QRIS reaches 65.77 million users as Indonesia’s MSME payment rail deepens
Bank Indonesia reports 44.86 million accepting merchants, 96.68% of them MSMEs, turning QR payments into operating infrastructure rather than a niche checkout option.
Southeast Asia Connect
News
Named and dated developments across Southeast Asia.
DayOne lines up a 78.8-acre Selangor site for data-centre development
A conditional RM617.86 million land deal in Southville City adds a measurable infrastructure commitment, while approvals and a targeted 2027 completion still separate the agreement from delivery.
BINUS schedules health-tech lab and research translation programme
A scheduled laboratory launch and multidisciplinary programme aim to connect Indonesian health research with prototypes, clinical needs and universal-coverage priorities.
AIMX Singapore opens enterprise AI demonstrations and business matching
The Singapore event is organising demonstrations and business matching around operational AI use, but measurable deployment evidence will remain the standard.
Singapore puts AI agents in the productivity frame for smaller firms
The National Day Rally moved the SME discussion from AI that answers questions to agents that can execute routine work, while keeping adoption tied to safeguards and worker support.
Bank Indonesia links digital tools to productivity and finance for smaller firms
The central bank is pairing e-farming, e-commerce and financial-record tools with a broader innovation hub for Indonesia’s UMKM economy.
Ho Chi Minh City opens a 70-factory smart-manufacturing pilot
VSM 70 will give selected manufacturers a 90-day, no-fee improvement programme focused on practical production and supply-chain performance.
Malaysia widens Arm technology access for local chip and drone developers
Oppstar and Alphaswift bring the government-Arm programme to eight technology-access awards across five Malaysian companies.
Indonesia and China move AI cooperation into a technical working group
The new bilateral group is intended to turn high-level dialogue into work on AI development, technology transfer and industry participation.
NICE I&T takes 93% stake in Vietnam salon software platform EasySalon
The South Korean payments company has acquired control of a Vietnamese SaaS platform reported to serve more than 5,000 beauty businesses.
Chandra Asri agrees S$265m deal for Cycle & Carriage’s Singapore and Malaysia businesses
The conditional acquisition would move a long-established automotive distribution network into the Indonesian group’s regional mobility platform.
Liquid Group opens an Asia-to-Brazil QR payment corridor
The Singapore fintech has connected participating RoamQR wallets to Brazil’s Pix merchant network in the corridor’s first live phase.