NewzIntel.com

Category: European Union

  • 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 –

  • 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 –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Liverpool leads healthy cities conversation

    Source: City of Liverpool

    Liverpool is hosting an international conference looking at how to create healthier places for people to live.

    The ‘Healthy City Design International Congress’ is taking place at the northern headquarters of the Royal College of Physicians in The Spine at Paddington Village – rated as one of the healthiest buildings in the world – on 15 and 16 October.

    It features a range of keynote contributors from the UK and abroad, including academics and speakers from sectors including public health, local government and urban design.

    It will see a range of themes explored, from preparing neighbourhoods for the effects of the climate crisis, to empowering communities to change the systems that drive health inequity in urban places.

    It is the second year in a row that the city has hosted the event.

    Kitty Wilkinson, who pioneered public wash houses to tackle cholera

    Council Leader, Cllr Liam Robinson, is providing the welcome address, highlighting the city’s role in health firsts, including: appointing the UK’s first medical health officer; Kitty Wilkinson opening the first UK public wash houses to tackle cholera, and becoming the first city to ban smoking in workplaces in 2007.

    Director of Public Health, Professor Matt Ashton, will be discussing his groundbreaking report – ‘State of Health in the City: Liverpool 2040’ – which identifies the significant health challenges faced by Liverpool and the actions needed to improve the lives of residents.

    And senior members of the Council’s Neighbourhoods team will be on a panel titled ‘Driving health improvement, equity and economic development through a health in all policies approach’.

    The Council’s Public Health and Planning teams have been shortlisted at the event’s award’s ceremony, for their work in healthy city planning and design.

    Cllr Robinson said: “We are again proud to showcase Liverpool as a city in which significant collaborative work is being undertaken to achieve positive health outcomes and learn from the international community.

    “This year’s agenda is designed to generate a wealth of progressive, impactful and inspiring conversation.”

    More information about the Healthy City Design International Congress can be found at https://www.healthycitydesign.global/programme/programme-agenda.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: History Today, June 6: The role of signals intelligence or ‘ULTRA’ on D-Day

    Source: National Security Agency NSA

    The term D-Day was a shorthand expression first used in World War I to denote the date an operation was to be launched. In the earlier war, officers also used H-HOUR and M-MINUTE, but these were seldom used in World War II. Because of the scope of the 1944 operation and the momentous stakes, in common parlance, “D-Day” has come to refer primarily to the landings in Normandy.

    The Germans had occupied France since 1940. When the Americans entered the war in December 1941, U.S. strategic thinking called for an immediate landing in France in conjunction with our British allies, followed by an advance to liberate the country and then press on to Berlin. Britain’s high command argued against this course of action, pointing out, correctly, that the Germans were well dug in, American forces lacked experience in combat against the powerful foe, and neither country had yet assembled the reserve of men and materiel such an effort required.

    As a consequence, the Allies battled the Germans in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy – but by spring 1944, the time had come to land in France and carry the battle to the German homeland. Hundreds of thousands of American, British, and Canadian men readied to land on five beaches in Normandy, France, to face well-prepared German defensive positions.

    The planning for this operation, codenamed OVERLORD, was complex, but the strategic planning staff had an important asset — SIGINT. This was ULTRA, the product of cryptanalysis of high-grade enemy cryptosystems such as the now-famous ENIGMA machine. Crucial information also was derived from decrypts of reports written by the Japanese ambassador to Germany, who had toured the beachfronts of France in the autumn of 1943.
    Those who study intelligence know that ULTRA gave planners access to copious amounts of information about the German weaponry emplaced along the beaches, the order of battle of the defensive units, and the standing orders given to the defenders.

    Less well known but no less important was the information on German defensive mines in the English Channel. This was a vital factor, since Britain and the United States were transporting their combat units across the channel in hundreds of ships.

    ULTRA provided a great deal of data on German mine laying. Some of it came from communications of the boats actually creating the minefield, some of it came from instructions to German ships about cleared areas for their sailing. The information included types of mines used, as well as boundaries for closed and open channels.

    This information allowed the Allies to select mine-free routes for the ships carrying the landing parties and identify areas where minesweeping actions would be a priority.

    The official historian of British COMINT in World War II wrote, “Largely with the assistance of SIGINT, though not without much tedious analysis of it . . ., the programme was reconstructed in considerable detail — a fact which proved to be of considerable importance for the success of the landings.”

    In addition to ULTRA, U.S. ground forces had tactical COMINT personnel who accompanied deployed troops and provided intelligence from low-level German or Japanese communications.

    The U.S. Navy also had tactical COMINT teams aboard ships in the Mediterranean and European Theaters of War, called the Y Service, a term borrowed from British usage. One of the primary missions of these teams was to provide warning of enemy air attacks and to jam German radio-controlled bombs.

    Initially, the U.S. Navy had to borrow intercept operators from the U.S. Army or the Royal Navy. In early 1944, the commander of U.S. naval forces in Northwest African waters asked the Chief of Naval Operations to send twenty-four men for training in Y Service operations. He noted that the candidates should be of good intelligence, without family ties in Axis countries, wholly trustworthy, and be thoroughly fluent in idiomatic German; if any had a knowledge of German shorthand, that would be especially desirable.

    In March two officers and ten enlisted men were dispatched from the U.S. to Europe for Y Service training, which was to be provided by the British admiralty.

    As Allied forces prepared for Operation NEPTUNE, the naval phase of the Normandy landings, seven naval Y teams were deployed. Three of the teams had only British personnel; the other teams had mixed U.S. and UK personnel. It was felt that training alone was insufficient for success; the U.S. had to overcome lack of experience by integration of personnel with its ally.

    During the D-Day landings and afterward, the Y teams undertook twenty-four-hour coverage. This began on June 5 and continued through June 18. As one later report put it, “. . . [I]n the case of the Normandy Operation, Y service proved to be of little assistance because of the general lack of enemy aircraft and naval surface craft in the face of overwhelming Allied surface and air power.”

    The Y Service teams were disbanded in January 1945. By this time, the German naval and air forces were no longer a threat to U.S. and British movement of troops and support for them from the British Isles to France.

    Today is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, still the largest amphibious attack conducted in the face of an armed enemy. The sacrifice in life by British, Canadian, and American troops was heavy on this day in 1944, but the successful landings truly marked the beginning of the end for Adolph Hitler and Nazism.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Detectives investigating an assault in Hammersmith which left a pensioner with a broken hip have released an image of a man they want to identify.

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    Detectives investigating the assault of a pensioner in Hammersmith have released an image of a man they want to identify and speak with.

    On Tuesday, 2 July at around 13:00hrs, the victim, an 85-year-old man, was attempting to board the 220 bus at Hammersmith bus station.

    He stopped and held up other passengers behind him as he allowed women and children to board the bus first.

    The suspect appeared to take offence to this and began verbally abusing the victim before pushing him out of the way and causing him to fall.

    He was taken to hospital he was found to have broken his hip.

    Anyone who can name the man in the image should call police on 101 or Tweet @MetCC quoting 01/545400/24.

    To remain 100% anonymous call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit Crimestoppers-uk.org.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: A fifth man will appear in court charged with the murder of Joshua McLean in Tower Hamlets.

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A fifth man will appear in court charged with the murder of Joshua McLean in Tower Hamlets.

    Shanoor Ahmed – 38 (04.04.86) of Russia Lane, E2 will appear in custody at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 14 October charged with murder.

    Ahmed was arrested on Saturday, 12 October.

    Four people have previously appeared in court charged with Joshua’s murder.

    They are:

    Nefur Miah, 36 (06.04.88), of Redmans Road E1;
    Muhammed Ismail Ali, 37 (02.10.87), of Marlborough Road RM7;
    Simeon Oliver-Stewart, 30 (15.01.94), of Clevedon Close N16;
    Muhammad Abbas, 22 (21.07.02) of Bradford Road, Kirklees.

    All four defendants will appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, 17 December.

    The investigation, led by detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, was launched after Joshua, 31, was fatally shot on Tuesday, 6 August in Weavers Fields, Wilmot Street, E2.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Detectives are appealing for witnesses following a firearm discharge in West Kensington.

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    Police are appealing for witnesses and information following a firearm discharge in West Kensington.

    The incident happened at approximately 04:00hrs on Sunday, 13 October outside a nightclub in Russell Gardens, W14.

    Witnesses reported hearing gunshots after a verbal altercation involving a group of people. All those involved left the scene prior to police arriving.

    Officers attended and during a search of the location, casings were found. A crime scene remains in place while investigative work continues.

    There have been no reports of any injuries.

    Detectives are appealing for anyone who was in the area and saw events unfold, or anyone who has information that could assist police, to call 101 or ‘X’ @MetCC and quote CAD1158/13Oct. You can also provide information anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: A murder investigation is under way following a shooting in Linton Road, Barking

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    A murder investigation is under way following a shooting in Barking.

    Police were called at approximately 04:35hrs on Sunday, 13 October to reports of a man injured in Linton Road, Barking.

    Officers and London Ambulance Service attended and found a man, believed aged in his 30s suffering a gunshot injury. Despite the best efforts of the emergency services he was pronounced dead at the scene.

    Next of kin have been informed.

    A crime scene remains in place at the location.

    There has been no arrest and enquiries into the circumstances continue.

    Acting Detective Chief Superintendent Lewis Basford who is responsible for policing in East Area which covers Barking said: “I understand the shock and concern local residents will be feeling following this incident, but I want to reassure them that a team of experienced detectives are already working diligently to piece together the events that has led to this shooting and identify who is responsible.

    “Local residents will see increased police activity in and around the Linton Road area and I would ask them for patience while officers carry out vital work.

    “If you have any concerns, or information that could assist the investigation, then please speak to one of them or contact police.”

    Anyone with information that could assist police is asked to call 101 or ‘X’ @MetCC and quote CAD 1295/13Oct. You can upload information and material online.

    You can also provide information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Three men have been sentenced for the rape of a 13-year-old girl following an in-depth investigation by specialist Met detectives.

    Source: United Kingdom London Metropolitan Police

    Three men have been sentenced for the rape of a 13-year-old girl following an in-depth investigation by specialist Met detectives.

    On Friday, 11 October, Paul Maxwell, 24 (03.12.99) of Wood Lane Estates, W12 was sentenced to 12 and a half years.

    Kayon Bhola, 29 (28.10.1994) of no fixed address, and Jeremiah Jackson 24, (8.11.99) of Longford Court, W12 were both jailed for 11 years.

    All three men were given Sexual Harm Prevention Orders lasting 15 years.

    The victim, aged 13, left her home address on 30 September 2023 and travelled into London where she encountered the three defendants at a tube station in Hammersmith.

    They lured her back to Maxwell’s flat where she was raped by all three.

    Detectives gathered a combination of forensic evidence, CCTV and phone analysis. Working closely with specialists from CPS London’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences unit, they built up a case against the three defendants.

    CCTV showed the group travelling from the station towards the flat. In-depth phone analysis also revealed a short video clip of the three men carrying out their attack. This evidence played a significant part in convicting the three men.

    Detective Constable Will Murphy, who led the investigation, said: “Firstly, I would like to thank the victim for her ongoing support in this case and for her extreme bravery in coming forward and reporting this to police.

    “This has been a challenging investigation, however due to the dedicated efforts of my team we were able to secure convictions. I hope the victim feels that justice has been served.

    “Today’s sentencing highlights how despicable this crime was and Maxwell, Bhola and Jackson will now face the consequences of their horrendous actions. The Met is here to support victims of sexual assault, and to provide the best care we can. Please do not hesitate to come to us.”

    The victim read out a victim impact statement, a part of which said:

    “I have gone over the date a million times thinking of what I could have done differently to change the outcome of what happened to me. No matter what I change, it would’ve ended the same way. This is because these three men, fully grown men, knew exactly what they were going to do as soon as they saw me at Hammersmith.

