The company’s accelerator programme, which serves as an incubator for bright ideas, has nurtured 46 startups with a combined company valuation of Bt5.23 billion.

Sompoat, also known as Meng, took over dtac Accelerate in 2015, succeeding Krating Poonpol, who initiated the programme in 2012.

Of the 46 startups, each has achieved an average growth in valuation of around five times. Some 72 per cent of the startups from dtac Accelerate have secured vital follow-on funding; elsewhere in Asian, the proportion is around 20 to 25 per cent.

Before taking over at dtac Accelerate, Sompoat, 40, worked with Citibank for 11 years and as head of digital marketing at UOB for 18 months.

He graduated in electrical engineering from Thammasat University and went on to gain an MBA from ABAC. At Citibank, in his first post, he worked as a management associate at the global financial giant, which has a presence in 13 countries across Asia Pacific, for two years. He was based in Singapore, which served as the company’s regional office, for one year.

He oversaw financial and product acquisition for Citbank’s retail banking operation before moving to UOB. At that time, the Singapore bank launched a new business unit, digital marketing, and Sompoat was tasked with getting the unit up and running.

A turning point for Sompoat came in 2013 with the birth of his son. He was then aged 35 and decided to leave UOB and take time out for family life.

“I did not know how I could go about being a good father and, since I wanted to spend all my time with my son, I quit my position at the bank. I remained looking after my son until he was aged five,” Sompoat said.

During that period he found time to take classes, for Batch 6 at Disrupt University, as it was known at Disrupt Technology Venture. The organisation was run by Krating, a figure regarded as the godfather of startups in Thailand.

“I was interested in him and his thoughts, since his words and actions guided me on to the path that I love. I desired to take his class and through that we could got to know each other more closely – and that led to him bringing me to dtac Accelerate,” says Sompoat.

He loves works that involves building up something from scratch. Before starting his first job, Sompoat and some of his friends established the Thai iPad Club as an iPad community, and went on to develop a Thai keyboard for iPad. That was before the launch of iPad in 2010. He also developed a system for displaying maps on a tablet for taxis, and a company went on to buy the system. It was during that time that he met Krating.

“He (Krating) said if I did my own startup, ultimately I could do only one to two startups each year. But at dtac Accelerate, I could help at least 10 Thai startups each year. That is a huge difference and it made it more meaningful for me as a motivation to join dtac Accelerate. And that allowed me to do what I love, pursuing technology and starting new things, all while having time for my family,” Sompoat says.

Sompoat started taking care of dtac Accelerate Batch 3 before moving on to the current Batch 6.

He started his journey at dtac Acclerate with an emphasis on managing his team, since he realised that good management is required when trying to bring out the best in a team.

“We need to put the right man or the right woman in the right job in an exact fit. The talent can deliver in a job to meet expectations, but they can deliver at a rate of 10 times that if they are in a job they love,” Sompoat says. “Therefore we need to know what particular passions are driving the team members.”

He says he is grateful to the executives of dtac that gave him a licence to fail and a licence to succeed – without intervene in his management decisions.

He says that approach is vastly different from the environment in his banking career – and this difference is driven by the youthful profile of the team members, who are mostly from the generations Y, Z and millennials,

A new way of communication is needed with such people and, says Sompoat, technology provides the common language.

dtac Acclerate rates its success according to the achievements of startups in each of the batches, Sompoat says. When a startup succeeds it is his team’s success; if it fails, it is his failure.

dtac Accelerate invests in pre-seed round of funding of up to Bt1.5 million for each startup.

Another measure of success is the reputation of dtac Accelerate. Once startups from dtac Accelerate succeed, this prompts an increase in applications to join the programme, boosting the likelihood of more quality startups in the pipeline.

Through the four batches under his management – from Batch 3 to Battch 6 – the numbers of applications jumped dramatically from 30 prospective steams in Batch 3 to 600 teams seeking spots in Batch 6. But the number of quality startups is more significant than number of the applications, which double every year.

What’s more, the challenges set for the teams are changed every year, Sompoat says. The company needs to adjust the challenge for each batch according to the tech startup ecosystem situation. For example, from lean startup, scale and hook to blockchain.

