Tencent Cloud announces partnership with Balance to transform e-wallet payment experience during its third consecutive year at GITEX 2024
DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology company Tencent, continued to strengthen its presence in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) with its third consecutive showcase at GITEX GLOBAL 2024, underscoring the company's commitment to growing alongside the region's digital economy ambitions.
Tencent Cloud has consistently achieved strong double-digit business growth in the region, driven by strong interest from both public and private sectors for digital transformation and cloud-based innovations. At GITEX GLOBAL 2024, Tencent Cloud announced two significant milestone projects that demonstrate its capabilities in driving local digital transformation.
Tencent Cloud Expands to Support Middle Eastern Digital Ecosystem
This year, Tencent Cloud is entering a new partnership with Balance, a leading e-wallet provider in Dubai, to revolutionize the Middle East payment landscape. Balance will adopt the Tencent Cloud technologies into its payment system, enabling compliant, secure and seamless identity authentication for payment. Over the longer term, Balance will explore the adoption of the TCMPP platform as part of its app, providing users access to a host of essential daily services and products through a single interface.
Kartik Tikku, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Balance, said, "We are fortunate to be working with Tencent Cloud as this allows us to break into new markets such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have witnessed strong demand for cloud services. This partnership aligned with our strategy to revolutionize mobile banking in the Middle East through exciting innovation, add value to our ecosystem as well as enhance the overall digital payment experience for consumers."
Dan Hu, Vice President of Tencent Cloud International for the Middle East and Africa, said, "As Tencent Cloud continues to deepen its presence in the region, we are confident that our cloud and AI solutions are fully aligned with the local market's needs and digital transformation goals. The partnership with Balance is a testament to our technology's ability to empower local businesses and government services alike, creating secure, efficient and innovative platforms that enhance the everyday lives of users.
"Looking ahead, we see tremendous potential in the gaming sector, where our proven capabilities will serve as a key enabler to foster growth and cultivate a thriving ecosystem of developers and players. Leveraging our track record of supporting the Weixin/WeChat ecosystem with over 1.3 billion monthly active users, Tencent Cloud envisions a dedicated 'MiniGame Platform' to attract a new demographic of mobile gamers."
With the UAE's electronic gaming market expected to reach nearly US$500 million in revenue by 2027, the MiniGame Platform will play a critical role in driving new revenue streams for gaming businesses and supporting the local game development ecosystem.
As an example, Tencent Cloud's recent partnership with PlaysOut – a UAE-based, global game technology company – marks an early success story for the company in the UAE's gaming sector. Through this collaboration, PlaysOut will leverage TCMPP to develop a high-quality, modular and open digital platform that will serve as a global digital content ecosystem in which developers can build and host their own mini programs and mini games.
Big Strides in Regional Business Expansion Efforts
The Middle East continues to be a bright spot for Tencent Cloud's international business aspirations, with multiple recent additions to Tencent Cloud's global partner ecosystem in the region. In addition to the Middle East, Tencent Cloud enjoys a strong presence in Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific. Growth is driven by the more than 10,000 businesses across 30 industries in over 80 markets and regions that the company presently serves.
Tencent Cloud's regional presence is driven by its global partner ecosystem, having created an innovative and dynamic tech ecosystem for Abu Dhabi's private and public sectors, with applications cutting across Mini Programs, Tencent Real-Time Communication (TRTC), Live-streaming and Media Solutions.
GITEX Global 2024, now in its 44th iteration, remains one of the world's most iconic tech events. This year, the event hosted over 200,000 trade buyers, 65,000 C-level executives, and 6,600 global tech firms from 180 countries.
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About Tencent Cloud
Tencent Cloud, one of the world's leading cloud companies, is committed to creating innovative solutions to resolve real-world issues and enabling digital transformation for smart industries. Through our extensive global infrastructure, Tencent Cloud provides businesses across the globe with stable and secure industry-leading cloud products and services, leveraging technological advancements such as cloud computing, Big Data analytics, AI, IoT and network security. It is our constant mission to meet the needs of industries across the board, including the fields of gaming, media and entertainment, finance, healthcare, property, retail, travel and transportation.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Tencent Cloud's Middle East Growth Supported by Expanded Tech Ecosystem and New Service Additions
Tencent Cloud's Middle East Growth Supported by Expanded Tech Ecosystem and New Service Additions
Tencent Cloud's Middle East Growth Supported by Expanded Tech Ecosystem and New Service Additions
The Initiative Aims to Address the Pain Points of Family Filmmaking
BEIJING, Dec. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 6th, the 3rd FamilyLens International Film Festival opened in Beijing. SmallRig, a global specialized provider of imaging solutions, collaborating with FamilyLens, is empowering family filmmaking through various initiatives, including the Family Filmmaking Co-Creation Initiative, a dedicated family filmmaking kit, and a social impact screening program.
