Items filtered by date: Tuesday, 02 December 2014

The Treasury’s New Zealand Export Credit Office (NZECO) was recognised for excellence in export support at the 2016 AUT Business School Excellence in Business Support Awards.

NZECO won the International Business Export Support category at the Awards, which were celebrated with a gala dinner at the Langham Hotel, Auckland on 5 October, attended by more than 600 business leaders and members of the business community.

NZECO’s operations were measured against a range of criteria which include leadership, strategic planning, workforce and customer focus, and processes for continuous assessment and improvement.

“We’ve worked really hard to listen to our market, and to improve our solutions and processes in support of exporting businesses. It is really satisfying when someone runs the ruler over your operations and confirms that you are the right track,” said Chris Chapman, Head of NZECO.

The Awards are the only national performance measure for New Zealand organisations that provide business support. Applications are judged by evaluators from the AUT Business School with oversight from the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation.

“AUT Business School takes great pride in these Awards which allow us to recognise and celebrate the best providers of business support in New Zealand. Without business support organisations and individuals, the performance of businesses here would be greatly affected and it’s important that we acknowledge the very important work that they do. From sales and marketing, and helping behind the scenes with everything from compliance and logistics to administration and maintenance, these businesses help keep our New Zealand industries running effectively and efficiently,” said Professor Geoff Perry, Dean of the AUT Faculty of Business, Economics and Law.

For more information about NZECO: www.nzeco.govt.nzFor more information about the Awards: www.aut.ac.nz/business/ebsa

United States is looking at a Restoration

“He was the heart, she was the head” confided a former Reagan-era cabinet member in a private conversation about the Clinton presidency. Yet otherwise Americans to any foreigner insist that Hillary Clinton will be new to the job. That she is running in fact as a first timer instead of running for re-election,.

Americans refuse to accept they are facing a Restoration.

The topic is taboo in the United States media all the way from the ultra-liberal East and West coast newspapers and television networks through to their right-leaning counterparts in the hinterland.

There are though several reasons for this code of utter silence writes our European correspondent:-  *Americans are secretly ashamed at the re-appearance of exactly the same kind of monarchical political dynasties that their constitution was specifically designed to eliminate. They were reminded of this trend at the outset of this presidential series when Jeb Bush enlisted with a view to following in his own footsteps to the Oval Office those of his brother, and before that, those of his father.  * Americans in fact cannot bring themselves to admit that a female, even in the role of a wife, was at least half the brain power in the Oval Office.*That even if the late Nancy Reagan was such a contender her influence was the accepted US apple pie role---that of supporting her husband in his work.

Hillary claims that there is a glass ceiling in regard to the Oval Office and given that for most of its existence half the United States population has been female the data supports her. It does indicate a mental block so reinforced that Americans cannot bring themselves even to think about the female politicians who have already led such nations as Britain, India, and Israel just to quote some examples.

Here is a pointer meanwhile to Hillary's participation in the last Clinton era..

In the run up to the first Clinton era Bill was against the North American Free Trade Agreement. Once installed as president, he actively and successfully sponsored NAFTA.

In the run up now to a second Clinton era Hillary has set herself against the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal.

Few doubt that if successful in her current campaign to restore a Clinton White House she will find good reasons to be positive about the deal once again.

A natural trade liberaliser, Mrs Clinton’s hand is surer when applied to politics in which practical considerations take precedence over ideology.

Her touch is less sure when applied to the abstract. An example remains the United States role in the democracy export business.

This became evident when as president Obama’s secretary of state she oversaw the US-sponsored Arab Spring. This turned out to be an example of the United States’ ability to turn a bad situation into something much worse.

Aside from NAFTA Mrs Clinton’s hand can be identified in a number of social shifts notably in the human rights category that were such a hallmark of the last Clinton era.

The reluctance of Americans to talk about their two-term Clinton co-presidency is however less of a mystery when viewed from a European stand point.