“The challenge in Batch 3 was to help startups to secure seed funding after attending a four-month camp, while the challenges in batches 4, 5, and 6 were to help startups to secure pre-series A funding and pave the way for batch 7, which aims to help statups to secure series A funding,” Sompoat says. “Our challenges change according to the quality of the startups in our camp.” The curriculum is always updated. This is to ensure the startups keep benefiting from their participation in dtac Accelerate. “It is to offer what they need, such as growth hacking, customer base, public relations, and fundraising,” he says.

dtac Accelerate has been evolving every year. Startups selected to join the camp need to be smarter and be more proficient. Each year, around 10 to 12 teams attend the camp.

“Moreover, there are a lot more female founders in tech startups. Startups run by female founders show new characteristics such as a more dedicated focus on people management and more concern in taking risk. I admire female founders. I personally like the culture of startups that have female founders,” Sompoat says.

He says dtac Accelerate aims to build startups, to invest, to mentor – and to seek mentors for them.

“A good team sharing the same passion is one of key success factors for dtac Accelerate,” he says.

“The ultimate goal of dtac Accelerate, from day one, is to build the first unicorn startup in Thailand.”

A unicorn is a privately held startup company valued at over $1 billion. It is a long journey but Sompoat believes the company is on the right track.

He is confident that at least one to two centaur startup – companies with a valuation of more than $100 million – will emerge from dtac Accelerate in the next three to five years.

Around 72 per cent of startups from dtac Accelerate secure follow-on funding, putting Thailand in the top three countries in this space in Southeast Asia. This success has helped draw mentors from overseas to participate in the camp.

The startups that pass through dtac Accelerate on average enjoy five time the normal growth in 12 months in terms of traction and valuation. Since 2015, the total valuation of startups in dtac Accelerate was around Bt500 million; this has increased to Bt5.23 billion this year.

“There are two more large exit deals scheduled to be completed by the end

of this year,” says Sompoat.

In Batch 5, nine of the 12 teams secured funding, seed and pre-series A stage funding. At that time only 20 startups in the whole country achieved that. Sompoat says this means that almost 50 per cent of the total number of startups to reach that mark have been in the dtac Accelerate family.

He says that as long as Thai startups need acceleration, he and dtac Accelerate will be there for them. The new challenge for dtac Accelerate is to encourage more Thai startups to move on to series B fundraising.

“It is like the domino effect. If we drive startups to secure series A funding, more venture capital funds will invest in them for fear of missing out,” says Sompoat

The tools that dtac Accelerate use are not only for dtac itself but they form a blueprint for the other 13 countries where Telenor operates. The dtac Accelerate model has already been implemented in seven countries.

“dtac Accelerate is local outfit from Thailand but its model is being implemented in many other countries. As part of a telecommunications organisation, the value added to customers is important. If we have value added on shelf to address all our customers’ lifestyles, we will win the game over the long term,” says Sompoat.

Investments in startups in Southeast Asia have been increasing dramatically. In 2016, this came to US$18 billion. Investments in startups in Thailand amounted to US$230 million as of early this year.

“The beauty is, the more foreign investment in startups means more money to employ people, create jobs, and create other investments,” Sompoat says.

The first unicorn startup will spur global venture capital funds to invest in Thailand. “An indirect benefit is to draw more investment to Thailand,” Sompoat says. “Thailand has the potential to have unicorn startups.”

He makes the point that Thailand does not yet have a unicorn startup because the product market is not yet fit for the global market, even though it is adequate for local market.

“Many talented founders think global companies execute locally successfully, but executing in the global market is very challenging since the product-market fit is totally different,” says Sompoat.

“The challenge is to think which way to move to between ‘thinking globally and executing locally’ and ‘thinking globally and executing globally’.”

The dtac Accelerate family consists of 46 companies, each with 50 employees. dtac Accelerate also works as a partner with a lot of tech companies, and much of the success comes from the mentors at hand.

“The startups in dtac Accelerate create about 10,000 jobs. This may sound small as a contribution to the country’s GDP, but it is a good start,” Sompoat says. His greatest concern is the depth of the talent pool in the country, especially as seen over the past 18 months; it has not improved.

“There are not enough expert developers and leaders in the developer community in Thailand. This affects the startup ecosystem as a whole,” Sompoat says.

Each accelerator has different strengths and he fees proud to play a part in the startup ecosystem. Currently, there are 13 accelerators in Thailand. dtac Accelerate plays a role as accelerator and a corporate venture capital (CVC) fund.

