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Category: housing

  • MIL-OSI: Altus Group Releases its Q4 2024 Pan-European Dataset Analysis on CRE Valuation Trends

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LONDON, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Altus Group Limited (“Altus”) (TSX: AIF), a leading provider of asset and fund intelligence for commercial real estate (“CRE”), today released its Q4 2024 Pan-European dataset analysis on European property market valuation trends.

    Each quarter, Altus Group centralizes and aggregates CRE valuation data for the European market, pulling insights into the factors driving commercial property valuations. The Q4 2024 aggregate dataset included Pan-European open-ended diversified funds, representing €29 billion in assets under management. The funds cover 17 countries and primarily span the industrial, office, retail and residential property sectors.

    “The latest data across the Pan-European valuation dataset suggests that real estate markets in parts of Europe are entering a recovery phase, with values now rising for two consecutive quarters after two years of declines,” said Phil Tily, Senior Vice President at Altus Group. “The industrial and residential sectors led the rebound in the fourth quarter of 2024, with yield stabilization and improving cashflows signalling a more positive market outlook moving forward.”

    Commercial property values across the Pan-European valuation dataset increased for the second consecutive quarter in Q4, rising 0.8% over Q3, with all sectors seeing gains, albeit with a mixed set of results from a yield and cashflow perspective. Values rose 0.4% overall in 2024, as gains in Q3 and Q4 offset declines from the first half of the year, driven mainly by industrial, residential, and other property categories.

    Key highlights by sector include:

    • Industrial: The industrial sector was the top performer in Q4 with a 1.0% value increase over Q3 2024 and 1.6% annually. The improvement was supported by a positive pricing adjustment with yields declining, although cashflow fundamentals eased as rental growth slowed during the back end of the year. The largest valuation gains were reported in Germany.
    • Residential: Residential values rose by 0.9% in Q4 and 1.4% for the full year – both above average. The improvement was driven by comparatively strong cash flow fundamentals with above-average rent growth. Values in the two largest residential markets in the dataset, the Netherlands and Germany, continued to strengthen, increasing 1.0% and 0.8% respectively in the quarter.
    • Office: Office values rose 0.8% over Q3 2024, up for two consecutive quarters now. Further yield expansion, reflecting ongoing investor caution towards the sector, was counterbalanced by strengthening cashflow resulting in office values continuing to rise over the quarter. Sweden was the standout performer in this sector in Q4.
    • Retail: After leading performance in Q3 2024, the retail sector saw only modest growth in Q4, with values still rising 0.3%. Rising yields held back values for high street stores and shopping centres, while falling yields for retail warehouses helped boost values by 1.9%.
    • Other: Outside of the main sectors, hotels had another strong quarter, with positive investor sentiment driving yield improvements and above-average value growth.

    For detailed review of the sector trends by asset class, please click here.

    About Altus Group

    Altus Group is a leading provider of asset and fund intelligence for commercial real estate. We deliver intelligence as a service to our global client base through a connected platform of industry-leading technology, advanced analytics, and advisory services. Trusted by the largest CRE leaders, our capabilities help commercial real estate investors, developers, lenders, and advisors manage risks and improve performance returns throughout the asset and fund lifecycle. Altus Group is a global company headquartered in Toronto with approximately 1,900 employees across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. For more information about Altus (TSX: AIF) please visit www.altusgroup.com.

    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

    Elizabeth Lambe
    Director, Global Communications, Altus Group
    +1-416-641-9787
    elizabeth.lambe@altusgroup.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Ragnarok Begins (RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛) Official Launching in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau on February 13, 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GRAVITY Co., Ltd. (NasdaqGM: GRVY) (“Gravity” or “Company”), a developer and publisher of online and mobile games, announced that Gravity Communications Co., Ltd., Gravity’s wholly-owned subsidiary, officially launched Ragnarok Begins (RO 仙境傳說：一定要可愛), an Action Side-scrolling MMORPG Mobile and PC game, in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau on February 13, 2025 at 9:00 p.m. (Taiwan local time).

    Ragnarok Begins (RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛) is an Action Side-scrolling MMORPG set 100 years before the events of Ragnarok Online, supporting cross-play between PC and mobile platforms. The game offers a detailed class and advancement system, allowing for character growth and extensive equipment customization. It enhances community features with systems such as guilds, DIY housing and world boss cooperative battles. Players can also engage in PVP content, Arena of Valhalla, compete in teamwork and participate in ranking matches. Additionally, the Tower of Infinity dungeon offers the challenge of progressing through multiple floors, either solo or in a team. The game is available for download in Google Play and Apple App Store.  

    Ragnarok Begins (RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛) was launched in North America in 2022 and in South Korea in 2023, and has continued to provide stable service while gaining a strong and loyal following from users.

    Gravity stated, “ We plan to provide excellent service in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, and encourage users to participate in the pre-launch event, where those who register early will receive in-game currency and the exclusive item ‘Tebirus Headband.’ We appreciate your interest and participation.”

    [Gravity Official Website]
    http://www.gravity.co.kr

    [RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛 Official Website]
    https://roc.gnjoy.com.tw/

    [RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛 Google Play Download Page]
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gravity.cute.tw.and

    [RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛 Apple App Store Download Page]
    在 App Store 上的「RO仙境傳說：一定要可愛」

    About GRAVITY Co., Ltd. —————————————————

    Gravity is a developer and publisher of online and mobile games. Gravity’s principal product, Ragnarok Online, is a popular online game in many markets, including Japan and Taiwan, and is currently commercially offered in 91 regions. For more information about Gravity, please visit http://www.gravity.co.kr.

    Contact:

    Mr. Heung Gon Kim
    Chief Financial Officer
    Gravity Co., Ltd.
    Email: kheung@gravity.co.kr

    Ms. Jin Lee
    Ms. Yujin Oh
    IR Unit
    Gravity Co., Ltd.
    Email: ir@gravity.co.kr
    Telephone: +82-2-2132-7801

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Myanmar: Recklessly abrupt US aid stoppage poses existential threat to human rights – Amnesty International

    Source: Amnesty International

    The United States government’s abrupt and sweeping freeze on foreign aid is severely imperiling the human rights of refugees, civilians in armed conflict areas and individuals fleeing persecution in Myanmar, Amnesty International said today.

    The organization warned that lives could be lost unless the decision is urgently reversed, amended or if waivers for life-saving assistance are not immediately granted and swiftly implemented for those working on the ground.

    “The Trump administration’s cruel decision to issue immediate stop work orders on foreign aid is having an instant and devastating impact across the globe, and in Myanmar it is hitting people at a particularly dark hour,” said Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman.

    “The decision has abruptly shut down hospitals in refugee camps, put fleeing human rights defenders at risk of deportation and imperiled programs helping people prevent atrocities, survive in conflict zones and rebuild their lives amid ongoing waves of violence.”

    On 20 January, US President Donald Trump signed a presidential executive order pausing all foreign aid amid a 90-day review of whether it is consistent with American foreign policy. On 24 January, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stop work order to those delivering assistance worldwide as part of the review, but carved out exemptions to the pause for emergency food assistance, as well as military aid to Israel and Egypt.

    An additional waiver dated 28 January exempted “life-saving humanitarian assistance” from the stoppage, while follow-up clarifications in the first week of February broadened the exemptions for specific activities. However, based on Amnesty’s latest research, implementation of these waivers has yet to trickle down to many organizations working along the Thai-Myanmar border.

    “The US government’s shocking move has had immediate global impacts whose real-life consequences are still being felt and understood. Our findings from Myanmar and Thailand provide just one example of the damage wrought by this heartless decision,” Joe Freeman said.

    In Myanmar, the funding pause has further devastated a civilian population already enduring escalating armed conflict, widespread displacement and severe human rights violations by a military that seized power in a coup more than four years ago. It has also sowed chaos, desperation and anguish among tens of thousands of Myanmar refugees living in Thailand.

    To date, US funding has helped many endure the upheaval by supporting emergency shelter or relocation for activists, delivering food aid, helping create early-warning systems for air strikes, delivering medical treatment in war zones and providing education opportunities to those who have lost all hope of a future.

    From 3-10 February, Amnesty International spoke to 12 Myanmar refugees living in camps along the border in Thailand, along with representatives from 14 organizations with Myanmar-focused activities. They include health workers, human rights researchers and NGOs providing cross-border assistance as well as media and education providers. All warned of severe consequences if the decision was not reversed or amended. Not one had received a communication or confirmation of a waiver from the US government to continue operations.

    ‘The mission is not to die”

    Despite the promise of waivers for life-saving humanitarian assistance, the aid stoppage is posing serious risks to the rights to health of more than 100,000 people living in nine refugee camps on the Thai side of the border with Myanmar. The majority have been there for years, fleeing previous waves of violence in Myanmar, but the camps have grown in size since the coup.

    Amnesty International spoke to refugees living in two separate camps along the border. All said hospitals in the camp, which are run by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) through USAID funding, had abruptly shut down after the stop work order. Though Thai authorities and hospitals have been able to step in and provide services for camp residents, their resources are stretched. As of 11 February, the IRC had still not received a waiver to continue their work.

    The impact of the initial shutdown was felt immediately. In the Umpien camp, for example, residents said at least four people have died as a result of not receiving oxygen provided by the hospitals. Amnesty could not independently confirm the claim. Reuters reported on 7 February that Pe Kha Lau, 71, died four days after she was sent home from a healthcare facility funded by the US through the IRC.

    “It was so scary, they forced everyone to go out of the hospital…and some people died because they lost their oxygen. We were not only sad but also scared of what is coming next,” said U Htan Htun, 62.

    Ma Su Su, a volunteer community medical worker in the Umpien camp, also said that on the day the order was announced people who needed treatment were told to leave the hospital. She said she witnessed staff removing an IV-drip from a patient and described how someone without proper training had to provide stitches to a wounded resident.

    “I told everyone it’s only 90 days. We’ll be okay after 90 days. But I feel hopeless,” she said. “The mission is not to die.”

    Water services at the camps were disrupted, according to residents, while food aid is also at risk of disappearing.

    Maximillian Morch from the Thai Border Consortium (TBC), which provides food and cooking fuel to all the nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, said they were trying to get approval for a life-saving waiver from the US government but had no confirmation yet.

    Just over 60% of the Consortium’s funding is from the US through the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) at the US State Department. The bulk of that is food and cooking assistance. While they have not been told to stop work, they will run out of funds for food in four to six weeks if their funding is discontinued as part of the review of foreign aid.

    “Food is as inoffensive as you can be. And if you stop funding food this is not just a TBC problem, it’s an international humanitarian problem,” Morch said.

    “Very tough days for us”

    Since the Myanmar military took power in a 2021 coup, armed conflict has intensified across the country. Ever-increasing military air strikes have killed civilians and targeted schools, hospitals and monasteries, while elsewhere the military has targeted protesters, activists and journalists. Funded by USAID, civil society organizations across Myanmar help civilians, journalists and human rights defenders find shelter, aid and safety in exile if they have to flee the country.

    Groups in southeastern Myanmar, an area particularly hard-hit by military air strikes, run several US-funded programs which can be considered life-saving. They provide mobile medical units in frontline areas, help pay for hospital referrals for more advanced care and assist civilians in the aftermath of an air strike to find food and shelter.

    “At the same time as all the air strikes, all the bombings…artillery attacks, displacement…the funding has been stopped,” said Saw Diamond Khin, director of the Karen Department of Health and Welfare, which assists seven districts in southeastern Myanmar. “It is very tough days for us.”

    No waivers for life-saving work

    Saw Thar Win, from the Ethnic Health Systems Strengthening Group, said his organization had planned to deliver portable, battery-charged ultrasound and X-ray machines to conflict-affected communities in Myanmar. One set can serve an estimated 50,000 people. But the stop work order meant the machines were just sitting in boxes in his office because the funding for transporting it had been impacted.

    Another community-based health provider said the pause in US funding meant that they can no longer support urgent life-saving treatment inside Myanmar. Their funding had supported costs for emergency surgery to treat wounds from air strikes or other armed conflict injuries, as well as neonatal emergency treatment and surgery for appendicitis and blood transfusions.

    Despite the announcement of waivers at the end of January, medicines for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, as well as support for mental health services for those traumatized by the armed conflict, have been similarly affected. Not one group Amnesty spoke to said they had been given any communication or confirmation of a waiver for life-saving work, even though their operations, such as helping feed, shelter and treat people in war zones, would clearly qualify.

    All said they lacked clear communication from US agencies such as USAID and their partners on the grounds. The Overseas Irrawaddy Association – which provides emergency relocation for hundreds of activists inside Myanmar, where protesters are routinely imprisoned and tortured by the military – said the freeze has affected their ability to support hundreds of at-risk individuals.

    “By removing the ability of these organizations to protect some of the most vulnerable people inside Myanmar, the US is effectively giving the rights-abusing Myanmar military an invaluable gift in their crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and information,” Freeman said.

    “People are now more vulnerable to arrest, to torture, and for those who have fled to Thailand and rely on funding for shelter, to deportation back to Myanmar. The US must immediately and directly communicate that groups working on life-saving assistance in Myanmar can continue their work.”

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: CNC celebrates National Apprenticeship Week

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    In its first year, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) apprenticeship programme has reached the 100-apprentice milestone.

    Chief Constable Simon Chesterman meeting AFOs.

    Announced last year during National Apprenticeship Week, the Level Four Non-Home Office Police Officer Apprenticeship (NHOPOA) trains recruits to the National Police Firearms Training Curriculum and takes place across our delivery centres in Oxfordshire and Cumbria.

    The first 19 weeks of the course is a residential Initial Foundation Programme which includes our highly regarded firearms training, and for the remaining 20 months of the course recruits are posted as Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs) at nominated Operational Policing Units (OPUs) to complete a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate their policing ability. After passing an End Point Assessment, the apprentices are confirmed in rank. 

    The celebrations continue this week as the CNC can announce that it recently passed its first Ofsted inspection, receiving praise for its training, practices, and positive recommendations for the future. This achievement demonstrates the force’s commitment to the learning and development of our people.

    Chief Superintendent, Sheree Owen, Head of Training, reflects positively on the recent Ofsted inspection: “I am delighted with the outcome of the recent no-notice monitoring visit by Ofsted, the final grading for this will be published by Ofsted in the next two months.

    “The feedback from inspectors was very positive, and highlighted the huge effort put into delivering this from many across the CNC, those within the training division, from policing skills instructors and NFIs, the Professional Development Units and tutor constables to the HQ staff who supported the project, the planners, finance team and operational support colleagues.

    “We look forward to our full inspection in the next eighteen months.”

    Inspector Stuart Rodgers, Apprenticeship Manager, also said: “My thanks to the apprentices for their hard work and commitment to learning new knowledge and skills, everyone at our training venues and to all those tutors who volunteer their time and effort to ensure our new people settle in well and complete their work to a high standard.”

    Updates to this page

    Published 13 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Partnership work leads to trader sentencing in illegal tobacco crackdown

    Source: City of Stoke-on-Trent

    Published: Thursday, 13th February 2025

    A trader in Stoke-on-Trent has been sentenced following a crackdown on illegal tobacco.

    The operation was thanks to partnership working between Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s Trading Standards team and Staffordshire Police.

    Ismail Mohammed, who ran ‘Waterloo Stores’ at 80 Waterloo Road, Burslem, received a nine-month suspended sentence, 100 hours of unpaid work, and had his tobacco and cash seized.

    The sentencing took place on Wednesday, 6 February 2025, at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, following Mr. Mohammed’s conviction on 8 July 2024. He pleaded guilty to the possession of criminal property (£6,310 in cash) and to entering into an arrangement to acquire, use, or control criminal property – in this case counterfeit and non-duty-paid tobacco.

    It follows a successful investigation which began in 2019, into illegal tobacco sales at the shop, leading to a raid on residential properties in Hanley.

    Officers seized 1,390 packs of illegal cigarettes and £17,000 in cash. Undercover test purchases also confirmed illegal tobacco sales at the Waterloo Road store.

    Councillor Amjid Wazir OBE, cabinet member for city pride, enforcement and sustainability at Stoke-on-Trent City Council said: “This case is another great example of partnership work making Stoke-on-Trent a safer place. The work carried out by our Trading Standards team sends a clear message—illegal tobacco sales will not be tolerated. Those involved in the storage, distribution, or sale of illicit tobacco will face serious consequences.

    “The trade in illegal tobacco harms legitimate businesses, provides a cheap source of cigarettes for children and young people, and undermines efforts to reduce smoking rates. Illegal tobacco sales are also often linked to wider criminal activity.

    “Our message is clear, those engaging in crime will be held accountable. We are committed to making Stoke-on-Trent a greener, fairer, cleaner, and safer city for all.”

    Inspector Victoria Ison, from the Stoke North local policing team, said: “We are pleased to support the local authority and Trading Standards in their work to disrupt the sale of illegal tobacco and cigarettes.

    “These items not only risk public health, but also have a significant impact on legitimate sellers and local businesses who are operating within the law.

    “We hope the outcome reassures the community we are committed to working with partners to tackle this issue and associated criminality.”

    Mr. Mohammed had previously been prosecuted for selling counterfeit cigarettes at another Stoke-on-Trent shop, where he was fined.

    Anyone concerned about illegal tobacco, underage sales, or restricted products such as knives and vapes can report them through the Trading Standards hotline at 01782 238444 or visit www.stoke.gov.uk/tradingstandards  

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: House price report for the fourth quarter 202413 February 2025 ​The house price report for the fourth quarter 2024 has been published today by Statistics Jersey. The Jersey House Price Index measures the combined average price of 1- and 2-bedroom flats together with… Read more

    Source: Channel Islands – Jersey

    13 February 2025

    ​The house price report for the fourth quarter 2024 has been published today by Statistics Jersey.

    The Jersey House Price Index measures the combined average price of 1- and 2-bedroom flats together with 2-, 3- and 4-bedroom houses. The index includes properties transacted through the Royal Court as well as share transfer properties.

    Context

    2023 saw a significant proportion of transactions (39%) take place as the result of completions occurring in new developments. In contrast, 2024 saw a much lower proportion of transactions (9%) take place as the result of new developments. Adjusting for this, the level of turnover in 2024 would be 25% higher when compared to 2023 (rather than 16% lower), when excluding new builds in both years. 

