HONG KONG SECURES LEAP EAST AS EXCLUSIVE ASIAN HOST UNTIL 2029

KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 (Bernama) -- The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has partnered with LEAP East’s organiser to secure Hong Kong as the exclusive Asian host city for LEAP East from 2027 to 2029.

LEAP East, the Middle East’s flagship technology exhibition, recently made its Asian debut in Hong Kong over three days ending July 10, attracting more than 25,000 participants, 55 per cent of whom were non-local and 45 per cent local.

“This significant partnership not only demonstrates the global industry’s confidence in Hong Kong but also affirms Hong Kong’s status as the World’s Meeting Place and a hub for innovation and technology, as well as its role as a ‘super-connector’ and ‘super value-adder’.

“By bringing together tech and innovation enterprises, investors, research institutions and innovative talent from around the world, Hong Kong is fostering cross-regional and cross-industry collaboration,” said HKTB Chairman, Dr Peter Lam in a statement.

Meanwhile, Tahaluf Chief Executive Officer, Mike Champion said Hong Kong, as the host of LEAP’s first flagship edition outside the Middle East, is the perfect platform to connect Middle Eastern technology enterprises with Asian businesses while creating opportunities for Asian companies to engage with partners across the Gulf.

“I look forward to partnering with HKTB over the next three years to build LEAP East into a premier international platform that brings together global innovation and fosters cross-regional collaboration,” added Champion.

According to Dr Lam, more than 100 major International Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) events were held in Hong Kong in the first half of this year, following HKTB's efforts to secure, facilitate and support the events.

“Looking ahead, even more world-renowned international MICE events across diverse sectors such as medical science, food science and technology, lifestyle, innovation and technology, aviation and transport will be hosted in Hong Kong,” said Dr Lam.

The HKTB will continue working with the MICE industry and partners to attract more large-scale international MICE events to Hong Kong, enriching the city's year-round events calendar, attracting more high value-added visitors and enhancing their overall business travel experience.

-- BERNAMA

Meltwater Expands MCP Capabilities For AI Assistants

KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 (Bernama) -- Meltwater has expanded its Model Context Protocol (MCP) capabilities by introducing new tools that enable artificial intelligence (AI) assistants to perform actions within the Meltwater platform, including accessing insights, creating reports and tracking alerts in real time.

The company said the expanded MCP allows AI assistants to build on existing projects within the platform, enabling users to generate news summaries, brand health reports and social media trend analyses using Meltwater's licensed media and social intelligence.

Meltwater Chief Product Officer, Chris Hackney said the enhancement allows users across organisations to access trusted intelligence directly through the AI tools they already use.

“Meltwater MCP means the analyst, the executive, and the intern can all ask the same question and get the same quality of answer, grounded in real Meltwater data,” he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, its Chief Technology Officer, Aditya Jami said the expanded MCP enables teams to use trusted Meltwater intelligence through their preferred AI assistants while allowing them to take action on the information rather than simply retrieve it.

Meltwater said its platform analyses more than 1.3 billion documents daily, providing media, social media and influencer intelligence for public relations, communications and marketing teams.

According to Meltwater, the expanded MCP is now generally available to its customers following more than a year of pilot programmes.

-- BERNAMA

DEWA LAUNCHES INTERNATIONAL ARM TO EXPAND GLOBAL ENERGY AND WATER PROJECTS

DEWA International launched as a wholly owned independent subsidiary of DEWA to develop global energy and water projects (Photo: AETOSWire)

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 (Bernama) -- Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has announced the establishment of DEWA International, its wholly owned independent subsidiary, to develop conventional and clean energy projects worldwide and export Dubai’s successful energy and water infrastructure model to global markets.

Dubai Supreme Council of Energy Chairman, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said Dubai has firmly established itself as a leading international benchmark through world-class infrastructure, particularly in the energy and water sectors.

In a statement, Sheikh Ahmed said the launch of DEWA International marks a strategic step towards extending this successful model to global markets and strengthening Dubai’s position as a source of knowledge and expertise in energy, water, sustainability and digital transformation.

Meanwhile, DEWA Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer said DEWA has powered Dubai’s growth for decades through high performance and efficiency.

“Now, we rank first globally in 13 key utility performance indicators and two regional benchmarks across generation, transmission, distribution and customer service. Our financial strength provides real strategic freedom through sustained revenue growth, strong margins and significant investing capacity,” said Saeed Mohammed.

He added that DEWA International will develop power and water projects using advanced technologies in partnership with leading organisations worldwide, with work already underway to identify opportunities, build a project pipeline and establish strategic partnerships.

