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Otago Daily Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Govt's eye on supermarket sector after Budget
Finance Minister Nicola Willis. Photo: RNZ Finance Minister Nicola Willis says she will turn her attention to the supermarket sector after this week's Budget. The Woolworths and Foodstuffs chains dominate New Zealand's supermarket sector, and the government has said all options are on the table to introduce more competition. Willis told First Up on Tuesday the government had received a number of submissions during the Request for Information period, hearing from investors and prospective competitors on possible barriers to entry. "We've met with a number of major supermarket chains and smaller operators who have an interest in this area. We're now putting together proposals off the back of all their recommendations about what the next steps will be to get a better deal for Kiwi shoppers." Willis was confident introducing more players would lead to better deals on products such as dairy, citing current prices seen at the supermarket giant Costco. Recent Stats NZ figures showed a sharp rise in dairy prices over the past year, with butter jumping 65 percent. "What I know is that where you get a new competitor into a community it often lowers prices not just there, but at the surrounding supermarkets too. "If you look at something like Costco you can get a kilogram of butter there for less than $10 at the moment ... whereas most New Zealanders are paying $10 for half that much butter." Willis said the government would only consider breaking up the supermarket duopoly by force if it would deliver a better deal for shoppers. Film industry boost Willis conceded she had had to be convinced the $557 million boost to the film industry's rebate scheme, announced last week was worthwhile. "I'll admit that was something I was pretty reluctant to do, initially, because obviously that's a lot of money. But then I looked at what the consequences would be if we didn't keep up the rebate scheme that has been operating now across successive governments." Willis said it became clear that if the scheme was dropped, international film productions would stop coming to New Zealand. "Our film sector would die pretty quickly. You'd have thousands of people out of work." That would have flow-on effects for local economies and "stand in the way of growth", she said.
The Sun
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Sultan of Brunei keen to visit Malaysia for ASEAN Summit
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah today expressed a strong interest in visiting Malaysia, particularly to attend the upcoming ASEAN Summit and related forums. Malaysia's Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said the Sultan conveyed this during an audience granted to her and ASEAN information ministers at Istana Nurul Iman, held in conjunction with the 17th Conference of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) and Related Meetings here. 'His Majesty said he is very much looking forward to visiting Malaysia, especially with the upcoming ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and China Economic Forum taking place in less than two weeks, as it is a significant and historic event for the region,' she told Bernama. Also present during the audience were the deputy secretary-general of ASEAN for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC), San Lwin, senior information officials, and representatives from ASEAN Plus Three dialogue partners, China, Japan and South Korea. Teo conveyed her sincere appreciation to Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah for granting the audience and thanked Brunei for its steadfast commitment to strengthening regional cooperation in the fields of information and communication. Teo is leading the Malaysian delegation to the 17th AMRI conference, which concluded on Wednesday. The 46th ASEAN Summit, scheduled for May 26–27, will convene leaders from the bloc's 10 member states to address regional challenges, promote economic cooperation and advance the shared principles of inclusivity and sustainability. Malaysia assumed the ASEAN Chairmanship from Laos on Jan 1, 2025, under the theme 'Inclusion and Sustainability,' reflecting its commitment to fostering a united, resilient and forward-looking ASEAN community. This marks Malaysia's fifth term as ASEAN Chair, having previously held the position in 1977, 1997, 2005 and 2015.
