Items filtered by date: December 2014

Restores National Party traditional era of Farmer- Prime Minister

Bill English will be the first farmer prime minister since Jim Bolger.

In selecting him for the top slot the National Party reinstates and restores a line which gave the appearance of becoming extinct.

Mr English will remain as prime minister at least until after the next general election.

With the Brexit/Trump syndrome in such recent memory the National Party will not make the mistake of assessing Mr English’s electoral popularity or otherwise prior to the 2017 general election on the basis of media opinion or poll samplings.

Mr English’s party branding as a farmer removes him from the now suddenly despised class of professional politician.

It is a breed that has now become especially vulnerable.

Populist, media-friendly, and extremely wealthy gadfly Gareth Morgan hovers in the wings promising to swat the category with the most effective instrument at hand, such as a new political party.

In the event, though Mr English, who is actually of Irish lineage, looks like a farmer and usually sounds like one. But his non-career politician credentials do not stand up to all that much scrutiny.

His time devoted to the family farm in Dipton was fairly brief.

It was sandwiched between Otago University where he earned a degree in commerce and Victoria University (English literature) before he began ascending the politico-administrative ladder back in Wellington as a policy analyst with the Treasury department.

The clue to Mr English’s seamless transition from trusted lieutenant to prime minister is the unqualified and public support from his long time boss, John Key himself.

Mr Key will have run the numbers on Mr English before his surprise announcement of his own resignation as premier.

It is the appointment though of Mr English’s deputy prime minister that will present the clearest view of the National Party line of succession.

The importance of this pick was underlined in the unusual-purpose press conference suddenly called by government transport minister Simon Bridges.

The National Party has a horror of things like primary campaigns and other such public personal preferment promotional devices.

So Mr Bridges had to weigh this up before calling his self-nominating press conference for deputy premier .

It was convened in order to notify the public that his hat was very much in the ring .

He knows that in the deputy premiership resides the post-Bill English leadership of the National Party.

The opening could be next year.

Or it could be much, much later.

Nobody doubts that should Mr English lose the 2017 general election, which seems unlikely, but given Brexit/ Trump, is nonetheless possible, the leadership will fall upon Judith Collins.

Mrs Collins MP shares with the late Margaret Thatcher, another non-career politician, a pre-political profession as a tax lawyer.

From the MSCNewsWire reporters' desk

David Shearer to quit for UN job

Te Rapa Gateway gains momentum with two new industrial developments

Global business calls west Auckland home

A new Zespri head office planned

New rules for trucks to increase productivity and safety

Prime Minister John Key named as ideal candidate to head International Monetary Fund 

English versus Coleman: 'Two horse race'

Holden reveals first pictures of the next-generation Commodore

High Commissioner to India announced

Ambassador to Spain announced

Global beverage brand approval to supply SCS Connect

Shanghai Maling completes purchase of controlling stake in Silver Fern Farms

John Key Fades Away-– a Market Trader Quits his Position at The Top

The distance between China and New Zealand has just became a lot closer today with the announcement of five new business landing pads now available for Kiwi businesses in China.

Five leading business innovation hubs in Shanghai, Chengdu and Chongqing have fostered a relationship with New Zealand based business FunderTech to open their doors to foreign businesses. The Chinese Local Government are supporting the initiative by providing shared workspaces while FunderTech will be providing a wrap-around support service for kiwi businesses to accelerate grow and investment opportunities. The deal provides flexible terms for up to 40 foreign businesses to establish at an innovation hub.

Incubation Hub Manager for Chengdu Ms Li announced the plans “Chengdu is the fastest growing economy in China and we need to continue to attract the best and the brightest people from the world to our city. With direct flights now operating from Auckland to Chengdu, we are opening a new gateway for New Zealand businesses.”

Kiwi businesses are being given an eye watering offer that is almost half the annual rental price of taking an office in the equivalent innovation hub in Auckland with a great deal more benefits.

Each innovation hub has something different to offer but will include a shared local Business Development Manager; a modern office space for three employees with room to grow; a range of modern office furniture; assistance with company registration; assistance with a multi entry visa application; assistance with establishing a business bank account; assistance with finding accommodation and some incubation hubs also offer a months free accommodation; unlimited wifi access; and regular social networking opportunities.

FunderTech Managing Director Rob Thomas said “Kiwis are amazing innovators but our businesses need to be closer to capital and consumer markets. Each city has a population of more than ten million people and it’s important to bring New Zealand companies close to the action.”

