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Building a Global EV Footprint: How VinFast and Local Partners Power Middle East Expansion
As EV adoption develops across the Middle East, VinFast is working with local partners across distribution, charging and aftersales to strengthen the ownership experience.
DUBAI, UAE – Media OutReach Newswire – 18 August 2026 – The global EV market is entering a stage where selling the vehicle is only part of the challenge. As more electric vehicles reach new markets, automakers with international reach also need to build the infrastructure, service capabilities and customer support systems that can sustain ownership long after the initial sale.
This is particularly relevant in the Middle East, where EV adoption is gaining momentum and international brands are expanding their presence. For newer EV manufacturers, establishing a reliable ownership ecosystem requires more than simply importing vehicles. It also means working with local partners that understand the market, regulations and customer expectations.
Vietnam-based VinFast is among the companies taking this approach. As it enters the Middle East, the company is making substantial commitments to customers, including a 10-year/200,000-km vehicle warranty, a 10-year unlimited-kilometer battery warranty and five years or 100,000 km of free service for the all-electric mid-size VF 8. Supporting such commitments requires an aftersales infrastructure capable of serving customers throughout the ownership journey, which is why VinFast is taking a partnership-led approach to its expansion in the UAE, combining its EV business with established local expertise across distribution, service and charging.
VinFast signed an exclusive dealership agreement with Al Tayer Motors in 2024 for the distribution of VinFast EVs in the UAE. Established in 1982, Al Tayer Motors is one of the UAE’s leading automotive groups and represents major European and American automotive brands. It has a network of sales, service and parts centers, supported by 2,700 employees and digital platforms including e-commerce and a dedicated app. Al Tayer Motors also planned to establish a network of VinFast facilities across the UAE, extending the brand’s local service infrastructure.
VinFast has continued to strengthen that infrastructure through additional partnerships. In February 2026, VinFast Middle East signed a Memorandum of Understanding with PlusX Electric, a DEWA-approved EV charging and electric mobility solutions provider in the UAE.
The partnership focuses on charging accessibility and customer support, with the two companies exploring Portable EV Charging Pods, on-demand mobile charging and emergency charging as part of EV roadside assistance. They will also explore scalable charging and mobile-support solutions for commercial and fleet customers, as well as digital integration to streamline charging bookings and service updates.
The same partnership model extends to VinFast’s wider global aftersales strategy. At its 2026 Global Business Conference, the company signed MOUs with 29 aftersales partners across its international markets, including the Middle East. The partners are expected to establish EV service workshops that meet VinFast’s global standards, while VinFast aims to expand to more than 1,100 service workshops globally in 2026. The network will be supported by standardized technician training and certification, consistent operating procedures and quality controls, while its parts network targets delivery of common spare parts within 24 hours in key markets.
For EV brands entering the Middle East, the strength of the local support network can therefore become a competitive advantage. As VinFast’s UAE strategy shows, bringing an EV to market increasingly means building the capabilities around it that can make ownership dependable over the long term.
Hashtag: #VinFast
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With 1.93 million tertiary-educated workers in roles below their qualification level, employment alone may no longer be an adequate measure of career progress.
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 18 August 2026 – Malaysia’s labour market has remained resilient, with overall unemployment falling to 2.9% in the first quarter of 2026. However, the figures may conceal a deeper challenge faced by qualified workers who may be employed without meaningfully progressing in their careers. During the same period, 1.93 million tertiary-educated workers, or 35.2%, were employed in semi-skilled or low-skilled roles.
This points to a gap between employment and career progression, particularly whether the workers’ qualifications and experience are helping them move into more skilled, complex and higher-values roles.
“We need to shift the conversation from employability to career mobility. Being employed is not the same as progressing,” said Lim Bee Ing, Centre Director of The University of Manchester South East Asia Centre. “For experienced professionals in Malaysia, progression increasingly requires the ability to lead across functions, make strategic decisions and navigate change. Purposeful postgraduate education can help build those capabilities.”
Evidence across Manchester’s MBA programmes also points to rising cross-field mobility rather than individual employment factors like qualification alone. Its latest MBA employment report found that 59% of the 2024 class changed sector, while 27% changed country, industry and job function.
Experience alone does not guarantee progress
For working professionals, career mobility depends on more than time spent in a role. Both workplace experience and postgraduate education can support progression when they help build broader capabilities, prepare professionals for more complex work and lead to greater responsibility.
Experience builds capability when professionals encounter new problems, assume higher responsibilities and make increasingly complex decisions. Years spent performing largely the same scope of work, however, may not translate into equivalent professional growth.
