SME Resilience: Singapore’s SME leaders say the Iran war is forcing smaller firms to rethink operations as costs rise and planning gets harder, with sustainability pitched as the practical way to stay agile. AI Infrastructure for Industry: Bull and Foxconn are teaming up to scale Europe’s AI and cloud infrastructure using Bull’s Angers base and Foxconn’s Czech manufacturing, with an initial investment above EUR 120M. Digital Trade Deal: ASEAN has wrapped up negotiations for the ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement, set for signing in November to boost digital trade and unlock up to $2T by 2030. SME Financing: Philippines digital lender First Circle secured a PHP 300M facility from Cathay United Bank, aiming to expand credit access, including solar-focused loans. Local Market Access: Cambodia’s Khmer Enterprise and AEON concluded the 2026 Local Products Fair, helping newly onboarded SMEs meet retail compliance and quality requirements. AI Security for “AI Factories”: Xage is adding NVIDIA DOCA security and Vera BlueField-4 STX support to strengthen zero-trust protection for agentic AI storage and data access. Housing Pressure: South Africa’s property sector warns higher interest rates can slow housing delivery and jobs by raising delivery costs and affordability. SME Tech & Training: Arm is rolling out Arm Create to help developers “move from idea to outcome” via challenges and hands-on events. Energy for SMEs: Kelantan researchers say household and SME solar adoption is held back by upfront costs, even as leasing schemes could lower barriers. Entrepreneurship Push: Liberia’s entrepreneurship advocates argue education must link to enterprise creation to tackle graduate unemployment.