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24 April 2018, SHAH ALAM – Tourism Selangor dengan kerjasama Flyfirefly Sdn Bhd dan Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) telah memperkenalkan satu pelan inisiatif pakej pelancongan terbaharu iaitu Kempen “Clean & Green”.

Pelan inisiatif yang dimaksudkan adalah pelancongan sukarelawan iaitu Kempen “Clean & Green” dimana ianya berkonsepkan “Volunteer Tourism” atau lebih dikenali sebagai “Voluntourism”. Tourism Selangor memberi pendedahan umum tentang “Voluntourism” melalui Kempen Cabutan Bertuah kepada para pengunjung yang berkunjung ke Taman Eko Rimba Kanching (TERK) yang merupakan produk pelancongan di bawah seliaan Tourism Selangor.

Tujuan utama kempen ini adalah untuk memupuk semangat mencintai keindahan alam flora dan fauna di kalangan masyarakat khususnya di tempat yang sering menjadi tarikan pengunjung. Dengan jumlah kedatangan pengunjung yang kian rancak, masalah sampah-sarap menjadi isu utama pada masa kini. TERK merupakan produk pelancongan yang utama di Negeri Selangor. Lokasi ini sering menjadi pilihan utama bagi pelancong tidak kira di dalam Negeri Selangor mahupun dari luar negara. Statistik kedatangan pelancongan di lokasi ini menunjukkan kehadiran seramai 95,311 pengunjung bagi tahun 2017.

Taman Eko-Rimba Kanching (TERK) telah menjadi lokasi bagi Kempen “Clean & Green” yang buat julung kalinya di mana ia akan berlangsung dalam tempoh satu tahun bermula Februari 2018 sehingga Febuari 2019. Di samping itu, sesi cabutan bertuah pula akan dilakukan sebanyak 4 kali dalam setahun. Diskripsi program ini menerangkan kepada setiap pengunjung di kehendaki untuk mengutip sebarang bentuk bahan buangan atau sampah-sarap dan mengumpulkan ia ditempat yang disediakan oleh pihak urusetia di kaunter sewaktu pulang.

“Pengawasan dan pengelolaan pembersihan sampah perlu diselenggara dengan baik dan sistematik bagi menjaga rizab flora dan fauna yang kian terancam. Sedar dan celik akan pentingnya usaha ini, pihak Tourism Selangor mengambil langkah lebih proaktif untuk memberi kesedaran kepada masyarakat tentang tanggungjawab dan kepentingan pengurusan sampah demi menjaga kebersihan dan keindahan alam serta sistem eko-pelancongan senantiasa dalam keadaan yang terurus.”  Oleh Puan Noorul Ashikin Mohd Din, Pengurus Besar Tourism Selangor.

Oleh yang demikian, dengan adanya kempen seperti ini ia mampu memberi impak inspirasi dan motivasi kepada seluruh lapisan masyarakat dan pentingnya tanggungjawab terhadap alam persekitaran. Kempen Cabutan Bertuah ini mampu meningkatkan imej negara di persada dunia dan menjadikan pelancongan Negeri Selangor sebagai model pelancongan “Clean & Green” setara negara membangun seperti di Eropah dan negara membangun di sekitarnya.

May 8^th 2018, Subang Jaya – Tourism Selangor in collaboration with the management of Tourism Malaysia and Sunway Lagoon will be hosting a networking Dinner to The European Travel Agents and Tour Operators Association (ECTAA)  in conjunction of ECTAA Annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur 2018, which will be held from 7^th  to 8^th May 2018 at Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur.

The dinner event, which takes place at Sunway Lagoon Surf Beach Area, provides an excellent platform for Tourism Selangor to update the tourism trade fraternity on the latest tourism products and offerings, as well as provide an opportunity to meet and network with tour agents especially from ECTAA Association. This is a continuation of the promotional efforts from this year participation of FITUR 2018 in Madrid and ITB Berlin 2018, and it is expected to boosts tourist arrivals from Europe.

Through this networking session, Tourism Selangor seeks to attract more European tourists to its shores to achieve its tourism target for 2018. Last year, Selangor received more than 400,000 tourists from Europe Countries, signifying an increase of 2.02% compared to 2016.

