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Tencent Cloud Deploys its First MENA Region Internet Data Centre Hub in Bahrain

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Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of Tencent, today announced its collaboration with the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) – the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Investment promotion agency. The two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the aim to drive the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Internet Data Centre (IDC) development and support its rapid emergence as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s hub for the cloud and IDC sectors. The MoU signing also marks a significant milestone for Tencent Cloud as it deploys its first public cloud infrastructure in the MENA region.

According to research by MarketsandMarkets, the Middle East’s cloud market is expected to reach USD 4.5 billion by 2024, with a CAGR of 17.5 percent over the same period, highlighting the growing opportunity in this region.

The MoU between Tencent Cloud and the Bahrain EDB will allow for substantial opportunities to boost the local digital economy, empowering local organisations to expedite their digital transformation journey. It will also allow Tencent Cloud to leverage on Bahrain’s regional position, and the EDB’s connectivity with local and regional stakeholders, including Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat.

The terms of the MoU include:

  • Tencent Cloud’s first IDC in Bahrain and MENA: Tencent Cloud will launch a brand-new IDC in Bahrain, which will go live by the end of 2021.
  • Promoting the deployment of Tencent Cloud: Bahrain EDB, together with public and private stakeholders will encourage the continued adoption of cloud services to further the digital transformation agenda. Additionally, support will be offered to partner companies to leverage cloud services in collaboration with local stakeholders such as Tamkeen.
  • Local talent development: Tencent Cloud will explore and set up training initiatives jointly with the local government in universities and educational institutions across the Kingdom to allow for further knowledge transfer and qualified digital technology talents.

H.E. Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, Bahrain’s Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, said, “This is an important milestone in Bahrain’s journey to become the MENA region’s cloud and data centre hub and I commend the EDB for their ceaseless efforts in developing the partnership with Tencent and ensuring that Bahrain is a favored destination for investment. Tencent joins leading global cloud giants in setting up in Bahrain which will drive massive growth in data traffic towards MENA. Moreover, the launch of the new data centre stands to create a clustering effect as other global providers turn their attention to the increasingly attractive region, with Bahrain positioned as the destination of choice with proactive initiatives such as the Government’s ‘Cloud-First’ policy and nationwide 5G.”

Poshu Yeung, Senior Vice President, Tencent Cloud International, said, “While the local government in Bahrain has been making significant efforts to grow the local IDC industry, Tencent Cloud is excited to collaborate with Bahrain EDB as part of our ongoing efforts to ramp up the global IDC landscape. We will launch all necessary steps to set up a brand-new IDC in Bahrain to provide better coverage all over the Middle East and North African regions along the Belt and Road, fully supporting Bahrain’s ‘Cloud-First’ strategy.”

H.E. Khalid Humaidan, Chief Executive, Bahrain Economic Development Board, said, “As a global leader in technology, innovation and cloud services, the EDB is very proud to be partnering with Tencent to set up their first MENA data center hub in Bahrain. We are confident that Tencent will be able to leverage on the Kingdom’s regional connectivity, local talent, and business friendly environment to expand their services and reach clients across the region.”

Raed Fakhri, Managing Director – Investments, Mumtalakat, added, “Innovative technologies, including cloud services and other content driven services, are an area that Mumtalakat is keen to explore and support as Bahrain progresses with its ‘Cloud First’ policy. As one of the first organisations in the Kingdom to achieve full cloud migration we are excited to witness this milestone that will only further enhance Bahrain’s diversification strategy.” 

In 2017, Bahrain introduced the region’s first nationwide “Cloud-First” policy to enhance government information and communication technologies, driving the adoption of cloud across state entities and reducing IT costs by up to 90%.

Operating in 27 regions and 60 availability zones worldwide, Tencent Cloud is a secure, reliable and high-performance public cloud service provider that integrates Tencent’s infrastructure-building capabilities with the advantages of its massive user platform and ecosystem. By harnessing Bahrain’s track record of agile and forward-thinking data regulation, as well as its strategic location within the region, Tencent Cloud will enhance its rich array of global services to both the public and private sectors in the region.

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Press Release

UserTesting Highlights How Inflation Is Squeezing Indian Consumers, 75 Percent Join The Gig Economy To Meet Increased Cost Of Living

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Inflation Is Squeezing Indian Consumers
  • On an average, 3 out of 5 Indians are witnessing the highest impact of inflation on entertainment and petrol expenditures
  • In order to save money, 65 percent of Indians are now buying their necessary products from generic brands
  • View consumer responses to the impact of inflation

India, July 13, 2022: UserTesting (NYSE: USER), a leader in video-based human insight, conducted a survey to understand the effects of the rising inflation on Indians’ spending habits and personal finances. As per the survey findings, over 95 percent of Indians reported that growing inflation is directly impacting their daily and monthly expenditure.

