This is Yoshimoto Kogyo’s first investment in overseas media, the company said in a press release on Thursday, and it hopes that this will accelerate development for future projects in Asia.

The two companies also announced the formation of an exclusive joint-venture out of Singapore to showcase Yoshimoto Group’s most popular content across iflix’s territories in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and the corresponding distribution of iflix’s content in Japan.

The joint venture will also produce localised versions of proven content formats out of Japan, to significantly expand iflix’s original content offering.

The content to be provided to iflix will be popular Japanese programs that will be localised for Asian countries(animation, drama, movies, variety, and comedy, etc.), and in the future, it hopes to develop all-Japan original content including programs and films for an Asian market.

As an industry leader in localisation with unsurpassed subtitling and dubbing expertise and resources, iflix will diminish any language barriers to popular Yoshimoto programming, including anime, dramas, movies, variety and comedy-themed shows for audiences in Southeast Asia.

The joint venture underscores iflix’s growing focus on developing and creating highly-engaging hyper-local programming specifically for Millennial and Gen Z generations, the majority of which come from emerging and developing markets in Southeast Asia, and Yoshimoto Kogyo’s mandate to promote the export of Japanese content and formats to younger international audiences.

Yoshimoto Kogyo has been actively promoting Asian development for the last few years. In 2014, the company established MCIP Holdings in Indonesia as its base of Asian strategy and began the “Living in Asia Comedians” program. This program has Yoshimoto comedians living and working in 7 different countries in Asia. On April of 2018, it announced the establishment of the “Okinawa Asia Entertainment Platform,” an integrated national platform for distributing various types of content on the Internet.

Hideaki Shimizu, Vice President of Yoshimoto Kogyo, said: “This time investing in significant media in Asia will be a big step for Yoshimoto Kogyo’s Asian strategy.”

Mark Britt, iflix Co-Founder and Group CEO, added: “We have an incredible opportunity to deliver a uniquely localised product for iflix audiences based on proven Japanese comedy formats with mass appeal through this joint venture. Yoshimoto Kogyo has set the standard for popular, culture-defining millennial comedy content. We are thrilled to collaborate with them to experiment, explore and create new content to cater to a mobile-savvy, discerning global iflix audience.”

“Asia Pacific continues to present immense growth for Marriott International. A few weeks ago, we announced our 2020 vision, aiming for 1,000 properties in operation by the end of 2020. This is set to increase our current operating portfolio by nearly 40 per cent, with an estimated 40 per cent more job opportunities added in the region,” he said.

Menon said that Marriott International currently operates over 710 properties in 23 countries and territories, with 23 of the 30 global brands in Asia Pacific. This year, we will add close to 100 new hotels or nearly 20,000 rooms when several brands debut in Australia, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Nepal and India

“Travel and tourism continue to grow in the region. Global traffic will double in the next 20 years and Asia-Pacific is set to be the biggest growth engine with almost four billion passenger journeys expected from the region by 2037, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The middle class is growing globally and hundreds of millions of people want to start their first trip,” he said.

Menon said that Thailand is one of the most popular destinations in Asia Pacific and will continue to remain so. International arrivals have been increasing and 2018 saw a record number of 38.27 million international arrivals, according to the Tourism Ministry of Thailand.

In Thailand, Marriott International has a presence of 44 hotels and resorts with more than 12,000 rooms, while more than 20 new properties have been planned.

“We target to open five new properties in Thailand in 2020 in Pattaya, Khao Lak, Phuket and Bangkok. We are positive about Thailand tourism going forward, and this is underscored with our growth vision where our footprint is set to increase by 50 per cent,” he said.

Model operator

“Thailand is viewed by Marriott International as one of the model tourism operators. The government has worked hard to establish tourism and the associated infrastructure.

“Thailand has an excellent balance between the business sector and the leisure component of our industry,” said Menon.

“With our increasing footprint in Thailand, we see the opportunity to continue growing and developing local talent to look after our guests. Our team has been working with hotel schools and other partners to identify local talent to ensure that we will have the best leaders for the future. Today, some of our general managers are |Thais, both male and female, ” |he added.

Menon said that China continues to be the strongest growth driver for Marriott International in Asia Pacific, it is Marriott International’s top source market in Asia Pacific and growing across the world.

