PM Edition: Top 10 Business Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for July 8, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Media Outreach

AEON Bank (M) Berhad is Malaysia’s first digital Islamic bank, licensed and regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia and the Ministry of Finance. Officially launched on 26 May 2024, we currently offer a suite of Shariah-compliant products and services for the Personal Banking and Business Banking (AEON Bank Biz) customers.

Our Personal Banking offerings are 100% accessible online via the AEON Bank app, where customers can activate and access the deposit Savings Account-i, AEON Bank x Visa Debit Card-i, Personal Financing-i, Term Deposit-i, Savings Pot, DuitNow QR, Zakat, Takaful, JomPay, utility bill payments, as well as a range of digital payment services with strategic partners and merchants. Moreover, AEON Bank has developed the Neko Missions, Malaysia’s first gamified digital banking interactive rewards programme and ‘Neko Sensei’, the AI-powered personal financial coach.

On 8 August 2025, AEON Bank (M) Berhad officially introduced AEON Bank Biz with the integrated cash management capabilities anchored by the Business Current Account-i, alongside Biz Term Deposit-i, Biz QR, Term Financing-i and Working Capital Financing-i. AEON Bank Biz focuses on streamlined processes for account onboarding, credit assessments and financial services, utilising AI-driven fintech solutions to enable simplified procedures, faster approvals, and an enhanced digital banking experience for businesses in Malaysia.

For eligible deposit-based products under AEON Bank and AEON Bank Biz, such as the Savings Account-i, Savings Pot, Term Deposit-i, Business Current Account-i and Biz Term Deposit-i, the deposits are protected up to RM250,000 per depositor. AEON Bank is a member of Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM) and the deposit protection is automatic and free.

Being part of the AEON Group conglomerate, AEON Bank (M) Berhad is equally held by AEON Financial Service Co. Ltd. (AFS Japan) and AEON Credit Service (M) Berhad (ACSM). AFS Japan is responsible for the AEON Group’s financial services businesses, with strong roots in the retail sector which operates in Japan and 10 countries across Asia. AEON Group is Japan’s largest retail group and it is a pure holding company that comprises eight core businesses.

AEON Group Malaysia consists of several entities, namely, AEON Co. (M) Bhd, AEON Credit Service (M) Berhad, AEON Bank (M) Berhad, AEON BiG (M) Sdn Bhd, AEON Fantasy (M) Sdn Bhd, AEON Delight (M) Sdn Bhd, AEON Global Supply Chain Sdn Bhd and Malaysian AEON Foundation (MAF). AEON Group has been a recognisable household brand with more than 200 years of history and evolution in Japan since the Edo era, along with 4 decades of growth in Malaysia, providing consumers with daily financial solutions and diversified retail convenience.

Our cloud native agility and AI optimisation, combined with the strength of our Shariah finance DNA, Malaysian tenacity and Japanese roots are our distinguishing factors, while the integration across the AEON ecosystem gives us a competitive advantage of being the only bank in Malaysia with its own nationwide retail network. On top of that, AEON Points loyalty programme offers customers value-added benefits and meaningful rewards for their online shopping and in-store purchases.

AEON Bank (M) Berhad is committed to empowering the community in pursuing their financial aspirations and achieve economic independence, while cultivating a more inclusive financial future for all. We will continue to contribute towards positioning Malaysia as the Islamic banking hub in the region and fostering the growth of the nation’s digital economy.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Media Outreach

Core Grade A Offices Lead Rental Recovery, Hong Kong Island High Streets Outperform Kowloon

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: New Zealand First

Introduction

Good afternoon and thank you for being here today.

First, thank you to Stuart Nash New Zealand First candidate for Napier, and Taine Randell New Zealand First candidate for Tukituki, for hosting us here in the Hawkes Bay today.

Stu and Taine are standing in Hawkes Bay electorates representing New Zealand First to bring hope for a different direction for the Bay.

Afterall, what have the current MPs don’t for this area over the past three years?

This election is going to be one like no other. There is a sea change happening around the world and it is happening here in New Zealand too – people are sick of the pendulum swing between Pepsi and Coke – they are voting for people who are not afraid to tell it like it is, for people who are offering hope for a change from the old party status quo of the past forty years that has failed to focus on ordinary hardworking kiwi battlers. 

Stu and Taine have a real chance here in the Bay to turn things around, but we need you to give us the tools to get the job done.

New Zealand First in Hawkes Bay

The government is investing in a racecourse transformation in the Hawkes Bay to help free up prime land for homes in Hastings. The project represents just over $77 million in the region, with a $20 million loan from the RIF and $57 million in co-funding from Hawkes Bay Racing, and NZ Thoroughbred Racing.

This will enable the development of homes where they are needed, create jobs for locals, and retain a valuable racing industry asset which has contributed to the local economy for over 150 years. 

We are going to relocate the racecourse and the new venue will be a state of the art hub for racing, equestrian sport, and community events.

Its modern racetrack will accommodate double the race meetings held previously.