“Not every startup needs acceleration,” he says. “Most startups required being accelerated in different ways, and that’s why dtac Accelerate has three different tracks – an incubation track, an accelerate track, and a global track. “Successful startups need a strong technical team. They also need the right support from the government, which has been promoting startups.

“Over the past three to five years, Thailand’s startups ecosystem has been rapidly growing.”

Sompoat says he is happy working with the younger generation. “Every morning I wake up to help young people’s startups move one more step forward to success,” he says.

“It makes me happy. I am creating an environment for the next generation and for my son’s generation. I get a chance to do things that are very good for the next generation.”

In a press release issued on Friday, the company said strong earnings growth was driven by a 20 per cent growth in revenue from the same period last year to a new record of Bt9.7 billion in the third quarter, thanks to the start-up of two power plants and stronger power demand.

“The profitability is largely in line with the projection as BGRIM is able to execute undertakings as planned and within the set timeframes,” said BGRIM President Preeyanart Soontornwata.

The commercial operation of two 133-megawatt co-generation facilities in Amata City Industrial Estate in Rayong, namely ABPR3 and ABPR4, on February 1 and June 1, respectively, was part of the revenue drivers, the company said.

Preeyanart said BGRIM has continued relentlessly to expand its business both domestically and internationally, targeting to raise its total installed capacity by 861 MW or 45 per cent to 2,773 MW by next year from 1,912 MW as of the third quarter of this year.

While the 133-MW ABPR5 co-generation plant in Rayong started commercial operation on October 1 this year, BGRIM has a series of committed and under-development projects.

Due to start commercial operation this December are seven ground-mounted solar farms for government agencies and agricultural cooperatives with a combined installed capacity of 31 MW.

Slated to commence operation in the first quarter of next year is a 15-MW hydro-power plant in Laos.

Two large scale solar energy projects in Vietnam with a total installed capacity of 677 MW are scheduled for commercial operation in mid-2019, while an industrial waste-to-energy plant with a 5-MW capacity is due to come on stream by the end of next year.

When these new power plants are brought on line, BGRIM’s revenues are expected to increase by 15-20% in 2019.

According to Preeyanart, BGRIM is constantly on the lookout for new business opportunities both domestically and internationally in order to achieve the target of 5 GW installed capacity in 2022.

Recently, BGRIM’s issue of debentures worth Bt9.7 billion was fully subscribed, thus securing financial resources needed for future investment projects and re-financing purposes.

The enthusiastic response to debentures reflects investor’s trust and confidence in BGRIM’s business outlook and long-term growth prospects, the company said.

CEO Dr. Sanhavuth Thamchuanviriya said in a press release issued on Friday that the company is carrying out an Asean model platform in order to cater to the Asean Economic Community.

Managed by Master Group Corporation (Laos), the first Sixt branch was opened in Vientiane in 2016.

“The popularity of the car rental business has grown significantly with customers being private and government organisations as well as Thai and international tourists,” he said. “According to KBank’s research, the value of the car rental business in Thailand is worth Bt45 billion per year, making up 50 per cent of the car rental market in Asean. We want to expand our network to cover this region.”

He said Luangprabang has a population of 500,000, but welcomes more than one million visitors every year.

Sixt is a German car rental brand which is in 115 countries with over 2,000 branches.

From a total of 489 buses, 102 were delivered in March this year and a second batch of 200 buses is expected to be delivered in December at a total cost of Bt1.2 billion. The final 187 buses, worth around Bt720 million, will be delivered by February next year.

Dr Littee Kitpipit, Chief Executive Officer of Scan Inter, said that the company was ready to take further steps to rapidly deliver the remaining buses to replace BMTA’s existing buses.

The new NGV bus delivery approval, comes after the Supreme Administrative Court withdrew an injunction against a total of 489 NGV buses. The injunction held up the delivery of the buses in a contract that had a total value of Bt4.26 billion.

The court’s decision that the bidding for the project followed proper rules and regulations has had a positive effect on the company’s revenue.

The agreement also includes the maintenance and repair of the 489 buses that will be gradually recorded throughout the 10-year agreement.

In a press release issued on Friday, Ng Keng Hooi, AIA’s group chief executive and president, said that AIA delivered a strong performance in the third quarter with 17 per cent growth in value of new business to US$979 million (Bt32.3 billion).