Int'l Business Times
07-05-2025
- Automotive
- Int'l Business Times
CBP Pushes for Tech to Capture Faces of Everyone Crossing the Border by Car
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is seeking proposals from tech vendors for a facial recognition system that would capture and identify every person inside a vehicle crossing the border, including those in back seats. The goal is to match each face to existing travel or identity documents, according to a Request for Information (RFI) posted last week. CBP already uses facial recognition at air, sea, and land pedestrian ports of entry, but extending the system to vehicles has proven technically challenging, as Wired explained in a sprawling report on Tuesday . Environmental obstacles, seating arrangements, and human behavior hinder the agency's ability to consistently capture usable images of all passengers. A 152-day test at the Anzalduas border crossing in Texas, cited by the report as an example, revealed that the current system captured images of all occupants in only 76% of vehicles. Of those, only 81% met facial validation requirements to match with identity documents. "The current system is one-to-one facial recognition," said Dave Maass, director of investigations at the Electronic Frontier Foundation to Wired. "The risk is the system failing to recognize that someone matches their own documents." This differs from one-to-many facial recognition systems, often used in policing, which carry the risk of false matches. CBP has not specified whether the capture issues stem from the image-gathering cameras or the software performing the matching, as Maass noted, "We don't know what racial disparities, gender disparities, etc., come up with these systems." CBP's call for enhanced surveillance technology follows the recent disclosure that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has contracted Palantir Technologies to build a $30 million platform called ImmigrationOS, designed to enable near real-time tracking and analysis of undocumented migrants, particularly those who self-deport. According to ICE, the platform will integrate biographic, biometric, and behavioral data from various sources to identify individuals based on factors including country of origin, visa status, tattoos, and vehicle movements. The ICE contract was awarded without competitive bidding and justified as essential to addressing threats from transnational criminal organizations. Palantir, founded by Peter Thiel, has longstanding ties to U.S. immigration enforcement. ImmigrationOS builds on the case management system Palantir has provided to ICE since 2014, which already integrates a wide range of personal data, including from covert tracking devices and license plate readers. Though driven by the current administration's enforcement goals, Maass emphasized that CBP's surveillance expansion is not something unique to the current Trump administration.: "CBP surveillance strategy carries over from administration to administration—it always falls short, it always has vendor issues and contracting issues and waste issues and abuse issues. What changes is often the rhetoric and the theater around it" Originally published on Latin Times
The Sun
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Malaysia leads ASEAN social media safety guidelines development
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Malaysia is spearheading the development of the ASEAN Guidelines on the Safe and Responsible Use of Social Media Platforms, recognising the growing challenges associated with social media use. Leading the Malaysian delegation at the 17th Conference of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Information (AMRI) here, Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said that the initiative aimed to provide harmonised guidance for the region, produce a comprehensive report assessing social media regulations across ASEAN member states, and ultimately support practical guidelines reflecting ASEAN's unique context. 'We are now in the crucial phase of information gathering and expert consultations. At this stage, questionnaires have been circulated, and we have requested nominations for interviews and participation in validation workshops. 'These efforts are vital to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the benchmarking exercise, and they will significantly strengthen the quality of the guidelines we aim to develop,' adding that all ASEAN member states' contributions are essential and contribute to creating a safer, more responsible social media environment for the region. Teo said this in her remarks during the plenary session held after the opening ceremony of the 17th Conference of AMRI today. Teo noted that digital expansion had exposed users to greater risks, including scams, online harassment, hate speech, and disinformation. 'Moreover, different regulatory approaches from different sets of definitions and licensing regimes across ASEAN member states may lead to unequal protections for ASEAN citizens, higher compliance costs for platforms, and challenges in cross-border enforcement,' she said. As Malaysia prepares to assume the Chairmanship of SOMRI Working Group on Information, Media and Training (SOMRI WG-IMT) and the Task Force on Fake News in 2025, Teo reaffirmed Malaysia's commitment to building on collaborative initiatives, enabling every ASEAN citizen to navigate the evolving media landscape securely. She said a truly united ASEAN Community must be built on strong, inclusive, and trusted media and information ecosystems, calling for ASEAN member states to collaborate and realise the vision toward a resilient, responsive, and truly connected ASEAN by 2035. Teo also highlighted several significant ASEAN-led efforts, including the ASEAN Guideline on Management of Government Information in Combating Fake News and Disinformation, endorsed at the 16th AMRI in Da Nang in September 2023. It includes the ASEAN-Australia Workshop on Managing Government Information, held from Oct 1 to 3 last year, in Jakarta, which allowed delegates to exchange strategies and national experiences in countering disinformation, she said. According to Teo, key initiatives discussed at the workshop included the establishment of rapid-response fact-checking units supported by AI-enabled monitoring dashboards, the implementation of community-based digital literacy workshops and the integration of media literacy modules into school curricula. Meanwhile, guided by the AMRI Vision Statement 2035 and building on the achievements of regional efforts such as the Da Nang Declaration and the ASEAN-China Year of People-to-People Exchanges, Teo reaffirmed Malaysia's commitment to media cooperation, digital literacy, and content co-production. On the 17th Conference of AMRI, themed 'MAJU-Media Advancing Joint Understanding: Transforming Media's Role in Advancing Cooperation and Mutual Understanding in ASEAN', Teo said it reflects a collective commitment to transform media into a participatory platform that is inclusive, accessible, and responsive to the needs of all communities across the region. Also in the Malaysian delegation are Information Department (JaPen) Communications and Community Development Service Division director Muhammad Najmi Mustapha and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chief corporate and international officer Syahrilazli Mahammad. The delegation also includes MCMC director II (ASEAN and Bilateral) Fatin Nabiha Ab Aziz, Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) executive editor for International News Service Mohd Shukri Ishak, as well as other high-ranking officials from the Communications Ministry and its agencies.