    It is worth noting that phases one and two of the First Step scheme completed sales during Q3 2024 and Q4 2024 respectively. 33 HPI eligible properties (around 5% of annual turnover) were sold as part of the scheme and assisted with the sale of 9 further properties indirectly, because of chains started by First Step purchases. ​​

    Annual Summary

    In 2024: 

    • on a calendar year basis:
      • the Jersey House Price Index was 8% lower than in 2023, which was:
        • the largest annual decrease in price since at least 1986
      • all property types saw decreases in annual mean and median prices
      • advertised private sector rental prices were 1% lower than in 2023
      • turnover of properties was 16% lower compared with 2023, due to decreased sales of flats (down by 42%); 2024 saw the lowest annual turnover since at least 2002 
    • overall housing affordability improved on an annual basis:
      • all property types were more affordable to purchase than in 2023
      • a working household with mean net income was able to service a mortgage affordably on the purchase price of a median-priced 1-bedroom flat
      • a working household with mean net income was not able to service a mortgage affordably on the purchase price of a median-priced house of any size or a 2-bedroom flat
      • the ratio of median dwelling price to equivalised median household income in Jersey was lower compared to 2023 for all property types

    Quarterly Summary 

    In the fourth quarter of 2024:

    • on a rolling four-quarter basis, the mix-adjusted average price of dwellings sold in Jersey during the year ending Q4 2024 was 1% lower when compared with the previous quarter (year ending Q3 2024)
    • on a quarterly basis:
      • the seasonally adjusted mix-adjusted average price was 1% higher than in the previous quarter and 5% lower than in the corresponding quarter of 2023 (Q4 2023)
      • the HPI was 10% lower than the peak in prices seen in Q2 2022
      • 1- and 2-bedroom flats saw an increase in their mean price compared to the previous quarter
      • 2- and 4-bedroom houses saw a decrease in price compared with the previous quarter
      • 3-bedroom houses were essentially unchanged compared with the previous quarter
    • the turnover of properties was 7% higher than in Q4 2023 and 9% higher than in the previous quarter (Q3 2024) 
    • overall housing market activity, on a rolling four-quarter basis, was essentially unchanged compared with the previous quarter (Q3 2024) and 23% lower than in the corresponding quarter of 2023
    • on a rolling four-quarter basis, advertised private sector rental prices were essentially unchanged during the year ending Q4 2024 compared with the year ending Q3 2024​

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Take the chance to represent your community – Councillor Val Walker

    Source: Scotland – City of Edinburgh

    Culture and Communities Convener, Councillor Val Walker.

    Culture and Communities Convener, Councillor Val Walker writes in todays Evening News on the importance of community councils and how you can get involved.

    It’s been over half a century since community councils came into existence in Scotland in 1973 – and in that time, we’ve seen over 1,200 established across the country.

    These bodies are groups of residents who are passionate about their communities and play an important role in grassroots democracy.

    Here in Edinburgh, the election period for our community councils has begun. Last week nominations opened to stand for election as a community councillor, this closes on 27 February. Following that we’ll hold an election only if there are more people nominated than places on the community council.

    This is your chance to take a lead in your local area and make your community a better place. From campaigning on key local issues, organising meetings, chairing debates, looking out for vulnerable individuals and groups, to liaising with local and national representatives and much more – the life of a community councillor in the Capital is never ordinary.

    I’m continually inspired by the stories I come across of community councils. In Lady Nairne, the Northfield and Willowbrae Community Council worked tirelessly to ensure that a solution was found when the previous 69 supported bus service ceased operations several years ago. Following extensive engagement with ward councillors and Council officers a new route was implemented just in time for Christmas last year, which I know was a welcome gift to those residents who had long campaigned for its reinstation.

    We’ve also seen Longstone Community Council lead a campaign to erect a new bridge to link their community to the Hutchison/Chesser community, as part of a new active travel project. Initially a bridge was not part of these plans but following successful meetings with their ward councillor, Council officers and the developer some £170,000 worth of contributions were earmarked to support the delivery of the bridge. This will now go to consultation as part of the as the Longstone Link project.

    These are just a couple of the many examples of the excellent work community councils are doing across our city every day. I’d encourage all residents to consider standing as a community councillor. From Pilton to Portobello, Muirhouse to Morningside and beyond, Edinburgh draws its strength from its people, and we need their views, ideas and expertise to move forward together.

    Find out more about community councils and how to stand for election on our website.

    Published: February 13th 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Weimar+ Statement by Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the European External Action Service and the European Commission

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3

    Joint Statement by Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, the European External Action Service and the European Commission.

    12 February 2025, Paris.

    We are ready to enhance our support for Ukraine. We commit to its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s war of aggression.

    We share the goal to keep supporting Ukraine until a just, comprehensive and lasting peace is reached. A peace that guarantees the interest of Ukraine and our own.

    We are looking forward to discussing the way ahead together with our American allies. Our shared objectives should be to put Ukraine in a position of strength. Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations. Ukraine should be provided with strong security guarantees. A just and lasting peace in Ukraine is a necessary condition for a strong transatlantic security.

    We recall that the security of the European continent is our common responsibility. We are therefore working together to strengthen our collective defence capabilities.

    Media enquiries

    Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

    Telephone 020 7008 3100

    Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

    Updates to this page

    Published 12 February 2025

    Invasion of Ukraine

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Russia’s deceit did not work in 2022 and it will not work now: UK statement to the OSCE

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Ambassador Holland recalls Russia’s deceit at the OSCE in the weeks leading up to their full-scale invasion of Ukraine and reiterates that UK will support Ukraine to achieve a just and lasting peace.

    Thank you, Mister Chair.  In just over a week, we will reach yet another unwelcome milestone: three years since Russia launched its illegal and unprovoked full-scale invasion of its sovereign neighbour, Ukraine.

    A war that Russia believed would be over in three days will enter a fourth year.  A war Russia launched under the false pretext of protecting Ukrainian civilians has instead caused thousands of them to be killed.  A war which we were told would not happen has, since those denials, violated every principle of the Helsinki Final Act and demonstrated contempt for the rules that govern armed conflict.

    Let us recall, using their own language,  what Russia told us in the days and weeks leading up to their full-scale invasion.  On the 20th of January, we were told that “the myth of Russia’s alleged impending” invasion had been “hyped up.”  On the 3rd of February we were told that the speculation of an invasion was “unsubstantiated conjectures”.  This was an “information campaign being whipped up primarily by the United States and the United Kingdom”.  On the 10th of February, apparently the facts showed that these were “scare stories” and nothing more than “a puff of propaganda and idle talk”.

    We all know what happened on the 24th of February.  The records of our meetings offer incontrovertible evidence of Russia’s disinformation and deceit.  It continues to this day, week in and week out.

    Mister Chair, on that note we have recently heard Russia single-out on multiple occasions the UK’s role in providing military support to Ukraine.   The UK makes no secret of our unbreakable support for Ukraine.  We have agreed a new 100-year partnership with Ukraine.  We are proud to have committed to providing £3 billion of military aid to Ukraine every year for as long as is needed.  I want to be clear, though – this is not about fuelling war but supporting an innocent, sovereign and independent State in an ongoing defence against a barbaric onslaught that Russia assured us would never happen.

    We have always said that we will support Ukraine to achieve a just and lasting peace.  Our priority remains to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position to achieve this.

    Thank you.

    Updates to this page

    Published 13 February 2025

    Invasion of Ukraine

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: MASH to be delivered by Isle of Wight Children’s Services 13 February 2025 Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub to be delivered by Isle of Wight Children’s Services

    Source: Aisle of Wight

    The delivery of the Isle of Wight’s Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) for children and families on the Isle of Wight is changing.

    As of Monday 24 February, the Isle of Wight Children’s Services will have its own Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), following the ending our partnership with Hampshire County Council. The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) is a collaborative initiative that unites professionals from various sectors, including children’s social care, police, health providers, and education. The primary goal of the MASH is to share critical information and make timely, informed decisions to ensure the safety and promote the welfare of children. By working together, these professionals can identify risks early, provide appropriate interventions, and promote the well-being of children in our community.

    The Isle of Wight Council, along with its partner agencies, holds a statutory duty to safeguard children and promote their welfare. This duty is fulfilled through coordinated efforts and a shared commitment to protecting children from harm. By leveraging the collective expertise and resources of all involved agencies, the MASH ensures that children receive the support and protection they need in a timely and effective manner.

    If Island residents are worried about the welfare or safety of a child they can report any concerns through the Isle of Wight Council’s website or by calling 01983 823435.

    To reflect these changes, from the 24 February the  Inter-Agency Referral Form (IARF)  will be found on the Isle of Wight Council’s website, and the Isle of Wight Safeguarding Children Partnership website. The link will be shared via email with all partner agencies

    Statement from the Director of Children’s Services

    ”We are delighted to announce that the multi-agency safeguarding hub for our children and families on the Island is now being delivered in-house by Isle of Wight Children’s Services. This significant milestone reflects our unwavering commitment to providing the highest level of care and protection for the children in our community.

    We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Hampshire County Council for their invaluable support and collaboration over the past years. We also extend our thanks to the Isle of Wight Safeguarding Children Partnership, their expertise and dedication have been instrumental in helping us reach this point, and we look forward to continuing our strong partnership as we move forward.

    Together, we are making a profound difference in the lives of children and families on the Isle of Wight.”

    Further information on what this means can be found on the Isle of Wight Council’s website.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: UNECE Inland Transport Committee advances international cooperation for sustainable and resilient future of transport

    Source: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

    Gathering at this week’s 87th annual session of the UNECE Inland Transport Committee (ITC) at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, global transport leaders shared commitments aimed at  forging a sustainable, efficient, and resilient future of inland transport. 

    Looking to 2030 and beyond – and recognizing the need for scaled-up action in response to climate change, technological advancements, and shifting global trade patterns – several countries announced pledges that reaffirm their commitment to regional cooperation, enhanced connectivity, innovation, and environmental sustainability in inland transport. 

    “The challenges before us are immense, but so are the opportunities,” noted UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean at the opening of the session. “We are here today to chart the course for the future, ensuring that inland transport is not only a driver of economic growth but also a catalyst for sustainability, resilience, and innovation.” 

    Enhanced connectivity and sustainability  

    The Netherlands and Türkiye pledged to continue supporting efforts to advance digitalization, infrastructure development, and border-crossing efficiency along the Trans-Caspian and Almaty-Tehran-Istanbul corridors, with a strong emphasis on greening the corridors, reducing their environmental impact, and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.  

    This joint commitment highlights the importance of collaboration to advance regional integration, promote sustainable transport practices, and enhance the economic and environmental performance of these strategic corridors.   

    “Transport corridors provide an essential backbone structure for the functioning of our economies,” said Chris Jansen, Minister for the Environment and Public Transportation of The Netherlands. “Let us try to unlock this potential together and use our combined efforts of cooperation within the UNECE Inland Transport Committee to achieve this work.”  

    “By strengthening our transport corridors, we will also make significant contributions to reducing economic inequalities between regions, facilitating access to markets for underdeveloped regions and promoting sustainable development,” emphasized Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Türkiye. 

    Advancing decarbonization and innovation 

    Underlining ITC’s unique role as the only global UN platform for road, rail and inland waterway transport, Georgia, The Netherlands and Türkiye reaffirmed their commitment to leverage its capacity to drive innovation and strategic foresight in the inland transport sector.  

    The three countries pledged to support the effective implementation of the ITC Decarbonization Strategy and to contribute to its other critical work streams, including climate change adaptation for transport infrastructure, cycling infrastructure, e-mobility, and the use of GIS mapping for transport infrastructure planning through the International Transport Infrastructure Observatory. 

    Accelerating e-mobility and smart charging solutions 

    Recognizing that inland transport sector plays a pivotal role in achieving global climate goals, The Netherlands and Türkiye pledged to support the UNECE Informal Task Force on E-Mobility to advance zero-emission policies, align regulatory frameworks, and facilitate the development of critical infrastructure for alternative energy carriers, in particular electric mobility, alongside hydrogen and biofuels.  

    The Netherlands will lead efforts on smart charging and energy system optimization, while Türkiye will spearhead best practices for EV infrastructure planning. 

    In line with the ITC Decarbonization Strategy, Germany pledged to work to swiftly expand the charging infrastructure for electric vehicles and to drive the uptake of climate-friendly fuels. Furthermore, Germany committed to fostering key technology innovations, such as automated/autonomous driving on the road to reach a more sustainable, safe, digital, accessible and affordable mobility. 

    Global relevance of ITC work 

    Reflecting the global relevance of ITC not only in harmonization of vehicle standards, but also in development of transport infrastructure, and smart and clean mobility solutions, Cambodia announced that it will seek to actively participate in the UNECE World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) and join working parties dealing with the transport of dangerous goods, intermodal transport and logistics, as well as to join the Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR).   

    As a small island developing state, facing frequent storm surges and flooding that threaten its critical road network, Seychelles appreciated the ITC as a vital platform to advance solutions for climate-resilient road infrastructure, maintenance and environmentally friendly engineering, as well as energy-efficient public transport options.  

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI: Himax Technologies, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Financial Results; Provides First Quarter 2025 Guidance

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Q4 2024 Revenues, Gross Margin and EPS All Surpassed Guidance Range Issued on November 7, 2024
    Company Q1 2025 Guidance: Revenues to Decrease 8.5% to 12.5% QoQ,
    Gross Margin is Expected to be Around 30.5%. Profit per Diluted ADS to be 9.0 Cents to 11.0 Cents

    • Q4 2024 revenues registered $237.2 million, an increase of 6.7% QoQ, significantly exceeding guidance range of a slight decrease to flat, primarily driven by stronger order momentum across product lines
    • Q4 2024 Gross margin reached 30.5%, exceeding guidance of flat to slightly up, driven by a favorable product mix and cost improvements. Up from 30.0% in the Q3 2024
    • Q4 2024 after-tax profit was $24.6M, or 14.0 cents per diluted ADS, considerably above the guidance range of 9.3 cents to 11.0 cents
    • Company’s full year 2024 revenues were $906.8 million, and gross margin was 30.5%. 2024 profit attributable to shareholders was $0.46 per fully diluted ADS
    • Company’s Q1 2025 revenues to decline 8.5% to 12.5% QoQ, reflecting the low season demand due to Lunar New Year holidays. The Q1 revenue guidance implies flat to 4.6% increase YoY. Gross margin to be around 30.5%, up from 29.3% same quarter last year. Profit per diluted ADS to be in the range of 9.0 cents to 11.0 cents, implying the increase of 26% to 54% YoY
    • Himax sales revenues in each quarter of 2024 consistently outperformed guidance, demonstrating its ability to handle most of rush orders, underscoring its strong ability in inventory management and swift market responsiveness
    • Full year 2024 automotive driver IC sales increased nearly 20% YoY, significantly outpacing global automotive growth, largely driven by the continued TDDI adoption among major customers across all continents. Himax continues to reinforce its market leadership in automotive TDDI, holding well over 50% market share
    • Himax’s WLO technology plays a critical role in CPO by providing essential optical coupling capability, making it a core element of the solution. Small-scale production of the first-gen CPO underway, with acceleration of future CPO generation development, in close collaboration with AI customers/partners. Company believes prospect of CPO remains unchanged
    • WiseEye, building on the success with Dell, has achieved notable progress with other leading NB brands. Also made breakthroughs in smart door lock, palm vein authentication and smart home. Himax anticipates a strong growth trajectory in WiseEye business in 2025 and beyond
    • At CES 2025, Himax showcased a wide range of innovative achievements, including automotive display technology, WiseEye AI, and advanced optical technologies for AR/VR
    • Rising enthusiasm in AR glasses with Gen AI in CES 2025. Himax offers three critical technologies for AR glasses, namely LCoS microdisplay, WLO waveguide, and ultralow power WiseEye AI
    • Himax is well-positioned to capitalize on the trend of the premium NB to adopt OLED displays and touch features. Confident to lead in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI PCs and premium NB, offering a comprehensive IC portfolio for both LCD and OLED NB

    TAINAN, Taiwan, Feb. 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: HIMX) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2024 ended December 31, 2024.

    “In 2024, our sales revenues in each quarter consistently outperformed guidance. We have consistently demonstrated our ability to handle most of rush orders, underscoring our agility, adaptability, strong capabilities in inventory management, and swift market responsiveness,” said Mr. Jordan Wu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Himax.

    “At CES this year, Himax showcased a wide range of innovative achievements, including automotive display technology, WiseEye AI, and advanced optical technologies for AR/VR. Notably, a clear trend emerged at this year’s CES as the industry demonstrated growing enthusiasm for AR glasses, fueled by more companies entering the space and integrating generative AI to accelerate the development of lightweight, compact, and all-day AR glasses. For AR glasses, Himax offers three critical technologies, namely LCoS microdisplay, WLO waveguide, and ultralow power WiseEye AI,” continued Mr. Jordan Wu.

    “Himax’s WLO technology plays a critical role in CPO by providing essential optical coupling capability, making it a core element of the solution. The prospect of CPO remains unchanged and the widespread adoption of CPO for data transmission to be conducted via optics instead of metal wire is on track in high-performance AI applications. Through WLO and CPO technologies, Himax is well-positioned to engage in the high-speed AI computing market with high expectations for its growth,” concluded Mr. Jordan Wu.

    Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial Results

    Himax net revenues registered $237.2 million, an increase of 6.7% sequentially, significantly exceeding Company’s guidance range of a slight decrease to flat, and up 4.2% year-over-year. Gross margin reached 30.5%, exceeding its guidance of flat to slightly up from 30.0% in the previous quarter, and up from 30.3% in the same period last year. The sequential increase was driven by a favorable product mix and cost improvements. Q4 profit per diluted ADS was 14.0 cents, considerably above the guidance range of 9.3 cents to 11.0 cents, thanks to better-than-expected revenues and improved costs.

    Revenue from large display drivers came in at $25.0 million, reflecting a 18.6% sequential decline. The decrease was primarily attributed to continued customer destocking after substantial Q2 replenishment for shopping festivals, as well as heightened price competition from Chinese peers. Sales of large panel driver ICs accounted for 10.5% of total revenues for the quarter, compared to 13.8% last quarter and 14.8% a year ago.

