PM Edition: Top 10 Business Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for April 30, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Radio New Zealand

Australasian bosses across agriculture, aviation and freight sectors are in the ear of their government officials in dealing with the chaotic global supply chain.

The government announced on Tuesday it secured an initial agreement with Z Energy to procure an additional 90 million litres of diesel for Aotearoa, as key shipping routes in the Middle East remained blockaded.

Through late March and April, the Australian federal government secured hundreds of millions of litres of diesel from markets like Singapore and Malaysia, as well as locking in fertiliser deals covering 250,000 tonnes of urea from Indonesia, and supply commitments from Brunei.

It also introduced various tax relief packages on fuel excise and heavy vehicle user charges, and underwrote imports of fuel and fertiliser.

Finance minister Nicola Willis met with Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers last week, followed by a large roundtable meeting with Australasian bosses of industries exposed to supply chain disruptions, like agriculture.

Featured was Australia’s peak farming industry body, the National Farmers’ Federation.

Chief executive Mike Guerin said he applauded his federal government for its response after the beginning of the war in late February, and welcomed more collaboration with New Zealand.

He said Australia went “hard and early”, such as with the underwriting of fuel imports.

“That’s an example where Australia went very early, and New Zealand’s done something similar, but perhaps not quite as well as Australia has.”

New Zealand-born Guerin said both countries shared challenges around fuel and fertiliser shocks.

“Both countries have very little fuel supply onshore, but neither country has much processing capacity left to process and refine oils, for example, into finished product. The same broadly applies to fertiliser.”

But he said there was good discussion at the meeting about possibly sharing infrastructure in the longer term, including linking up vessel schedules.

“We could see lots of things we could do for each other, and they’re very willing to do so.”

• How have fuel and fertiliser challenges affected your farm? Let us know monique.steele@rnz.co.nz

Guerin said while no actions were firmly agreed to during the initial conversation, there were options tabled for manufacturing and storage.

“Rather than each of us working away, an issue which is difficult given our lack of scale in global terms, if we work together, there could be enormous value in that,” he said.

“Save some money, save some costs and give us both more confidence in storage and processing and manufacturing, and those big inputs to agriculture, because as we know, in both countries, for generations we’ve been able to take food security for granted.”

He said it was all about protecting food security and building a supply chain for Australasia together to deal with the immediate and longer term issues ahead.

Finance Minister

New Zealand’s Finance Minister Nicola Willis said close co-operation between New Zealand and Australia made sense, particularly to share information on fuel markets, shipping movements, supply chain risks and resilience options.

She said it was a valuable opportunity to gain feedback from across agriculture, freight, aviation, retail and energy sectors about the impact of higher costs and supply uncertainty, when considering our own planning and response options.

“Industry engagement helps ensure decisions reflect operational realities and the needs of key sectors such as food production, freight and emergency services. And more detail of phases 3 and 4 will be announced next week,” she said.

She said both countries were facing similar supply challenges.

“We have also amended fuel specifications to better align with Australia, helping ensure New Zealand can access supply headed into the same regional market,” she said.

“Alongside that, the Government is progressing practical regulatory changes identified by industry to improve fuel efficiency and resilience, including freight and transport settings.”

Earlier advice on fertiliser supply from key New Zealand-based supplier Ravensdown was that the country had sufficient fertiliser supply through to mid-August.

Willis said the Government was in regular contact with the fertiliser industry and monitored international supply chains closely, while Australia’s recent arrangement focused on securing winter supply.

“As a food-producing country, we [New Zealand] remain connected to major suppliers and producers, and ready to act to any emerging pressure points,” she said.

“Farmers and growers are critical to New Zealand’s economy. We know higher fuel and input costs create pressure, which is why our focus remains on targeted, timely and practical measures that support supply continuity, strengthen resilience and keep the economy moving.”

Willis described the situation on Wednesday’s Morning Report as “the worst oil supply shock in history.”

The latest Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment fuel supply statistics lifted, showing of Sunday, the country had 52 days of petrol, 46 days of diesel and 49 days of jet fuel either in country or on its way.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Some of Auckland’s most experienced tailors believe the industry is ageing out, despite a good level of demand for work.

