Category: Business

MIL-OSI Europe: Publication of 2020 official development assistance figures by the OECD Development Assistance Committee (13 Apr. 2021)e publique au développement 2020 par le Comité d’aide au développement de l’OCDE (13.04.21)

Source: Republic of France in English
The Republic of France has issued the following statement:

The Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) today published preliminary data on global official development assistance (ODA) for 2020. With ODA at €12.4 billion, i.e. 0.53% of gross national income (GNI) – up by 10.9% in real terms compared to the previous year –, France remains in fifth place among international aid donors.

In line with the French President’s commitment to increase France’s resources for protecting global public goods, French ODA rose for the sixth consecutive year (up €2.3 billion since the beginning of the five-year term).

The increase in French ODA is mainly driven by bilateral assistance (up 20.8% in current euros compared to 2019). Bilateral funding in donations increased by 2%, in accordance with the targets set by the Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development (CICID) in February 2018. Assistance for projects, enabling practical projects to be funded on the ground, tripled by comparison with 2019, particularly thanks to increased activity in non-C2D donations directly implemented by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and activity entrusted to the French Development Agency (AFD). Sub-Saharan Africa, which is central to France’s development policy, received a third of our bilateral ODA (€2.9 billion), up 40% compared to 2019. The bilateral ODA allocated by France to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) stands at €1.7 billion.

France allocated €1.9 billion to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries in 2020 – more than the other European donors. In particular, through the AFD, it established a Health in Common Initiative worth €1.2 billion – €150 million of it in donations – which, among other things, improved care for patients and strengthened the capabilities of the Pasteur Institute’s reference laboratories in several sub-Saharan African countries.

French ODA to international organizations and multilateral funds amounted to €4.4 billion (up 2.8%). Over half corresponded to France’s contribution to the ODA implemented by the European Union. This money also financed the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), Unitaid, Gavi The Vaccine Alliance’s Finance Facility and the Green Climate Fund. France stepped up its support to the least developed countries through its contribution to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and the African Development Fund (ADF).

The programming bill on inclusive development and combating global inequalities, presented by the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and adopted by the National Assembly on 2 March 2021, realizes France’s new ambition for development policy. Through increased resources and overhauled methods, it reflects the desire to ensure our action is effective on the ground, helping the most vulnerable people, and to mobilize our partners to take more robust action to protect global public goods (climate, health, education). The Senate is currently discussing the bill.

MIL OSI Europe News –

January 23, 2025

MIL-OSI: Form 8.3 – [LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES GROUP PLC – 11 10 2024] – (CGWL)

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

FORM 8.3

PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY
A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE
Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the “Code”)

1. KEY INFORMATION

(a) Full name of discloser:	CANACCORD GENUITY WEALTH LIMITED (for Discretionary clients)
(b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a): The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named.	N/A
(c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates: Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree	LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES GROUP PLC
(d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree:	N/A
(e) Date position held/dealing undertaken: For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure	11 OCTOBER 2024
(f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer? If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state “N/A”	N/A

2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

Class of relevant security:	0.375p ORDINARY
	Interests		Short positions
	Number	%	Number	%
(1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled:	10,108,840	1.2761
(2) Cash-settled derivatives:
(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:
TOTAL:	10,108,840	1.2761

All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors’ and other employee options)

Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists:
Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:

3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

(a) Purchases and sales

Class of relevant security	Purchase/sale	Number of securities	Price per unit
0.375p ORDINARY	SALE	2,569	92.25p
0.375p ORDINARY	SALE	11,750	92.71p
0.375p ORDINARY	PURCHASE	1,040	92.8p
0.375p ORDINARY	PURCHASE	24,404	92.855p
0.375p ORDINARY	PURCHASE	5,812	92.9p
0.375p ORDINARY	PURCHASE	9,453	93p

(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions

Class of relevant security	Product description e.g. CFD	Nature of dealing e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position	Number of reference securities	Price per unit
NONE

(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

Class of relevant security	Product description e.g. call option	Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc.	Number of securities to which option relates	Exercise price per unit	Type e.g. American, European etc.	Expiry date	Option money paid/ received per unit
NONE

(ii) Exercise

Class of relevant security

Product description
e.g. call option

Exercising/ exercised against

Number of securities

Exercise price per unit

(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

Class of relevant security	Nature of dealing e.g. subscription, conversion	Details	Price per unit (if applicable)
NONE

4. OTHER INFORMATION

(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:
Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”

NONE

(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:
(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or
(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:
If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”

NONE

(c) Attachments

Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached?

Date of disclosure:	14 OCTOBER 2024
Contact name:	MARK ELLIOTT
Telephone number:	01253 376539

Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

The Panel’s Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code’s disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

The Code can be viewed on the Panel’s website at http://www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.

The MIL Network –

January 23, 2025

MIL-OSI: Form 8.3 – [ECKOH PLC – 11 10 2024] – (CGWL)

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

FORM 8.3

PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY
A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE
Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the “Code”)

1. KEY INFORMATION

(a) Full name of discloser:	CANACCORD GENUITY WEALTH LIMITED (for Discretionary clients)
(b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a): The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named.	N/A
(c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates: Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree	ECKOH PLC
(d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree:	N/A
(e) Date position held/dealing undertaken: For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure	11 OCTOBER 2024
(f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer? If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state “N/A”	N/A

2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

Class of relevant security:	10p ORDINARY
	Interests		Short positions
	Number	%	Number	%
(1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled:	20,909,891	7.1962
(2) Cash-settled derivatives:
(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:
TOTAL:	20,909,891	7.1962

All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors’ and other employee options)

Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists:
Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:

3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

(a) Purchases and sales

Class of relevant security	Purchase/sale	Number of securities	Price per unit
10p ORDINARY	SALE	18,925	43.15p

(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions

Class of relevant security	Product description e.g. CFD	Nature of dealing e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position	Number of reference securities	Price per unit
NONE

(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

Class of relevant security	Product description e.g. call option	Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc.	Number of securities to which option relates	Exercise price per unit	Type e.g. American, European etc.	Expiry date	Option money paid/ received per unit
NONE

(ii) Exercise

Class of relevant security

Product description
e.g. call option

Exercising/ exercised against

Number of securities

Exercise price per unit

(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

Class of relevant security	Nature of dealing e.g. subscription, conversion	Details	Price per unit (if applicable)
NONE

4. OTHER INFORMATION

(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

NONE

(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

NONE

(c) Attachments

Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached?

Date of disclosure:	14 OCTOBER 2024
Contact name:	MARK ELLIOTT
Telephone number:	01253 376539

Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

The Panel’s Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code’s disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

The Code can be viewed on the Panel’s website at http://www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.

The MIL Network –

January 23, 2025

MIL-OSI United Kingdom: David Holdsworth’s speech at CLA 30th anniversary conference

Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government Non-Ministerial Departments

David Holdsworth addresses Charity Law Association Conference.

Location:

London

Delivered on:

10 October 2024 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered)

Good afternoon, and to Welsh colleagues in the room, prynhawn da.

I’m delighted to be here with you this afternoon, and for this opportunity to be a part of your annual conference. I’d like to say a few words about the Commission’s priorities, and about the ways in which I see us working with the wider charity law community during my time as CEO.

This is, of course, the 30th anniversary of the CLA conference.

Milestones like this encourage us to look back at where we’ve come from, and imagine and plan for what lies ahead.

The milestones since 1994 alone speak of the passing of one generation into the next.

We’ve had no fewer than 10 Charities Acts, including those passed in devolved parliaments. Some of this legislation has redefined charity, and the powers of the Commission as regulator, expanding our role, influence and responsibilities, ensuring that as the sector has grown and diversified, we have too, keeping pace with changing expectations and needs. The CLA will have been there, inputting, advising, consulting, every step of the way.

Many leaders have come and gone. Since the early 1990s, we’ve seen 3 Chief Commissioners of the Charity Commission, then since the 2006 Act, 5 chairs, and the same number of chief executives, including myself.

During the same period – three changes of government, with one coalition, and nine Prime Ministers.

But perhaps more significant are the fundamental technological, cultural and social changes that have unfolded since the 1990s, transforming the way in which we live, work, and communicate – and the way in which we do good for our communities and for others and the values to which our society holds.

We have seen same sex marriage legalised, we’ve seen a huge shift in attitudes towards ….. and investment in ….. mental health, women’s health and wellbeing and we’re beginning to recognise the personal, social, and economic impact of systemic issues such as loneliness and inequality.

There are many more such examples. It is worth holding in mind both how recent such progress is, and how important charities and wider civil society are in reflecting, and driving social attitudes.

Charities serve as a mirror in which society sees reflected not just how things are, but also how they could be.

Over the past 30 years, the fundamental purpose of charity has remained pretty stable, but its role and relevance to our daily lives has only increased.

From delivery of and support for emergency response services, to early years provision, medical research, and care and advocacy for the most vulnerable in our society… not to mention the work of charities in promoting the arts, cultural heritage, conservation and so on. Charities save and improve lives, cradle to grave.

Of course, charities’ status at the heart of our society rests not just on the good intentions of those involved.

Charities are trusted and valued because they are protected by a framework of statutory duties and obligations that experts such as yourselves both helped shape and importantly also help to uphold.

Your work goes far beyond advising individual charities. Your voice is crucial in helping to shape the charity law framework, ensuring it keeps pace with changing needs in society.

Looking ahead – we can’t of course say for sure where we’ll be 30 years from now.

I would wager that the pace of technological, cultural and social change will only increase.

And that our ambition will remain to ensure charities continue to be trusted as vehicles for our better nature, and that people continue to support charitable purposes with their time, money, and trust.

While our research shows that trust is currently at a 10-year high, this is not an outcome we can take for granted.

I believe there is a role for the Commission and the wider charity law community to help shape the future of charity, anticipating and responding to wider changes in society and public expectations.

In that context, there are three areas I’d like to reflect on today.

Picture the sector as the home in which we all live and which we all want to preserve for the future, and consider how you would maintain the structure for the long term.

First, there’s housekeeping and maintenance – so the things we need to do and think about now to ensure that we’re keeping the house safe and stable. This is not a small task. The building we are looking after is old, and it has many rooms and keeping it in good shape requires hard work and ingenuity.

Second are the strategic works we know we need to undertake, because of changes we already know will come. Sticking with the analogy – we know we need to insulate all our walls, because the climate is changing and energy is precious.

Third, and perhaps trickiest of all, we need to think now about the way in which the building may be used into the next generation. If we want to preserve the best of the building whilst ensuring it’s fit for future generations and not see it torn down or to fall into neglect and disrepair slowly over time due to its lack of attractiveness to new home owners – then we need to adapt it bit by bit over time ensuring it meets the needs of tomorrow’s home owners.

So first, maintenance of the sector right now. Getting the basics right today.

Here I’d like to home in on our work to support trustees through our guidance work.

This forms an important part of the Commission’s corporate strategy – one of our strategic priorities being to support charities to get it right but take robust action where we see wrongdoing and harm. Our statute of course also requires us ‘to promote compliance by charity trustees with their legal obligations’ and empowers us ‘give such advice or guidance with respect to the administration of charities as it considers appropriate’.

Good, accessible, online guidance really matters. Our strategy, again, puts this well: Ultimately the sustainability of the charitable sector relies on the enthusiasm, generosity, and capability of trustees.

There are, at least, 700,000 trustees of registered charities covering nearly a million trustee positions. We are undertaking research at the moment, with Pro Bono Economics, to understand better who they are, and what their skills are. For example this work will give us a better idea of how many legal professionals are serving as trustees.

But what we already know is that the vast majority are volunteers, taking on the rewarding but challenging role of trusteeship on top of already busy lives.

They have a right to expect, from us as regulator, clear, plain English guidance on what is required of them, and some level of instruction on how to deliver on those expectations.

And this matters, because we know that the public have high expectations of trustees – research shows that the public expects charities to be efficient and effective in delivering on their purpose, and run according to high ethical standards.

Unfortunately, however, we are starting from a point where not enough trustees – our primary audience – use our guidance when undertaking their leadership roles.

Research published by the Commission earlier this year shows that only around a quarter – 26% – of trustees use our information at least once a year, whereas nearly two thirds seek advice from a trusted colleague or fellow trustee.

Yet almost all (93%) of those who have used the Commission’s information find it helpful. And those who use our guidance have a better understanding of their responsibilities – again our research shows this.

When we ask trustees why some don’t access our support, they tell us that the length and style of our older guidance can put them off.

In response, we are doing a huge amount to overhaul and improve our suite of guidance, ensuring it is not just clear in the way it explains charity law, but that it is actually used more and more by trustees. I know some lawyers mourn our longer and more detailed style of guidance. But I’d ask you to understand that our primary audience is the lay trustee, and we need them to access, understand, and action our guidance more routinely than they do at the moment.

Over the past year alone, we have produced new guidance on accepting, refusing and returning donations – guidance that is helping to underpin and grow a strong philanthropic culture in the UK, and helping trustees make decisions that are right for their charities.

We have reviewed and improved our guidance on charities and decision making, keeping to the 7 principles set out when we first published that guidance 11 years ago, and retaining all its other key points, but making the guidance more concise through smart editing based on clear writing principles. We are grateful to the many people in this room who use CC27 and the 7 principles when they are advising Boards on making decisions – this is an example of how our guidance and the advice lawyers give can work in tandem to upskill trustees and keep them making effective decisions.