-- BERNAMA

Defiance Launches Europe's First Photonics UCITS ETF (PHOT)

• Defiance has expanded its European ETF lineup with the launch of the Defiance Photonics UCITS ETF (ticker: PHOT).
• The ETF seeks to provide exposure to companies developing, manufacturing, and commercialising photonic technologies, the optical hardware that generates, moves, and processes data using light rather than electricity.
• This is Defiance's 5th launch since entering the European UCITS ETF market earlier this year. In that time, Defiance has accumulated $162.57 million in assets under management (AUM) across its UCITS product range.¹
• The ETF is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Borsa Italiana, with Xetra to follow.

MIAMI, July 9 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Defiance ETFs is excited to announce the launch of the Defiance Photonics UCITS ETF (ticker: PHOT), Europe's first photonics ETF. The Fund seeks to provide exposure to companies developing, manufacturing, and commercialising photonic technologies, the optical hardware that generates, moves, and processes data using light rather than electricity.

Defiance Photonics UCITS ETF
ISIN: IE000W1S2PT6
TER: 0.69%

Exchange Bloomberg Ticker SEDOL Trading Currency
LSE PHOT LN BQS89K8 USD
LSE PH0T LN BQS8NP3 GBP
Borsa Italiana PHOT IM BN6MZN8 USD

The AI capex buildout is becoming one of the largest corporate investment cycles in history. JP Morgan has estimated that global AI and data centre infrastructure spending could reach more than $5 trillion through 2030, with that spending reshaping demand across the technology supply chain, from power and cooling to memory and advanced networking.²

Photonics is emerging as a key part of this infrastructure story. Photonics is the use of light to generate, transmit, and process information. In data centres, this means replacing or complementing electrical connections with optical technologies that can move data between chips, servers, and racks at much higher speeds and with lower energy loss.³

AI systems require huge amounts of data to move continuously between processors, memory, and networking equipment. As AI clusters become larger, and as inference workloads scale, data movement is becoming a critical bottleneck in terms of bandwidth, latency, power consumption, and heat. Optical interconnects can move more data over longer distances than copper, while using less power per bit transmitted.⁴

The opportunity also extends beyond AI. Photonic technologies are increasingly important for cloud data centres, high-performance computing, telecom networks, and next-generation connectivity. As the digital economy requires faster, denser, and more energy-efficient data movement, photonics is becoming a critical enabling layer of the modern technology stack.

The Defiance Photonics UCITS ETF provides targeted exposure across the photonics value chain, including:
Optical components and light sources
Photonic semiconductors and interconnect chips
Optical systems and networking
Photonic foundries and manufacturing infrastructure
Enabling materials
These areas include technologies such as lasers, transceivers, fibre arrays, connectors, photonic integrated circuits, optical interposers, modulators, and other components used in modern optical connectivity.

This is Defiance's 5th launch since entering the European UCITS ETF market earlier this year.⁵


Defiance UCITS Lineup Ticker
Defiance AI & Power Infrastructure UCITS ETF AIPO
Defiance Photonics UCITS ETF PHOT
Defiance Memory UCITS ETF DRAM
Defiance Drone UCITS ETF DRON
Defiance Ukraine Reconstruction UCITS ETF UKRN


Sylvia Jablonski, CIO of Defiance ETFs, commented: “Defiance is excited to bring Europe's first photonics ETF to market. AI is generating more data than electrical connections can efficiently move, and photonics, the use of light to transmit and process information, is emerging as the answer. We built PHOT to give investors focused, transparent exposure to the companies across the photonics value chain, rather than a thin slice buried inside a broad tech basket.”

Hector McNeil, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of HANetf, commented: “We are delighted that Defiance is expanding its European range with the launch of the first photonics UCITS ETF. As AI and cloud computing continue to drive demand for faster and more efficient data movement, photonics is emerging as an increasingly important layer of the technology infrastructure stack. This launch gives European investors targeted access to companies helping to build the optical backbone needed to support the next phase of AI and digital connectivity.”

For full fund details, including the prospectus and Key Information Document, visit hanetf.com.

About Defiance ETFs
Founded in 2018, Defiance is a leading ETF issuer specializing in thematic, income, and leveraged ETFs. The firm manages 75+ ETFs designed to provide targeted exposure to high-growth sectors including AI infrastructure, quantum computing, drones and modern warfare, and other emerging technologies.