Serena Tan’s lunchtime on Monday had not been quiet.

She first spoke with Virginia, who brought in her daughter’s bridesmaid dress for hemming.

Tan had to be frank, gently explaining that the hem might need to take more fabric than Virginia had hoped.

Soon after, Tash arrived with an Anine Bing blazer in need of patching.

Tan asked after her child and later told me she had watched Tash grow from a high school student into a mother.

Now 60, Tan was among a group of tailors worried their trade was quietly ageing out.

Statistics back her concern. The median age for tailors and dressmakers rose from 48.3 in 2013, to 51 in 2023.

Born and trained as a seamstress in Malaysia, Tan first came to New Zealand on holiday in 1990, and stayed after getting a job in Wellington’s fashion industry.

In 1998, she opened Serena’s Dressmaking and Alterations in Auckland’s Mt Albert.

Tan said mastering the craft takes years, and fears the lack of younger workers will leave a gap that’s hard to fill.

“We are using the scissors for cutting, and the hairdresser also use the scissors for cutting. And then you cut the hair make a mistake, doesn’t matter. Few months later, the hair will grow or you can wear a hat. But this one (tailoring), when you’re cutting, you have to throw it away if you make a mistake.”

Behind her spacious storefront was Tan’s workshop, where seven machines crowded the space alongside fabrics and trims.

Her oldest machine had been with her for 35 years and was still stitching perfectly.

But while her machines endured, Tan was preparing to retire in a few years.

Finding a successor could prove difficult, so she came up with a plan.

“These several years, I’m feel very, very busy and tired. I hope if I retire, somebody can continue my business. If they know the basics of sewing, they come, I will teach them (tailoring).”

She was not alone in her concerns.

Merai Tailors had been in the suburb of Onehunga for over 30 years.

Now sitting behind the sewing machine was 70-year-old Mahesh Contractor, who took over the business from his older brother 15 years ago.

Contractor comes from generations of tailors, but he was the last in his family to carry on the trade.

“I like to carry on with the business. I’m fit for it and this is my medicine as well, it keeps me mentally and physically fit.”

He said while the economy had not been in its best shape for the past few years, demand for his skills was still high due to online shopping and op shopping.

“It’s very, very risky (to buy online) because different countries have different size (system). And new things are getting more expensive now, so people are buying from the op shop, lots of people bringing (clothes) from op shop (where they paid) for $1.50 – $2, so sometimes I’m confused, how much I’m going to charge.”

He said the trade was inexpensive to set up and encouraged young people to consider it.

“It is a profitable business. I will carry on if I’m fit.”

Government data suggested the trade could grow.

In the 2018 census, 684 people indicated they were dressmakers or tailors, growing from the 552 in 2013.

Jessica Jay was part of a small group choosing to enter the industry.

Six years ago, the then 26-year-old decided repairing garments was where her heart was.

“I love clothing and textiles, I love sewing and I love fashion, but I found it really hard to reconcile that interest and passion and skill set with just how many clothes already exist. And I was really interested in repairs of clothing, looking at different ways that you can keep garments in circulation for longer.”

Jay graduated from fashion school in 2016 and wasn’t sure why more of her peers hadn’t pursued repair and tailoring.

Now 31, she said the work offered her a decent amount of financial stability and work, life balance.

“I can imagine doing this well into old age because you can always improve your skills with sewing and alterations. Every garment that I see is a new problem-solving challenge.”

New Settlers Family and Community Trust was also helping to bring new hands into the trade.

A year ago, the trust set up the Sewing Repair Cafe, with a mission to help refugees build skills that could be used towards future employment.

On a Saturday session in Mt Eden, three workers made their way through a pile of garments.

Thirty-nine-year-old Rahila Roshan was hemming a shirt.

Before coming to New Zealand, she had been a biology teacher in her home country Afghanistan.

That career path was now out of reach due to language barriers, but sewing had opened another door.

“I love sewing, I like making dresses and attending repair cafes.”

While she had experience making clothes for her family, she said alterations required a different skillset.