The project will create more than 400 fulltime construction jobs during its construction phase, and once completed, the racecourse will sustain around 270 jobs across the local racing industry. 

It’s not just about bricks and mortar, it’s a boost to the Hawkes Bay economy.

An Election Like No Other

The election is a little over four months away, and we will start to see the other parties reverting to type, as they always do at election time, with no direction, plan, or policy that will give New Zealand the real change that we need to lead us out of the political swamp we find ourselves in.

There is a difference in this election that we haven’t seen in a long time. Kiwis are looking at what parties are offering as their values and principles in these uncertain times.

There will be the inevitable policies and promises made, and they are important, but kiwis are looking to a party that stands with them in their core values – that will change the current pathway we are on as a country. 

Labour

In the last few weeks, the Labour Party did something they haven’t done for the last the three years – they decided to announce some grand election policies, if you can call them policies, and the only thing that was ‘grand’ about them was how shallow they were.

They have announced three policies of “free stuff”.

They want to give “free” public transport above $20, “free” doctor visits, and now “free” pre-natal scans.

It took a bonfire of useless old policy, then two and half years, a lame excuse to wait for the budget, and all Labour could come up with was more “free” stuff.

Here’s a newsflash for the Labour Party: “Free” actually means taxpayers pay for it – because whether Labour understands it or not, money doesn’t grow on trees. And guess what. People who get the free stuff are the same taxpayers and workers who are going to pay for it. 

The fact is Labour Party no longer represents the workers.

The spiritual home of the Labour Party is the West Coast – the site of the miners’ strike in 1908 which gave rise to the party that once represented workers of New Zealand – the gold miners, the coal miners, the labourers, the foresters, the fishers, the hard working blue-collar battlers of our country. 

They represented those workers in the very industries which have now become the anathema of who and what the Labour Party represents today. Today Labour hates those industries.

The problem for Labour is they are now just the party of the ‘Professional Managerial Class’.

Look at their front bench, or their party list, and they can’t put half a Cabinet together. 

What’s worse, is those Labour MPs who somehow have made their way to the front bench have no real-life experience, no business experience, and no work experience.

Here is something about the Labour Party that voters will never forget.

The last three years of the Labour government oversaw a deteriorating economy, deteriorating education and health systems, worsening law and order on our streets, ramraids everywhere, massively increased debt, record immigration, crumbling infrastructure, a cost-of-living crisis, and a hugely divided society.

It shows just how far the Labour Party has descended away from its origins, and just how clearly they have abandoned the very people and industries who formed their party over a hundred and ten years ago.

Their focus now is on issues such as race and drumming up social justice rhetoric that only serves to divide our country and ignores the vast majority of New Zealanders who just want a functioning health system, a top-class education for their kids, first world wages, and an affordable home. 

They are now a party of lanyard wearing socialists who walk around in comfortable shoes.

For all those old school, egalitarian, common sense Labour voters out there who feel abandoned, you’ve only got one place to come, there is only one real party for the hard working, blue collar conservative kiwis, and you’re looking at it.

Why? Because New Zealand First has a working-class background.

Greens

As for the Greens – they are nuttier than squirrel scat and have the political IQ of mung beans.

They have proven themselves to be the most hypocritical, shallow, vacuous bunch of Marxists.

They have gone through more MPs than they have protests.

The biggest problem that the Greens have is their name. They are not a Green Party anymore.  They are no comparison to Rod Donald or Jannette Fitzsimons – who, despite all of their flaws, stood up, had a purpose, and had principles.

They have mostly forgotten the environment, they are more worried about pronouns and protests.

The Greens neither care nor understand the reality of our economic and social future as a country. 

They decided to foolishly wade into economics last week. 

They sent out a press release and confused $500 million, with $500 billion. Even the newest intern would know how ridiculous that number is, yet they put it out without hesitation.

Then they decided in their wisdom to put out their own budget. Then had to recall it and issue a correction because their calculations were out by $400 million. Then, not long after that, they had to recall that as well, and issue another correction because they found out they were actually out by $800 million. 

But here is arrogance for you.  They then virtue signalled “Well, at least we are transparent about our mistakes”.

They are economic morons. The Greens trying to come up with economic policy is like a bunch of kids trying to start a fire with gasoline and a blowtorch because they saw it work in a movie once. 

The truth is they care more about wokeness, unicorns, and a geopolitical war happening on the other side of the world that they know nothing about.  Just look at how few questions they ask about climate or the environment. 

The Green Party of just twenty years ago has morphed from an environmentally focussed party, with at least some values to back that up, to a Red-Party, valueless, rudderless, who think that anyone that disagrees with them is evil and should be shouted down.

The Māori Party

The Māori Party has to be a massive disappointed for Maoridom. 

They are a bunch of radical racists who wear cowboy hats and half the South Island’s pounamu around their necks. 

They think representing Māori means doing a haka in parliament and turning up twice a month. 

What have they done for Māori in the past three years? Zero.

They are currently polling at 1.5%. They claim that 17% of New Zealand population are Māori, so that means that not even ten percent of Māori even vote for them. Who do they represent exactly?