    “I was caught alone, and vulnerable. But that shouldn’t have mattered.”

    On 22 July, all three defendants were found guilty of rape – with Maxwell convicted of an additional count – following a three-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.

    A New Met for London is improving how we protect women and girls from violence, largely at the hands of predatory and abusive men. We encourage victims to come forward and help us put an end to this extreme violence – to report rape or sexual abuse, find out more: https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rsa/rape-and-sexual-assault/how-to-report-rape-and-sexual-assault/.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Film Commission puts itself on a platter for spending cuts

    Source: ACT Party

    ACT’s Arts, Culture and Heritage spokesperson Todd Stephenson is questioning the value of funding the Film Commission after it was revealed that the organisation spent more than $145,000 on a trip for four to the Cannes Film Festival in France.

    “In May, at the height of a cost-of-living crisis and when New Zealanders were reading apocalyptic headlines about austerity in Wellington, four Film Commission staff were enjoying a six-figure junket in Cannes,” says Mr Stephenson.

    “The new Government had repeatedly emphasised the need for spending restraint, but the Film Commission – hardly a core government agency – doubled down on discretionary spending. In a single two-week blowout, four staff spent more than $24,000 on food and drink including fine French dining and dozens of bottles of wine and craft beer. In addition, $21,704 was spent on travel, $24,329 on accommodation, and $74,795 on ‘operational’ costs – including office rental and utilities.

    “Browsing the receipts, obtained by the Taxpayers’ Union, is enough to make you sick.

    “The irony is that the Film Commission spends on boozy dinners to schmooze executives into coming to New Zealand and taking millions of dollars in film subsidies. You’d think the subsidies would be attractive enough on their own.

    “The film industry is lucky to receive subsidies, but when the distributor spends like this it discredits our film subsidy programme and tempts cuts.

    “This is an organisation seemingly incapable of making spending sacrifices that households have been forced to make. Just last year they spent more than $16,000 on parties for their CEOs. And in 2022, another CEO was given a $438,700 severance package – despite only having been in the role for nine months, four of which were on paid leave.

    “The Commission has doubled in size since 2014, but we’re left scratching our heads about what benefits have come from this bloat.

    “ACT is always on the lookout for further savings, and the Film Commission has just presented itself on a silver platter. Would anyone even notice if the Commission’s operational budget was cut in half?”

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • 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 –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Standing up for those with good taste

    Source: Auckland Council

    A tasting panel to rival the United Nations turned up to help emerging food businesses test their wares at the latest Kitchen Project event.

    Held in Pukekohe, three foodies taking part in the Auckland Council initiative that helps food entrepreneurs take their businesses to the next level, laid out their wares for people from South Africa, Ireland, Italy, the Philippines, Korea, Brasil, Wales and New Zealand.

    The Kitchen Project’s Franklin work is funded by Eke Panuku – Auckland Council’s development agency – as it focuses on developing food and beverage businesses with an emphasis on culture, healthy food and sustainable practices. 

    Among the businesses relying on stranger’s tastebuds was Otara donut-maker Rose Hamlin of Angel Treatz.

    Madd Pies chief pie-maker and gifted baker Emily Maddren, whose hand-crafted pies are sought-after at markets and online.

    “It’s scary putting your products out there but the Kitchen Project has given me the confidence to believe in myself and back what I’m making.”

    Rose came to donuts when caring for her sweet-toothed daughter, who lives with multiple seizure syndrome, and who loves a good donut.

    The problem was Rose wasn’t convinced she was getting good donuts, and she was convinced she could make them better, and save herself a fortune along the way.

    “I’m making donuts without all the added preservatives. When I started it wasn’t long before my friends and other people were telling me I could make a business out of it.

    “Being able to participate in The Kitchen Project allowed me to think of it as a business, to understand what I would need to do to make it sustainable, and how to go about all the things I had no idea you needed to consider when you go into business.

    “Happily, making donuts and treats hasn’t stopped being something I love doing, it’s just turned into something that I can make a living from too.”

    Sister act. Emily’s sister Jayde Lane creates traditional sauces with husband Andrew that they take to the market under the name The Smoke Shed.

    Joining her were Madd Pies chief pie-maker and gifted baker Emily Maddren, whose hand-crafted pies have become a sought-after treat at markets throughout Franklin.

    “I wanted to create pies that were full of flavour, that used natural ingredients, that remain hand-made and aren’t run-off a conveyer belt.

    “Hopefully my pies are something you can look forward to putting in front of your family because they are healthy and home-made, rather than something dragged out of the freezer out of desperation.”

    Her sister Jayde Lane was just metres away at the next tasting station, laying out sauces with husband Andrew that they take to the market under the name The Smoke Shed.

    Like chicken king Colonel Sanders, she’s not letting on about the secret ingredients that go into her Worcesteshire sauce – the recipe handed down from son to son – and then to a daughter – down the generations since it first graced tables back in Wales.

     “The Kitchen Project has been a vital part of our journey. The support, advice and mentoring we’ve been able to tap into has been invaluable.

    International flavour. The tasting panel was made up of people from South Africa, Ireland, Italy, the Philippines, Korea, Brasil, Wales and New Zealand.

    “We are never going to rival the big chain sauces, but we’d like to think if someone wanted to have a good home-made tomato sauce or any of our other products, they could buy ours with confidence.”

    The part-time 26-week programme includes learning both in and out of the kitchen, covering everything from regulations, food safety and business planning to finance, branding and marketing. It also offers access to dedicated commercial kitchens at subsidised rates.

    The Kitchen Project’s Connie Clarkson says it can play an important role by working from the ground up.

    “By fostering sustainable local food and beverage businesses that belong in the community, we’re encouraging a diverse and exciting food culture.”

    The Kitchen Project and the three food businesses are all online.

    Stay connected

    Sign up for your Local Board E-news and get the latest news and events direct to your inbox each month. 

     

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Are market giants endangering Australia’s live music scene? Industry veterans and local artists are worried

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Green, Research Fellow, Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University

    Multinational concert promoter Live Nation Entertainment has come under fire, with an ABC Four Corners investigation saying its unprecedented market power is open to abuse.

    The report follows concerns about the introduction of dynamic pricing – where ticket prices change according to demand – to the Australian concert market. A parliamentary inquiry into the live music sector is also underway.

    Industry luminaries such as Peter Garrett and Michael Chugg told the ABC that Australia’s music scene is under threat, echoing the concerns of frustrated bands and fans. Live Nation issued a statement ahead of the program, calling it inaccurate and unbalanced.

    So what is Live Nation and how is market concentration affecting our music scene?

    The business

    Live music is one of our most popular forms of cultural participation, engaging almost half of Australians over 15. In the decade before COVID, ticket buying and revenue for contemporary music doubled.

    Ticket revenue doubled again in the year 2022–23 to well above pre-pandemic levels. How can such growth be squared against widespread talk of a sector in crisis, with venues closing and festivals cancelled?

    This is because the growth is top-heavy. Overall figures have been boosted by an influx of stadium concerts by international superstars such as Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. Rising revenue outpaced attendance growth by almost three to one, with average ticket prices rising 47.4% to A$128.21. Market power is increasingly concentrated in a few corporate hands, notably Live Nation Entertainment.

    ‘We’re in an extinction event right now.’

    What is Live Nation?

    Live Nation began in the United States as a concert promoter. Traditionally, a promoter funds and arranges live events, negotiating with artists, their agents, venues and ticketing services. But Live Nation has integrated many such components into its operations. Now, everything from artist management to venues and merchandise can be done in-house.

    In 2010, the US Department of Justice allowed the merger of Live Nation with major ticketing company Ticketmaster. The resulting entity, Live Nation Entertainment, has since acquired a growing set of interests internationally.

    Live Nation’s acquisitions over the past decade in Australia include:

    Live Nation Entertainment also acquired venues, leasing Melbourne’s Palais Theatre for 30 years from 2017 and Festival Hall. The group purchased Anita’s Theatre in Thirroul in 2022 and opened Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall (2020) and Adelaide’s Hindley Street Music Hall (2022) in partnership with local entities.

    Ticketmaster is the authorised ticketing agency for Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium and for Australian tours promoted by Live Nation. These include concerts by Oasis, Green Day, P!nk and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

    Live Nation has also acquired several Australian booking agencies, including Village Sounds, which represents Bernard Fanning, Courtney Barnett and Vance Joy.

    The only competitors are TEG (which owns Ticketek) and AEG-Frontier. Music industry stakeholders are concerned about the oversized influence of these three “corporate giants”.

    Keeping the shareholders happy

    For consumers, a lack of competition can mean higher prices. Dynamic pricing made headlines, but Four Corners also alleged there were a range of “hidden fees” in the price of tickets ordinarily sold by Ticketmaster and Ticketek.

    Artists are at a disadvantage when negotiating with a mass of connected businesses that are often owned by one entity and which sometimes includes their own agent.

    South Australian rock band Bad//Dreems told the ABC they were left with just $9,000 from a tour that grossed $100,000.

    Veteran promoter Michael Chugg complained major artists were being overpaid, skewing the sector to the detriment of local musicians. While Australian promoters, including Chugg and the late Michael Gudinski, have a history of consolidating interests and crowding out competition, they also had skin in the Australian music game. Live Nation is a publicly listed company with duties to its shareholders, including US hedge funds and Saudi royalty.

    Midnight Oil singer and former politician Peter Garrett said this meant there was “no loyalty” to Australian artists. A multinational promoter with a shareholder-driven approach might be more likely to cancel a festival after weak opening sales, instead of weathering short-term losses to preserve the brand and relationships.

    That cancellation might even consolidate demand for the company’s upcoming headline tours. But opportunities are lost for Australian artists, businesses and culture.

    What can be done?

    Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke told Four Corners he has put Live Nation on notice and warned the company not to use its power in an anti-competitive way. But he did not commit to legislative change.

    In the United States, the Department of Justice and dozens of states have sued Live Nation for antitrust, seeking “to break up Live Nation-Ticketmaster’s monopoly and restore competition for the benefit of fans and artists”.

    Australian courts currently have no power to break up monopolies without new legislation. However, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission can investigate and prosecute misuse of market power, as alleged by some in this case.

    Fair trading authorities in the United Kingdom and Europe are examining Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing in the wake of the Oasis ticket-pricing controversy. However, Burke said surge pricing is something consumers have always dealt with, and “not something we’re looking at, at the moment”.

    Governments could also regulate more transparency in ticket fees, as well as the rights of artists, who sit uncomfortably between employees and small businesses. Their union, MEAA’s Musicians Australia, is currently advocating about these matters.

    Those passionate about Australia’s live music scene fear that if the sector isn’t better regulated, it’ll soon be too late to save it.

    Ben Green receives research funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australasian Performing Right Association.

    Sam Whiting receives funding from RMIT University and the Winston Churchill Trust.

    – ref. Are market giants endangering Australia’s live music scene? Industry veterans and local artists are worried – https://theconversation.com/are-market-giants-endangering-australias-live-music-scene-industry-veterans-and-local-artists-are-worried-241244

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI: Policyholder expectations pose challenges for life insurers at every stage of the customer journey

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Press contact:
    Fahd Pasha
    Tel.: + 1 647 860 3777
    E-mail: Fahd.Pasha@capgemini.com

    Policyholder expectations pose challenges for life insurers at every stage of the customer journey

    • Best-in-class life insurers – those delivering quantifiably outstanding customer experience – achieve a 38% higher Net Promoter Score (NPS®) than their mainstream counterparts
    • 67% of best-in-class carriers are ready to leverage generative AI to innovate their policyholders’ experience and optimize operations
    • Life insurance industry must shift perception away from simply ‘death insurance’ to engage new generation of policyholders

    Paris, October 15, 2024 – The Capgemini Research Institute’s World Life Insurance Report 2025, published today, reveals that the life insurance industry is struggling to meet today’s customer experience expectations, with legacy technology being a major barrier to driving meaningful change. However, the report identifies a small group of life insurers globally delivering quantifiably outstanding customer experience to achieve ‘best-in-class’ status. In comparison to mainstream insurers, these innovative companies have been rewarded with a 38% higher Net Promoter Score (NPS®), an 11% lower expense ratio, and a 6% higher revenue growth than the rest of the industry in the last three years.

