Maximising Mobile Messaging: The Dawn of a New Age and Opportunity for Mobile Operators

READING, England, Oct. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ —

Acision Broadband Messaging Service Centre (BMSC) – the one-stop-shop of messaging services over 2G, 3G and LTE

Based on its own consumer research and expertise in the mobile industry, Acision, the global leader in mobile messaging, today reveals why operators are presented with a major opportunity to enrich the mobile messaging experience and enhance applications and services in the ‘smart’ device world. As we move into a new era of communication and connectivity, where ever-richer IP-based services are now prolific, operators are in a unique position to set themselves apart from other messaging providers. By enabling seamless messaging across all networks (2G, 3G, 4G/LTE), devices, social networks and communities, operators can provide an unmatched user experience to boost loyalty, retention and revenue.

Marco Wanders, EVP Product Division at Acision, commented: “Today, operators’ most significant messaging service, SMS, continues to prove popular and generates huge amounts of revenue. At the same time, a new breed of messaging services are taking the world by storm. These are rich, IP- based services with an enriched user experience, pioneered by Over-The-Top (OTT) messaging. Their market uptake has been augmented by user perception that these services are free and this has put increased pressure on operators’ messaging revenue as users opt for ‘free’ solutions when online over other methods of communication.

“To combat these pressures, operators need to act now while the opportunity is ripe, by providing enriched messaging services which resonate with the user. As experienced service providers, with a solid customer base, reputation of trust and quality, as well as insight into user behaviour, they are in a unique position to leverage existing assets while integrating new messaging services into their offering, like those defined under the GSMA’s Rich Communication Suite (RCS) initiative – providing an optimum user experience with ubiquitous availability regardless of handset, network or location.”

To reinforce the significance of the operator opportunity, Acision’s own messaging research indicates that there is a clear appetite for a rich, ubiquitous messaging service provided from operators. Questioning 1250 Smartphone users about their messaging requirements (from the UK and US), respondents were asked about the attractiveness of a new operator-based service that provided SMS/MMS/IM/group chat and file/video sharing that reaches all mobile users. Over half of Smartphone users questioned (52%) stated they would use such a service, with just 5% stating they would not use it at all. Even in the younger age bracket of 18-34 years, where OTT apps are prevalent – 60% of Smartphone owners stated they were highly interested in such a service from their mobile operator.

When asked what this messaging service should look like, top requirements were related to service characteristics rather than features. Price, already identified as the main driver to OTT service uptake, was also the number one requirement for adoption of a new rich messaging service, including lower price compared to the existing service (63%) and service included in package (57%). The second most important requirements all relate to Quality of Service, and corresponded to strengths of SMS including reliability (50%), instant delivery (45%) and ability to reach everyone (42%). Finally, there was also a clear need for enhanced messaging features including: support for multiple devices (35%); content sharing (32%); ‘is-typing’ indication (24%); conversational view (24%); group chat (18%) and status sharing (14%). For further insight or to download our report on “Seizing the Opportunity in Mobile Messaging”, please click here.

Wanders continued: “Our research clearly demonstrates that key user requirements are twofold. A need for universal reach with the uncompromised Quality of Service they expect from their operator, as well as the rich features, such as file share and group chat. With this in mind, many operators are well positioned to carve out a clear role in the new mobile messaging ecosystem, as they compete with internet players to serve user demand. To remain the messaging provider of choice, operators can provide a one-stop-shop, which offers the rich features of IP messaging, combined with the reliability and ubiquity that consumers have grown to appreciate in SMS. In particular, the reach of SMS is an extremely powerful enhancement that operators can exclusively offer as part of IP messaging services, setting them apart from other players. Acision is completely committed to helping operators make IP messaging services a global success by leveraging our unique expertise and market-leading technology in messaging.”