    Small and medium-sized display driver segment totaled $166.8 million, an increase of 7.4% sequentially, exceeding its guidance of flat quarter-over-quarter, thanks to stronger-than-expected sales in the automotive and tablet markets. Q4 automotive driver sales, including both traditional DDIC and TDDI, experienced mid-teens increase, significantly outperforming Company’s expectation of a single digit increase, with both DDIC and TDDI showing stronger-than-expected sales. This surge was primarily driven by continued rush orders from Chinese panel customers, carried over from Q3, following the Chinese government’s renewed trade-in stimulus initiative announced in mid-August 2024 to boost automobile consumption. Remarkably, Himax’s Q4 automotive TDDI sales have exceeded DDIC sales for the first time, underscoring the global adoption of Company’s TDDI solutions, which are increasingly essential in modern vehicles, and reflects the growing demand for more intuitive, interactive, and cost-effective touch panel features powered by TDDI technology. Himax’s automotive business, comprising drivers, Tcon, and OLED IC sales, accounted for around 50% of total Q4 revenues. Meanwhile, Q4 tablet IC sales exceeded the guidance of a low teens decline, with sales up slightly sequentially driven by rush orders from leading end customers. Q4 smartphone IC sales declined slightly, in line with its guidance. The small and medium-sized driver IC segment accounted for 70.3% of total sales for the quarter, compared to 69.9% in the previous quarter and 71.6% a year ago.

    Fourth quarter revenues from its non-driver business reached $45.4 million, exceeding the guidance range, with a 24.9% increase from the previous quarter. The growth was primarily driven by a one-time ASIC Tcon product shipment to a leading projector customer and Tcon for monitor application. In Q4, automotive Tcon sales continued to grow sequentially, due to the widespread adoption of Himax’s market-leading local dimming Tcon with over two hundred secured design-win projects across major panel makers, Tier 1 suppliers, and automotive manufacturers worldwide. Non-driver products accounted for 19.2% of total revenues, as compared to 16.3% in the previous quarter and 13.6% a year ago.  

    Fourth quarter operating expenses were $49.2 million, a decrease of 19.1% from the previous quarter and a decline of 6.0% from a year ago. The sequential decrease stemmed primarily from a reduction in annual employee bonuses, partially offset by an increase in R&D expenses. As part of Company’s standard practice, Himax grants annual bonuses, including cash and RSUs, to employees at the end of September each year. This results in higher IFRS operating expenses in the third quarter compared to the other quarters of the year. The year-over-year decrease was mainly due to a decline in employee bonus compensation as the amortized portion of prior year’s bonuses for 2023 was higher than that for 2024, offsetting the higher annual bonus compensation grant for 2024 compared to 2023. Amid ongoing macroeconomic challenges, Himax is strictly enforcing budget and expense controls, with full-year 2024 operating expenses declining 5.6% compared to last year.

    Fourth quarter operating income was $23.1 million or 9.7% of sales, compared to 2.6% of sales last quarter and 7.3% of sales for the same period last year. The sequential increase was primarily the result of higher sales, improved gross margin, and lower operating expenses. The year-over-year increase was primarily the result of higher sales, higher gross margin, and lower employee bonus compensation due to the amortized portion of the prior year’s bonuses. Fourth-quarter after-tax profit was $24.6 million, or 14.0 cents per diluted ADS, reflecting a meaningful increase from $13.0 million, or 7.4 cents per diluted ADS last quarter, and up from $23.6 million, or 13.5 cents in the same period last year.

    Full Year 2024 Financial

    Revenues totaled $906.8 million, a slight decline of 4.1% compared to 2023. Persistent global demand weakness, coupled with uncertainty about market trends, led to conservative purchasing decisions and inventory management by Company’s panel customers. Given this uncertainty, Himax implemented strict expense controls, resulting in a 5.6% reduction in operating expenses for the year. However, Company’s optimism in the automotive business remains unwavering, with automotive IC sales increasing by nearly 20% year-over-year in 2024, far outpacing the overall automotive market growth. Among Company’s automotive product lines, automotive TDDI and Tcon sales, both relatively new technologies, surged by more than 70%, driven by accelerated adoption across the board. This growth strengthened Company’s market leadership and positions Himax well for continued success as the automotive sector embraces more advanced technology resulting from the mega trend of increasing size, quantity, and sophistication of displays inside vehicles.

    Revenue from large panel display drivers totaled $125.9 million in 2024, marking a decrease of 28.3% year-over-year, and representing 13.9% of total sales, as compared to 18.6% in 2023. Small and medium-sized driver sales totaled $625.4 million, reflecting a slight decrease of 0.6% year-over-year, and accounting for 69.0% of its total revenues, as compared to 66.5% in 2023. Non-driver product sales totaled $155.5 million, an increase of 10.6% year-over-year, and representing 17.1% of Company’s total sales, as compared to 14.9% a year ago.

    Gross margin in 2024 was 30.5%, up from 27.9% in 2023. The margin expansion was driven by a strategic focus on cost improvements and operational efficiency optimization, combined with a favorable product mix that included a higher percentage of high-margin products such as automotive and Tcon. The successful diversification of foundry sources also contributed to the margin increase.

    Operating expenses in 2024 were $208.0 million, a decline of 5.6% from 2023, primarily due to lower employee bonus compensation, as the amortized portion of bonuses in 2023 was higher than that in 2024. 2024 operating income was $68.2 million, or 7.5% of sales, an increase from $43.2 million, or 4.6% of sales, in 2023. Himax’s net profit for 2024 was $79.8 million, or $0.46 per diluted ADS, significantly up from $50.6 million, or $0.29 per diluted ADS in 2023.

    Balance Sheet and Cash Flow

    Himax had $224.6 million of cash, cash equivalents and other financial assets as of December 31, 2024. This compares to $206.4 million at the same time last year and $206.5 million a quarter ago. Himax achieved a strong positive operating cash flow of $35.4 million for the fourth quarter, compared to a cash outflow of $3.1 million in Q3. Company made a total of $30.1 million annual cash bonus to employees, resulting in the low operating cash flow of the quarter. As of December 31, 2024, Himax had $34.5 million in long-term unsecured loans, with $6.0 million representing the current portion.

    The Company’s inventories as of December 31, 2024 were $158.7 million, lower than $192.5 million last quarter and $217.3 million at the end of last year. Company’s inventory levels have steadily declined over the past couple of quarters and are now at a healthy level. Accounts receivable at the end of December 2024 was $236.8 million, little changed from $224.6 million last quarter and $235.8 million a year ago. DSO was 96 days at the quarter end, as compared to 92 days last quarter and 91 days a year ago. Fourth quarter capital expenditures were $3.2 million, versus $2.6 million last quarter and $15.1 million a year ago. Fourth quarter capex was mainly for R&D related equipment for Company’s IC design business. Total capital expenditures for 2024 were $13.1 million as compared to $23.4 million in 2023. The decrease was primarily due to reduced spending on in-house testers for Company’s IC design business in 2024.

    Outstanding Share

    As of December 31, 2024, Himax had 174.9 million ADS outstanding, little changed from last quarter. On a fully diluted basis, the total number of ADS outstanding for the fourth quarter was 175.1 million.  

    Q1 2025 Outlook

    In 2024, Himax’s sales revenues in each quarter consistently outperformed guidance. While this strong performance is certainly commendable, it also highlights the challenges Company faced such as limited market visibility and conservative customer demand, where many customers relied on rush orders to address their actual demands. On the other hand, rush orders are indicative of the tight inventory position of Company’s panel customers in general. In the past few quarters, Himax has consistently demonstrated its ability to handle most of such rush orders, underscoring Company’s agility, adaptability, strong capabilities in inventory management, and swift market responsiveness.

    The automotive IC sales remained Company’s largest revenue contributor in 2024, accounting for almost half of total revenues and achieving close to 20% annual growth. This performance highlights Himax’s automotive leadership in technological innovations, product development, and market share. Looking ahead, Himax expects its automotive TDDI and Tcon technologies to maintain growth momentum, further strengthening its market competitiveness. Beyond LCD technology, Himax is advancing development in the automotive OLED sector, with numerous projects currently underway in partnership with leading panel makers. Company anticipates that automotive OLED IC will serve as one of the key growth drivers for Himax in the coming years, further solidifying its leadership in automotive display market.

    Meanwhile, Himax is actively expanding its technology development beyond display ICs. To that end, in the WiseEye AI segment, Company has made notable progress with leading notebook brands and achieved significant breakthroughs in smart door lock, palm vein authentication, and smart home applications, collaborating with world-leading customers to develop new innovations. Himax anticipates a strong growth trajectory in its WiseEye business in 2025 and beyond.

    Himax’s proprietary wafer-level optics (WLO) technology for co-packaged optics (CPO) has recently garnered significant attention in the capital markets. In fact, as early as June 2024, Himax and FOCI, a global leader in silicon photonics connectors, jointly announced the industry-leading CPO technology. The collaboration, spanning several years, unites Himax’s WLO technology with FOCI’s CPO solutions for cutting-edge AI multi-chip modules (MCM). Since the announcement, Himax has provided updates on the latest progress in each quarterly earnings call. Himax’s WLO technology plays a critical role in CPO by providing essential optical coupling capability, making it a core element of the solution. CPO significantly enhances bandwidth and accelerates data transmission while reducing signal loss, latency, and power consumption. Additionally, it can help drastically decrease the size and cost of MCM.

    While CPO is still in engineering validation and trial production stage this year, with customer’s mass production timelines undisclosed and the recent AI market disruptions from DeepSeek, the prospect of CPO remains unchanged. The widespread adoption of CPO for data transmission to be conducted via optics instead of metal wire is on track in high-performance AI applications. This is evident by the significant increase in customer’s recent trial production volume forecast, indicating an accelerated timeline for CPO technology to enter mass production. Furthermore, Himax and FOCI, in close collaboration with leading AI customers and partners, are actively developing future generations of CPO technologies to meet the explosive high-speed optical data transmission demand in HPC and AI. Through WLO and CPO technologies, Himax is well-positioned to engage in the high-speed AI computing market with high expectations for its growth. Company believes that CPO technology, beyond cloud applications, will see further adoption in sectors such as automotive and robot in the future. Himax’s current goal is to accelerate CPO adoption in cloud applications, thereby helping drive broader CPO adoption in AI applications.

    At CES this year, Himax showcased a wide range of innovative achievements, including automotive display technology, WiseEye AI, and advanced optical technologies for AR/VR. Notably, a clear trend emerged at this year’s CES as the industry demonstrated growing enthusiasm for AR glasses, fueled by more companies entering the space and integrating generative AI to accelerate the development of lightweight, compact, and all-day AR glasses. For AR glasses, Himax offers three critical technologies, namely LCoS microdisplay, WLO waveguide, and ultralow power WiseEye AI. Company’s latest, patented Front-lit LCoS Microdisplay delivers unparalleled brightness with an industry-leading 400k nits, exceptional optical power efficiency, compact form factor, lightweight, and superior display quality, making it one of the most viable solutions in the see-through AR glasses market. In waveguide, in collaboration with leading tech names, Himax leverages proprietary WLO expertise, built on advanced nanoimprint technology, to offer industry-leading optical solutions that optimize light transmission and display efficiency. In the field of AI sensing for AR glasses, Himax’s WiseEye provides always-on AI sensing capabilities which are being applied by developers to significantly enhance AR interactivity while consuming just a few milliwatts of power.

    In automotive display IC technology, Himax unveiled the industry’s most comprehensive LCD and OLED solutions at CES, showcasing a range of next-generation smart cabin technologies. These solutions not only improve the intuitive operation of smart cabins but also enhance driving safety and provide an exceptional user experience. A prime example is the advanced Display HMI solution developed in collaboration with AUO which meets the demands for large-size, high-resolution, and freeform automotive displays.

    At CES, Himax also partnered with several AI ecosystem partners to showcase its ultralow power WiseEye Modules over a range of innovative, production-ready AIoT applications. These applications include palm vein authentication, baby cry detection, people flow management, and human sensing detection. The modules are designed for easy integration, making it highly suitable for various AIoT applications.

    Display Driver IC Businesses

    LDDIC

    In Q1 2025, Himax anticipates a single digit sequential sales increase for large display driver ICs, driven by demand spurred by Chinese government subsidies for household appliances aimed at reviving demand in the sluggish household sector. Notebook and monitor sales are expected to increase in Q1. In contrast, TV IC sales are set to decline as customers pulled forward their inventory purchases in the prior quarter, coupled with the seasonal slowdown in Q1.

    Looking ahead in the notebook sector, Company is seeing an increase in demand for premium notebooks to adopt OLED displays and touch features, partially fueled by the rise of AI PC. Himax is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend, offering a comprehensive range of ICs for both LCD and OLED notebooks, including DDIC, Tcon, touch controllers, and TDDI. A standout innovation is Company’s pioneering in-cell touch TDDI for LCD displays, which improves the ease of system design and integration by embedding the touch controller within the TDDI chip while maintaining the conventional display driver setup for Tcon data transmission. This design simplifies integration for customers, reducing engineering complexity and speeding up product development. This solution also supports high-resolution displays up to 4K and larger screens up to 16 inches, aligning with the growing demand for advanced, visually stunning, and immersive laptops. With mass production already underway for a leading notebook vendor’s AI PC, more projects are lined up. For OLED notebooks, in addition to Company’s OLED DDIC and Tcon solutions, Himax is also developing on-cell touch controller technology, with multiple projects underway with top panel makers and notebook vendors. Last but not least, progress has been made on the next-generation eDP 1.5 display interface for Tcon for both LCD and OLED panels. This interface will support high frame rates, low power consumption, adaptive sync, and high resolution, key features essential for next-generation AI PCs. By delivering innovative, cutting-edge technologies, Himax is well-positioned to lead in the rapidly evolving landscape of AI PCs and premium notebooks.

    SMDDIC

    On SMDDIC revenue, for the full year 2024, Himax’s automotive driver IC sales, comprising of TDDI and traditional DDIC, increased nearly 20% year-over-year, significantly outpacing global automotive growth, largely driven by the continued adoption of TDDI technology among major customers across all continents. However, Himax anticipates Q1 automotive revenue to decline low teens sequentially, following two quarters of surge demand. Despite this, Q1 automotive sales are still projected to increase by mid-teens on a year-over-year basis. In the automotive TDDI sector, with cumulative shipments significantly surpassing those of Himax’s competitors, Company continues to reinforce its market leadership, which currently stands at well over 50%. With nearly 500 design-in projects secured and a continuous influx of new pipeline and design-wins across the board, of which only 30% already in mass production, Himax expects to sustain this decent growth in the years ahead. While traditional automotive DDIC sales for 2024 declined due to their gradual, partial replacement by TDDI, Company’s DDIC shipment volume still saw a modest increase in the last year. This demonstrates the steady demand for mature DDIC products, such as those used in cluster displays, HUDs, and rear- and side-view mirrors, which do not require touch functionality. Furthermore, the long-term trust and loyalty from Company’s DDIC customers, some of whom have relied on Himax’s solutions for over a decade, is indicative of Company’s strong customer retention. Himax continues to lead the automotive DDIC market, maintaining a global market share of approximately 40%.

    Himax continues to lead in automotive display IC innovation by pioneering solutions that deliver superior performance, power efficiency, and enhanced user experiences. As part of this ongoing innovation, Company’s latest TED (Tcon Embedded Driver IC) solution, which combines TDDI with local dimming Tcon into a single chip, provides a cost-effective, flexible, and comprehensive solution for its customers. Another new technology worth highlighting is Himax’s automotive TDDI with advanced user-aware touch control, which differentiates between driver and passenger touches to prevent cross-touch and enhance driving safety. In addition, Company offers a unique knob-on-in-cell-display solution that combines a physical knob with a TDDI. This design seamlessly merges in-cell touch technology with tactile controls, offering drivers a safer, more intuitive interaction that reduces distractions and enhances the overall driving experience.

    Moving to smartphone and tablet IC sales, Himax expects a sequential decline in both product lines, as is typical during the low season in Q1 due to the Lunar New Year.

    On OLED business update. In the automotive OLED market, Company has established strategic partnerships with leading panel makers in Korea, China, and Japan. As OLED technology extends beyond premium car models, Himax is well-positioned as the preferred partner, leveraging Company’s strong presence and proven track record in the automotive LCD display sector. Capitalizing on Himax’s first-mover advantage, Himax aims to drive the growing adoption of OLED in automotive displays by offering a comprehensive range of solutions, including DDIC, Tcon, and on-cell touch controller. Company believes this positions it as a primary beneficiary of the anticipated shift toward OLED displays for high end vehicles in a couple of years, enabling Himax to capture new growth opportunities and further strengthen its market leadership.

    Beyond the automotive sector, Company has also made strides in the tablet and notebook markets, partnering with leading OLED panel makers in Korea and China. Himax’s comprehensive OLED product portfolio, covering DDIC, Tcon, and touch controllers, has driven several new projects that are on track to begin mass production this year. In the smartphone OLED market, Company is making solid progress in collaborations with customers in Korea and China and anticipates mass production to start later this year.

    First quarter small and medium-sized display driver IC business is expected to decline low teens sequentially.

    Non-Driver Product Categories

    Q1 non-driver IC revenues are expected to decrease high teens sequentially.

    Timing Controller (Tcon)

    Himax anticipates Q1 2025 Tcon sales to decrease mid-teens sequentially, primarily due to the non-recurrence of a one-time ASIC Tcon shipment to a leading projector customer last quarter, as well as a moderation in automotive Tcon shipments following several quarters of strong growth. That being said, Himax maintains an unchallenged position in local dimming Tcon, evidenced by growing validation and widespread adoption in both premium and mainstream car models worldwide. Company is confident in the continued growth of its automotive Tcon business, supported by its strong market presence in local dimming Tcon, with strong pipeline of over two hundred design-win projects set to gradually enter production in the coming years. Heads-up display (HUD) is another field gaining traction within automotive displays, driving increased adoption of local dimming Tcon technology and emerging as a particularly promising application. Himax’s industry-leading local dimming Tcon provides distinct advancements with high contrast ratio and optimized power consumption. It effectively eliminates the “postcard effect” often seen in HUDs, caused by backlight leakage typical of conventional TFT LCD panels, ensuring clear and precise images on the windshield. Additionally, the Tcon features advanced transparency detection to prevent the display from obstructing the driver’s view, thereby ensuring driving safety. Several HUD projects are already in progress, and Himax is excited about the potential opportunities ahead. Company is well positioned for continuous growth in automotive Tcon over the next few years.