“With the growing number of Chinese travellers, we see this as an opportunity and are focused on the needs and preferences of the Chinese consumer; and our joint venture with Alibaba underscores this vision. For example, in April 2018, we rolled out the Post Post Pay (PPP) functionality across more than 1,000 Marriott International hotels globally on Fliggy, Alibaba’s travel service platform. PPP allows qualified users to travel first and pay after their stay. Several hotels in Thailand now offer this service to cater to the way Chinese travellers book, stay and pay,” he said.

Menon said that whilst North America remains Marriott International’s biggest market, Asia Pacific is a big driver of growth and represents a tremendous opportunity.

China continues to be the strongest growth driver for Marriott International in Asia Pacific, with more than 300 hotels in the pipeline. This accounts for more than 50 per cent of the company’s planned properties in Asia Pacific.

“For any country around the world, including Thailand, we welcome governments that promote the travel and tourism industry as a whole. As a hospitality company, we are in the business of providing quality accommodation and experiences, and we believe that travel enriches lives and expands horizons.” said Menon.

Along its ambitions for the fifth generation of telecommunications services, the company yesterday launched two smartphones, under the Galaxy A series, aimed at millennial and Generation Z consumers in Thailand.

D J Koh, president and chief executive of the IT and mobile communication division at Samsung Electronics, said that, from this year, the industry is entering the era of 5G.

“People are interested how 5G will change our lives, such as the way gaming capabilities will be much improved, with much faster streaming and other services,” Koh said. “The user experience will be much changed as well. Samsung’s role is to ensure the best use of 5G and AI technology to lead the new era.

“The smartphone market is very saturated. Samsung is focusing on the next 10 years with its business roadmap, rather than considering mergers and acquisitions.”

He said that 5G will entail machine to machine innovation. “The user experience based on the machine will be different, such as with intelligent devices and voice commands,” he said. “The biggest change will come from the user experience. The firm therefore will announce 5G smartphone devices in the USA in May and Europe in early June.

He said Samsung is working with many partners to launch a flagship model. “Open collaboration and a win-win business model are important and this includes listening to millennials for product development and building trust among employees,” he said.

“Thailand is one of the most important markets in the Southeast Asia region. In the next two to three years millennials will account for 50 per cent of the demographics in Thailand. Young Thai generations like to embrace new things and love social media – we’ve worked on launching a new product to wow Thai millennials.”

He said the new Samsung Galaxy A70 and A80 smartphones are a great fit for millennials.

He said the Galaxy A70 is built with Samsung’s latest innovations and upgraded features.

“It showcases a stylish design, large infinity display, enhanced triple camera, powerful battery, powerful performance with 8 GB of RAM and seamless connectivity,” Koh said. “This smartphone is designed for digital natives who want to capture, connect and share life as it happens.”

The Samsung Galaxy A80 comes with Samsung’s first rotating camera.

“It lets people seamlessly capture the world around them with the same high-resolution lens, front and rear,” Koh said. “When users select the selfie mode in the camera app, the three cameras automatically pop-up from the back of the phone and rotate. The innovative camera mechanism delivers the same extraordinary triple camera experience.”

The A80 also features with a 48MP main camera.

“Users can now shoot vivid images day and night. With ToF Technology (Time of Flight), the Galaxy A80’s 3D Depth camera offers live focus videos by scanning objects for measurement and depth. Built with an ultra wide angle lens with the same viewing angle as the human eye,” Koh said.

“The Super Steady video mode helps you effortlessly capture content by reducing video shake to ensure smooth, pro-level Action Camera. And with other intelligent camera features such as Scene Optimizer that can recognize and enhance up to 30 scenes, and Flaw Detection that automatically identifies glitches before you click, you’ll never miss the perfect shot. It also enabled by the rotating camera, people can experience an uninhibited view with Samsung’s first New Infinity Display.

“Featuring a 6.7-inch FHD+ Super Amoled screen, the Galaxy A80 brings you content in vivid detail, letting you get fully immersed in every game, video, photo and story. Galaxy A80’s Dolby Atmos lets you lose yourself in the sound with a 360-degree audience experience when using earphones or Bluetooth speakers.”

Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, reinforced its commitment to supporting the growth of Thailand’s SMEs and local entrepreneurs, via the launch of Shopee Bootcamp.

According to its press release, the campaign is an empowerment initiative designed to train, upskill and mentor Thai SMEs and entrepreneurs. It is supported by the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP), the Department of Business Development of Ministry of Commerce (DBD) and key industry leaders including Advanced Info Service PLC (AIS), Kasikornbank PCL, Thailand Post Co., Ltd. and LINE Company.

Agatha Soh, head of Marketing, Shopee Thailand, said “SMEs form the core of Thailand’s economy, representing more than 42 per cent of the country’s total GDP.

As a homegrown company, we are committed to driving the growth of SMEs in Thailand, and providing them with the necessary resources to navigate, adapt to and thrive in today’s highly dynamic digital landscape. Earlier this year, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with OSMEP and DBD as part of a joint pledge to supporting Thai SMEs, and to drive forward Thailand’s economy.

Shopee Bootcamp is a reinforcement of our unwavering commitment to this cause, and we aim to help participating SMEs increase their sales by at least 100% through this program.”

The project is an intensive 3-month CAMP that comprises an all-rounded approach to SME education which are Curriculum, Assignment, Mastering and Privilege.

Lalida Jiranuntapravat, deputy director-general of the Department of Business Development (DBD) shared, “Shopee Bootcamp showcases the increased synergy between the Thai government and the private sector, as we combine efforts to develop Thailand’s SME segment. We are very pleased to see Shopee take the lead on this, and we trust that it is a big step forward in driving the country’s economy as a whole.  We believe that continuous upskilling is becoming increasingly crucial, and look forward to working with Shopee to help SMEs increase their competitiveness in today’s 4.0 digital economy era.”

Wachira Kaewkor, acting unit director of Data and Situation, of the Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion (OSMEP) said, “We are confident that our collaboration with Shopee to empower Thai SMEs can not only help them increase their own revenue margins, but also consequently, help to drive economic growth in Thailand. We want to provide SMEs with the necessary support to improve their productivity and capabilities to sustainably compete on a global scale, starting with Shopee Bootcamp.”

Shopee Bootcamp is open for application from 2nd April 2019. For more information, please visit http://www.shopeebootcamp.com.

The 8,500-square-metre playground will also serve as Thailand’s first driving school for children.

Panjaphathara Angkasuwan, director of HBL Group’s happiness strategy, said the playground was built in cooperation with Megabangna shopping centre. The site, located on a three-storey building behind IKEA, is divided into eight zones, namely:

Harbor Land indoor playground;

Roller Land indoor rink;

JumpZ trampoline park;

Adventure Land;

Laser Battle;

Motor City;

Game Land; and

Bit Playground.

The playground, believed to be the largest in Bangkok, targets families in the east of the capital and tourists on family vacations who need somewhere safe to take their children to.

Panjaphathara said that apart from being the largest playground in Bangkok, Mega Harbor Land is also among the five largest indoor playgrounds in the world.

What makes this playground unique is its 1,000sqm Motor City, where youngsters can try their hand at driving and learn traffic rules. The aim is for them to grow up to become good motorists in the future, Panjaphathara said.

Some rides are also designed to take the weight of adults, so parents can enjoy rides with their children.

Mega Harbor Land is expected to have more than 100,000 visitors in the first quarter of this year.

“We want to help children develop a good mentality through a pleasurable experience. We also want parents to take a break and enjoy themselves with their children. With this in mind, we developed activities that families can even apply outside the playground,” Panjaphathara said.

Meanwhile, Paphitchaya Suwandee, Megabangna’s chief executive officer, said the shopping centre’s aim is to offer visitors more than just shopping, and is expanding its edutainment zone to offer different experiences to people.

Mega Harbor Land, the CEO said, will serve as a powerful magnet for families in Bang Na and nearby areas and is expected to considerably increase the number of visitors to the shopping complex.

Apart from the playground in Megabangna, HBL Group has also built Harbor Land Pattaya, Harbor Land Tukcom Udon Thani, Harbor Land Tukcom Chon Buri, Harbor Land Tukcom Sri Racha, Harbor Land Fashion Island and Harbor Land Gateway Bang Sue.