But get this, now they are actively telling Māori on the Māori roll to not party vote for them, but to party vote Labour or Greens. 

They keep up this pretence of the Māori roll, Māori seats, and Māori vote as being essential to the representation of Māori as some sort of principled position, yet they are wanting now to use Māori voters as a pawn to flippantly undermine democracy.

It just highlights what a disgrace they are to democracy and to Maoridom.

They will be lucky to win one seat this election if any at all. But we still see all these moronic mainstream media polls still counting the Māori Party as having six seats. 

They don’t even have six seats now. A third of their MPs have had enough and left the party already.

The point of this, is that no matter how much we point out how utterly disastrous the Greens and Māori Party would be for our country, the Labour Party would happily work with the mung beans and cowboy hats to get into power.

Think about that for a second.

And just quietly, for the umpteenth time.  New Zealand First will not be going with Labour. So the media can stop asking me “gripper” questions.

You know what a “gripper” is don’t you? It’s a wanker that won’t let go.

New Zealand First

Reflecting back, at this time before the last election, no one gave our party any chance of getting back to parliament.  Today, we are here, and the question for the media is no longer – if we will get back, its ‘how many seats will we get?’

Well, we’ve got news for everyone, and this time it’s all good.  We will turn these current media polls into confetti.

We have been working hard over the past two and a half years to build our machine for this campaign.

We are on a pathway to a major shift in the political landscape.

We have the team.  We have the candidates. We have the party, and we have the growing support of kiwis.

This year have been packing the halls around the country with ordinary hardworking kiwi battlers who see the only party talking common sense.

They all see what makes New Zealand First different from every other party.

We are the only socially conservative party.

We are the only nationalist party. That’s nationalist with a capital “N”.

We are the only patriotic party – a word that is now so often criticised.  We stand proud to be patriots of New Zealand. 

What’s most important, is that we are the only party that can counter-balance the present spectrum of extremists in parliament.

New Zealand First is not just running in another election this year, we intend to turn this election on its head.

Bold policies

New Zealand First started travelling around the country, packing the halls, and talking to the people earlier this year, because we knew this was going to be a long campaign.

We have already announced a number of election policies that we believe are needed to affect real change in the direction of the country and for the prosperity of kiwis.

We have announced policies to break up the power companies, split the supermarket duopoly, re-establish a competitive state owned bank, return mining royalties created in the regions back to the regions, we announced our KiwiSaver policy of making it compulsory with automatic sign-up at birth $1000 kickstart.

By the way this was a full month before National decided to steal our KiwiSaver policy and claim it as their own.  

We have bold policies. But bold policies are needed to create a fair playing field in the power, food, and banking systems so we can make real change to kiwis lives, drive down the cost of living, give kiwis a fair go, and take back control of our country.

Paris Accord

A few weeks ago the Prime Minister said that National will be doing its best to honour the Paris obligations. If that’s true, up to $22 billion of our hard-earned taxpayers’ money is going offshore.

It’s just common sense that instead of draining our money offshore, into foreign economies, we invest it looking after our own environment. 

And New Zealand First is the only party that believes that.

We need to look at the illogical state of what the Paris Accord actually means. Around sixty percent of the worlds CO2 emissions come from four countries – China, United States, Russia, and India. New Zealand’s emissions amount to only around 0.17%.

Why are we making a rod for our own backs, punishing our farmers and our taxpayers and our economy, when China or the US could sneeze and produce more CO2 overnight than we do in a year? 

Here is what a lot of people don’t know.  China built more than 50 large coal powered power plants just last year – that’s one a week. And what did the Labour Party do? Ban coal. Close down Marsden Point. What are the Greens doing? Screaming blue-murder that the world is going to end because New Zealand isn’t cutting our emissions enough.  These MPs are taking us for suckers.

Just two weeks ago, the former longest serving Labour Party PM in the UK, Tony Blair, made a similar statement to New Zealand First’s about what the world needs to do on the Paris Accord. The world is catching on and we are going to get left behind in crippling debt and a swamp of regulations on our productive sector if we remain signed up to the Paris Agreement.

We need to stop this nonsense.

New Zealand First is saying we need to get out of the Paris Accord altogether – and we will campaign on this issue in this election.

India Free Trade Agreement

New Zealand First is against the Indian Free Trade Agreement, for good reason. It is not the ‘great deal’ that has been portrayed by political parties and the media.

Here are four of the reasons why we are against this deal and the disastrous impact it will have on our country. 

1. The FTA that you have been told about, has unprecedented immigration settings including uncapped student numbers with working rights and 5000 visa holders entering New Zealand able to bring in families with them – which increases that number to 20,000+ at any one time. This is in addition to other uncapped immigration work visa pathways within the agreement. 

The Indian Government has described the FTA as providing mobility opportunities for Indian professionals, students and has noted that the temporary employment opportunities offered to Indian citizens are unprecedented. They have said our offer to India on temporary employment visas is more generous than we’ve made to any other FTA partner. We are simply asking: Why have we been more generous on migration with India than in any other FTA? Why has migration been made one of centrepieces of what is meant to be a free trade deal, not a free migration deal?