FunderTech Director David Liu also added, “The incubation hubs in rapidly growing China cities present a great opportunity for Kiwi start-ups. The enormous China market in bloom is full of both competition and opportunities, the incubation hubs are the active agents that can help Kiwis learn the rules of Chinese business games and prepare them to fly high.”

Mr Thomas continues “The decision to set up an office in China should be well thought through. There are a number of pitfalls that business can make when entering the market. However, the wrap-around service and the deal struck by FunderTech with the Innovation Hubs will provide an affordable and viable way to bridge the gap for kiwi business entering into China.”

FunderTech is also offering business support modules available to accelerate the landing process which include consumer research, product & marketing, manufacture and importation. They are also assisting businesses apply for Local Government Grants and introductions to Chinese Angel Investors.

Since FunderTech established its business in August they have taken five kiwi businesses into China. New Zealand founder of the NZ SME Network Tenby Powell joined them as the keynote speaker at the Chengdu Innovation Hub in October.

The next FunderTech angel investor roadshow is planned for February 2017, after the Chinese New Year, which will involve visiting Incubation Hubs and pitching to Angel Investors. For more information please visit the www.FunderTech.com website.

APL is seeking to capitalize on the fact China is New Zealand’s second-largest trading partner for exports and third-largest for imports.

CMA CGM’s newly acquired APL will begin a direct weekly service between North Asia ports and New Zealand from the end of December, increasing coverage in response to fast-growing trade with China.

The New Zealand Express II, or NZ2, service will increase its port calls in New Zealand to five to strengthen APL’s presence in the Oceania trade lane. With the launch of the NZ2 service, APL will have a network of six Oceania services that connect Asia with Brisbane in Australia and New Zealand.

“APL introduced the new NZ2 service to serve the China-New Zealand market in a direct and more efficient way. Compared to transshipment options, the NZ2 service provides our customers with dedicated and faster connectivity between the North Asia and Oceania markets,” said Tonnie Lim, APL head of intra-Asia trade.

The new NZ2 service will be made available through slot swaps on ANL’s ANZEX service, and will deploy seven vessels with capacities between 4,132 and 4,578 twenty-foot-equivalent units. It will complement the existing New Zealand Express, or NZE, service, with a port rotation of Shanghai, Ningbo, Chiwan, Kaohsiung, Brisbane, Auckland, Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, Napier, Tauranga, Hong Kong, and Keelung.

“The direct service will enable businesses to accelerate their products’ speed and access to these markets, as they seize new growth opportunities in the region,” Lim said.

New Zealand’s trade relationship with China has nearly tripled during the past decade, with two-way trade rising from $8.2 billion in the year ended June 2007 to $23 billion up to June this year. Annual exports to China have quadrupled and annual imports from China have doubled since 2007, according to the country’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“We have traded more with China since the free trade agreement entered into force in 2008 than in all our previous history, and growth is faster with China than any of our other major trading partners,” the ministry said in a statement.

China is New Zealand’s second-largest trading partner for exports and third-largest for imports. In the year ended June 2016, 17 percent of the country’s goods and services exports went to China and 16 percent of goods and services imports came from China.

New Zealand’s top goods export to China in the past year was milk powder, and has been since 2008. The trade ministry said at its peak in the year ended June 2014, milk powder accounted for more than 40 percent of New Zealand’s total annual export value of goods and services to China. Other leading exports are untreated logs and beef and lamb.

Clothing was the largest import during the past decade, but has dropped from around 16 percent to 11 percent of the total import value from China this year.

Also capitalizing on the rising trade between China and New Zealand is Maersk Line that in October inserted Tauranga on the westbound northward leg of its AC-3 Asia-west coast South America service, a weekly service connecting Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Peru, and Chile directly to New Zealand.

Leading the AC-3 service was Aotea Maersk, and its capacity of 9,640 TEUs made it the largest container vessel ever to call at a New Zealand port. The port of Tauranga has a long-term strategy to extend its freight catchment and consolidate its position as the country's leading freight gateway. Handling larger vessels is a key part of this focus and its shipping channels have been widened and deepened, to 47.6 feet inside the harbor entrance and 51.8 feet outside the harbor.

That long-term plan also included signing a 10-year deal with logistics company Kotahi that guaranteed Tauranga 1.8 million TEUs during that period.

Maersk Line and APL are members of the Asia Australia Discussion Agreement along with ANL, China Cosco Shipping, Evergreen Line, Hamburg Sud, Hyundai Merchant Marine, Mediterranean Shipping Co., Orient Overseas Container Line, Pacific International Line, Sinotrans Container Lines, T.S. Lines, and Yang Ming Line.