    WiseEye™ Ultralow Power AI Sensing

    On the update of WiseEye™ ultralow power AI sensing solution, a cutting-edge endpoint AI integration featuring industry-leading ultralow power AI processor, always-on CMOS image sensor, and CNN-based AI algorithm. WiseEye AI delivers a significant competitive edge in the rapidly growing AI market through its ultralow power consumption and context-aware, on-device AI inferencing that seamlessly integrates vision and other sensing capabilities into endpoint applications, particularly battery-powered devices. This not only enhances intuitive user interaction but also makes AI more practical and accessible. Additionally, WiseEye AI offloads tasks from the main processor, effectively extending battery lifespan and improving overall data processing efficiency. Building on the success with Dell notebooks, Himax WiseEye AI is continuing to expand its market presence, with additional use cases expected across other leading notebook brands, some of which are set for production later this year.

    WiseEye also continues to achieve significant market success across various sectors. For smart door lock, Company collaborated with DESMAN, a leading high-end brand in China, to introduce the world’s first smart door lock with 24/7 sentry monitoring and real-time event recording. Building on this achievement, Himax is expanding globally by collaborating with other leading door lock makers worldwide to integrate innovative AI features, including parcel recognition, anti-pinch protection, and palm vein biometric access, further extending application possibilities. Several of these value-added solutions are set to enter production later this year. At CES 2025, Himax joined forces with ecosystem partners to unveil a suite of innovative, production-ready AIoT applications, powered by Company’s tiny form factor, plug-and-play WiseEye Modules. Himax offers a series of modules, each incorporating an ultralow power WiseEye AI processor, an AoS image sensor, and advanced algorithms. The modules feature no-code/low-code AI platform capabilities, simplifying AI integration and supporting diverse use cases, such as human presence detection, gender and age recognition, gesture recognition, face mesh, voice command, thermal image sensing, pose estimation and people flow management. By streamlining deployment and reducing development costs, WiseEye Modules open new opportunities for automation, enhance interactivity, and elevate user experiences across a variety of industries.

    A broad range of innovative, ultralow power WiseEye Modules are also under development in collaboration with ecosystem partners, such as crying baby detection, dynamic gesture recognition, and human sensing, among others. One standout in Himax’s WiseEye Module portfolio is the Himax WiseEye PalmVein solution, which has quickly gained traction since its introduction just one year ago. Company has secured multiple design wins, with mass production already underway by a US customer for smart access applications and a Taiwan-based door lock vendor for its leading smart door lock brands. To meet growing customer demand for flexibility across various environments, the upgraded WiseEye PalmVein suite now features bimodal authentication, combining both palm vein and face recognitions. This dual-authentication solution enhances security by offering two layers of biometric verification, which not only increases reliability but also makes it highly adaptable to various environments.

    The rise of physical AI agents marks a significant shift in human-machine interaction, enabling devices to perceive, process, and respond to their surroundings in real time. A key emerging trend is the integration of cloud-based large language models (LLMs), which enables these agents’ advanced reasoning and language understanding, enhancing their ability to interact with and adapt to the physical world. Himax WiseEye AI is at the forefront of this revolution, delivering always-on sensor fusion, ultralow power on-device processing, while seamlessly interfacing with LLMs, to provide the essential real-time AI capabilities for next-generation applications. A good illustration of this innovation was showcased at CES 2025, where Himax and Seeed Studio introduced the SenseCAP Watcher, a physical AI agent powered by WiseEye AI. Equipped with vision and audio sensor fusion, along with a speaker, this battery-powered IoT device combines on-device AI with cloud-based LLMs to interpret commands, recognize objects, respond to events, and facilitate real-time interaction. Drawing from the success of SenseCAP Watcher, Himax is actively working on multiple projects leveraging WiseEye AI to further drive advancements in physical AI agent applications.

    Separately, Himax is excited about its collaboration with a leading AR player to integrate WiseEye AI into the next generation of AR glasses. At CES, there was a renewed enthusiasm on AR glasses with AI becoming an integral component to enable intuitive and seamless human-device interaction. WiseEye AI addresses two critical challenges in AR glasses, namely real-time responsiveness and power efficiency. For example, WiseEye supports always-on outward sensing, enabling AR glasses to detect and analyze the surrounding environment with real time context-aware AI. This capability powers instant response, real-time object recognition, navigation assistance, translation, and environmental mapping, enhancing the overall AR experience. Notably, WiseEye AI’s exceptional ultralow power consumption, measured in single digit milliwatts, also make it perfectly suited for AR glasses for all-day wear. In another example, Company collaborates with Ganzin on eyeball tracking technology, which, powered by WiseEye, precisely detects subtle eyeball movements, gaze direction, pupil size, and blinking, thereby providing critical data for the enhancement of user interaction in AR glasses.

    Wafer Level Optics (WLO)

    In June 2024, Himax, in partnership with FOCI, a world leader in silicon photonics connector, unveiled an industry-leading co-packaged optics (CPO) technology, leveraging Himax state-of-the-art WLO technology. This innovation integrates silicon photonic chips and optical connectors within MCM, replacing traditional metal wire transmission with high-speed optical communication. The technology significantly enhances bandwidth, boosts data transmission rates, reduces signal loss and latency, lowers power consumption, and significantly minimizes the size and cost of MCM. In working closely with FOCI, Himax is making significant strides through a solid partnership with leading AI semiconductor companies and foundry, with small-scale production of the first-generation CPO solution already underway. The significant increase in Q1 engineering validation and trial production volume, combined with the anticipated sample volume increases in the coming quarters, is a strong indication that CPO technology is being accelerated toward mass production. In addition, in close collaboration with leading AI customers/partners, Himax is speeding up the development of CPO technology for the next few generations. Himax is more optimistic than ever about the outlook for its WLO business, which is poised to generate significant growth opportunities and become a major revenue and profit contributor in the years ahead.

    Alongside the CPO progress, Company is witnessing a rise in engineering collaborations with global technology leaders who are utilizing Himax’s WLO expertise to make advanced waveguides for AR glasses, highlighting the growing recognition of Company’s WLO capabilities.

    LCoS

    On the update on LCoS, Company recently introduced its industry-leading 400K nits ultra-luminous Front-lit LCoS Microdisplay, setting a new benchmark for brightness with extremely low power consumption of merely 300mW. At CES 2025, Company showcased an AR glasses POC (Proof-Of-Concept) featuring the microdisplay with a third-party waveguide, achieving over 1,000 nits of brightness to the eye. This demonstration highlighted its suitability for outdoor, high ambient light conditions. With a lightweight of just 0.98 grams and ultra-compact form factor of less than 0.5 c.c., combined with excellent color performance, Himax’s Front-lit LCoS Microdisplay is ideal for all-day AR glasses and underscores the technology’s readiness for real-world applications.

    Following the recent release of Himax’s 400K nits ultra-luminous Front-lit LCoS Microdisplay, Himax is actively engaged in significant projects through strategic collaborations with industry leaders. Himax’s proven track record of over a decade in LCoS technology, coupled with a history of successful production shipments, highlights Company’s readiness to meet the demands of large-scale production of AR glasses.

    First Quarter 2025 Guidance
    Net Revenue: Decrease 8.5% to 12.5% QoQ, Flat to Up 4.6% YoY
    Gross Margin: Around 30.5%, depending on final product mix
    Profit: 9.0 cents to 11.0 cents per diluted ADS, Up 26% to 54% YoY  
       

    Himax noticed that some peers’ customers placed orders early due to tariff factors, especially in the consumer electronics sector, resulting in Q1 revenue forecasts exceeding normal seasonal demand. In contrast, no similar trend has been observed in the automotive semiconductor market. Since Himax’s automotive business accounts for more than half of its total revenues, Himax’s Q1 revenue forecast has not benefited from tariff factors.

    HIMAX TECHNOLOGIES FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL YEAR 2024 EARNINGS CONFERENCE CALL
    DATE: Thursday, February 13, 2025
    TIME: U.S.       8:00 a.m. EST
    Taiwan  9:00 p.m.
       
    Live Webcast (Video and Audio): http://www.zucast.com/webcast/br8wqbB4
    Toll Free Dial-in Number (Audio Only):
      Hong Kong 2112-1444
    Taiwan 0080-119-6666
    Australia 1-800-015-763
    Canada 1-877-252-8508
    China (1) 4008-423-888
    China (2) 4006-786-286
    Singapore 800-492-2072
    UK 0800-068-8186
    United States (1) 1-800-811-0860
    United States (2) 1-866-212-5567
    Dial-in Number (Audio Only): 
      Taiwan Domestic Access 02-3396-1191
    International Access +886-2-3396-1191
    Participant PIN Code: 3329013 # 
       

    If you choose to attend the call by dialing in via phone, please enter the Participant PIN Code 3329013 # after the call is connected. A replay of the webcast will be available beginning two hours after the call on www.himax.com.tw. This webcast can be accessed by clicking on this link or Himax’s website, where it will remain available until February 13, 2026.

    About Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Himax Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: HIMX) is a leading global fabless semiconductor solution provider dedicated to display imaging processing technologies. The Company’s display driver ICs and timing controllers have been adopted at scale across multiple industries worldwide including TVs, PC monitors, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, automotive, ePaper devices, industrial displays, among others. As the global market share leader in automotive display technology, the Company offers innovative and comprehensive automotive IC solutions, including traditional driver ICs, advanced in-cell Touch and Display Driver Integration (TDDI), local dimming timing controllers (Local Dimming Tcon), Large Touch and Display Driver Integration (LTDI) and OLED display technologies. Himax is also a pioneer in tinyML visual-AI and optical technology related fields. The Company’s industry-leading WiseEye™ Ultralow Power AI Sensing technology which incorporates Himax proprietary ultralow power AI processor, always-on CMOS image sensor, and CNN-based AI algorithm has been widely deployed in consumer electronics and AIoT related applications. Himax optics technologies, such as diffractive wafer level optics, LCoS microdisplays and 3D sensing solutions, are critical for facilitating emerging AR/VR/metaverse technologies. Additionally, Himax designs and provides touch controllers, OLED ICs, LED ICs, EPD ICs, power management ICs, and CMOS image sensors for diverse display application coverage. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Tainan, Taiwan, Himax currently employs around 2,200 people from three Taiwan-based offices in Tainan, Hsinchu and Taipei and country offices in China, Korea, Japan, Germany, and the US. Himax has 2,649 patents granted and 402 patents pending approval worldwide as of December 31, 2024.

    http://www.himax.com.tw

    Forward Looking Statements

    Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those described in this conference call include, but are not limited to, the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Company’s business; general business and economic conditions and the state of the semiconductor industry; market acceptance and competitiveness of the driver and non-driver products developed by the Company; demand for end-use applications products; reliance on a small group of principal customers; the uncertainty of continued success in technological innovations; our ability to develop and protect our intellectual property; pricing pressures including declines in average selling prices; changes in customer order patterns; changes in estimated full-year effective tax rate; shortage in supply of key components; changes in environmental laws and regulations; changes in export license regulated by Export Administration Regulations (EAR); exchange rate fluctuations; regulatory approvals for further investments in our subsidiaries; our ability to collect accounts receivable and manage inventory and other risks described from time to time in the Company’s SEC filings, including those risks identified in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in its Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC, as may be amended.

    Company Contacts:

    Eric Li, Chief IR/PR Officer
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Tel: +886-6-505-0880
    Fax: +886-2-2314-0877
    Email: hx_ir@himax.com.tw
    www.himax.com.tw
      
    Karen Tiao, Investor Relations
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Tel: +886-2-2370-3999
    Fax: +886-2-2314-0877
    Email: hx_ir@himax.com.tw
    www.himax.com.tw

    Mark Schwalenberg, Director
    Investor Relations – US Representative
    MZ North America
    Tel: +1-312-261-6430
    Email: HIMX@mzgroup.us
    www.mzgroup.us

    -Financial Tables-

    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Profit or Loss
    (These interim financials do not fully comply with IFRS because they omit all interim disclosure required by IFRS)
    (Amounts in Thousands of U.S. Dollars, Except Share and Per Share Data)
      Three Months
    Ended December 31,
    		   3 Months
    Ended
    September 30,
        2024       2023       2024  
               
    Revenues          
    Revenues from third parties, net $ 237,182     $ 227,664     $ 222,401  
    Revenues from related parties, net   41       14       6  
        237,223       227,678       222,407  
               
    Costs and expenses:          
    Cost of revenues   164,963       158,669       155,795  
    Research and development   37,584       41,088       46,880  
    General and administrative   5,711       5,831       6,828  
    Sales and marketing   5,886       5,409       7,048  
    Total costs and expenses   214,144       210,997       216,551  
               
    Operating income   23,079       16,681       5,856  
               
    Non operating income (loss):          
    Interest income   2,042       1,934       2,297  
    Changes in fair value of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss   1,245       1,710       27  
    Foreign currency exchange gains (losses), net   690       (1,525 )     457  
    Finance costs   (964 )     (1,140 )     (1,018 )
    Share of losses of associates   (360 )     (14 )     (143 )
    Other losses   –       (1,932 )     –  
    Other income (losses)   60       (362 )     105  
        2,713       (1,329 )     1,725  
    Profit before income taxes   25,792       15,352       7,581  
    Income tax expense (benefit)   761       (7,933 )     (5,174 )
    Profit for the period   25,031       23,285       12,755  
    Loss (profit) attributable to noncontrolling interests   (423 )     280       268  
    Profit attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders $ 24,608     $ 23,565     $ 13,023  
               
    Basic earnings per ADS attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders $ 0.141     $ 0.135     $ 0.075  
    Diluted earnings per ADS attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders $ 0.140     $ 0.135     $ 0.074  
               
    Basic Weighted Average Outstanding ADS   175,008       174,724       174,727  
    Diluted Weighted Average Outstanding ADS   175,146       174,979       174,987  
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Profit or Loss
    (Amounts in Thousands of U.S. Dollars, Except Share and Per Share Data)
       
        Twelve Months
    Ended December 31,
          2024       2023  
             
    Revenues        
    Revenues from third parties, net   $ 906,737     $ 945,309  
    Revenues from related parties, net     65       119  
          906,802       945,428  
             
    Costs and expenses:        
    Cost of revenues     630,601       681,931  
    Research and development     160,329       171,392  
    General and administrative     24,121       25,037  
    Sales and marketing     23,530       23,856  
    Total costs and expenses     838,581       902,216  
             
    Operating income     68,221       43,212  
             
    Non operating income (loss):        
    Interest income     9,907       8,746  
    Changes in fair value of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     1,363       1,655  
    Foreign currency exchange gains (losses), net     2,491       (768 )
    Finance costs     (4,014 )     (6,080 )
    Share of losses of associates     (831 )     (598 )
    Other losses     –       (1,932 )
    Other income     198       158  
          9,114       1,181  
    Profit before income taxes     77,335       44,393  
    Income tax benefit     (2,435 )     (5,028 )
    Profit for the period     79,770       49,421  
    Loss (profit) attributable to noncontrolling interests     (15 )     1,195  
    Profit attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders   $ 79,755     $ 50,616  
             
    Basic earnings per ADS attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders   $ 0.456     $ 0.290  
    Diluted earnings per ADS attributable to Himax Technologies, Inc. stockholders   $ 0.456     $ 0.290  
             
    Basic Weighted Average Outstanding ADS     174,796       174,495  
    Diluted Weighted Average Outstanding ADS     175,014       174,783  
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    IFRS Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
    (Amounts in Thousands of U.S. Dollars)
     
        December 31,
    2024    		   December 31,
    2023    		   September 30,
    2024
    Assets            
    Current assets:            
    Cash and cash equivalents   $ 218,148     $ 191,749     $ 194,139  
    Financial assets at amortized cost     4,286       12,511       12,335  
    Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     2,140       2,117       –  
    Accounts receivable, net (including related parties)     236,813       235,829       224,589  
    Inventories     158,746       217,308       192,458  
    Income taxes receivable     726       1,454       986  
    Restricted deposit     503,700       453,000       503,700  
    Other receivable from related parties     13       69       22  
    Other current assets     43,471       86,548       42,581  
    Total current assets     1,168,043       1,200,585       1,170,810  
    Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     23,554       21,650       26,383  
    Financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income     28,226       1,635       22,457  
    Equity method investments     8,571       3,490       2,945  
    Property, plant and equipment, net     121,280       130,109       122,333  
    Deferred tax assets     21,193       14,196       13,806  
    Goodwill     28,138       28,138       28,138  
    Other intangible assets, net     636       816       717  
    Restricted deposit     31       32       31  
    Refundable deposits     221,824       222,025       221,879  
    Other non-current assets     18,025       20,728       18,484  
          471,478       442,819       457,173  
         Total assets   $ 1,639,521     $ 1,643,404     $ 1,627,983  
    Liabilities and Equity            
    Current liabilities:            
    Current portion of long-term unsecured borrowings   $ 6,000     $ 6,000     $ 6,000  
    Short-term secured borrowings     503,700       453,000       503,700  
    Accounts payable (including related parties)     113,203       107,342       121,384  
    Income taxes payable     9,514       15,309       2,324  
    Other payable to related parties     –       110       –  
    Contract liabilities-current     10,622       17,751       25,694  
    Other current liabilities     63,595       109,291       54,673  
    Total current liabilities     706,634       708,803       713,775  
    Long-term unsecured borrowings     28,500       34,500       30,000  
    Deferred tax liabilities     564       520       505  
    Other non-current liabilities     7,496       35,879       11,361  
          36,560       70,899       41,866  
    Total liabilities     743,194       779,702       755,641  
    Equity            
    Ordinary shares     107,010       107,010       107,010  
    Additional paid-in capital     115,376       114,648       115,285  
    Treasury shares     (5,546 )     (5,157 )     (4,714 )
    Accumulated other comprehensive income     8,621       (180 )     3,507  
    Retained earnings     664,600       640,447       644,596  
    Equity attributable to owners of Himax Technologies, Inc.     890,061       856,768       865,684  
    Noncontrolling interests     6,266       6,934       6,658  
    Total equity     896,327       863,702       872,342  
         Total liabilities and equity   $ 1,639,521     $ 1,643,404     $ 1,627,983  
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (Amounts in Thousands of U.S. Dollars)
     
        Three Months
    Ended December 31,    		   Three Months Ended
    September 30,
          2024       2023       2024  
                 
