international

HONG KONG :Goldman Sachs is merging three Asian investment banking businesses it previously managed separately into a single unit to integrate its regional deals advisory and capital market capabilities, according to a memo reviewed by Reuters. Iain Drayton, head of the Wall Street bank’s investment banking business in Asia excluding Japan, will lead the integrated Asia Pacific investment banking unit, said the internal memo issued on Thursday. A bank spokesperson confirmed the memo’s content. “This structure will enable more holistic client engagement, more effective deployment of global and regional expertise, and increased career opportunities for our people,” Goldman Sachs said in the memo. In the new role, Drayton will work closely with Yoshihiko Yano and Shogo Matsuzawa, co-heads of investment banking in Japan, and Nick Sims and Zac Fletcher, co-heads of corporate advisory in Australia and New Zealand, the memo said. A Goldman Sachs veteran, Drayton joined the firm in Tokyo as a managing director in 2006, relocated to Hong Kong in 2010, and was named a partner in 2014. Goldman Sachs ranks at the top of the Asia Pacific equity capital market league table this year, according to Dealogic data.–REUTERS

SINGAPORE: The Global Asia Insurance Partnership (GAIP) has announced the appointment of Min Hung Cheng as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective 6 May 2025. This internal promotion marks a significant step forward for the organisation, as Min Cheng transitions from her role as Deputy CEO and Senior Director to lead the next phase of GAIP’s development. Cheng brings with her a wealth of industry expertise, strategic insight, and a strong familiarity with GAIP’s mission and operations. Her appointment reflects both her leadership within the organisation and her ability to guide GAIP as it shifts its focus from strategic planning to execution. Over the past four years, GAIP has embarked on a journey to address critical protection gaps across Asia. The organisation was first established under the founding CEO’s leadership, which laid its essential foundations. A second phase followed, led by CEO John Maroney, focusing on consolidation and strategic development. With Cheng at the helm, GAIP is now entering its third phase—focused on accelerating programmes, strengthening multi-sector collaboration, and driving impact. Yoshi Kawai, Chairman of GAIP, expressed strong confidence in the appointment. “We are delighted to appoint Min Cheng as GAIP’s new CEO. Her understanding of GAIP’s mission and her proven capability to execute strategies effectively will be invaluable as we continue our journey. We also extend our appreciation to the previous CEO, John Maroney, for his leadership, positioning us for Min to lead the execution. As we enter this next phase of growth, I am confident that Min will accelerate our key initiatives and strengthen GAIP’s impact across the insurance industry.” In her statement, Cheng said, “I am honoured to step into the role of CEO at GAIP. While much work remains ahead, I am committed to building upon the important groundwork laid. I look forward to working with our partners and stakeholders to translate our vision into action, fostering multi-sector collaboration and sustainable solutions that build risk resilience in Asia and beyond. The support from our partners has been crucial to our progress, and I am dedicated to maintaining and building on these collaborative efforts.” GAIP was established as a platform for collaboration between the public and private sectors, academia, and the insurance industry. Under Cheng’s leadership, the organisation is poised to deepen its impact, turning strategy into tangible outcomes that address Asia’s evolving risk landscape. The GAIP community extends its warmest congratulations to Min Hung Cheng and looks forward to this new chapter under her leadership.

SINGAPORE: Observability platform New Relic has appointed Manivannan Govindan as its new Senior Director of Enterprise Sales for Asia. Based in Singapore, Govindan will join the company’s regional leadership team, working alongside Simon Lee, Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific and Japan; Rob Newell, Group Vice President of Customer Adoption; and Denis Maguire, Senior Director of Enterprise Sales for Australia and New Zealand. In this new role, Govindan will be responsible for driving strategic growth and ensuring customer success across the Asian market. His appointment signals New Relic’s ongoing commitment to expanding its footprint in Asia, amid rising demand for observability tools among enterprises seeking to modernise and optimise cloud investments. Govindan brings more than 25 years of experience in the monitoring and observability space, having held previous leadership roles at Cisco, Amazon, and CA Technologies. His deep industry knowledge and regional expertise will be pivotal as businesses across Asia Pacific increasingly adopt digital and hybrid cloud infrastructures. “Asia is a very promising market for New Relic,” said Simon Lee, SVP of Asia Pacific and Japan at New Relic. “There is tremendous growth potential across traditional enterprises looking to modernise, as well as digital natives requiring scale and agility. With extensive experience in the Asian observability market, I couldn’t be more excited to have Manivannan join the team and take our Asian business to new heights, while delivering real value for our customers.” The appointment comes as enterprises across Asia Pacific accelerate their digital transformation journeys, investing in cloud-native and hybrid solutions to remain competitive. According to Gartner, global end-user spending on public cloud services is expected to reach USD $723.4 billion in 2025, up from USD $595.7 billion in 2024. The firm also predicts that 90% of organisations will adopt a hybrid cloud strategy by 2027. The New Relic Intelligent Observability Platform is positioned to help businesses navigate these complex environments by providing real-time visibility across their tech stacks, reducing tool sprawl, and improving digital experience outcomes. “Customers in Asia are rapidly driving digital transformation and adopting multi-cloud and containerised applications, while retaining complex backends in hybrid architectures,” said Govindan. “New Relic is uniquely positioned to help Asian enterprises achieve visibility across their entire IT estates, ultimately helping them reduce complexity while ensuring the availability and performance of their digital services. I couldn’t be more excited to join the team and help demonstrate the power of the New Relic Intelligent Observability Platform.” Govindan’s appointment follows a series of recent updates from New Relic, including enhancements to its Intelligent Observability Platform and a reimagined Partner Program aimed at fostering ecosystem growth. The programme now includes stronger incentives, improved training modules, and more accessible certifications for partners. With over 20 new innovations and integrations, the platform’s latest updates leverage AI-powered insights to help enterprises improve uptime, manage cloud costs, and maintain business continuity.