    Faced with high inflation, economic uncertainty, and waning interest, life insurers are at a critical juncture as the industry confronts a 33% fall in penetration in mature markets1 between 2007 and 20232, with one-in-two policyholders saying their experience is underwhelming. Much of this dissatisfaction permeates through the entire customer journey, particularly across product offerings, onboarding, servicing and claims/surrenders.

    Insurers face challenges at every stage of the customer journey
    At the onboarding stage, one-in-three (35%) retail policyholders struggle with complex terms and 27% don’t like the lengthy application process. After purchasing a policy, one-in-four (25%) retail and group customers express frustration due to long wait times, while 23% are frustrated by the inability to access self-service options for policy changes. The claims process also poses challenges, primarily due to a lack of digitization: one-third (35%) of retail policyholders say they face a complicated claim application process, with 27% noting a lack of empathy during the claims experience.

    The research shows that younger policyholders (between 18-40 years) are more frustrated by a challenging experience than older customers (between 41-60 years) throughout their insurance journey. This includes slow and complex onboarding processes, lack of dedicated communication channels, and an inability to self-service policies. They also demand greater claims flexibility, with 42% citing inflexible payouts as a critical concern, versus only 26% of older customers.

    Despite a desire to redesign the onboarding, service and claims experience, only 9% of carriers have established ecosystem-wide processes that capture data from multiple sources to create a unique view of customers, and in turn, deliver personalized experiences through policyholders’ preferred channels.

    “Life insurance is shifting from a must-have to a maybe proposition. Carriers must shake off the perception that life insurance is just ‘death insurance’. They can achieve this by focusing on engaging the next generation of policyholders, moving beyond a product-driven approach to put the customer at the center of their strategies,” said Samantha Chow, Global Leader for Life Insurance, Annuities and Benefits Sector at Capgemini. “Many insurers are struggling with legacy technology or investments that have failed to deliver the target returns. The path forward is a customer-centric transformation that draws inspiration from the best-in-class by embedding AI-augmented, human-touch service into core processes.”

    Efforts to improve customer experience have stalled for most carriers
    Insurers recognize an urgent need to modernize their operations, however, only 41% met or exceeded their latest transformation goals. Past transformation initiatives fell short of delivering the intended results as insurers prioritized multiple goals which hindered their efforts. The challenges were further complicated by unexpected integration complexities (50%), lack of alignment with business objectives (42%) and insufficient skilled resources (42%).

    Despite these headwinds, the report finds an elite group of 5% of best-in-class insurers who are delivering a superior customer experience. These best-in-class carriers lean into the latest technologies, like generative AI, to offer exceptional onboarding, self-service, and claims capabilities.

    The best-in-class stand out against their counterparts:

    • 78% of best-in-class insurers have automated underwriting compared to 15% of mainstream insurers to optimize onboarding efforts
    • 78% offer policyholders self-service portals compared to only 13% of mainstream carriers
    • 56% provide a seamless and intelligent claims experience through AI assistance for voice and sentiment analysis versus only 3% of mainstream insurers

    Generative AI can be a catalyst, although talent gaps remain a hurdle
    While the transformative potential of generative AI is undeniable for the life insurance industry, it brings to light a pressing talent challenge. Today, 67% of best-in-class insurers are technically ready to leverage and maximize generative AI’s capabilities across their operations, with readiness levels dropping to 25% for mainstream insurers. Generative AI, when augmented with human intelligence, can revolutionize the consumer experience, while simultaneously driving operational efficiencies. However, one-in-three executives (34%) highlight identifying talent as a significant obstacle hindering their ability, with critical gaps in roles such as behavioral scientists, experience designers, and AI prompt engineers.

    According to the report, success will hinge not only on the implementation of the technology, but also on insurers’ ability to attract, develop, and retain the right talent. Carriers who can effectively blend cutting-edge technology with skilled professionals will be well-positioned to lead the industry into a new era of innovation and customer-centricity.

    Report Methodology
    The World Life Insurance Report 2025 draws data from two primary sources: the Global Voice of the Customer Survey, administered during May and June 2024, and the Global Insurance Executive Survey, conducted during May and June 2024. This primary research covers insights from 20 markets: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. First, our comprehensive Voice of the Customer Survey, administered in collaboration with Phronesis Partners, polled 6,186 life insurance customers in 18 countries. These markets represent all three regions of the globe – the Americas (The United States, Mexico, Canada, and Brazil), Europe (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom), and Asia-Pacific (Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and Singapore). Second, the report also includes insights from interviews with 213 leading life insurance company executives across 16 markets. These markets together represent all three regions of the globe – the Americas (The United States, Canada, and Brazil), Europe (Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom) and Asia-Pacific (Australia, Hong Kong, India, and Singapore).

    About Capgemini
    Capgemini is a global business and technology transformation partner, helping organizations to accelerate their dual transition to a digital and sustainable world, while creating tangible impact for enterprises and society. It is a responsible and diverse group of 340,000 team members in more than 50 countries. With its strong over 55-year heritage, Capgemini is trusted by its clients to unlock the value of technology to address the entire breadth of their business needs. It delivers end-to-end services and solutions leveraging strengths from strategy and design to engineering, all fueled by its market leading capabilities in AI, cloud and data, combined with its deep industry expertise and partner ecosystem. The Group reported 2023 global revenues of €22.5 billion.

    Get The Future You Want | http://www.capgemini.com

    About the Capgemini Research Institute
    The Capgemini Research Institute is Capgemini’s in-house think-tank on all things digital and their impact across industries. It is the publisher of Capgemini’s flagship World Report Series, which has been running for over 28 years, with dedicated thought leadership on Financial Services focussing on digitalization, innovation, technology and business trends that affect banks, wealth management firms, and insurers across the globe.

    To find out more or to subscribe to receive reports as they launch, visit https://worldreports.capgemini.com

    1 Note: Mature markets: North America includes Canada and the United States. Western Europe includes Portugal, Luxembourg, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Austria, France, Greece, Malta, Finland, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Cyprus. APAC includes Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.
    2Swiss Re – sigma explorer

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: “Advancing New Zealand and Asia relations”

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Good evening

    Before discussing the ‘advancing of New Zealand and Asia relations’, we would like to congratulate the Asia New Zealand Foundation and acknowledge its significant contribution to New Zealand’s relationship with, and understanding of, Asia over the past 30 years.

    Can we also welcome Thitinan Pongsudhirak, one of the Foundation’s Honorary Advisers, and Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute.  

    I would also like to acknowledge Members of Parliament; members of the diplomatic corps; Asia New Zealand Foundation founders Sir Don McKinnon and Philip Burdon; and its Chair, Dame Fran Wilde.

    A lot has happened over the past 30 years – in New Zealand, in Asia, and indeed in New Zealand’s engagement with Asia.

    30 years ago

    It is, of course, difficult to talk about Asia in general terms. The region has 23 countries, hundreds of languages and a vast swathe of peoples and cultures and political systems. 

    This is to say nothing of the vast distances in Asia.  Indeed, it’s closer from London to Moscow than Auckland to Jakarta, and yet we tend to think Indonesia as our back yard. 

    We tend to zone in on one country, or one issue.

    Our understanding needs to be more nuanced than this – something the Asia New Zealand Foundation knows well and is in fact its core mission.

    We can, however, look at some trends, as we think about New Zealand’s relationship with Asia over the past 30 years.

    In 1994, for example, Asia’s population was over three billion people. The region accounted for one quarter of the world’s GDP, and economic growth was underway in many countries. 

    The region had experienced years of peace and stability, albeit with some notable exceptions. Many parts of the region were at the start of a long, although sometimes uneven, path of rising urbanisation, productivity and incomes.

    In New Zealand, our population had just tipped over three million. Asian countries had become important trading partners – this was 20 years after Britain joined the European Economic Community and forced us to look beyond our traditional trading partners. 

    We had adapted by looking closer to home. 

    Thirty five percent of New Zealand’s exports went to Asia, with Japan accounting for close to half of this. 

    Remarkably, at that time China took just two percent of our exports, compared to 20 percent of today.

    Many New Zealanders had come to realise the importance of Asia to our future prosperity.

    Along with this came a recognition that we needed to better understand the vast range of cultures, languages and peoples of the region. This would be a shift for us. 

    Just three percent of New Zealanders at the time identified as being of Asian origin – compared to 17 percent today. 

    We had the beginnings of some cultural and culinary influences, with tourists and students starting to flow. 

    Under the Colombo Plan, we had welcomed many Asian students to New Zealand. But for the most part, these cultural influences were not mainstream or well-understood at the time.

    It was in this context that the Asia New Zealand Foundation was born and began its important work that we are here to discuss today.

    What has changed in Asia? 

    Even those who were aficionados back in 1994 might have been surprised at just how important Asia would become to New Zealand.

    The Asian financial crisis in 1997 was devastating to the region. It was an unsettled and unpredictable time. But the region has recovered, and in fact boomed.

    The figures are certainly impressive. More than one billion people have been lifted out of poverty in Asia since 1990. Asia now comprises over 40 percent of the world’s GDP. In the next quarter century, this is forecast to reach 50 percent. 

    It is important for us all to remember that there has not been just one linear trajectory in the region. Each country has had its own path, and these paths can have different twists and turns over time.

    China’s growth story is of course well-known, but the statistics remain extraordinary. Today, China stands as the world’s second-largest economy worth nearly 18 trillion US dollars in 2023, soaring a staggering 4,000 percent since the 1990s.

    This is not, however, just a China story. There has been astonishing success in other countries, too. 

    India overtook China to become the most populous country in the world last year, and with 900 million registered voters it is also the world’s largest democracy. This year India’s economy will be the fastest growing in the G20, and it is expected to overtake Germany and Japan to become the world’s third largest economy in the next few years. 

    India’s advances in science, technology, education, and space, are inspiring to many countries around the world. In short, India has become a significant global actor playing a key role in securing a stable and prosperous region.

    Japan itself continues to be an economic powerhouse.

    We must also recognise that ASEAN’s growth, after starting down the path of economic integration, has been remarkable. 

    If ASEAN today were one economy, it would be New Zealand’s fourth-largest trading partner. Its countries are growing at an impressive clip – more than five percent year in, year out. 

    The total GDP of ASEAN reached nearly four trillion US dollars last years, positioning it as the fifth largest economy in the world. 

    Projections indicate that ASEAN’s GDP is poised to reach an estimated four and a half trillion US dollars by the year 2030. This will propel ASEAN to become the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2040.

    Much of Asia’s economic growth has been built on trade and manufacturing. But the region is now also central across many facets of the modern economy – from finance and capital, to people, and to innovation.

    To take just two examples, Asia’s services trade is growing 1.7 times faster than the rest of the world. And by 2030, Asia’s fintech revenues are expected to be larger even than North America’s.

    We know economic growth doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It is regional security that has provided the foundation for the significant rise in living standards we have witnessed across Asia. 

    In this time of global upheaval and challenges to the rules-based order, the role of regional security in our collective economic security is undeniable. 

    In Southeast Asia, ASEAN centrality is playing a pivotal role. ASEAN has led the way in bringing the region together in peaceful dialogue. This includes initiatives like the Regional Forum we attended in July, or last week’s East Asia Summit – which was attended by Prime Minister Luxon.

    Notwithstanding the various peaceful offramps that exist, Asia has had, and continues to have, security challenges. 

    The liberal rules-based order – underpinned by US hegemony – is under strain.

    As China’s power and influence have increased, so too have the areas of difference that we have had to navigate.

    We are seeing a rising and more active India.

