Industry News

Wind Asia Training Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Sheffield Green, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Vestas Offshore Wind Taiwan Limited to explore potential training services collaboration for Vestas personnel in Taiwan. The agreement will see Vestas assess Wind Asia Training’s Chiayi facilities for technical training and Global Wind Organisation (GWO)-certified programmes.

The collaboration aims to enhance workforce skills development within the wind industry in Taiwan, with potential expansion into Japan and other Asia-Pacific markets. Gavin Taylor, CEO of Wind Asia Training, stated, “This MOU represents a valuable opportunity to explore areas of cooperation with Vestas to support their training requirements in Taiwan, and potentially other regional markets, subject to further agreement.”

Sheffield Green, headquartered in Singapore, specialises in providing human resource services for the renewable energy sector, including onshore and offshore wind, solar, and green hydrogen projects. The company is well-positioned to support the growing demand for skilled personnel in the renewable energy industry across the Asia-Pacific region.

The partnership between Wind Asia Training and Vestas highlights the increasing focus on developing technical expertise and certified training programmes to meet the evolving needs of the renewable energy sector. As the industry continues to expand, such collaborations are crucial for ensuring a skilled workforce capable of supporting future growth and innovation.

AnyMind Group has announced a strategic partnership with Truecaller, becoming the exclusive advertising intermediary for Truecaller’s premium inventory across Southeast Asia and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions. This collaboration allows advertisers to tap into Truecaller’s vast ecosystem of 450 million active users and 5 billion daily impressions, enhancing AnyMind’s mission to provide global exposure through its integrated tech stack.

The partnership enables advertisers to leverage AnyMind Group’s broader Enterprise Growth solutions, which include influencer marketing, mobile marketing, and social commerce. Additionally, the integration of AI reporting and optimisation agents is set to significantly reduce operational workloads for advertisers.

Aditya Aima, Managing Director of Growth Markets at AnyMind Group, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, “We are excited to partner with Truecaller to open its inventory to brands across MENA and Southeast Asia. With Truecaller’s scale and trusted user ecosystem, combined with our market depth and networks, we see strong potential to drive more relevant, high-impact advertising outcomes.”

Truecaller, a global communications platform, continues to expand its advertising business, with Hemant Arora, VP of Global Ad Sales Business, noting the importance of partnerships with regional players like AnyMind Group. “MENA and Southeast Asia represent high-growth markets with evolving digital maturity, and through this collaboration, we aim to bring brands closer to consumers via trusted and contextual communication experiences on our platform,” Arora said.

This partnership not only accelerates Truecaller’s local advertising growth but also reinforces AnyMind Group’s position as a leading Business-Process-as-a-Service (BPaaS) partner, offering scalable, data-driven growth solutions.

Singapore has emerged as the most expensive city for office fit-out in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Knight Frank’s Asia-Pacific Fit-Out Cost Guide 2026. With an average cost of $2,029 per square metre, Singapore surpasses Tokyo and Taipei, which stand at $1,994 and $1,593 per square metre, respectively. This ranking highlights the varied investment conditions across the region, with Phnom Penh at the lower end at $375 per square metre.

The guide, which covers 23 cities, anticipates a 2-5% rise in fit-out costs over the next year due to factors such as a tight construction labour market and increasing sustainability requirements. These structural pressures are becoming more significant than general inflation, which has eased in many areas.

Sustainability is now a standard expectation, with green building certifications and energy monitoring driving up baseline costs. In cities like Singapore and Sydney, ESG-aligned fit-outs are becoming the norm, increasing demand for specialists in sustainability systems.

A shift towards the Design & Build (D&B) model is noted, particularly for offices ranging from 900 to 2,800 square metres. This model offers cost certainty and can reduce project timelines by 20-30%, which is crucial in volatile markets.

Tim Armstrong of Knight Frank advises occupiers to engage early and build flexibility into procurement strategies to manage cost and delivery risks. Christine Li adds that labour constraints and ESG requirements are raising the cost floor, whilst global trade dynamics introduce additional uncertainties.

In Singapore, high labour costs and stringent standards maintain its position at the top of the cost table, reflecting its status as a financial hub. Meanwhile, India’s major markets remain cost-competitive, and cities like Jakarta and Manila are seeing rising costs due to quality expectations and regulatory demands.

Great Eastern has introduced Great Eastern Private, a new service aimed at high-net-worth individuals and families across Asia. This initiative is designed to expand the company’s offerings, focusing on helping clients preserve their financial legacy for future generations.