“The objectives of the dinner for ECTAA are to strengthen the presence of Selangor in the Europe market and to keep the Europe counterparts abreast of recent tourism developments in Selangor including the Discover Selangor #TakeMeAnywhere campaign. This programme will see a new chapter of collaboration with Europe’s biggest travel agents especially from ECTAA.” Said Madam Noorul Ashikin Mohd Din, General Manager of Tourism Selangor.

Sunway Lagoon was the chosen partner and official venue for this event for obvious reasons, it is the iconic Tourism Product of Selangor and one-stop place for fun, with over 90 attractions spread across 88 acres, Sunway Lagoon provides the ultimate theme park experience in 6 adventure zones.

The cultural shows are a big hit, where they are treated to real traditional dances from “Citra Ugik” group, “Mah Meri” cultural dances group, and a special performance from Sunway Lagoon, titled “Tales of Mount Berapi”. This is the best platform to introduce and promote tourism product in Selangor to the attendee members, entirely.

21 May 2018 Selangor, Malaysia – Tourism Selangor will be hosting this year’s Selangor International Indigenous Arts Festival (SIIAF) at the Shah Alam National Botanical Park from August 4 to August 5, 2018.

Now in its fourth year, SIIAF is a rich and diverse cultural showcase of Selangor’s biggest tribal groups and an opportunity for visitors to learn more about Malaysia’s indigenous cultures.

This year, the two-day festival is expected to draw more tourists to Selangor, Malaysia’s largest economy and most developed state with cultural performances from domestic and international tribes as well as exciting activities.

Guests will be able to sample traditional Peninsular and East Malaysian cuisine at food tasting events, join a photo contest to win prizes and witness a record-breaking attempt initiated by Tourism Selangor to cook bamboo chicken, an indigenous delicacy stuffed in the longest bamboo shoot.

SIIAF is held during August in line with the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. A global celebration observed on August 9 every year and created by the United Nations to promote and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous population.

Initiated in 2015, SIIAF is organized and spearheaded by Tourism Selangor as part of its mission to increase the number of tourists to Selangor through local and international campaigns, events and tourism trade shows.

This year, the state tourism agency aims to bring in 7.5 million visitors to Selangor with the aim of generating income for Selangor’s development and building up collaboration among industry players.

2 May 2018, Shah Alam  – Many have heard and used the word ‘homestay’ without fully understanding the actual definition of it.  It is usually confused as a home lodging facility, but it actually is more than just that.  The homestay programme is where tourists are given the opportunity to stay with a family in their home and experience the daily life of the chosen community in local villages.  The tourists get to learn about the culture and lifestyle of the community, as well as participate in their daily activities.

In Selangor, homestays are carefully handpicked and have to meet the set criteria before they are promoted by Tourism Selangor. The homestay programmes are usually categorised according to the activities that are provided, such as, Culture & Lifestyle, Economic Activity, Recreation and Environmental Preservation.  Recently, a budget of RM398,000 has been set aside to develop programmes for Community Based Tourism that provides training and guidance for local communities to better manage homestays and tourism related activities.  Three local districts have been identified suitable for this programme and training will commence very soon.

The three popular districts among tourists in Selangor, are homestays in Sabak Bernam, Sepang and Kuala Selangor and the top 5 are,  Homestay Papitusulem (Sabak Bernam), Homestay Sungai Haji Dorani (Sabak Bernam), Homestay Air Manis (Sabak Bernam), Homestay Banghuris (Sepang) and Homestay Sungai Sireh (Kuala Selangor).  Homestay has definitely become an attraction to local and foreign tourists, who extremely wish for a wonderful and peaceful atmosphere of rural paddy field and only a few hours from central.Each of these homestays have their own specialities and individual charm.  However, the one thing that they do have in common is the friendly family atmosphere of the host communities. 

Activities that are offered are common to the communities living there and guests are able to participate in most of them including, paddy planting or harvesting, fruit plucking, planting fruit trees, rubber tapping, harvesting palm fruits and other agro-based activities.  Apart from the agro-based activities, there are also cultural shows in the evenings and guests can visit the SME factories to see how local products are produced, as well as sample some of the local delicacies.