“Making is easy, but fixing is very hard.”

Shukria Rezia, 42, worked on a dress. It needed expansion on the waist, and a new zip.

She estimated such a repair would typically cost about $40, but at the community workshop, payment was not mandatory.

Donations were encouraged to support the Trust, but on that Saturday morning, despite a steady stream of people dropping off items, few contributions came through.

But the trio was not too upset.

“Anything free is good, free is better,” they laughed.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Media Outreach

Modern Platform Enhances Business Travel Within Energy, Marine, Mining and Other Complex Sectors

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

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington City Councillors are considering giving financial support to businesses drastically affected by the Moa Point treatment plant meltdown.

Businesses RNZ spoke to said the funding is badly needed, but that it is “gutwrenching” sewage is still being pumped into the ocean, with one saying it will be forced to shut its doors if the plant is not fixed before summer.

It had been nearly three months since the wastewater treatment plant catastrophically failed in February, and which had been spewing millions of litres of raw sewage into the sea ever since.

No date had been provided for when the plant would be fixed.

The council would decide this week whether to give businesses one-off grants, capped at $35,000 from a maximum $150,000 fund.

The Botanist cafe co-owner Maria Boyle said her business had lost between 30 and 50 percent revenue due to the failure.

Boyle said the cafe – set in the heart of Lyall Bay – was usually packed until the end of summer, but that the streets emptied out after 4 February, when raw sewage was spilling close to the shoreline – and forcing South Coast beaches to shut.

“We should normally have had at least a couple of months of decent trade to get us through, and it was just cut completely dead.

“We had to cut hours, and try and move staff to some of our other places so they wouldn’t suffer as well – but it’s been so bad.”

In order to be eligible, businesses would have to apply for the grants, be located within a “high-impact zone”, or directly reliant on ocean activities, be able to demonstrate a revenue loss of at least 50 percent, be Wellington-owned with fewer than 20 employees, and operating for at least a year.

Boyle said The Botanist lost about $35,000 in a couple of weeks in February, and that the support would be a “huge help” for businesses like hers.

But she said the cafe would not survive if the plant was not fixed by next summer.

“It will be beyond a disaster. It’s already a disaster, we will definitely be closing – we won’t make it through another summer.”

While South Coast beaches were open again on fine days, the plant was still spewing screened, untreated sewage through its long outfall pipe, about one kilometre off-shore.

When it rained heavily, the system could not cope, and the sewage spilled close to the shore at Tarakena Bay, from a secondary pipe used for overflow.

Dave Drane, owner of Dive Wellington, estimated he had lost between 20 and 25 percent of his revenue due to the disaster.

Months on, many were too scared to dive with the plant not working, he said.

That had dramatically reduced the numbers of people buying or hiring gear.

“People just aren’t walking in because they’re not diving on this coast, so we’re not getting the walk-in public. Retail, pretty much some days it’s dropped to zero – we can be a zero day income.”

Hugh Collins, who runs Ocean Hunter, a spear-fishing and diving business in Lyall Bay, agreed.

“I’d say the majority of our customers just don’t feel safe going out there, which sucks, you know, you look out at our pristine coastline and it’s quite gutwrenching to know that that’s happening.”

A $35,000 dollar grant would not completely cover his losses, he said, but it would help.

According to Wellington City Council documents, Destination KRL, a local business group, provided indicative figures that about 25 businesses lost a combined $120,000 per week during the month of February.

Wellington Mayor Andrew Little said councillors on Thursday would discuss offering the grants, and he would be supporting the idea.

“We are doing what we can, we’re not an insurance company, we’re not there to alleviate every risk, that every business faces.

“But we do feel a responsibility, these are businesses in our community – I know that some of the worst affected ones, it’s going to be next summer now, before they get the opportunity to recover properly.”

Little believed the plant would take months to fix.

Wellington Water said it would be presenting a timeline of repair works for the plant to the council in the next two weeks.

Chief operating officer Charles Barker would not provide the details to RNZ in a recent interview – saying the council needed to be briefed first.