    And we shouldn’t forget that Russia considers itself an Indo-Pacific power, too.

    Added to this are hemispheric wild cards: the DPRK; other nuclear powers; arms build-up; and alliance and proxy relationships.

    We also have population trends that will have not just economic but also geostrategic consequences. 

    Also, fierce competition for resources: protein and commodities like rare metals.

    Finally – environmental challenges, which are an existential threat for many countries in the region – are exacerbating all of these factors. 

    What has this meant for New Zealand? 

    For New Zealand, the message is clear: we need to continue to understand and engage Asia.

    The Coalition Government, via the Foreign Policy Reset, is focused on building and advancing relationships in a way that engages more actively the region’s opportunities and risks. 

    The work of the Asia New Zealand Foundation remains as relevant today as it was 30 years ago. 

    Understanding Asia starts here at home. The past 30 years has seen a boom, and our ethnic communities have grown significantly. 

    While there is still some way to go, we have started to see Asian New Zealanders in leadership roles – from Members of Parliament to business leaders, sports, and entertainment. 

    Along with this has come a richness of culture and language. Kiwis have enjoyed new festivities and embraced an array of Asian cuisine, at home and at restaurants – something almost completely unavailable 30 years ago.

    The top 25 languages spoken in New Zealand include many Asian languages, such as Mandarin, with nearly 100,000 speakers, as well as Hindi with almost 70,000, Cantonese, Tagalog, Punjabi, Korean, Japanese, Gujarati, and Tamil.

    We celebrate Diwali, Lunar New Year and Eid – festivals that showcase cultural traditions to New Zealanders.

    Last year, 54,000 students from Asian countries came to study in New Zealand education institutions. 

    In the last year we have welcomed over 700,000 international visitors from Asia – nearly double that of a year ago – and we’re looking forward to seeing this growth continue over the coming years as the pandemic fall-out recedes.

    Over the last 70 years, we have provided scholarships and training to 21 countries from the Asian region under our International Development Cooperation programme. This remains a foundation of our enduring people-to-people connections.

    Thanks to the Asia New Zealand Foundation, we have some tangible evidence of how New Zealanders’ attitudes toward Asia have changed over time. 

    The first Perceptions of Asia survey was conducted in 1997 and showed that New Zealanders saw Asia as something largely external. 

    Today, however, over half of New Zealanders feel a connection to Asia in their daily lives, with more than a third regularly enjoying Asia-related entertainment. 

    Over the past decade, public awareness and engagement with Asia has grown significantly. In 2013, one third of New Zealanders said they felt knowledgeable about Asia. 

    That number has now risen to an all-time high, with nearly 60 percent saying they possess at least a fair amount of understanding about the region.

    This is wonderful and thanks in no small part to the work of the Foundation. We hope we will see this familiarity grow further in the coming years.

    New Zealand in Asia

    Alongside these developments in New Zealand, we have been engaging both with Asia but also in Asia.

    Today you can fly direct from Auckland and Christchurch to 14 destinations across Asia, connecting New Zealand to the region and providing opportunities for New Zealanders to interact with and learn about Asia.

     

    Kiwis have been broadening their traditional “OE” and heading to Asia. As just one example, 3,300 New Zealanders have travelled to Japan under the Japan Exchange and Teaching, or “JET”, programme since its inception, teaching English in Japan. 

    Programmes such as the Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia have seen thousands of young New Zealanders study at Asian institutions and return with meaningful skills and experience. 

    The Asia New Zealand Foundation has also contributed to this through the internships, grants, and residencies it offers throughout Asia.

    It is important to highlight that seven of our top 10 export destinations are Asian economies. 

    Exports to China amounted to 20 billion New Zealand dollars last year; Japan more than four billion. Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Indonesia round out the list of our top export destinations in Asia.

    This has been supported by the network of free trade agreements we have negotiated to support our commercial partnerships over the past 20 years. It is notable that our second oldest FTA is with Singapore – second only to Australia. 

    The origins of CPTPP, one of our most significant trade agreements, also finds its origins in our relationships with Asia. 

    Its precursor, the P4 agreement with Singapore, Brunei, and Chile in 2006, provided the foundation stone for what would become CPTPP.

    CPTPP is itself a high watermark agreement that includes other economies from the region such as Japan, Malaysia, and Viet Nam, and we continue to encourage others who can meet the agreement’s high standards to seek to join in the future.

    All in all, 95 percent of our trade with Asia takes place under a trade agreement.

    New Zealand has also invested in regional institutions. This architecture provides space for dialogue and the exchange of ideas on key issues impacting us. 

    We were the second country to become an ASEAN dialogue partner, and we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of this next year. In that time New Zealand has been and continues to be a trusted partner to ASEAN and its member states. 

    We know that by contributing to ASEAN’s success, and the success of ASEAN-led councils like the East Asia Summit, we contribute to our own success and to that of the region.

    In 1994, New Zealand was a member of one regional body – APEC, which was founded just five years earlier. 

    This platform gives us a venue to influence regional economic policy together with members, who today make up two thirds of global economic growth and take 80 percent of New Zealand’s exports.

    Just over 10 years later, in 2005, our delegation was proud to take part in the inaugural East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur. 

    We had put intensive effort into laying the groundwork for the shape of the grouping and New Zealand’s participation. 

    Our membership as a founding partner made clear to all that New Zealand was part of the region and had a role to play in regional decisions. 

    The EAS is now the premier forum for strategic dialogue and regional cooperation. 

    New Zealand is showing up today, as we did then, because we want to support peace and stability in the region in tangible ways.

    Recent years have seen the emergence of new plurilateral and ‘minilateral’ architecture alongside established multilateral architecture. 

    New Zealand supports new groupings that advance and defend our interests and capabilities, and we no reason why these can’t coexist as long as they are constructive, advanced in an open and transparent way, and are respectful of ASEAN centrality.

    We have championed a stable, peaceful and nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. In the current climate, it is not possible to visit North Korea. But in the past, we have. 

    During a 2007 visit, we met with political leaders and advocated in favour of multi-party peace talks. 

    To this day, New Zealand Defence Force assets and personnel are deployed in Korea to maintain the armistice. The Defence Force also has a separate deployment to monitor and deter North Korea’s evasion of UN sanctions.

    In 2006, we received a request from Timor-Leste, seeking assistance to restore stability and freedom of movement. We responded swiftly, deploying police and military troops. 

    In a testament to our security cooperation in the region, Singaporean personnel were integrated seamlessly into a New Zealand battalion.

    New Zealand has a long-standing development programme in Asia. It is our largest programme outside the Pacific and is growing. 

    It goes beyond training and scholarships to respond to the priorities of our ASEAN partners, as well as humanitarian assistance. 

    Just last month, for example, we contributed humanitarian assistance in response to the devastating impacts of Typhoon Yagi in Viet Nam and Myanmar, and to extreme flooding in Bangladesh. 

    It is also worth noting that, for the past 30 years, New Zealand has advanced its policy towards Asia in a bipartisan way wherever possible. 

    This has ensured successive governments can follow through on policy commitments and is one of our greatest strengths.

    What next? 

    It is instructive to think about how far we have come in the past 30 years

    But it is also clear that we need to do more. 

    The world today is disordered and becoming more dangerous. 

    As we said to the NZIIA in May, “the challenges we face are stark, the worst that anyone today working in politics or foreign affairs can remember.” 

    As MFAT’s own strategic assessment has identified, one of the drivers for this has been a shift from rules to power:  the Cold War era of predominant US western hegemony is over. 

    The multipolar world is here to stay, and states: large, middle, and small are all jostling to advance their interests.

    Added to this is the fact that global problems – whether health, environmental, demographic, or migratory – present global risks, but at the same time require state-to-state cooperation to resolve. 

    We offer this simply to point out that we’re living in a time where relationships, norms and rules – many of which have enabled the rise of countries in Asia, including those which seek to challenge those same rules – are changing at the very time when we need to maximise global cooperation.

    This is at the heart of what’s happening in Asia, as well as around the world more broadly. 

    This is why the Government decided earlier this year on a Foreign Policy Reset. A fundamental driver was that our foreign policy needs to reflect and respond to the challenging strategic context we find ourselves in. We need to act now to bring more energy, ambition and engagement to our relationships. 

    Under the Foreign Policy Reset, we have been explicit: we will be increasing the focus on and resources applied to Southeast Asia, South Asia especially India, and North Asia. This is what will have a major impact on our security and prosperity. 

    We are already delivering on this. The Prime Minister and international-facing Ministers have been incredibly active in our engagements with the region, having travelled between us to over 20 countries.

    We have taken forward concrete initiatives to demonstrate the importance and future trajectory of our partnerships. 

    This ranges from cooperation with Japan on a hospital in Kiribati, to a Customs Cooperation Arrangement with India, to advancing toward Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships with ASEAN and Korea.

    Conclusion 

    New Zealand is an Indo-Pacific country. This is our identity, and we know this is where our future lies. With every forecast about Asia’s trajectory, this becomes clearer and clearer.

    It was this realisation that led to the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s birth 30 years ago. And as we have heard today, a lot has changed since then. Asia has evolved, and New Zealand’s relationship with Asian countries has evolved too, in some ways beyond recognition. 

    As we navigate our own pathway forward, we need to understand Asia. If we don’t, our relationships will be characterised by misconceptions, bias and miscalculation. So, our work has really only just begun. New Zealand’s security and prosperity depends on us continuing it.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Paris Motor Show kicks off

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    People visit the pavilion of the Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC Group) at the 2024 Paris Motor Show during the media day in Paris, France, Oct. 14, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

    The 2024 Paris Motor Show is kicked off here on Monday, which is expected to attract 500,000 visitors over its seven-day run.

    Nine Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers showcased their latest models at the show as they seek to expand their presence in the French and wider European markets.

    Chinese brands, including BYD, Hongqi, GAC, and AITO, occupied significant space in Pavilion 5, where they showcased their latest vehicles, innovative designs, and technological advancements.

    BYD debuted its Sealion 7, a mid-size electric SUV, and introduced its luxury Yangwang U8 SUV to the French market.

    Xpeng unveiled its P7+ model, which it described as “the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) vehicle,” with prices starting from 209,800 yuan (about 29,600 dollars).

    “With the growing potential of AI, Xpeng aims to become a global leader in AI-driven cars within the next decade,” said Brian Gu, Xpeng’s vice chairman and president.

    Leapmotor, in collaboration with Stellantis, introduced the B10 model, a compact electric SUV that will be manufactured in Poland for European consumers, according to Leapmotor. It aims to have 500 sales points by the end of 2025 in the region.

    The Paris Motor Show spans five halls with 70,000 square meters of indoor space and an additional 15,000 square meters of outdoor exhibition space this year.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Thousands of new homes to be built as government unlocks brownfield sites

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Thousands of new homes to be built as part of the government’s plans to get the country building again.

    Thousands of new homes to be built as part of the government’s plans to get the country building again, create jobs and grow the economy as a multi-million-pound funding boost is given councils to unlock disused brownfield sites.

    £68 million, announced today by the Prime Minister, will go directly to 54 councils who will be able to use the money to turn neglected land into new homes. It will transform local communities and help families onto the property ladder.

    The funding will mean councils can clear empty buildings, former car parks and industrial land to make way for the homes. This category of land is expensive to prepare for housebuilding, meaning sites are sat empty and an eyesore for local communities.

    With the funding, delivered through the Brownfield Land Release Fund, councils will be able to cover the cost of decontamination, clearing disused buildings or improving infrastructure such as internet, water and power. As a result, land will be released to enable 5,200 homes to be built across the country.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

    From the outset we promised to get this country building again to deliver 1.5 million homes over this parliament and help tackle the housing crisis we have inherited. That is the essence of fixing the foundations and driving growth.

    I said this government is on the side of the builders, not the blockers. And I meant it. This funding for councils will see disused sites and industrial wastelands transformed into thousands of new homes in places that people want to live and work. Our brownfield-first approach will not only ramp up housebuilding but also create more jobs, deliver much-needed infrastructure, and boost economic growth across the country.