The cultural shows are a big hit with tourists, where they are treated to real traditional dances such as, ‘Tarian Poja’, ‘Tarian Cemara’, ‘Tarian Maduppa Bosara’ and ‘Tarian Pattennung’, accompanied by traditional music.  This cultural dances still kept alive by the local villagers.  Another one of the must-try is a sweet delicacy called, ‘Kuih Bangkit Bugis’, contrary to the more popular varieties found elsewhere locally, these are cookies that are similar to shortbread cookies and simply melt in your mouth.

Also unique to these homestays are their local traditional cuisine which can only be found here. There are many local delicacies and whatever dishes that are served, are guaranteed to be simple, fresh and totally delicious.

“Tourism Selangor is ensuring that this part of tourism industry, Homestay, is further developed and promoted to reach its true potential and will continue to promote Agro Tourism in years to come.” Said Madam Noorul Ashikin Mohd Din, General Manager, Tourism Selangor.

12 November 2018, Johor – In conjunction with 20th Anniversary, Malaysian International Food & Beverage Trade Fair (MIFB) continues its nationwide roadshow from Northern to Southern Malaysia. Over the past 19 years, the annual trade fair has gathered Food & Beverage (F&B) Industry players from different parts of the world to Malaysia, introducing new offerings and solutions to the F&B fraternity.

MIFB commenced its second Roadshow in the Southern tip of Malay Peninsula, Johor at Hotel Jen By Shangri-La, Puteri Habour, Johor Bahru. The event was officiated by Y.A.B Dato’ Haji Osman Bin Haji Sapian, Chief Minister of Johor. As part of the MIFB 2019 CSR Programme, Sphere Exhibits Malaysia, the organiser of Malaysian International Food & Beverage Trade Fair (MIFB) have taken the initiative to personally reach out the food and beverage related companies in each region to join and participate.  These initiative have been launched immediately after the MIFB 2018 ended on 29 June 2018. It is recorded that Johor Roadshow has recorded its maximum capacity of 300 pre-registered visitors from Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore. There are 15 handpicked exhibitors from the southern region of Malaysia participated at the event.

The ultimate objective of this roadshow is to promote local Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and other F&B Key players in Malaysia to step into international market to in line with its goal to have Malaysia as the Stepping Stone to Enter ASEAN Market in F&B Industry.  MIFB project have always gain full endorsement and supports from Government and its liaising agencies in efforts to align the industry on the same direction to support the country’s GDP growth.

“MIFB is the platform for Food & Beverage Exhibition Industry in Malaysia. MIFB this year has participating international country partners such as China, Turkey, India and others, which is a positive development, and proven positive results. The international eyes are looking at Malaysia as the stepping-stone to enter the ASEAN Market. “ Shared by Mr Mohammad Aminuddin Sham Tajudin , Director of Halal, F&B and Agro-Based Section Exports Promotion and Market Access Division Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) at the MIFB 2018 official press conference.

MIFB 2018 had a trade visitor turnout of 19,980 from 66 nations, which also comprised of some 250 International and Local Buyers who were invited and hosted. The MIFB Business Matching Platform generated 2,651 business connections with an estimated trade value of USD300 million. Overall MIFB 2018 was a successful business networking event with 63% of current exhibitors expressing their interest to come back for the next MIFB series in KL Convention Centre from 26 – 28 June 2019. MIFB 2018 also Supported by Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) to catalyse socio-economic growth, Datuk Zulkefli Haji Sharif , the Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau said “For this year, I have noticed a bigger number of exhibitors have joined especially from the region of China that something our country is looking forward in line with the agreement that we have with the Chinese government to enhance the relationship between the two countries. Furthermore, with the presence and endorsement by Matrade who encourage more Malaysian Merchant Trade and established brands such as QSR Brands who is also looking for an international market.”

Chairman of Sphere Exhibits Malaysia Sdn Bhd, organizer of the MIFB trade fair, Chua Wee Phong says: “This MIFB Tradeshow aims to set a clear direction for SMEs to propel in business, showcase the future of food business as well as position Malaysia as a prime food hub.” and elevate the lives of professional and local communities. As a central business platform, MIFB serves as an international forum where industry players can exchange valuable insights and knowledge and showcase their products and learn about the latest innovation and technologies in the F&B arena.