Acision Broadband Messaging Service Centre (BMSC):

Acision’s Broadband Messaging Service Centre (BMSC) enables mobile operators to quickly move forward, take the lead and differentiate through rich, IP messaging services. As a single integrated communications solution which works across all networks from 2G to LTE, Acision BMSC provides the full set of IP messaging services, including SMS, MMS, voicemail and the GSMA’s Rich Communication Suite (RCS) of services such as instant messaging, group chat, file transfer and video sharing.

As a unique value add to operators, Acision BMSC goes beyond RCS standards by enabling a consistent user experience across all messaging services:

3rd parties and enterprises benefit from the richer messaging services using RCS capabilities as enhancements to the popular SMS / MMS services we know today.
Network Value Added Services (auto-reply, copy forward, parental control) applied across SMS, MMS and RCS.
Seamless interaction across mobile and internet messaging communities and social networks.
This provides early RCS adopters with connectivity to the global mobile community of 5 billion users from day one, while extending the existing SMS user experience with enriched features and enabling operators to monetise the growing RCS user base with premium services, applications and content. For more information on Acision BMSC click here.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Methodology

The Acision messaging research was carried out in 2012 by Vanson Bourne, a specialist research-led consultancy, which carries out user research within a technology context. The research was conducted with a sample of 1,000 adults in the UK and 1,000 adults in the US.

About Acision

As the global leader in mobile messaging, Acision connects the world by powering relevant, seamless messaging services, which enrich the mobile communications experience and create new opportunities for carriers and enterprises across the world. For more information, visit Acision at http://www.acision.com

Fashion Access Enjoys Solid Turnout, Impresses with New Features

HONG KONG/PRNewswire/ — Fashion Access, the leading international fashion fair for bags, footwear, small leathergoods, fashion accessories, travelware and lifestyle products, enjoyed a strong turnout of buyers, impressing them with numerous new features during its 3-day run from September 27 to 29 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC).