He said today’s results and our consistent track record of growth are the direct outcome of the quality of AIA’s exceptional businesses and our disciplined approach to delivering our strategic objectives.

“The needs and expectations of Asian consumers are changing rapidly. Personal health, wellness and the need for financial protection are increasingly front of mind. Combined with rising affluence, this will drive increasing demand for our protection and long-term savings products across our markets,” he said.

“The powerful combination of AIA’s competitive advantages in distribution and product innovation, empowered by our increasing use of technology, places us in an exceptional position to help meet these rapidly-evolving needs. Our brand promise to help millions of people to live healthier, longer, better lives provides a strong basis for developing deep, long-term relationships with our customers and differentiates AIA. I remain confident that our teams will continue to focus on delivering high-quality growth and generating long-term returns for our shareholders.”

AIA Hong Kong generated strong double-digit growth in value of new business (VONB) in the third quarter of 2018 with broad-based growth from both agency and partnership channels and across both domestic customer and Mainland Chinese visitor segments.

AIA’s wholly-owned operation in China delivered a strong performance with double-digit VONB growth in the third quarter, benefiting from a further increase in active agents, the company said. Our commitment to the execution of our Premier Agency strategy and providing needs-based advice and value-added services continues to differentiate AIA’s customer proposition in China.

The company said its business in Thailand delivered double-digit VONB growth, driven by continuing improvement in agent productivity as we make further progress with our ongoing agency transformation. VONB in Malaysia was lower year-on-year although we saw a sequential improvement in VONB growth in the third quarter compared to the second quarter of 2018.

In Singapore, strong ANP growth was offset by a lower VONB margin as a result of large volumes of single premium unit-linked business, the company said. Our number of active agents grew at a double-digit rate and our partnership with Citibank, N.A. delivered very strong growth in the third quarter.

Other Markets reported strong double-digit VONB growth with particularly strong contributions to growth from our businesses in Australia, Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan, the company said.

The company said it has launched new environment-friendly Hero garbage bags, breast milk storage bags, ice cube bags and shopping bags that are biodegradable. The company said it is also ready to help promote the sales of its dealers to achieve its overall sales target of Bt1 billion through local and overseas markets by the end of this year.

Tavee Julasaksrisakul, Director of King Pac Industrial Co, which is a leading distributor of food wrap under the “Hero” brand, says the company is using innovations to promote the brand in Thailand so that it will become the leading brand in the three categories of plastic packages namely “Keep Home Clean”, “Keep Food Fresh” and “Keep Item Safe”.

The company says it is determined to make Thai people realise the importance of proper garbage disposal and campaign for the use of garbage bags. Therefore, it is promoting “Hero garbage bags” that are in the “Keep Home Clean” product category and perfectly meet the demand of consumers when it comes to product quality and environmental friendliness.

Tavee says the company is seriously getting into the garbage bag market after seeing its great growth potential as society is cares about the environment. Besides, no other brands have developed garbage bags with the same quality as “Hero” garbage bags. In the market, “Hero” meets a unique challenge because it is not competing with any brand but is winning the hearts of consumers.

Tavee said: “We want to change the habit of consumers who do not think they should pay for garbage bags because they can just use plastic shopping bags. The idea is not quite right because consumers are unaware of problems resulting from putting garbage in wrong kinds of bags which usually leak, rupture and fail to contain smells. Sometimes consumers must waste their time while cleaning dirty leaks from garbage bags. Bacteria accumulate at the places of garbage bins. Insects and animals build up in a disturbing manner. These can harm households’ health. The Hero brand will build public awareness of putting garbage in real garbage bags and properly disposing of and sorting garbage.”

The company said Hero garbage bags are the outcome of advanced production. Three kinds of raw materials are used for different categories of Hero products. 1. New and quality plastic pellets are used to make Hero garbage bags of export quality. The black garbage bags are thick, durable and odourless and will not rupture though holding plenty of garbage. 2. Industrial plastic scrap is used to make garbage bags of other colours. They are tough, durable and fragrant. 3. Plastic waste imported from other countries and bought from communities is used to make Hero Eco garbage bags for export only.

The company said Innovative Hero Eco garbage bags are developed to protect the environment. They are made from recycled polyethylene (PE). The product wins the Supreme Award from the Asean Plastics Awards 2018 competition. For the local market, the company will introduce the product of export quality within this year

A press release issued on Thursday said there are more than 400 leading brands showcasing over 75,000 product items, with workshops to be organised by gurus, and the sign business products.