Earlier this year, we updated our guidance on charities and meetings, bringing it up to date with the Zoom era, and encouraging charities to ensure their governing documents and policies keep pace with changes to the way in which people meet. This accelerated during the pandemic, during which we gave updated advice, now formalised through the redesigned guidance.

And most recently, we updated our guidance on managing finances. We have made the guide much more accessible, splitting its content into three separate pieces, making it easier for trustees to find the information that best relates to their situation, whether they may be starting to experience financial struggles or, worse, facing insolvency.

We don’t of course, produce our guidance in isolation.

Much of our resource and energy goes on working in collaboration with our partners to ensure our guidance is clear and fit for purpose.

How we do this has changed over time, and we now take a more risk-based approach, helping to ensure we can produce and publish new guidance at pace. In some cases, for example when we are producing brand new guidance or reflecting new judgments, for example following the Butler Sloss case on charity investments, the CLA is a crucial partner for us to engage and consult with. At other times, for example when our task is to refresh guidance to improve its accessibility, user-testing with charities is the most important consultative work for us to undertake.

I’m grateful for the CLA’s support and challenge over the years. I recall from my previous time at the Commission the excellent professional relationship we had and I look forward to rekindling that and hope you will continue to work with us to ensure our new guidance is legally sound, clear, and actionable. I am committed to building on our existing relationship to ensure a strong partnership on our guidance pipeline – and wider support to trustees – into the future.

Next – the big strategic works that help our house respond to big changes that we already know are heading our way.

Here I’d like to reference the important work of our horizon scanning and strategic policy work.

We have recently tackled cryptocurrency models of giving, and AI. Our approach here is not so much to provide all the answers but to help charities and the sector ask the right questions, about how these transformative technologies can be harnessed to further charities’ work and think about the risks of engaging, and the risks of not doing so. As an example, we have reminded charities that under those seven key principles mentioned earlier, trustees remain responsible for decision making in their organisation, so it is vital this process is not delegated to AI or based on AI generated content alone.

We continue to monitor both these areas, including in assessing applications from charities active in these spaces, and are keen to encourage the sector itself – and experts such as the CLA and its members – to think about how tech developments such as these might be harnessed for the sector into the future.

Ensuring legislation is fit for purpose is crucial too. Charity law is never quite done. The 2022 Act attracted fewer headlines, and less controversy than previous iterations of legislation, but it made for important efficiencies and improvements to the operation of charity, and our role in that.

Looking ahead, we continue to consider whether further strengthening of our powers to address and prevent abuse and mismanagement in charities may be valuable – enabling us to work more effectively and efficiently at a time when our resources, like those of charities, are stretched.

And then, thirdly we need to think about the next generation living in our house – about big societal shifts and how they might impact on the sector into future generations.

I am determined to use my position as CEO, and the wider convening role of the Commission, to help facilitate dialogue on the future of charity. It is not for us as the regulator in isolation to say what the sector “should” or “could” be. That is something for the sector and society more widely. However with technology changes, social media, AI, as well as societal expectations on speed of action or impact, we risk losing what is special about charity and the positive impact it has if we don’t think and adapt. We are already seeing areas where AI is having real world impact which had not been thought about in the creative sectors. So if we are to maximise the positive impacts of technology whilst mitigating the potential negative impacts then we need to think and act now. We are clear in our strategy that we will speak with authority and credibility, free from the influence of others, in areas like this.

There are great opportunities, and great challenges ahead. What are the cultural factors that will shape the future of charity? What impact do changing giving and volunteering habits, and shifting attitudes towards institutions between generations, have on the role and work of charities?

In a country where there are huge divisions of world view on fundamental issues, how can different charities continue to use their voice to campaign for the change they want to see in our society, in furtherance of their purposes, without inflaming tensions or entrenching divisions? What changes might we need to help charities respond and adapt to climate change?

The Commission’s role as regulator is not to support or champion individual charities, and it is not for us to set the direction for charities or the sector as a whole.

But we can have a role in helping the sector, and its partners in government and beyond, to ask these questions, and we can bring people together in tackling the big issues to unleash the potential of not just the sector but the people it exists to serve.

And this is where you as charity law experts, and people who care deeply about the sector, come in.

I think you have a crucial opportunity – perhaps even responsibility – to lead thought and discussion about how charities can be supported to respond to the next big generational shifts, over the next 30 years.

There is great work underway already in this space.

One example of this is this year’s research by Bayes Business School about the challenges that charity chairs might face in 30 years’ time. The research mentions the skills that might be required of chairs, the governance models that might be needed, and the future pipeline of chairs: where will they come from?

We believe we have already started to respond to these issues: by improving our guidance in the way described and continuing to be responsive to trustees’ needs, we are helping to tackle perceived difficulties associated with being a trustee.

And we are interested in how else we (with partners like the CLA) can continue to ensure that the sector is supported to deliver in the ways I have noted already.

You have deep insight into the charities you advise, and you have a birds-eye view of the sector, the legislation that defines it and the systems that support it.

Please use that insight and contribute to debate and discussion that will help equip the Commission, and the sector, for the challenges of the future.

To conclude – none of us can predict what world we’ll be living in over the next 30 years.

But we can work together, now, to ensure that charities remain at the beating heart of society, that they remain relevant, and trusted as the vehicles for positive change.

Thank you.

Updates to this page

Published 14 October 2024

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: A block on building hundreds of new homes in Norwich is set to be unlocked this week

Source: City of Norwich

Published on Monday, 14th October 2024

The city council’s decision-making body, cabinet, will meet on 16 October to consider joining a company which can help to unlock the planning permissions needed for more than 2,000 new homes.

Building these new residential properties has been blocked by a government intervention known as ‘nutrient neutrality’ which has caused the delays.

Mike Stonard, leader of Norwich City Council, said: “We have been working really hard since the government introduced the issue of nutrient neutrality in 2022 to find an answer to how we can get new homes built in affected areas.

“The proposal to join Norfolk Environmental Credits Ltd (NEC Ltd), a joint venture between several local authorities in Norfolk, gives us the chance to sign up to a scheme that can help us get more than 2,000 homes built across Norwich.”

The nutrient neutrality scheme was brought in by the previous government over growing concerns that building work was causing an increase in the pollution levels in our waterways and leaching our rivers of nutrients.

As a result, very few planning applications have been approved in Norwich since the new guidance came in.

This has caused serious disruption to housing development across the city resulting in more than 2,000 residential properties waiting to be built. For more information read the full report to be considered by cabinet on 16 October.

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Bonta: Today, We Protect Hardworking Californians, Not Big Oil Profits

Source: US State of California

ABX2-1 protects consumers from avoidable gas price spikes that pad big oil profits

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a statement today after ABX2-1 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom. Authored by Assemblymember Gregg Hart (D-Santa Barbara), Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters), Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and co-sponsored by Attorney General Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom, ABX2-1 would stabilize California’s oil market by ensuring refineries have adequate fuel reserves to avoid supply shortages that hike gas prices and harm consumers.

“Californians have been paying too much for gas, while year after year, oil companies report record profits at their expense. Let’s be clear – the price spikes consumers see at the pump are profit spikes for big oil,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “Enough is enough. ABX2-1 will save Californians billions of dollars and reduce opportunities for Big Oil to manipulate the market.”

“Price spikes have cost Californians billions of dollars over the years, and we’re not waiting around for the industry to do the right thing — we’re taking action to prevent these price spikes and save consumers money at the pump,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “Now, the state has the tools to make sure they backfill supplies and plan ahead for maintenance so there aren’t shortages that drive up prices. I’m grateful to our partners in the Senate and Assembly for acting quickly to push this forward and help deliver relief for Californians.”

“This landmark legislation is a win for consumers, and a win for accountability in the state’s gasoline market,” said Assemblymember Gregg Hart, D- Santa Barbara. “ABX2- 1 will save working California families billions at the gas pump. This common sense solution has received broad public support because consumers know that when gas prices spike in California, the oil industry unfairly profits.”

“ABX2-1 was the subject of an extensive amount of scrutiny, testimony and participation by Members of the Legislature in over 18 hours of hearings. I am proud of the work done by our Assembly Policy Chair, Assemblymember Petrie-Norris, and my colleagues and Joint Authors Assemblymember Hart and Senator Skinner on this critical issue,” said Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar Curry, D-Winters. “This bill clearly states that no regulations will move forward unless there is a tangible benefit to California gas consumers, and that the safety of our refinery workers and the public is paramount in any action taken by the State. Our work is not done when the Governor signs ABX2-1. We owe it to all Californians to remain actively engaged in the regulatory process to assure those goals and values are met.”

California’s oil market is uniquely vulnerable to manipulation from oil companies. California’s isolated fuel market makes it so supply disruptions including planned maintenance outages can dramatically impact prices. Because nearly all in-state supply comes from a handful of refineries, a single refinery outage could drastically reduce refining capacity. This volatility places an undue burden on California consumers, especially consumers with fixed or limited incomes.

To stabilize California’s oil supply and prevent price spikes, ABX2-1 requires refineries to maintain adequate reserves and properly plan for refinery shutdowns. ABX2-1 would authorize the California Energy Commission to adopt regulations requiring refiners to maintain minimum inventory levels and establish effective penalties to ensure the law is enforceable and Big Oil follows the rules. The Commission can only adopt these regulations if it determines that they will lead to lower average retail prices, increase the fuel supply, and reduce price instability for consumers.

Attorney General Bonta is steadfast in his commitment to protect consumers at the pump and hold bad actors accountable. This month, Attorney General Bonta urged California residents who purchased gas in Southern California in 2015 to submit a claim for a payment under the state’s $50 million settlement with gas trading firms for tampering with and manipulating prices for California gasoline. Last year, Attorney General Bonta co-sponsored SBX1-2, which increases transparency in the oil industry to help identify causes of price irregularities. Authored by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), co-sponsored by Governor Newsom, and approved by a supermajority in both the Senate and Assembly, SBX1-2 created a dedicated independent watchdog to root out market manipulation and price gouging by oil companies. The law went into effect on June 26, 2023.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Asia Pacific – Attraction of the ASEAN Economic Sphere: Japanese Companies Transferring Production from China to Southeast Asia – The Shared Future of Asia and Japan

Source: Japan Connect

An increasing number of Japanese companies operating in China are transferring their production bases to countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This comes as Chinese economic growth slows and concerns rise over the risks of doing business in China, where foreign residents have been arrested on vague grounds.

Chinese real estate slump: Apartment buildings in Guizhou, China. (c) Jiji Press.
The Chinese economy is stagnating, and this can clearly be seen in production, consumption and investments. The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter (April-June) of 2024 grew 4.7% year over year, which was 0.6 points lower than the first quarter (January-March). Economic data from August shows that retail business sales, an indicator of consumption trends, grew only 2.1% year over year.

The slump in the real estate industry is a major factor behind this. The real estate market and related industries make up a fourth of China’s GDP, but investments in real estate development fell 10.2% year over year in the period between January and August 2024. During the COVID-19 pandemic, China implemented a “Zero-COVID Strategy,” which kept citizens indoors, dealt a major blow to the tourism and restaurant industries, and led to investments being concentrated in real estate. Home prices rose exponentially. In response, the Chinese government placed heavy restrictions on risky deals. This caused home prices to drop drastically, and the businesses of many major real estate developers fell into a decline. Down payments were made but buildings never got built, and as similar cases followed one after another, the consumption trend cooled among the population.

Furthermore, the Chinese government, which places utmost importance on national security, established the Counter Espionage Law in 2014. This has resulted in many foreigners, including Japanese, being arrested for “espionage acts,” which are only vaguely defined. Starting in July 2024, new regulations have been implemented that allow authorities to inspect the contents of electronic devices of individuals and organizations for acts of espionage, raising further concerns that even regular economic activities could be scrutinized. With little hope for significant growth in the Chinese market, coupled with the risks of doing business in China, direct international investments into the country fell 29.1% year over year between January and June 2024. There are also other issues, such as the risk of high tariffs on products produced in China and exported to the USA due to the ongoing tension between the two countries, as well as rising labor costs in China.

Against this backdrop, Japanese companies are turning their eyes to Southeast Asia for new bases of production. In January 2023, Sony transferred the manufacturing of its cameras for Japan, Europe and the USA from China to Thailand. Its factories in China now only make products to be sold domestically, allowing it to reduce dependency on the country. Kyocera also plans to transfer a part of its electric tools production in China to Vietnam in fiscal 2024. The Vietnam site will mainly manufacture products to be sold in the USA in order to avoid the tariffs placed on exports from China. According to Teikoku Databank, the number of Japanese companies operating in China decreased from 14,394 in 2012 to 13,034 in 2023. Many companies are choosing to relocate back to Japan or to Southeast Asia. This can be seen in how Southeast Asian countries now occupy three of the top five locations in terms of the number of Japanese companies’ overseas subsidiaries: No. 1 is China, followed by USA, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam.

Southeast Asia is attractive in many ways for Japanese companies. Not only is it geographically close to Japan but it also offers a rich pool of human resources with technical prowess and fluency in many languages including English, which allows companies to secure a stable labor force. Many ASEAN countries also have highly transparent fiscal policies and stable currency exchange rates. Cities have established solid infrastructure such as electrical power and transportation networks, making it easier for companies to build factories there and secure supply chains, from production and distribution to sales.