About HANetf
HANetf is an independent provider of UCITS ETFs, working with asset management companies to bring differentiated, modern, and innovative exposures to European ETF investors. Via our white-label ETF platform, HANetf provides a complete operational, regulatory, distribution and marketing solution for asset managers to launch and manage UCITS ETFs. www.hanetf.com

Media Contact
Brenda Hentschel | bhentschel@gregoryagency.com | 201.705.3758

For European media enquiries:
Italy: Elena Soffientini, Mymediarelation | soffientini@mymediarelation.it | +39 375 670 62 07
Germany: Caroline Chojnowski, Public Imaging | Caroline.Chojnowski@publicimaging.de | +49 (0)40-401 999 - 23

Important Information

Communications issued in the European Economic Area (“EEA”)
The content in this document is issued and approved by HANetf EU Limited (“HANetf EU”). HANetf EU is authorised and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. HANetf EU is registered in Ireland with registration number 728832.

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1. HANetf ICAV and HANetf ICAV II are open-ended Irish collective asset management vehicles and are the issuers of the ETFs under the terms in the relevant Prospectuses and relevant Supplements for each ETF approved by the Central Bank of Ireland (“CBI”) (each an “ETF Prospectus” and together the “ETF Prospectuses”). Investors should read the current version of the relevant ETF Prospectus before investing and should refer to the section of the relevant ETF Prospectus entitled ‘Risk Factors’ for further details of risks associated with an investment in the ETFs. Any decision to invest should be based on the information contained in the ETF Prospectuses.

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3. Bitwise Europe GmbH, a limited liability company incorporated under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, issuing under the terms in the Prospectus approved by the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (“BaFin”) and the final terms (“Cryptocurrency Prospectus”) is the issuer of the ETCM ETCs. Investors should read the latest version of the Cryptocurrency Prospectus before investing and should refer to the section of the Cryptocurrency Prospectus entitled ‘Risk Factors’ for further details of risks associated with an investment in the ETCs contained in the Cryptocurrency Prospectus. Any decision to invest should be based on the information contained in the Cryptocurrency Prospectus.

4. HANetf Multi-Asset ETC Issuer plc, a public company incorporated in Jersey, issuing under the terms in the Base Prospectuses approved by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Sw. Finansinspektionen) (the “SFSA”), the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and the final terms of the relevant series (“Multi-Asset ETC Securities Documentation”) is the issuer of ETCs linked to and secured by various underlying assets. Investors should read the latest version of the ETC Securities Documentation before investing and should refer to the section of the relevant Base Prospectus entitled ‘Risk Factors’ for further details of risks associated with an investment in the ETCs. Any decision to invest should be based on the information contained in the ETC Securities Documentation.

The relevant ETF Prospectuses, ETC Securities Documentation, Multi-Asset ETC Securities Documentation and Cryptocurrency Prospectus can all be downloaded from www.hanetf.com.

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FOR SWISS INVESTORS ONLY: The Fund has appointed as Swiss Representative Waystone Fund Services (Switzerland) SA, Av. Villamont 17, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland, Tel: +41 21 311 17 77, email: switzerland@waystone.com. The Fund’s Swiss paying agent is Helvetische Bank AG. The Prospectus, the Key Investor Information Documents, the Instrument of Incorporation as well as the annual and semi-annual reports may be obtained free of charge from the Swiss Representative in Lausanne. The issue and redemption prices are published at each issue and redemption on www.fundinfo.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/70f0dee7-ca38-44e4-96f3-5a5b058fb821

________________________________
¹ Source: HANetf; Bloomberg. Data as at 07/06/2026.
² Source: Data Centre Dynamics, 2025.
³ Source: CNBC, 2026.
⁴ Source: Forbes, 2026.
⁵ Source: HANetf; Bloomberg. Data as at 07/06/2026.

SOURCE: Defiance ETFs

DISCLAIMER: BERNAMA MREM are not accountable for any causes of website defacement, misuse, or illegal activities connected to cryptocurrency, blockchain, tokenisation, or bitcoin. This material should not be considered as guidance or an opinion, as it does not constitute financial or investment advice. Use this information at your own risk; we are not liable for any losses or damages caused by the republication of this article.

--BERNAMA

Record Launches "Record Amanah" Sharia-Compliant Investment Platform

 

LONDON, July 8 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Record Asset Management GmbH (RAM), subsidiary of London-listed Record plc (Record Financial Group), is pleased to announce the launch of Record Amanah, its dedicated platform for Sharia-compliant investment solutions.

RAM is the European asset management arm of Record Financial Group, the London-listed specialist investment group managing USD 115 billion of assets on behalf of institutional clients worldwide. Record's client base comprises pension funds, foundations, sovereign institutions and other asset managers, with whom the Group has built long-standing relationships through its focus on bespoke investment and risk management solutions. Headquartered in London, Record has offices in Hamburg, Zurich, Zug, New York, and Hong Kong.

The launch follows a series of successful Sharia-compliant transactions completed by Record, most recently for a client in Brunei, and reflects growing demand from institutional investors seeking investment opportunities that combine attractive risk-adjusted returns with adherence to Islamic finance principles.