Sakkachat Sivabovorn, CEO of Ibrix, and chairman of Sign Asia Expo and Apppexpo Thailand, said consumers’ behavior and lifestyles has shifted to out-of-home activities, together with the development of digital technology, it effects directly on out-of-home media.

Out-of-home media becomes the main media choice for marketers and advertiser as it offers variety that can be tailored to strategy.

Ibrix has been a leading organizer of trade shows in sign and advertisement business in Thailand since 2002 by annually organising “Sign Asia Expo” which has been acting as a gateway to business opportunities for operators from both Thailand and abroad. Moreover, the company has committed to promote and help develop the potential of those who work in this sign and advertisement business area in order to help those interested to start their businesses, expand their knowledge, create new alliances, and expand their trade networks.

The company says it has also been enhancing Thailand as a gateway to the trading opportunity in sign and advertisement businesses to CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam), as well as to the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

This year, the expo is being held for its 16th year under the name “Sign Asia Expo” together with the “Apppexpo Thailand” which is the company’s collaboration with the Apppexpo, the Shanghai’s number 1 sign and advertisement tradeshow.

It comprises two of the most glamorous retail complexes ever seen in the region, two of the most luxurious residential towers and the Seven Wonders at ICONSIAM.

A new chapter of “destination development” history has been written with the opening of a project destined to be a great destination where the best of Thailand meets the best of the world.

The opening of ICONSIAM also marks the bringing to life of the concept of ‘Creating Shared Value’ and ‘Co-Creation’ on a scale as never before been seen anywhere in the world.

The opening of the mega development was celebrated with spectacular shows and performances that symbolised how Thais have united with the world’s greatest talent to create a riverside phenomenon.

Chadatip Chutrakul, an ICONSIAM director, said: “ICONSIAM is a destination born out of a great joint creative effort that has united the hearts of Thai people from many different walks of life. These people are capable and knowledgeable.

They are from local communities around the country – some are from the business sector and others from the public sector.

They include experts in various disciplines from many countries who love Thailand and want to contribute to a new symbol that can represent the vision of an era and be something that makes Thai people feel proud of being Thai, helps preserve and present Thainess for the next generation, while also making visitors from around the world fall in love and be impressed with Thailand.

“ICONSIAM was created out of a strong desire to present all that is great about Thais and Thailand. There is an unprecedented scale of collaboration between Thai artists and experts from all around the world who have come together to create and construct each detail of ICONSIAM.

As Thais, we are also proud that the world’s leading fashion and luxury brands trust and see the value of Thainess and have a truly impressive presence at ICONSIAM. They collaborated with ICONSIAM by thinking outside of the box and also collaborated with Thai artists, allowing them to create masterpieces that will glorify aspects of Thainess within their stores, for example, by using Thai silk or other Thai materials to decorate their shops.

It is a phenomenon that has never happened before in the world by these super brands.”

“ICONSIAM is a city that is the centre of a vast array of wonders in art and culture. It offers the best in shopping and entertainment made possible by a collaboration of business organisations both big and small. They come in all sizes and types.

A lot of individuals have come together from different professions. They share a desire to build a venue where all that Thais are proud about can be presented as well as be a place where all great things from all corners of the world are on full display.

They come together to build a new icon which will become a mega phenomenon that will unite all stakeholders and spread prosperity to communities, society and the nation. It is a new-world business concept that seeks to create shared value for every stakeholder to grow together in a sustainable fashion.

ICONSIAM is that concept turned into reality on a scale that has never existed before anywhere in the world.”

Supoj Chaiwatsirikul, ICONSIAM’s managing director, said: “ICONSIAM has opened the door to a megacity full of ‘superlatives’ and ‘first-ever’ wonders. Many of the world’s ultra-luxury brands have located their flagship stores in the stunning 25,000-square metre super luxury pavilion called ‘ICONLUXE’ which is situated next to the river and has the longest pillarless glass façade in the world.

It is built with specially commissioned glass that is pleated around the building to create a nirvana of luxury worthy of the new landmark on the Chao Phraya River.

