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Malaysia expansion plans: PRecious Communications, Double Eleven, and UST Global

PR agency, PRecious, sets up office in Bangsar South

PRecious Communications (PRecious), an integrated communications consultancy incepted seven years ago, today announced the opening of its office in Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This will be the firm's sixth market in the region, with its other markets being Singapore (HQ), Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

The new office will be led by Neil Fraser, who will take on the position of Market Lead, Malaysia, who was formerly the Tech and Crisis Lead at Edelman Malaysia. He will report into PRecious' Managing Director, Lars Voedisch.

Speaking about the move to the country, and on Fraser's hiring, Voedisch said: "We believe Malaysia will prove to be one of the region's big hitters in the start-up space in the years to come. I am very excited that Neil is joining the PRecious team with his strong market expertise and experience across corporate and technology communications.

"Together, we are excited to show the world that Southeast Asia is an extremely high-growth region with a robust investor and start-up ecosystem as we progress to the next stage of disruption."

A part of the GlobalCom PR Network, an association of 70 independent PR agencies across 60 countries worldwide, PRecious Communications serves as its Southeast Asia’s key representative. At the Malaysia office, a spokesperson told Human Resources Online that the firm first plans to either an account executive or senior account executive, with further hiring plans set in the later part of the year.


Double Eleven sets up first office outside of the UK, in Malaysia

In similar news, Double Eleven, a UK-based games developer and publisher, announced yesterday (22 January) its expansion into Malaysia, with the opening of a new development studio in Q1 2020. This will be the company's first office outside of the United Kingdom.

Also located in Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur, the new studio will provide a full complement of development capabilities including quality assurance, art, software engineering, and production.

Ahead of the opening, the company has announced plans to hire full-time staff in development and management positions, including a new Malaysian Studio Head, from February onwards.

Commenting on this, Lee Hutchinson, founder and CEO of Double Eleven, said: "Malaysia's high-calibre talent and its great ecosystem between governments, universities and businesses are among key reasons for our entry. We're excited to be taking our people-first approach with this expansion and tapping into Malaysia's highly-capable local talent, hoping to become an integrated and active member of their burgeoning games industry."

The new Malaysian studio will 'bolster' the teams working in the United Kingdom, thus 'taking Double Eleven to the next level', he added. "The Asian market is a huge player on the global stage, and we want to be at the vanguard of this exciting new hotbed of our industry."

Hasnul Hadi Samsudin, Vice President, Digital Creative Content, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), further commented: "Our wide pool of exceptional talent, business-friendly government and ecosystem of great companies are key reasons companies are investing in Malaysia. UK-based Double Eleven is one such company and we are thrilled that it's opening up a studio in Malaysia.

"In fact, we're excited to see Malaysian creatives working on highly anticipated Double Eleven titles and now look forward to making great games together!"

Double Eleven is currently publishing and developing Rust for console, co-developing Minecraft Dungeons with Mojang, and working with Paradox on Prison Architect. Headquartered in Middlesbrough in the North-East of England, Double Eleven has a team approaching 100 staff.


UST Global establishes SEA's first Infinity Lab in Penang

Last but not least, digital transformation solutions firm UST Global announced on Tuesday the launch of its first Infinity Lab in South East Asia and its third Delivery Centre, located in Penang, Malaysia.

Infinity Labs™ is UST Global's network of innovation labs, spanning across various countries including the United States, United Kingdom, India and now in Malaysia. The Penang lab will support business-led digital transformations, and provide a collaborative environment for employees, clients, academia and partner ecosystem.

Priya-Jan-2020-UST-Global-provided

From L-R-Amar Chhajer, Country Head- UST Global Malaysia, Alexander V, COO, UST, Krishna Sudheendra, CEO UST Global; Honourable Chief Minister of Penang, YAB Chow Kon Yeow; Dato wan Peng, CEO MDeC;

Commenting on the opening, Dato' Ng Wan Peng, Chief Operating Officer, MDEC said: "The proposition of Malaysia as an R&D hub for digital technology and services will accelerate Malaysia's strengths and efforts to develop digitally-skilled Malaysians, digitally-powered businesses and continue to attract digital investments into the country.

Additionally, Amar Chhajer, Country Head, UST Global Malaysia, said: "The infinity lab marks a new chapter in UST Global’s journey in Malaysia and South East Asia, as it brings the best of UST Global, Academia and the start-up ecosystem together in Infinity lab to fix complex business problems using latest world-class technology and innovation."


Photo / PRecious Communications

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