    This government is rolling up its sleeves and delivering the change the British people deserve.

    Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook said:  

    The government is committed to a brownfield-first approach to housebuilding, and we have already taken steps to prioritise and fast-track building on previously used urban land through our proposals for a ‘brownfield passport’.

    The funding announced today will support the delivery of thousands of new homes and boost economic growth by unlocking development on scores of abandoned, disused and neglected urban sites across the country.

    Some of the projects to benefit from the funding include:

    • £2.9 million to Manchester to unlock a vacant brownfield site to build 220 much-needed affordable homes
    • £2.2 million to Eastbourne to transform a former industrial site, to build 100 new homes including 80 affordable houses
    • Over £1.7 million to the town centre in Weston-Super-Mare to allow over 100 homes to be built on brownfield land
    • £1.4 million to Northampton to transform a former bus depot and deliver 72 new homes

    It has also been announced today that Homes England will be investing £30 million to help accelerate the transformation of the Riverside Sunderland area from a former industrial heartland into a thriving new place. The Brownfield Infrastructure Land (BIL) investment will support a broader project aiming to create around 1,000 new homes, new community infrastructure and one million square feet of tailored office space for UK and international businesses, providing accommodation for between 8,000 and 10,000 jobs.

    To accelerate housing development and achieve the ambition to build 1.5 million homes, the government has also:

    • Announced an overhaul of the planning system through a consultation on reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, including new mandatory housebuilding targets for councils.
    • Launched a New Homes Accelerator group to unblock thousands of new homes stuck in the planning system or partially built.
    • Introduced ‘brownfield passports’ to ensure where planning proposals meet design and quality standards, the default answer to planning permission is yes.
    • Set up an independent New Towns Taskforce, as part of a long-term vision to create largescale communities of at least 10,000 new homes each.

    It comes as earlier today it was announced that tens of thousands of new homes will be built across Britain funded by over £550 million worth of impact investments. These investments, whereby a fund creates beneficial social or environmental impact, has now grown to £76.8 billion in the UK in assets under management. This shows the government’s hard work is already restoring confidence for investors to choose Britain, which is open for business.

    ENDS

    Notes to editors

    The three-year £180 million Brownfield Land Release Fund 2 was launched in July 2022 to allow local authorities in England to be able to build on blocked brownfield land.

    Cllr Louise Gittins, Chair of the Local Government Association, said: “We are delighted to continue our work with MHCLG, supporting councils to access the Brownfield Land Release Fund to remediate unviable council-owned brownfield land and bring it forwards for much needed homes. Delivered through the One Public Estate programme, BLRF is an important fund for English councils to unlock smaller sites and provides the flexibility for councils to deliver the types of homes their community needs at pace.”

    Updates to this page

    Published 15 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Coop Pank AS will hold an investor webinar to introduce the results for the Q3 2024

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Coop Pank invites shareholders, investors, analysts and other stakeholders to join its investor webinar, scheduled on 18 October 2024 at 9 am (EET). The webinar will be held in Estonian.

    The webinar will be hosted by the Chairman of the Board Margus Rink and the Chief Financial Officer Paavo Truu, who present the unaudited financial results of the Third Quarter of 2024.

    During the webinar all attendees can ask questions. All questions will be answered after the presentation.

    To join the webinar, you need to register in advance via following link: https://bit.ly/18102024-registreerumine-veebiseminarile

    Registrants will be sent a link to the webinar and a reminder email one hour before the start of the webinar. The webinar will be recorded and published on the company’s website http://www.cooppank.ee and on our YouTube account.

    Coop Pank, based on Estonian capital, is one of the five universal banks operating in Estonia. The number of clients using Coop Pank for their daily banking has reached 200,000. Coop Pank aims to put the synergy generated by the interaction of retail business and banking to good use and to bring everyday banking services closer to people’s homes. The strategic shareholder of the bank is the domestic retail chain Coop Eesti comprising 320 stores.

    Additional information:
    Katre Tatrik
    Communication Manager
    Tel: +372 5151 859
    E-mail: katre.tatrik@cooppank.ee

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Forbion raises in excess of €2 billion for two new funds

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Forbion’s largest fundraising to date, with Forbion’s Growth Opportunities Fund III raising €1.2 billion and Forbion Ventures Fund VII raising €890 million
    • Assets under management now at €5 billion
    • Fundraising follows strong performance, with six exits of $1 billion+ within a 12-month period

    NAARDEN, The Netherlands, Oct. 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Forbion, a leading global life sciences venture capital firm with deep expertise in Europe, today announces that it has raised over €2 billion ($2.2 billion) across its two newest funds, Forbion Growth Opportunities III and Forbion Ventures VII, bringing assets under management at Forbion to €5 billion ($5.5 billion). Both funds exceeded their original target sizes and reached €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) and €890 million ($980 million) respectively.

    The fundraising enables an increase of both the number of investments and the average size of Forbion’s participation in future portfolio company financings, reflecting the opportunities it sees for superior returns in development-stage life sciences companies. It is anticipated that the Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund III and Forbion Ventures Fund VII will each invest in approximately 15 portfolio companies.

    Sander Slootweg, Managing Partner and co-founder of Forbion, said: “I thank all our investors for their continued confidence in our ability to source and support innovative biotechs and to deliver impactful returns. With greater levels of capital, we are able to extend more support to our portfolio companies as they grow and seek to maximize their potential. We continue to see great opportunities to deploy capital in Europe and North America, backing talented management teams that develop novel therapeutics with the potential to impact the future of medicine.”

    Robbert van de Griendt, General Partner, Investor Relations and Impact, said: “We are delighted to have achieved this record fundraising against a backdrop of volatile market conditions. The strong demand we have seen from both existing and new investors is directly related to our strong and consistent historical returns as well as an impressive string of recent exits and also reflects investors’ conviction in our specialist investment strategy and in the positive fundamentals of our sector.”

    A track record of strong performance
    Forbion’s latest fundraising builds on its successful track-record of generating consistently impactful returns based on an investment strategy focused on companies with strong fundamentals, anchored in unique science and deep due diligence, while its platform approach enables its funds to support biotechs through company building (Ventures funds) and company expansion (Growth Opportunities funds). Following this approach has led to many valuable exits over time, including, most recently, that of Yellow Jersey Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Numab Therapeutics, Mariana Oncology and Aiolos Bio. Forbion’s success has led to it being recognized as the Top Performing European VC Manager as part of Preqin’s1 2024 awards. Forbion has 58 active investments, and has led or co-led 88% of the initial investment rounds of the 26 portfolio companies across Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund II and Forbion Ventures Fund VI.2

    Brian Frieser, Principal Portfolio Manager PE & Infrastructure at MN, a major Dutch pension advisor, said: “Our pension fund clients are dedicated to achieving the best possible risk-return for their participants. Investments in biotech not only promise strong returns but also make a positive societal impact. The capital commitments to Forbion’s new fund on behalf of our clients are expected to contribute significantly to this two-sided goal.”

    Investing in cutting edge science
    Since its launch over two decades ago, Forbion has made 128 investments. During this time, Forbion’s portfolio companies have contributed to advancing medical science and innovation through the development of many breakthrough therapies, including pioneering the development of new technologies such as gene and immune therapies, and via 256 scientific publications. At the end of 2023, active portfolio companies reported a total of 129 drug programs under development and/or in discovery and 80% of drug programs were ‘disease modifying’, in line with Forbion’s focus on enabling the development of novel therapeutics in critical areas of unmet medical need.3

    Expertise and partnerships
    Forbion’s team of over 30 investment professionals and drug development experts makes it one of the largest life sciences venture capital teams in Europe. Its portfolio companies also benefit from the deep industry expertise of Forbion’s 15 operating and venture partners, and its strategic collaborations with industry leading service providers such as Lonza, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Charles River Laboratories. Forbion supports its portfolio companies from its headquarters in Naarden, The Netherlands, its Munich office, as well as from its recently opened office in Boston, Massachusetts.

    For more information, please contact:

    Forbion Investor Relations
    Email: Robbert.van.de.Griendt@forbion.com
    General Partner IR & Impact

    Forbion Communications
    Email: laura.asbjornsen@forbion.com
    Head of Communications

    Brunswick Group
    Ayesha Bharmal, Charis Gresser
    Email: Forbion@Brunswickgroup.com

    About Forbion
    Forbion is a leading global venture capital firm with deep expertise in Europe and offices in Naarden, The Netherlands, Munich, Germany and Boston, USA. Forbion invests in innovative biotech companies, managing approximately €5 billion across multiple fund strategies that cover all stages of (bio-) pharmaceutical drug development. In addition, Forbion leverages its biotech expertise beyond human health to address ‘planetary health’ challenges through its BioEconomy fund strategy, which invests in companies developing sustainable solutions in food, agriculture, materials, and environmental technologies. Forbion’s team consists of over 30 investment professionals that have built an impressive performance track record since the late nineties with 128 investments across 11 funds. Forbion’s record of sourcing, building and guiding life sciences companies has resulted in many approved breakthrough therapies and valuable exits. Forbion typically selects impactful investments that will positively affect the health and well-being of people and the planet, as well as meet its financial return objectives. The firm is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. Forbion operates a joint venture with BGV, the manager of seed and early-stage funds, especially focused on Benelux and Germany.

    About Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund III
    Forbion’s Growth Opportunities Fund III is focused on investing primarily in European as well as North American later-stage biopharma companies developing novel therapies in areas of high medical need.

    About Forbion Ventures Fund VII
    Forbion Ventures Fund VII will build a portfolio of innovative therapeutics-focused biotechs, both existing companies as well as NewCos, (co-) founded by Forbion, created around assets sourced from pharma or academic institutions, or around proven management teams.

    For more information, please visit: http://www.forbion.com

    1 Preqin awards are compiled using public domain information and data reported to Preqin by the participants; they are not independently verified or assessed. Preqin cannot therefore guarantee the accuracy of the information provided
    2 As of 30 September 2024
    3 Source: Forbion’s Impact & ESG report 2023

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Atos appoints Philippe Salle Chairman of the Board of Directors with effect from October 14, 2024 and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from February 01, 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Press release

    Atos appoints Philippe Salle Chairman of the Board of Directors with effect from October 14, 2024

    and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from February 01, 2025

    Paris, France, 15 October 2024 – Atos today announces the appointment of Philippe Salle as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company with immediate effect and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer with effect from February 01, 2025.

    In the context of the Group’s financial restructuring, the Nominations and Governance Committee chaired by Lead Independent Director Elizabeth Tinkham, conducted a rigorous selection process with the support of an internationally renowned recruitment firm and in consultation with selected Company creditors.

    At its meeting on October 14, 2024, the Board of Directors approved unanimously, on the recommendation of the Nominations and Governance Committee:

    • the co-optation of Philippe Salle as a Director, subject to ratification by shareholders at the next Annual General Meeting;
    • his appointment as Chairman of the Board of Directors with immediate effect; and
    • his appointment as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1st February 2025.

    With extensive experience as CEO, notably in listed companies, Philippe Salle will bring invaluable skills and insights to support the deployment of the business plan and the restructuring of the Group.

    Jean-Pierre Mustier will act as Chief Executive Officer of the Company until January 31, 2025, and remain a member of the Board of Directors, ensuring an orderly, constructive and effective transition. In particular, he will be responsible for monitoring and ensuring the proper implementation of the accelerated safeguard plan, which is essential for the Group.

    The Board meeting of October 14, 2024 also noted Philippe Salle’s intention to participate in the financial restructuring of the Company by investing a total amount of at least €9 million in the Company. This investment would take the form of a subscription to the right issue with preferential subscription rights, decided in the context of the accelerated safeguard plan, if the conditions for completion so permit, or subsequently directly on the market.

