ASEAN Energy Business Forum (AEBF) 2026 to Convene Regional Energy Leaders in Manila

by Ferry Bayu | Sep 16, 2026 | Business

Manila, Philippines – The ASEAN Energy Business Forum (AEBF) 2026, organized by the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), hosted by the Department of Energy (DOE) of the Philippines, and co-organized by Leverage International (Consultants) Inc., will bring together policymakers, business leaders, investors, researchers, financial institutions, and key energy stakeholders from across ASEAN and beyond to advance regional cooperation and accelerate the transition toward a sustainable energy future.

Scheduled to take place from 5–9 October 2026 at the Philippine International Convention Center, Metro Manila, Philippines, AEBF 2026 will serve as a premier platform for dialogue, collaboration, and investment in the region’s evolving energy landscape.

ASEAN Energy Business Forum (AEBF) is one of the notable flagship projects of the ASEAN Centre for Energy. It is an annual conference and exhibition that promotes and discusses the development of the energy sector in ASEAN through regional cooperation.

The business forum aims to enhance public-private engagement in the energy sector by facilitating information exchange, strengthening stakeholder networks, and enhancing project cooperation among policymakers, business leaders, researchers, financial institutions, associations, and other key stakeholders from ASEAN and beyond.

AEBF 2026 will feature a comprehensive programme comprising high-level plenary sessions, strategic dialogues, business matching opportunities, an international   exhibition, networking events, and discussions on key energy priorities, including renewable energy, energy security, decarbonization, emerging technologies, sustainable financing, and regional energy integration.

The forum will provide participants with valuable opportunities to exchange insights, foster strategic partnerships, explore investment opportunities, and contribute to shaping ASEAN’s energy future through meaningful public-private collaboration.

To register as a delegate, please visit:www.asean-aebf.com/AEBF-26-registration

For more information about AEBF 2026, please visit:www.asean-aebf.com

For inquiries, please contact the AEBF 2026 Secretariat at le******@*******************al.com.

TradingPRO Secures BAPPEBTI Regulatory Licence in Indonesia

by Ferry Bayu | Sep 16, 2026 | Business

TradingPRO’s Indonesian entity, PT Trading Pro Internasional Berjangka, has received its official regulatory licence from BAPPEBTI, Indonesia’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, marking a significant step in the broker’s Southeast Asian expansion.

TradingPRO has announced that its Indonesian entity, PT Trading Pro Internasional Berjangka, has been granted a regulatory licence by Badan Pengawas Perdagangan Berjangka Komoditi (BAPPEBTI) — the government agency responsible for supervising futures, forex, and commodity trading activity in Indonesia.

The licence confirms PT Trading Pro Internasional Berjangka’s authorisation to operate in Indonesia’s regulated financial market, in full compliance with Indonesian Law No. 32 of 1997 as amended by Law No. 10 of 2011 on Commodity Futures Trading.

BAPPEBTI operates under the Indonesian Ministry of Trade and is responsible for ensuring that market participants meet the country’s standards for financial integrity, risk management, and client protection. For Indonesian traders, a BAPPEBTI licence provides the assurance that their chosen broker operates within a framework of formal regulatory oversight — including the separation of client funds and adherence to established conduct standards.

For TradingPRO, this licence represents a natural extension of the group’s commitment to operating within regulated frameworks across every market it serves. The broker is already regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa under FSP No. 49624, and by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Mauritius under licence number GB23202513. The BAPPEBTI licence adds a third layer of regulated oversight, specifically for its Indonesian operations.

Indonesia is one of Southeast Asia’s largest and fastest-growing retail trading markets, with a population exceeding 270 million and a growing base of active investors. PT Trading Pro Internasional Berjangka’s licenced status positions TradingPRO to serve Indonesian clients with the same standard of regulated infrastructure it provides across its global operations.

Sign up here to start your account today!

TradingPRO extended its gratitude to BAPPEBTI and its legal team for their role in facilitating the licensing process.

For more information, visit here.

