First Military Contract in Mexico

Brand Protection and Customer Engagement solutions company YPB Group Limited’s (ASX:YPB)
joint venture (JV) with Affyrmx LLC has received its first order for Vital Records from the Mexican Armed Forces.

Despite a modest initial order of 10,000 units, this contract marks the entry into a potentially lucrative market for YPB and one not foreseen in the original business plan of the Affyrmx JV. This first contract with the Armed Forces builds on the JV’s Vital Records contracts won earlier in 2016 with four Mexican states. Mexico has 32 States and a total population of over 120 million people and the JV anticipates success with further states in 2017.

The Mexican Armed Forces is comprised of Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard and according to the CIA World Fact book, Mexico’s available military manpower is 72,000,000 (males and females age 18–49, 2009 est.), with 58,000,000 fit for military service, and 2,638,214 annually reaching military service age. All branches of the Armed Forces have an annual need for a range of YPB’s security documents such as those being supplied or proposed to other Government customers in Mexico including ID Cards, Vital Records and Employee Passes.

YPB Executive Chairman Mr John Houston said: “Since commencing the Affyrmx JV in early 2016, our confidence in the Mexican opportunity has grown and we are optimistic of our Mexican JV becoming a significant business for YPB. Although modest, this first order from the military is a good, further step in the Affyrmx JV becoming a key supplier of a variety of Government Vital Documents to all levels and arms of Government in Mexico.”