    Jean-Pierre Mustier, Chief Executive Officer of Atos, said: ” I am delighted to welcome Philippe Salle to the Board. Philippe Salle is a highly experienced executive whose qualities and expertise in leading blue-chip companies will be a crucial asset as Atos looks to the future. He has also an extensive track record in creating shareholders value. We will work closely together to ensure a smooth transition and the effective deployment of the Group’s business and restructuring plan, in the interests of all stakeholders.”

    Philippe Salle, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Atos, said: “It is with great enthusiasm and conviction that I join the Atos Group. I am aware of the challenges that lie ahead, but also of the Group’s strengths, from the quality of its services to the ongoing commitment of its employees, which will enable us, together, to open a new chapter in the Group’s history.”

    About Philippe Salle

    Philippe Salle began his career with Total in Indonesia in 1988. He then joined Accenture in 1990 where he was promoted to senior consultant. He joined McKinsey in 1995 and became senior manager in 1998. He joined the Vedior group in 1999 (now Randstad, a company listed on Euronext Amsterdam), and became Chairman and CEO of Vedior France in 2002. He became a member of the Executive Board in 2003 and was appointed Head of Southern Europe in 2006. In 2007, he joined the Geoservices group (sold to Schlumberger in 2010), a technology company in the oil sector and under LBO, first as Deputy CEO and then as Chairman and CEO. In June 2011, Philippe Salle was appointed Chairman and CEO of Altran Group (a company listed on Euronext Paris), an engineering consultancy and world leader in innovation. In April 2015, Philippe Salle was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Elior Group (a company listed on Euronext Paris), a world leader in catering and services. In December 2017, Philippe Salle was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Emeria (a company under LBO), the world’s leading provider of real estate services and technologies.

    Philippe Salle has also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Viridien (formerly CGG) since 26 April 2018, and as a member of the Board of Directors of Banque Transatlantique since 2010.

    Philippe Salle is a graduate of the Ecole des Mines de Paris and holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University (Chicago, USA). He is a Chevalier de l’ordre national du Mérite, Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur and Commandeur de l’ordre du Mérite de la République italienne.

    ***

    About Atos

    Atos is an international leader in digital transformation with around 92,000 employees and annual revenues of €10 billion. The European leader in cloud computing, cybersecurity and supercomputing, the Group provides integrated solutions to all sectors, in 69 countries. A pioneer in decarbonisation services and products, Atos is committed to delivering secure, decarbonised digital solutions to its customers. Atos is an SE (Société Européenne) listed on Euronext Paris.

    Atos’ raison d’être is to help shape the information space. With its skills and services, the Group supports the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contributes to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Everywhere in the world, Atos enables its customers and employees, and more generally the greatest number of people, to live, work and progress sustainably and with complete confidence in the information space.

    Contacts

    Investor Relations: David Pierre-Kahn | investors@atos.net | +33 6 28 51 45 96

    Individual shareholders: 0805 65 00 75

    Press contact: globalprteam@atos.net

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Banning debit card surcharges could save $500 million a year – if traders don’t claw back the money in other ways

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Angel Zhong, Associate Professor of Finance, RMIT University

    Galdric PS/Shutterstock

    In a move that could reshape how Australians pay for everyday purchases, the federal government is preparing to ban businesses from slapping surcharges on debit card transactions.

    This plan, pending a review by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), promises to put money back into consumers’ pockets.

    The RBA, which is accepting submissions until December, released its first consultation paper on Tuesday to coincide with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ joint announcement.

    But as with any significant policy shift, it’s worth taking a closer look to see what it really means for all of us.

    How much are we really saving?

    Based on RBA data, the potential savings are huge – up to $500 million a year if surcharges on debit cards are banned.

    And if the government goes one step further and includes credit card transaction fees in the ban, those savings could hit a massive $1 billion annually.

    While these figures sound impressive, when you break it down, the savings per cardholder would amount to around $140 annually.

    It’s not a life-changing amount, but for frequent shoppers or anyone making larger purchases, it could add up.

    Of course, not everyone will benefit equally. Those who shop less might not notice the difference.

    How does Australia stack up globally?

    RBA data shows Australians are paying more in merchant service fees than people in Europe, but less than consumers in the United States.

    These fees are what businesses pay to accept card payments, and they get passed on to us in the form of surcharges.

    The proposed ban on debit card surcharges occupies a middle ground in the global regulatory landscape. The European Union, United Kingdom and Malaysia have implemented comprehensive bans on surcharges for most debit and credit card transactions.

    But in the US and Canada, businesses can still charge you for using a credit card, though debit card surcharges aren’t allowed.

    The merchant’s perspective

    While the surcharge ban seems like a clear win for consumers, it’s essential to consider the impact on merchants, especially small businesses. The reality is not all merchants are created equal when it comes to card payment fees.

    In Australia, there’s a significant disparity between the fees paid by large and small merchants. In fact, RBA data shows small businesses pay fees about three times higher than what larger businesses pay.

    It all comes down to bargaining power. Bigger businesses can negotiate better deals on fees. This difference is primarily driven by the ability of larger merchants to thrash out favourable wholesale fees for processing card transactions.

    For small businesses, the cost of accepting cards can range from under 1% to more than 2% of the transaction value, which can eat into profits, especially for those working with tight margins.

    While the ban may sound like good news for consumers, there’s still a need to fix the bigger issues in the payment system. Innovations like “least-cost routing”, which allows businesses to process transactions at the lowest possible cost, could potentially help level the playing field.

    How businesses might exploit the loopholes?

    If payment costs are entirely passed on to merchants, they might find ways to recover those expenses through other means. We’ve seen this happen in other countries that abolished surcharges. Some potential strategies include

    • slightly raising overall prices to cover lost surcharge revenue
    • implementing or increasing minimum purchase requirements for card payments
    • introducing new “service” or “convenience” fees for all transactions, or increasing weekend and holiday surcharges.

    Most of these tactics have been around for a while. The challenge for regulators will be to monitor and address any new practices that emerge in response to the new rules.

    Credit cards: the elephant in the room

    While the ban on debit card surcharges is a step in the right direction, it raises an obvious question: why not extend it to credit cards?

    The option to ban credit card surcharges along with debit cards is proposed in the RBA’s review consultation paper. The answer lies in the complex web of interchange fees and merchant costs associated with credit card transactions.

    Credit card transactions cost merchants more to process because of additional services and rewards programs offered by credit card issuers.

    Banning surcharges on these could potentially lead to merchants increasing their base prices to cover these costs. This could effectively result in users of lower-cost payment methods subsidising those opting for premium cards.

    The absence of surcharges could also reduce the competitive pressure on card networks to keep their fees in check, potentially leading to higher costs in the long run.

    Some countries have managed to ban surcharges on credit cards, but they usually have stricter regulations around interchange fees than we do in Australia.

    As policymakers grapple with this complex issue, they must weigh the benefits of consumer simplicity against the risk of distorting market signals and potentially increasing costs for both merchants and consumers alike.

    Angel Zhong 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. Banning debit card surcharges could save $500 million a year – if traders don’t claw back the money in other ways – https://theconversation.com/banning-debit-card-surcharges-could-save-500-million-a-year-if-traders-dont-claw-back-the-money-in-other-ways-241354

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI: Siili Solutions Plc: Maria Niiniharju appointed as VP Private Business and member of management team

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Siili Solutions Plc: Maria Niiniharju appointed as VP Private Business and member of management team

    Siili Solutions Plc Stock exchange release 15 October 2024 at 8:45 EEST

    Siili Solutions Plc (“Siili” or “company”) makes changes in its management team and has appointed Maria Niiniharju as Siili’s VP, Private Business and member of Siili’s management team as of 1 November 2024.

    Prior to her new role at Siili, Niinharju has worked at Futurice, where she has been responsible for new business development and client management for private sector clients. At Siili Niiniharju will be leading the company’s Private Business, that will include Siili’s Finance, Industry and Services business units. Her expertise will strengthen Siili’s position as an expert in leveraging AI among private sector clients.

    “I am happy to welcome Maria to Siili. She brings us strong experience in business development as well as valuable data and AI expertise, which is perfect fit to accelerate Siili’s strategy execution,” says Siili’s CEO Tomi Pienimäki.

    “I am excited about my new role at Siili. I look forward to starting the work to implement the renewed strategy together with the business unit teams. Siili’s strong industry focus and deep customer relationships create an excellent basis for building genuine impact with data and AI,” says Maria Niiniharju.

    Further information:
    CEO Tomi Pienimäki
    Phone: +358 40 834 1399, email: tomi.pienimaki(at)siili.com 

    Distribution:
    Nasdaq Helsinki Oy
    Major media
    http://www.siili.com

    Siili Solutions in brief:
    Siili Solutions Plc is a forerunner in AI-powered digital development. Siili is the go-to partner for clients seeking growth, efficiency and competitive advantage through digital transformation. Our main markets are Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Siili Solutions Plc’s shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange. Siili has grown profitably since its founding in 2005. http://www.siili.com/en

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Šiaulių Bankas has successfully placed EUR 50 million note issue on the international market

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR FORM PART OF ANY OFFER, INVITATION TO SELL OR ISSUE, OR ANY SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO PURCHASE OR SUBSCRIBE FOR, ANY SECURITIES OF AKCINĖ BENDROVĖ ŠIAULIŲ BANKAS.

    Šiaulių Bankas has successfully placed EUR 50 million issue of Fixed Rate Reset Perpetual Additional Tier 1 Temporary Write Down Notes.

    The annual fixed rate coupon on the notes up to the reset date will be 8.75 %. The nearest reset date is set after 5 years. Settlement will take place on 17 October 2024. It is intended to list the notes on the Global Exchange Market multilateral trading facility operated by Euronext Dublin.

    The notes have been allocated to almost 20 institutional and professional investors, mostly from UK.

    “We have made another significant step for both the bank and the Lithuanian capital market being the first issuer in the country to issue AT1 notes. We are grateful to our international investors, who consistently show confidence in the bank’s prospects.

    This issue strengthens and optimises capital structure of the bank, allowing us to continue to grow rapidly and sustainably and to implement our new dividend policy. We strive to ensure high returns for shareholders and to increase the bank’s attractiveness to investors,” says Tomas Varenbergas, Board Member, Head of Investment Management Division of Šiaulių Bankas.

    The proceeds of the notes will be used for general corporate purposes, including to strengthen funding structure of Šiaulių Bankas, meet existing and future minimum own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) targets, and improve its capital position.

    The notes are rated Ba3 by the international rating agency Moody’s.

    Relevant stabilisation regulations including FCA/ICMA will apply.

    Šiaulių Bankas mandated Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE as Lead Manager.

    Šiaulių Bankas as the issuer was advised on legal matters by Dentons UK and Middle East LLP and TGS Baltic as lead issuer’s legal counsel. The Lead Manager was advised by Linklaters LLP and Sorainen on legal issues.

    This communication is not an offer of securities or investments for sale nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities or investments in any jurisdiction where such offer or solicitation would be unlawful. No action has been taken that would permit an offering of securities or possession or distribution of this announcement in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.

    Additional information:

    Tomas Varenbergas
    Head of Investment Management Division
    tomas.varenbergas@sb.lt

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Press release – EU aid worth €2.7 million to support 365 dismissed retail workers in Belgium

    Source: European Parliament 3

    365 employees of the retail chain Match-Smatch who lost their jobs following store closures and layoffs should receive €2.7 million in EU aid.

    On Monday, the Committee on Budgets approved Belgium’s request for €2.7 million in EU aid through the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF). The aid will support 365 former Match-Smatch employees, who lost their jobs following the company’s prolonged financial difficulties that lead to store closures and restructuring across Belgium, primarily in the Walloon region. MEPs noted that almost half of the Match-Smatch redundant workers (46 %) are aged fifty or older, an age group that faces more barriers to employment.