Discover Quality Bags & Accessories in Fashion Access

Visitors’ Registration with Buyers from Around the World
The fair marked an 9.13% increase in visitor numbers over September 2011 figures. Fifty-four countries were represented, with Hong Kong-based stores and buying offices leading the pack, resulting in a 30.95% increase in Hong Kong buyer attendance over 2011’s figure of 1,328. China came in second with 798 buyers, up by 11.45%. Japan buyers made up the third largest contingent with 243. Rounding out the top 10 countries list were Australia, Italy, South Korea, Russia Federation, Taiwan, the Philippines and the USA.
“The increase in buyers is perhaps reflective of the fact that the fashion and leathergoods sectors – particularly leathergoods – have consistently outpaced the overall luxury goods market, and weathered the 2008/09 storm with much more resilience than the watches and jewellery category,” says Mintel, a leading global supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence. Nonetheless, growth in the fashion and leathergoods market slowed from 20.6% in 2010 to 17.6% in 2011. Mintel expects growth rates for 2012 to be a little below those seen in 2011 but does not expect any major slowdown in growth.
In her Fashion Access seminar on “Buying Accessories for the European Market”, Sandrine Williamson of Galeries Lafayette Group in Paris said: “despite the slowing down of the economy in Europe, sales of bags and fashion accessories would continue growing at the rate of at least 5-10% in the next few years.” Perrine Ardouin, events director of APLF which organises the fair, noted that “the importance of fashion accessories and leathergoods to the global fashion business is unquestionable. There will always be a strong demand especially for leather bags and shoes, particularly those in the luxury market.”
Visitors were also treated to a new look in the Fashion Avenue hall, a section of the fair dedicated to brands. Perhaps the most welcome addition to Fashion Avenue was the 43-exhibitor strong “Shoes from Italy” show brought in by the Italian Footwear Manufacturers Association, ANCI. This was complemented by the 10 exhibitors of bags and leathergoods under the Italian Leathergoods Manufacturers Association, AIMPES.
Jaclyn Wood of Metro Group Buying in Hong Kong said: “It is nice to see some good European products in Fashion Access, in terms of both design and quality, especially the Italian Shoes, which are out of my expectation. I am satisfied with my visit as a whole and looking forward to coming back another time.”
The excellent presentations of the 300+ exhibitors particularly in the various country pavilions including those of mainland China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia as well as those of the Design Zone exhibitors from Thailand and Malaysia afforded buyers with a wide selection to choose from.
“I feel satisfied with the wide range of products in Fashion Access. The number of suppliers is more than our expectation and we can find all the things we need right here with really good prices and quality,” said Tom De Poortere of Essentiel, Belgium. His view was echoed by Jessica Low, Lianbee-Jeco, Singapore: “Fashion Access is the right place to look for new styles. Here it offers lots of suppliers and latest fashion trends that one could not find in the other fairs.”
“Changes in stand design were also well received by buyers. The Fashion Avenue section was awash in white carpet and white, elegantly designed stands, creating a distinctly light feel and convivial ambience. “The lighting and the atmosphere here is awesome, offering a good environment to see new exhibitors and their products,” noted Dennis Fung of Wing On Department Stores, Hong Kong.
Michael Picard of Marc Picard, Germany also showed his appreciation for the excellent physical arrangements of the fair, including its well-appointed Fashion Lounges set up for all visitors to enjoy. “I enjoy the relaxing environment in the fair. The country pavilions are very nice as we can find what we are looking for easily.” So with Annie Wong of El Corte Ingles HK Ltd.: “The layout of the fair is nice and concentrated, allowing visitors to locate what they want in a more effective way.” Sharing the same sentiment was Hikei Wu of Maud Frizon Paris: “Compared with other fairs, the layout of Fashion Access is more welcoming and products are well-displayed as well.”
Fashion Access will hold its Fall-Winter 2013-2014 edition from 25-27 March 2013.
ABOUT APLF LTD (www.aplf.com)
APLF Ltd. is a joint venture between UBM Asia and SIC Group. APLF organises leading trade exhibitions in Hong Kong, China and India. It launched the Hong Kong Leather Fair 26 years ago – which is still the largest and most international sector event for all of Asia, and has expanded into the related fields of fashion and lifestyle products.
ABOUT UBM ASIA (www.ubmasia.com)
Owned by UBM plc listed on the London Stock Exchange, UBM Asia operates in 17 market sectors with headquarters in Hong Kong and subsidiary companies across Asia, including UBM China in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Beijing. We have over 200 products including trade fairs, conferences, trade publications, B2B/B2C portals and virtual event services. As Asia’s leading exhibition organiser and the biggest commercial organiser in the two fastest growing markets in Asia: China and India, we stage the leading events of their kind across Asia. Our 150 events, 34 publications and 14 vertical portals serve a 1,000,000 plus quality exhibitors, visitors, conference delegates, advertisers and subscribers from all over the world with high value face-to-face business-matching events, quality and instant news on market and industry trends and round-the-clock online trading networks and sourcing platforms. We have 1,000 staff in 21 major cities across Asia, stretching from Japan to Turkey.
ABOUT UBM PLC (www.ubm.com)
UBM plc is a leading global company. We inform markets and bring the world’s buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewellery traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,000 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.
For fair details, please contact:
Ms Perrine Ardouin
Event Director
Email: perrine.ardouin@ubm.com
For media inquiries, please contact:
Ms Gay Amistoso
Marketing Communications Manager
Email: gay.amistoso@ubm.com
Ms Sally Wong
Marketing Communications Executive
Email: sally.wong@ubm.com
APLF Limited
17/F China Resources Building
26 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tel: +852-2827-6211
Fax: +852-2827-7831
Source: APLF Limited

International VELUX Award 2012 for Students of Architecture: Team from Switzerland Takes First Prize Among 983 Entries

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Oct. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — The excitement has peaked with the presentation of four winners and ten honourable mentions at the International VELUX Award 2012 event in Porto, Portugal. A team of two students of architecture from ETHZ in Zurich, Switzerland, takes first prize for their poetic project “resonance, memory”.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121011/567673-a )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121011/567673-b )
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121011/567673-c )

According to the winning students the conception of their project has been driven by a strong desire to move architecture beyond the physical world to arouse emotions.