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About Trading PRO
TradingPRO is a globally recognized Forex broker regulated by the FSCA and FSC, committed to empowering traders with secure access to global markets, institutional-grade tools, and a client-first approach built on transparency and education. The company offers a wide range of instruments including Forex, metals, commodities, indices, and crypto CFDs, combined with ultra-tight spreads, rapid execution, and multilingual support across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

With platforms such as MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, a mobile trading app, and API access for professionals, TradingPRO delivers an intuitive trading experience for both beginners and advanced traders. Its Telegram ecosystem provides real-time signals, education, and market updates, while value-added benefits like deposit bonuses and cashback programs support trader growth. Above all, TradingPRO prioritizes safety and compliance, ensuring a trusted and regulation-backed trading journey.

Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs Holds Joint Work Meeting with Ministries/Agencies to Accelerate Regional Economic Growth Toward 8 Percent Target

by Ferry Bayu | Sep 14, 2026 | Business

The Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) held a Coordination Meeting for the Preparation and Presentation of the Work Plan of the Monitoring Team for the Acceleration of Regional Economic Growth from September 4 to 6, 2026, at the Mercure Convention Center Ancol, North Jakarta.

This strategic agenda was conducted to monitor, safeguard, and accelerate regional economic growth in support of achieving the national economic growth target of 8%, as mandated in Presidential Regulation Number 12 of 2025 concerning the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2025–2029.

This cross-ministerial and agency work meeting opened with direct directions from the Secretary General of Kemendagri, Police Commissioner General Drs. Tomsi Tohir, M.Si., and featured key speakers and presenters:

– Police Commissioner General Drs. Tomsi Tohir, M.Si. – Secretary General of the Ministry of Home Affairs

– Teni Widuriyanti – Secretary of the Ministry of National Development Planning / Principal Secretary of Bappenas

– Moh Edy Mahmud – Deputy for Balance Sheet and Statistical Analysis, Statistics Indonesia (BPS)

– Ir. Medrilzam, M.Prof.Rcon., Ph.D. – Deputy for Regional Development, Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas

Problem-Solving Approach and Regional Work Plan Formulation

The Secretary General of Kemendagri emphasized the importance of shifting from mere administrative monitoring (compliance-oriented) to a concrete problem-solving approach (problem-solving oriented). During the technical session, the Head of the Center for Regional Policy Strategy, Population, and Public Services of Kemendagri, Dr. T.R Fahsul Falah, S.Sos., M.Si., together with the Head of the Data and Information Systems Center, presented a technical explanation of activities and the division of work regions for the monitoring team. This forum thoroughly analyzed economic growth figures at the regency/city level and formulated concrete actions for local governments.

To ensure effective supervision across Indonesia, the work meeting divided discussions into provincial regional groups per island. All Echelon I Officials of Kemendagri were assigned as officials-in-charge to coordinate the formulation and presentation of the Work Plan for Each Province.

Concrete Actions and Strengthening Early Warning Indicators

During the panel discussion, Kemendagri together with Bappenas, BPS, and the Ministry of Investment/BKPM aligned evaluation indicators for regional economic growth:

– Use of Early Warning Indicators: Implementing a monthly early warning system from BPS to read regional economic dynamic signals in real time.

– Acceleration of Investment and Licensing: Resolving licensing bottlenecks in regions and optimizing investment potential to encourage ease of doing business.

– Nine Strategic Steps for Local Governments: Encouraging regions to accelerate regional budget (APBD) realization, infrastructure projects, staple food price control, job creation, and boosting industrial output as well as primary sectors.