Europe has a history of executive queens. England’s Elizabeth 1 comes to mind. The United States does not.

The United States was founded by stern pilgrims with very definite views about the place of women in their society, and especially so in their government.

The influence of these wrathful religious founders is evident to this day to a European visiting the United States.

Yet it is not so clear cut for the Americans themselves steeped as they are in this un-bending puritan tradition. They still like to think that Bill, a man’s man if ever there was one, was the only decider. That Hillary somehow and for eight long years kept her own opinions, should she have had any, to herself.

From the MSCNewsWire reporters' desk - Monday 19 September 2016

Island State is Running Out of Patience.

Geopolitics penetrated Wellington last night when at the Republic of China’s national day celebrations there was let rip from the podium a scathing condemnation of Beijing’s veto of Taiwan’s right to participate in the International Civil Aviation Organisation conference.

The veto was calculated to hit the island state’s sensitive spot. Beijing’s official reason was that the veto was the response to Taipei’s recent political developments, writes our diplomatic roundsman.

In effect the ICAO veto snub was calculated to hit Taiwan in one of its newest and most important economic areas – tourism. In the line of Beijing’s fire was also cross-strait investment between the two Chinas.

Also conveniently in this line of fire was President Obama’s Asia pivot in which Taipei is the eastern fulcrum.

Even more directly in the cross-hairs of this is the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement signed off by all contributing nations in Auckland this year.

Beijing views many of these nations, Taiwan especially, as being under its own suzerainty and not Washington’s.

The Taiwan national day is off the beaten track for government people such as diplomats and also for the media.

Usually the event includes a brisk reeling off of the nations’ over achievement in defined areas of productivity, foreign exchange, and growth in general along with the way all this has harmonised with Western-style ambitions in multiculturalism and social equity.

But on this occasion the wraps were taken off and Beijing singled out for its obvious obstructionism.  Officially the Taiwan representation in New Zealand is known as the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office.

Taiwan’s official embassy which was in Burnell Avenue Thorndon was abruptly closed when under the direction of president Richard Nixon the United States recognised Beijing.

The official broadside at the national day was also a reminder to the West which is currently preoccupied and in various forms by the immigration issue and the problems it has spawned.

The United States tilt toward Asia corresponds and thus conflicts with Beijing’s parallel push into this area and simultaneously also into the MENA area, Middle East North Africa.

The strong and deliberate words delivered at the usually subdued Wellington celebration of Taiwan’s national day indicate that the temperature in all this is rising.

From the MSCNewsWire reporters' desk - Thursday 6 October 2016

Perfectly incorrect pseudo accounting term must be replaced

More on the weasel word

Dear Sir,

The term transparent is as your correspondent correctly observed is dangerous in that it conveys the impression of underpinning specialist knowledge. It is as if a person whose medical knowledge was confined to what they had gleaned from popular magazines and television shows went around cocktail parties telling people that they were in the best of health.

In fact even professional auditors sign off their reports with the qualification that their audit report is based only on the data supplied. 

Your correspondent correctly blames the word transparent on the false confidence prior to the collapse of New Zealand’s secondary banking industry.

In the event, neither were professional auditors in a position to divine the true circumstances of the submitted balance sheets. This was because of the accounting convention in which liabilities can be safely posted on the assets side of the ledger.

In the run up to the finance sector crash this took the form of unpaid interest which should have been written off appearing on the asset side of the ledger as an unpaid debt and thus as an asset.

The same goes for the original capital sum, by now clearly a bad debt, appearing as an asset.

Yours

James Springhall

As Holmes Group celebrates its 60th birthday, the business has updated its brand to better represent the synergies that exist inside the diverse engineering consultancy group.

With Holmes eyeing further overseas expansion, the breadth of services the group offers certainly opens upmore opportunities. Holmes Chief Executive, John Hare, said that previously each of the five subsidiarycompanies had their own distinct look that did not reflect the collaborative way the group works on behalf ofits clients.