2. The UN co-governance framework UNDRIP, the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People, is in the agreement. This is the provision that created He Puapua and co-governance being embedded in our country. And special rights based on race.

3. The Paris Agreement is in the FTA – with possibly up to $22 billion being sent overseas. 

4. New Zealand must promote $33 billion of investment into India over just the next 15 years, otherwise India may claw back the agreement. Billions of our dollars into a foreign country when we are desperate for investment here in New Zealand. 

National, Act, and Labour have agreed to this Indian FTA for short term headline gains with basic and substantial long-term flaws and losses.

They are even now just realising New Zealand First was right about the immigration numbers and they are now trying to change the default immigration rules – but why just for India? Why not now put immigration restrictions in across all FTA partners and immigration.

Only New Zealand First is fighting against this FTA.

UNDRIP Clause

Who put the Paris Accord in the FTA? Because India certainly didn’t ask for it.

Who demanded the clause stating the recognition of UNDRIP was put in the FTA? India wouldn’t have because they don’t even recognise the concept of “indigenous people” in their country. 

This is the same UNDRIP that started the He Puapua report, remember that? And the He Puapua report was the start of the co-governance cancer that has since pervaded our country.

That clause is directly contrary to the coalition agreement between National and New Zealand First, which specifically disowns any UNDRIP adherence or recognition. So why is it in the FTA with India? And more importantly, why have the two other government parties, National and Act, signed up to it?

When the Act Party leader was asked how he could support such a provision, he said he did not know about it, and further when he raised it with the Minister for Trade, was assured that it did not exist. 

And yet, Gary Judd KC, who has written work for the Act Party, has called this clause a “Constitutional Trojan Horse – advancing change through political stealth.”

So, there you have it, you have the UNDRIP provision in the FTA, which India did not ask for, and two of the three political party leaders claiming no knowledge of it.

So to recap, you have a government that is signed up to not support UNDRIP, and yet one party goes to India and writes support for UNDRIP into a trade deal, and then returns to New Zealand and shrugs off all legitimate inquiry saying “there is nothing to see here”.

The Indian Free Trade Deal is a bad deal for our country. 

The Unbalanced FTA

The Indian FTA lacks balance, or any sense of equal proportion of sharing benefit between two nations.

Why do we say that? Here are some examples.

We remove tariffs on Indian goods on day one. India keeps exclusions, phase outs, quotas, and price thresholds into the distant future.

So we give India a clean concession, and we get back a mixed package.

There is no progress for our dairy products at all.

Apples, kiwifruit, honey, albumins are quota limited – wine remains subject to high residual tariffs. What does that mean, if not huge commercial constraints against success.

Apples, kiwifruit and honey access is linked to “economic cooperation action plans”. What does that mean? It means market access can become dependent on ‘government to government’ delivery, not business or export performance.

SPS and sustainable development are not subject to normal disputes settlement.

It means, New Zealand exporters have no strong remedies if they come up against regulatory barriers.

Are you now seeing why New Zealand First has been against this deal since we were belatedly given the fine details?

Ladies and gentlemen, we stand for export led domestic economic recovery. How will we do that whilst we are providing $33 billion to India over the next 15 years.

What is even more crazy, is that under this deal New Zealand can export apples to India for two months in a year – the two months that this country doesn’t even produce apples. So which horticulture expert thought this was a great idea?

But here is their best expectation, in cold hard facts – this deal of which the Prime Minister has made so much, alongside obsequious business leaders, is expected to lift our GDP by the staggering amount of 0.1%, or a tenth of one percent – by 2050.

Covert Immigration Changes

We now know that officials aware of work on changing immigration settings have warned that bringing in stricter requirements specifically targeting India and not other FTA partners could adversely affect the bilateral relationship with India.

This is evidence that New Zealand First was right about this FTA being an open door for a flood of immigrants.

The question is why are they planning on making these changes that just affect Indian migrants as part of the FTA, and does India know that is happening after they signed the deal?

If National wants to create tighter restrictions on Indian FTA immigrants, then they should be applied to all other of our FTA partners as well.

There are serious questions that need to be answered.

Conclusion

Ladies and Gentlemen, kiwis are amazingly resilient and, though we are affected by the past, we are more concerned with the future and the possibility it holds.

New Zealand was once the greatest country on earth and it can be again – that’s worth fighting for.

Times are tough.  But we are fighting for you. And we will never give up.

New Zealand First has been on a mission.

To fight for the ordinary hardworking kiwis who just want a country they are proud of.

A country that provides opportunity for you and your families.

A country that gives you hope for a better future.

We must not lose sight of how far we have come on this long road to recovery.

We have won many battles, but we are yet to win the war.

But, if you give us the tools, we will finish the job.

It hasn’t been easy, but the things in life worth doing are never easy.

It is what will build the character of our country.

It is what will build a country we are all proud of.