The three-day series of activities concluded with a consolidation of meeting results and closing remarks by the Secretary General of Kemendagri on Sunday, September 6, 2026, ensuring that all provinces have measurable, timely, and result-oriented action plans (no issue without owner, no owner without deadline)

From Concept to Convention Floor How Keepital Built a Startup Pavilion at WOCEE 2026

by Ferry Bayu | Sep 14, 2026 | Business

Cebu Gains Ground as a BPO and Digital Services Hiring Hub Beyond Metro Manila

by Ferry Bayu | Sep 14, 2026 | Business

Cebu’s growing BPO, customer service and digital services market is creating fresh opportunities for jobseekers as hiring activity expands outside the Philippine capital

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu is strengthening its position as one of the Philippines’ most important employment centers outside Metro Manila, as business process outsourcing, customer service and digital services hiring continue to create opportunities across the province.

For years, Metro Manila has dominated large-scale corporate and BPO recruitment in the Philippines. But the country’s hiring landscape is becoming increasingly distributed, with Cebu emerging as one of the most visible beneficiaries of that shift.

The trend is reflected not only in continued activity across Cebu’s IT-BPM sector, but also in the volume and variety of job opportunities now being marketed to candidates in the region.

According to current platform data from MyGlit, a Philippines-focused jobs and recruitment technology platform, 950+ active jobs are associated with Cebu and Central Visayas, compared with 5,210 in Manila. The platform currently lists more than 12000 jobs nationwide.

While Metro Manila remains significantly larger in absolute job volume, Cebu’s growing hiring activity points to a broader shift: Filipino jobseekers increasingly have access to substantial career opportunities without necessarily relocating to the capital.

Cebu’s hiring market is becoming broader

Customer service remains a major source of employment, but Cebu’s job market is no longer limited to one type of call-center role.

Recent Cebu opportunities listed on MyGlit include customer service, financial accounts, healthcare, travel, retail, technical support, sales, back-office and non-voice roles. Some positions are open to fresh graduates and career shifters, while others require previous BPO experience or specialist skills.

Compensation also varies depending on experience, role type and specialization. Current Cebu listings on MyGlit include customer service opportunities in the ₱15,000 to ₱30,000 monthly range, while some multi-location BPO campaigns advertise packages of up to ₱45,000 for qualified applicants.

This diversification matters for Cebu jobseekers because it creates more possible career paths within the same employment ecosystem.

Candidate activity shows strong interest in Cebu opportunities

The demand is not only coming from employers. Candidate activity also suggests strong interest in Cebu-based opportunities.

One Cebu Customer Service Associate vacancy on MyGlit recently recorded more than 2,500 views and 126 applications, showing the level of attention that individual Cebu job opportunities can generate online.

Other Cebu vacancies are also generating hundreds of views, although application levels vary depending on the role, qualifications, compensation, work setup and hiring requirements.

This creates a new challenge for recruitment platforms and employers. As the number of available opportunities increases, simply generating more applications may not be enough. Candidates also need to be connected to vacancies that better match their skills, experience and preferences.

Technology is changing how Cebu candidates can be matched to jobs

Traditional online recruitment has often followed a one-job, one-application model: a candidate finds a vacancy, applies, and either progresses or gets rejected.

Newer recruitment technology is beginning to challenge that model.

MyGlit has been developing AI-assisted candidate matching and rerouting technology that can help evaluate whether a candidate who is not an ideal match for one vacancy may be more suitable for another available opportunity.

That approach can be particularly relevant in a large and varied hiring market such as Cebu, where employers may recruit for multiple accounts requiring different combinations of communication skills, work experience, education, location preference and industry knowledge.

Rather than treating an unsuccessful application as the end of the candidate journey, recruitment platforms can help jobseekers discover another opening for which they may be better suited.

Cebu is becoming increasingly important to the Philippine hiring map

The growth of employment outside Metro Manila is part of a larger evolution in the Philippine outsourcing and digital services market.

Cebu already has an established technology and BPO ecosystem, a strong pool of English-speaking talent and a long history of serving international businesses. What is changing is the scale and diversity of opportunities available outside the capital.

For candidates, this can mean more opportunities to build careers closer to home. For employers, it means access to another deep Philippine talent market. For recruitment platforms, it increases the importance of making regional opportunities easier to discover, compare and match.