ICONSIAM houses the world’s best-known luxury brands with flagship stores that are also globally iconic stores. The ‘icons within icon’ concept was created by ICONSIAM to present luxury brands within duplex maisons inside the sensational ICONLUXE.

More than 7,000 leading brands of the world and Thailand will have their presence in Thailand, many for the first time and with new concepts and special products exclusively at ICONSIAM.

He said: “To make ICONSIAM a new landmark of Thailand we asked brand owners to present their brand stories and integrate them into their store designs. We wanted ICONSIAM to be the first development to have the most exciting and most complete story-telling around the brands.

Many world-famous brands have shown their confidence in ICONSIAM and collaborated to create store elements that are unique to ICONSIAM and at which visitors can enjoy a one-of-a-kind experience.”

About Bt1 billion will be spend to celebrate the opening of ICONSIAM, of which 70 per cent will be allocated to the first three days of the grand opening ceremony starting from today (November 9).

Seven Wonders at ICONSIAM:

1. River Park – It is an amazing and expansive community space covering over 10,000 square metres along the river.  The park is open to the public every day.

2. Iconic Multimedia Water Feature – This multimedia feature, which is the longest in Southeast Asia, is designed to be a global iconic attraction that promotes tourism for Bangkok and Thailand.

3. SookSiam – This amazing town is Thailand’s first co-creation space for local communities from the 77 provinces of Thailand to join together their creative capabilities and build a business platform and cultural space.

4. TRUE ICON HALL – The venue will be the first such facility in Thailand with world-class connectivity standards capable of hosting conferences, concerts, international MICE events.  True ICON Hall is scheduled to open in July 2019.

5. Gold Line Monorail – The monorail system will support urban development with road-rail-river transport connections to elevate the public’s quality of life.

6. River Museum Bangkok – It is the first time that a world-class museum is being built in Thailand capable of accommodating important world-touring exhibitions.  It is scheduled to open in July 2019.

7. Art Synergy Phenomenon – ICONSIAM houses masterpieces from more than 100 artists in all disciplines ranging from local artists from all regions of Thailand, including national artists, as well as world-class artists from different countries.

 The companies say the partnership will empower customers under a “digital lifestyle ecosystem”.

Under the deal, the partners will launch on-demand services including GrabPay by KBank, a co-branded mobile payment application, as well as a suite of other financial services that are planned to be launched in 2019. The partnership comes with a S$50 million strategic investment from KBank in Singapore-based Grab, and is part of Grab’s ongoing fundraising round.

KBank president Patchara Samalapa said that the lender’s global strategic direction calls for it to expand into the so-called AEC+3 markets, where digital technology capabilities will be enhanced via digital channels and mobile solutions.

“Better Together is KBank’s commitment to work closely with strategic partners who are the best-in-class in their sectors by complementing and fulfilling each other’s strengths seamlessly in the pursuit of offering everyday use services for customers,” Patchara said.

“Our partnership with Grab opens up new opportunities to innovate in a rapidly evolving industry and growth region. We are excited to team up with Grab to transform the customer experience in this digital lifestyle ecosystem for Grab’s users, driver-partners, and merchants as well as enhance the delivery of digital services and mobility for millions of users who rely on Grab for safe and affordable transport, food and package delivery, mobile payments, and financial services.”

Patchara said KBank has bold ambitions of becoming the digital bank of choice in the region.

“Our co-branded mobile wallet and strategic investment in Grab enables us to bring Grab’s scale to our merchant and consumer network in Thailand,” Patchara said.

“This is the first time KBank (through Beacon VC) has made a venture capital investment in an international company with a core business outside Thailand, calling to attention the size of the opportunity Grab’s Asean-wide user base offers, even to leading financial institutions like KBank.”

Patchara said the deal marked the highest stage of venture capital investment by a Thai investor to date.

“We look forward to developing innovative financial products together with Grab, which will put KBank in a position to tap into the rapidly growing digital economy across the region,” Patchara said.

“In 2018, Grab Financial has cemented itself as Southeast Asia’s leading fintech platform, both in terms of monthly active users (MAU) and total payments volume (TPV).

“This partnership makes Grab Financial the first mobile payments platform to launch e-money-licensed payments services across Asean-6 and underlines the strength of our partnership-based strategy.”

Reuben Lai, senior managing director of Grab Financial, said: “By opening up our platform, we have attracted many of the leading players in the financial services industry and driven exponential growth for our business.”