The Southeast Asian market is very appealing. The 10 ASEAN countries have a combined population of around 670 million people. It tops the population of the European Union (EU), which is around 450 million people, and is the third largest in the world after India and China. The median age is also young, and unlike many developed nations, the region has not yet been faced with the issue of an aging society with a low birthrate. The 2023 nominal GDP of the 10 ASEAN countries combined rose to around 3.81 trillion US dollars, which ranks right after the USA, China, Germany and Japan. It is forecast to overtake Japan’s GDP by 2030. Due to the effects of an aging population and low birthrate, there are concerns that Japan’s market and labor force will shrink going forward. Japanese companies will benefit greatly from operating and expanding their businesses in Southeast Asia, which has a large market, offers rich human resources and is referred to as “the world’s growth center.”

Japan and ASEAN countries have established various cooperative partnerships in politics, foreign policy and the economy. Japan is an active participant in numerous ASEAN foreign policy and security frameworks, including the East Asia Summit (EAS), which started in Malaysia in 2005, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which discusses political and security issues, and ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus), the only formal meeting of defense ministers in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2020, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was officially signed, including Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand in addition to ASEAN. Building an open economic sphere by providing market access and establishing economic rules is accelerating active free trade, including small and medium-sized businesses.

While Southeast Asia is attractive to Japan, Japan must also be attractive to Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian company managers often say that decisionmaking is slow in Japanese businesses. They say this is due to a uniquely Japanese custom where multiple meetings are needed to make a single decision, and everyone has to then wait for it to be approved by the head office in Japan. Furthermore, Southeast Asians who grew up loving Japanese brands and anime are already in their 40s and 50s, while the attention of the younger generation, which is driving consumption, has been turning to South Korean and Chinese cultures as well. As such, greater efforts must be made to ensure that Southeast Asia will choose Japan as a partner.

Last year, Japan and ASEAN celebrated their 50th anniversary of cooperative partnerships. The relationship, in fact, began as one of animosity. Japan drew the ire of Southeast Asia by exporting massive quantities of cheap synthetic rubber to ASEAN, a producer of natural rubber, and that led to holding the ASEAN-Japan forum on synthetic rubber in 1973. Friendly relations were established as Japan promised to take care not to interfere with ASEAN’s natural rubber industry. It was a perfect example of the proverb “After rain comes fair weather.” One could call 2024 the first year of the next half-century of new cooperative partnerships. Going forward, Japan’s efforts will determine how strong this partnership with ASEAN will become.

By Akio Yaita – Journalist. Graduated from the Faculty of Letters at Keio University. After completing his doctorate at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, he worked as a correspondent for the Sankei Shimbun in Beijing and as Taipei bureau chief. Author or co-author of many books.

MIL OSI – Submitted News –

January 23, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Is Australia’s trade war with China now over? The answer might be out of our hands

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Draper, Professor, and Executive Director: Institute for International Trade, and Jean Monnet Chair of Trade and Environment, University of Adelaide

YULIYAPHOTO/Shutterstock

Finally, Australia’s rock lobster industry will be able to export to China again, following a deal struck on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Laos last week.

It will take some weeks to finalise the paperwork, but Chinese diners can expect to eat our high-quality crustaceans as we devour our Christmas roast turkeys.

The breakthrough brings a particularly nasty chapter in Australia-China trade relations to a close. Tariffs on rock lobsters were the only remaining major restriction of a raft of trade barriers imposed by China in 2020.

It might be tempting to celebrate, but we should tread carefully. Our situation remains hostage to Beijing’s relationship with Washington. Whether Australia’s trade woes with China are actually over may ultimately be out of our hands.

Read more:
China removes block on Australian lobster, in last big bilateral trade breakthrough

Australia’s reversal of fortunes

The past couple of years have been a whirlwind.

The Albanese government has seen China systematically undo the export restrictions it had imposed on Australia in 2020 – including on barley, wine, beef, and now lobster – without giving away much of substance in return.

Yes, Australia suspended two cases it had brought against China at the World Trade Organization, concerning barley and wine duties China had imposed. But those cases can be resumed if the Chinese government backslides.

China will resume imports of Australian lobster by the end of this year.
Abdul Razak Latif/Shutterstock

And true, the Albanese government did not oppose China’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership – an important regional free trade agreement of which Australia is a founding member. But neither did it endorse China’s bid.

It seems we’ve come a long way since 2020, when China tabled its infamous “14 grievances” against Australia. This deliberately leaked document publicly criticised Australia on a whole range of fronts, including foreign investment decisions, alleged interference in China’s affairs, research funding and media coverage.

A more sobering picture elsewhere

This reopening of trade might make it seem like things are looking up for Australia. In some cases, our business community has bounced back with gusto, notably wine exports to China.

Zooming out, however, paints a more sobering picture of global trade relations. In the near term, the decisions of our key allies – namely the United States – may come to matter more than our own.

The Biden administration has long hoped to place a “floor” under America’s geopolitical competition with China. Neither side wants things to get ugly.

But in Washington, strong bipartisan consensus remains that China must be confronted. The US has continued to take coercive actions against Chinese exports and investment.

For example, the US recently imposed a 100% import duty on electric vehicles produced by Chinese-owned companies. Similarly, it imposed a 25% import duty on imports of Chinese container cranes. Strategic distrust will escalate no matter who wins the White House on November 5.

This animosity is mirrored in Beijing. China’s security state is expanding ever more into business, while its private sector retreats. China’s own coercive activities are also escalating in regional disputes over the South and East China seas, as well as in its trade retaliations against Western markets.

Widening tensions

These tensions are also playing out in Europe and the Middle East. International relations scholars worry that the West must now confront an authoritarian axis comprising Russia, Iran, North Korea and China.

China’s “no limits” partnership with Russia has spooked most European elites. Western sanctions on Russia, meant to erode the Kremlin’s war machine, are likely being circumvented by China’s unmatched industrial capacities.

Iran’s military support for Russia supplements the Kremlin’s war-fighting capacities at Ukraine’s expense.

Unsurprisingly, economic security concerns are rapidly eclipsing free trade considerations for the US.

Advanced manufacturing capabilities – such as semiconductor production – are increasingly important strategic assets.
genkur/Shutterstock

When US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan introduced the 2022 National Security Strategy, he adopted a selectively restrictive approach he called “small yard, high fence”.

He was talking about export controls and inward restrictions on investment, applied to high-technology products.

Since then, the “yard” has grown wider, and the “fence” has expanded. More sectors and products are being thrown into the mix, from energy security, through critical minerals, to food production.

The challenge with digital technologies, able to be used for both military and civilian purposes, is that the yard can be very large indeed.

Middle power problems

The US has the economic and military weight to confront China. As the European Union is learning, having the economic weight is necessary. But being politically united is essential, and they remain far from that.

Australia is a middle power, without the necessary economic weight or military heft to confront China. That means we must support the rules-based multilateral trading system – preserving the authority of institutions like the World Trade Organisation (WTO) – to constrain the actions of the great powers and preserve as much of our open trade posture as possible.

Washington, however, increasingly expects its allies to fall into line. How else can one explain Canada’s decision to follow the US and impose 100% import duties on electric vehicles produced by Chinese owned companies?

Like Australia, Canada is also a middle power. It is also a strong supporter of the rules-based multilateral trading system. But Canada’s action violates WTO rules.

The fact that Washington’s actions also violate these rules is taken for granted these days.

Australia must pay attention

Global trade cooperation is deteriorating, and the world is fracturing into two “values-based” trading blocs. While there could be positive upswings in our bilateral trade relations with China, the medium term trend is down.

As Napoleon Bonaparte is reputed to have said:

China is a sleeping giant; let him sleep, for if he wakes he will shake the world.

China has changed, and the world with it.

Australian business needs to pay attention. Our East Asian partners, notably Japan and South Korea, have long spoken of the need for a “China plus one” (or more) business strategy – making sure trade and investment is diversified into other countries, as well.

Such diversification will be increasingly important in the years to come.

Peter Draper does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Is Australia’s trade war with China now over? The answer might be out of our hands – https://theconversation.com/is-australias-trade-war-with-china-now-over-the-answer-might-be-out-of-our-hands-241117

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Appointment of Director General for the East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office, and Country Manager for Kenya Dr…

Source: African Development Bank Group

The African Development Bank Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Kennedy K. Mbekeani as Director General for the East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office, and Country Manager for Kenya, effective from 16th October 2024.

Dr. Kennedy K. Mbekeani, a citizen of Malawi brings over 25 years of senior level experience in development finance, project management, policy advisory services, and knowledge generation across country and regional levels. Prior to this appointment, he served as Deputy Director General for the Bank’s Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office.

He holds a Bachelor of Social Science (Economics and Statistics) degree from the University of Malawi, an MPhil in Monetary Economics from the University of Glasgow, and both an MA and PhD in International Economics from the University of California. He has authored numerous publications focusing on trade, regional integration, and infrastructure development in Africa.

In his previous role as Deputy Director General for the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office, Dr. Mbekeani led the Bank’s business development and delivery for sovereign, non-sovereign investments and provided advisory services to South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and Mauritius. His efforts contributed to the Bank’s reputation as a trusted partner for high impact development projects in the region. He also managed relationships with key government and private sector, positioning the Bank for success.

Dr. Mbekeani joined the Bank in 2009 as Chief Trade and Regional Integration Officer. He has held various senior roles including Lead Regional Economist at the South African Resource Centre, Officer in Charge and Acting Regional Director of the Bank’s South African Resource Centre in South Africa, and Officer in Charge of the Bank’s Ghana Country Office. When he served Country Manager for Uganda, he successfully expanded the Bank’s portfolio to over $2 billion.

Before joining the Bank, Dr. Mbekeani worked for the United Nations Development Programme as a Trade, Debt and Globalisation Advisor for East and Southern Africa. He also served as Senior Research Fellow at the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis, and Senior Economist at the National Institute for Economic Policy in South Africa.

Commenting his appointment, Dr. Mbekeani said: “I am grateful and feel honoured by the confidence President Adesina placed in me through this appointment, as Director General for the East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office and Country Manager for Kenya. I look forward to working with the President, the Board of Directors, Senior Management, our teams and stakeholders to enhance the Bank’s operational efficiency, effectiveness and drive impactful developmental outcomes across the region”.

Commenting the appointment, the President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said: “I am delighted to appoint Dr. Kennedy Mbekeani as Director General for the East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office, and Country Manager for Kenya. Kennedy brings extensive experience in managing operations, policy dialogue, coupled with astute diplomacy and well-tested ability to work effectively with countries and development partners. He had previously worked in East Africa as the Country Manager for Uganda, before being promoted to the position of Deputy Director General of the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office. His knowledge of the Eastern Africa region and well-proven experience in delivering robust operations for the public and private sectors will strongly benefit the work and operations of the African Development Bank Group in East Africa and all countries in the region”.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Appointment of Deputy Director General for the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office Mrs. Moono Mupotola

Source: African Development Bank Group

The African Development Bank Group is pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs. Moono Mupotola as Deputy Director General for the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office, effective from 16th October 2024.

Mrs. Moono Mupotola, a Zambian national, brings over 25 years of development experience across Africa to her new role, with a proven track record in infrastructure development, trade and regional integration.

Prior to this appointment, Mrs. Mupotola served as the Bank’s Country Manager for Zimbabwe since December 2020. During her tenure, she played an instrumental role in the Bank’s support to Zimbabwe in its re-engagement agenda with the international community and in its efforts to address outstanding debt and arrears obligations.

Mrs. Mupotola’s experience with the Bank began in 2009, when she was appointed Division Manager, Regional Integration and Trade. She was appointed as Director of NEPAD, Regional Integration & Trade in 2015, and Director of Regional Integration Coordination Office in 2018.

Her oversight of the Lusophone Compact, a program that supports private sector in six Portugues-speaking Africa countries, demonstrated Mrs. Mupotola’s commitment to advancing regional integration. She also initiated the Bank’s Africa Trade Fund, the Visa Openness Index, and the Regional Integration Index with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union Commission. She managed the African Development Fund’s Regional Operations Envelope and oversaw the Bank’s regional project preparation facility.

Mrs. Mupotola led the Bank’s trade and regional integration agenda by supporting research, infrastructure projects, capacity-building programmes and the reform of regulations and policies in regional member countries.

Before joining the African Development Bank Group, Mrs. Mupotola held several senior positions, including Regional Policy Specialist for the Food and Agriculture Organization in Zimbabwe, Trade Specialist at the Southern African Development Community Trade Hub in Botswana and Zimbabwe. She served as the Division Head of Trade and Marketing at the Ministry of Agriculture in Namibia. She also served as a Researcher at the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit and a Banker at Zambia National Commercial Bank.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Bennington College, Vermont, United States of America and a MPhil of Philosophy from Cambridge University, United Kingdom and post-graduate qualifications in leadership and strategic management from the Wharton Business School, USA, and the Cranfield Business School, United Kingdom.

Commenting on her appointment, Mrs. Mupotola said: “I am deeply honoured by this opportunity and grateful to President Adesina for his trust and confidence in me. The role of Deputy Director General for the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office, is challenging and exciting. I look forward to working efficiently with our teams and stakeholders to deliver on the African Development Bank’s vision and High 5 priorities for sustainable development”.

