the company advancing digital property rights for gaming and the open metaverse, and Manga Productions, the leading animations, comics, and games production company in the Middle East, have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a strategic partnership to collaborate on a range of initiatives to activate Manga Productions' unique content in the Web3 ecosystem, grow the regional blockchain industry, and facilitate cross-access of intellectual properties. The partnership will enable Animoca Brands and Manga Productions to collaborate closely across several major areas, initially focusing on co-creating Web3 pilot projects across Animoca Brands' extensive ecosystem and leveraging Manga Productions' high-quality content portfolio. Furthermore, Animoca Brands will uti lize its operating and industry resources to provide educational and vocational opportunities to local talent in relevant fields. As a result, Animoca Brands has already begun preliminary discussions with local universities to develop introductory blockchain courses. Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: 'We are incredibly excited to join forces with Manga Productions on this partnership to leverage our respective complementary strengths. This partnership is one of our first significant steps in expanding into the Middle East, one of the fastest-growing Web3 ecosystems. In addition, the enriched cultural heritage can adapt to various forms of virtual content. We look forward to bringing the various initiatives with Manga Productions into life, and we expect to see more activities in the region through investment and strategic collaboration.' Dr. Essam Bukhary, CEO of Manga Productions, commented: 'We are delighted to announce our partnership with Animoca Brands and taking our IPs beyond content and into various applications and experiences. With this partnership, we believe that this will further develop the creative industry in the region through web3 applications as well as expand our portfolio within online and offline activations of IPs.' In addition, Animoca Brands will explore the feasibility of a dedicated regional game publishing platform with local partners, including Manga Productions, to bring high-quality blockchain game titles into the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region and support the global distribution of content produced by Manga Productions and other Arabian producers. The MENA region is a vibrant hub for technology innovation and blockchain adoption. The strategic partnership announced today marks an important milestone in Animoca Brands' mission of advancing global digital property rights and onboarding mass users into Web3 virtual economies. For Manga Productions, this partnership represents the first step toward applying blockchain technology to its comprehensive content portfolio and advancing its cultural initiatives in an interoperable virtual world.