– Nowadays, more and more architects are trying to think outside the box, but the Award theme is just the right topic to make us go back to the core of that box, says Bo Li, who developed the winning project together with his team mate Ge Men.

– The first prize project is impressive because it addresses three distinct scales very eloquently, very powerfully and in a more comprehensive manner than any of the other entries, says jury chairman Brigitte Shim in her motivation for the winning project.

A team of five students from the Inje University in Korea wins second prize, whereas two teams from Poland and China share the third prize. In addition to the four prize winning projects, the jury awards ten honourable mentions representing China (4 projects), Belgium (2 projects), Portugal (1 project), Spain (1 project), Romania (1 project) and Denmark (1 project).

All prize winners and honourable mentions have been decided unanimously among the jury. The jury found the range of themes represented in the 983 entries from 59 countries very powerful, raising questions about the role of light in architecture in many different ways.

The International VELUX Award for Students of Architecture takes place every second year, next time in 2014. Detailed information about the winners, photos, and graphics are available for download from the press section on iva.velux.com.

About the VELUX Group

The VELUX Group creates better living environments with daylight and fresh air through the roof. The VELUX product programme contains a wide range of roof windows and skylights sold in most parts of the world. The VELUX Group has about 10,000 employees and is owned by VKR Holding A/S, a limited company wholly owned by foundations and family. For more details, visit velux.com.

Source: The VELUX Group

Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Announces Vision Screening Program Sees 16 Million Children In 10 Years

– Milestone Honored on World Sight Day, Hundreds More to Receive Vision Screening at Event
BANGKOK /PRNewswire/ — Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (JJVC) today announced that more than 16 million children in Asia have received free vision screening through Sight for Kids, a partnership program with the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) now marking its 10th anniversary.
In honor of this philanthropic milestone, Sight for Kids has arranged to screen hundreds of students on World Sight Day, October 11 at a school in Bangkok. This event is part of an effort to screen another 1 million kids in six Asia Pacific countries during 2012 alone.
Sight for Kids has screened children in China, India, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. It was established in 2002 to reduce visual impairment and disability in Asia through volunteer-directed vision screenings involving ministries of health, school districts, eye care professionals and hospitals along with Lions Clubs International volunteers and JJVC employees.
“Uncorrected refractive errors, which are easily corrected, are responsible for nearly half of all global vision impairment,” said Wing-Kun Tam, Chairperson of LCIF. “On World Sight Day and every day, Lions and partners seek to raise awareness of blindness and visual impairment and provide much-needed eye care service to our communities. We’re very proud of all we’ve accomplished together through Sight for Kids, one of our longest-running and widest reaching corporate partnerships. It shows what’s possible when dedicated partners unite in service to eye care.”
Sight for Kids was first launched in Korea and Thailand, and in its first year alone screened more than half a million children. Today, at 16 million children, it is equivalent to screening the entire population of London twice.(i)
To date:
Nearly 600,000 children have been referred to physicians for further evaluation;
More than 163,000 children have received glasses; and
More than 76,000 children have been treated for various eye conditions.(ii)
“Gaining access to an eye screening early in life is critical since many vision-related issues can be addressed through preventative care,” said Thibaut Mongon, President, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Asia Pacific. “We are proud to help lift the barrier to vision screening for children in need and hope it will have a life-long impact for many of them.”
An estimated 1.4 million children in the world are blind, and three-quarters of them live in the poorest regions of Asia and Africa, most lacking access to treatment for easily-treatable conditions.(iii,iv) Globally, uncorrected refractive errors (nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism) are the main cause of visual impairment in children and may result in lost education and employment opportunities, lower productivity, and impaired quality of life.(v)
Sight for Kids is one of the longest running and largest international school vision-screening programs that continues to operate as a public-private initiative across multiple countries, including developing countries. The program has trained more than 110,000 Lions, school teachers, and other volunteers to assist with vision screening and provide eye health education at 26,000 schools.
For more details about the Sight for Kids World Sight Day event, please visit http://www.lcif.org/sfk
About Johnson & Johnson Vision Care
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care is the world’s leading manufacturer of disposable contact lenses. Anchored by its mission to bring healthy vision to everyone, everywhere, every day, the Company has set industry standards through innovative technologies and products. Its best-selling ACUVUE® Brand Contact Lenses launched as the world’s first disposable soft contact lens in 1987, and since then the brand has introduced numerous first-to-market products. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, USA, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care has some 3,400 employees at offices and state-of-the-art research and manufacturing facilities throughout the world where it manufactures 2 billion contact lenses a year. The Company provides professional instruction through The Vision Care Institute™, a renowned program taught in 27 languages in 40 markets worldwide.
About Lions Clubs International Foundation
Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) is the charitable arm of Lions Clubs International, the world’s largest service club organization with more than 1.35 million members in 207 countries and geographical areas around the world. Established in 1968, LCIF has been preventing avoidable blindness on a global scale for more than 20 years through the SightFirst program. Lions are investing US$415 million in SightFirst and have restored sight to 30 million people worldwide. Learn more at http://www.lcif.org.
(i) World Gazette. World: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population. Retrieved September 7, 2012, from http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500&pt=c&va=&srt=pnan
(ii) Sight for Kids Stats (2012, September). Provided to Johnson & Johnson Vision Care September 5, 2012.
(iii) World Health Organization. Prevention of Blindness and Visual Impairment. (2012, para. 2). Retrieved September 7, 2012, from http://www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/index4.html.
(iv) Lions Clubs International Foundation. Sight for Kids. Retrieved September 7,2012 from http://www.lcif.org/EN/our-programs/sight/partnership-initiatives/sight-for-kids.php.
(v) World Health Organization. Vision 2020: The Right to Sight (2007, p. 22). Retrieved September 7, 2012, from http://www.who.int/blindness/Vision2020_report.pdf.
Source: Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.