    Cash flows from operating activities:            
    Profit for the period   $ 25,031     $ 23,285     $ 12,755  
    Adjustments for:            
    Depreciation and amortization     5,564       5,115       5,640  
    Share-based compensation expenses     103       346       407  
    Losses (gains) on disposals of property, plant and equipment, net     4       (368 )     –  
    Loss on re-measurement of the pre-existing relationships in a business combination     –       1,932       –  
    Changes in fair value of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     (1,245 )     (1,710 )     (27 )
    Interest income     (2,042 )     (1,934 )     (2,297 )
    Finance costs     964       1,140       1,018  
    Income tax expense (benefit)     761       (7,933 )     (5,174 )
    Share of losses of associates     360       14       143  
    Inventories write downs     4,037       5,727       2,269  
    Unrealized foreign currency exchange losses (gains)     (159 )     1,517       228  
          33,378       27,131       14,962  
    Changes in:            
    Accounts receivable (including related parties)     (27,302 )     8,163       8,548  
    Inventories     29,675       36,580       8,964  
    Other receivable from related parties     9       (29 )     33  
    Other current assets     2,502       (5,682 )     (778 )
    Accounts payable (including related parties)     (7,706 )     (627 )     (26,101 )
    Other payable to related parties     1       363       (102 )
    Contract liabilities     6       (958 )     667  
    Other current liabilities     2,508       3,014       (4,161 )
    Other non-current liabilities     71       393       (3,354 )
    Cash generated from operating activities     33,142       68,348       (1,322 )
    Interest received     3,513       2,665       860  
    Interest paid     (1,047 )     (1,140 )     (1,018 )
    Income tax paid     (191 )     (1,131 )     (1,658 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities     35,417       68,742       (3,138 )
                 
    Cash flows from investing activities:            
    Acquisitions of property, plant and equipment     (3,222 )     (15,052 )     (2,551 )
    Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment     –       111       –  
    Acquisitions of intangible assets     –       (40 )     (9 )
    Acquisitions of financial assets at amortized cost     (2,286 )     (4,573 )     (1,500 )
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at amortized cost     10,289       784       617  
    Acquisitions of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     (6,807 )     (5,375 )     (27,934 )
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     3,722       1,645       33,036  
    Acquisitions of financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income     –       (1,379 )     –  
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income     –       99       –  
    Acquisition of a subsidiary, net of cash acquired (paid)     (5,416 )     433       –  
    Proceeds from capital reduction of investment     338       360       –  
    Acquisitions of equity method investment     (1,236 )     –       –  
    Decrease (increase) in refundable deposits     (8 )     –       11,339  
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities     (4,626 )     (22,987 )     12,998  
                 
    Cash flows from financing activities:            
    Purchase of treasury shares     (832 )     –       –  
    Prepayments for purchase of treasury shares     (2,168 )     –       –  
    Payments of cash dividends     –       –       (50,670 )
    Payments of dividend equivalents     –       –       (233 )
    Proceeds from issuance of new shares by subsidiaries     –       916       –  
    Purchases of subsidiaries shares from noncontrolling interests     –       (9 )     –  
    Proceeds from short-term unsecured borrowings     –       36,932       –  
    Repayments of short-term unsecured borrowings     –       (37,226 )     –  
    Repayments of long-term unsecured borrowings     (1,500 )     (1,500 )     (1,500 )
    Proceeds from short-term secured borrowings     461,400       427,100       522,600  
    Repayments of short-term secured borrowings     (461,400 )     (427,100 )     (471,900 )
    Pledge of restricted deposit     –       –       (50,700 )
    Payment of lease liabilities     (1,340 )     (1,244 )     (979 )
    Guarantee deposits received (refunded)     219       (5 )     –  
    Net cash used in financing activities     (5,621 )     (2,136 )     (53,382 )
    Effect of foreign currency exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents     (1,161 )     873       985  
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents     24,009       44,492       (42,537 )
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period     194,139       147,257       236,676  
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period   $ 218,148     $ 191,749     $ 194,139  
                 
    Himax Technologies, Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
    (Amounts in Thousands of U.S. Dollars)
        Twelve Months
    Ended December 31,
          2024       2023  
             
    Cash flows from operating activities:        
    Profit for the period   $ 79,770     $ 49,421  
    Adjustments for:        
    Depreciation and amortization     22,354       20,322  
    Share-based compensation expenses     1,247       2,663  
    Losses (gains) on disposals of property, plant and equipment, net     4       (368 )
    Loss on re-measurement of the pre-existing relationships in a business combination     –       1,932  
    Changes in fair value of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     (1,363 )     (1,655 )
    Interest income     (9,907 )     (8,746 )
    Finance costs     4,014       6,080  
    Income tax benefit     (2,435 )     (5,028 )
    Share of losses of associates     831       598  
    Inventories write downs     13,551       21,540  
    Unrealized foreign currency exchange losses (gains)     (171 )     624  
          107,895       87,383  
    Changes in:        
    Accounts receivable (including related parties)     (40,738 )     20,804  
    Inventories     45,011       132,090  
    Other receivable from related parties     56       5  
    Other current assets     3,941       (3,863 )
    Accounts payable (including related parties)     14,567       7,676  
    Other payable to related parties     (110 )     (268 )
    Contract liabilities     45       (37,051 )
    Other current liabilities     (9,010 )     1,246  
    Other non-current liabilities     (2,260 )     (4,602 )
    Cash generated from operating activities     119,397       203,420  
    Interest received     9,732       8,567  
    Interest paid     (4,015 )     (6,080 )
    Income tax paid     (9,138 )     (53,066 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities     115,976       152,841  
             
    Cash flows from investing activities:        
    Acquisitions of property, plant and equipment     (13,054 )     (23,378 )
    Proceeds from disposal of property, plant and equipment     –       111  
    Acquisitions of intangible assets     (153 )     (115 )
    Acquisitions of financial assets at amortized cost     (11,236 )     (6,911 )
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at amortized cost     19,457       3,099  
    Acquisitions of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     (76,003 )     (82,628 )
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at fair value through profit or loss     70,389       75,539  
    Acquisitions of financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income     (17,164 )     (1,379 )
    Proceeds from disposal of financial assets at fair value through other comprehensive income     –       99  
    Acquisition of a subsidiary, net of cash acquired (paid)     (5,416 )     433  
    Proceeds from capital reduction of investment     338       360  
    Acquisitions of equity method investment     (1,236 )     –  
    Decrease (increase) in refundable deposits     33,562       (56,933 )
    Cash received in advance from disposal of land     –       2,821  
    Net cash used in investing activities     (516 )     (88,882 )
             
    Cash flows from financing activities:        
    Purchase of treasury shares     (832 )     –  
    Prepayments for purchase of treasury shares     (2,168 )     –  
    Payments of cash dividends     (50,670 )     (83,720 )
    Payments of dividend equivalents     (233 )     (148 )
    Proceeds from issuance of new shares by subsidiary     71       916  
    Purchases of subsidiaries shares from noncontrolling interests     (190 )     (9 )
    Proceeds from short-term unsecured borrowings     –       47,226  
    Repayments of short-term unsecured borrowings     –       (47,226 )
    Repayments of long-term unsecured borrowings     (6,000 )     (6,000 )
    Proceeds from short-term secured borrowings     1,780,300       1,383,300  
    Repayments of short-term secured borrowings     (1,729,600 )     (1,299,600 )
    Pledge of restricted deposit     (50,700 )     (83,700 )
    Payment of lease liabilities     (5,032 )     (4,830 )
    Guarantee deposits received (refunded)     (23,163 )     200  
    Net cash used in financing activities     (88,217 )     (93,591 )
    Effect of foreign currency exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents     (844 )     (200 )
    Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents     26,399       (29,832 )
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period     191,749       221,581  
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period   $ 218,148     $ 191,749  

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Thousands of small businesses to benefit from new government buying rules, boosting local jobs, growth and innovation

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Thousands of small businesses across the country will have more opportunities to win valuable contracts with public sector organisations, kickstarting local economic growth and innovation

    • Complicated government buying processes will be simplified to make it easier for small businesses to win contracts, bringing jobs and growth to local areas and across the UK as government delivers on its Plan for Change.
    • Alongside measures for small business, companies that win public sector contracts will be told to advertise vacancies at local job centres to help get Britain back to work and breaking down barriers to opportunity for millions across the country. 
    • Further measures introduced to cut government waste and drive value for money.

    Thousands of small businesses across the country will have more opportunities to win valuable contracts with public sector organisations, kickstarting local economic growth and innovation and creating jobs for local communities as the Government delivers on its Plan for Change.

    Measures announced by the Government today will speed up and simplify procurement processes in the public sector, where £400 billion is spent each year on essential goods and services – driving growth and improving the lives of working people.

    The changes outlined today include proposals for a major shake-up of spending rules, with local councils able to reserve contracts for small businesses to maximise spend within their area and help boost local economies. 

    Alongside this, a new duty will be placed on firms that win contracts with government bodies to advertise jobs at job centres, delivering real change for people, bringing good jobs closer to home and getting Britain back to work. 

    The National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS), will gear all parts of the public sector towards delivering growth. The new rules include eight actions to return public procurement back into the service of the country and working people, and drive forward the Plan for Change.

    Georgia Gould, Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office, said:

    Businesses tell me that the current system isn’t working. It is slow, complicated and too often means small businesses in this country are shut out of public sector contracts.

    These measures will change that, giving them greater opportunity to access the £400 billion spent on public procurement every year, investing in home grown talent and driving innovation and growth.

    This new policy statement sets out our vision for how procurement can put this country back into the service of working people, and deliver our Plan for Change – by making sure the public sector is committed to growing the economy and empowering our communities with innovation and opportunity.

    Current processes require Social Value measures on contracts, which put requirements on businesses to help bring forward positive change in communities and the country as a whole.

    However, there are currently multiple different approaches used across the public sector and potentially many different criteria, confusing business and making it harder to ensure the commitments made are actually delivered.

    The Government will be updating and streamlining the system used by all central government departments and their agencies to align it with the Government’s missions. 

    This will make it simpler to use, giving small businesses a better chance when bidding for contracts, and will make sure companies who profit from government work give back to the community.

    Small Business Minister Gareth Thomas said:

    For too long small businesses have been stuck on the sidelines of the procurement process with complicated bureaucracy and a confusing system. That changes today.

    These measures will mean small firms can more easily offer their expertise to key projects both locally and nationally, helping SMEs to scale up, securing jobs and creating opportunities across the country.

    AI and Digital Government Minister Feryal Clark said:

    There is a £45 billion jackpot of potential productivity savings if we make full use of technology across our public services, it is not an opportunity we can miss.

    To get this right, we need to make sure public sector organisations can get their hands on the right technology for them, quickly. That’s why our Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence will help the rest of the public sector invest in long-term solutions and stop hasty quick fixes.

    Alongside the NPPS, a range of measures to support its delivery and make savings across government are also being introduced. 

    This includes the development of a new AI tool for commercial teams across government to cut bureaucracy wherever possible – such as to simplify redacting contracts and quality assurance of procurement documents. 

    This includes the development of a new AI tool for commercial teams across government to cut bureaucracy wherever possible – such as to simplify redacting contracts and quality assurance of procurement documents. 

    As first announced in the blueprint for a modern digital government, a new Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence will also be set up in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to embed a “buy once and well” attitude, and drive innovative solutions to problems facing our public sector, securing long-term solutions rather than short-term fixes for digital and IT products and opening up opportunities for small and medium businesses to work on digital transformation. 

    The current system is broken: two departments might buy two types of equipment for the same purpose, requiring two teams with different individual skills to service and maintain. 

    The new approach means buying only once – requiring only one team, and one set of skills, removing duplication, saving the taxpayer money, and reducing waste in government.

    A new Commercial Innovation Hub is also being considered, to establish a golden link across government departments, embedding learnings from extraordinary events such as vaccine procurement into our day to day processes. This will support departments to deliver greater value from the new flexible powers offered by the Procurement Act – and act as a workshop to seek out innovative commercial solutions that drive greater value. 

    The NAO recently estimated there are between 8,000 and 21,000 frameworks available to public sector buyers through external third party organisations. These agreements are often not transparent, with hidden fees and charges, racking up the cost of common goods and services.

    A new Register of Framework agreements will be produced, shining a light on those rip-off frameworks from third party providers that are profiting off our local councils and NHS, taking money away from front line services.

    The Government will also be consulting on more reforms including a requirement for large contracting authorities to publish their three-year targets for small business and social enterprise spend and report on this annually – as well as the exclusion of suppliers from contracts worth more than £5million if they don’t complete prompt payments of invoices.

    Updates to this page

    Published 13 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Video: UK Watch live: Lords marks Holocaust Memorial Day

    Source: United Kingdom UK House of Lords (video statements)

    Find out more and see who’s taking part https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2025/february/lords-marks-holocaust-memorial-day-2025/

    Catch-up on House of Lords business:

    Watch live events: https://parliamentlive.tv/Lords
    Read the latest news: https://www.parliament.uk/lords/

    Stay up to date with the House of Lords on social media:

    • Twitter: https://twitter.com/UKHouseofLords
    • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/UKHouseofLords/
    • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UKHouseofLords
    • Flickr: https://flickr.com/photos/ukhouseoflords/albums
    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-house-of-lords
    • Threads: https://www.threads.net/@UKHouseOfLords

    #HouseOfLords #UKParliament

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVUrkE7ssvg

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Wavensmere Homes starts work at £150m Wolverhampton Canalside South

    Source: City of Wolverhampton

    Established through a partnership between City of Wolverhampton Council and the Canal & River Trust, the site is located off Qualcast Road, just moments from the transport interchange. Benefiting from a prime waterside position, it enjoys frontage onto both the Wyrley & Essington Canal and the Wolverhampton Branch of the Birmingham Main Line Canal.

    Site enabling works are underway, with groundworks scheduled to commence in Q2 2025. The development will be delivered in 3 phases – progressing sequentially from east to west – to minimise disruption to the surrounding community, and support the timely delivery of essential infrastructure and amenities.

    Phase 1 will comprise 153 contemporary 2 and 3 bedroom houses, with completion scheduled for Q2 2027. Access to the first 2 phases will be provided via Qualcast Road, which will function as the primary Spine Road, seamlessly connecting all secondary routes within the development. Phase 3 will be accessed via Bailey Street and fully integrated into the wider road network, ensuring efficient traffic flow throughout the site and surrounding areas.

    The full regeneration and build programme is projected to complete by the end of Q3 2031.

    James Dickens, Managing Director of Wavensmere Homes, said: “Having received confirmation of £20m of development funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority and Frontier Development Capital only last week, we are thrilled to be demonstrating our focus on deliverability by starting work at Canalside South immediately. With Wavensmere’s proud history of regenerating vacant land in the Black Country, we have mobilised our local and regional supply chain and will transform this current eyesore into a landmark development we can all be immensely proud of.”

    Pat McFadden, MP for Wolverhampton South East said: “It was great to visit and see work getting underway at the former British Steel and Crane Foundry site in Horseley Fields, which has been lying vacant for over 15 years. This redevelopment will revitalise our city centre, while creating hundreds of jobs and giving a major boost to the local economy, now and in the future.”

    The former British Steel site was a regional distribution and stockholding centre which has stood empty since the collapse of British Steel in 2019.

    Councillor Stephen Simkins, Leader of City of Wolverhampton Council, said: “Seeing this impressive scheme get on site is monumental and shows the game changing regeneration the council and its partners are delivering in Wolverhampton. As part of our brownfield first strategy, bringing life back to the redundant sites along our canal network is critical to boosting footfall into our city centre and building communities.

    “The decision to put our faith in Wavensmere Homes has paid off with one of the largest new housing developments in the Midlands and the hundreds of jobs for local people that come with it.

    Ultimately, this £150m development will enable Wolverhampton residents to benefit from superb connectivity, amenities, and health and wellbeing opportunities at this wonderful heritage location.”

    Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Wolverhampton desperately needs more homes and getting spades in the ground on Canalside South is part of the solution to that. It’s also why I have invested £20m into the scheme. But it’s more than just bricks and mortar, it’s about creating a thriving new community and shaping a bright future for the city. And it will provide more than a hundred affordable homes for local people, a key priority for me in tackling the region’s housing crisis.”

    Canalside South is one of the biggest regeneration projects of its kind in the region. The overall vision for the Wolverhampton Canalside masterplan is the delivery of around 1,000 homes to meet both the city and wider region’s housing needs, with sustainability and place making at its heart.

    Designed by Glancy Nicholls Architects, the low rise development will emulate the surrounding conservation area and maximise the canalside setting. The scheme will include 7 acres of vibrant green space and open up a new pedestrian route to the city core – reducing the previous walk time by 20 minutes – and igniting new investment into a commercial corridor.

    There will be a total of 378 2 and 3 bedroom townhouses, designed to target an EPC A rated specification, together with 145 1 and 2 bedroom apartments. A building of 10 co-living units – each containing 6 bedrooms – will deliver affordable living typologies to young professionals. 54 houses, together with 80 apartment and co-living bedrooms will benefit from waterside views. The multi award winning urban regeneration specialist will also be reanimating the disused railway arches on the site into 1,338sqm (14,400 sq ft) of lettable commercial space.

    Wavensmere Homes will future proof the new homes by installing electric only heating systems. A range of technologies will be utilised across the development, consisting of air source heat pumps, solar panels and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR). There will also be EV charging to each house or parking space, alongside an array of EV chargers for visitors.

    Birmingham headquartered Wavensmere Homes has 3,500 homes on site, or currently in planning. The firm is in the final phase of the £175m Nightingale Quarter, which is the redevelopment of the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary into 925 energy efficient houses, apartments, and community amenities. The company is constructing 5 other major brownfield regeneration schemes, located in central Birmingham, Derby, Cheltenham, and Ipswich, and has further projects in the immediate pipeline.

    To view the plans, visit Canalside WV1.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Council partners on largest affordable housing development in years 13 February 2025 Council partners to deliver largest affordable housing development in years

    Source: Aisle of Wight

    The Isle of Wight Council is supporting its partners in the delivery of a new affordable housing scheme on the Island — the largest of its kind in several years.

    A recent event at the Three Oaks development on the outskirts of Newport showcased the council’s commitment to the delivery of affordable housing, whether doing it themselves or supporting partners.

    At the event, three new homes were constructed in a single day, demonstrating the potential of modern methods of construction (MMC) and the impressive capability of the local workforce.

    Organised by Sovereign Network Group and their construction partner Captiva Homes, the event highlighted the progress of the 145 affordable homes project at Three Oaks.

    The first homes are due to be ready for occupation from summer 2025 and anyone interested in one of the homes for rent should ensure they are registered on the Island Homefinder website.

