From Kuala Lumpur to Frankfurt: Lufthansa launches nonstop connection

Mar 4: With the launch of nonstop flights from Kuala Lumpur to Frankfurt, Lufthansa Airlines is strengthening its network in Southeast Asia and focusing on growth in a dynamic region. From October 25, 2026, the connection will be offered five times a week all year around – daily except for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Flights can be booked immediately.

Flight LH 704 departs at 9:30 PM in Frankfurt and arrives in Kuala Lumpur at 4:40 PM local time the following day. The return flight LH 705 takes off at 11:55 PM in Kuala Lumpur and lands at 6:00 AM the following day in the Rhine-Main metropolis. These flight times are optimally coordinated with Lufthansa’s worldwide network from Frankfurt and offer travelers ideal connection possibilities.

The flight will be operated by the new Boeing 787, the most modern and efficient aircraft in the Lufthansa fleet. Equipped with 287 seats in three classes and the new Allegris cabin.

Jens Ritter, CEO Lufthansa Airlines, said: “With the new nonstop connection to Kuala Lumpur and the deployment of our state-of-the-art Dreamliner, we are creating ideal conditions to participate in the growth in Southeast Asia. The innovative Allegris cabin offers our guests the highest comfort and highlights underscore our premium aspiration to offer both leisure travelers and business travelers a first-class travel experience.” 

Malaysia: Attractive destination for tourism and business

Malaysia is a very popular destination for both leisure travelers and business travelers. With 42.2 million visitors in 2025, Malaysia was the most visited country in Southeast Asia. The country’s cultural diversity, natural beauty, and historical significance make it a unique travel destination.

Malaysia is also economically strong and growing rapidly. Germany is Malaysia’s most important trading partner in the European Union, and over 700 German companies are based in Malaysia. Lufthansa sees significant growth potential in the region and is specifically focusing on the development of this destination.

From the Lufthansa Group home markets (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy), Lufthansa Airlines will be the only airline with nonstop flights to Malaysia. This makes Kuala Lumpur the third Lufthansa Group destination in Southeast Asia, alongside Bangkok, Singapore and Phuket.

AD Ports Group Confirms Business Continuity Across All Operations Amid Regional Developments

Abu Dhabi, UAE – Mar 4: AD Ports Group (ADX: ADPORTS), a leading global enabler of trade, industry and logistics solutions, confirms that all operations across its clusters continue as normal in light of current regional developments.

As a precautionary measure, the Group has activated its crisis management and business continuity protocols, in coordination with the concerned authorities in the UAE to safeguard its workforce, partners and stakeholders, while ensuring uninterrupted services to customers.

All UAE ports and terminals managed and operated by the Group’s Ports Cluster, in addition to related services remain fully operational.

As traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has declined, a corresponding reduction in vessel calls at Khalifa Port is anticipated. However, services at Khalifa Port will remain fully operational and uninterrupted. The Group expects increased volumes across its diversified global maritime network as a result of shifting trading routes due to the evolving regional developments. 

Across the Group’s Maritime & Shipping Cluster, the majority of its 122 shipping vessels including container, bulk, Ro-Ro, and multipurpose vessels are operating outside the Strait of Hormuz. Those currently within the Strait continue to operate intra-Gulf services. Overall, the impact on the Maritime & Shipping Cluster is expected to be limited. The Group’s Economic Cities & Free Zones and Logistics Clusters are likewise expected to experience limited impact. 

Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO of AD Ports Group, said: “Global trade has historically demonstrated resilience during periods of geopolitical tension. Through disciplined execution, operational excellence and proactive risk management, AD Ports Group remains well positioned to support supply chain stability and uphold its commitments to customers across its global network, in line with vision with our wise leadership.’’

As a diversified global trade enabler with an integrated international portfolio, AD Ports Groop continues to closely monitor geopolitical developments and assess any potential implications for maritime routes, supply chains, and global trade flows. The Group will provide further market updates as the situation evolves.

Mobile Ecosystem Forum appoints new Board members following global elections

Mar 4: The Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), the global trade association for the mobile ecosystem, has announced the results of its 2026 Board elections, appointing five newly elected Directors to help guide the organisation’s global strategy.

Elections took place over the last three weeks, and the new Board members were announced today at the MEF Global Forum in Casa Llotja de Mar in Barcelona.