Roamware’s Predictive Intelligence Patent to Revolutionize Customer Experience Management

CUPERTINO, Calif. /PRNewswire/ — Roamware, Inc., the Global Leader in Mobile Operator service solutions today announced that it has been awarded a patent on Predictive Intelligence(TM) (PI), a technology that will help operators vastly improve their customer experience management capabilities and give local and roaming subscribers a much better service usage experience. Predictive Intelligence helps operators simulate subscriber experience in home and visited networks around the world so that voice and data services can be tested thoroughly before a service is launched into the market and can be monitored with real-time analytics once the service is live.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120809/554204 )
“Customer Experience Management is the number one challenge that mobile operators around the world face today,” said Roamware CTO, Dr. John Jiang. “Quality of Experience and Quality of Service are critical elements of an operator’s service offering that need to stay at high levels both in home and visited networks. Operators need to be able to ensure customer experience pre facto rather than reacting post facto to subscriber complaints. With Predictive Intelligence, we help operators simulate subscriber experience through virtual profiles. Combined with our SIM-based robots, Predictive Intelligence can test end-to-end service and network parameters thoroughly. With 100s of SIM-based robots located around the world, our unique solution can test any VLR in the world,” continued Dr. Jiang.
Roamware’s Predictive Intelligence platform is an integral part of the company’s R-Quality and R-Experience solutions that help operators address the challenge of Customer Experience Management through an integrated approach of testing, monitoring and interactive subscriber communication that transcends geographical boundaries and operator networks. Roamware offers a combination of active testing, passive testing, automated testing, real-time monitoring and analytics on the Predictive Intelligence platform. These solutions have seen huge uptake in mobile networks around the world.
About Roamware, Inc
Roamware, Inc. is the global leader in mobile operator service solutions with a customer base of over 530 mobile operators across 160 countries. Roamware is a market leader in mobile roaming solutions. Roamware mobile financial solutions have been successfully deployed by major banks and global operators. The company’s headquarters are located in Cupertino, California with operations worldwide. Learn more about Roamware’s products and solutions at http://www.roamware.com.
Roamware Contacts:
Srinivas B Vijayaraghavan, Director Marketing
Tel: +919739970225 / srinivas.v@roamware.com
Source: Roamware Inc