We must never forget that challenge.

We must never give up what our forebears fought and died for.

We must never stop believing in ourselves or our mission.

We must never stop believing in New Zealand.

That is our vision and our mission.

To protect and to save this great country New Zealand.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/07/07/winston-peters-an-election-like-no-other/

Source: Media Outreach

SHANGHAI, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 7 July 2026 – On June 30, 2026, New York time, the launch ceremony and New York Forum for OUR WATER Season 3 were successfully held at Bloomberg Headquarters in New York. This event, themed “Rivers of Opportunities“, focused on the shared certainties of Shanghai and NYC, anchoring growth through open cooperation and reshaping the future through innovation and resilience.

Co-hosted by Bloomberg L.P., the Forum was attended by Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies; Tang Zhiwen, Minister, Embassy of the People’s Republic in the United States of America; Ma Xiaoxiao, Deputy Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in New York; Chen Yiqun, Director-General of Information Office of Shanghai Municipality, and Hu Minghua, President of Shanghai United Media Group and over 200 guests from the political, business, finance and cultural sectors of China and the United States. The forum is dedicated to exploring the openness and similarities between Shanghai and New York to identify a shared framework of certainties among global hub cities.

The two cities share distinct advantages in sectors such as finance and trade, while also facing common challenges in urban renewal, low-carbon development, and digital transformation. Candid and open dialogue is essential for mutual learning, and it will also inject stability into China-U.S. relations.

On the topic of how global capital understands the Chinese market, a panel titled “Investing in China, Winning the Future” featured Chinese and international guests discussing how the appeal of Chinese assets is shifting from traditional growth narratives to AI, high-end manufacturing, financial opening-up, and institutional market development. As a hub for financial opening-up, an asset allocation center, and a cluster for innovative enterprises, Shanghai has become a crucial gateway linking international capital with opportunities in China.

Consumption is one of the most dynamic topics between China and the U.S. At the second panel of “Opportunies in emerging Consumer Markets“, moderated by Bloomberg Television host David Westin, panelists observed that the consumer vitality of Shanghai and New York stems not only from market size but also from their ongoing ability to create experiences, understand people, and activate urban spaces.

Besides the forum, the New York series of events for OUR WATER Season 3 also includes: West Meets East·Shanghai & New York 2026 – A Polaroid 20×24 Special Exhibition; Chinese Opera: A Century of Dreams – An Exhibition of Art Design and Technology; An Exhibition themed Shanghai’s “One River, One Creek” and Jing’an CAZ China-U.S. Business Leaders Dialogue in New York.

These events shape a tangible and immersive waterfront narrative, allowing Shanghai and New York—two super metropolises that have thrived on water—to resonate in harmony through dialogue. As Minister Tang Zhiwen stated in his address, Shanghai and New York, are expected to become benchmarks for subnational cooperation between China and the United States, and to make new contributions to fostering a “constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability.”

Hashtag: #ShanghaiEye

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Eastern Institute of Technology

12 minutes ago

Muriël Klavers arrived in Hawke’s Bay planning to stay for just three months, but nearly seven years later, the EIT graduate now calls the region home.

Originally from the Netherlands, Muriël graduated from EIT with a Master of Digital Business in 2022 and now works as a People and Capability Business Partner at Napier City Council.

The 29-year-old first completed a Bachelor of Human Resource Management at Avans University in the Netherlands and worked in Human Resources before setting off to travel the world in 2019.

She spent several months travelling through Asia and Australia before arriving in Hawke’s Bay, where she worked as an au pair. When Covid disrupted her onward travel plans, she began thinking about what came next and a local connection introduced her to EIT.

“I always wanted to do a master’s, but it wasn’t originally my idea to do it so soon,” she says.

After hearing about EIT through a local connection, Muriël decided to enrol in the Master of Digital Business programme.

Muriël says studying locally also appealed to her because of the opportunities to connect with people and businesses in the region.

“EIT does a lot of work connecting students with local businesses and communities.”

One of the highlights of her time at EIT was becoming involved as a student ambassador and connecting with people across the institute.

“The international department was always really supportive.

“We worked on different events and projects together and it was a great way to meet people from across EIT.”

Graduation also remains one of her strongest memories from her time studying.

“Getting the green light that you’ve graduated was probably the highlight.”

Since completing her studies, Muriël has worked across several roles before joining Napier City Council.

Muriël says networking and building relationships played a key role in helping establish her career in New Zealand.

“Having those relationships definitely helped me get my foot in the door.”

Now back working in Human Resources, she says the variety of the role is what she enjoys most.

“It’s the diversity of the work and building relationships with people.

“When I start in the morning, I never really know what my day is going to look like.”

Recently returning to EIT to speak with current students at a Lunch and Chat session brought back memories of her own student experience.

“It was nice to see people in a similar position to where I was six or seven years ago.

“We’ve all been in that position before and hopefully sharing my experience helps others as they work out their own pathway.”