“Now we have a consistent brand identity for all of the subsidiaries, giving us a much more connected lookthat builds on our strong collective Holmes history.”

“We have experienced considerable growth over the last few years and have doubled employee numberssince the turn of the century to more than 350 people. We’ve also expanded in Australia, established offices inSan Francisco and Los Angeles and just opened a new base in the Netherlands,” he said.

“There are plenty of opportunities to showcase our combined Holmes .  .  .  Continue to full release here

As Holmes Group celebrates its 60th birthday, the business has updated its brand to better represent thesynergies that exist inside the diverse engineering consultancy group.

With Holmes eyeing further overseas expansion, the breadth of services the group offers certainly opens upmore opportunities. Holmes Chief Executive, John Hare, said that previously each of the five subsidiarycompanies had their own distinct look that did not reflect the collaborative way the group works on behalf ofits clients.

“Now we have a consistent brand identity for all of the subsidiaries, giving us a much more connected lookthat builds on our strong collective Holmes history.”

“We have experienced considerable growth over the last few years and have doubled employee numberssince the turn of the century to more than 350 people. We’ve also expanded in Australia, established offices inSan Francisco and Los Angeles and just opened a new base in the Netherlands,” he said.

“There are plenty of opportunities to showcase our combined Holmes knowledge and expertise” Harecomments.

The five subsidiaries that make up Holmes Group are Holmes Farsight (building code and regulatory guidance),Holmes Fire (fire engineering), Holmes Solutions (product development and testing), Holmes Structures(structural engineering) and Holmes Consulting (structural and civil engineering).

“The company has come a long way in the 60 years since Lyall Holmes established his engineering consultancyin Christchurch. We’ve kept the same focus on quality and creativity that Lyall brought to his projects, and wehave strong links to our heritage—two of Lyall’s grandchildren now work at Holmes.”

“We have plenty of opportunity to develop—we are actively increasing our international presence, with muchpotential both in the United States and Europe. At the same time, we’re also looking at other areas of theengineering consultancy sector to grow the breadth of our total Holmes offering. We believe in a future ofcollaboration and harnessing technology, and that is where we intend to concentrate”, Hare said.

The latest New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA) Survey of Business Conditions completed during September 2016, shows total sales in August 2016 increased 8.65% (year on year export sales increased by 11.32% with domestic sales increasing by 4.49%) on August 2015.

In the 3 months to August, export sales decreased an average of 3.2%, and domestic sales decreased 0.6% on average.

The NZMEA survey sample this month covered NZ$314m in annualised sales, with an export content of 62%.

Net confidence rose to 22, up from 6 in July.

The current performance index (a combination of profitability and cash flow) is at 100.7, up from 98.7 last month, the change index (capacity utilisation, staff levels, orders and inventories) was at 101, up from 100 in the last survey, and the forecast index (investment, sales, profitability and staff) is at 109.2, up on the last result of 107. Anything over 100 indicates expansion.

Constraints reported were 67% markets, 11% production capacity, 11% skilled staff and 11% capital.

A net 33% of respondents reported productivity increases for August.

Staff numbers for increased 4.72% year on year in August.

Supervisors, tradespersons and, managers, professional/scientists and operators/labourers reported a moderate shortage.

“August has seen export sales bounce back into year on year growth of 11.32%, after two months of sales decreases, resulting in an average monthly fall of 3.2% in the three months to August. This is positive to see, particularly after the low result of -20.48% fall in year on year export sales in July. Domestic sales also showed improvement, after being relativity flat for most of 2016, growing 4.49% in August. Domestic sales decreased an average of 0.6% in the three months to August.” Said Dieter Adam.

“Manufacturers felt a boost in confidence in August, up to 22 from 6 in July, as well as increases across all three indexes measures, performance, change and forecast. The forecast index has hit the highest result seen since May 2004 – suggesting that looking forward, manufacturers and exporters are feeling confidence about the future, despite the ongoing global uncertainty. Within this measure, a net 72% of respondents are expecting a rise in their investment in plant and equipment in the next 12 months, and a net 72% are expecting a rise in average wages.