About the Sphere Exhibits

Incorporated in Malaysia on the 8th January 2013, Sphere Exhibits through acquisition, now owns some major exhibitions such as The Malaysian International Food & Beverage Trade Fair (MIFB) and Facon Education Fair. Sphere Exhibits Malaysia draws its expertise from its parent company in Singapore, which has a vast experience in organising and managing over 22 exhibitions and events, attracting more than 750 exhibitors and drawing over 1.5 million visitors to its events annually. Its notable portfolio includes the Beerfest Asia, Asian Masters, BuildTechAsia, COMEX, IT Show, World Food Fair and Food & Beverage Fair and many others.

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PETALING JAYA, 28 January 2019 – Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading Online-to-Offline (O2O) mobile platform, launched its new Regional Centre of Excellence (RCoE) in its newly expanded 54,000 sq ft office space here today. The Centre of Excellence will house Grab’s core business strategy and operational functions, including legal, customer experience, financial services and creative services. This is the second showing of Grab’s strong investment back into the country where it first started, with the first being the  launch of its R&D Centre in Malaysia just last month, the 7th in Grab’s global R&D footprint, to nurture Malaysia’s deep tech talents. The launch of its newly expanded office space was officiated by YB Datuk Ignatius Darell Leiking, Minister of International Trade and Industry.

By launching its Regional Centre of Excellence and R&D Centre in Malaysia, Grab will immediately create at least 400 new high-value jobs, bringing its total employees in Malaysia to 1,000. The RCoE will spearhead development of an in-house pool of highly-skilled professionals who are experts in their respective domains. With Grab’s presence in 336 cities across 8 countries, they will be given the opportunity to take a regional lens in offering solutions and implementing projects.

The legal team will provide advice on regulatory, policy and legal issues that impact the entire region; the customer experience team will provide quality customer support for several countries; the creative and design team will develop  creative assets for regional marketing campaigns and projects; and the financial services team will implement financial, procurement and risk management policies across all countries where Grab operate in the region.

The tech and engineering team in Malaysia’s R&D Centre will focus on building trust and safety solutions and capabilities that not only solve safety issues for citizens in Malaysia, but also across the whole of Southeast Asia. As Grab doubles down on its global investments in more advanced technology, data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning to make every ride, every delivery order, every financial transaction that takes place on our platform safer and more secure than ever before, the Malaysian tech and engineering team will play a pivotal role in setting a high bar for safety standards in Southeast Asia, and achieving our ultimate goal of zero preventable incidents on our platform.

“Malaysia is proud that it is the birthplace of a technology unicorn like Grab. Grab represents innovation, tenacity, creativity, a keen sense for business, and hard work –  values that the Government aims to cultivate among Malaysian tech companies. We are happy to see Grab contributing back to Malaysia and committing to nurturing local tech talents and facilitating knowledge transfer through its R&D centre. As an everyday super app for Malaysians, Grab not only serves local transportation needs through its ride-hailing offering, but also plays a pivotal role in empowering local businesses through its delivery and payments platforms.” said Datuk Darell Leiking, Minister of International Trade and Industry at the launch. “This is exactly what Malaysia needs to move ahead in our digital economy goals – more Malaysian companies who have done well at the global stage to heed the Ministry’s clarion call for quality investment back home to develop the nation, by creating high-value jobs and nurturing the next generation of Malaysian entrepreneurs.”

He added, “Indeed the Government will continue to chart Malaysia’s digital transformation towards achieving greater economic prosperity and societal well-being. In this context, the National Policy on Industry 4.0 (Industry4WRD) and the National e-Commerce Strategic Roadmap (NeSR) are the key blueprints to “attract, create and transform”. In particular, this entails attracting key enabling technologies to create the right digital ecosystem; transforming the manufacturing and services sectors into “agile sectors”, and enabling Malaysian entrepreneurs to become ‘e-commerce ready’. Therefore, the Government encourages continued collaboration between the public and private sectors, in realising the action plans set out in both blueprints, for our mutual benefits.”