There were five positions up for election, and the newly elected Directors are:

Dr Marco Lafrentz, VP Business & Market Development, netnumber

Amelia Newsom-Davis, Director – Payment, Messaging and Identity, Orange

Robert Gerstmann, Chief Evangelist & Co-Founder, Sinch

Claudine Bell, Partner Business Manager – Messaging & Payments, Telefonica

Dr Andreas Mann, Senior Portfolio Manager, Messaging, Vodafone

They will join existing Board members:

Dario Betti – CEO, Mobile Ecosystem Forum

Rafael Pellon – Partner, Pellon de Lima Advogados

Stephanie Lashley, VP Messaging Strategic Alliances & Infrastructure, Bandwidth Inc.

Ramy Riad, Director, Innovation & Messaging Strategy, Cisco

Matthew Bisoffi, Head of Business Management, Operations & Insights, CKH IOD

Rajiv Singla, CEO Global Messaging, Globe TeleServices (GTS)

Brian Darcy, Director Global Telecoms Business Development, Infobip

Waheed Adam, Executive Chairman, iTouch Messaging Services

Tim Ward, Fellow, Xconnect

The newly elected Directors represent a diverse range of companies and expertise across messaging, connectivity, security, and digital infrastructure, reinforcing MEF’s leadership across the global mobile ecosystem.

Over the coming year, the Board will focus on advancing innovation across messaging, strengthening anti-fraud initiatives, and promoting privacy, trust, and sustainable growth across the mobile ecosystem.

Each candidate was required to submit a short video outlining what they can offer the Board, and MEF members voted for their preferred candidates. Voting took place online and all full members of MEF were eligible to vote.

“MEF’s Board attracts some of the brightest talent in the mobile ecosystem, who work together to set the strategy for the organisation and ensure good governance. As a global organisation, covering the entire mobile ecosystem I am pleased once again to see our Board reflect this range of expertise.” said MEF CEO Dario Betti.

The Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF) is a global trade body established in 2000 and headquartered in the UK with members across the world. As the voice of the mobile ecosystem, it focuses on cross-industry best practices, anti-fraud and monetisation. The Forum provides its members with global and cross-sector platforms for networking, collaboration and advancing industry solutions.  

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Agentic AI Fintech Leader Auditoria Closes Record Fiscal Year

San Jose, CA – Mar 4 — Auditoria.AI, the leader in agentic artificial intelligence for the Office of the CFO, today announced record performance for its most recent fiscal year, marking another year of rapid growth, product expansion, and enterprise adoption. To support this growth, the company doubled its headcount over the past year, scaling operations to support rising global demand for agentic AI solutions purpose-built for finance.

As enterprises move from AI experimentation to operational deployment, Auditoria continues to see strong momentum among finance leaders seeking secure, pre-built agentic systems that deliver immediate business outcomes. This growth is reflected in a fiscal year that closed with triple-digit revenue growth and fourth-quarter bookings that nearly tripled compared to the previous year, driven by accelerating enterprise adoption across financial services, healthcare, technology, and consulting.

“Finance leaders no longer want to simply experiment with AI pilots and AI delivery maybes; they want production-grade systems that they can seamlessly deploy in their existing environments,” said Rohit Gupta, CEO and Founder of Auditoria.AI. “Our AI agents for the office of the CFO understand finance workflows, operate within enterprise guardrails, and deliver immediate and measurable impact. Reflecting on the past year, our continued momentum and the growing interest in Auditoria are indicative of an industry that is ready for AI finance automation systems that work.”

From experimentation to enterprise execution The past fiscal year marked a significant inflexion point for Auditoria. New customer wins included organizations such as Skyscanner, Simmons Bank, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and Vizient, reflecting growing cross-industry demand for AI-powered finance operations. This customer growth is supported by global expansion, including a UK-based office and a primary London data center, complemented by a secondary facility in Ireland, reinforcing its commitment to sovereign AI infrastructure, regional data residency compliance, and serving clients where they are.

The company also advanced its product portfolio with the introduction of SmartResearch, which is scheduled to become generally available next quarter. Early customer deployments have already helped shape the solution into a fully operational capability, enabling finance teams to conduct intelligent, contextual financial research directly within their existing workflows.

Building the leadership bench for scale The company strengthened its commercial leadership with the appointment of David Osborne as Chief Revenue Officer. Osborne joins Auditoria after leading revenue organizations at Insightly and Qualtrics, where he was part of the sales leadership team through its acquisition by SAP and subsequent IPO. With significant experience building go-to-market engines, scaling enterprise sales teams, and leading global revenue functions from early-stage expansion to enterprise maturity, Osborne is chartered with spearheading Auditoria’s next chapter of explosive growth.