SunGard/PRMIA Survey Finds a Quarter of Firms Exiting Businesses Due to Capital Requirements

SINGAPORE, Oct. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Financial institutions around the world are feeling the impact of increased capital requirements on certain business lines, with 25 percent exiting these businesses, according to the fourth annual survey by the Professional Risk Managers’ Association (PRMIA), which was co-sponsored by SunGard.

According to survey respondents, the introduction of central clearing is expected to result in lower margins, increased collateral requirements and a general increase in the cost of doing business in areas such as OTC derivatives.

The survey was sent to PRMIA members around the world. Respondents were evenly split among the buy side, sell side and consulting firms (25 percent each), with the balance made up of regulatory bodies and government institutions (7 percent) and other types of firms. A total of 170 surveys were completed.

Twenty-five percent of the respondents to the survey have withdrawn from capital-intensive businesses, while 58 percent admit that they are more selective when undertaking such business. Eighteen percent say they would pass on extra capital costs to clients.

Other key findings include:

• Sixty-four percent of respondents feel that less than half of OTC contracts will be cleared via central counterparties (CCPs), suggesting that bilateral clearing will still have a significant role to play. Among sell-side respondents, who are more closely involved in the clearing process, only 43 percent agreed, whereas 84 percent of buy-side respondents hold this view.
• Half of buy-side firms do not measure credit valuation adjustment (CVA). Only 24 percent of the sell side reports the same. While 26 percent of sell-side firms actively manage and hedge their CVA, no buy-side respondents do.
• Nearly twice as many buy-side firms (45 percent) as sell-side firms (24 percent) do not run any reverse stress testing.
• Wrong way risk continues to be ignored by roughly a third of institutions, although there is a slight increase from 34 percent to 36 percent since last year’s survey in the number of firms that have an automated system in place to detect wrong way risk.
• There has been a marked reduction in the amount of proprietary trading following the Volcker Rule, with only 24 percent of firms saying they can carry on as before.

Dr. Bob Mark, member of PRMIA Board and PRMIA corporate treasurer and managing partner of Black Diamond Risk Enterprises, said, “The joint SunGard and PRMIA survey provides deeply useful feedback into risk management practices of international institutions. The survey feedback is particularly worthwhile in light of the rapidly changing risk adjusted return dynamics that are shaping the strategic direction of the global banking system. The results also enable institutions to benchmark the quality of their own risk management practices in relation to central clearing and valuation adjustments, rules and regulations, and models and measurement.”

Dan Travers, director of product management for SunGard’s Adaptiv business unit, said, “As banks begin to fully appreciate the impact of initiatives that were previously confined to silos in the risk management, front office or the exchange margining worlds, risk managers should have an increasingly direct impact on the bank and its business model. Buy-side firms are also starting to feel the pressure to implement risk management practices that were previously the domain of their sell-side counterparts. SunGard is helping both types of firms comply with the latest regulations and strengthen their risk management practices.”

About PRMIA

The Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA) is a higher standard for risk professionals, with more than 65 chapters and over 85,000 members worldwide. A non-profit, member-led association, PRMIA is dedicated to defining and implementing the best practices of risk management through education, events, networking, online resources, and certification including the Professional Risk Managers’ (PRM) designation and the Associate PRM certificate. More information can be found at www.prmia.org.