“Our strong investments in anchoring our Regional Centre of Excellence and latest R&D Centre in Malaysia is our response to the Malaysian government’s call for public-private partnerships to help drive Malaysia’s Industry 4.0 blueprint and digital economy ambitions. We are committed to helping Malaysia unlock greater economic gains by creating high-value jobs, nurturing deep tech talents, and attracting more Malaysians overseas to return home. We have always remembered our roots, as Malaysia is where we founded Grab almost seven years ago, with the simple goal of solving the problem of transportation safety. Now that we have grown beyond ride-hailing to become the leading SEA’s everyday super app, it is natural for us to contribute back to the country where we first started,” said Sean Goh, Country Head for Grab Malaysia.

“These investments are above and beyond our continued mission to make transportation accessible and safer for all, while at the same time, creating better income-earning opportunities for our driver and delivery partners, and enabling local businesses to leverage our user base and distribution network to earn higher business revenue. There is a lot more we can do to improve the daily lives of fellow Malaysians, and we want to partner closely with the Malaysian government to develop win-win regulations and policies that allow innovation to thrive, and best serve the interests of the larger Malaysian population”, added Sean.

Grab is committed to contributing to Malaysia’s Industry 4.0 blueprint in the following areas:

1. Shared, Seamless and Smart mobility solution for all: We will make transportation more accessible for all Malaysians. With the widest range of transportation services already readily available on our platform, we will work closely with governments, public and private transportation providers to serve the first-mile-last-mile transportation needs of Malaysians.
2. Better livelihoods and income-earning opportunities for driver-partners: 86% of our driver-partners supplement their income part-time with Grab. These driver-partners earn 37% more supplementary income with Grab, on top of their day-to-day jobs. Our GrabTaxi driver-partners also earn 10% more daily income compared to the past when they can only rely on street-hails and regular taxi bookings. We will continue to better the livelihoods of our driver-partners and offer increased income-earning opportunities, greater financial support, better technology tools and skills training, and more community activities for them and their loved ones.
3. Digital shop fronts for GrabFood, GrabRewards and GrabPay merchant partners: We will empower micro-entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses to set up their digital presence on Grab app and leverage our user base and distribution network to earn higher business revenue.
4. Access to GrabPlatform to help like-minded start-ups and partners scale their business: Partners can either build their services into GrabPlatform or integrate Grab’s suite of technology and products into their own websites or apps, for example GrabPay for mobile payments, GrabExpress for logistics, or GrabProfiles for user authentication. This will give partners direct access to Grab users and help scale their business faster.

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About Grab

Grab is one of the most frequently used O2O mobile platforms in Southeast Asia, providing the everyday services that matter most to consumers. Commute, eat, deliver shopping – and pay with one e-wallet. Grab believes that every Southeast Asian should benefit from the digital economy, and the company provides access to safe and affordable transport, food and package delivery, mobile payments and financial services. Grab currently offers services in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia. For more information, please visit www.grab.com.

Petaling Jaya, 30 January, 2019: Malaysian Internet Services Provider, Mbixions, is helping businesses across the country and the Southeast Asia region reduce their operating costs, especially across branch operations through next generation networking technologies.

The first Malaysian company to be accredited as a SD-WAN (Software Defined Networking in a Wide Area Network) Managed Services Partner for United States based global leader VMware’s VeloCloud NSX SD-WAN solution, Mbixions has been commissioned by ten local multinational corporations and small and medium sized enterprises to show SDWAN Proof of Concepts (PoC) as part of potential roll out plans in the near future.

“Traditionally, setting up services across dispersed branches nationwide or across the region is very time, cost and labour intensive, creating obstacles that prohibit organisations from serving the stakeholders needs well. With Mbixions SDWAN, subscribers now have the cost efficiency, control, flexibility and visibility to move from being a reactive organisation to a proactive one.” said Terence Tan, MBIXIONS Sdn Bhd’s Chief Executive Officer.

Two of these PoC’s have been successfully completed and are now being prepared for the deployment stage in the coming months. Additionally, 5 state governments and local councils have also asked for demonstrations. Due to the high rate of requests since the launch of these services in December 2018, Mbixions has fast tracked building its service partnerships in Europe, South East Asia, and Australia to ensure that local companies and Government agencies are supported in those markets as well.

These developments are in line with global trends as global research firm Gartner predicts that by the end of 2019, approximately 30% of enterprises will deploy SD-WAN technology in their branches as compared to only 1% in 2015.