Great Eastern Private combines bespoke insurance solutions with a curated panel of expertise, providing seamless access to wealth succession and legacy planning services. Greg Hingston, Group CEO of Great Eastern, highlighted the strategic importance of this launch, stating, “As clients successfully accumulate wealth, the focus is now shifting to preserving, and transferring wealth intentionally, efficiently and meaningfully. The launch of Great Eastern Private is a strategic move to invest in capabilities and services to respond to this customer need and the commitment to remain the trusted insurance partner of customers across every stage of life and across generations.”

The introduction of Great Eastern Private underscores the company’s commitment to addressing the evolving needs of its clients. As Southeast Asia’s longest-established insurer, Great Eastern aims to maintain its role as a trusted partner across generations. The new service is expected to enhance the company’s ability to support its clients in managing their wealth effectively.

Raffles Family Office, in collaboration with GoUpscale and Synpulse, has announced the launch of Quantive Partners, a new platform designed to enhance the operational infrastructure for External Asset Managers (EAMs) and Multi-Family Offices (MFOs) across Asia. This initiative seeks to address existing gaps in the private wealth ecosystem by providing a unified, privacy-focused platform that enhances data integrity and risk visibility.

Quantive Partners aims to tackle the challenges faced by EAMs and MFOs, who often deal with multiple custodians and fragmented data sources. The platform promises to streamline these processes, enabling more efficient portfolio decision-making. Chi Man Kwan, Group CEO of Raffles Family Office, highlighted the need for such a solution, stating, “Too much time is still spent reconciling data and managing fragmented tools. This joint venture is about fixing that.”

Dominic Gamble, CEO and Co-Founder of GoUpscale, emphasised the transformative potential of the partnership, noting that it represents a “seismic shift” in how wealth management engages with technology.

Meanwhile, Yves Roesti, Managing Partner and CEO of Synpulse Group, described the collaboration as a means to bring “institutional-level strength” to the private wealth space.

Raffles Family Office will anchor the project, ensuring the platform aligns with real-world advisory workflows. GoUpscale will focus on integrating research and intelligence, whilst Synpulse will lead the development of a secure and scalable platform. This strategic collaboration is set to create a more agile and future-ready ecosystem for wealth management in Asia.

Asia Pacific’s office markets are undergoing a strategic transformation in 2026, as revealed by a new report from Colliers. The analysis indicates a shift from expansion to precision, with organisations focusing on high-quality spaces to gain a competitive edge. Leasing activity in the region’s key office markets increased by 11% year-on-year, reaching 9.8 million square metres in 2025, driven by improved business confidence in major economies such as India, Mainland China, and Japan.

The supply of office space rose by 19%, yet the emphasis is now on quality rather than quantity. Mike Davis, Managing Director of Occupier Services at Colliers, highlighted that the market is no longer volume-driven. “Advantage will go to organisations who are clear about what they need from their offices, which is performance, resilience and long-term value,” he stated.

Investment in the office sector also saw a significant rise, with a 21% increase year-on-year, totalling $58.6b. South Korea and Japan accounted for over half of the regional office investment volumes, whilst India showed the strongest growth in investment activity. Theo Novak, Managing Director of Capital Markets & Investment Services at Colliers, noted the alignment between occupier demand and capital deployment, emphasising that real estate is now seen as a competitive advantage.

As vacancy rates tighten in prime locations, the focus is on strategic decision-making in securing office spaces. This shift underscores a broader regional re-engagement, with markets like the Philippines, New Zealand, and Hong Kong showing strong growth momentum. The next phase of the office cycle will be driven by execution and strategic alignment, rather than mere expansion.

The latest report from MSCI reveals a significant rise in female representation on corporate boards across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, with a 1.4 percentage point increase in 2025. This marks the largest growth in three years for APAC-domiciled constituents of the MSCI ACWI Index, as highlighted by Moeko Porter, APAC Corporate Governance Research Lead. The report, titled “Women on Boards and Beyond 2025,” tracks the progress of women’s representation on boards since 2009.

Globally, women now occupy 28.3% of board seats at large- and mid-cap companies, with nearly half of these companies having at least 30% female directors. In APAC, the percentage of women on boards rose to 20.7% in 2025, up from 19.3% the previous year. Notably, Japan, Taiwan, and Malaysia saw the most significant increases in female board representation.