The Star
05-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
M'sia urges Asean state members to propose strategic media initiatives under Asean Plus Three framework
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: As the designated country coordinator for Asean Plus Three Cooperation in Information and Media, Malaysia has urged all Asean member states to put forward strategic and collaborative initiatives to advance regional media cooperation. Communications Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa, in his presentation at the 22nd Asean Senior Officials Meeting Responsible for Information (SOMRI) and Related Meetings, revealed that no projects have been implemented to date under the Asean Plus Three Work Plan on Cooperation Through Information and Media (2018-2025). "We encourage all Asean State Members to take advantage of this support mechanism by proposing impactful and collaborative projects. "Let us explore project opportunities that could strengthen media capacity, promote digital transformation and deepen cooperation with our Plus Three partners," he said. Meanwhile, he said Asean-China cooperation has completed eight projects based on the strategic framework that was established under the Asean-China Cooperation, Work Plan on Enhancing Asean-China Cooperation through Information and Media 2018-2025. Among the projects completed were, 2024 'Asean Partners' Media Cooperation Forum, The 6th Asean-China Media Week and 2024 Asean-China Internet Spring Festival Gala. This includes Audio-Visual Program Dubbing and Broadcasting Project, led by Guangxi Radio and Television, together with RTM Malaysia, Cambodia's national television, and Vietnam Television. "The Work Plan on Enhancing Asean-China Cooperation through Information and Media was extended to the year 2025. This was endorsed at the 20th SOMRI and 16th AMRI in September 2023 in Da Nang, Vietnam. "The extension helps align this work plan with other major Asean documents, including the ASCC Blueprint 2025 and the Asean Communication Master Plan II," he said. Mohamad Fauzi said Asean and China at the 27th ASEAN-China Summit in October 2024 issued joint statements calling for closer people-to-people ties and stronger media cooperation, including content sharing, co-productions, and countering disinformation. He said Asean and China, in a separate joint statements from the summit, reaffirmed their commitment to building a sustainable digital ecosystem by promoting infrastructure, 5G, AI, digital security, and inclusive digital transformation across sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture. Meanwhile, Mohamad Fauzi, in his intervention, announced that the 4th Meeting of the Asean Task Force on Fake News (Asean TFFN) will be held virtually on July 23, while the 10th SOMRI Working Group on Information, Media and Training (10th SOMRI WG-IMT) is scheduled to take place from Oct 5 to 8, this year, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Earlier, the SOMRI Plenary Session began with welcoming remarks by Brunei's Permanent Secretary, Civil Service Governance Division, Prime Ministers Office Ajman Meludin. In his speech, Ajman said the theme 'MAJU-Media Advancing Joint Understanding: Transforming Media's Role in Advancing Cooperation and Mutual Understanding in Asean', reflect the grouping intent to affirm the purpose of SOMRI while adapting to the current global and geopolitical landscape. "So far, we have made significant progress such as refining the rule of law, enhancing the capacity of journalists, supporting government efforts in digital transformation, and ensuring inclusive and safe information exchange has be made so far. "Therefore, in this SOMRI, I seek your kind views and inputs for productive discussions under this theme, which we hope will not just have a profound impact on this year's outcomes but also be another milestone for SOMRI to build on in the future," he said. The session also saw the handover of the SOMRI chair from Vietnam to Brunei. Mohamad Fauzi is leading the Malaysian delegation to SOMRI, held here from May 5 to 6. Also included in the Malaysian delegation are Information Department (JaPen) Communications and Community Development Service Division director Muhammad Najmi Mustapha and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) Head of International Affairs Division Norhani Mohamad Adzhar. The delegation also include MCMC Director II (Asean and Bilateral) Fatin Nabiha Ab Aziz, Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) Executive Editor for International News Service Mohd Shukri Ishak; Deputy Director, Policy and Research at RTM Reza Shahriman Othman as well as other high-ranking officials from the Communications Ministry and its agencies. The two-day SOMRI began prior to the 17th AMRI which will officially open on May 7. The Malaysian delegation to AMRI will be led by Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching. On Tuesday (May 6), SOMRI will continue with the 8th SOMRI Plus Three (China, Japan and South Korea) and 5th SOMRI Plus Japan Meeting. - Bernama