Further reinforcing its partner-led strategy, Auditoria appointed Vince Barrett as SVP of Strategic Alliances. Barrett joins Auditoria after leading global alliance initiatives at Workday, including the Big Four accounting and global systems integrator partnerships, and previously built and scaled alliances and channels at Celonis. In parallel, Dean Harrigan was appointed to lead UK operations, anchoring Auditoria’s growing European presence.

Recognition from the firms shaping the AI agenda For the sixth consecutive year, Auditoria was included on the Constellation Research shortlist and received mentions in leading analyst reports from firms including Gartner and Forrester. These acknowledgements reflect Auditoria’s growing role in shaping the category of agentic AI applications for finance.

Auditoria’s momentum has also been reflected in industry recognition. During the year, the company was named to the CB Insights Fintech 100, highlighting its role in pioneering agentic AI in finance. It was also included in the DataTech50 list of top data technology innovators in the United States and recognized by The Financial Technology Report as one of the Top 50 Financial Technology Companies of 2025.

In addition, Adina Simu, Co-Founder and Chief Product and Commercial Officer, was recognized as a Top Women Leader in Financial Technology by The Financial Technology Report in its 2026 awards, further underscoring the strength of Auditoria’s executive leadership bench.

As the AI market matures, recognition from independent analysts underscores a key industry trend: enterprises are prioritizing specialized, domain-focused AI systems built to deliver measurable operational results over experimental, general-purpose deployments.

Embedding agentic AI inside trusted systems Auditoria continued to deepen its ecosystem strategy during the year, expanding integrations across major ERP and financial platforms, including Workday, Oracle Cloud, SAP, and Coupa. Rather than replacing systems of record, the company’s approach is to augment them, embedding agentic AI directly within existing finance environments.

By operating inside the systems finance teams already trust, Auditoria enables automation across accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, and research workflows without heavy IT lift or infrastructure disruption.

“Systems of record remain foundational,” Gupta said. “The next trillion-dollar opportunity lies in systems of action, context, and decisions. Agentic AI sits on top of enterprise finance systems and transforms them from passive data repositories into active, intelligent operators.”

Expanding the agentic skillset for the Office of the CFO Looking ahead, Auditoria is expanding its agentic AI skillset within accounts payable, with new capabilities in vendor risk management and reconciliations scheduled for release this quarter. These enhancements reinforce the company’s commitment to delivering specialized, finance-native AI skills rather than generic automation tools.

Network International powers card tokenization for Apple smartphones in Egypt in latest regulatory rollout

CAIRO, Egypt, Mar 4 — Network International (Network) (www.Network.ae), a leading fintech company across the Middle East and Africa, has announced the successful enablement of Apple Pay acceptance by powering card tokenisation for Apple smartphones for four renowned Egyptian banks, as part of the country’s digital transformation initiatives.

The successful launch comes within the third wave of the Central Bank of Egypt’s granting of tokenisation licenses to select banks and is an important milestone for Egypt’s digital payment ecosystem. The initiative reinforces Network’s scale, innovation leadership and proven execution capabilities in the market.

Supporting all four bank go-lives within the same wave underscores the strength, reliability, and agility of Network’s processing platform, alongside the depth of its local delivery and implementation expertise. The achievement reflects Network’s ability to execute complex, multi-bank digital payment initiatives at pace while maintaining the highest standards of security, operational resilience, and service quality.

Dr. Reda Helal, Group Managing Director – Processing, Africa & Co-Head Group Processing at Network International, said: “We are proud to have supported four renowned banks to successfully transform themselves as Egypt strengthens its digital economy. We have been present in the market for over 20 years and delivering multiple simultaneous implementations demonstrates our local teams’ expertise and the robustness of our processing platform. We are grateful to the Central Bank of Egypt and the participating banks for their trust and partnership as we continue to help accelerate secure and scalable digital payments across Egypt.”

This launch also supports Network’s broader focus on expanding its presence and strengthening its brand across the region, underpinned by its long-standing commitment to Egypt’s payments ecosystem. In 2023, Network International announced the investment valued at EGP 1 billion to expand its operations in Egypt, while serving 160+ banks across Africa and 65+ in the Middle East from its Egypt hub.