Gareth Alison, Head of School, Business, Tourism, Hospitality and English Language, says: “Muriël’s journey is a fantastic example of how our Master of Digital Business programme equips graduates with both the technical capability and the real-world connections needed to build successful careers”.

“Her story highlights the importance of applied learning, industry engagement, and the supportive environment we strive to create for both domestic and international students. We are incredibly proud to see her contributing to the Hawke’s Bay community and inspiring current students to pursue their own career pathways.”

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/07/07/masters-graduate-builds-business-career-in-hawkes-bay/

Source: New Zealand Government

Two refurbished tanks at Northland’s Marsden Point which will store New Zealand’s strategic diesel supply are officially in use, Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones say.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and senior Government Ministers joined Channel Infrastructure chief executive Rob Buchanan and other guests at an event today to officially mark the completion and recommissioning of the tanks.

The Government acted quickly to increase New Zealand’s fuel resilience when the Middle East conflict ramped up, securing additional diesel and a place to store it.

“Diesel is essential to keeping New Zealand moving. It powers freight, agriculture, and construction services, as well as many of the other services businesses and households rely on every day,” Nicola Willis says. 

“Strengthening fuel security was, and remains, a top priority for the Government.”

“While tensions in the Middle East have eased somewhat, global supply chains remain vulnerable and it is important New Zealand is better prepared for future disruption.” 

Today’s event marks little over three months since senior Ministers signed off on up to $21.6 million from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to Channel Infrastructure to refurbish enough capacity at its Marsden Point site to store an additional 93 million litres of diesel.

“Channel Infrastructure assured the Government it could have the tanks ready in two months. New Zealanders were counting on this to store the country’s diesel buffer,” Shane Jones says.

“Thankfully, the tanks were completed in early June and ready to receive the first of two shipments for our strategic diesel supply.”

After a competitive procurement process, Z Energy was selected to supply and manage the 90 million litre diesel reserve. 

“The Government and Z Energy worked at pace to put in place a practical, time-bound arrangement that delivers value for taxpayers, as well as flexibility around how and when the fuel is used,” Nicola Willis says.

Under the agreement, Z Energy owns and manages the diesel reserve but the Crown will control its release to the market if needed. The reserve does not count towards the company’s minimum stockholding obligation.

The first of two shipments of the diesel reserve recently arrived at the facility. The second is expected later this month.

As global fuel supply conditions continue to stabilise, fuel stock reporting will return to its standard weekly schedule. Updated fuel stock information will be published on the MBIE website every Wednesday at 1pm.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/07/07/new-zealands-strategic-diesel-reserve-ready-to-go/

Source: Media Outreach

• New Kyano® product innovations: Agentic AI for data migrations and unstructured data solutions
• Kyano Lorna supports customers with AI-powered project intelligence
• SNP and Palantir accelerate secure SAP transformations through strategic partnership
• High-profile keynotes from SAP’s Thomas Pfiester and Stefan Steinle, football legend and former Germany national team goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, and bestselling author Sebastian Wernicke

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 7 July 2026 – SNP welcomes a record 2,000 industry experts from around the world to their flagship event, Transformation World, on July 8-9 at Heidelberg’s SNP dome. Under the motto “Shaping Tomorrow,” the leading provider of software for AI-enabled digital transformation, automated data migration and data management in the SAP environment, will present an exceptionally diverse program. Attendees can look forward to three innovation focus areas led by SNP’s new agentic AI layer Kyano Lorna to refine data transformation on top of the proven Kyano platform. In addition, SNP will demonstrate how they will expand their capabilities with a newly built AI-powered solution through a new strategic partnership with Palantir. Existing partner CDQ will showcase how their solution, seamlessly integrated into Kyano, delivers automated data quality and governance for SAP master data. A third innovation focus area expands Kyano with capabilities to process unstructured data through the new solution, Kyano Oros.

Across more than 100 customer presentations, international organizations will demonstrate how they successfully manage transformation projects such as SAP Cloud ERP moves, data archiving, system decommissioning, and carve-outs and integrations.

“We are looking forward to the biggest and most innovative Transformation World. With new AI-powered solutions, intelligent agents and strong partnerships, we are bringing our vision for the next generation of SAP transformations to life. Together with our customers and partners, we are redefining how these projects will be delivered in the future. Our ambition is to equip organizations with the most intelligent tools to unlock their best data for the AI era,” said Jens Amail, CEO of SNP.

The Best Data for Business and Agentic AI

One of the highlights at the conference is a series of innovations for SNP’s Kyano software platform.

Under the theme “The Best Data for Business AI,” SNP will introduce the new solution Kyano Oros that further automates complex data migrations and extends the platform with the ability to process unstructured data. This type of data accounts for approximately 80% of enterprise data volumes and has largely remained inaccessible to traditional transformation tools. This provides a critical foundation for preparing enterprise data landscapes for modern AI applications. With Kyano Lorna, SNP introduces an agentic AI layer for their proven Kyano platform that amplifies and scales decades of transformation expertise. Available 24/7, able to communicate in multiple languages and continuously applying best practices, Lorna supports organizations throughout the entire transformation lifecycle. It helps reduce manual effort, accelerate decision-making and deliver real-time insights across every phase of a transformation project. By bringing decades of transformation knowledge and best practices directly into every project, the agentic AI layer also enables customers and partners to deliver SAP transformation projects with Kyano faster, more efficiently and with greater predictability.