A host of cost pressures such as rising commodity prices, global supply disruptions, and more has been translated to end consumers in the form of elevated prices for goods and services across the board. Therefore, to meet basic needs, Indians are cutting back on their everyday expenses to meet their basic needs. About 60 percent of Indian respondents indicated that they are cutting back on entertainment and leisure activities such as movies, eating out, staycations, etc. Unsurprisingly, the respondents also mentioned minimizing personal car travel and opting for public transport to reduce their expenditure on petrol.

Mounting prices of essential commodities

Indians are facing the brunt of inflation majorly on petrol prices, as mentioned by 100 percent of the respondents during the survey. With essential grocery items such as bread witnessing a sharp rise in prices, 90 percent of the respondents have reported that it is becoming a burden to keep up with the inflation storm. Adding to the trouble, some respondents mentioned not having received any salary appraisals in the past year, leading to a reduction in personal savings for many.

Gig economy takes center stage amidst rising inflation

As inflation heats up, former motivations for side hustles, such as paying off debt and saving, have been replaced by a more pressing need: making ends meet. According to the survey, 75 percent of Indian respondents revealed that they are resorting to secondary sources of income to keep up with the increased cost of living. The popular options that were mentioned included freelancing and trading among other side gigs.

Indians replace their go-to shops: from big brands to local brands

Interestingly, the survey found that on average, 65 percent of Indians are buying from generic/local brands instead of name brands so as to save money. Stating that most generic brands are now offering the same quality of a product at a cheaper price, more than half of the Indians have shifted their focus on local brands, especially for purchases such as clothes and grocery items that are now being bought from local kirana shops.

About UserTesting

UserTesting (NYSE: USER) has fundamentally changed the way organizations get insights from customers with fast, opt-in feedback and experience capture technology. The UserTesting® Human Insight Platform taps into our global network of real people and generates video-based recorded experiences, so anyone in an organization can directly ask questions, hear what users say, see what they mean, and understand what it’s actually like to be a customer. Unlike approaches that track user behavior and then try to infer what that behavior means, UserTesting reduces guesswork and brings customer experience data to life with human insight. UserTesting has approximately 2,500 customers, including more than half of the world’s top 100 most valuable brands according to Forbes. UserTesting is headquartered in San Francisco, California. To learn more, visit www.usertesting.com.

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Investment

Nikola to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences

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Nikola to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences

Nikola Corporation (Nasdaq: NKLA), a global leader in zero-emissions transportation and energy infrastructure solutions, today announced its participation in the following investor conferences:

Kim Brady, CFO, will participate in a fireside chat at the Evercore ISI Global Clean Energy & Transition Technologies Summit on June 15, 2022, at 2 p.m. ET

ABOUT NIKOLA CORPORATION

Nikola Corporation is globally transforming the transportation industry. As a designer and manufacturer of zero-emission battery-electric and hydrogen-electric vehicles, electric vehicle drivetrains, vehicle components, energy storage systems, and hydrogen station infrastructure, Nikola is driven to revolutionize the economic and environmental impact of commerce as we know it today. Founded in 2015, Nikola Corporation is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit http://www.nikolamotor.com or Twitter @nikolamotor.

SOURCE Nikola Corporation

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Press Release

2022 Zhejiang (HUZHOU) Export Online Fair (Europe-Textiles)

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2022 ZHEJIANG HUZHOU EXPORT ONLINE FAIR EUROPE TEXTILES

China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Huzhou Committee and the China Chamber of International Commerce Huzhou Chamber of Commerce are organizing the online fair-2022 ZHEJIANG (HUZHOU) EXPORT ONLINE FAIR (EUROPE-TEXTILES) will be held online continually for 4 days from the  13th of June till the 17th of June 2022.

Facing the international epidemic situation, in order to promote the trade between Europe and Huzhou, Zhejiang in China, the 2022 ZHEJIANG (HUZHOU) EXPORT ONLINE FAIR (EUROPE-TEXTILES) will be held online.

This online fair is an international platform to help European buyers meet with professional Huzhou textiles enterprises. With abundant experience in holding expos, the Huzhou fair created the original mode of “internet + expo” in China’s exhibition field while is still keeping improving and upgrading it to a higher level. The aim of the exhibition is to provide a comprehensive overview of the global market and at the same time to offer the best possible stage for the high proportion of strong Chinese suppliers and the best European buyers.

At the exhibition there will be at least 40 quality exhibitors, the B2B Huzhou Expo will be completely free for European buyers. The exhibition will be held on the new online platform for the fair https://efair.zjseek.com/web/#/exhibition

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