Article written by Greg Knowler Dec 07, 2016

In ten years, you could fly to the moon aboard a 3D printed rocket for only $10,000

Moon Express, the brainchild of billionaire Naveen Jain, has announced its first unmanned mission to the Moon will commence in 2017. Next year’s rocket mission will cost a whopping $5 million USD, but due to the Silicon Valley-based company’s use of additive manufacturing, Jain predicts the same mission will cost a jaw-dropping $10,000 in a decade. In other words, by 2026 we may be able to buy a return trip to the moon for only ten grand. And thanks to Moon Express’ partnership with the New Zealand-based Rocket Lab, we can expect that lunar rocket to be made up almost exclusively of 3D printed parts.

“We are now free to set sail as explorers to Earth’s eighth continent, the Moon, seeking new knowledge and resources to expand Earth’s economic sphere for the benefit of all humanity,” Moon Express tells us in a press release.

To refresh your memory, back in 2015 we saw the New Zealand company Rocket Lab unveil a rocket with an engine made almost entirely of 3D printed components. Named after the Kiwi physicist Ernest Rutherford, the Rutherford’s engine chamber, injector, turbopumps and main propellant halves were all produced using a unique additive manufacturing method known as electron beam melting (similar to selective laser sintering, or SLS). Coupled with the fact that the Rutherford is also the world’s first battery-powered rocket engine, Rocket Lab’s pioneering use of 3D printed materials means that the entire system costs an estimated 95% less than previously seen, opening the possibility of lunar voyages for anyone who can afford it.

Last year, the Silicon Valley-based Moon Express jumped on that opportunity, signing a deal with Rocket Lab for three lunar missions with their robotic, mostly 3D printed spacecraft.

It was only this past August, however, that the partnership got the official go-ahead from the US Government. Following a series of meetings with the FAA, the White House, the State Department, and NASA, Moon Express has now been authorized to travel beyond Earth’s orbit and land on the Moon in 2017.

The breakthrough maiden voyage will send the robotic spacecraft onto the Moon’s surface, “beginning a new era of ongoing commercial lunar exploration and discovery, unlocking the immense potential of the Moon’s valuable resources,” Moon Express says.

Moon Express co-founder Naveen Jain hopes these missions will teach humanity “to stand outside our planetary system and to learn how to live somewhere else.”

In other words, the interests of the Silicon Valley-based company run much deeper than just the lunar surface. “The recent discovery of water on the moon is an economic game changer for humanity’s future. Water is the oil of the solar system, and the moon has become a gas station in the sky,” says CEO Bob Richards.

“The sky is not the limit for Moon Express — it is the launchpad,” Jain states. “Space travel is our only path forward to ensure our survival and create a limitless future for our children. In the immediate future, we envision bringing precious resources, metals, and Moon rocks back to Earth.”

The company’s drastic visions still have a long way to go until fruition. But with the first mission chartered already for next year, Moon Express is optimistic for the future. If successful, that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for additive manufacturing.

Designed specifically for use in urban areas where space is limited and safety is a concern, AL_A’s stackable Pitch/Pitch sports fields turn athletic endeavors into a community event. The clear sided structures provide views for passersby, and for spectators, covered walkways around the pitches provide up-close enjoyment of the action. The pitches can be configured for different sports, including football, basketball and hockey, and for different sized teams starting with three-a-side.

Integrated lighting and stairwells, as well as the lightweight carbon fiber material, mean the pitches can be constructed and deconstructed quickly and easily. The design team envisions Pitch/Pitch structures to be used for time-limited events or for much longer, depending on the space available. They can also be used for other activities as well.

Sport connects people and creates community and new materials and designs are helping to make it more accessible. A shipping container that contains everything needed to build a community center and sports field is now available. And for friends wanting to watch a game together, a new virtual reality platform creates a stadium everyone can gather in. What other community services could be delivered in similar modular style?

A SpringWise sourced innovation

Global technology distribution giant, Ingram Micro, is now under the control of HNA Group, following the completion of the Chinese conglomerate’s $US6 billion acquisition of the US-based company.

The companies announced on 6 December that they had completed the transaction, seeing publicly-traded HNA Group subsidiary, Tianjin Tianhai Investment Company, take control of Ingram Micro.

The closure of the deal, worth $38.90 per share with an equity value of approximately $US6 billion, was first announced in February, and comes after a review of Ingram Micro’s finances by the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

On 2 December, Ingram Micro announced that it had cleared their final hurdle to the completion of its acquisition by Tianjin Tianhai, with China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange approving the deal.