    Senior representatives from the council, including council Leader Councillor Phil Jordan and deputy leader and Cabinet member for housing, Councillor Ian Stephens, were present to witness this significant milestone.

    Three Oaks is a priority project within the council’s broader strategy to meet the growing housing demands on the Island, especially in light of a 60 per cent increase in the need for temporary accommodation over the past two years.

    The council’s housing and planning teams have worked closely with Sovereign Network Group and Captiva Homes to ensure that the housing mix at Three Oaks meets local needs.

    The development comprises 87 homes available for social rent and 58 for Shared Ownership, aimed at supporting the local community.

    Councillor Jordan said: “Affordable housing being delivered on the Isle of Wight is a major priority for the council.

    “Achieving this on a large scale requires innovation and close collaboration, and this event has been an excellent demonstration of both.

    “It has also provided a vital platform to discuss the best ways forward with local stakeholders and see first-hand the impressive plans Sovereign Network Group and Captiva Homes have for Three Oaks.”

    Attendees observed the staged assembly process, beginning with the ground floor panels being lifted into place in the morning, followed by first-floor cassettes, and culminating with the roofing structure in the afternoon.

    The precision and close collaboration between teams demonstrated how MMC can be effectively applied in residential construction, highlighting the local construction expertise on the Island.

    The event also included a tour of the nearby Gibbs Timber Frame factory, providing insights into the off-site construction process that underpins MMC.

    Additionally, six new employment positions have been created at Gibbs Timber Frame as a result of the Three Oaks contract, emphasising the broader local economic benefits of new housebuilding.

    By embracing MMC and fostering strong partnerships, Councillor Stephens said the council continues to demonstrate its commitment to creating sustainable, affordable housing for its residents.

    He said: “The shortage of affordable homes on our Island is a critical issue that demands innovative solutions and unwavering determination.

    “The collaboration between Sovereign Network Group and Captiva Homes, with the support of the Isle of Wight Council, on the Three Oaks development exemplifies our commitment to the delivery of affordable new homes for our community.

    “We must ensure that families, young people starting out on the housing ladder, and those struggling to find a place to live, whether rented or bought, have access to quality, affordable housing.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Rosneft Launches Unique Project Dedicated to 80th Anniversary of Great Victory

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Rosneft has launched a historical research project, The Great Patriotic War in the History of My Family, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. Its goal is to find unknown and lost information about veterans, home front workers, concentration camp prisoners and children of war.

    The first enterprise of the Company to launch the project was RN-Nyaganneftegaz (part of the oil production unit of Rosneft).

    The unique project involves employees of the enterprise, production veterans and students of the Rosneft Class. During 2025, the participants will send documents, photographs and stories of their relatives related to the war to the corporate museum.

    The surviving letters from the front and the soldiers’ diary entries will later be included in the Victory Museum project “Voices of Victory: Bringing History to Life Through Letters from the Front.”

    In addition, all collected historical data will form the basis of a series of patriotic events “RN-Nyaganneftegaz”, and will also replenish the collection of the country’s main Victory Museum, located on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow.

    Reference:

    “RN-Nyaganneftegaz” is the main oil producing enterprise in the city of Nyagan. The enterprise carries out industrial exploitation of the Krasnoleninsky set of fields in licensed areas located in the territory of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra.

    Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft February 13, 2025

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Strategic partnerships key to catalyzing bank BNPL growth in the US, says GlobalData

    Source: Global Data

    Following the news that Swedish fintech company Klarna has partnered with JP Morgan Payments to expand buy now, pay later (BNPL) options for merchants in the US;

    Phoebe Hodgson, Associate Analyst, Banking and Payments at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

    “Just months ahead of its anticipated April IPO, Klarna is integrating its payment options into JP Morgan Payments Commerce Solutions platform. As the largest payments acceptance player in the US, surpassing Stripe, Adyen, and others, JP Morgan’s decision to integrate Klarna rather than scale its own internal My Chase Plan BNPL solution highlights the strategic benefits of collaboration. The partnership not only strengthens Klarna’s presence in the US but also boosts its visibility ahead of its IPO. Meanwhile, for JP Morgan, the alliance allows the bank to expand its BNPL capabilities efficiently, giving US consumers access to a proven solution without the challenges of in-house development.

    “As per GlobalData’s E-commerce Analytics, the US BNPL market is projected to reach a value of $240.8 billion by 2028, almost double its 2024 size. This exceptional growth has drawn significant interest from banks and financial service providers eager to capitalize on BNPL’s lucrative opportunities. While many have explored developing their own BNPL solutions, banks are increasingly seeing the advantages of collaborating with established BNPL providers to enhance their offerings and drive consumer adoption. Recognizing the value of these partnerships, the industry is now witnessing a shift in strategy, with banks working alongside BNPL providers to deliver more integrated and scalable solutions.

    “Beyond Klarna and JP Morgan, another major collaboration is taking shape between FIS and Affirm, introducing a BNPL option for debit card transactions. This partnership enables FIS clients, primarily banks, to integrate pay-over-time solutions directly into their digital banking and mobile platforms. By embedding itself within debit programs, Affirm gains further access to a broad network of financial institutions, deepening its influence in the US payments landscape.

    “As the second-largest BNPL provider in the US, Affirm has successfully built a powerful ecosystem centered on merchant ROI, seamless consumer experiences, and an intuitive app. These factors have fueled increased merchant transactions and market share growth. Through its partnership with Affirm, FIS can tap into this ecosystem, providing its banking customers with advanced payment options and responding to the growing consumer demand for flexible payments.

    “These partnerships raise a critical question: does BNPL function better as a standalone business rather than as part of a broader fintech stack? While time will determine the ultimate success of these alliances, the strong growth of standalone BNPL providers like Klarna and Affirm combined with banks’ increasing preference for collaboration, suggests that partnerships offer a faster and more effective route for banks to establish a strong BNPL presence. As such, strategic alliances are proving essential for banks looking to enhance their payment offerings and capture a greater share of the fast-growing US BNPL market.”

    About GlobalData

    4,000 of the world’s largest companies, including over 70% of FTSE 100 and 60% of Fortune 100 companies, make more timely and better business decisions thanks to GlobalData’s unique data, expert analysis and innovative solutions, all in one platform. GlobalData’s mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative across a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer, retail, financial, technology and professional services sectors.

    MIL OSI – Submitted News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: New Zealand life insurance market to reach $4.8 billion by 2029, forecasts GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    New Zealand life insurance market to reach $4.8 billion by 2029, forecasts GlobalData

    Posted in Insurance

    The life insurance market in New Zealand is projected to grow from NZD5.9 billion ($3.5 billion) in 2024 to NZD8.3 billion ($4.8 billion) in 2029 registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.0%, in terms of gross written premium (GWP), driven by increasing demand for whole life and personal accident and health (PA&H) insurance, as well as a growing awareness of protection policies, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    GlobalData’s Insurance database indicates that the New Zealand life insurance market is expected to reach NZD6.4 billion ($3.8 billion) in gross written premiums (GWP) in 2025, registering an 8.2% annual growth. Factors fueling this growth include an aging population, heightened health awareness, and the rising cost of living, which have increased the need for financial protection.

    New Zealand’s economy, primarily driven by agriculture and services, is projected to rebound with a real GDP growth rate of 2% in 2025, compared to 0.73% in 2023 and 0.24% in 2024.

    Swarup Kumar Sahoo, Senior Insurance Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Economic recovery, coupled with easing inflation and increased private investment, will support household consumption and drive demand for life insurance products. However, challenges such as high unemployment and inflation could pose risks to this growth.”

    Life personal accident and health (PA&H) insurance represents the largest line of business in the New Zealand life insurance industry, accounting for 65.3% of the life insurance GWP in 2024. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.9% over 2025-29, driven by rising healthcare expenditure and a resultant 10%-15% increase in premium prices in 2024.

    According to the Financial Services Council (FSC), the percentage of New Zealanders with health insurance rose from 32% in 2022 to 37% in 2023, indicating a higher uptake of health policy due to growing concern regarding access to quality healthcare.

    Term life insurance, which holds a 27.8% share of the life insurance GWP in 2024, is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4% during 2025–2029.

    Sahoo adds: “Term life policies are favored for their affordability and are popular for covering mortgages and personal loans. As a result, despite economic challenges, term life insurance remains resilient.”

    Whole-life insurance, the third-largest line of business, accounted for only 3.8% of the total life insurance GWP in 2024. However, it recorded an impressive CAGR of 19.2% during 2020-24 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.0% over 2025-29. According to Stats NZ, the population over 65 years old is projected to reach 1.3 million by 2040, which will drive the demand for whole-life insurance products in the country. Also, life expectancy at birth has increased from 81.6 years in 2015 to 82.9 years in 2024.

    Other life insurance products are expected to make up the remaining 3.1% share of the life insurance GWP in 2024.

    Sahoo concludes: “The lower life insurance penetration rate in New Zealand (1.3%) in 2023 compared to other APAC peers such as South Korea (7.4%), Hong Kong (China SAR) (15.9%), Japan (6.3%), and Singapore (7.5) provides ample growth opportunity to insurers.

    “However, the rising cost of living will result in underinsurance and hinder the growth of the life insurance market. To address this issue, insurers need to introduce innovative products and leverage digital technologies to make insurance more affordable and accessible.”

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Strategic partnerships key to catalyzing bank BNPL growth in the US, says GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    Strategic partnerships key to catalyzing bank BNPL growth in the US, says GlobalData

    Posted in Banking

    Following the news that Swedish fintech company Klarna has partnered with JP Morgan Payments to expand buy now, pay later (BNPL) options for merchants in the US;

    Phoebe Hodgson, Associate Analyst, Banking and Payments at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

    “Just months ahead of its anticipated April IPO, Klarna is integrating its payment options into JP Morgan Payments Commerce Solutions platform. As the largest payments acceptance player in the US, surpassing Stripe, Adyen, and others, JP Morgan’s decision to integrate Klarna rather than scale its own internal My Chase Plan BNPL solution highlights the strategic benefits of collaboration. The partnership not only strengthens Klarna’s presence in the US but also boosts its visibility ahead of its IPO. Meanwhile, for JP Morgan, the alliance allows the bank to expand its BNPL capabilities efficiently, giving US consumers access to a proven solution without the challenges of in-house development.

    “As per GlobalData’s E-commerce Analytics, the US BNPL market is projected to reach a value of $240.8 billion by 2028, almost double its 2024 size. This exceptional growth has drawn significant interest from banks and financial service providers eager to capitalize on BNPL’s lucrative opportunities. While many have explored developing their own BNPL solutions, banks are increasingly seeing the advantages of collaborating with established BNPL providers to enhance their offerings and drive consumer adoption. Recognizing the value of these partnerships, the industry is now witnessing a shift in strategy, with banks working alongside BNPL providers to deliver more integrated and scalable solutions.

    “Beyond Klarna and JP Morgan, another major collaboration is taking shape between FIS and Affirm, introducing a BNPL option for debit card transactions. This partnership enables FIS clients, primarily banks, to integrate pay-over-time solutions directly into their digital banking and mobile platforms. By embedding itself within debit programs, Affirm gains further access to a broad network of financial institutions, deepening its influence in the US payments landscape.

    “As the second-largest BNPL provider in the US, Affirm has successfully built a powerful ecosystem centered on merchant ROI, seamless consumer experiences, and an intuitive app. These factors have fueled increased merchant transactions and market share growth. Through its partnership with Affirm, FIS can tap into this ecosystem, providing its banking customers with advanced payment options and responding to the growing consumer demand for flexible payments.

    “These partnerships raise a critical question: does BNPL function better as a standalone business rather than as part of a broader fintech stack? While time will determine the ultimate success of these alliances, the strong growth of standalone BNPL providers like Klarna and Affirm combined with banks’ increasing preference for collaboration, suggests that partnerships offer a faster and more effective route for banks to establish a strong BNPL presence. As such, strategic alliances are proving essential for banks looking to enhance their payment offerings and capture a greater share of the fast-growing US BNPL market.”

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Polytech and Element signed a cooperation agreement

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    The St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted a ceremonial signing of a cooperation agreement between Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) and Specialized Developer Element LLC (SZ Element).

    The rector of SPbPU Andrey Rudskoy, vice-rector for additional and pre-university education Dmitry Tikhonov, academic secretary of SPbPU Dmitry Karpov, director of the Civil Engineering Institute Marina Petrochenko took part in the ceremony. The founder of SZ Element Andrey Skoblov, general director Vitaly Korobov, operational director Alexander Smirnov, head of PR Anna Teterina, assistant to the operational director Daria Ivanova were present.

    Andrey Rudskoy and Vitaly Korobov signed a cooperation agreement and a roadmap for interaction between SPbPU and SZ Element. The document includes joint activities to develop partnerships in the field of scientific, technical and educational cooperation: organizing internships for students of the Civil Engineering Institute, holding open lectures and master classes with the participation of leading specialists of SZ Element, developing a mentoring system and supporting talented students through grants, scholarships and research competitions, creating joint master’s and additional professional education programs in development and construction, and developing a MOOC course on modern construction technologies.

    The cooperation document that we signed is a continuation of fruitful work in the field of development of modern construction technologies and training of highly qualified engineering personnel with the aim of achieving technological leadership in the construction industry, noted Andrey Rudskoy.

    Limited Liability Company “Specialized Developer “Element” (Element Development) is a progressive developer of innovative projects in St. Petersburg. The company specializes in the integrated development of urban areas, implementing projects primarily in the business class segment. Its portfolio includes about two million square meters of constructed real estate. The company’s main projects are: an apartment complex in Sestroretsk “Bereg. Kurortny”, an ultra-modern collection house “Collection House 1919”, a new architectural symbol of the south of the Northern capital and an outstanding example of high-tech filling of premium housing, the Shepilevskiy residential complex. During its activity, Element has established itself as a promising developer, successfully implementing projects in St. Petersburg and its suburbs.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New Homes Accelerator call for evidence: response

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    A letter to respondents to the New Homes Accelerator call for evidence.

    Applies to England

    Documents

    New Homes Accelerator call for evidence: response

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    Details

    This letter is being sent to all respondents to the New Homes Accelerator call for evidence, which was published on 29 August 2024 and closed on 31 October 2024.

    Updates to this page

    Published 13 February 2025

    Sign up for emails or print this page

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub now delivered by Isle of Wight Children 13 February 2025 Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub now delivered by Isle of Wight Children

    Source: Aisle of Wight

    The delivery of the Isle of Wight’s Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) for children and families on the Isle of Wight is changing.

    As of Monday 24 February, the Isle of Wight Children’s Services will have its own Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), following the ending our partnership with Hampshire County Council. The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) is a collaborative initiative that unites professionals from various sectors, including children’s social care, police, health providers, and education. The primary goal of the MASH is to share critical information and make timely, informed decisions to ensure the safety and promote the welfare of children. By working together, these professionals can identify risks early, provide appropriate interventions, and promote the well-being of children in our community.

    The Isle of Wight Council, along with its partner agencies, holds a statutory duty to safeguard children and promote their welfare. This duty is fulfilled through coordinated efforts and a shared commitment to protecting children from harm. By leveraging the collective expertise and resources of all involved agencies, the MASH ensures that children receive the support and protection they need in a timely and effective manner.

    If Island residents are worried about the welfare or safety of a child they can report any concerns through the Isle of Wight Council’s website or by calling 01983 823435.

    To reflect these changes, from the 24 February the  Inter-Agency Referral Form (IARF)  will be found on the Isle of Wight Council’s website, and the Isle of Wight Safeguarding Children Partnership website. The link will be shared via email with all partner agencies

    Statement from the Director of Children’s Services

    ”We are delighted to announce that the multi-agency safeguarding hub for our children and families on the Island is now being delivered in-house by Isle of Wight Children’s Services. This significant milestone reflects our unwavering commitment to providing the highest level of care and protection for the children in our community.

    We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Hampshire County Council for their invaluable support and collaboration over the past years. We also extend our thanks to the Isle of Wight Safeguarding Children Partnership, their expertise and dedication have been instrumental in helping us reach this point, and we look forward to continuing our strong partnership as we move forward.

    Together, we are making a profound difference in the lives of children and families on the Isle of Wight.”

    Further information on what this means can be found on the Isle of Wight Council’s website.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: York furniture charity gets boosted through council-funded scheme

    Source: City of York

    Through a partnership between City of York Council and York Centre for Voluntary Services (CVS), charities across the city can access expert support to maximise their social impact.

    One of the charities that has benefited from the project is York Community Furniture Stores (CFS), which has tackled furniture and digital poverty across North Yorkshire for over three decades by collecting pre-loved home furnishings and selling them back to the community at an affordable price, with additional discounts availble for those on means-tested benefits.

    Through the Organisational Health Check programme, supported by the council through the nationwide UK Shared Prosperity Fund, York charities can access the services of freelance, expert consultants to take a detailed look at all aspects of their organisation and understand which areas could be improved. They then work with the consultants on issues that could include fundraising, HR, structure and governance, and develop strategies to help the charities run more smoothly, become more cost-effective and build future resilience in the face of the challenges currently facing the voluntary sector.

    York CFS initially sought help with a merger process, combining their three branches in York, Selby and Scarborough, but through working with Adrian Ashton, a consultant specialising in voluntary sector governance, developed a broader plan for the organisation’s future.

    Speaking in a new video celebrating the project, Katy Ridsdill-Smith, CEO of York CFS, explained:

    What I thought would be a relatively straightforward project – merging the three charities into one – has transformed into a larger organisational change programme which will include a rebrand, the launch of a bold anti-poverty strategy and a new organisational structure.

    “The support has enabled to us to think critically about the level of support we provide to our local communities and how we can be more effective in our work. It’s a really exciting time for CFS!”

    Alison Semmence, Chief Executive of York CVS, said:

    Our work with York Community Furniture Store provides an excellent example of how the partnership has enabled us to connect voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector organisations in York with specialist expertise, to not only support the sector’s ability to navigate challenges, but so that organisations can seize opportunities, grow their impact, and continue to deliver meaningful change across our city.

    Cllr Pete Kilbane, Executive Member for Economy and Culture at City of York Council, said:

    Like so many of York’s voluntary organisations, York Community Furniture Store plays a vital role in supporting the whole community, especially those who need great quality furniture at an affordable price.

    “Through this partnership with York CVS, who are experts in our city’s voluntary sector, we’re delighted to have helped organisations like York CFS become more resilient and run more efficiently, meaning they’ll be better able to support our communities for years to come.”