“Staff numbers in August increased 4.72% compared to the same month last year. This was the largest increase in staff numbers felt since June 2014.

“In terms of constraints on growth, market conditions remain the largest reported constraint, at 67% - this is slightly down on the 75% seen in July. This reflects the exchange rate level remaining at an overvalued position and continued uncertainty in some export markets.” Said Dieter.

For results table and historical series, click here.

CHR® Cling Films Tapes that Don't Stick

Now available in New Zealand through SWF Distribution, a product range that has multiple uses and application. From providing protection to surfaces through to being able to print onto the surface, the CHR Cling Films are a premium quality product that is designed to be easily removed and leave no adhesive while also being able to withstand surface temperatures of 218 degree C.

The Managing Director of SWF Distribution Mr Ross Eathorne says he is very enthusiastic about this product now being available through his company.” Being a Saint-Gobain manufactured product you can guarantee that it is of a premium quality with excellent performance criteria.” Eathorne adds.

Think about the ability to have temporary advertising or promotional information on your front windows or on inside surfaces and when you are finished with it you just pull it off. No more scrapping signwriting off for your staff.

You can reach Ross on 09 441 0040 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

New Zealand’s beleaguered developer ready with major global tech breakthroughs

Kim Dotcom might have faded in New Zealand, his adopted country that wants to evict him. But he is on fire in Europe with his Megaupload2 product which threatens to introduce a startling new tech innovation in the form of the marriage of file and money handling.

His new Megaupload2 product devolves into BNK2TheFuture (banking in the future) and Bitcache which is under the co-development of Englishman Simon Dickson of Bitcoin, writes our European correspondent.New Zealand’s latest information technology product takes the global IT industry into an entirely new sphere in terms of block size processing. The blocks being the size of the chunk of machine language that can be processed in any given split-second.

Traversing the block size bottleneck will give the new Megaupload2 the ability to process the mass micro finance/ file sharing transactions that gave its Mark 1 version Megaupload five percent of the world file sharing market.

According to Kim Dotcom the unique selling proposition of this new version from the user point of view will be complete security in terms of user identity and of content.

The scheme is to bestow economies of scale on content transactions in the entire news and publishing sphere which according to Mr Dotcom have both suffered from a mechanical inability to simultaneously issue something and then get paid for it.

In Europe Mr Dotcom is known as “Washington’s Most Wanted Pirate.”

He was originally settled in New Zealand, though nobody wants to talk about it, in order to ginger up the entire information technology sector which enjoyed a promising commercial start in the 1970s.

But since then the sector has declined into an import added value one. Or into sectors such as games where New Zealand has taken on a sweat-shop role.

In blending micro finance and file transfer Mr Dotcom, if still a New Zealand resident, will make up a troika of New Zealand international computer pathfinders. The other two being Leslie John Comrie of Papakura who invented the computer bureau and Bill Phillips of Dannevirke who invented computer modelling .

If Mr Dotcom can solve the block size bottleneck his place in volume trading and thus in IT history will be assured.

Meanwhile in the role of a prophet decidedly without fame in his own country, or at least, his ungrateful adopted one, Mr Dotcom may see certain changes in his favour in the New Zealand –United States relationship.

It will be recalled that for reasons that remain unexplained to this day, the original Megaupload server farms were located in the United States.

This gave the FBI the power to pull the plug on the entire Megaupload service. Then launch a campaign to extradite Mr Dotcom to the United States in order to face piracy charges.

What followed was the most picaresque series of judicial events in New Zealand history complete with a bizarre airborne storming of the Dotcom digs in suburban Auckland.

Mr Dotcom says that his new venture will attract the most “brilliant” information technology practitioners, and that he will remain constantly in the background guiding its fortunes.

From the MSCNewsWire reporters' desk - Monday 10 October 2016