“It wouldn’t be fair on our owners, we manage the asset, we don’t own the asset, so it’s only right that the councils get to see it, and understand first, before we share it with the public, but we are doing that as fast as possible.

“They are as impatient as the public are – to see it.”

He said a lot of new equipment for the plant’s UV project, and equipment for the control and management system, had been ordered.

Barker said he wa intending to present a “robust” timeline which would present when major elements of repair works would occur, in a way the community could track.

“We need to deliver a programme that is robust … that is realistic, and that can be held to account.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Source: New Zealand Government

The launch of the Survey of Business Operations, a new national survey, will provide a comprehensive, up‑to‑date picture of how New Zealand businesses use Artificial Intelligence and respond to economic and technology changes, Minister of Statistics Scott Simpsons says. 

“Good decisions rely on quality data. This survey will give us a clearer understanding of how businesses across the economy are operating, the challenges they face, and where opportunities for growth and productivity lie.” 

The new survey builds on existing business data gathered by Stats NZ, retaining core questions to ensure comparability over time. It introduces new content in areas where information gaps have emerged. This includes questions on innovation, business practices, and the uptake of AI.  

Insights from the survey would shape Government policy to support businesses to grow and innovate, Mr Simpson says. 

“For the first time, we will be able to measure AI use across a large and representative sample of New Zealand firms. This will help us understand where adoption is occurring, where barriers remain, and what this means for the wider economy.

“Artificial Intelligence represents one of the biggest opportunities of our time and we want businesses to invest in this technology with confidence. Smarter, informed adoption and use of advanced technologies like AI will help New Zealand’s economy grow faster and enable better living standards and opportunities for all New Zealanders.”

Around 20,000 businesses with six or more employees across all sectors will be surveyed, making it one of the largest and most detailed business surveys undertaken in New Zealand.

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Source: Media Outreach

HANOI, VIETNAM – Media OutReach Newswire – 28 April 2026 – Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank) has successfully convened its 2026 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM), approving key resolutions on strategic direction, governance, and capital strengthening to accelerate sustainable growth.

The approved 2026 business plan targets PBT of VND 7,068 billion, total asset growth of 10%, funding mobilization growth of 23%, credit growth of 17%, an ROE of 13%, and an NPL ratio below 3%.

To enhance financial capacity, the AGM approved a plan to increase charter capital to VND 34,688 billion through issuing 583.8 million shares for a 20.5% stock dividend, and 40 million ESOP shares for management personnel. This capital increase is expected to strengthen the Bank’s competitiveness, enhance its CAR in line with Basel III standards, and provide a solid foundation for credit expansion, technology investment, and improved operational efficiency.

Regarding the Supervisory Board, the AGM approved the resignation of Ms. Vu Thi Ngoc Quynh for personal reasons and the election of Mr. Nguyen Van Lieu (born in 1969), a banking and finance expert with over 33 years of experience and extensive expertise in risk management, as a new member. The strengthened Supervisory Board is expected to enhance oversight, independence and transparency, improve risk governance in line with international practices, and support compliance with Basel III standards for sustainable growth.

As of March 31, 2026, SeABank reported stable Q1/2026 business results in line with its annual plan. Total assets reached VND 403,198 billion, outstanding credit reached VND 246,188 billion, indicating controlled credit growth with a focus on risk and asset quality. Total funding mobilization reached VND 217,863 billion, driven mainly by customer deposits. Asset quality remained within target, with the NPL ratio at 2.24%, supported by effective risk management and debt resolution efforts.

TOI reached VND 2,914 billion, achieving 108% of the quarterly plan, driven mainly by NII of VND 2,413 billion, while NOII fluctuated with market conditions. Service activities also recorded positive growth, with net income reaching VND 197 billion, up 12.46% YoY. Operational efficiency improved, reducing CIR to 32.02%.

These results contributed to SeABank’s PBT of VND 1,388 billion, underscoring its disciplined execution and reinforcing a strong foundation to deliver on the AGM-approved 2026 targets and strategic direction, while advancing ESG-focused sustainable growth.

https://seabank.com.vn/

Hashtag: #SeABank

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

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

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