Commenting on the appointment, the President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina said: “I am delighted to appoint Mrs. Moono Mupotola as Deputy Director General for the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office. Moono has extensive experience in regional operations, having served previously as Director of Regional Operations. She was subsequently assigned to Zimbabwe as Country Manager. Moono has demonstrated exceptional leadership, diplomatic acumen and strong execution capacity in working with the Government of Zimbabwe and all the development partners in advancing the structured dialogues for the arrears clearance for Zimbabwe, as well as major reforms. Her astute leadership and experience and in-depth knowledge of the countries in the Southern Africa region will significantly advance the work and partnerships of the African Development Bank Group in the region”.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: ARENA funds Australia’s first community-led electrification trial
Source: Australian Renewable Energy Agency
Overview
- Category
  News
- Date
  15 October 2024
- Classification
500 households in the 2515 postcode in New South Wales are set to be electrified, in a new project announced today by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), and partners Brighte, Rewiring Australia and Endeavour Energy.

ARENA is providing $5.4 million in funding for the “Electrify 2515 Community Pilot” to support the electrification of 500 homes in the north Illawarra 2515 area, providing insights on how Australia could benefit from an electrified future.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said this project would also provide significant insight into the contribution of home electrification to grid stability while also reducing energy costs for consumers.

“Flexible demand at a residential level is expected to be critical as homes electrify. By undertaking electrification in a managed way, we can reduce the need to upgrade our electricity network and reduce costs for all electricity consumers.”

The main objective of the pilot is to accelerate the energy transition in homes to understand the impact on consumers and the network. This will be done by installing efficient electric appliances and other consumer energy resources (CER) including heat pump space and water heaters, home batteries, and rooftop solar that will be optimised by a home energy management system (HEMS).

By studying the installation journey closely, the pilot will generate insights into consumer behaviour and decision-making when purchasing and using CER to better understand how to scale and commercialise home electrification.

Brighte Founder and CEO Katherine McConnell said the pilot aimed to create the electric future in a real community today. “This project will allow us to learn locally so we can scale nationally, generating critical insights for consumers, tradespeople, industry and policymakers on how to rapidly and effectively scale electrification across Australia.

“We’re excited about the role we can play to demonstrate the power of homes brought to their full potential, lighting a pathway for every Australian community to electrify more easily and fast-forward to a smart, electric future.”

One of the bigger barriers to the commercialisation and widespread adoption CER is upfront cost. The funding provided by ARENA will help to support the purchase of CER for pilot participants taking part in the research program led by Rewiring Australia.

The Electrify 2515 Community Pilot will test the impacts of electrification within a community and within the constraints of Endeavour Energy’s local electricity network. This is expected to allow the sharing of valuable insights on the impacts of residential electrification.

Full list of project partners:
- Project Lead, Delivery Partner & Finance Provider: Brighte
- Research Partner: Rewiring Australia
- Network Partner: Endeavour Energy
ARENA Strategic Priority: Optimise the Transition to Renewable Electricity

Australia’s electricity system is rapidly evolving. Solar and wind are now the cheapest sources of new bulk electricity supply, and significant numbers of Australian households and businesses continue to install rooftop solar and other distributed energy technologies. Grid-scale innovations are also driving the transition, including increased use of grid-scale batteries.

New demand loads for green metals, manufacturing and fuel production, coupled with the electrification of transport and broader industry. Will create unprecedented demand for renewable energy over the next decade. We need to ensure the grid is equipped to support this additional demand and high penetration of renewables.

Further technical and commercial innovation, as well as market reforms, will be critical to ensure the electricity system can transition efficiently, reliably and cost-effectively.

ARENA is currently focused on supporting projects in this priority area that help deliver the following objectives:
- Unlock new flexible demand
- Improve the economics of energy storage
- Optimise large-scale integration of renewable electricity
Learn more at ARENA’s website.

ARENA media contact:

media@arena.gov.au

Download this media release (PDF 128KB)

MIL OSI News –
January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is commencing its Review into Retail Payments Regulation. This review will examine the costs merchants face when accepting card payments and the framework for surcharging. The RBA has today released an Issues Paper, inviting stakeholders to provide detailed feedback on the current regulatory framework and to suggest potential regulatory responses. This feedback will be crucial in shaping future reforms to ensure a safe and efficient payments system.

Australians extensively use cards to pay for goods and services. They benefit from the convenience and security provided by card payments. However, in an environment of heightened concern around the cost of living, card payment costs and surcharging are attracting more attention from merchants and consumers. These issues are linked, since merchants would be less likely to surcharge consumers if card payment costs were lower. It is timely, therefore, to review whether regulatory settings could be adjusted to put further downward pressure on merchant card payment costs and whether the RBA’s surcharging framework remains fit for purpose. This recognises that many years have passed since these rules first came into effect.

Stakeholders can provide written submissions by 3 December 2024.

Detailed assessments of reform proposals would form the next stage of this review. If the Payments System Board forms a view that consultation on regulatory action is in the public interest, the RBA will further consult on any reform proposals prior to any decisions being made.

MIL OSI News –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI NGOs: Global: New human rights ranking of electric vehicle industry exposes laggards

Source: Amnesty International –

Although a rapid transition from fossil fuel powered to electric vehicles is urgently needed to accelerate decarbonization and help slow the rate of global temperature rise, it comes with a hidden cost.

“Mining for the minerals used in electric vehicles can entail huge risks for people and the environment. Amnesty International’s previous research has shown how industrial cobalt is linked to forced evictions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Car companies need to use their massive leverage as global minerals buyers to influence upstream mining companies and smelters to mitigate these human rights risks,” said Agnès Callamard.

In terms of supply chain mapping disclosures, companies like BYD, Geely Auto, Hyundai, General Motors, and Mitsubishi Motors scored the lowest, failing to provide detailed information about their supply chains. Furthermore, BYD does not disclose smelter, refiner, or mine site names. Geely Auto provided only general supplier locations without specifying mineral extraction sites.

Hyundai and Mitsubishi Motors demonstrated a similar lack of transparency, with no evidence of comprehensive supply chain mapping or mine site identification for cobalt, copper, lithium, and nickel, making it difficult for stakeholders to verify how these operations affect nearby communities.

MIL OSI NGO –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is commencing its Review into Retail Payments Regulation. This review will examine the costs merchants face when accepting card payments and the framework for surcharging. The RBA has today released an Issues Paper, inviting stakeholders to provide detailed feedback on the current regulatory framework and to suggest potential regulatory responses. This feedback will be crucial in shaping future reforms to ensure a safe and efficient payments system.

Australians extensively use cards to pay for goods and services. They benefit from the convenience and security provided by card payments. However, in an environment of heightened concern around the cost of living, card payment costs and surcharging are attracting more attention from merchants and consumers. These issues are linked, since merchants would be less likely to surcharge consumers if card payment costs were lower. It is timely, therefore, to review whether regulatory settings could be adjusted to put further downward pressure on merchant card payment costs and whether the RBA’s surcharging framework remains fit for purpose. This recognises that many years have passed since these rules first came into effect.

Stakeholders can provide written submissions by 3 December 2024.

Detailed assessments of reform proposals would form the next stage of this review. If the Payments System Board forms a view that consultation on regulatory action is in the public interest, the RBA will further consult on any reform proposals prior to any decisions being made.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI China: China-Vietnam freight train service drastically boosts regional trade

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

HANOI, Oct. 14 — The Dong Anh railway station in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi remains busy in the wee hours as container handling vehicles are moving back and forth, loading containers onto a timber express bound for Nanning, capital of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The timber was purchased by a Chinese paper-making company as raw material from southern Vietnam. Speaking of the China-Vietnam freight train service, Zhang Cunwei, head of VTO International Port Development Joint Stock Company, said that like the timber express, a single train might have 10 or 20 containers all carrying the same type of product.

“We often launch trains reserved for transporting agricultural products, fruits, or other goods,” Zhang said.

In the past, a consignment might be made up of miscellaneous goods.

The China-Vietnam freight train service began in 2017, and has expanded from transporting basic goods to over 300 types of goods, said Nguyen Hoang Anh, deputy general manager of Railway Transport and Trade Joint Stock Company of Vietnam Railways.

Vietnam exports mainly agricultural products, fruits, electronics, textiles, and footwear, while China sends raw materials, steel, and construction materials for manufacturing to Vietnam, according to him.

He said that Vietnamese goods are delivered through the freight train service to over 20 provinces and cities in China, and to Central Asia and Europe by connecting with the China-Europe freight train service.

“Meanwhile, Chinese goods are not only transported to Vietnam but also pass through Vietnam to reach Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and other ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries.”

With the promotion and support by both countries’ railway authorities, more and more companies on both sides have ordered the freight train service for shortened transport time, simplified procedures, and reduced costs, he said.

At the Pingxiang Railway Port on the China-Vietnam border in Guangxi, freight trucks shuttle back and forth on the bridge, while China-Vietnam freight trains sound horns as they depart beneath it, reflecting a vibrant two-way trade between China and Vietnam.

“With stable capacity, pricing, and timing, the market appeal of this service has increased. Now the service is covering China’s southwestern market and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area,” said Peng Weijun, deputy director of the freight logistics service center of the Nanning Railway Administration.

According to data from the Nanning Railway Administration, as of Sept. 30, the China-Vietnam freight trains departing from Guangxi had shipped a record 10,380 containers this year.

The rapid growth of the freight train service is attributed to the efforts by both countries to facilitate the process.

In 2023, the Nanning Railway Administration completed railway upgrades from Nanning to Pingxiang, raising the freight train’s speed to 90 km per hour.

In January 2024, the entire China-Vietnam freight train service schedule was finalized, significantly reducing transport time. The total transit time from Nanning south station to Hanoi’s Yen Vien station has been cut from over 40 hours to 14 hours.

In the future, the Vietnamese government and relevant departments plan to further invest in improving the railway infrastructure, including stations and freight yard systems to achieve seamless connectivity with China’s railways and enhance transport capacity between the two countries, said Nguyen Hoang Anh.

In recent months, Zhang has traveled frequently to the coconut farms in southern Vietnam, preparing to launch a special train of fresh coconut shipment as China and Vietnam in August signed a protocol for exporting fresh Vietnamese coconuts to China.

“As the operator of the freight train service, we’re working hard in preparation for shipping fresh Vietnamese coconut exports to China by creating a fast channel,” he said.

MIL OSI China News –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Birkenhead gets glow up with lighting upgrade
Source: Auckland Council

Birkenhead town centre’s streets are now safer and more inviting for pedestrians and motorists thanks to a major upgrade to its lighting systems.

The joint project between the Birkenhead Village Business Association, Kaipātiki Local Board and Auckland Transport was completed in late September.

“The old heritage style globe lights in the town centre had been in disrepair for years with some broken and others producing lights of different shades,” explains Local Board Chair John Gillon.

“Local businesses had been asking for something to be done about this for years, so the board is happy to have worked out a solution we are all happy with to see the improvements in the town centre become a reality.”

The upgrades include:
- New globe lights in a similar heritage style to the previous models, maintaining the town centres character but with efficient LED bulbs offering a range of colours and tones.
- Ten-metre-high LED column lights, dramatically improving visibility, safety and security for local business, motorists and for pedestrians at night. The columns have been painted black, so they don’t distract from the town centre’s aesthetic.
- Renewal of twelve four-metre streetlights with LED bulbs and new locations to improve safety for larger vehicles.
- Updated infrastructure and underground cables to futureproof all lighting in the town centre.
Birkenhead Town Centre Manager Kae Condon says the Business Association is rapt with the upgrades.

“They are a real enhancement for the ambiance of Birkenhead Village that creates both a welcoming and secure safe environment for our customers and businesses. It’s a timely improvement for the town centre and the businesses so big thanks to the board for their work making this happen. Like many town centres across New Zealand, businesses in Birkenhead were hit hard by the lockdowns and the current economic downturn. So, to be able to turn the lights on in time for Christmas brings cheer and a smile to us all. Thank you to our fabulous local board who listened and made it happen.”

MIL OSI New Zealand News –
January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Allens advises Rio Tinto on US$6.7 billion Arcadium Lithium acquisition

Source: Allens Insights

Allens has advised Rio Tinto on the Australian aspects of its US$6.7 billion all-cash acquisition of NYSE-listed Arcadium Lithium. Allens’ alliance partner Linklaters advised Rio Tinto on the transaction more broadly as lead counsel.

The acquisition will see Rio Tinto incorporate Arcadium’s lithium operations, making the company a global leader in energy transition commodities, including aluminium, copper, high-grade iron ore and lithium.

‘The acquisition of Arcadium Lithium further cements Rio Tinto as a key player in the energy transition. We are pleased to have played a part and congratulate all parties,’ said lead Partner Richard Kriedemann.

‘With the growing global demand for sustainable energy solutions, we anticipate sustained interest in lithium assets as mining companies continue to evolve and innovate to meet these critical needs.’

‘We see this as a key endorsement that the market can take a long term view of the lithium market, and we expect this may trigger further activity in the sector,’ Partner and Head of Critical Minerals Bryn Hardcastle added.

Allens legal team

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Richard Kriedemann (Partner), Chris Blane (Partner)

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Carolyn Oddie (Partner)

Contact for further information

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MIL OSI News –

January 23, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: The federal government has left Indigenous Treaties to the states. How are they progressing?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bartholomew Stanford, Lecturer in Political Science/Indigenous Politics (First Peoples), Griffith University

Since the Voice to Parliament referendum last year, there has been a lack of leadership on Indigenous policy from the Australian government.

