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CPA Australia survey: Young entrepreneurs help drive robust growth in Filipino small business sector

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MANILA, Philippines, May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Filipino small businesses continue to stand out as among the most dynamic in the Asia Pacific region, with 77 per cent reporting growth in 2024 and 89 per cent expecting to expand this year.

These key findings, from the latest Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey conducted by one of the world’s largest professional accounting bodies, CPA Australia. This bullish performance is largely attributed to a customer-focused mindset.

However, challenges such as constrained access to finance and slower technology adoption compared with other markets in the region are holding some businesses back.

Last year saw the highest number of growing Filipino small businesses since 2019. Reflecting this improved sentiment, 41 per cent of respondents increased their workforce in 2024, and 57 per cent plan to hire more employees in 2025.

Customer loyalty and satisfaction remain key drivers of small business success in the Philippines. Nearly half (46 per cent) of Filipino respondents cited customer loyalty as their top growth factor, while 37 per cent selected improved customer satisfaction.

Mr Rufus Pinto, a CPA Australia-qualified accountant who works in the Philippine finance industry, said: “Small businesses in the Philippines are thriving due to their exceptional customer-centric approach, which helps them to retain loyal clients and attract new ones.

“Overall, the economy maintained steady growth last year, driven by strong domestic consumption, which created many opportunities for small businesses.”

Mr Pinto said the youthful profile of Filipino small business owners was a key advantage. “Our young population is a key driver of the dynamic economy,” he said. “The Philippines has one of the youngest small business owner profiles in the region and their strong entrepreneurialism is driving growth in the sector.”

Reflecting confidence in the business outlook, 28 per cent of Filipino respondents expect strong revenue growth from overseas markets in 2025, a three-year high that surpasses many regional counterparts.

“With a young, English-speaking workforce and a strong work ethic, the Philippines remains a top destination for outsourced services from international companies, especially for voice-based services and customer support roles. Small businesses should continue to leverage these strengths to attract more overseas clients,” he said.

Despite the promising outlook and employment trends, Filipino small businesses continue to lag their regional counterparts in digital adoption. In 2024, 62 per cent of respondents reported earning more than 10 per cent of their revenue from online sales, below the surveyed average of 67 per cent.

Though 74 per cent received more than one-tenth of their revenue from digital payment technologies such as Dragonpay and GCash, close to the regional average (75 per cent), only 13 per cent sought advice from IT consultants last year, well below the Asia-Pacific average of 28 per cent.

“With a large talent pool and a focus on people-to-people connection, Filipino small businesses tend to prioritise personal connections over digitalisation and automation,” said Mr Pinto. “Challenges such as limited internet access in rural areas, a large unbanked population and reliance on cash and remittances also hinder digitalisation.”

However, the benefits of tech investment are clear. Among Filipino small businesses who invested in technology in 2024, 69 per cent reported improved profitability, well above the Asia-Pacific average of 56 per cent. This placed the Philippines second among all surveyed markets.

Rising costs remain the top challenge, with 40 per cent of respondents citing it as a key barrier. Access to finance is also a hurdle. While 65 per cent sought external finance in 2024, only 22 per cent found it easy to obtain, the lowest result in the region. This trend is expected to persist.

“Banks remain the primary source of funding, however only 22 per cent of respondents named them as their main lender,” Mr Pinto said.

“When applying for bank finance, it usually requires documents to demonstrate how the funds will be used and the credibility of the borrowers. Filipino small businesses should set ambitious long-term goals and craft well-prepared business plans towards achieving them. These are persuasive and solid documents for securing bank loans.

“Consulting professionals, including accountants who hold the internationally recognised CPA designation, can help improve financial records and address technical issues such as taxation.”     

CPA Australia’s Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey collected views from 4,236 small businesses in 11 Asia-Pacific markets in November and December 2024, including 310 from the Philippines. This is CPA Australia’s 16th annual survey of small business issues and sentiment since 2009.

