, discusses TrueTest in-depth (14 minutes) – On-Demand Webinar: Cut test automation time by 80% with TrueTest™
About Katalon
Katalon is the category leader in AI-augmented software testing, empowering hybrid testers—those blending manual, automation, and AI skills, to deliver exceptional digital experiences. Trusted by more than 30,000 QA and DevOps teams across 80+ countries, Katalon has been named a G2 Leader in software testing for 11 consecutive quarters. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Atlanta, Katalon helps teams accelerate software delivery and elevate quality through a powerful, integrated test automation platform, empowering them to release with speed and confidence.