With this absence, the states and territories now present greater opportunity for Indigenous groups in seeking rights recognition. This is the level where agreements are being made and Treaty proposed.

It is important to take stock of the progress that is being made in agreement-making and Treaty in Australian states and territories. While this is an area of Indigenous policy that has been set aside of late, it has great potential to deliver self-determination for First Nations people.

First Nations agreement-making in Australia

Agreement-making is relatively new in the context of First Nations relations with the Australian state.

The recognition of Indigenous land rights in law has enabled First Nations people and Australian governments to enter legally binding agreements across matters such as:
- land use and access
- Indigenous cultural heritage protection
- co-management of land and sea
- economic development
- employment
- resolving land claims.
First Nations groups in Australia have made hundreds of these agreements with Australian governments at all levels.

However, there is a type of agreement that these parties are entering that is advancing the cause more generally. They are called settlement agreements.

What is a settlement agreement?

Victoria and Western Australia have been signing settlement agreements with First Nations groups since 2010.

These agreements are more comprehensive than other agreements, including terms that cover numerous matters like those listed above, and often include financial packages aimed at supporting First Nations governance institutions.

In Victoria, settlement agreements are made under state legislation. So far, four First Nations groups have entered these agreements with the Victorian government.

In Western Australia, three settlement agreements have been made between the WA government and First Nations under Commonwealth native title legislation. The largest of these, known as the Noongar Settlement, is worth $1.3 billion and has been characterised by legal scholars as “Australia’s first Treaty”.

Victoria and WA are the only jurisdictions that have these agreements and there are two main reasons why they were successfully signed. The first is the success of First Nations groups in mobilising political power to lobby the state. The second is the willingness of governments to enter negotiations because of economic and political motivations.

A crucial question is whether existing settlement agreements will form an important basis for developing Treaty in the states and territories.

How is Treaty different?

According to legal academics Harry Hobbs and George Williams, Treaty involves three elements:
- recognition of First Nations as distinct polities
- negotiation in good faith
- a settlement that deals with claims and that enables Indigenous self-government.
Treaties are different from other agreements, as they provide scope to recognise Indigenous sovereignty, enable some limited forms of autonomy, and create a framework for Indigenous/government relations.

Australia has not signed treaties with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Canada, New Zealand and the United States began signing treaties centuries ago, so why is Australia so far behind?

There are several reasons why Indigenous treaties were never signed in Australia.

First, Australia was colonised in different circumstances, established as a penal colony and not initially a part of European expansionism.

In North America, numerous European powers were competing for control over the continent. The British, French, Spanish and others fought against each other and procured First Nations warriors for their military ranks through treaties.

Trade was also a motivating factor for Treaty-making in North America. Europeans coveted the animal pelts produced by First Nations people for sale in the European fashion markets.

Today, it is arguable that Australia stands out as uniquely opposed to Indigenous rights recognition relative to other British settler states. This idea is supported by our most recent referendum result.

So why are Australian governments engaging in Treaty discussions now?

What’s happening across the country?

There is currently a combination of Indigenous political action and leverage enabled through Indigenous land rights recognition. Some governments are also beginning to see value in Indigenous Knowledge, especially with regard to environmental management.

Treaty, however, is deeply political in Australia, and since the referendum last year it has come under increased political scrutiny and attack.

Days after the referendum result, the Queensland Liberal National party walked back support for a state-based Treaty.

If the LNP wins government at this month’s election (as polls are predicting), Treaty will likely be shelved.

This move would undo the years of work the state government has undertaken as part of its Tracks to Treaty initiative.

Victoria has made the most progress on Treaty of any Australian state or territory. This is due to the leadership of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, which has spearheaded Treaty in the state.

A Treaty negotiation framework has been developed by the assembly and Victorian government. This will guide negotiations towards a state-wide Treaty in the near future.

Other Australian jurisdictions have made far less progress. The referendum result seems to have stalled any momentum that existed prior.

In the Northern Territory, there’s been no progress since the NT Treaty Commission lodged a report with government in 2022. As the newly elected Country Liberal government doesn’t support a Treaty, it won’t happen anytime soon.

In South Australia, the First Nations Voice to Parliament is expected to lead the development of Treaty. The first election was held in March of this year, and First Nations elected members had their first meeting in June 2024.

New South Wales recruited Treaty commissioners earlier this year. They’re now embarking on a 12-month consultation process before reporting back to government.

Governments in Tasmania and the ACT have committed to Treaty, but haven’t made any meaningful progress yet, while WA has made no formal commitment.

Where to from here?

Although there are notable setbacks emerging from the referendum result, it has not discouraged First Nations from working towards agreements and Treaty with Australian governments.

With the proliferation of native title determinations, there is grounds for agreement-making, whether that be through settlement agreements or Treaty.

There is also growing interest in how Indigenous Knowledge can inform our responses to climate change, food security and foreign relations. Accessing this knowledge will require governments to formalise relations with First Nations through agreements.

Bartholomew Stanford does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. The federal government has left Indigenous Treaties to the states. How are they progressing? – https://theconversation.com/the-federal-government-has-left-indigenous-treaties-to-the-states-how-are-they-progressing-240552
MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –
January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Well-Being of Older People in East Asia: The People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea

Source: Asia Development Bank

It focuses on depressive symptom scales and the impact of demographic, economic, social, and health factors. Although much of the differences of the results across the three countries is due to the differences in the characteristics of older people, significant unexplained differences remain. In particular, even after accounting for several factors, older people in the ROK are more likely to be depressed than in the PRC or Japan.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Banking: Samsung and KT Selected To Build Private 5G Network for the Republic of Korea Navy

Source: Samsung

Samsung Electronics and KT Corporation (KT) today announced that the companies have been selected to deploy a Private 5G network for the ‘Smart Naval Port’ project by the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy. This marks the first deployment of its kind at a Korean Naval base. The Navy is carrying forward with this project to improve the battleship and base operation support capabilities and achieve comprehensive base defense.

Samsung and KT have been collaborating on this project since the summer of 2024, with a goal to complete the deployment by December 2025. The companies will build a more intelligent and fully independent network infrastructure to provide seamless coverage and enhanced connectivity for the Republic of Korea Navy 2nd Fleet.

Private 5G solutions are essential to support national defense sectors, which require ultra-fast speeds and hyper-connected communications for the foolproof and effective operation management. These solutions will build a highly reliable network dedicated to the Navy, increasing security and reducing vulnerabilities.

To ensure military workplace safety and efficiency, Samsung and KT will support the Navy’s Private 5G buildout by applying smart, AI-enabled connectivity solutions and powering a variety of next-generation applications. The project will establish a comprehensive Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure that encompasses 13 different systems, ranging from uncrewed vehicle operation to armory management and ammunition depot management. Specific use cases include:

A digital twin of the smart Naval base will provide a three dimensional and high-definition digital replica of the base. This will enable an integrated management system that can also be used as a foundation for establishing strategy development. Insights gathered from the digital twin can inform decisions that will increase the resilience, efficiency, adaptability and autonomy of the Naval base.
Intelligent security monitoring will enhance the Naval base defense by introducing real-time video control of operational forces and vehicles, surveillance cameras for ammunition depots and armories, and surveillance drones, incorporated with the existing Video Management System (VMS). This monitoring will deliver a holistic view of the base and all for optimal operational response in case of an emergency event through a real-time auto screen switch.
A one-stop battleship operation management system will enable intelligent battleship operation support through all-in-one system by integrating multiple critical systems — such as navigation support, logistics management, safety management and monitoring. This comprehensive system will streamline and operationalize administrative work for the Navy personnel.

“KT will contribute to establishing a standardized system for the Republic of Korea Navy through the Smart Naval Port project,” said Jun-Ho Kim, Senior Vice President and Head of Public Customer Business Unit at KT Enterprise. “We look forward to laying the foundation for the ‘Smart Naval Port’ which will improve its capability to support battleship and naval base operations.”

Samsung will provide its proven end-to-end private 5G network solution for defense, including its private network 5G SA Compact Core, indoor and outdoor radio solutions and network management software. These solutions support the mid-band (n79, 4.7GHz) spectrum, which is widely adopted for military usage.

With Samsung’s compact solution for the full stack of Private 5G that can run on a single server hardware, the Navy will benefit from quick deployments and less complex operations. Its private 5G radios will deliver improved uplink performance with optimized uplink features, designed to help government agencies upload vast amounts of data across numerous devices simultaneously.

“Samsung’s Private 5G solutions are trusted due to their dependable security, reliability and proven commercial expertise, already serving diverse private and public sectors in countries like South Korea, the U.S. and Japan,” said Simon Lee, Vice President and Head of B2B·B2G Business Development Group, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “In collaboration with KT, we are excited to deploy Korea’s first Private 5G at a Naval base. This project exemplifies our ongoing commitment to enhance and unlock the potential of 5G to meet every customer’s needs.”

Samsung has been actively delivering private 5G networks in collaboration with a range of sectors from hospitals, universities, construction sites to military and local government agencies.

About KT CORPORATION (KRX: 030200; NYSE: KT)
KT Corporation, Korea’s largest telecommunications service provider, reestablished in 1981 under the Telecommunications Business Act, is leading the era of innovations in the world’s most connected country. The company is leading the 4th industrial revolution with high speed wire/wireless network and new ICT technology. KT launched the world’s first nationwide commercial 5G network on April 3, 2019, after successfully showcasing the world’s first trial 5G services at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in February 2018. This is another milestone in KT’s continuous efforts to deliver essential products and services as it aspires to be the number one ICT Company and People’s Company.

MIL OSI Global Banks –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Agency, Audiologist Solve Hearing Aid Security Concern, Get Needed Devices in NSA Spaces

Source: National Security Agency NSA

FORT MEADE, Md. – Joe K never had to worry about wearing his hearing aid to work at NSA buildings—until he upgraded his device a few years ago.

Joe, who is now the People with Disabilities Employee Resource Group (PWD ERG) Deaf and Hard of Hearing Subcommittee (DHHSC) chair, formerly used an analog hearing aid, which didn’t present a security risk. When he upgraded, he didn’t realize it was a problem until he was approached by a colleague wondering about the process for his new device to be approved by NSA Security & Counterintelligence (S&CI).

“Using hearing aids can be second nature, like putting your glasses on. Sometimes you don’t think about the technology behind it,” Joe said. “Many of us [deaf and hard of hearing affiliates] weren’t aware of the security requirements to bring them in NSA buildings.”

Starting in 2019, hearing aids began incorporating “hands-free calling,” a two-way audio Bluetooth technology. The new technology, however, presented an increased security threat to NSA — the potential for the transmission of classified conversations outside of a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF).

The issue with hearing aid technological improvements eventually brought together a number of stakeholders — including NSA Security & Counterintelligence (S&CI), NSA Research, and a Walter Reed Medical Center audiologist with close ties to the Veterans Administration (VA). The goal was to figure out how the deaf and hard of hearing community could take advantage of the new technology without compromising security.

“The reason manufacturers are putting two-way audio Bluetooth in hearing aids is because it improves audio quality. It allows people to hear and speak through phone calls more clearly without holding the phone up to their ear and mouth,” said Jason B, technology officer for the PWD ERG DHHSC. “In the past, many hearing aids included a one-way Bluetooth feature which did not pose a threat. But lately, the two-way audio Bluetooth feature is being added as standard in all hearing aids, and that is where it became pretty problematic.”

Some jobs at NSA specifically require keen hearing to listen to and translate audio samples. Without the support of a hearing aid, some affiliates would be unable to perform their jobs successfully, Jason explained.

“I met with the chief of S&CI to brief him on the importance of hearing aids and how they allow members of the DHH community to do our jobs,” Jason said. “Mitigating security risks of modern hearing aid devices is essential because there are currently thousands of NSA employees with both diagnosed and undiagnosed hearing loss, and potentially thousands more that could be impacted in the future.”

S&CI’s Office of Physical Security conducted some initial testing of devices equipped with this new two-way audio Bluetooth technology and determined the new hands-free calling feature would, in fact, introduce a wireless microphone into a SCIF, presenting a big security challenge.

“Mitigations were being considered to address the new challenge but the COVID pandemic intervened,” said Heather J, technical director in S&CI’s Office of Physical Security. “We were working hard because we knew this was important, but we couldn’t rush something that could have such serious implications.”

As denials of hearing aid applications began to pile up, some of the Agency ERGs stepped in to advocate on behalf of the affected workforce, according to Jason. The American Veterans ERG (AV ERG) raised the recurring denial concerns to the PWD ERG.

Around the same time as the spike in hearing aid denials at NSA, an audiologist from Walter Reed Medical Center noticed a large number of her VA patients were returning new devices she had prescribed due to their inability to wear them at work. The audiologist contacted S&CI to gain insight into the problem, and S&CI engaged Research’s Laboratory for Advanced Cybersecurity Research (LACR) to help find a solution.

One of the biggest challenges with assessing medical devices with two-way audio Bluetooth is that most of the information about the devices is proprietary, according to Stephanie P, Internet of Things (IoT) Security team lead for LACR’s Trust Mechanisms office.