    To find out more about how York CFS benefited from the scheme, watch our video about supporting York charities.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: “Beryozovo” for employees of SPbGASU: a recreation center and the beginning of big trips

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – View of the bay

    SPbGASU employees and their families have a wonderful opportunity to relax on the shore of the Lehmalakhti Bay of Lake Ladoga in a historic mansion, which has become even more beautiful and comfortable after restoration work. We are talking about the departmental recreation center “Beryozovo”, which operates all year round.

    Over the long years of its existence, the base has already hosted several generations of our university employees. Many of those who once came here, then choose this place for rest again. Deputy Head of the Personnel Department Svetlana Goltsvart has already visited here twice.

    “I was on holiday with my husband and teenage daughter. The first time we went there out of curiosity: it was interesting to see what the recreation centre at our university was like, how the historic cottage had been restored, what the nature was like in this place. That’s why we only planned a 24-hour trip last July. We spent most of our time on the bay. Even the swings that my daughter had chosen had an amazing view of the lake. There was silence, calm and peace here. With such relaxation, the day flew by in an instant, and when we left, we already knew for sure that we would definitely come back here in August for a longer holiday. That’s what we did, and we are very happy about it,” said Svetlana Aleksandrovna.

    According to her, they booked a room with amenities, so thanks to the comfort and fresh air, beautiful nature, they had a pleasant experience and gained strength for a long time.

    Head of the Department of Structural Mechanics Nikita Maslennikov recalls how he used to vacation in “Beryozovo” as a child with his parents. At one time, his father headed this department for a quarter of a century.

    “I know this place well, but after years I wanted to visit it again, see how the cottage has changed after the work was done, and just relax in nature. My wife and I invited two friends for the company, so we rented two rooms. We cooked shashlik, fortunately there is a barbecue here, and swam. The advantageous location of the recreation center makes it possible to think over a meaningful, educational program of excursions both in the surrounding area and over longer distances. In the village of Beryozovo there is a Museum of Living History “Border Outpost”. Priozersk is nearby, where there are many attractions, including the Korela Fortress, founded at the turn of the 13th-14th centuries, Konevets Island, the courtyard of the Valaam Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, from where, if desired, you can go with an excursion group to Valaam. The city has a well-equipped beach. Also nearby is Sortavala, the eco-park “Valley of Waterfalls”. Thus, the recreation center can become a stronghold for a pleasant trip. That’s why my wife and I are planning to come here with our granddaughter. It’s already a family tradition for us,” said Nikita Aleksandrovich.

    He is sure that the university management will continue the course of improving the recreation center. He would like an equipped place for swimming in the bay, improvement of the territory of the center, a multifunctional hall for celebrations, expansion of the seating places in the kitchen and an increase in the number of household appliances there.

    “Last year we already started improvement work: we fenced the area, built the necessary outbuildings, and outlined further plans in this direction,” said Vladimir Solovyov, Vice-Rector for Security and Administrative and Economic Work at SPbGASU.

    “Works on the comprehensive improvement of the territory are planned: the construction of a small beach on the southern – the sunniest shore, the layout of a network of pedestrian paths in the hard surface, the placement of separate areas for recreation, sports games and picnics. Landscaping of the territory is also planned. Decorative shrubs, seasonal flower arrangement should create additional coziness and comfort for vacationers. We consider it necessary to provide for a children’s playground with modern play equipment,” explained the chief architect, director of the design studio of SPbGASU Svetlana Bochkareva.

    Recreation center “Beryozovo”

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Marat Khusnullin: Facade work on the new building of the State Historical Museum in Moscow is more than half complete

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    New branch of the State Historical Museum

    The installation of facades in the new branch of the State Historical Museum near the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow is more than 50% complete, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin reported.

    “Museum activities play an important role in preserving cultural heritage and forming historical memory. In modern conditions, museums in Russia are acquiring special significance, as they help to cultivate patriotism and strengthen national identity. The Russian construction complex contributes to the development of museum activities. A new branch of the State Historical Museum is currently being built in Moscow. The construction of the exhibition complex will significantly expand the exhibition space and attract more visitors – it will be able to receive up to 400 people per day. The roofing has already been completed, interior decoration is underway, and engineering systems are being installed. Facade work is more than 50% complete,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

    The central exhibition of the museum center will be dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Novodevichy Convent, which was celebrated in 2024. It is planned to begin the installation of the exhibition and its semantic content after the completion of all construction and installation works in early 2026.

    “Construction work in the new museum building is being carried out within the framework of the comprehensive state program “Construction”, supervised by the Ministry of Construction of Russia. The branch will be equipped with modern technologies, which will improve the quality of exhibitions and increase the level of comfort for visitors. The exhibition center will be equipped with the necessary display and stock equipment. All conditions will be created here for studying and displaying collections, as well as for the safe storage of museum valuables,” said Deputy Minister of Construction and Housing and Public Utilities Yuri Gordeev.

    The area of the modern building will be more than 10 thousand square meters. It will not only house museum exhibits, but also multifunctional and lecture halls, a storage facility, an excursion bureau, as well as premises for holding cultural events.

    “The construction of the new museum center started in October 2023. As of today, monolithic works have been fully completed on the site – all five floors of the building, including the underground floor, have already been erected. In the future, the territory of the center will also be landscaped with pedestrian zones, lawns and flower beds, which will contribute to the creation of a comfortable urban environment for residents,” said Karen Oganesyan, General Director of the Unified Customer PPC.

    The construction of the new exhibition and display centre is being carried out within the boundaries of the buffer zone of the Novodevichy Convent ensemble, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Media release: Locking gas out of Capacity Investment Scheme risks higher power prices and blackouts – Australian Energy Producers

    Source: Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association

    Headline: Media release: Locking gas out of Capacity Investment Scheme risks higher power prices and blackouts – Australian Energy Producers

    Australians face paying more for their electricity and increased risk of blackouts under the Federal Government’s deal with the Greens to keep gas out of the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS).

    Australian Energy Producers Chief Executive Samantha McCulloch said locking gas out of the CIS was at odds with the Government’s own advice on the critical role of gas in backing up renewables in the National Electricity Market (NEM) and for delivering reliable and affordable electricity.

    “Australia needs significant investment in new gas power generation to keep the lights on and power bills down,” Ms McCulloch said.

    “Instead of encouraging this investment, the Federal Government has again capitulated to the Greens’ anti-gas agenda and ignored the repeated warnings from experts about the critical role of gas in our power mix.”

    The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has found the NEM needs 13 gigawatts of new gas-powered generation capacity to be built between now and 2050, and that renewables “backed up by gas-powered generation is the lowest-cost way to supply electricity to homes and businesses”.

    “AEMO has made clear that gas is ‘the ultimate backstop for our grid’ and estimates that demand for gas power in the NEM will be almost double today’s levels in the early 2040s.

    “The Labor-Greens deal today to effectively legislate gas out of the CIS comes just weeks after the ACCC urged governments to fast-track new gas supply and investment by explicitly recognising the critical long-term role of gas in Australia’s energy transition.

    “Australia urgently needs investment in new gas supply and infrastructure to avoid structural shortfalls on the east coast from 2027 but mixed signals on the importance of gas only serve to undermine investor confidence.

    “State and Federal Governments continue to ignore the warnings, and as a result it is almost inevitable that Victoria and NSW will soon be relying on more expensive imported gas. Ultimately, it’s Australian households and businesses that will pay the price for this policy failure,” Ms McCulloch said.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Introducing $15 a day child care for families | Lancement d’un service de garde d’enfants à 15 $ par jour pour les familles

    As part of the $3.8-billion Canada-Alberta Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, Alberta is supporting families to access affordable child care across the province with their choice in provider.

    Starting Apr. 1, parents with children zero to kindergarten age attending full-time licensed daycare facilities and family day home programs across the province will be eligible for a flat parent fee of $326.25 per month, or roughly $15 a day. Parents requiring part-time care will pay $230 per month.

    To support these changes and high-quality child care, about 85 per cent of licensed daycare providers will receive a funding increase once the new fee structure is in place on Apr. 1.

    Every day, parents and families across Alberta rely on licensed child-care providers to support their children’s growth and development while going to work or school. Licensed child-care providers and early childhood educators play a crucial role in helping children build the skills they need to support their growth and overall health. As Alberta’s population grows, the need for high-quality, affordable and accessible licensed and regulated child care is increasing.

    While Alberta already reduced parent fees to an average of $15 a day in January 2024, many families are still paying much more depending on where they live, the age of their child and the child-care provider they choose, which has led to inconsistency and confusion. Many families find it difficult to estimate their child-care fees if they move or switch providers, and providers have expressed concerns about the fairness and complexity of the current funding framework.

    A flat monthly fee will provide transparency and predictability for families in every part of the province while also improving fairness to providers and increasing overall system efficiency. On behalf of families, Alberta’s government will cover about 80 per cent of child-care fees through grants to daycare facilities and family day homes.

    This means a family using full-time daycare could save, on average, $11,000 per child per year. A flat monthly parent fee will ensure child care is affordable for everyone and that providers are compensated for the important services they offer.

    As opposed to a flat monthly parent fee, Alberta’s government will reimburse preschools up to $100 per month per child on parents’ behalf, up from $75.

    “Albertans deserve affordable child-care options, no matter where they are or which type of care works best for them. We are bringing in flat parent fees for families so they can all access high-quality child care for the same affordable, predictable fee.”

    Matt Jones, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade

    “Reducing child care fees makes life more affordable for families and gives them the freedom to make choices that work for them—whether that’s working, studying or growing their family. We’ll keep working to bring costs down, create more spots, and reduce waitlists for families in Alberta and across the country, while ensuring every child gets the best start in life.”

    Jenna Sudds, federal minister of Families, Children, and Social Development

    To make Alberta’s child-care system affordable for all families, the flat monthly parent fee is replacing the Child Care Subsidy Program for children zero to kindergarten age attending child care during regular school hours. The subsidy for children attending out-of-school care is not changing.

    As the province transitions to the new flat parent fee, child-care providers will have flexibility to offer optional services for an additional supplemental parent fee. These optional services must be over and above the services that are provided to all children in individual child-care programs. Clear requirements will be in place for providers to prevent preferential child-care access for families choosing to pay for optional services.

    Cutting red tape and supporting child-care providers

    By moving to a flat monthly parent fee, Alberta’s government is continuing the transition to a primarily publicly funded child care system. To support high-quality child care, approximately 85 per cent of licensed daycare providers will receive a funding increase once the new structure is in place on Apr. 1.

    The province is enhancing the system to streamline the child-care claims process used to reimburse licensed child-care providers on behalf of Alberta parents. Alberta’s government is also putting technological solutions in place to reduce administrative burden and red tape.

    Looking ahead

    Over the final year of the federal agreement, Alberta’s government is working to support the child-care system while preparing to negotiate the next term of the agreement, reflective of the needs of Albertans and providers. Alberta joins its provincial and territorial partners across the country in calling for a sustainable, adequately funded system that works for parents and providers long term.

    Quick facts

    • In line with requirements under the Canada-Alberta Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, the flat monthly parent fee only applies to children zero to kindergarten age requiring care during regular school hours.
    • Children attending 100 or more hours in a month are considered full-time and parents will pay $326.25 a month. Children attending between 50 and 99 hours are considered part-time and parents will pay $230 a month.
    • Families with children attending preschool for up to four hours a day are eligible for up to $100 per month.
    • There are no changes to the out-of-school care Child Care Subsidy Program for children requiring care outside of school hours in grades 1 to 6 and attending full-time kindergarten.
    • Programs may choose to provide optional services for a supplemental fee. Examples may include transportation, field trips and food. Child-care programs are not required to charge parents additional supplemental fees.

    Related information

    • Federal-provincial child care agreement

    Related news

    • Alberta strengthens child care safety (Oct. 30, 2024)

    L’Alberta instaure des frais mensuels fixes de 326,25 $ pour les services de garde d’enfants agréés à temps plein, soit environ 15 $ par jour.

    Dans le cadre de l’Accord entre le Canada et l’Alberta sur l’apprentissage et la garde des jeunes enfants à l’échelle du Canada d’une valeur de 3,8 milliards de dollars, l’Alberta aide les familles à avoir accès à des services de garde d’enfants abordables partout dans la province auprès du service de garde de leur choix.

    À compter du 1er avril, les parents ayant des enfants de la naissance à la maternelle qui fréquentent une garderie agréée à temps plein ou un service de garde en milieu familial partout dans la province seront admissibles à des frais fixes de 326,25 $ par mois, soit environ 15 $ par jour. Les parents qui ont besoin de services de garde à temps partiel paieront 230 $ par mois.

    Pour appuyer ces changements et des services de garde d’enfants de grande qualité, environ 85 % des fournisseurs de services de garde agréés recevront une augmentation du financement lorsque la nouvelle structure tarifaire sera en place le 1er avril.

    Chaque jour, les parents et les familles de l’Alberta comptent sur des fournisseurs de services de garde d’enfants agréés pour appuyer la croissance et le développement de leurs enfants pendant qu’ils vont au travail ou à l’école. Les fournisseurs de services de garde d’enfants agréés et les éducateurs de la petite enfance jouent un rôle crucial en aidant les enfants à acquérir les compétences dont ils ont besoin pour soutenir leur croissance et leur santé globale. À mesure que la population de l’Alberta augmente, le besoin de services de garde d’enfants agréés et réglementés de grande qualité, abordables et accessibles s’accroît.

    Bien que l’Alberta ait déjà réduit les frais pour les parents à une moyenne de 15 $ par jour en janvier 2024, de nombreuses familles paient encore beaucoup plus selon l’endroit où elles vivent, l’âge de leur enfant et le fournisseur de services de garde d’enfants qu’elles choisissent, ce qui a entraîné des incohérences et de la confusion. De nombreuses familles ont de la difficulté à estimer leurs frais de garde d’enfants si elles changent de fournisseur, et les fournisseurs ont exprimé des préoccupations au sujet de l’équité et de la complexité du cadre de financement actuel.

    Des frais mensuels fixes assureront la transparence et la prévisibilité pour les familles de toutes les régions de la province, tout en améliorant l’équité envers les fournisseurs et en augmentant l’efficacité globale du système. Au nom des familles, le gouvernement de l’Alberta couvrira environ 80 % des frais de garde d’enfants grâce à des subventions accordées aux garderies et aux services de garde en milieu familial.

    Cela veut dire qu’une famille dont un enfant fréquente une garderie à temps plein pourrait économiser 11 000 $ par enfant par année en moyenne. Des frais mensuels fixes pour les parents garantiront que les services de garde d’enfants sont abordables pour tous et que les fournisseurs sont rémunérés pour les services importants qu’ils offrent.

    Contrairement aux frais mensuels fixes pour les parents, le gouvernement de l’Alberta remboursera jusqu’à 100 $ par mois aux parents pour les enfants d’âge préscolaire, comparativement à 75 $.

    « Les Albertaines et les Albertains méritent des options abordables en matière de garde d’enfants, peu importe où ils se trouvent ou quel type de services leur convient le mieux. Nous instaurons des frais fixes pour les parents afin qu’ils puissent tous avoir accès à des services de garde d’enfants de grande qualité, à un coût abordable et prévisible. »

    Matt Jones, ministre de l’Emploi, de l’Économie et du Commerce

    « La réduction des frais de garde d’enfants rend la vie plus abordable pour les familles et leur donne la liberté de faire des choix qui leur conviennent, qu’il s’agisse de travailler, d’étudier ou d’agrandir leur famille. Nous continuerons de travailler pour réduire les coûts, créer plus de places et réduire les listes d’attente pour les familles en Alberta et partout au pays, tout en veillant à ce que chaque enfant ait le meilleur départ possible dans la vie. »

    Jenna Sudds, ministre fédérale de la Famille, des Enfants et du Développement social

    Afin de rendre le système de garde d’enfants de l’Alberta abordable pour toutes les familles, les frais mensuels fixes pour les parents remplacent le programme de subventions pour la garde d’enfants destiné aux enfants de la naissance à la maternelle qui fréquentent un service de garde pendant les heures scolaires normales. La subvention pour les enfants pris en charge à l’extérieur de l’école ne change pas.

    À mesure que la province adoptera les nouveaux frais fixes pour les parents, les fournisseurs de services de garde d’enfants auront la possibilité d’offrir des services facultatifs moyennant des frais supplémentaires pour les parents. Ces services facultatifs doivent s’ajouter aux services offerts à tous les enfants dans le cadre de programmes individuels de garde d’enfants. Des exigences claires seront mises en place pour les fournisseurs afin d’empêcher l’accès préférentiel aux services de garde pour les familles qui choisissent de payer pour des services facultatifs.

    Réduire les formalités administratives et soutenir les fournisseurs de services de garde d’enfants

    En passant à des frais mensuels fixes pour les parents, le gouvernement de l’Alberta poursuit la transition vers un système de garde d’enfants financé principalement par l’État. Pour appuyer des services de garde d’enfants de grande qualité, environ 85 % des fournisseurs de services de garde agréés recevront une augmentation du financement lorsque la nouvelle structure sera en place le 1er avril.

    La province améliore le système afin de simplifier le processus de demande de remboursement des frais de garde d’enfants utilisé pour rembourser les fournisseurs de services de garde d’enfants agréés au nom des parents albertains. Le gouvernement de l’Alberta met également en place des solutions technologiques pour réduire le fardeau administratif et les formalités administratives.

    Regard vers l’avenir

    Au cours de la dernière année de l’accord fédéral, le gouvernement de l’Alberta s’efforce d’appuyer le système de garde d’enfants tout en se préparant à négocier la prochaine durée de l’accord, en tenant compte des besoins de sa population et des fournisseurs. L’Alberta se joint à ses partenaires provinciaux et territoriaux partout au pays pour réclamer un système durable et financé adéquatement qui fonctionne pour les parents et les fournisseurs à long terme.