“The Philippine employment market is becoming much more distributed, and Cebu is one of the places where we can clearly see that change,” said Akhil Ahluwalia, Founder of MyGlit. “For a long time, candidates naturally associated the largest volume of BPO opportunities with Metro Manila. Cebu is increasingly developing its own depth of opportunities. The next challenge is not simply posting more jobs, but using technology to help candidates identify which of those opportunities actually fits them best.”

From more jobs to better matches

Cebu’s evolution highlights a broader change taking place in online recruitment.

The next generation of job platforms may be judged not only by how many vacancies they publish, but also by how effectively they connect candidates with relevant opportunities.

For a jobseeker searching for BPO jobs in Cebu, call center jobs in Cebu, customer service jobs in Cebu, IT support jobs in Cebu or other Cebu job vacancies, the ability to discover multiple suitable opportunities from a single profile could become increasingly valuable.

As hiring continues to expand beyond Metro Manila, Cebu appears well positioned to remain one of the most important employment markets in the Philippines.

And as the number of available jobs grows, technology may increasingly determine how efficiently Cebu’s candidates find the right ones.

About Gratitude Jobs Ahead Hr inc

MyGlit is a jobs and recruitment technology platform by Gratitude Inc operating in the Philippines. The platform allows jobseekers to discover and apply for employment opportunities while providing recruiters and employers with tools for candidate management, screening, communication and AI-assisted matching.

MyGlit currently lists more than 12,000 jobs across the Philippines, including more than 950 active opportunities associated with Cebu and Central Visayas.

Explore jobs on MyGlit Philippines: https://www.myglit.com

Carziqo Launches ER-SX in Austin as Company Moves Toward Seven-Day Autonomous Fleet Operations

by Ferry Bayu | Sep 14, 2026 | Business

The autonomous mobility company is replacing its traditional Sunday-wide maintenance pause with vehicle-specific service schedules designed to keep ride-hailing and delivery fleets available throughout the week.

AUSTIN, Texas — Carziqo is expanding its autonomous mobility operations in Austin with the introduction of its ER-SX autonomous ride-hailing series, as the company prepares for a broader operational shift toward 24/7 fleet availability from Monday through Sunday.

The deployment represents more than the arrival of another vehicle series in Carziqo’s growing autonomous mobility network. It also coincides with a significant change in how the company intends to manage vehicle maintenance, fleet availability and day-to-day operations.

Carziqo has traditionally used Sunday as a centralized fleet maintenance day, temporarily removing vehicles from normal operations so technical and operations teams could conduct inspections, servicing and other routine work.

Under the new model, that system is being replaced by a more flexible approach in which individual vehicles will be assigned maintenance windows according to their actual operating condition rather than being taken offline as part of a fleet-wide weekly shutdown.

The ER-SX series in Austin is among the vehicle programs being introduced under the company’s “24/7 Operations, Monday to Sunday” framework.

From Weekly Shutdowns to Vehicle-Specific Maintenance

According to Carziqo, autonomous ride-hailing and delivery vehicles will remain available for deployment on Sundays instead of being automatically withdrawn from service.

Each vehicle will instead receive an individual maintenance schedule based on factors including mileage, operating history, technical condition, service requirements and fleet deployment plans.

The company said its fleet management platform will coordinate when vehicles should be directed to designated service locations for inspections, cleaning, preventive maintenance, software diagnostics and other routine servicing.

The objective is to move maintenance from a fixed calendar-based system toward a more dynamic operational model.

Rather than treating every vehicle as though it requires maintenance at the same time, the new system is designed to determine when each unit actually requires attention while allowing other available vehicles to remain in service.

For autonomous fleets, where vehicle utilization, software status, battery condition and accumulated mileage can vary considerably from one unit to another, such an approach could allow maintenance resources to be allocated more precisely.

ER-SX Begins Operations in Austin

Austin has become one of the markets where Carziqo is continuing to develop its autonomous ride-hailing operations.

The introduction of the ER-SX adds another vehicle platform to the company’s mobility network, with the series designed for continuous urban service and integration with Carziqo’s centralized fleet management infrastructure.