“We were really fortunate that the audiologist worked closely with Veterans Affairs and had connections with the six major companies that manufacture hearing aids,” Heather said. “She was able to provide context to them on the hands-free Bluetooth feature, share the challenges it presented to employers, and discuss potential solutions.”

When a new hearing aid needed to be evaluated, the LACR team was there with its tailored test scenarios, Stephanie explained.

“We provided detailed testing reports and vulnerability analysis, empowering senior leadership to make informed decisions on which devices to allow into our secured spaces,” she said. “One of the largest hearing aid manufacturers offered a disablement mitigation,” by programming software into its devices that would allow only the audiologist to deactivate the two-way audio Bluetooth feature. The user would still have the benefit of streaming the audio, one-way, directly into their hearing aid without external transmission.

“This viable mitigation was a monumental first step in ensuring NSA affiliates could have access to the latest advances in smart medical technology while at work,” said Stephanie, explaining Research doesn’t normally do this type of work but was pulled in to lead the Bluetooth assessment because of its expertise in IoT security.

In early 2023, the Agency announced it would allow this company’s Bluetooth hearing aids in SCIFs after going through the approval process.
The challenge of these two-way audio Bluetooth medical devices isn’t limited to NSA, according to Heather, who has been partnering with Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to address concerns across the Intelligence Community.

“I wrote the current [NSA hearing aid Bluetooth mitigation] policy and am currently working with ODNI to write the medical device policy, which will apply to the entire Intelligence Community,” Heather said.

Both Heather and Stephanie are thrilled at the progress that has been made.

“I am extremely happy and proud that I was able to play a part in allowing certain Bluetooth enabled hearing aids into NSA SCIFs,” Stephanie said. “It is fantastic that this work is enabling employees with hearing loss to be able to take advantage of the latest advancements in hearing aid technology while they’re at work.”

“Balancing the needs of our workforce with the security of our facilities is getting harder as technologies get more advanced,” Heather agreed. “We’re really excited to have a way forward for this hearing aid feature, and we’re continuing to look at novel ways to mitigate new and emerging technical threats to maximize our ability to permit the latest and greatest in technology without compromising our missions.”

NSA Media Relations
MediaRelations@nsa.gov
443-634-0721

MIL Security OSI –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: Small Defense Contractors Share How NSA Gives Them a Boost

Source: National Security Agency NSA

FORT MEADE, Md. – A buzz is reverberating throughout the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) about the National Security Agency (NSA).

Word has spread that the Agency’s new Cybersecurity Collaboration Center (CCC) offers no-cost cybersecurity services, and businesses are signing up in growing numbers, according to CCC Chief Morgan Adamski: “Companies see the value not just for their bottom line, but also for national security.”

Established in 2020, the CCC embraces one of NSA’s primary strategies for cybersecurity: scaling public-private partnerships empowered by insights derived from foreign signals intelligence.

To date, more than 1,000 industry partners have signed up for CCC services. These companies have broad and deep reach, ranging from major service providers that can harden billions of endpoints to small businesses that provide critical components to the nation’s most sensitive systems.

Working together with the CCC as the bridge, NSA and its partners are sharing insights and building a comprehensive threat picture that is mutually beneficial.

Small businesses make up the majority of the DIB supply chain (70%). These small businesses have access to sensitive Department of Defense (DoD) information, but often don’t have the technical expertise or other resources to defend their networks against a sophisticated nation state threat, said Bailey Bickley, NSA’s DIB Defense Chief.

“These companies are an attractive target for our adversaries who are seeking to steal U.S. intellectual property in order to build their own military capabilities and economies,” said Bickley. “We don’t expect small businesses to defend against nation-state threats alone. It’s in NSA’s and DoD’s best interests to help.”

‘Seamless’ Integration in 15 Minutes

Mike T. is the founder and owner of a small defense contractor that manufactures critical components for national security systems. When he recently learned that his company’s network contained slight misconfigurations, he jumped on the issue and reached out to NSA for help.

“We don’t want people finding a backdoor and stealing drawings and next thing you know, we are on the hook,” he said.

Analysts at the CCC were able to enroll Mike’s company in NSA’s DIB Cybersecurity as a Service (CSaaS) offerings. As a result, the company received technical assistance to help improve his company’s network security. This included enrollment in a Protective Domain Name System (PDNS) service, which blocks users from connecting to known malicious or suspicious domains by running them through a filter —composed of commercial threat feeds and a unique threat feed provided by NSA — prior to resolving them. The integration was “seamless” and took 15 minutes, he said.

Further, the networks for Mike’s company are now hardened against malicious nation-state actors who could steal its intellectual property, putting the nation’s insights and investments at risk.

“As a small business, we don’t have the unlimited resources that the big players have, so we appreciate anything that gives us an edge,” said Mike, whose workforce numbers between 8 and 32 people depending on production cycles. “It is one less thing to think about, one less expense, and one less worry.”

NSA also benefits by receiving DNS data that the CCC is able to run custom analytics over to better understand ways nation-state actors are targeting the DIB, and then, defend against them.

The service is processing 70 million DNS queries a day and has blocked billions of malicious queries to date, including ransomware activity and known nation-state spear phishing, malware, and botnets, according to statistics compiled by the Cybersecurity Directorate’s DNS provider.

PDNS is just one part of the CCC’s suite of services offered to the DIB that the DoD funds. Other core services provided by the DIB Defense Team are Attack Surface Management — gaining an adversarial view of a company’s network and then finding and fixing issues — and Threat Intelligence Collaboration — staying ahead of the adversary by receiving non-public, DIB-specific NSA threat intelligence.

Attack Surface Management helps customers prioritize patching by providing an inventory of internet-facing assets, running vulnerability scans across those assets to determine where they may be vulnerable, then prioritizing results based off which vulnerabilities are under active exploitation.

Two newer authorities, delegated by the Secretary of Defense and the DoD Chief Information Officer, underpin the CCC’s ability to engage in bilateral information sharing with companies: the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act Section 1642b, and the 2020 DIB Delegation of Authorities.

Companies with active DoD contracts are encouraged to learn more about the CCC and enroll in NSA’s DIB Cybersecurity services. Get started by filling out a Cybersecurity Services Contact Form.

NSA Media Relations
MediaRelations@nsa.gov
443-634-0721

MIL Security OSI –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Parliament Hansard Report – Tuesday, 15 October 2024 – Volume 777 – 001418

Source: New Zealand Parliament – Hansard

MINISTERIAL STATEMENTS

New Zealand Defence Force—Sinking of HMNZS Manawanui

Hon CHRIS PENK (Associate Minister of Defence): I rise to make a ministerial statement regarding the all-of-Government response to HMNZS Manawanui‘s sinking off the coast of Samoa on Saturday, 5 October. I’d also like to acknowledge the brave ship’s company and passengers, who evacuated overnight in extreme conditions, and Commander Yvonne Gray, who made the right decision to evacuate the ship. We should be incredibly proud of all of our New Zealand Defence Force personnel, who are all highly skilled and serve New Zealand without hesitation.

With the passengers and crew safe, the Government’s focus shifted to mitigating any environmental impacts. I assure this House, the people of New Zealand, and those of Samoa that we will do everything that we can. The New Zealand Defence Force is leading the all-of-Government response to this incident, named Operation Resolution, which includes support from Maritime New Zealand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Defence, and wildlife experts from Massey University. Operation Resolution involves working with Samoan authorities to understand the implications of this incident and to evaluate salvage options. Personnel have been clearing flotsam from the beach area, and navy divers are regularly assessing the ship’s position and the status of oil tanks onboard.

I’d like to express our deepest thanks to the Samoan Government for their support and patience as we assess the impact of this incident on their exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, and to the Samoan personnel who rescued the ship’s crew and passengers on that fateful Saturday night. We are also grateful for the support provided by HMS Tamar of the Royal Navy, and other partners. The defence force is investigating options to mitigate the capability loss as a result of the HMNZS Manawanui‘s sinking. The navy still has diving and survey capabilities that operate independently of Manawanui and are, therefore, still available and deployable. Further considerations, including as part of the upcoming Defence Capability Plan, will provide options for broader and longer-term solutions.

On Thursday, 10 October, Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding announced the details of the New Zealand Defence Force court of inquiry into the matter. This inquiry will collect and record evidence and report on the sequence of events leading up to the loss of the ship, the cause of the grounding, the subsequent sinking, and details on notification procedures, along with injuries sustained and, of course, any environmental damage. We do know that there will be many questions, but the appropriate process does need to play out through the court of inquiry, which is being conducted strictly in accordance with the Armed Forces Discipline Act. The Government recognises the high level of public interest in the matter and will continue to keep the New Zealand public informed as new information comes to light, subject to privacy, national security, and commercial sensitivity concerns.

It is important that we do not rush to speculate on what happened and also to allow the court of inquiry process to play out. While we do not yet know what caused this terrible incident, I do wish to echo the sentiments of the Minister of Defence, the Hon Judith Collins, that we do know that the ship’s captain’s gender had no role to play in the incident. Our personnel are highly skilled, and it is a testament to their courage, comradeship, and commitment that the evacuation of HMNZS Manawanui was carried out safely—that is, with no loss of life. The Government will continue to do everything that we can to continue to mitigate the impact of this incident on Samoa and the wider Pacific.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

January 23, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Does drinking coffee while pregnant cause ADHD? Our study shows there’s no strong link

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gunn-Helen Moen, Post-doctoral research fellow in genetic epidemiology, The University of Queensland

Velishchuk/Shutterstock

International guidelines recommend people limit how much coffee they drink during pregnancy. Consuming caffeine – a stimulant – while pregnant has been linked to how the baby’s brain develops.

Some studies have shown increased coffee consumption during pregnancy is associated with the child having neurodevelopmental difficulties. These may include traits linked to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), such as difficulties with language, motor skills, attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behaviour.

But is coffee the cause? Our new research aimed to clear up the sometimes confusing advice about drinking coffee during pregnancy.

We studied tens of thousands of pregnant women over two decades. The results showed – when other factors like genes and income were accounted for – no causal link between drinking coffee during pregnancy and a child’s neurodevelopmental difficulties. That means it’s safe to keep drinking your daily latte according to current recommendations.

What we were trying to find out

Past research has identified a link between drinking coffee during pregnancy and a child’s neurodevelopmental difficulties. But it hasn’t been able to establish caffeine as the direct cause.

Biological changes during pregnancy reduce caffeine metabolism. This means the caffeine molecules and metabolites (the molecules produced while breaking down the caffeine) take longer to be cleared from the body.

Additionally, past studies have shown caffeine and its by-products can cross the placenta. The fetus does not have the necessary enzymes to clear them, and so it was thought that caffeine metabolites may impact the developing baby.

However it can be hard to identify whether coffee directly causes changes to the fetus’s brain development. Pregnant women who drink coffee may differ from those who don’t in a number of other ways. And it could be these variables – not coffee – that affect neurodevelopment.

These variables, known as “confounding factors” might include how much people drink or smoke while pregnant, or a parent’s income and education. For example, we know people who tend to drink coffee also tend to drink more alcohol and smoke more cigarettes than those who don’t drink coffee.

Our study aimed to look at the effect of drinking coffee on neurodevelopmental difficulties, isolated from these confounding factors.

What we did

We know genes play a role in how many cups of coffee a person consumes per day. Our study used genetics to compare the development of children whose mothers did and did not carry genes linked to increased coffee consumption.

The study looked at tens of thousands of families registered in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study. All pregnant women in Norway between 1999 and 2008 were invited to participate and 58,694 women took part with their child.

Parents reported how much coffee they drank before and during pregnancy. Mothers also completed questionnaires about their child’s neurodevelopmental traits between six months and eight years of age.

The questions covered many traits, including difficulties with attention, communication, behavioural flexibility, regulation of activity and impulses, as well as motor and language skills.

The parents and children also provided genetic samples. This allowed us to control for genetic variants shared between mother and child and isolate the behaviour of coffee drinking.

The study used reports from mothers about their child’s neurodevelopmental traits over more than seven years.
Ann in the uk/Shutterstock

What we found

We were able to look at causality through this method of adjusting for potential confounding factors in the environment (the mother smoking or drinking alcohol, the parents’ education and income).

The results showed no strong causal link between increased maternal coffee consumption and children’s neurodevelopmental difficulties.

The difference in findings between our and previous studies may be explained by our work separating the effect of coffee from the effect of other variables, as well as genetic predisposition to neurodevelopmental conditions.

Our study has limitations. Importantly, we were only able to rule out strong effects of coffee on neurodevelopmental difficulties, and it is possible small effects may exist.

We only investigated offspring neurodevelopmental traits, and coffee consumption during pregnancy could impact the mother or child in other ways.

However we have previously shown coffee consumption during pregnancy did not have strong causal effects on birth weight, gestational duration, risk of miscarriage or stillbirth. But other outcomes – such as mental health or a child’s risk for heart disease and stroke later in life – should be investigated.

Overall, our study supports current clinical guidelines that state low to moderate consumption of coffee during pregnancy is safe for the mother and developing baby.

For most people, that means sticking below 200mg of caffeine per day – usually equivalent to one espresso or two instant coffees – should be safe. If you have concerns, it’s best to speak to your clinician.

Gunn-Helen Moen receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Research Council of Norway.