Mbixion’s custom SDWAN solution provides governments and enterprises the ease and flexibility to smoothly migrate from existing legacy networks, or to co-exist with current solutions and make the network agile whilst transforming inexpensive ordinary broadband or 4G/LTE into highly secure and intelligent enterprise-grade WAN connectivity.

Key advantages of the solution include:

• Cost Reduction

Mbixions SDWAN gives subscribers the ability to mix and match network links for optimal cost efficiency.

• Branch Agility

SD-WAN NSX SDWAN APIs enable integration into various management and reporting systems, eliminating geographic boundaries.

• Network Security

Mbixions SDWAN covers all bases by unifying secure connectivity and providing end-to-end encryption across the entire network,.

• Simplifying Branch Networking

Mbixions SDWAN simplifies deployment of new branches for businesses through it’s own automated Mbixions 24/7 Network Operation Center.

• Application Performance Optimisation

Mbixions SDWAN provides centralised control and visibility across a multitude of WAN links and service providers.

If you are a CTO, IT Department Manager or Network Administrator, Mbixions is keen to connect with you and provide a free demonstration of their solution in a live environment. Those attending these sessions will be able to see firsthand as to how this product can be a great asset to a company’s IT infrastructure.

To learn more about how MBIXIONS can help your business reduce it’s network costs, head to http://www.mbixions.com or email sales@mbixions.com.

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About MBIXIONS

Mbixions provides communication-based infrastructure and has progressively grown into a fully-fledged Telecommunication Service Provider having acquired NFP, NSP and ASP licenses. Mbixions SDWAN generates a lot of interest from subscribers with geographically dispersed offices in Europe and Asia

PETALING JAYA, 01 March 2019 – Grab, the leading super app in Southeast Asia, today announced its ongoing commitment to a #SaferEveryday  that looks into product enhancements that aims to raise transport safety standards and to support community focused efforts on safety. Through the initiative and initial collaboration with the Royal Malaysia Police (Polis DiRaja Malaysia or PDRM), Grab driver-partners in 35 cities and major townships across Malaysia, will begin to receive time-sensitive and critical NUR Alerts.

The National Urgent Response (NUR) Alert system is a national initiative that helps spread information related to missing children under the age of 12 as quickly as possible. Part of Malaysia’s National Child Protection Policy and Action Plan, NUR Alerts are shared by law enforcement and regulatory agencies when a police report is made indicating  the possibility of a missing child being the victim of abuse or other crimes. Through this collaboration, Grab will support the rapid dissemination of NUR Alerts and requests for assistance in finding missing children by alerting it’s network of hundreds of thousands of driver-partners instantly to be on the lookout and inform PDRM if they come across any news.

“The importance of quick, decisive action cannot be overstated when it comes to identifying, rescuing, recovering, or protecting any child in Malaysia who is the victim of any crime. The NUR Alert system is a key part of our national defense against anyone who would harm our children. The ability to share these alerts nationwide, to hundreds of thousands of dedicated Malaysians who are part of Grab’s network of driver-partners is a powerful addition to the existing efforts of PDRM, MCMC, and the host of other organisations who support our efforts to keep all the children and communities safe, everyday,” said YB Hannah Yeoh, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister at Grab Malaysia’s offices here today.

#SaferEveryday is Grab’s wide focus in ensuring that the highest standards of safety are applied to every aspect of its business. Malaysia, where Grab’s safety focused Research and Development Centre is located, is part of the development and delivery of the brand’s ‘#SaferEveryday Tech Roadmap’ that includes measures specifically aimed at changing user safety habits – to drive long-term road behaviour change and to reduce the chance of incidents.

“Grab’s #SaferEveryday is our commitment towards creating a safer Southeast Asia. It is a long-term approach that focuses on core areas: safety tech roadmap; partnerships with like minded organisations like the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, and PDRM; and education programme, to make this promise a reality. Our goal has always been to provide an everyday service that matters to our customers as well as partners through the use of data and technology. As our footprint has grown through the years, so has our ability to use the Grab network in different ways. The authorities do their best, but the power of having hundreds of thousands of Malaysians looking out for each other, sharing information, and working together to make every day, safer for all of us – that’s truly key to helping us move forward as a nation”, said Sean Goh, Country Head, Grab Malaysia.