Similarly, a Master’s can support progression when it is linked to a clear career transition, such as moving from a specialist to a managerial role, changing functions or industries, taking on regional responsibilities, or leading digital and organisational transformation. It is less likely to deliver meaningful results when pursued as a standalone credential or with the expectation of an automatic promotion or salary increase.
“For experienced professionals, the value of an MBA is not simply in acquiring more knowledge, but in seeing their experience through a broader business lens,” said Xavier Duran, Global MBA Programme Director at Alliance Manchester Business School. “That broader perspective can help prepare them for the next stage of their career, whether that means moving into leadership, changing function or industry, or even taking on greater international responsibility.”
Preparing professionals for changing employer needs
Employer expectations are also evolving. Communication, problem-solving and strategic thinking remain important, while organisations increasingly require professionals who can interpret data, understand technology and navigate the impact of artificial intelligence.
As these demands reshape the workplace, an individual can remain technically qualified and continuously employed while becoming less prepared for their next role.
Studying while working can help bridge this gap by allowing professionals to apply new concepts directly to live organisational challenges. It also enables them to examine their experience critically and connect their existing expertise with wider areas such as strategy, finance, people and technology.
The Manchester Global Part-time MBA follows this model through flexible learning, interactive workshops and practical business projects for experienced professionals. Their applicants enter with an average of 12 years of professional experience, including six years in management, underscoring that the programme is designed to build on established careers rather than replace workplace experience.
Postgraduate education is not for salary increase alone
Career progression should be looked at beyond just salary benchmarking. More meaningful indicators include movement into higher-skilled work, broader decision-making responsibility, access to regional or international opportunities and the ability to lead more complex projects.
Malaysia has made progress in helping graduates enter and remain in the workforce. The next priority should be to turn employment into sustained progression, ensuring that talent continues to develop and move into work that makes fuller use of its capabilities.
More information on the MA in Educational Leadership in Practice (ELiP) is available at www.manchester.com.my/ma-educational-leadership-in-practice/.
Hashtag: #UniversityofManchester
http://www.manchester.com.my/ma-educational-leadership-in-practice/
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About The University of Manchester & Alliance Manchester Business School
The University of Manchester is ranked 35th in the world by QS World University Rankings 2026, 5th in the UK research powerhouse in REF 2021 and 2nd in THE Impact ranking 2025. With as many as 26 Nobel Prize winners, the University’s academic pedigree is among the best globally.
Alliance Manchester Business School, part of the University of Manchester, is one of the UK’s leading business schools and holds triple accreditation from AMBA, AACSB and EQUIS. The university has a global alumni network and more than 60,000 graduates across 176 countries.
Media OutReach
Linde Malaysia, Monash University Malaysia And Mida Champion Industrial Decarbonisation Through Landmark Tripartite Conference
A First-Of-Its-Kind Collaboration Uniting Industry, Academia And Government To Drive Sustainable Industrial Innovation In Support Of Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR)
SELANGOR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 18 August 2026 – Linde Malaysia Sdn Bhd, in partnership with Monash University Malaysia and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), successfully convened the Linde-Monash University Sustainability Conference 2026, a landmark tripartite summit that brought together industry, academia and government to accelerate practical industrial decarbonisation solutions and support Malaysia’s energy transition agenda.
Explaining the initiative, Linde Malaysia Managing Director, Ms. Hoo Peih Yoke, said, “This collaboration connects sustainability ambitions with practical industry action by bringing together technology, research and supportive policy frameworks. By leveraging the combined strengths of each partner, the conference sought to facilitate knowledge exchange and identify actionable pathways for sustainable growth within the nation’s industrial sector. The focus is to ensure accessibility and usability within the industrial sector to drive real-world application and meaningful progress.”
Anchored on the theme “Shaping Tomorrow’s Energy”, the conference brought together Linde Malaysia’s expertise as a leading industrial gases and engineering solutions provider, Monash University Malaysia’s strengths in sustainability research, innovation and talent development, and national policy priorities represented by key government agencies, including the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA).
The collaboration aims to accelerate the adoption of clean energy solutions and green investments, foster dialogue between industry, academia and government, and showcase viable technologies that support zero-emission and low-carbon industrial transformation. These efforts align with Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR), which charts an energy transition pathway towards a low-carbon economy and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The conference featured distinguished special addresses from key government and industry leaders, underscoring the national importance of the energy transition agenda. Delivering an address on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, YAB Dato’ Sri Haji Fadillah Yusof, was Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA) Secretary‑General (KSU), Dato’ Sri Hj Mad Zaidi Bin Mohd Karli, who said:
“We welcome more collaborations that strengthen industrial capabilities, accelerate technology adoption and support the development of local expertise.”
