Archive

Euromed University Fez, in Morocco, has been chosen as the regional academic partner to launch what is hoped to be a revolutionary agritech development hub aimed at transforming Moroccan small-scale subsistence farming into fully digitalised and innovative agri-food businesses.

The university – also called Université Euromed de Fès (UEMF) and based in the country’s second largest city – will help farmers to create an industry exporting quality products overseas, alleviating rural poverty and using farming techniques that counter ecological challenges.…

The tobacco market in Greece, once one of the world’s most robust, is struggling with declining consumption trends seen across Europe and north America, as well as a growing illicit trade.

Vassilis Mastorakis, marketing director of the Karelia Tobacco Company Inc, Greece’s largest cigarette manufacturer and exporter, told Tobacco Journal International that “smoking of cigarettes in Greece has been in a declining trend over the last 36 months [July 2017-June 2020] by almost 7% (2020 versus 2018) while the roll-your-own (RYO) consumption is slightly growing by almost 2 percent over the same period.”…

The Canadian government is likely to extend its ‘Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles’ subsidy program when it brings an economic update statement to parliament during the fall, the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) predicts.

Its Chief Economist Oumar Dicko highlighted promises within a ‘Throne Speech’ delivered on September 23 (1), outlining the Liberal government’s plans, which said it would “make zero-emissions vehicles more affordable while investing in more charging stations across the country”.…

A consensus is growing within Somalia’s higher education services that the current tertiary sector needs to be better aligned with the country’s developing labour market demands as its economy emerges from years of conflict.

There has been a significant level of agreement to the conclusions of a new report highlighting such concerns – ‘Somalia’s Education Sector: Fostering Skills Through A Demand-driven Education System’, co-produced by a think tank the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies and the City University of Mogadishu.…

REGULATING money laundering within the gaming sector needs to be tough because of the potential to move large sums of money through regulated casinos, sports and online betting services. While placing an accurate number on the amount of money laundered through the sector is impossible, the scope for doing so is illustrated by the sector’s huge size – according to international market researchers Research & Markets, the industry’s worldwide turnover should reach USD525 billion by 2023 (1).…

Textile industry innovators are seeking to create and improve naturally coloured cotton, that can reduce or even remove the need for manufacturers to add dyes that can be expensive and generate significant levels of pollution.

Natural coloured cotton is not new, with Liv Severino, head of Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, a state-owned research corporation affiliated with Brazil’s ministry of agriculture, livestock and food supply, noting evidence that human clothes were made from such fibres in the Andes 5,000 years ago.…

The South African clothing and textile sector is looking for action from the country’s government under a clothing, textiles, footwear and leather industry master plan unveiled in July (2020) to help it recover from Covid-19. Manufacturing of clothing and textiles in South Africa was already weak, having been buffeted by cheap exports from China for the past 14 years since the end of the World Trade Organisation’s multifibre agreement in December 2006.…

Data released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia on September 11 shows that while the country’s industrial production growth returned to positive territory in July for the first time since February by booking 1.2%, the textiles, apparel, leather and footwear sectors were still suffering.…

A SHIFT towards home-based work during the Covid-19 epidemic has raised multiple challenges for AML/CFT regulatory compliance departments, from changes in consumer behaviour that affects transaction monitoring, to digitally onboarding new customers, and heightened risks of illicit crime and fraud.

The first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic and related lockdowns this spring especially stretched financial institutions’ regulatory compliance departments to their limits, said Patrick Gerard Dahill, head of AML and financial crime recruitment at Barclay Simpson, in London.…

Growing Asian dairy markets are increasingly regulating the health claims that could be made on packs of food, a trend that is impacting international dairy exporters from Europe as much as local dairy producers.

A key example is Taiwan, that will in 2022 forbid the word ‘healthy’ on food items except foods that have received special health food permits.…