Instead of functioning simply as standalone vehicles, ER-SX units are intended to operate as part of a connected system that coordinates vehicle availability, dispatching, diagnostics, operational monitoring and maintenance scheduling.

That system becomes increasingly important as Carziqo moves toward seven-day operations.

Keeping vehicles available throughout the week requires more than eliminating a scheduled maintenance day. It requires the fleet operator to identify when individual vehicles should remain in service, when they should be rotated out and when preventive intervention is necessary before technical issues affect operations.

Carziqo’s new maintenance model is intended to address that challenge.

A Broader Shift in Fleet Management

The move marks an important operational transition for the company.

Traditional fleet maintenance often relies on predictable servicing intervals or scheduled downtime because such systems are straightforward to manage across large numbers of vehicles.

Autonomous fleets, however, generate substantially more operational and technical data.

Mileage, route intensity, sensor status, software performance, charging cycles and vehicle utilization can all contribute to determining when a particular vehicle needs servicing.

Carziqo said its fleet management platform will increasingly use this vehicle-level information to coordinate maintenance without requiring the entire fleet to stop operating simultaneously.

The result could resemble a continuous rotation model: some vehicles remain available to passengers and logistics customers while others temporarily leave service for inspection or maintenance before returning to operation.

Such an approach is commonly important for mobility networks seeking to increase fleet availability without reducing maintenance standards.

More Available Hours for Ride-Hailing and Delivery

For passengers and logistics customers, the most visible effect of the change may simply be greater vehicle availability.

Under the previous model, Sunday maintenance reduced the number of hours during which vehicles could be deployed. With fixed weekly downtime being phased out, eligible vehicles may continue accepting operational assignments throughout the weekend.

That gives Carziqo additional flexibility to respond to fluctuations in passenger demand and delivery requirements.

Weekend transportation patterns can differ substantially from weekday activity, particularly in large urban markets where entertainment, airport travel, shopping, dining and other activities create demand outside conventional commuting hours.

A seven-day operating model gives the company the ability to allocate vehicles according to those patterns rather than automatically removing an entire portion of the fleet from service on a predetermined day.

Operational Implications for Vehicle Programs

The change may also be relevant to participants in Carziqo vehicle operation programs.

Where operational performance is influenced by the number of days and hours a vehicle is available for service, reducing scheduled fleet-wide downtime can create additional opportunities for vehicles to complete passenger or delivery assignments.

That does not mean every vehicle will operate continuously.

Individual units may still be unavailable because of maintenance, charging, diagnostics, route allocation, demand conditions or other operational requirements.

Instead, the principal difference is that downtime will increasingly be determined at the individual vehicle level rather than being automatically applied to the entire fleet every Sunday.

In practical terms, Carziqo is shifting from a “stop the fleet to maintain the fleet” model toward a “maintain each vehicle when required” model.

Autonomous Mobility Moves Toward Continuous Operations

As autonomous ride-hailing companies move from demonstration programs toward larger-scale commercial operations, fleet availability is becoming an increasingly important part of the technology equation.

Autonomous driving capability alone does not determine whether a mobility service can operate efficiently.

Companies must also coordinate cleaning, charging, preventive maintenance, software updates, sensor calibration, diagnostics and vehicle repositioning while keeping sufficient numbers of vehicles available for customers.

Carziqo’s latest operational change suggests the company is placing greater emphasis on that fleet-management layer.

The ER-SX deployment in Austin therefore represents both a vehicle launch and a test of a broader operating philosophy: autonomous vehicles that are managed continuously rather than according to a single weekly shutdown schedule.

For Carziqo, the transition toward Monday-to-Sunday operations reflects the next stage of building an autonomous mobility network in which vehicles, maintenance systems and fleet software operate as part of a continuously coordinated platform.

As the ER-SX begins service in Austin, the company’s focus is increasingly shifting from simply putting autonomous vehicles on the road to keeping those vehicles available, maintained and operational throughout the week.