Latest news with #forInformation
IOL News
02-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Urgent need for private sector investment in South Africa's transport infrastructure
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy says Transnet will issue Requests for Proposals from the end of August 2025. Image: Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers Transport Minister Barbara Creecy on Wednesday said the limited availability of state resources to fund infrastructure development made private sector investment critical. Delivering her budget speech in the National Assembly, Creecy said they have just concluded a Request for Information process to guide the private sector investment in five priority rail and port corridors. 'Transnet will issue Requests for Proposals from the end of August 2025, and so begin the formal procurement process,' she said. Creecy also said they have to enhance the involvement of additional operators as a way of extending freight logistics capabilities of the country and region, beyond what the public sector alone would have been able to accomplish. 'It is important to point out that as an economy, we need freight logistics operators that can compete, but that can also complement each other when the need arises, for the benefit of our country and region.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading The minister explained that the Cabinet approved a Private Sector Participation (PSP) framework in 2023 to guide private sector involvement across the logistics sector value chain. 'The department has concluded a Memorandum of Agreement with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the National Treasury, appointing DBSA as the hosting institution for the unit. We have established the Interim Rail Economic Regulatory Capacity to create fairness and transparency for third-party operators, improve network utilisation, increase competition, and reduce costs.' She also said the open access to the rail network will allow train operating companies to increase the volume of goods transported by rail, while the network infrastructure remains state-owned. 'As part of the rail reform programme, we have also created the new Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager to have a dedicated focus on the management of the rail infrastructure. The Transnet Freight Rail operating company would now focus on the transportation of rail commodities through its rolling stock.' She added that they cannot afford to wait until the PSPs reach financial close before launching an ambitious programme to rehabilitate Transnet's rail network and rolling stock, as well as port infrastructure and equipment. DA MP Thamsanqa Mabena said Transnet must accelerate the process to issue rail concessions on the five priority lines. 'We believe the participation of the private sector will assist with injecting much-needed capital and expertise to provide relief to the constrained fiscus,' Mabena said. Creecy told the MPs that the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) had, by the end of May 2025, successfully revived 35 out of 40 corridors and sections of service lines. 'We continue to deliver at pace with Prasa achieving an unaudited figure of 77 million passenger journeys for the last financial year and 116 million passenger journeys for the 2025/2026 financial year. Our competitive pricing model for commuter passengers will ensure that working-class communities take advantage of our offerings.' Prasa has been allocated R66.1 billion over the medium term. 'This significant budget is for maintaining, recovering, and renewing rail infrastructure, rebuilding the signaling system, rolling out new train sets to priority corridors, and increasing rail passenger trips.' Creecy also said the Airports Company of South Africa has been allocated R21.7 billion for infrastructure development. 'This will improve facilities for passenger safety and comfort, over the medium term, and build a new freight terminal at OR Tambo International Airport. In addition, we are fast-tracking projects to ensure reliable availability of jet fuel to all airlines at all our airports, as well as the general upkeep and upgrading of the facilities and technologies at each of our airports to improve both the security of passengers and cargo, as well as the convenience of airport users.' The minister further said the South African Airways (SAA) was pursuing a bold route expansion strategy to strengthen its regional and global footprint with new regional routes from Johannesburg and Cape Town. She said the airline has begun a measured fleet expansion to meet growing demand. Creecy also said the national carrier was self-funding its operations and fleet growth, while remaining open to a strategic equity partner as part of its long-term restructuring. 'With unencumbered assets and renewed profitability, SAA is well-positioned to drive economic value through expanded international services, job creation, and increased contributions to tourism and trade.'
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.