Shannon D’Urso does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Does drinking coffee while pregnant cause ADHD? Our study shows there’s no strong link – https://theconversation.com/does-drinking-coffee-while-pregnant-cause-adhd-our-study-shows-theres-no-strong-link-241015

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Saving lives and protecting migrants: Operation Liberterra II
Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Douala – From September 29 to October 4, 2024, a major effort to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling took place in Douala, Cameroon. This initiative, named “Operation Liberterra II,” was led by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and brought together a team of nearly 30 experts. The team included police officers, judges, and government officials from departments dealing with social affairs, labor, and job training.

For six intense days, the team worked to uncover and stop groups involved in exploiting vulnerable people. They watched the city closely, checked passengers on certain flights, and looked for people who might be in the country without proper documentation. The team also carried out carefully planned raids on places they suspected were being used by traffickers.

Their hard work paid off with some disturbing but important discoveries. In total, they rescued 17 people who had been trafficked – brought into the country illegally and forced to work against their will. Among those saved were 14 women (10 from Vietnam and four from China) who had been forced into prostitution at a local brothel. They also rescued three people from Chad who had been tricked with false promises of good jobs but instead were made to work in terrible conditions.

These victims, all between 23 and 34 years old, were immediately taken to safe places. The team is now working on plans to help them return to their home countries and families if they want to.

The head of police for the region spoke about why this operation was so important. He said, “This work has finally shown everyone a problem that has been hurting our city for years. It’s a good start, but we need to do more. Douala is a busy place where many people come and go for business, which makes it easier for criminals to take advantage of people. We need to keep working to make our city safer and ensure that people are treated fairly and respectfully when they come here for work.”

The raids also showed how complex these criminal operations can be. The team found that some traffickers were pretending to run normal businesses or job recruitment agencies to cover for their illegal activities. They also identified people who were helping others enter the country illegally or bringing people in specifically to force them into sex work.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) was an important partner in this operation. They emphasized why this work matters for the bigger picture. A representative said, “We want to make sure that when people move to other countries for work, they can do it safely and legally, and that their rights are protected. This operation shows why it’s so important for companies and people who hire workers from other countries to use fair and honest methods. We’re asking everyone involved in hiring to join us in making sure this happens.”

As Douala deals with what was uncovered by Operation Liberterra II, one thing is clear: the fight against human trafficking is far from over. But the success of this operation gives hope for a safer future. It shows how important it is for different organizations and governments to work together to solve this worldwide problem. The challenge now is to build on this success and create lasting changes, not just in Douala but in communities everywhere that face similar issues.

***

For further information, please contact :
- Franck Olivier Mbang, IOM Cameroon, Tel : 690366090, Email : fmbang@iom.int
- Gisèle MASSINA, IOM Cameroon, Tel : 699004516, Email : gmassina@iom.int
MIL OSI United Nations News –
January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Statement by Minister Ng on recent events between Canada and India

Source: Government of Canada News

The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, today issued the following statement following the recent events between Canada and India: “Canada is a country founded on the rule of law, and protecting our citizens is our top priority. In light of the statement by the RCMP today, we are taking further necessary steps to ensure the safety of Canadians.

October 14, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario – Global Affairs Canada

The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, today issued the following statement following the recent events between Canada and India:

“Canada is a country founded on the rule of law, and protecting our citizens is our top priority. In light of the statement by the RCMP today, we are taking further necessary steps to ensure the safety of Canadians.

“I understand the effects today’s events may have on Canadians doing business or investing in India, and the uncertainty that some may be feeling at this time. I want to reassure our business community that our government remains fully committed to supporting the well-established commercial ties between Canada and India. Our Trade Commissioner Service will continue to assist and provide resources to Canadian companies operating in India.

“Let me be clear: Canada stands firmly by its businesses. We will work closely with all Canadian enterprises engaged with India to ensure these important economic connections remain strong.

“However we must consider our economic interests with the need to protect Canadians and uphold the rule of law. We will not tolerate any foreign government threatening, extorting, or harming Canadian citizens on our soil. We urge the government of India to respect the same principles of law and justice that guide our actions.

“The Government of Canada remains open to a dialogue with India and we look forward to continuing our valued relationship.”

MIL OSI Canada News –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Security: ATF Assembles Federal Law Enforcement Teams; Provides Emergency Support for Hurricanes Helene, Milton
Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

WASHINGTON – The federal government’s Emergency Support Function #13 (ESF #13) was activated to provide federal public safety and security assistance in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. ESF #13 is managed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on behalf of the Department of Justice.

On Oct. 5, ESF #13 was activated to provide force protection for ESF #9 Federal Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) teams and ESF #8 Public Health and Medical Services missions following Hurricane Milton. ESF #13 is also positioned to provide direct federal assistance to Florida if needed. Since arriving in Florida, ESF #13 has:
- Pre-staged 34 Law Enforcement Strike Teams (LEST) comprised of more than 440 federal law enforcement officers (FLEO) from 12 separate federal agencies, including ATF, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Federal Air Marshals (FAMS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and U.S. Marshals Service (USMS). It is anticipated that more FLEOs will be requested to assist with response efforts.
- Staged resources to provide law enforcement and security support for 22 US&R teams and two Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT).
On Sept. 24, ESF #13 was activated for Hurricane Helene to the southeastern part of the United States.

At its peak, ESF #13:
- Deployed more than 30 federal LESTs consisting of 400+ FLEOs from 15 federal law enforcement agencies, included ATF, DEA, FBI, USMS, BOP, CBP, BLM, USFWS, CGIS, Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division (EPA-CID), Department of Transportation OIG (DOT-OIG), U.S. Treasury Inspector General (TIGTA), Health and Human Services OIG (HHS-OIG), FAMS, and IRS.
- Deployed to Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina for Helene recovery support.
- Supported approximately 30 federal US&R teams from Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, California, Texas, Indiana, Missouri, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.
- Deployed more than 40 K-9s to assist in searches.
- Supported four Health and Medical Task Forces (HMTF) and DMATs in the Western North Carolina area.
- Deployed approximately 10 peer support personnel from ATF and USMS.
The federal government’s disaster response includes 15 Emergency Support Functions. ESF #13 coordinates the federal law enforcement response to any disaster requiring the federal whole-of-government response. In Feb. 2006, the Department of Justice was designated the ESF #13 coordinating department. In October 2008, ATF was assigned as the lead coordinating agency for ESF #13 on behalf of DOJ.

[1:01 PM] Herman, Cara A. (ATF) ATF teams up with multiple agencies to stage resources to provide law enforcement and security support to FEMA’s ESF #9 Urban Search and Rescue teams.

ATF teams up with multiple agencies to stage resources to provide law enforcement
and security support to ESF #9 Federal Urban Search and Rescue teams.

ESF #13 provides force protection for FEMA’s Urban Search and Rescue teams following Hurricane Milton.

ESF #13 provides force protection for Federal Urban Search
and Rescue teams following Hurricane Milton.

ESF #13 provides force protection for a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team in the southeastern part of the U.S. following Hurricane Helene.

ESF #13 provides force protection for aUrban Search and Rescue
team in the southeastern part of the U.S. following Hurricane Helene.

ESF #13 continues to provide force protection for Urban Search and Rescue teams as they use drones to look for victims across the southeastern part of the U.S. following Hurricane Helene.

ESF #13 continues to provide force protection for Urban Search
and Rescue teams as they use drones to look for victims across
the southeastern part of the U.S. following Hurricane Helene.

MIL Security OSI –
January 23, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Winston Peters’ $100 billion infrastructure fund is the right idea. Politics-as-usual is the problem

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau

New Zealand’s infrastructure woes are a constant political pain point. From ageing water systems to congested roads and assets increasingly threatened by climate change, the country faces mammoth upgrading and future-proofing challenges.

Enter Winston Peters and NZ First with a surprise proposal for a NZ$100 billion “Future Fund” dedicated to infrastructure investment. Sounds promising – but the proposal’s success will hinge on getting the details right and, more importantly, getting the politics out of infrastructure planning.

Unveiled at NZ First’s annual convention last weekend, the idea bears striking similarities to challenges previously highlighted by urban planning and infrastructure experts.

The country currently has an estimated infrastructure deficit of over $100 billion, which aligns eerily with the scale of Peters’ proposed fund.

The Future Fund proposal sounds impressive on paper. Ring-fenced from political meddling and focused on national interests, it’s billed as a silver bullet for infrastructure funding problems.

Peters claims he’s taken a page from the Singapore and Ireland playbooks – potentially breaking New Zealand’s habit of treating big infrastructure projects like they’re part of a three-year plan.

Long-term savings

As always, the devil is in the details – and the Future Fund is light on them. How exactly would this fund be financed? How would projects be selected and prioritised? And, crucially, how would it be insulated from the political interference it claims to avoid?

The potential benefits are significant. Research suggests that a stable, long-term approach to infrastructure investment and better utilisation of existing assets could unlock substantial savings – potentially up to 40% of total project costs.

A well-managed $100 billion fund could provide the certainty and consistency needed to achieve these efficiencies.

The scale of the fund also aligns with the urgent need for a comprehensive infrastructure overhaul. From modernising water systems to expanding road and rail networks, and ensuring resilience against climate change, the required investment is indeed massive.

Politics is the problem

Yet the proposal faces significant hurdles, not the least of which is from NZ First’s own coalition partners.

The National Party’s previous commitments to curb borrowing seem at odds with a fund of this magnitude. Peters argues that debt for wealth creation and infrastructure differs from debt for consumption.

That’s a valid point, but one that may struggle to gain traction in a political environment focused on reducing overall government debt.

The proposal also raises questions about how it would interact with existing initiatives, such as the National Investment Agency set up by Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop. It’s unclear whether these entities would complement each other or create redundancies and inefficiencies.

Perhaps the most critical question is whether this fund, despite its claimed independence, can rise above the political cycle. We have a long and exhausting history of proposing infrastructure for political gain, where one government’s “vital infrastructure” becomes the next’s “wasteful spending”.

Time for a 30-year plan

While the Future Fund could be a big move in the right direction, we must also rethink how we plan (and pay) for infrastructure completely.

A good start would be a 30-year plan that all political parties can get behind, like the United Kingdom’s National Infrastructure Assessment. This would give us a real long-term vision rather than promises that change with each election cycle.

We should also look at more innovative ways to fund projects. Value capture, which leverages rising property values near new infrastructure to help finance its development, helped build London’s Crossrail. And Australia is “asset recycling” from old infrastructure into new projects.

These aren’t just theoretical ideas. They could change how we build what New Zealand needs without the risks of entirely relying on taxpayers.

Ending the boom-bust cycle

Efficiency must also be a priority. Time-of-use charges for roads, already implemented in cities such as Stockholm and Singapore and proposed for Auckland, could reduce congestion and wasteful spending on unnecessary road expansions.

Volumetric charging for water, as seen in the Kāpiti Coast, can significantly reduce water waste without massive new investments.

New Zealand could also break free from its boom-bust infrastructure cycle by establishing an agency outside the political realm to manage the cash Winston Peters is proposing.

A truly independent infrastructure body, similar to Infrastructure Australia, could provide the continuity and expertise needed to see projects through political cycles.

Money isn’t the only issue here. Politics is the real roadblock. Right now, every election cycle, priorities change, projects fly out the window, and the bill for desperately needed infrastructure only gets bigger.

The Future Fund seems like a step in the right direction. But without also overhauling how we make decisions about infrastructure, it could end up being just another political football.

Timothy Welch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Winston Peters’ $100 billion infrastructure fund is the right idea. Politics-as-usual is the problem – https://theconversation.com/winston-peters-100-billion-infrastructure-fund-is-the-right-idea-politics-as-usual-is-the-problem-241346

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Speech to the Institute of Finance Professionals NZ, 2024 Conference
Source: New Zealand Government

Kia ora koutou

Greetings from Wellington. I am sorry I can’t be with you in person today, but I’m delighted that I can talk to you virtually.

I’d like to begin by acknowledging your chair Bill Goodwin and members of your board.

I’d also like to acknowledge the fitness of your conference theme: “Adaptability – highlighting the imperative for both corporate and government investment to be more considered and impactful in light of the financial constraints on governments and the increased costs of capital.”

That’s quite a mouthful. But, as a finance minister who inherited a structural deficit and a challenging set of circumstances, both domestically and internationally, those are themes dear to my heart.

New Zealand, like other countries, has faced significant economic challenges in recent years. Many businesses and households are doing it tough. High inflation has increased household costs and squeezed business margins.

However, the two most recent ANZ Business Outlook surveys and the New Zealand Herald’s Mood of the Board room survey suggest you and your colleagues in the business world are increasingly positive about the outlook for the future.

The green shoots of business confidence are re-emerging.

I share your optimism.

We’ll get the latest update on inflation tomorrow when Stats NZ releases the September quarter inflation data, but all the indications are that inflation is tracking back down to the Reserve Bank’s target range of 1 to 3 per cent.

Certainly, that’s the Reserve Bank’s view. It’s decision last week to drop the Official Cash rate by 50 basis points was a welcome fillip for businesses and households.

It followed the 25-basis point drop in August.

Lower interest rates mean families get to keep more of their money and they increase the opportunities for businesses to invest, innovate and expand.

How people are impacted by interest rate reductions will depend on the terms of their mortgages – whether they are floating or fixed and, if fixed, for what length of time and at what rates.

The good news is that right now roughly half of New Zealand’s mortgage lending is either fixed or floating for a period of six months or fewer.