    Faits en bref

    • Conformément aux exigences de l’Accord entre le Canada et l’Alberta sur l’apprentissage et la garde des jeunes enfants à l’échelle du Canada, les frais mensuels fixes pour les parents ne s’appliquent qu’aux enfants de la naissance à la maternelle qui ont besoin de services de garde pendant les heures scolaires normales.
    • Les enfants qui fréquentent une garderie pendant 100 heures ou plus par mois sont considérés comme des enfants qui fréquentent à temps plein et les parents paieront 326,25 $ par mois. Les enfants qui fréquentent une garderie entre 50 et 99 heures sont considérés comme des enfants qui fréquentent à temps partiel et les parents paieront 230 $ par mois.
    • Les familles qui ont des enfants qui fréquentent un programme préscolaire pendant jusqu’à quatre heures par jour sont admissibles à un montant maximum de 100 $ par mois.
    • Aucun changement n’est apporté au Programme de subventions pour les services de garde d’enfants à l’extérieur de l’école pour les enfants qui doivent être pris en charge en dehors des heures d’école de la 1re à la 6e année et qui fréquentent la maternelle à temps plein.
    • Les programmes peuvent choisir de fournir des services facultatifs moyennant des frais supplémentaires. Les exemples peuvent inclure le transport, les sorties scolaires et la nourriture. Les programmes de garde d’enfants ne sont pas tenus de facturer des frais supplémentaires aux parents.

    Renseignements connexes

    • Entente fédérale-provinciale sur les services de garde d’enfants (en anglais seulement)

    Nouvelles connexes

    • Alberta strengthens child care safety (30 octobre 2024)

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  • MIL-OSI Canada: Refocusing continuing care for the future | Recentrer les soins continus pour l’avenir

    [. As their needs evolve, it is important that older adults and vulnerable populations have access to the support they need to maintain their quality of life and independence so they can age with dignity. Over the next 10 years, the demand for continuing care in Alberta is projected to grow by 80 per cent, increasing even faster as people live longer and with more complex needs.

    Alberta’s government is establishing Assisted Living Alberta – the new provincial continuing care agency – as part of the province’s health refocusing. This will ensure the province is well-positioned to meet the future needs that are anticipated with Alberta’s both growing and aging population. Assisted Living Alberta will provide Albertans access to a comprehensive system of continuing care with a full range of wraparound services, including medical and non-medical supports, home care, community care and social services. This transition will allow the province to place a holistic social service lens on assisted living services to deliver care more effectively and consistently throughout the province. By taking this approach, individuals and families will have more options when they need care and as their needs evolve, helping older adults and vulnerable populations maintain their quality of life and independence.

    “As the need for continuing care services in Alberta grows, I am committed to working with health, social services and continuing care professionals to transform the system and ensure the new provincial agency, Assisted Living Alberta, meets all Albertans’ needs. This change ensures Albertans have access to a full range of wraparound supports to meet their evolving needs and maintain their independence and quality of life as they age or require more support.”

    Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services

    Assisted Living Alberta is on track to be established and become an entity by April 1, and will be fully operational by fall 2025. The new agency will align medical and non-medical supports and services, increase continuing care spaces, reduce wait times, and provide comprehensive wraparound supports for Albertans who require different levels and types of care. This includes both seniors in long-term care and those who want to continue aging at home but need supports to do so, as well as people with disabilities, individuals experiencing homelessness and other vulnerable Albertans who require temporary or long-term care. Refocusing Alberta’s health care system ensures all Albertans have access to the services and support they need, when and where they need it.

    “Improving health care services is a top priority for our government. We are committed to addressing the urgent need for enhanced assisted living services across our growing province. I look forward to working alongside the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services to bring Albertans more options and the high quality of care they need close to home.”

    Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Health

    Albertans currently receiving care, and those who need care, will continue to have access to the services they need. A transition committee led by Dr. Sayeh Zielke, author, cardiologist and medical director of Chinook Cardiology, along with leaders from health care, continuing care, social services and other local organizations, will provide the minister with advice to support this transformation. Committee members were chosen based on their experience, diverse perspectives, leadership and background in the continuing care and social services space. The committee’s work will be essential to ensuring a smooth and seamless transition with no disruptions.

    “It is an honour to be playing a role in helping transform Alberta’s continuing care system. Our goal is to put patients and clients first and give our front-line workers the support they need, which is why it is so important that we are taking the time to gets things right and consulting directly with Albertans.” 

    Dr. Zielke, cardiologist and medical director of Chinook Cardiology and chair of the Assisted Living Transition Committee

    Albertans are invited to share their feedback, support the stand up of Assisted Living Alberta and help shape the future of continuing care through online engagement that will be open from Jan. 30 to March 3 at Alberta.ca/lead-the-way. Continuing care providers and health care and continuing care workers will also have an opportunity to provide feedback through targeted engagement that will be open at the same time. Albertans’ insights and perspectives will help lead the way in improving the system to ensure it meets Alberta’s needs today and for generations to come.  

    Alberta’s government is making significant strides in its efforts to refocus the health care system. Assisted Living Alberta will be the fourth and final new provincial health agency to be established and operational. Recovery Alberta officially began operations on Sept. 1, 2024, with Primary Care Alberta ready to follow suit and become operational on Feb. 1, 2025. On the same date, Acute Care Alberta is set to become a legal entity. By creating four provincial health agencies to oversee the priority sectors of primary care, acute care, continuing care, and mental health and addiction, the province is putting patients first in every health care decision and giving front-line experts the support they need to properly care for Albertans.

    “The Alberta Continuing Care Association welcomes this transformational move by the Alberta government. By bringing social services, medical and non-medical supports, and continuing care together under one health agency, patients will be able to access wraparound supports for the care and services they need.”

    Feisal Keshavjee, chair, Alberta Continuing Care Association

    “Integrated health and social care enhances outcomes, aligns with the preferences of older adults, caregivers and practitioners, and underpins leading continuing care models. Healthy Aging Alberta and the United Way of Calgary congratulate the ministry on this exciting transition and look forward to supporting an integrated wraparound model of continuing care in Alberta.”

    Karen McDonald, provincial director, Healthy Aging Alberta 

    Transition committee members

    • Dr. Sayeh Zielke, committee chair – cardiologist and medical director of Chinook Cardiology
    • MLA Brandon Lunty, deputy chair – MLA for Leduc-Beaumont
    • Dr. David Stewart, member – physician, Family Medical Centre
    • David Weyant, member – president and CEO, Alberta Lawyers Indemnity Association
    • Robin James, member – chief administrative officer, Lethbridge Housing Authority
    • Feisal Keshavjee, member – board chair, Alberta Continuing Care Association
    • Karen McDonald, member – provincial director, Healthy Aging Alberta (and executive director, Sage)
    • Andrea Hesse, member – CEO, Alberta Council of Disability Services
    • Joyce Wicks, member – former nurse and seniors advocate
    • Ruben Breaker, member – councillor, Siksika First Nation
    • Arlene Adamson, member – former CEO, Silvera for Seniors
    • Salimah Walji-Shivji, member – KC, CEO, AgeCare
    • Irene Martin-Lindsay – member, executive director, Alberta Seniors and Community Housing Association

    Related news

    • Continuing care: Ministers LaGrange and Nixon (Oct 16, 2024)

    Related information

    • Refocusing health care in Alberta
    • Continuing Care Transformation
    • Online survey for feedback on Alberta’s continuing care system

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    • Watch the news conference
    • Listen to the news conference

    Dans le cadre du recentrage des soins de santé, le gouvernement de l’Alberta procède à l’établissement d’Assisted Living Alberta, l’organisme provincial des soins continus.

    D’ici 2046, un Albertain sur cinq aura 65 ans ou plus. À mesure que les besoins évoluent, il est important que les adultes plus âgés et les populations vulnérables aient accès au soutien nécessaire pour maintenir leur qualité de vie et leur indépendance afin de vieillir avec dignité. Au cours des 10 prochaines années, on prévoit que la demande de soins continus en Alberta augmentera de 80 %, puis encore plus rapidement à mesure que les gens vivent plus longtemps et avec des besoins plus complexes.

    Le gouvernement de l’Alberta établit Assisted Living Alberta, le nouvel organisme provincial des soins continus, dans le cadre du recentrage des soins de santé. Cette initiative a pour but de s’assurer que la province est bien placée pour répondre aux besoins futurs prévus en raison de la population croissante et vieillissante de l’Alberta. Assisted Living Alberta fournira l’accès à un système global de soins continus doté d’une gamme complète de services intégrés, notamment des soutiens médicaux et autres, des soins à domicile, des soins communautaires et des services sociaux. Cette transition permettra à la province de mettre en place des services d’aide à l’autonomie sous l’angle holistique des services sociaux afin de fournir des soins de manière plus efficace et plus cohérente partout en Alberta. En adoptant cette approche, les personnes et les familles auront plus de choix lorsqu’elles auront besoin de soins et à mesure que leurs besoins évolueront, ce qui aidera les adultes plus âgés et les populations vulnérables à conserver leur qualité de vie et leur indépendance.

    « À mesure que les besoins en soins continus augmentent en Alberta, je suis résolu à travailler avec les professionnels de la santé, des services sociaux et des soins continus pour transformer le système et veiller à ce que le nouvel organisme, Assisted Living Alberta, satisfasse à tous les besoins des Albertaines et des Albertains. Grâce à ce changement, la population aura accès à une gamme complète de soins intégrés pour répondre à ses besoins en évolution constante et conserver son indépendance et sa qualité de vie à mesure qu’elle vieillit et exige davantage de soutien. »

    Jason Nixon, ministre des Personnes âgées et des Services communautaires et sociaux

    Assisted Living Alberta est en bonne voie d’être établi d’ici le 1er avril, et sera entièrement opérationnel d’ici l’automne 2025. Ce nouvel organisme harmonisera les soutiens et les services, médicaux et autres, augmentera les espaces de soins continus, réduira les temps d’attente et fournira des soutiens intégrés complets aux Albertaines et aux Albertains qui exigent différents niveaux et types de soins. Ceci comprend les personnes âgées dans des établissements de soins de longue durée et celles qui veulent continuer de vieillir chez elles, mais ont besoin de soutiens pour ce faire, ainsi que les personnes handicapées, les personnes en situation d’itinérance et d’autres personnes vulnérables nécessitant des soins temporaires ou de longue durée. Le recentrage des soins de santé en Alberta permet aux Albertaines et aux Albertains d’avoir accès aux services et au soutien nécessaires, au moment et à l’endroit où ils en ont besoin.

    « L’amélioration des services de soins de santé est une priorité absolue pour notre gouvernement. Nous sommes déterminés à satisfaire au besoin urgent de services d’aide à la vie autonome améliorés partout dans notre province, dont la population augmente continuellement. Je me réjouis de travailler aux côtés du ministre des Personnes âgées et des Services communautaires et sociaux pour offrir aux Albertaines et aux Albertains un plus grand choix et la grande qualité de soins pour rester près de chez eux. »

    Adriana LaGrange, ministre de la Santé

    Les Albertains qui reçoivent actuellement des soins, et ceux qui exigent des soins continueront d’avoir accès aux services nécessaires. Un comité de transition dirigé par la Dre Sayeh Zielke, autrice, cardiologue et directrice médicale de Chinook Cardiology, ainsi que des chefs de fils des soins de santé, des soins continus, des services sociaux et d’autres organisations locales, conseilleront la ministre à l’appui de cette transformation. Les membres du comité ont été choisis en fonction de leur expérience, de leurs divers points de vue et de leurs antécédents dans le domaine des soins continus et des services sociaux. Le travail du comité sera essentiel pour ce qui est d’assurer une transition sans heurt et sans interruption.

    « C’est un honneur de contribuer à transformer le système de soins continus en Alberta. Notre objectif est de donner la priorité aux patients et aux clients et d’apporter à nos travailleurs de première ligne le soutien nécessaire. C’est pourquoi il est si important que nous prenions le temps de bien faire les choses et de consulter directement les Albertaines et les Albertains. » 

    Dre Zielke, cardiologue et directrice médicale de Chinook Cardiology, et présidente du comité de transition d’aide à la vie autonome

    Les Albertains sont invités à faire part de leur rétroaction, à soutenir l’établissement d’Assisted Living Alberta et à contribuer à façonner l’avenir des soins continus par l’intermédiaire de l’engagement en ligne qui sera accessible du 30 janvier au 3 mars à Alberta.ca/lead-the-way. Les fournisseurs de soins continus et les travailleurs de la santé et des soins continus auront également l’occasion de donner leur opinion dans le cadre d’un engagement ciblé pendant la même période. Les idées et les points de vue de la population albertaine aideront à ouvrir la voie vers l’amélioration du système en veillant à ce qu’il réponde aux besoins actuels et des générations à venir.  

    Le gouvernement de l’Alberta fait des progrès considérables dans le recentrage des soins de santé. Assisted Living Alberta sera le quatrième et dernier organisme de santé provincial à être établi et opérationnel. Recovery Alberta a officiellement lancé ses activités le 1er septembre 2024. Primary Care Alberta lui emboîte le pas et entrera en fonction le 1er février 2025. Acute Care Alberta deviendra une entité juridique à la même date. En créant quatre organismes de santé provinciaux pour superviser les secteurs prioritaires des soins primaires, des soins actifs, des soins continus et de la santé mentale et des dépendances, la province accorde la priorité aux patients dans chaque décision en matière de santé et donne aux experts de première ligne le soutien nécessaire pour s’occuper des Albertains comme il se doit.

    « L’Alberta Continuing Care Association se réjouit de cette transformation effectuée par le gouvernement de l’Alberta. En réunissant sous un même organisme les services sociaux, les soutiens médicaux et autres et les soins continus, les patients pourront avoir accès aux soutiens intégrés dont ils ont besoin sur le plan des soins et des services. »

    Feisal Keshavjee, président, Alberta Continuing Care Association

    « L’intégration des soins de santé et des services sociaux améliore les résultats, correspond aux préférences des adultes plus âgés, des soignants et des praticiens, et sous-tend des modèles de soins continus de pointe. Healthy Aging Alberta et Centraide Calgary félicitent le ministère de cette transition emballante, et ont hâte d’appuyer un modèle intégré de soins continus en Alberta. »

    Karen McDonald, directrice provinciale, Healthy Aging Alberta

    Membres du comité de transition

    • Dre Sayeh Zielke, présidente du comité – cardiologue et directrice médicale de Chinook Cardiology
    • Brandon Lunty, député provincial et vice-président – député de Leduc-Beaumont
    • Dr David Stewart, membre – médecin, Family Medical Centre
    • David Weyant, membre – PDG, Alberta Lawyers Indemnity Association
    • Robin James, membre – directeur municipal, Lethbridge Housing Authority
    • Feisal Keshavjee, membre – président du conseil, Alberta Continuing Care Association
    • Karen McDonald, membre – directrice, Healthy Aging Alberta (et directrice générale, Sage)
    • Andrea Hesse, membre – directrice générale, Alberta Council for Disability Services
    • Joyce Wicks, membre – ancienne infirmière et défenseure des personnes âgées
    • Ruben Breaker, membre – conseiller, Première Nation Siksika
    • Arlene Adamson, membre – ancienne chef de la direction, Silvera for Seniors
    • Salimah Walji-Shivji, membre – chef de la direction, AgeCare
    • Irene Martin-Lindsay – membre, directrice générale, Alberta Seniors and Community Housing Association

    Nouvelles connexes

    • Continuing care: Ministers LaGrange and Nixon (Soins continus : ministre LaGrange et Nixon (16 octobre 2024)

    Renseignements connexes

    • Refocusing health care in Alberta (Recentrer les soins de santé en Alberta)
    • Continuing Care Transformation (Transformation des soins continus)
    • Online survey for feedback on Alberta’s continuing care system (Sondage en ligne pour obtenir de la rétroaction au sujet du système de soins continus)

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    • Regarder la conférence de presse

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  • MIL-OSI China: Pact inked to share Chinese pop icon’s music with the world

    Source: China State Council Information Office 3

    Liu Huan, a legendary pop artist and music educator, and the Universal Music Greater China, a division of the world-leading music company, Universal Music Group, announced an exclusive global agreement on Feb 11.

    It is the first time that a major part of Liu’s body of work — both recording and publishing rights — will be united under one umbrella. The deal aims to further promote and preserve Liu’s musical legacy, while amplifying the cultural impact of Chinese music globally.

    A prolific singer-songwriter and dedicated music educator, Liu has made significant contributions to the evolution of Chinese pop music scene. His enduring hits have defined each era since the 1980s, including Wan Wan De Yue Liang (The Crescent Moon) and Shao Nian Zhuang Zhi Bu Yan Chou (Young Aspiration Knows No Sorrow), making him a beloved household name in China. In the 1990s, Liu cemented his status as a national icon through his songs and compositions for the hit television series Beijingers in New York, including the beloved hit Qian Wan Ci De Wen (Time and Time Again). Later in the decade, his performance of Hao Han Ge (The Song of Heroes), the theme song for the TV adaptation of Water Margin, one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels, became a cultural phenomenon. In the 2010s, Liu composed and performed the entire soundtrack for award-winning TV series Empresses in the Palace, which shattered viewership records and evoked nationwide acclaim.

    Liu’s status as a cultural icon is reflected in performances that have defined pivotal moments in China’s modern history. In 1990, he collaborated with female singer Wei Wei to perform Ya Zhou Xiong Feng (Mighty Winds of Asia), a song dedicated to the 11th Beijing Asian Games, capturing the spirit of optimism and ambition of the era. In 2008, Liu took center stage at the Beijing Olympics Game opening ceremony, performing You and Me alongside British soprano Sarah Brightman in a duet watched by billions around the world.

    Beyond his career as an artist, Liu Huan has dedicated himself to nurturing new talent and promoting original music. In 2012, he joined the inaugural season of The Voice of China, helping launch the careers of many of his students. In 2014, Liu spearheaded the critically acclaimed reality show Sing My Song, which spotlighted original music and introduced a new generation of singer-songwriters, producing a wealth of widely celebrated original songs. Furthering his commitment to musical originality, Liu established the Liu Huan Original Music Fund in 2019, a philanthropic initiative to support Chinese singer-songwriters, promoting the development and innovation of China’s music industry.

    “We are deeply honored to stand alongside Liu Huan as his chosen partner, supporting him in this exciting new chapter of his illustrious career. His ability to create music that speaks to the soul of a nation is unparalleled, and his enduring artistic vitality makes him truly one of a kind. With his trust, we are committed to celebrating his musical legacy, and together, we aim to promote the development of Chinese music industry, continuing to elevate the global impact of Chinese culture,” says Timothy Xu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Universal Music Greater China.

    “We are committed to championing local artistry as part of our vision for a diversified global music culture. Liu Huan is a towering figure in contemporary Chinese music history, and we are proud to support his journey in sharing his extraordinary music with the world,” says Adam Granite, Executive Vice-President, Market Development of Universal Music Group.

    MIL OSI China News –