HONG KONG: Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) marked a major milestone with its highly anticipated debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 20 May. The company’s IPO raised US$4.6 billion, making it the largest global IPO of the year to date. On its first trading day, CATL shares surged by 16.42%, closing at HK$306.20, well above the offer price of HK$263. Initially targeting a US$4 billion raise, strong investor demand led to an upsized offering. Roughly 90% of the proceeds will be channelled into the construction of a new manufacturing facility in Hungary, reinforcing CATL’s ambitions to expand its European footprint. The listing overtakes Japan’s JX Advanced Metals (US$2.98 billion) as the biggest IPO globally in 2025. In comparison, South Korea’s much-anticipated LG CNS IPO raised US$820 million. CATL’s strong performance comes despite geopolitical headwinds, including rising U.S.-China tensions and U.S. Department of Defense sanctions. The Pentagon had in January listed CATL among Chinese firms alleged to support military modernisation. Additionally, CATL faced scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers, who urged JPMorgan and Bank of America to withdraw from the IPO. In response, CATL utilised the Regulation S framework to exclude U.S. investors, ensuring regulatory compliance while bypassing U.S. securities disclosure requirements. The successful listing underscores CATL’s continued dominance in the global battery supply chain and signals resilient investor appetite in strategic sectors, even amid a complex geopolitical backdrop.–BUSINESS KOREA

BANGKOK: Thailand’s export sector is on track to exceed its 2% to 3% growth target for the year, according to Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan. This upbeat outlook is driven by stronger shipments to markets beyond the United States. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Pichai said that while the U.S. remains Thailand’s top export destination, diversification efforts are yielding results. “We are seeing encouraging demand from alternative markets, which is helping cushion the impact of trade frictions,” he noted. Thailand is currently facing a 36% tariff on goods exported to the United States. The government aims to address this by seeking a trade discussion with U.S. counterparts later this month in hopes of negotiating a resolution. Despite these trade challenges, the ministry remains optimistic about the export sector’s performance, citing resilient demand and proactive engagement with new trading partners.–REUTERS

Thailand is aiming to reduce its trade surplus with the United States by as much as $5 billion annually—approximately one-third of the current figure—through recent measures to curb the misuse of origin rules in exports, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira announced. Speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce conference in Bangkok on Tuesday, Mr Pichai underscored the government’s commitment to implementing anti-circumvention policies that will promote a fair and sustainable trade and investment partnership with the United States. While he did not specify a timeline, the projected reduction would represent a significant portion of Thailand’s $46 billion trade surplus with Washington recorded in the previous year. To address growing trade tensions and avoid the imposition of a proposed 36% tariff on Thai exports, the Thai government has submitted a detailed framework of proposals to the US administration. These proposals include actions to counter trade rerouting practices by Chinese firms, reduce both tariff and non-tariff barriers, and enhance bilateral investment. Mr Pichai expressed confidence in the initiatives, stating they are “practical and viable” and have the potential to produce “win-win results” and “tangible quick wins” for both nations. Thailand is prioritising a trade agreement with the United States to mitigate economic headwinds, as the country faces downward revisions in growth forecasts from the central bank and the World Bank. The US remained Thailand’s largest export destination last year, accounting for 18% of total shipments. In a related development, Thai authorities announced on Monday the suspension of investment promotion for sectors associated with oversupply or environmental concerns. Additionally, the government will intensify the evaluation of new investment proposals to ensure that core production activities are conducted within the country. Measures have also been introduced to simplify the issuance process for certificates of origin, alongside the expansion of a product watchlist to include more industrial goods. Looking ahead, Thailand is also positioning itself to boost private sector investment in the United States, particularly in sectors such as energy, digital technology, infrastructure, wellness tourism and creative industries. According to Nalinee Taveesin, President of Thailand Trade Representatives, Thai firms are prepared to invest at least $2 billion in the US. This follows a recent delegation of Thai business leaders to the US to explore investment opportunities. Furthermore, Thailand has signalled interest in participating in a major gas pipeline initiative in Alaska, which has received support from President Donald Trump. -Bloomberg

Pfizer has entered into a licensing agreement valued at approximately US$6 billion (RM25.74 billion) with Chinese biopharmaceutical company 3SBio Inc, advancing a strategic collaboration for the development, manufacturing, and commercialisation of a cancer treatment currently under clinical evaluation. The agreement centres on SSGJ-707, a drug candidate undergoing multiple clinical trials in China for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, and gynaecological tumours. 3SBio is expected to initiate the first Phase III trial of the compound in China later this year. In a separate statement, 3SBio confirmed that SSGJ-707 has secured Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration, a key regulatory milestone supporting further clinical development. As part of the agreement, 3SBio and its subsidiaries will grant Pfizer global rights to SSGJ-707, excluding the Chinese market. The deal includes an option for Pfizer to obtain commercialisation rights within China at a later stage. Pfizer has announced that it will manufacture the drug substance for SSGJ-707 at its facility in Sanford, North Carolina, while the drug product will be produced in McPherson, Kansas. Additionally, Pfizer intends to make a US$100 million equity investment in 3SBio upon the close of the transaction, which is anticipated to be completed in the third quarter of 2025. -Reuters