Deepening the "Co-Creation Initiatives"
The Co-Creation Initiatives are a series of global creative initiatives open to filmmakers and image creators worldwide. Through deep collaboration across multiple dimensions — including product co-creation, discovery and promotion, and content co-creation — SmallRig aims to expand the boundaries of mobile filmmaking and bring the spirit of Free Your Dream to life with creators everywhere.
Following the launch of the Mobile Filmmaking Co-Creation Initiative at the 14th International Smartphone Film Festival, SmallRig announced the launch of the Family Filmmaking Co-Creation Initiative on December 6th at the 3rd FamilyLens International Film Festival. The initiative invites global creators and every family to participate, focusing on three core directions: product co-creation, work promotion, and content co-creation, to explore the possibilities of family filmmaking for everyone.
Mr. Zhou Yang, Founder and CEO of SmallRig, shared the inspiration for the initiative: "The initiative is rooted in the immense universality and profound emotional depth inherent in family narratives, which serve as a common emotional bond connecting global audiences. We firmly believe that in this era, where everyone can be a content creator, every family can and should film their own story. The instinct to create is deeply embedded in the human spirit, and every home is the origin of countless narratives."
Gu Xue, Founder and Director of the FamilyLens International Film Festival, stated: "We hope that people and practitioners around the world who care about family movies can find suitable solutions and gain insights from the Co-Creation Initiatives. We look forward to more and more people exploring the field of 'Home' together through this initiative."
To address the pain points of family filmmaking, SmallRig officially released the SmallRig Family Filmmaking Kit at the opening ceremony. The kit includes a high-quality microphone, fill light, and a portable tripod, specifically designed to achieve "professional function democratization" and "complex feature simplification." During the FamilyLens Workshop, attendees experienced the convenience of the equipment firsthand. Many expressed that the kit truly solves many problems, enabling ordinary families to complete necessary filming without specialized photography knowledge.
Social Impact Screening Program
The 3rd FamilyLens International Film Festival is open to the public from December 6th to 14th. The festival opened with the screening of well-received documentary: K-Family Affairs. In addition to the competition section, the festival features several distinctive sections, including the Reframing Home Movies— An Italian Retrospective, Youth Film Program, Filmmaker in Focus, and the Social Impact Program. Four major awards, such as the Real-Life Portrait Award and the Artistic Exploration Award, will also be presented.
As a key component of the Co-Creation Initiatives, the SmallRig Image Development Fund partnered with the FamilyLens International Film Festival to curate the "Social Impact Screening Program." This unit focuses on elevating awareness of critical issues within the family unit, advocating for a new reflection: "Starting with Seeing, Concluding with Understanding."
Arum Nam, Director of K-Family Affairs, stated:
"Starting with the stories of your family, your friends, and yourself, I believe this personal narrative can connect directly to the bigger society."
SmallRig believes that truly meaningful social impact storytelling stems from awareness in proximity—achieved by using the lens to penetrate the daily surface and enabling a deep, empathetic "Seeing with Empathy."
The four featured works in this unit are:
- People of the Ascent
- Granny's Lost and Found
- Ruixi at Fourteen
- No Country For My Maternal Grandma
These films highlight four family issues that require "seeing": the yearning of left-behind children, the mental isolation of Alzheimer's patients, the elderly searching for subjectivity in their drifting lives, and the emotional volatility and struggle of Bipolar Disorder.
Strategic Outlook and Future Expansion
SmallRig will continue to support the Family Filmmaking Co-Creation Initiative's deep development through promotional campaigns and practical workshops focused on family movie scenarios.
The overall goal of SmallRig's Global Co-creation Initiative is to continuously explore and meet the growing, diverse needs of global creators across different vertical domains. SmallRig is committed to persistently expanding the co-creation model into more imaging sectors, collaborating with industry partners to push the boundaries of imaging and grant global creators broader creative freedom.
About SmallRig
Founded in 2013, SmallRig is an innovation-driven global company that designs and manufactures comprehensive support solutions and accessories for all content creation needs. Trusted by over four million creators globally, SmallRig pioneered the User Co-creation Design (UCD) philosophy and the DreamRig Program.
For more information, visit: www.smallrig.com.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
SmallRig and FamilyLens Launch Global Family Filmmaking Initiative at 3rd FamilyLens International Film Festival
SmallRig and FamilyLens Launch Global Family Filmmaking Initiative at 3rd FamilyLens International Film Festival
SmallRig and FamilyLens Launch Global Family Filmmaking Initiative at 3rd FamilyLens International Film Festival