About CPA Australia

Founded in 1886, CPA Australia is one of the world’s largest professional accounting bodies representing more than 175,000 members working in over 100 countries and regions around the world including more than 20,000 members in Southeast Asia. CPA Australia advances its members’ interests through education and knowledge exchange, the development of professional networks, thought leadership and the promotion of value of CPA Australia members to employers, government, regulators and the public. The CPA Australia designation denotes strategic business leadership and is recognised and valued throughout the world. More information available on www.cpaaustralia.com.au

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SOURCE CPA Australia

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Tradr to Ring Opening Bell at Cboe to Celebrate SpaceX ETF Launches

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Tradr ETFs will ring Cboe’s Opening Bell on June 15 to celebrate the launch of SPCM and SPCG, ETFs providing 200% leveraged long and short exposure to the newly public SpaceX stock.

Firm to commemorate the launch of SPCM and SPCG from the center of the world’s largest options trading floor

NEW YORK, June 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tradr ETFs, a provider of ETFs designed for sophisticated investors and professional traders, today announced that its team will ring the Opening Bell at Cboe Global Markets at 8:30 am on Monday, June 15, 2026. The ceremony, to be broadcast live on CNBC, will commemorate the expected start of trading for the Tradr 2X Long SpaceX Daily ETF (Cboe: SPCM) and the Tradr 2X Short SpaceX Daily ETF (Cboe: SPCG).

We’re excited to bring both bullish and bearish leveraged exposure to one of the market’s most closely watched stocks

SPCM and SPCG seek to provide traders with 200% leveraged bullish and bearish exposure to SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX), one of the most anticipated public offerings in market history.

“Few companies have captured the imagination of investors quite like SpaceX, and we’re proud to mark the launch of SPCM and SPCG by ringing the Opening Bell at Cboe,” said Russell Tencer, President of Tradr ETFs. “Cboe has been an outstanding partner to Tradr since our inception, and there is no better place to celebrate products built for traders by traders. We’re excited to bring both bullish and bearish leveraged exposure to one of the market’s most closely watched stocks and to do so from the center of the options trading world.”

Monday’s expected launch expands Tradr’s growing lineup of leveraged ETFs focused on the rapidly evolving space economy. The firm also offers the Tradr 2X Long ASTS Daily ETF (Cboe: ASTX) and the Tradr 2X Long FLY Daily ETF (Cboe: FLYT), providing 200% leveraged long exposure to two other closely watched companies helping shape the future of space-based communications and aerospace innovation.

Tradr’s lineup of 65 leveraged ETFs represents over $7 billion in assets under management. Some of its notable tickers on trending stocks include SNXX and SNDQ, which provide long and short exposure to SanDisk (SNDK). Tradr’s strategies can be accessed through most brokerage platforms and allow investors to avoid the hassle of using margin and the complexity of options trading. The firm continues its mission of providing sophisticated investors with innovative trading tools that enhance their ability to express market views with precision and efficiency.

For detailed information on Tradr ETFs and the significant risks involved with leveraged ETFs, please visit www.tradretfs.com.

About Tradr ETFs
Tradr ETFs are designed for sophisticated investors and professional traders who are looking to express high conviction investment views. The strategies include leveraged and inverse ETFs that seek short or long exposure to actively traded stocks and ETFs.

IMPORTANT RISK INFORMATION
Tradr ETFs are for sophisticated investors and professional traders with high conviction views and are very different from most other ETFs. The Funds are intended to be used as short-term trading vehicles and pursue leveraged investment objectives, which means they are riskier than alternatives that do not use leverage because the Funds magnify the performance of their underlying security. The volatility of the underlying security may affect a Fund’s return as much as, or more than, the return of the underlying security.

Investors in the fund should: (a) understand the risks associated with the use of leverage; (b) understand the consequences of seeking inverse and leveraged investment results; (c) for short ETFs, understand the risk of shorting; (d) intend to actively monitor and manage their investment. Fund performance will likely be significantly different than the benchmark over periods longer than the specified reset period and the performance may trend in the opposite direction than its benchmark over periods other than that period.

Leverage increases the risk of a total loss of an investor’s investment, may increase the volatility of the Funds, and may magnify any differences between the performance of the Funds and their reference security. The Funds seek leveraged investment results for a specific period (daily, monthly or quarterly). The exact exposure of an investment in the Fund intra-period will depend upon the movement of the reference security from the end of the prior period until the time of investment by the investor.