About SunGard’s Adaptiv

SunGard’s Adaptiv provides enterprise-wide credit and market risk management and operations solutions for financial services institutions. Adaptiv assists institutions of varying size and complexity to deploy technology to meet both internal and regulatory requirements for risk management and operational control. Adaptiv helps financial services institutions from the banking, hedge fund, asset management, insurance and corporate sectors with its deep understanding of risk management and operational processes. For more information, visitwww.sungard.com/enterpriserisk.

About SunGard

SunGard is one of the world’s leading software and technology services companies. SunGard has more than 17,000 employees and serves approximately 25,000 customers in more than 70 countries. SunGard provides software and processing solutions for financial services, education and the public sector. SunGard also provides disaster recovery services, managed IT services, information availability consulting services and business continuity management software. With annual revenue of about US$4.5 billion, SunGard is the largest privately held software and services company and is ranked 480 on the Fortune 500. For more information, please visitwww.sungard.com.

Trademark Information: SunGard, the SunGard logo and Adaptiv are trademarks or registered trademarks of SunGard Data Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries. All other trade names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

© SunGard 2012. All rights reserved.

Source: SunGard

POSCO E&C Wins Friendship Medal from Vietnamese Government

SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ —

•  Establishes the Hanoi capital construction master plan •  Wins the Medal for its contribution to the development of the Vietnamese construction industry

On October 5th, POSCO E&C (vice-chairman & CEO Chung Dong-Hwa) won the Friendship Medal from the Vietnamese government for successfully establishing the Hanoi capital construction master plan and contributing to the development of the Vietnamese construction industry.

(Photo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/2012/10/09/20121009172311613898.html )

The Vietnamese Friendship Medal is the most authoritative reward given to those foreign organizations or individuals who have made an outstanding achievement and undertaken cooperation in various fields, including economics, society, politics, diplomacy and national defense in Vietnam.

The Friendship Medal ceremony was held at a residence of the Vietnamese Construction Ministry and saw participation by many figures, including Nguyen Tran Nam, the Vietnamese deputy-minister for construction and other high-ranking officers, as well as Sohn Woo-Joon, the construction officer from the Korean Embassy in Vietnam, Chung Dong-Hwa , POSCO E&C vice-chairman and CEO.

POSCO E&C vice-chairman Chung Dong-Hwa said in his speech, “POSCO E&C will focus on establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with local joint ventures and its partners in Vietnam and, at the same time, create opportunities to realize shared growth with more Vietnamese companies.”

In September 2008, POSCO E&C received an order to establish the Hanoi capital construction master plan, in association with Perkins Eastman (US), which, in July 2011, it completed successfully, having received approval from the Vietnamese government.

The Vietnamese government launched this project to coincide with the commemoration of the 1000th anniversary of Hanoi as the capital of Vietnam in 2010 and aimed through the project to expand the area of Hanoi to three times bigger from its current 921 square kilometers to 3344.6 square kilometers. As this master plan project covers all kinds of areas, including new towns, roads, waterworks and sewage, electricity, river improvement, railways and IT, it is said to be one of the biggest capital master plan projects in the world, unprecedented in terms of its size and scope.

The construction company established a master plan, aiming to construct a future-oriented, sustainable green city by establishing an ecological natural environment protection plan, setting green corridors to prevent urban developments that may run against the environment, and also establishing an eco-friendly ecological urban plan.

As the company completed the Hanoi capital construction master plan successfully as the leader in the project, and was recognized for its achievement through this government reward, it is widely anticipated that more Korean companies will be able to join the process of urban development in the future.

In the meantime, ever since its founding in 1995, POSCO E&C has been actively participating in infrastructure construction projects, including steel plants, harbors, hospitals and expressways, in many Vietnamese cities, including Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi and Hai Phong.

At present, the company is contributing to the development of Vietnamese industry through various construction projects, including the project for Splendora, Vietnam’s first self-reliant new town, and the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway project.

Contact Person: Mr.Dong-Jun Chun Email: djchun@poscoenc.com Phone: +82-3-2748-2755 Homepage: http://www.poscoenc.com/english

SOURCE  POSCO E&C