Dato’ Sri Hj Mad Zaidi added, “These partnerships are instrumental in ensuring Malaysia remains an attractive destination for high‑value investments while advancing towards our energy transition goals.”
The Linde-Monash University Sustainability Conference 2026 attracted approximately 400 participants, comprising government officials, more than 200 corporate representatives from key industrial sectors, academic leaders, researchers, and students. Held at the Monash University Malaysia auditorium, the conference served as a platform for cross-sector collaboration to advance sustainable industrial practices.
Monash University Malaysia Head of School, Professor Anthony Guo, said, “This conference represents a true tripartite strategic alliance between government policy, industrial deployment, and academic research. It reflects Monash’s deep commitment to advancing sustainability through research excellence, preparing future‑ready talent to lead Malaysia’s energy transition and building partnerships that help shape tomorrow’s energy landscape.”
A key highlight of the Linde-Monash University Sustainability Conference 2026 was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Linde Malaysia and Monash University Malaysia, officiated by Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA) Secretary‑General (KSU), Dato’ Sri Hj Mad Zaidi Bin Mohd Karli.
The MoU marks a significant milestone in strengthening industry-academia collaboration to support Malaysia’s sustainability and energy transition ambitions. The partnership establishes a framework for long-term collaboration in education, research, talent development, and sustainability initiatives, fostering knowledge exchange, practical learning opportunities, and the advancement of industrial decarbonisation efforts.
At its core, the collaboration pursues three clear objectives: accelerating corporate and industrial adoption of clean energy and green investments across Malaysia; establishing an open dialogue platform that connects industry players, academic researchers, and government stakeholders; and showcasing viable, highly technical solutions for zero-emission and low-carbon industrial setups. These efforts are squarely aligned with Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR), which charts the country’s shift from a fossil-fuel-based economy to a low-carbon framework, with a net-zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) target as early as 2050.
The conference featured discussions on practical, commercially deployable technologies that can be integrated into existing industrial operations, including hydrogen solutions, electrolysers, Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), biomethane and biomass LNG, Cryogenic Energy Recovery (CER), and cleaner combustion technologies.
Primary sectors poised to benefit include oil and gas, oleochemicals, chemicals, food and beverage, semiconductors, energy, steel and metallurgy, and glass manufacturing. These heavy and precision industries stand to achieve substantial carbon reductions alongside meaningful operational efficiencies by adopting these solutions.
Throughout the conference, Linde’s panel of speakers shared international success stories and proven case studies from markets where these technologies are already in operation. Participants also gained insights into emerging green investment frameworks supported by MIDA, practical pathways for scaling up sustainable technologies, and Linde’s portfolio of readily deployable solutions that help industries achieve their sustainability goals while supporting Malaysia’s energy transition.
Looking ahead, the tripartite framework is aimed at fostering further collaboration between industry, academia and government through ongoing dialogue, knowledge sharing and joint initiatives that advance research, technical education and industrial innovation, supporting Malaysia’s long-term energy transition and net-zero ambitions.
Hashtag: #Energy #EnergyTransition #NETR #MalaysiaNETR #SustainableMalaysia #GreenInvestmentMalaysia #MalaysiaEnergyTransition #NetZero2050 #Decarbonisation #CleanEnergy #LowCarbonFuture #Sustainability #SustainableGrowth #TripartiteCollaboration #IndustryAcademiaGovernment #PublicPrivatePartnership #CollaborationForImpact #ShapingTomorrowsEnergy #MoU #FutureReadyTalent #InnovationInAction #SustainabilityResearch #EngineeringForNetZero #MonashMalaysia
https://www.linde.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/lindeinasean/?originalSubdomain=my
https://www.instagram.com/lindeplc/
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Linde
Linde is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company with 2025 sales of $34 billion. We live our mission of making our world more productive every day by providing high-quality solutions, technologies and services which are making our customers more successful and helping to sustain, decarbonize and protect our planet.
Linde serves a variety of end markets such as chemicals & energy, food & beverage, electronics, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and mining. Linde’s industrial gases and technologies are used in countless applications, enabling space exploration and launch technologies, delivering ultra-high-purity and specialty gases for semiconductor manufacturing, providing life-saving medical oxygen and enabling clean hydrogen production and carbon capture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Linde also delivers state-of-the-art gas processing solutions to support customer growth, efficiency improvements and emissions reductions.