The Fund will not attempt to position its portfolio to ensure it does not gain or lose more than a maximum percentage of its net asset value on a given trading day. As a consequence, investors in a Fund that seeks two times daily performance would lose all of their money if the Fund’s underlying security moves more than 50% in a direction adverse to the Fund on a given trading day.

ETFs involve risk including possible loss of the full principal value. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Principal risks and other important risks may be found in the prospectus. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

ETF shares are bought and sold at market price (not NAV) and are not individually redeemed from the ETF. There can be no guarantee that an active trading market for ETF shares will develop or be maintained, or that their listing will continue or remain unchanged. Buying or selling ETF shares on an exchange may require the payment of brokerage commissions and frequent trading may incur brokerage costs that detract significantly from investment returns.

Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Funds. This and other important information about the Fund is contained in the Prospectus, which can be obtained by visiting www.tradretfs.com. The Prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Distributed by ALPS Distributors, Inc, which is not affiliated with AXS Investments or its Tradr ETFs. AXI000965

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SOURCE Tradr ETFs

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Changan Group Unveils Its In-house Developed ADAS — SDA Pilot

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CHONGQING, China, June 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — At the 28th Chongqing International Auto Exhibition, Changan Group showcased its full brand lineup including CHANGAN NEVO, CHANGAN DEEPAL and AVATR at Hall N8, and officially launched its self-developed Advanced Driver-Assistance System, SDA Pilot.

At the press conference, Zhu Huarong, Chairman of Changan Group, stated: “Changan will work together with partners and users worldwide to make ADAS better, more practical, and more accessible, protecting every journey with smart technology.” It is announced that the CHANGAN NEVO Q06 will come standard with SDA Pilot across all trim levels and hit its domestic market in the second half of 2026.

SDA Pilot Takes the Spotlight: Three-tier Safety Defenses Upgrade the ADAS Experience

As Changan’s latest technological achievement in smart mobility, SDA Pilot breaks the boundaries of traditional physical safety and establishes three comprehensive safety defense systems covering physical well-being, mental comfort and emotional interaction.

The entry-level SDA Pilot Pro comes standard with LiDAR, capable of identifying obstacles in low-light conditions such as at night or in tunnels two seconds faster than the human eye. Supported by the globally leading SDA Central Ring Network Architecture, the system cuts response time by an additional 150 milliseconds. SDA Pilot Max, leverages over 20 million high-quality real-world driving data segments for training, delivering exceptional perception and predictive capabilities to confidently navigate complex, high-frequency commuting scenarios. The top-tier SDA Pilot Ultra is integrated with the VLM (Vision Language Model), which greatly enhances the vehicle’s environmental perception and enables interactive advanced driver-assistance functions, turning the vehicle into an intuitive travel companion. In the future, an active driver incapacitation protection function will also be introduced to safeguard driving safety at the first moment.

While continuously evolving its ADAS user experience, Changan remains committed to its safety bottom line, clearly reminding: “Driver assistance is not autonomous driving. Drivers are still required to take on the core responsibilities of real-time monitoring and taking over control at any time.”

Advancing the “1445” Global Strategy: 17 Years of Intelligent R&D Build Solid Safety Foundations

Changan Group lives by the tenet of “Intelligence defines Changan.” As a core component of the “1445” Global Strategy that underpins four transformation priorities (The four priorities refer to: intelligent mobility, electrification, a unified ecosystem, and globalization), intelligent mobility stands as the primary driving force for Changan’s upgrading. The company is committed to building a world-class auto group with global competitiveness and independent core technologies, aiming to rank among the world’s top 10 automobile brands by 2030. The launch of SDA Pilot marks a landmark achievement of this strategy in the advanced driving-assistance sector.

Behind this technological breakthrough lies a solid intelligent foundation built by Changan over 17 years. Since establishing its intelligent R&D team in 2009, Changan has forged ahead in uncharted technological territories and built the China’s only national key laboratory dedicated to intelligent vehicle safety technology — CHANGAN SDA LAB. The lab supports round-the-clock global collaborative testing with more than 400,000 virtual simulation scenarios.

Over the past five years, more than 2,000 Changan engineers have completed over 5 million kilometers of real-road tests across Chongqing’s notoriously complex road conditions, covering 185 typical driving scenarios. Rich field experience has been embedded into the system, which keeps evolving based on user feedback and forms the unshakable safety strength of SDA Pilot.