In addition to sharing NUR Alerts to its nationwide network of driver partners, Grab will also explore further enhancements to develop new ways to raise awareness about the NUR Alerts to their passengers and the wider community as well.

Working with the Government is key to Grab’s long term strategy for safety for the betterment of the community. This includes providing communities a safe, convenient way to enjoy transportation, food and parcel delivery and cashless payments that are available to all. This community safety focus extends to ensuring a zero tolerance environment for harassment or criminal activity of any kind in and around Grab’s ecosystem; and in using the power of the platform to help all its users and partners stay safe.

“Today, we are the only major player to invest in key resources like a 24/7 customer support centre, number masking, stringent driver background checks, and verification. We do not compromise on our users’ safety, and that’s why even as Grab has grown much larger over the years, safety is still a core part of our DNA, and we will continue to invest in it aggressively,” added Goh.

Grab’s #SaferEveryday is a regional campaign which aims to drive local safety initiatives across the eight countries where Grab operates. More information on Grab’s commitments and goals can be found here: www.grab.com/safety.

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About Grab

Grab is the leading super app in Southeast Asia, providing the everyday services that matter most to consumers. Commute, eat, deliver shopping – and pay with one e-wallet. Grab believes that every Southeast Asian should benefit from the digital economy, and the company provides access to safe and affordable transport, food and package delivery, mobile payments and financial services. Grab currently offers services in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia. For more information, please visit www.grab.com.

KUALA LUMPUR, 06 March 2019 – Grab Holdings Inc. (“Grab”), Southeast Asia’s leading super app, today announced it has secured US$1.46 billion of fresh funding from the Softbank Vision Fund (“SVF”). This capital injection from SVF brings the total financing secured in Grab’s current Series H round to over US$4.5 billion. Other investors in this round include Toyota Motor Corporation, Oppenheimer Funds, Hyundai Motor Group, Booking Holdings, Microsoft Corporation, Ping An Capital, and Yamaha Motor. Anthony Tan, Grab’s Co-Founder and CEO said, “SoftBank and the Vision Fund are long-standing strategic investors and we are grateful for their continued support. The investment is a clear statement of belief in our vision to grow Southeast Asia’s technology ecosystem as the region’s Number 1 super app. Looking ahead, we aim to continue improving the lives of many millions of Southeast Asians by providing enhanced income opportunities through our platform, and giving our users more choice and convenience.” David Thevenon, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said: “We have been working alongside Grab for a number of years and are privileged to support the evolution of its user-driven technologies. This investment will help the company explore exciting new opportunities across on-demand mobility, delivery and financial services as it continues to grow its offline-to-online platform across Southeast Asia.” Ming Maa, Grab’s President said, “We have been blessed with overwhelming shareholder support in our current fundraising round, with strong interest both in terms of capital invested and the quality of strategic partners seeking to support the continued development of Grab. We continue to receive new investor interest and look forward to welcoming more global industry leaders as partners in 2019.” Grab intends to use the funds to advance its super app vision in Southeast Asia, with the aim of bringing more every day services, greater accessibility and convenience to users. Grab plans to expand its verticals such as financial services, food delivery, parcel delivery, content and digital payments, and roll out new services announced in 2018. Built on Grab’s open platform, GrabPlatform, these services include ondemand video, in partnership with HOOQ; digital healthcare, in partnership with Ping An Good Doctor; insurance, in partnership with ZhongAn International; and hotel bookings, in partnership with Booking Holdings. In particular, Grab plans to invest a significant portion of fresh proceeds in Indonesia, where it is the leader in on-demand transport with 60 percent of the two-wheel market and 70 percent of the four-wheel market. Grab’s Indonesian business is expanding rapidly, with revenue more than doubling in 2018. Grab will use the fresh capital to boost the expansion of GrabFood and GrabExpress and roll out new verticals in the country. Grab is part of the largest digital payments ecosystem in Indonesia through its partnership with OVO and Tokopedia. GrabFood is growing rapidly in Indonesia, operating in 178 Indonesian cities from 13 at the start of last year, with delivery volumes growing almost 10 times in 2018. In January 2019, GrabFood was the second largest food delivery service provider in Indonesia, with 44 percent of respondents saying it was the food delivery service they used most often, up from 25 percent in April 2018, according to Kantar, a third-party research firm. 2 On a group level, Grab’s transport business has grown robustly since the merger with Uber in Southeast Asia, almost doubling its revenue from March 2018 to December 2018. GrabFood’s revenue grew 45 times in that time period. GrabFood, the only regional food delivery player, is present in six countries across 199 cities. In 2018, Grab Financial Group became the only platform to have access to e-money licenses across six of the largest Southeast Asian economies. Since its launch in March 2018, Grab Financial Group has seen its monthly transactions grow by almost five times to December 2018. In the same period, GrabExpress also increased instant and same-day delivery volumes by more than three times regionally, and is now available in 150 cities. The past year has seen a significant expansion of the Grab ecosystem through partnerships with global industry leaders such as Toyota, Hyundai, Microsoft and Mastercard. Grab also inked partnerships with national champions and regional industry leaders like Thailand’s Central Group and Kasikornbank, Indonesia’s OVO, Bank BTN and Bank Mandiri, Singapore’s United Overseas Bank, Philippines’ SM Investment Corporation, Vietnam’s Moca and Malaysia’s Maybank, amongst others.