    In 2022, Match-Smatch attempted to achieve financial stability by divesting two-thirds of its stores. However, unsold stores and the company’s head office were forced to lay off workers. Consequently, Belgium applied for EGF support on behalf of the affected Walloon workers. The funding will provide vocational, digital, and language skills training, as well as advisory services and job search assistance. Additionally, former Match-Smatch employees interested in starting their own businesses will receive start-up guidance and grants of up to €15,000.

    The total estimated cost of these support measures is €3.1 million, with 85% (€2.7 million) funded by the EGF and the remaining 15% (€469,688) covered by the Walloon regional authorities.


    Next steps

    The draft report by rapporteur Michalis Hadjipantela (EPP, Cyprus) recommending that Parliament approve the aid was approved by 28 votes, 3 against and 1 abstention. Approval by plenary is expected during the upcoming 21-24 October plenary session in Strasbourg.


    Background

    Under the EGF regulation 2021-2027, the Fund supports displaced workers and self-employed people who have lost their activity due to unexpected major restructuring events. Since 2007, the EGF has allocated €696 million in 180 cases, providing help to more than 169,000 people in 20 Member States. EGF-supported measures complement national active labour market measures.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI China: MOFA sincerely thanks international community for taking concrete actions to support Taiwan’s UN participation

    Source: Republic of Taiwan – Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    October 4, 2024
    No. 058

    The General Debate of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) concluded on September 30. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) sincerely thanks the diplomatic allies, like-minded countries, and friends from around the world who expressed support for Taiwan’s participation in the UN and refuted China’s deliberate misrepresentation of UNGA Resolution 2758 in various ways, both in the chamber and on the sidelines of the event. 

    High-level government officials from Taiwan’s diplomatic allies Paraguay, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Eswatini, Tuvalu, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Belize spoke up for Taiwan at the UN General Debate and Summit of the Future. Officials from the Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, and Saint Lucia explicitly pointed out that UNGA Resolution 2758 did not preclude Taiwan’s participation in the UN system. Following similar remarks in 2022, US President Joe Biden again used his speech to the UN General Debate to spell out the United States’ commitment to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Australia mentioned the Taiwan Strait for the first time at the UN General Debate, with Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong stating that Australia had consistently pressed China on peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.  

    At a US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing held a few days before the UN General Debate, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell criticized China for using UNGA Resolution 2758 as a diplomatic tool to suppress Taiwan’s status. In response to a question in parliament, Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp openly acknowledged that the resolution had nothing to do with Taiwan. Following a meeting on the sidelines of the UNGA held by the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers and the European Union high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, the chair of the meeting released a statement reaffirming the importance of cross-strait peace and stability to international security and prosperity as well as supporting Taiwan’s international participation. 

    Joint statements expressing a high regard for cross-strait peace and stability were issued after other recent high-level meetings, including the Quad leaders’ summit, the seventh high-level meeting of the EU-US Dialogue on China, the US-Japan summit meeting, the UK-US Strategic Dialogue, the Japan-Australia Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations, the Republic of Korea-New Zealand bilateral meeting, and the Lithuania-US Strategic Dialogue on the Indo-Pacific.

    In terms of legislative branches, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China passed a model resolution on UNGA Resolution 2758 on July 30 for its members’ reference. The Australian Senate, the Dutch House of Representatives, and the Guatemalan Congress have since adopted motions in support of Taiwan based on the model resolution. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies also approved a resolution backing Taiwan’s international participation, demonstrating staunch support for Taiwan.

    Speaking for the first time on the sidelines of the UNGA at the annual summit of the New York-based nonprofit organization Concordia through prerecorded remarks, President Lai Ching-te told the UN family that Taiwan would strive to maintain regional peace and stability and urged the international community to support Taiwan’s participation.  Ambassador Alexander Tah-ray Yui, Representative to the United States, held a discussion with former US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach on cross-strait peace and security and Taiwan’s campaign to participate in the UN. During the UNGA, Taiwan cohosted a seminar in New York with the United States, Japan, Australia, and Canada under the Global Cooperation and Training Framework. The event underscored Taiwan’s resolve to contribute to the global community.

    MOFA also appreciates the unwavering support of the Legislative Yuan. A cross-party delegation of legislators—including Ngalim Tiunn, Wu Tsung-hsien, and Wu Chun-cheng—visited New York during the UNGA to provide guidance and take part in related activities. The group powerfully conveyed the strong desire of the Taiwanese people to be part of the UN system.

    Through an international publicity and new media campaign, the government effectively communicated Taiwan’s demands for UN participation to all quarters. An op-ed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung, letters to the editor from Taiwan’s overseas missions, and interviews with Taiwanese ambassadors and representatives appeared 455 times in mainstream international media outlets. These included the Diplomat, the Hill, the Washington Times, National Review, and the New York Sun in the United States; Modern Diplomacy and the European Business Review in the European Union; the National Post in Canada; Le Figaro in France; Norrbottens-Kuriren in Sweden; La Razón in Spain; De Telegraaf and Nederlands Dagblad in the Netherlands; Euractiv in Greece; Rzeczpospolita in Poland; La Verità and Le Formiche in Italy; the Sankei Shimbun in Japan; the Chosun Ilbo in the Republic of Korea; the Philippine Star in the Philippines; the Hindustan Times and the Tribune in India; the Jerusalem Post in Israel; La Razón in Peru; the Eswatini Observer in Eswatini; La Nación in Paraguay; O Tempo in Brazil; Jelen in Hungary; and the Daily News in Thailand. 

    The short promotional film IC You received more than 25.4 million views—again breaking the record for Taiwan’s annual campaign. During the UNGA, MOFA and its overseas missions released 2,922 posts about Taiwan’s bid on social media platforms including Facebook, X, Instagram, and Threads. The posts were seen over 48.378 million times and received an unprecedentedly warm response. A short animation video, UNity through Peace: Chip in with Taiwan, was shown on a large billboard in New York City’s iconic Times Square. The advertisement featured elements including semiconductor circuits and Taiwan’s contributions to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The video conveyed Taiwan’s strengths in IC technology, highlighted its image as a responsible member of the global community, and broadened worldwide recognition and support for Taiwan’s call for international participation.

    MOFA reiterates that UNGA Resolution 2758 does not mention Taiwan. The resolution therefore has nothing to do with Taiwan and cannot serve as the basis for precluding Taiwan from the UN system and other international organizations. Taiwan is determined, willing, and able to contribute to the global community. Continuing to exclude Taiwan from multilateral endeavors will not only be a loss to humanity but also detrimental to realizing the SDGs. To uphold the UN principle of leaving no one behind, MOFA again calls on the UN to stop bowing to pressure from China and swiftly allow Taiwan’s full participation. (E)

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI: New S32J Family of Safe and Secure Ethernet Switches Enables Scalable Vehicle Networks, Extending NXP CoreRide Platform

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • New S32J family of high-performance switches (80Gbps) share a common switch core with NXP S32 processing devices to maximize software re-use and simplify network configuration and integration 
    • Production-grade networking functions with pre-integrated software from NXP and market-leading software partners helps reduce development efforts and optimize system performance
    • NXP CoreRide networking solution, built on the S32J family, will help OEMs and Tier 1s navigate complex network challenges associated with software-defined vehicles (SDVs)

    EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands, Oct. 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI), the worldwide leader in automotive processing and networking, has introduced the new S32J family of high-performance Ethernet switches and network controllers.

    The S32J family shares a common switch core, NXP NETC, with NXP’s latest S32 microcontrollers and processors, allowing them to operate together as one expanded virtual switch. The common networking switch core simplifies integration and software re-use with other solutions within the recently announced NXP CoreRide platform and offers OEMs more efficient and re-configurable networking choices.

    The S32J provides 80Gbps bandwidth with ports ranging from 10Mb to 10Gb, and powerful dual Arm® Cortex®-R52 cores to address diverse requirements of new vehicle architectures. The S32J devices meet time-sensitive networking (TSN) automotive standards and provide robust ASIL-D safety, hardware security engine (HSE) and MACsec ports for mixed-critical data traffic.

    The combination of the S32J family with the NXP CoreRide platform provides production-grade networking solutions with pre-integrated software and tooling. The solutions include a complete software enablement kit for HSE and MACsec security, TSN stacks and remote configuration and monitoring capabilities. A virtual development kit for the S32J family will be available by the end of 2024. The solution will be available to OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers in 2025.

    The building blocks for SDV networks
    “The transition to software-defined vehicles requires OEMs to simplify their network architectures and reduce the software and hardware integration complexity,” said Meindert van den Beld, senior vice president and general manager of in-vehicle networking at NXP. “The S32J and NXP CoreRide networking solutions provide production-ready building blocks for these new software-defined network architectures.”

    NXP CoreRide Networking ecosystem voices
    Dr. John Heinlein, Chief Marketing Officer at Sonatus
    “Sonatus is a longstanding partner of NXP, with our combined technologies already in millions of production vehicles. This new NXP CoreRide networking solution deepens our support for vehicle networking and the NETC networking foundation across NXP products, enabling OEMs to accelerate development of more adaptable, upgradable architectures for software-defined vehicles.”

    Dr. Stefan Poledna, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of TTTech Auto
    “At TTTech Auto, we are excited about the advancements in vehicle networking solutions through NXP’s CoreRide networking platform. The integration of scalable and dynamically re-configurable network management capabilities for TSN-based, advanced Ethernet networks is crucial for the development of software-defined vehicles. TTTech’s MotionWise platform complements the NXP CoreRide networking solution, delivering safe and flexible communication solutions that help OEMs and Tier-1s accelerate development cycles, enhance system reliability, and enable seamless end-to-end communication across vehicle networks.”

    NXP CoreRide platform
    The NXP CoreRide platform marks a major step forward in helping automakers overcome software and hardware integration barriers, while scaling development efforts for new architectures in software-defined vehicles. The platform integrates NXP’s S32 compute, networking and system power management with middleware, OSes and other software from the world’s leading automotive software providers, including Accenture ESR Labs, ArcherMind, BlackBerry QNX, Elektrobit, ETAS, Green Hills Software, Sonatus, Synopsys, TTTech Auto, Vector Informatik GmbH, and Wind River, Tier-1 suppliers like Valeo, as well as integration service providers like Foxconn.

    About NXP Semiconductors
    NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) is the trusted partner for innovative solutions in the automotive, industrial & IoT, mobile, and communications infrastructure markets. NXP’s “Brighter Together” approach combines leading-edge technology with pioneering people to develop system solutions that make the connected world better, safer, and more secure. The company has operations in more than 30 countries and posted revenue of $13.28 billion in 2023. Find out more at http://www.nxp.com.

    NXP and the NXP logo are trademarks of NXP B.V. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. © 2024 NXP B.V

    For more information, please contact:

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f3e09b2d-d109-44df-afbd-eb4df8197b0e

    NXP-Corp
    NXP-Auto

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Zscaler Identifies More Than 200 Malicious Apps in the Google Play Store, with Over 8 Million Installs

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Key Findings:

    • Mobile remains a top threat vector, with 111% growth in spyware and 29% growth in banking malware
    • Technology, education, and manufacturing sectors continue to be most susceptible to attacks
    • The United States remains the top target for IoT, OT, and mobile cybersecurity attacks

    SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 15, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS), the leader in cloud security, today published its Zscaler ThreatLabz 2024 Mobile, IoT, and OT Threat Report, which offers an overview of the mobile and IoT/OT cyber threat landscape from June 2023 through May 2024. The findings in this report stress the urgency for organizations to reevaluate and secure mobile devices, IoT devices and OT systems. ThreatLabz identified more than 200 malicious apps in the Google Play Store, with more than 8 million collective installs, and the Zscaler cloud blocked 45% more IoT malware transactions than last year–indicative of botnets continuing to proliferate across IoT devices.