Empowered by intelligent technologies, Changan continues to accelerate its global footprint. To date, the group has established 22 overseas manufacturing bases with an annual capacity of 350,000 vehicles, and 1,124 overseas sales outlets, covering 118 countries and regions, with 41 global models launched. In 2025, Changan’s overseas sales reached 637,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 18.9%.

Since the start of 2026, Changan has made successive moves in its globalization strategy: launching the Vast Ocean Plan 2.0 during the AutoChina 2026 in Beijing, establishing four core principles: long-term development, localization, systematization, and responsible ESG practices; and more recently, partnering with the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) to become the Official Global Partner of the Portugal National Football Team, using sports as a bond to deepen global user connections and brand engagement.

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SOURCE Changan Group

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Kakunin Announces Cryptographic Compliance Shield for Google Gemini and OpenAI Agent Ecosystems

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SaaS Compliance Leader Launches First-Class SDK Integrations for Google Antigravity, OpenAI Swarm, and OpenAI Assistants API to Meet Strict MiCA and EU AI Act Standards.

LONDON, June 13, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Kakunin, the leading compliance infrastructure platform for autonomous AI agents, today announced the release of first-class SDK integrations for Google Antigravity SDK, OpenAI Swarm, and the OpenAI Assistants API.

Autonomous agents are executing high-value, real-world tasks—but without strict boundaries, they represent a massive security risk,” said Palash Bagchi, Founder, at Kakunin.

As organizations move autonomous AI agents from sandboxes to production, securing the tools they run has become a critical operational hurdle. The new integrations allow developers to cryptographically secure and audit agent actions in real time, meeting the strict requirements of upcoming regulations like the EU AI Act and MiCA.

Preventing Agent Drift at the Tool Layer

Instead of relying on prompt engineering or system instructions—which are susceptible to jailbreaks—Kakunin secures agent tool execution at the cryptographic layer:

Pre-Flight Scope Verification: Validates that an agent possesses the required permission scope (e.g., trade.execute, file.write) before executing local code.Active-Agent Enforcement: Dynamically halts execution if the agent’s underlying X.509 certificate has been revoked or suspended.Tamper-Evident Auditing: Automatically logs session starts, prompts, responses, tool successes, and error anomalies.

Ecosystem Compatibility out of the Box

The new releases bring seamless, code-first integrations to the industry’s leading agent frameworks:

Google Antigravity SDK: Hook-based runtime protection that automatically secures Gemini-powered tool workflows.OpenAI Swarm: A lightweight class wrapper (KakuninSwarm) that dynamically gates multi-agent handoffs and task executions.OpenAI Assistants API: A polling-loop helper (handle_assistants_requires_action) that streamlines safety checks and tool output formatting in a single call.

Beyond these core OpenAI and Google environments, the new releases also extend Kakunin’s cryptographic shield to the broader agent development community. Out-of-the-box templates and shims are now available for LangChain (KakuninToolGuard), LlamaIndex (KakuninFunctionToolGuard), CrewAI (KakuninCrewAgent), and AutoGen (KakuninConversableAgent), alongside native middlewares for Next.js API routes and raw client libraries for Go, TypeScript, and Python.

“Autonomous agents are executing high-value, real-world tasks—but without strict boundaries, they represent a massive security risk,” said Palash Bagchi, Founder, at Kakunin. “By bringing cryptographic X.509 validation directly to Google’s and OpenAI’s agent loops, we are giving developers the peace of mind to deploy agents in highly regulated environments like fintech and healthcare.”

Availability

The new SDK integrations are available immediately:

Python Package: Available on PyPI via pip install kakunin.Playground Notebooks: Developers can test the integrations in 1-click via the official OpenAI Cookbook and Google Gemini Cookbook.Reference Samples: Available on the public Kakunin Samples Repository.

To learn more about securing your autonomous agent workflows, visit kakunin.ai/docs. or visit Conversational GTM for more enquiries.

Media Contact
Palash Bagchi, Immortal Reality PA LLC, 1 4125437290, ai@kakunin.ai, https://www.kakunin.ai/

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SOURCE Kakunin

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