For more information about the company and its products and services, please visit www.linde.com
Media OutReach
V3 Group’s Health and Wellness Supplements Brand LAC Acquires MASQUELIER’S® French Pine Bark Extract; Continues Business Expansion Across East Asia, the Middle East and Africa
Rooted in the work of renowned French scientist Professor Jack Masquelier, a pioneer in the research and development of oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs), MASQUELIER’S® is distinguished by its proprietary fingerprinted format’s extraction expertise, and decades of scientific research into the antioxidant properties of OPCs, supported by clinical studies.
Ron Sim, Founder and Executive Chairman, V3 Group, said, “Health is becoming one of the defining priorities for consumers globally. People are living longer, but the opportunity is to help them live better. The acquisition of MASQUELIER’S® brings decades of European nutritional science into LAC, strengthening the scientific foundation of our portfolio. Singapore remains our home market, and we are grateful for the trust our customers have placed in us over the years. We remain committed to serving them through our extensive retail presence across Singapore’s malls, even as we take LAC into new markets and pursue our ambition to build a health and wellness brand born in Asia for consumers globally.”
MASQUELIER’S® is also the originator and trademark holder of MASQUELIER’S® Anthogenol, one of the most widely recognised OPC supplement brands across Asia Pacific. LAC’s acquisition extends beyond a single product line to bring the foundational intellectual property and scientific heritage behind an established category into its portfolio. To date, MASQUELIER’S® French Pine Bark Extract has sold over 250 million tablets, making it one of LAC’s most significant and enduring product platforms across its Asian markets.
Accelerating LAC Global’s Regional Expansion
LAC has continued to accelerate its regional expansion since the start of 2026, building on nearly three decades of organic growth across Asia Pacific. Today, LAC operates more than 250 retail stores across Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan China, Hong Kong and Vietnam, complemented by franchise operations in Mongolia, India, Indonesia and Thailand. Its physical footprint is supported by a growing e-commerce business, extending access to LAC’s portfolio of health and wellness solutions across the region. Beyond Asia, LAC products are also available in select markets across Africa, the Middle East and South America.
This expansion reflects LAC’s ambition to become Asia’s defining homegrown health and wellness brand. Through its directly owned retail and e-commerce network, supported by continued product innovation, LAC is making science-backed nutrition and supplementation more accessible to consumers across the region. As ageing populations, rising health consciousness and growing wellness expenditure reshape consumer priorities, LAC is well positioned to meet increasing demand for preventive health and everyday wellness solutions.
Looking ahead, LAC will deepen its presence in existing markets while pursuing new growth opportunities across Asia Pacific and internationally. Alongside its geographic expansion, LAC will continue to invest in product innovation and science-backed nutritional solutions, with a focus on preventive health, healthy ageing and the evolving wellness needs of consumers.
As LAC’s parent company, V3 Group will continue to support its growth through strategic capital, operational capabilities and regional connectivity. Across its broader portfolio, V3 Group remains focused on businesses with strong fundamentals and long-term growth potential, with the aim of building category-leading brands and platforms from Asia for the world.
Hashtag: #LAC #V3Group
https://www.lac.com/en/homeThe issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About LAC Global
Headquartered in Singapore, LAC Global is one of Asia’s largest specialty retailers in nutritional supplements, vitamins, minerals, herbal, and other specialty supplements in Anti-ageing and Beauty, Immunity, Weight Management, Sports Nutrition, and Energy.
The Company owns the LAC brand, short for Leader in Antioxidative Control™, a leading health and wellness supplement brand with a global presence. Since its founding, LAC has embarked on a pioneering journey to develop scientifically based formulas, harnessing the best of eastern wisdom and western technology to fight free radicals, combat ageing brought forth by oxidative stress, and support you daily in looking, feeling, and functioning at your best. Having established a global presence since 1997, LAC’s reach includes Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Vietnam, U.S., Central and South Americas, Africa and the Middle East.
About V3 Group
V3 Group is a Singapore-based holding company with a globally diversified portfolio that includes leading brands and businesses in the well-being, luxury gourmet, capital markets, real estate, and integrated healthcare services segments.
The Group is guided by three Vs – the Vision to create exceptional brands of distinctive quality, nurtured by leaders with Valour, and anchored by our Values of innovation, ownership, and excellence. V3 refers to these three core qualities, as well as the three units that drive our growth – V3 Assets, V3 Brands, V3 Capital.
Collectively, our brands and businesses engage over 3 million customers worldwide with a combined footprint of over 5,000 retail touchpoints in 118 cities across 26 countries.
The Group has its roots in the iconic OSIM brand founded by visionary entrepreneur Ron Sim over 40 years ago. A pioneer in well-being technology in Asia, Ron has forged ahead on the success of OSIM to create valuable brands and assets in sectors that include e-commerce, nutrition, gourmet lifestyle, real estate assets and integrated healthcare services.