Record Amanah has been established in partnership with Khalij Group (https://recordfg.com/what-we-do/private-markets/record-amanah/), a London-based team of Islamic finance specialists with extensive experience in structuring and advising on Sharia-compliant investments.

The platform will initially focus on private markets and private equity opportunities, offering investment solutions structured in accordance with established Sharia principles while maintaining the rigorous investment, risk management, and governance standards for which Record is known.

The initiative further expands Record's private markets capabilities and strengthens the Group's ability to serve a broader international investor base, particularly across the Middle East and Southeast Asia, where demand for Sharia-compliant investment solutions continues to grow.

Jan Hendrik Witte, CEO of Record Financial Group, commented:

"The launch of Record Amanah represents a natural evolution of our private markets strategy. We have already demonstrated our ability to deliver Sharia-compliant investment solutions for institutional clients, and this platform provides a dedicated framework through which we can expand those capabilities. By combining Record's investment expertise with Khalij's deep knowledge of Islamic finance, we believe we are well positioned to meet the growing demand for high-quality Sharia-compliant private market investments."

Asim Khan, CEO of Khalij Group, commented:

"Islamic finance is founded on principles of partnership, transparency and investment in productive economic activity. Through Record Amanah, we are bringing together these principles with Record's institutional investment expertise and global reach. We believe this partnership will create compelling opportunities for investors seeking access to private markets through structures that are both commercially attractive and fully aligned with Sharia values."

The launch forms part of Record's broader strategy of expanding its private markets offering and creating differentiated investment capabilities for clients globally.

View source version on businesswire.com:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260629448863/en/

Contact

Dr Jan Hendrik Witte
CEO
Record Financial Group
E: reception@recordfg.com
W: www.recordfg.com

Source : Record Financial Group

EIG'S MIDOCEAN SECURES US$1.13 BLN INVESTMENT FROM PRIVATE DEPARTMENT

Private Department of Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan Invests in MidOcean Energy and Forms Strategic Partnership with EIG

KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 (Bernama) -- EIG, an institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors, announced that its liquefied natural gas (LNG) company, MidOcean Energy (MidOcean), has secured a US$1.13 billion investment from the Private Department of Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan (Private Department). (US$1=RM4.07)

The Private Department also established a strategic partnership with EIG, focusing on capital aggregation, investment origination and the development of institutional investment opportunities in the United Arab Emirates and selected regional markets.

EIG in a statement said the investment marks the Private Department's entry into the global LNG sector and the beginning of a broader strategic relationship with the company.

Through the partnership, both parties intend to collaborate on future investment opportunities across the energy and related infrastructure sectors.

“We are pleased to establish a strategic partnership with the Private Department. This relationship combines EIG's global energy investment expertise with the Private Department's regional reach, institutional relationships, and long-term investment perspective.

“We believe this creates a powerful platform for capital formation and investment across the region,” said MidOcean Chairman and EIG Chief Executive Officer, R. Blair Thomas.

The investment further strengthens MidOcean's institutional shareholder base and reflects continued confidence in its strategy to build a diversified, resilient and long-life global LNG platform.

Formed and managed by EIG, MidOcean has assembled a portfolio of LNG interests across key global markets, including Canada, Australia and Latin America, and aims to further expand its global footprint through a disciplined, value-driven investment approach.

-- BERNAMA

PROXIMA FUSION SECURES 411 MLN EUROS TO ADVANCE FUSION POWER

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Bernama) -- Proxima Fusion has raised 411 million euros (US$468 million) in a financing round, valuing the company at 2.4 billion euros (US$2.7 billion) and making it Europe's best-funded fusion energy company. (US$1=RM4.08)

The financing round was led by XTX Ventures and East X Ventures, with German energy company RWE and Google participating as strategic investors.

According to Proxima Fusion, the funding will support the construction of Alpha, its net-energy stellarator demonstrator near Munich, Germany, and accelerate the development of technologies required for commercial fusion power plants.

Proxima Fusion co-founder and chief executive officer, Dr Francesco Sciortino said the investment demonstrates growing confidence in Europe's ability to develop globally competitive fusion technology companies.

“Investors recognise both the urgency and the opportunity of what we are doing and are backing us to develop a generational energy technology company,” he said in a statement.

The company said Alpha is being developed in partnership with the State of Bavaria, the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics and RWE to validate key technologies for future fusion power plants.

Proxima Fusion said the new funding will also support the completion of its Stellarator Model Coil, expansion of high-temperature superconducting cable and magnet production, and recruitment across engineering, manufacturing and operations.

-- BERNAMA