Geneva, Switzerland, 5 March 2019 – PETRONAS Lubricants International (PLI) announced its entry into the electric vehicle (EV) market with PETRONAS iona range of e-fluids for passenger cars as part of the company’s pledge to address the climate challenge and lower CO₂ emissions with its fluid technology. 
Launched at the Geneva International Motor Show 2019 here, PETRONAS iona is PETRONAS Lubricants International’s response to the ever-changing trends in mobility. 
In addition, an industry-wide study will also be commissioned to identify the challenges and future opportunities surrounding fluid technology and innovation towards advancing electric vehicle performance. The findings will be shared with key partners at an EV Fluid Symposium hosted by PLI later in 2019. 
“The world we live in today is placing more and more emphasis on environmental responsibility and at PETRONAS, so are we. In the automotive sector, OEMs now have to adhere to increasing regulations on carbon emissions reduction. At PETRONAS, we are prepared and constantly evolving our Fluid Technology Solutions^TM to meet the challenges of the future together with our partners. The global shift towards cleaner energy is an opportunity for us to work collaboratively to reduce CO₂ emissions with fluid solutions that are accessible to all,” said PETRONAS Lubricants International Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer, Giuseppe D’Arrigo.
Challenging the status quo, PETRONAS iona delivers optimised performance and component durability for electric vehicles. The range of fluids comprises PETRONAS iona Thermal battery fluid for optimised and efficient delivery of electrical energy; PETRONAS iona Integra for friction management of the integrated driveline system; and PETRONAS iona Glide next-generation bearing greases for a quieter ride and longer lasting performance and durability. 
Last year, PLI pledged 75% of its research and technology (R&T) investment towards innovations that help reduce CO₂ emissions. At the Geneva Motor Show, the company presented its active commitment towards this goal with several new initiatives such as the new and improved range of PETRONAS Syntium with CoolTech^TM that now includes a first offering specifically for hybrid vehicles; a new range of driveline functional fluids under the PETRONAS Tutela brand;  as well as ETRO+, a unique group III+ base oil that enables sustainable mobility and a cleaner future for everyone was also presented. 
The introduction of PETRONAS iona and PLI’s ambitious stance on fluid solutions for EV, goes one step further in turning their pledge into reality. Together, these form a leading range of end-to-end solutions towards sustainable transportation for the future.
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About PETRONAS Lubricants InternationalPETRONAS Lubricants International (PLI) is the global lubricants manufacturing and marketing arm of PETRONAS, the national oil corporation of Malaysia. Established in 2008, PETRONAS Lubricants International manufactures and markets a full range of high-quality automotive and industrial lubricants products in over 90 markets globally. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, PLI has over 30 marketing offices in 26 countries, managed through regional offices in Kuala Lumpur, Turin, Belo Horizonte, Chicago and Durban.
Currently ranked among the world’s Top 10, PLI is driving an aggressive business growth agenda to secure its position as a leading global lubricants company.