31/10/2025

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FRIDAY | OCT 31, 2025

BIZ & FINANCE

Tripartite tie-up to boost local startups

Razorpay Curlec, NPCI bring UPI payments to M’sia KUALA LUMPUR: Reinforcing Malaysia’s position as a top destination for Indian travellers, Razorpay Curlec, the country’s payment gateway, has partnered with NPCI International Payments Ltd to bring India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to Malaysia. This partnership, formally signed at India’s Global Fintech Fest’ 2025, will empower Malaysian businesses to receive instant payments from millions of Indian travellers through their preferred UPI apps, marking a major step towards seamless and instant cross-border commerce between the two countries. In 2024, Malaysia welcomed one million Indian tourists, who spent RM6.11 billion – a 71.7% increase from the previous year. This growing travel corridor presents an opportunity to further simplify cross-border payments, enhancing convenience for Indian travellers and driving greater business for Malaysian merchants. Through this partnership, Indian visitors will be able to pay instantly using UPI-enabled apps to Malaysian merchants, who will accept payments directly via Razorpay Curlec’s platform – settled in ringgit, without the need for international cards or extra integration. Razorpay Curlec country head and CEO Kevin Lee said, “UPI payments will make it easier for travellers to spend and for Malaysian businesses to earn — a step towards seamless payments and a stronger digital economy.”

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Tech nology Development Corporation (MTDC), proptech group Juwai IQI, and INNOVentures Global (IGPL) have partnered to create a global entrepreneurship programme that will bring talented startups from Pakistan and other countries where Juwai IQI operates, to Malaysia over the next three years. The first of these initiatives is the Malaysia-Pakistan Innovation Cor ridor, which shall be a founders’ exchange between Malaysian and Pakistani startups and SMEs enabled by IGPL, an innovation and startup entrepreneurship ecosystem enabler in Pakistan. MTDC CEO Mohammad Hazani Hassan said: “This collaboration reflects MTDC’s commitment to building a globally connected innovation ecosystem. Through initiatives such as the Malaysia– Pakistan Innovation Corridor, MTDC aims to strengthen cross-border linkages that foster knowledge exchange, entrepreneurship, and growth driven by technology and innovation.” By facilitating partnerships between local and international founders, he added, they are helping to create a more dynamic and inclusive startup landscape, one that supports national objectives under NIMP 2030 and enhances Malaysia’s position as a hub for deep technology and innovation. Juwai IQI co-founder and group CEO Kashif Ansari said: “Startups are a crucial part of the economic picture in Malaysia. They create more jobs, bring more new technologies to the market, and

o MTDC, Juwai IQI and INNOVentures Global collaborate to bring entrepreneurs from Pakistan and other countries into Malaysia generate a greater return on investment than established companies. This year, Malaysia’s startup ecosystem is attaining new success, and the number of jobs in the country has soared to a new record of 9.1 million.” “Funding for prospective startups hit RM14 billion between 2020 and 2024, which ranks us highly compared to other markets. Malaysia’s startup ecosystem will be of great interest to founders from around the world,” he added. Juwai IQI co-founder and group managing director Daniel Ho said: “Malaysia has a significant domestic market and the even larger Asean

From left: Ho, Ansari, Mohammad Hazani and Athar.

market of 680 million consumers. That gives new startups the customers they need to expand and reach sustainable scale. Founders will build connections with counterparts all over the world, so they can truly think globally.” INNOVentures managing partner Dr Athar Osama said: “It is a great thrill to be working with the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation and Juwai IQI on this

SAF is produced from sustainable feedstocks, such as used cooking oil and other residues. In neat form and over the lifecycle, it significantly cuts greenhouse gas emissions by around 80% compared to conventional jet fuel. GoGreen Plus is part of the DHL Group’s measures to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. With around 70% of the company’s carbon footprint coming from its air network, sustainable air transportation solutions are crucial for emission reduced logistics. entrepreneurship exchange initiative. It will give Pakistani entrepreneurs the opportunity to cross-pollinate with their counterparts in Malaysia and bring new ideas and connections back home with them. We believe the programme will have positive ripple effects on the whole innovation economy and encourage our founders to adopt an export orientation, scale, and obtain investment.”

Biesse Malaysia joins DHL Express’ GoGreen Plus to decarbonise via SAF KUALA LUMPUR: Biesse Malaysia, part of Italian-owned Biesse Group, has entered into an agreement with DHL Express for the use of the GoGreen Plus service. estimated 50 tonnes emitted in 2024 for Biesse Malaysia. and improve carbon outcomes across sectors,” he said. continued commitment to decarbonise the logistics industry by promoting SAF accessibility and affordability to more businesses.”

DHL Express Malaysia and Brunei managing director Julian Neo said that SAF is currently one of the most promising means of reducing emissions in air transport, and requires a collaborative effort from the entire ecosystem of partners in the industry to drive progress. “We are delighted to welcome Biesse on board our GoGreen Plus offering, as their support contributes to boosting demand, production, and uptake of SAF. This reflects our

“Biesse is addressing the climate reality head on and utilising solutions where they can make the most impact,” said Biesse Asia chief financial officer Alessio Cadeddu, adding that the cross-border nature of supply chains today means there is a pressing need for the decarbonisation of air transport. “SAF represents an effective and available step in this energy transition. Together with DHL Express, we can help expand its commercial adoption

Launched in 2023, GoGreen Plus products are based on true value chain decarbonisation. This is enabled by the ‘book & claim’ approach. Book & claim enables DHL to implement sustainable aviation fuel within the logistic company’s network and allocate environmental benefits to paying customers, even when their shipments are not physically transported with the assets using these fuels.

The partnership enables Biesse to leverage sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), aiming for a 30% reduction in carbon emissions associated with their inbound and outbound air freight between Europe and Southeast Asia. This translates to projected annual savings of approximately 15 tonnes in Well-to-Wheel CO2e, considering

Education matters remain an important component of Malaysian society. Today the landscape is fast paced with new exciting developments in technology such as AI, coding, virtual reality, and cybersecurity, leading the way for changes in curriculum development. To showcase the latest and most updated content, we invite you join us in 2025, and be part of our Education Focus!

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