"The closing of this transaction represents a significant milestone on Ingram Micro's path to growing our business and providing a full spectrum of global technology and supply chain services to businesses around the world," Ingram Micro CEO, Alain Monié, said.

"We are delighted to move forward with this partnership with HNA Group and excited by the opportunity to accelerate the development and delivery of an even stronger value proposition for Ingram Micro's vendors and customers globally."

According to HNA Group vice chairman and CEO, Adam Tan, Ingram Micro, with its supply chain management experience and technology solutions, “exemplifies” HNA Group's strategy of investing in companies with strong positions in growing markets in the company’s core areas of focus.

“Working together, we believe there are significant opportunities to continue to expand Ingram Micro's delivery platform and portfolio of solutions offerings into high growth regions and provide customers across a wide range of industries with greater access to new market opportunities,” said Tan.

“Today marks a significant step forward in HNA Group's efforts to create a global, one-stop provider of logistics and supply chain solutions and services," he said.

While Ingram Micro will remain headquartered in Irvine, California, following the completion of the deal, and continue to be led by Monié, the completion of the transaction sees Ingram Micro cease trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

It is understood that, with the acquisition finalised, Ingram Micro’s chief financial officer, William Humes, is expected to leave the company, to be replaced by executive vice president of finance, Gina Mastantuono.

At the same time, the company’s executive vice president, secretary, and general counsel, Larry Boyd, is also set to step away, leaving vice president and associate general counsel, Augusto Aragone Coppola, as a replacement.

The company had previously told its associates that HNA Group had assured that the merger should have no impact on its day-to-day operations.

‘A significant part of HNA Group’s attraction to Ingram Micro is our exceptional associates, including our management teams," Ingram Micro said earlier in the year.

"HNA Group has assured us that it is committed to maintain our associates, management and operations, including Ingram Micro’s offices, warehouses and other facilities."

The company also said that it expected, “very few, if any,” Ingram Micro positions to be impacted as a result of the acquisition.

“HNA Group recognises that the assets of Ingram Micro’s business are our associates and our trusted relationships with our vendor and customer partners,” the company said.

“Ingram Micro expects to continue to operate in the same manner with our management and associate teams in place across our countries and lines of business, serving our vendor and customer partners as usual."

Likewise, the company assured its staff that the deal was unlikely to result in the closure or consolidation of Ingram Micro offices, facilities, or warehouses, and that there would be no change in how it conducts business, operationally, around the world.

The local channel community has already expressed mixed feelings about the deal, with Arrow ECS ANZ CEO, Nick Verykios, previously citing issues concerning vendors and trade in China.

“It's going to be a political issue as well," he told ARN in February. "It's going to be awesome watching all this. Who knows what's going to happen."

Meanwhile, Dicker Data CEO and chairman, David Dicker, took the long view, simply stating that it would be “very interesting to see how it plays out in the next year or so”.

Ingram Micro’s new owner, HNA Group, is a Hainan-based global conglomerate with an industrial model structured based around aviation, tourism, transportation, logistics, and financial services.

It has in excess of $90 billion in assets with significant operations in countries including China, the United States, Singapore, Australia, Turkey, Norway, France, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, Ghana, Belgium and Netherlands.

Hasmate are a leading Health And Safety Management Software Provider, having developed a tool to manage health and safety, chemical management, human resources and training records, ISO 9001 records and more.  Since 2002, Gordon and Jan Anderson have refined HASMATE into a robust software application, using real world experience and development.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully today named diplomat Joanna Kempkers as New Zealand’s next High Commissioner to India. Ms Kempkers will be based in New Delhi and cross-accredited to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

“As members of the Asia-Pacific region, New Zealand and India have a close relationship,” Mr McCully says.

“India is our second largest source of skilled migrants and international students.

“Two-way goods and services trade exceeds $2 billion, and the Government has high expectations for the further development of India as a key economic and political partner for New Zealand.

Ms Kempkers is currently the Director of Protocol Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has previously served as High Commissioner to the Cook Islands.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully today named diplomat Andrew Jenks as New Zealand’s next Ambassador to Spain.

“Spain is an important partner for New Zealand and a key member of the European Union,” Mr McCully says.

“Spain is a base for a number of NZ companies operating in the region, and there is scope to further develop our trade and economic relationship.

“We also share political and security interests through our cooperation on the United Nations Security Council over the past two years, and our participation in operations such as the UN mission in Afghanistan.”

Mr Jenks has previously been posted to Ottawa, Jakarta and Paris. As Ambassador to Spain he will also be accredited to Andorra.