New partnership accelerates secure AI-powered SAP transformations

Another highlight is the announcement of a strategic partnership with Palantir, a global leader in AI and data platforms. This partnership will deliver new AI-powered solutions to SNP’s customers. Further details will be announced during Transformation World.

High-profile customer presentations and keynote speakers

Renowned companies from a wide range of industries and regions will share their experiences with complex transformation projects. For the German-speaking market, presentations will include projects from BMW, Coop Pronto, Deutsche Bahn, E.ON, Festo, Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen, Nestlé,

Lufthansa, and Volkswagen. International companies taking the stage include Ferrero, TotalEnergies, Brazilian financial cooperative Sicredi, Chilean industrial group Sigdo Koppers, U.S.-based chemicals and medical technology company PerkinElmer, and Australian infrastructure services provider Ventia.

The event is supported by a total of 20 sponsoring partners. This year’s premium sponsors are Accenture, Deloitte, and IBM.

Keynote speakers Thomas Pfiester, Head of Customer Engagement & Adoption and member of the Extended Executive Board of SAP, and Stefan Steinle, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Customer Support at SAP, will provide insights into the latest developments in SAP transformations and innovation. Additional keynote speakers include bestselling author Sebastian Wernicke (“Data Inspired”), who will explain how data can be turned into successful business ideas, and Oliver Kahn, goalkeeper legend, entrepreneur and sports investor, who will discuss the relationship between peak performance, decision-making under pressure, and resilience.

“The combination of hands-on customer presentations, product innovations and high-caliber networking is driving record attendance at Transformation World this year,” said Jörg Petzhold, Vice President Global Marketing & Communication (CMO) at SNP. “With around 2,000 attendees, we expect an exceptional international customer presence and look forward to welcoming SAP user groups from Germany, the UK, the U.S., and China to the SNP dome for the first time.”

The Transformation World 2026 agenda, registration details, and further information are available here.

Hashtag: #SNP

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Statistics New Zealand

National accounts (income, saving, assets, and liabilities): March 2026 quarter – information release

2 July 2026

We have developed experimental quarterly estimates for institutional sector accounts and balance sheets, to provide more timely data on New Zealand’s economy. We have published these experimental estimates on a quarterly basis since the first release for the March 2021 quarter.

Key facts

Quarterly income and outlay accounts
In the March 2026 quarter, compared with the December 2025 quarter (in seasonally adjusted terms):

• household saving increased $610 million to $2.2 billion
• household net disposable income rose 2.1 percent ($1.4 billion):
  • compensation of employees rose 1.2 percent ($595 million)
  • income tax paid by households fell 2.3 percent ($370 million)
  • income of self-employed businesses (entrepreneurial income) received by households rose 2.8 percent ($337 million)
  • social assistance benefits in cash rose 1.2 percent ($146 million)
  • interest received by households fell 6.8 percent ($197 million)
• household final consumption expenditure rose 1.2 percent ($742 million)
• non-financial business enterprises saving fell $275 million to $6.0 billion
• central government saving fell $717 million to -$2.4 billion
• interest received by financial business enterprises fell 1.3 percent ($124 million)
• interest paid by financial business enterprises fell 3.2 percent ($323 million).

Visit our website to read the full information release and to download CSV files:

• National accounts (income, saving, assets, and liabilities): March 2026 quarter
• CSV files for download

MIL OSI

Source: Media Outreach

CHANG ZHOU, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 7 July 2026 – The global new energy vehicle market has seen rapid growth in recent years. With continued strong expectations for new energy vehicle exports, the global electric vehicle (EV) charging market is entering a new stage of rapid expansion. Recently, StarCharge, the global leading brand of EV Charging equipment and smart energy systems, held a major industry seminar in Hong Kong and released two new white papers at the event, exploring two major transformative trends in the industry that are worth paying attention to.

Charging stations are becoming a key connection of smart energy systems

According to the ‘Technical White Paper’ by StarCharge, for years, EV charging infrastructure has mainly been seen as support for vehicle sales expansion: building more chargers, expanding coverage, and speeding up charging.

However, this role is starting to change.

As electrification scales up, charging networks are becoming a part of the energy system itself. They are no longer just places for vehicles to top up; they are evolving into smart energy nodes connecting vehicles, the grid, distributed energy, storage, and digital management.

This shift from charging infrastructure to charging network systems shows that the industry is moving from basic access to integrated value: from charging services to energy services, from standalone stations to PV-storage-charging systems, from equipment deployment to scenario-based infrastructure.

StarCharge believes that the future charging network ecosystem will go through four major turning points.