That means the impact of a lower official cash rate will flow through to households much faster than might typically be the case. And the impact will be significant.

To give one example, a family with a 25-year, $500,000 mortgage could expect to be just over $100 a fortnight better off if its rate dropped from 7 to 6.25 per cent.

Add that to the tax relief that took effect on 31 July and the FamilyBoost childcare payments that many households are now receiving, and we can confidently say that large numbers of families are now significantly better off than they were a year ago.

Budget 2024 was another important step in the right direction. It put the Government’s books on a credible path back to fiscal sustainability.

The Crown accounts are forecast to return to surplus in 2028 and net core Crown debt is forecast to start trending down as a percentage of gross domestic product the same year.

This does not mean that our financial and economic challenges have magically evaporated. It also does not mean that we can pat ourselves on the back and relax the focus that we have re-introduced on fiscal discipline.

Fiscal discipline is not a one-off, one-Budget affair. It is an ongoing state of mind.

It’s not easily achieved, but it is fundamental to our prospects.

There is no time in recorded history in which a country has enjoyed a continuous period of economic prosperity without a stable macroeconomic environment.

What does that mean in practice? It means low inflation, a balance between government expenditure and revenue and a balance between domestic demand and exports.

In other words, governments cannot live beyond their means for sustained periods of time without damaging the future prospects of their citizens.

Our Government doesn’t just think about constraining future government expenditure. We are equally intent on driving more value from the significant investment the Government already makes across the economy.

That means delivering more effective management of the considerable assets we own and making better choices about where and how we use taxpayers’ money.

For me, the ultimate purpose of strengthening the economy and improving the state of the books is not to change the colour of the ink in those books. It is to improve outcomes for people.

As we look ahead, the Government is squarely focused on improving the growth prospects of the New Zealand economy.

Growing our economy faster requires us to improve the attractiveness of New Zealand as a launch place for business and exporting, it means attracting and retaining people who choose this as the country where they want to develop and deploy their talents, to start new businesses, to expand existing ones, to invest and drive innovation.

It’s a competitive world, and so New Zealand needs to constantly improve our proposition to the world.

As we look to the future and consider a globe grappling with challenges to climate, peace and stability, our country’s fundamentals are excellent.

In an unstable, hungry world, we are a peaceful, food-producing country blessed with secure borders, strong institutions, a strong sense of community, well-established trade relationships, a reputation for producing innovative and enterprising people, and abundant natural resources.

Even so, our country has not been making the most of these advantages.

We still have much to do to develop our human capital, to make this a more attractive place to invest, to boost our trade with the world, to encourage innovation and harness new technologies, to ensure we have a foundation of world-class infrastructure, and to reduce the regulatory and bureaucratic static that can hamper the deployment of good ideas.

The Government’s reform agenda is about realising the untapped potential we see in so many dimensions of New Zealand life.

We know that to be successful in driving growth we need you and your colleagues in the business community on board.

The previous government distrusted private capital and discounted the value of private sector innovation.

This Government’s attitude is different.

We recognise that you have a critical role to play in innovating, investing and developing markets. Our role as government is to create the framework that encourages the business sector to invest, innovate, employ and take risks.

Accordingly, our growth agenda focuses on five key areas.

They are not just about the next few years, but about the next few decades.

First, we have to start with our people – human capital.

We as New Zealanders have a deserved reputation for innovating, rolling up our sleeves and getting on with things. And we still score relatively well in international education tests, but not as well as we used to.

That is why Education Minister Erica Stanford is refocusing the education system on the core skills that make the most difference to kids’ prospects – reading, writing and mathematics.

She is doing so not just to improve the economic outlook but because lifting educational achievement is the best thing we can do to address social inequality. Education has the power to transform lives.

Making better use of our human capital also requires us to deliver more effective interventions for those citizens who may be left behind – individuals, families and communities whose lives are disrupted by difficult childhoods, educational under-achievement, unemployment, violence, crime; people whose innate human potential goes unfulfilled.

This is where our work in social investment comes in. Our Government wants to better harness the considerable resources New Zealand already invests in well-intended interventions for New Zealanders in need.

We want to devolve more power to the non-government organisations and iwi who often know better how to deliver for the needs of their community, and who are eager to act on data and evidence about what works for who.

Our social investment agency is now up and running, is developing prototype social investment contracts, designing a social investment fund and working across Government to take a more rigorous approach to the social investments we make.

Second of the themes in our reform agenda is trade and investment.

Congratulations to Trade Minister Todd McClay for last month concluding the negotiations for New Zealand’s fastest-ever free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates.

The negotiations, which will save New Zealand exporters millions of dollars, took just four months.

There will be more agreements to come.

And we are looking not just at growing our exports, but, equally importantly, at improving capital flows into New Zealand.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (the OECD) has identified our foreign investment regime as one of the most restrictive in the developed world.

As a result, our stock of foreign direct investment is equivalent to about 40 per cent of GDP which compares to the OECD average of about 50 per cent.

This low level of investment not only reduces our opportunities to grow, it also slows our access to frontier technologies like artificial intelligence which are changing the way our competitors and trading partners operate.

Foreign direct investment is recognised as a key vector for the transfer of cutting-edge technology.

We’ve taken initial steps to address this imbalance. Earlier this year Associate Finance Minister David Seymour directed the Overseas Investment Office to administer the overseas investment regime in a way that:
- minimised compliance costs;
- imposed a burden no broader than necessary; and
- expedited application processes.
As a result, every consent application received and processed after his directive came into effect on 6 June has been decided in under half of the statutory timeframe.

You can expect to hear more from us on this.

The Government will make a new round of significant reforms to the Overseas Investment Act next year. We want to put out the welcome mat to investors who want to help grow this country.

Third, science and innovation.

New Zealand has a proud history of scientific innovation and putting those innovations to good use.

In the 1880s the foundations of the New Zealand meat and dairy products industries were laid by the entrepreneurs who took advantage of developments in refrigeration technology to successfully ship frozen meat and dairy products to Britain for the first time.

More recently, Sir Peter Jackson, Dame Fran Walsh and Sir Richard Taylor have made Wellington the global centre of film special effects, Sir Peter Beck’s Rocket Lab is leading the world in the development of small, low-cost rockets and the development of a disease resistant strain of golden kiwifruit by scientists at Plant and Food Research has turbo-charged the kiwifruit industry.

I could go on – Ernest Rutherford, the Hamilton jetboat, bungy jumping… you get the picture. We need more of this sort of innovation.

The Government is doing its part.

Judith Collins as Science, Innovation and Technology Minister, has announced the outdated, effective ban on gene technology will be scrapped by the end of next year.

Doing so will enable researchers and companies to further develop and commercialise their innovative products, improve health outcomes and help New Zealand to adapt to climate change. Ending the ban has the potential to deliver massive economic benefits to New Zealand.

Judith is overseeing a shake-up of the state science system to better focus it on our economic needs and commercial opportunities.

And she is championing efforts to increase the uptake of artificial intelligence by New Zealand businesses as well as efforts to make it easier for businesses and people wanting to interact with government agencies to access government information and support by using AI.

Wearing another of his hats, Todd McClay announced earlier this year as agriculture minister that the Government was partnering with the a2 Milk Company, ANZ and ASB to put another $18 million into AgriZero, the joint venture established to boost New Zealand’s efforts to reduce agricultural emissions.

The injection took total funding for AgriZero to $183 million over its first four years, half of which is coming from the Crown. This public-private partnership approach is one we want to build on.

Fourth, regulation and competition.

It sounds dry but removing red tape and making this an easier place in which to get things done really matters, from fixing up the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA), to improving building consent processes to having more pro-competitive prudential regulation.

One of the most significant regulatory reforms our Government is making is removing the burden that the Resource Management Act has imposed on New Zealand.

That law has held back housing development, pushed the dream of home ownership out of reach of many young Kiwis, inhibited development and held back productivity and growth.

We are fixing the Act, and we have started with the fast-track regime announced by Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop which will speed up consenting for 149 housing, infrastructure, renewable energy, mining, aquaculture, farming, and quarrying projects.

In the process, the new regime will deliver measurable benefits to regional New Zealand and help to stimulate growth nationally.

Fixing the Act does not mean we are throwing away environmental protections. But it does mean we are getting rid of the unnecessary red tape and delays that have held New Zealand back.

Improving New Zealand’s competition settings is equally important. In its most recent survey of the New Zealand economy, the OECD highlighted the importance of this work, given the small size of our population and the tendency for sectors to become dominated by a small clutch of players.

International experience shows that competition is one of the most important drivers of long-term growth and productivity.

You’ll have seen that our Government is taking up the recommendations of the recent Commerce Commission inquiry into banking competition.

We are concerned that the two-tier oligopoly has meant Kiwis are missing out on the competitive pricing and services they deserve from their banks.

I have asked the Treasury to engage with Kiwibank’s parent company on options for raising new capital to enable it to be a more disruptive competitor for the big four banks.

Potential sources of investment include KiwiSaver funds, New Zealand investments funds and everyday New Zealanders. I will take proposals to Cabinet later this year.

We are also alive to challenges in the grocery and electricity sectors.

Finally, infrastructure.

New Zealand has an infrastructure deficit that is holding back productivity and that has been worsened by a poor track record of planning, consenting and delivering major projects.

We’re working to fix that, by implementing tried and true approaches from more successful economies.

We hear what business is saying. You want an enduring framework and an enduring pipeline. So do we, and we are applying lessons learned in Australia to our infrastructure reforms.

One of these is the importance of bipartisanship. Given the long-term nature of investment in infrastructure it is desirable to have as much buy-in as possible from different political parties.

To that end, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop has written to the infrastructure spokespeople of each party represented in Parliament inviting them to be briefed by the Infrastructure Commission on the development of a 30-year National Infrastructure Plan.

Chris is also proposing that Parliament hold an annual special debate on the plan. The debate won’t change the content of the plan because it will be developed independently, but the debate will show where parties agree, where we don’t, and where there is room for compromise in the best interests of New Zealanders.

It will come as no surprise to you to hear, that a National-led government sees private capital as key to funding our ambitious work programme and closing New Zealand’s infrastructure gap faster.

We are currently in the process of refreshing the policy frameworks that enable private capital to invest in Crown infrastructure.

This includes the public private partnership (PPP) framework and unsolicited proposals guidance. We look forward to working further with you on the development of the pipeline.

I’ll stop now to leave some time for questions.

You can see from the steps we’ve taken and the priorities I’ve outlined that this is a government that is hungry and ambitious for New Zealand.

We feel your sense of urgency, we value your expertise, connections and energy, and we want you on board as we seek to tap New Zealand’s untapped potential.

You want bold and I want it too.

Together, let’s make this the best country in the world in which to do business and raise our families.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –
January 23, 2025
MIL-OSI Banking: ADB, Arnur Credit Sign Deal to Boost Financial Access for Women-Owned Small Businesses in Kazakhstan

Source: Asia Development Bank

ASTANA, KAZAKHSTAN (15 October 2024) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Arnur Credit Limited Liability Company have signed a senior unsecured loan of up to $5 million (in tenge equivalent) to expand access to finance for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Kazakhstan, with a focus on women-led MSMEs (WMSMEs) and as well as green loans.

Arnur Credit will use the finance package to lend to eligible MSMEs, with at least half of the loan proceeds directed towards WMSMEs and at least 10% towards green loans. The green loans will aim to support the procurement of energy and resource-efficient equipment and small-scale renewable energy projects.

“ADB’s partnership with Arnur Credit will enhance credit access for MSMEs in Kazakhstan, contributing to job creation, innovation, entrepreneurship, poverty reduction, and economic growth,” said ADB Director General for Private Sector Operations Suzanne Gaboury. “By supporting women entrepreneurs and promoting green business, we enhance inclusive, sustainable and resilient growth.”

MSMEs comprise nearly all of Kazakhstan’s 2 million registered businesses, employing nearly half of the total labor force and contributing 36.5% of gross domestic product. Nearly half of MSMEs are owned or operated by women. Despite their significance to the economy, MSMEs lack access to credit, with a finance gap of an estimated $42 billion.

“Partnering with ADB to help MSMEs in Kazakhstan will enable us to reach a greater number of entrepreneurs, particularly women, and champion green initiatives essential for our country’s sustainable development,” said Arnur Credit CEO Raushan Kurbanaliyeva. “By enhancing access to finance for MSMEs, especially those managed by women, we are helping to build a more resilient and equitable economy.”

Established in 2001, Arnur Credit is a leading microfinance institution in Kazakhstan serving over 21,000 customers through 47 branches across southern Kazakhstan. Arnur Credit’s strategic focus is financial inclusion for MSMEs. Nearly half of its clients are women, the majority from rural areas. It is one of the few microfinance institutions offering green loans to MSMEs.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 69 members—49 from the region.

MIL OSI Global Banks –

January 23, 2025

Category: Business

Updates to this page

Australia’s reversal of fortunes

A more sobering picture elsewhere

Widening tensions

Middle power problems

Australia must pay attention

Allens legal team

M&A

Competition

First Nations agreement-making in Australia

What is a settlement agreement?

How is Treaty different?

What’s happening across the country?

Where to from here?

‘Seamless’ Integration in 15 Minutes

What we were trying to find out

What we did

What we found

Long-term savings

Politics is the problem

Time for a 30-year plan

Ending the boom-bust cycle