Despite this progress, APAC still lags behind the global average, with only 22.4% of companies having at least 30% women on their boards compared to the global figure of 48.7%. However, the region’s upward momentum of 3.1 percentage points surpassed the global increase of 2.5 percentage points.

Sector-wise, healthcare and information technology lead in female board representation, whilst energy and industrials remain the lowest. The report also notes a modest increase in women holding board leadership positions, with APAC seeing gains at the board chair, CEO, and CFO levels.

The findings underscore the ongoing efforts and challenges in achieving gender balance on corporate boards, with structural factors and market environments playing crucial roles in shaping diversity outcomes.

Delta Electronics, a global leader in power management and smart green solutions, has announced a strategic expansion in Southeast Asia and Oceania, appointing new regional and country leadership to enhance its market presence. This move aims to leverage regional resources, accelerate execution, and improve customer engagement by transitioning to local leaders with deeper market and cultural understanding.

The company is expanding its footprint with new offices and increased manpower in Vietnam and Malaysia, alongside team expansions in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. This expansion supports the region’s rapid industrialisation and growing demand for smart, energy-efficient solutions across 16 critical industries, including AI data centre infrastructure, smart manufacturing, and EV charging.

Jason Yuan, the newly appointed President of Southeast Asia and Oceania, brings nearly three decades of experience in information technology and business transformation. Yuan succeeds Jackie Chang, who will now focus on expanding Delta Electronics Thailand’s manufacturing operations. Yuan’s leadership is expected to drive continued growth and achievement in the region.

David Leal and Lili Mow have been appointed as Vice Presidents of Solution Business Infrastructure and Automation, respectively, to focus on business development and growth across Southeast Asia. Additionally, new country managers have been appointed in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam to strengthen local teams and support customers more effectively.

Jackie Chang expressed confidence in the new leadership, stating, “With Jason Yuan now taking the helm of the Southeast Asia region, I’m confident that Delta Electronics will continue to deepen its local presence, strengthen customer engagement, and drive sustainable growth.” Delta Electronics remains committed to providing innovative, clean, and energy-efficient solutions for a better tomorrow.

Agora, a leader in real-time engagement and conversational AI technologies, has partnered with Vietnam’s FPT Corporation to expand artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in Southeast Asia’s banking and financial services sector. This strategic collaboration, announced on 24 February 2026, combines Agora’s real-time communications and AI platform with FPT’s enterprise AI capabilities to enhance customer engagement, automate workflows, and ensure regulatory compliance.

The partnership comes as financial institutions in Southeast Asia accelerate digital transformation to meet rising mobile adoption and customer demand for personalised banking services. “As banking and financial services across Southeast Asia continue to digitise, innovation must go hand in hand with trust, security, and compliance,” said Tony Wang, Co-founder of Agora.

FPT’s AI solutions are already utilised by over 40 banks globally, including Sacombank, which has seen a 58% increase in call handling capacity through AI Voice Agents. Vietcombank and Home Credit Vietnam also leverage FPT’s AI to streamline operations and improve customer service.

The joint solution aims to deliver secure, multilingual digital interactions across various platforms, supporting retail and corporate banking, lending, insurance, and cross-border interactions. As competition intensifies in markets like Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand, the Agora-FPT partnership positions both companies to meet the growing demand for AI-driven engagement platforms in the region’s financial services sector.

Weixin Mini Programmes experienced a significant increase in global transaction value during the Lunar New Year holiday from 15 to 23 February, with a 65% year-on-year rise. Chinese outbound tourists increasingly utilised the app for dining, transport, hotel bookings, and attraction tickets, contributing to this growth.

The Year of the Horse in 2026 spurred interest in horse-themed travel, with destinations featuring the character “马” (horse) in their names seeing a notable uptick in visitors. Malaysia, in particular, witnessed a 131% increase in offline transaction value by Chinese tourists, whilst transaction value on Malaysia-based Weixin Mini Programmes surged by over 140%.

Italy emerged as a standout destination, partly due to the Winter Olympics, recording a 190% increase in transaction value. Other “dark horse” markets included Qatar and Switzerland, which also saw significant growth in transactions.

In terms of inbound tourism, visitors to the Chinese mainland using Weixin Pay linked to international bank cards saw a doubling in average daily visits. The medical aesthetics sector experienced a doubling in transaction value, highlighting its rapid growth.

Weixin Pay’s support for 29 overseas wallets across 12 countries contributed to a 28% increase in transactions during the holiday period. This interoperability is expected to continue driving growth in international transactions. As the Year of the Horse progresses, these trends may further influence global travel patterns.