Four Key Points Reshaping the Ecosystem

1. Charging Networks Are Becoming Energy Infrastructure

Charging infrastructure is going beyond its original role as just a support for EVs. As EV adoption grows, charging networks are becoming strategic energy infrastructure: they connect mobility demand with the grid, distributed energy, storage, digital platforms, and future energy services.

2. Defining the Scenarios for the Network

The future charging network won’t be shaped by hardware alone. Policies determine whether infrastructure should be built, technology determines the speed of construction, but real-world scenarios determine what the charging network actually needs to look like.

Urban commuting, highway trips, ride-hailing, logistics fleets, county and rural coverage, holiday peak demand, heavy trucks, mining areas, ports, airports, and autonomous driving all create different charging needs. Therefore, a mature charging network can’t be ‘one-size-fits-all’; it has to be designed around different vehicle types, operating hours, power requirements, reliability needs, and grid conditions.

3. Digital platforms turn charging networks into operable assets

A large charging network only truly has value when it can be scaled, optimized, and managed. This is exactly the core role of cloud platforms. They turn millions of charging points, users, stations, transactions, and energy flows into a measurable, controllable, and continuously optimized operating system.

StarCharge’s platform capabilities cover site selection, pricing, marketing, station operations, smart maintenance, charging safety, station robots, AI-based smart charging, fleet management, energy optimization, and ESG reporting. In other words, digital platforms are the key to transforming charging infrastructure from a heavy-asset network into smart, operable, and scalable assets.

4. Charging stations are becoming grid-friendly energy resources

The next-generation charging infrastructure won’t be defined by any single technology. It will be built on a complete tech stack, combining high-power charging, liquid cooling, integrated PV-storage-charging, DC bus architecture, V2G, automated charging, and AI-driven operations. In other words, future charging stations shouldn’t just be passive electricity consumers that add stress to the grid. Through energy storage, renewable energy integration, V2G, smart scheduling, and AI-based energy optimization, charging stations can become grid-friendly energy resources.

This means that aside from charging vehicles, a charging station can absorb renewable energy, buffer peak loads, respond to demand-side signals, support peak shaving and valley filling, regulate frequency, and provide carbon-neutral ESG data for fleet operators. Its business model will also go beyond charging fees, creating new value through energy services, data services, carbon-related benefits, and grid interaction capabilities.

Microgrids Have Emerged at the Right Time

At the same time, with the continuous development of distributed energy and photovoltaic energy, microgrids have emerged at the right time. They are not just a product, but a local energy system built around real-world scenarios.

In the latest “White Paper” on scenario-based microgrid technology, StarCharge points out that microgrids are moving from customized engineering projects toward scalable, replicable energy systems.

A microgrid is a scenario-based local energy system

According to StarCharge, a microgrid is not a single device, nor is it just an energy storage product. It’s a local energy system designed around the needs of a specific scenario, coordinating local generation, loads, storage, control, and operational strategies within a defined electrical boundary.

Moreover, depending on the scenario—such as data centers, individual charging stations, zero-carbon industrial parks, or green mines—the energy challenges are completely different. The right microgrid is defined by the scenario it serves.

The white paper also highlights four high-value paths: electricity-computing synergy, independent power supply, zero-carbon parks, and green mines. In areas with weak grids or limited grid access, microgrids ensure the operation of critical loads. In emerging load scenarios like data centers and industrial parks, microgrids support renewable energy integration, energy resilience, and cost optimization. In high-tech-demand scenarios like mines, microgrids become the foundation for ensuring production continuity, energy transition, and ESG competitiveness.

The three-stage evolution of microgrids

As power sources and loads become increasingly DC, microgrid architectures are evolving from AC-dominated systems to AC-DC hybrid systems, and eventually toward microgrids with a higher proportion of DC.

Microgrid 1.0 — dominated by AC architecture. It integrates renewable energy into the existing AC grid framework, but its control heavily relies on grid-following management and support from the external grid.

Microgrid 2.0 — the AC-DC hybrid stage. AC and DC buses coexist, allowing PV, storage, and DC loads to connect more directly. Bidirectional power hubs, solid-state transformers (SST), and energy routers become important bridges between AC and DC systems. This stage balances strong AC compatibility with higher DC efficiency and is expected to remain mainstream in the next 10-15 years.

Microgrid 3.0—it’s the era of DC microgrids. As solar PV, wind power, battery storage, data centers, LED lighting, and EV charging increasingly move toward DC, DC microgrids can reduce repeated AC-DC conversion losses, simplify control, and support millisecond-level responses.

This evolution is closely linked to the mission of microgrids: breaking through energy access bottlenecks, enabling sustainable development, connecting technology, industry, policy, market, and community needs, and unlocking the integrated value of local energy systems.

In the future, StarCharge will steadily expand into the growing global markets for new EVs and renewable energy, building on its smart energy systems that have been widely validated in the Chinese market.

Hashtag: #StarCharge

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Media Outreach

Agency leader Bryan Phang is the sole COE (Diamond Agency) winner to achieve four consecutive award wins; Prudential’s solid showing underpinned by its strong knowledge sharing and mentorship culture

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.