    “Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting legacy exposed assets which often act as a beachhead to IoT & OT environments, resulting in data breaches and ransomware attacks,” said Deepen Desai, Chief Security Officer at Zscaler. “Mobile malware and AI driven vishing attacks adds to that list making it critical for CISOs and CIOs to prioritize an AI powered zero trust solution to shut down attack vectors of all kinds safeguarding against these attacks.”

    Financially motivated mobile attacks remain a top threat vector
    With 29% growth in banking malware attacks and a 111% rise in spyware year over year, cyberattacks have never been more profitable for threat actors, either through monetary gain via direct extortion or passthrough use of stolen personally identifiable information (PII) and user credentials that can be sold and leveraged in future attacks.

    Anatsa, a known Android banking malware that uses PDF and QR code readers to distribute malware, has targeted more than 650 financial institutions, and more specifically, users in Germany, Spain, Finland, South Korea and Singapore.

    Verticals most targeted by bad actors
    The technology (18%), education (18%) and manufacturing (14%) sectors are the most frequent targets of mobile malware. Education in particular saw a dramatic 136% increase in blocked transactions compared to the previous year.

    Additionally, for the second year in a row, manufacturing experienced the highest volume of IoT malware attacks, accounting for 36% of all IoT malware blocks observed on the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™ platform. When analyzing unique devices across different verticals, this sector stands out with the highest implementation of IoT devices due to its extensive use of IoT applications, ranging from automation and process monitoring to supply chain management.

    The United States remains the top target for IoT cyberattacks
    With its central role in global communication and data processes, the US also stands out as the primary destination for IoT device traffic, accounting for 81% of IoT cyberattacks. The top five countries that receive the most IoT traffic are:

    • United States
    • Japan
    • China
    • Singapore
    • Germany

    The report also revealed that India (28%) is now the country most targeted by mobile malware. The other four are:

    • United States
    • Canada
    • South Africa
    • The Netherlands

    Legacy and end-of-life operating systems leave OT systems vulnerable
    Once air-gapped and isolated from the internet, OT and cyber-physical systems have rapidly become integrated into enterprise networks, enabling threats to proliferate. OT deployments can involve thousands of connected devices spread across dozens of sites, creating a substantial attack surface for external threats, such as those that exploit known zero-day vulnerabilities. Additionally, this also creates a large attack surface between internal (east-west) OT traffic, increasing the risk of lateral movement and the potential blast radius of a successful attack.

    How to secure mobile, IoT and OT
    With today’s hybrid-work environments, users can work from anywhere with internet access, SaaS apps and private applications, whether in the cloud or the data center. To enable secure hybrid work and provide seamless access to any application, enterprises need to retire network-centric approaches, which hamper productivity and leave them vulnerable to lateral movement. Instead, organizations must adopt a zero trust architecture that enables secure remote access from any user device to any application, from any location.

    Zscaler for IoT and OT enables enterprises to reduce cyber risk while embracing IoT and OT connectivity to drive business agility and increase productivity. Powered by the Zero Trust Exchange, these capabilities protect IoT devices against compromise and prevent lateral movement with device segmentation and deception–all while allowing for remote access to OT systems without risky VPN connectivity.

    The findings of the 2024 Mobile, IoT, and OT Threat Report stress the need for organizations to better secure their mobile endpoints, IoT devices, and OT systems. Download the full report here.

    Research Methodology
    The Zscaler ThreatLabz team analyzed a data set collected from the Zscaler Security Cloud between June 2023 and May 2024, comprising more than 20 billion threat-related mobile transactions and associated cyberthreats.

    About Zscaler
    Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) accelerates digital transformation so customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange™ platform protects thousands of customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location. Distributed across more than 150 data centers globally, the SSE-based Zero Trust Exchange is the world’s largest in-line cloud security platform.

    Media Contact:

    Zscaler PR
    Natalia Wodecki
    press@zscaler.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6430484e-f976-4e51-9584-160090d397e6

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Municipality Finance issues EUR 25 million notes under its MTN programme

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Municipality Finance Plc
    Stock exchange release
    15 October 2024 at 10:00 am (EEST)

    Municipality Finance issues EUR 25 million notes under its MTN programme

    Municipality Finance Plc issues EUR 25 million notes on 16 October 2024. The maturity date of the notes is 16 October 2029. MuniFin has a right, but no obligation, to redeem the notes early on 16 October 2025 and every year thereafter. The notes bear interest at a fixed rate of 2.75% per annum until 16 October 2025, after which the interest is paid at 2.40% per annum, unless MuniFin redeems the notes early.

    The notes are issued under MuniFin’s EUR 50 billion programme for the issuance of debt instruments. The offering circular, the supplemental offering circular and the final terms of the notes are available in English on the company’s website at https://www.kuntarahoitus.fi/en/for-investors.

    MuniFin has applied for the notes to be admitted to trading on the Helsinki Stock Exchange maintained by Nasdaq Helsinki. The public trading is expected to commence on 16 October 2024.

    NATIXIS SA, Paris acts as the dealer for the issue of the notes.

    MUNICIPALITY FINANCE PLC

    Further information:

    Joakim Holmström
    Executive Vice President, Capital Markets and Sustainability
    tel. +358 50 444 3638

    MuniFin (Municipality Finance Plc) is one of Finland’s largest credit institutions. The company is owned by Finnish municipalities, the public sector pension fund Keva and the Republic of Finland.
    The Group’s balance sheet totals over EUR 50 billion.

    MuniFin builds a better and more sustainable future with its customers. MuniFin’s customers include municipalities, joint municipal authorities, wellbeing services counties, corporate entities under their control, and non-profit organisations nominated by the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA). Lending is used for environmentally and socially responsible investment targets such as public transportation, sustainable buildings, hospitals and healthcare centres, schools and day care centres, and homes for people with special needs.

    MuniFin’s customers are domestic but the company operates in a completely global business environment. The company is an active Finnish bond issuer in international capital markets and the first Finnish green and social bond issuer. The funding is exclusively guaranteed by the Municipal Guarantee Board.

    Read more: https://www.kuntarahoitus.fi/en/

    Important Information

    The information contained herein is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into any such country or jurisdiction or otherwise in such circumstances in which the release, publication or distribution would be unlawful. The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, any securities or other financial instruments in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

    This communication does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The notes have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) or under the applicable securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons except pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Lindab required to sell sites in Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent after ventilation merger investigation

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government Non-Ministerial Departments

    The CMA found Lindab’s acquisition of HAS-Vent reduced competition in 2 areas of the UK.

    iStock

    Having carried out an in-depth Phase 2 merger inquiry, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today ordered Lindab – a supplier of circular ducts and fittings used in ventilation systems in buildings – to sell 2 sites after finding its deal with HAS-Vent could lead to reduced choice and higher prices for installers of ventilation systems in both Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent. 

    The independent CMA group leading the inquiry scrutinised a wide range of evidence, including the parties’ internal documents and evidence from installers of ventilation systems and other suppliers of circular ducts and fittings. Based on this evidence, the group found that competition for these products occurs at a local level. 

    Having assessed the impact of the deal in various local areas, and then consulted on its provisional findings published in August, the inquiry group has concluded the deal has resulted in a substantial lessening of competition in the supply of circular ducts and fittings in the local areas centred around Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent. 

    To resolve the loss of competition, the CMA is requiring Lindab to sell 1 site in each of the impacted areas. To ensure the largest pool of potential purchasers and given the different operating models in the industry (which means that some purchasers may want a site with manufacturing assets, while others may not), Lindab is required to market for sale all 4 sites it owns in the two areas and put forward potential buyers for the CMA to approve. 

    Kirstin Baker, Chair of the independent inquiry group, said: 

    Circular ventilation ducts and fittings are essential components in the construction of buildings, such as new offices and flats.  

    Our investigation found this deal – by removing one of two main suppliers of these products in the Nottingham and Stoke areas – risked installers and developers having to pay more for these products. 

    As a result, we are requiring Lindab to sell one site in each of the two areas, which should ensure local installers and businesses can benefit from effective competition.

    More information, including the CMA’s final report, can be found via the Lindab / HAS-Vent case page.

    Notes to editors: 

    1. The CMA will require Lindab to market for sale each of the following potential divestment sites: Lindab Nottingham, Lindab Stoke-on-Trent, HAS-Vent Nottingham and HAS-Vent Stoke-on-Trent.  

    2. Lindab is a ventilation company headquartered in Sweden and listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. In the UK, Lindab is primarily active through subsidiaries Lindab Limited (Lindab UK) and Ductmann Limited (Ductmann), which both manufacture and distribute ventilation system products, including circular ducts and fittings. 

    3. HAS-Vent is a UK company headquartered in Wombourne, also active in the manufacture and distribution of ventilation system products, including circular ducts and fittings, in England and Wales. 

    4. Whilst this decision marks the end of the CMA’s investigation, it will closely monitor the parties progress in implementing the remedy. 

    5. For media enquiries, contact the CMA press office on 020 3738 6460 or press@cma.gov.uk.

    Updates to this page

    Published 15 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: S.I. National Museum goes virtual with UK and Australia’s support

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Researchers, teachers, students, academia and those interested in knowing their cultural heritage will for the first time have access to National Museum collections online.

    High school students experiencing first hand browsing the virtual museum.

    Today the Solomon Islands National Museum becomes one of the first cultural heritage institutions in the region to have an openly accessible catalogue of collections on a publicly viewable website.

    …said the British High Commissioner to Solomon Islands and Nauru, His Excellency Thomas Coward at the launch of the first virtual museum for Solomon Islands last week.

    Researchers, teachers, students, academia and those interested in knowing their cultural heritage will for the first time have access to National Museum collections online.

    Launched at the National Museum Auditorium, the virtual museum culminated from discussions and partnership between the British High Commission, Australian High Commission, Solomon Islands National Museum, the National Library of New Zealand and National Library of Australia through the Australian Government-funded Digital Pasifik project.

    Thanks to Tim Kong and the Digital Pasifik project team, the National Museum now has a website through which it can make its collection available to the world. The site will now be led, delivered, owned and sustained by the National Museum.

    The country’s National Museum is looking forward to setting up a modernized museum that everyone can have access to in the future. With the virtual launch, its collections can now be viewed online.

    Permanent Secretary of the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Bunyan Sivoro said:

    Despite challenges faced by the National Museum, today we are taking an innovative step forward. The launch of the Virtual Museum is not only a response to the limitations we face but also a vision for the future. It is a timely and necessary solution that allows us to begin sharing the treasures of our national collection with the world in a way that transcends physical boundaries.

    British High Commission to Solomon Islands, His Excellency Thomas Coward said:

    Over the last 12 months these ideas came together, with huge amount of effort from a range of people. The Digital Pasifik team engaged by the Australian Government and led by Tim Kong, supported the idea from the start. Their enthusiasm and funding allowed the fantastic teams from the National Library of New Zealand and National Library of Australia to provide the technical knowledge and support that was needed. Deputy Director Kiko and the Solomon Islands National Museum team then worked together with their support to build up this platform.

    Acting Australian High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, His Excellency Andrew Schloeffel said:

    Solomon Islands has a rich and vibrant history, and the importance of capturing and sharing this history for current and future generations cannot be overstated. I am proud of the work Australia has done to support this initiative through our Digital Pasifik project, alongside the Solomon Islands National Museum and the British High Commission. Digital Pasifik aims to empower people in and of the Pacific Islands, by building digital platforms that enable them to see, discover and explore items of digitised cultural heritage that are held in collections around the world.

    Director of the Solomon Islands National Museum, Tony Heorake said:

    While the launch was a celebration of the Museum’s latest innovation, it presents a breakthrough in the use of technology to provide quality and accessible museum services to the public, students and visitors.

    Today is a celebration of hard work and relentless pursuit of excellence. Our team led by His Excellency Thomas Coward is very proud and excited to finally share it with you. This endeavour exemplifies our commitment to delivering the best museum services to our visitors, students and the public while staying relevant in the museum space.

    Updates to this page

    Published 15 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –