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10 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE ACT MIDDLE EAST TREASURY SUMMIT 202410 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE ACT MIDDLE EAST TREASURY SUMMIT 2024
*UAE family-owned businesses still debt shy, says top CFO
In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), family-owned businesses contribute up to 70% of GDP, according to the ministry of economy, and continue to be a powerful force in the Gulf region, the ACT Middle East Treasury Summit 2024 was told.…
TAIWAN’S ECO-PLASTICS AND PACKAGING SECTORS DOUBLING DOWN ON MANUFACTURER EDUCATION AND CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
Taiwan’s major packaging and packaging machine industries – with more than 1,000 factories – have been prospering in through proactive service delivery. They have helped the country’s local and overseas packaging value chain in handling and using their goods and services, including eco-plastics.…
The October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, and Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon, have hit the country’s higher educational sector hard, with roughly a quarter of all students, as well as faculty, called up to the armed forces, while budget cuts are expected as more money is allocated to the military. Foreign funding to universities has also declined, although private philanthropy is partly offsetting the losses. Israeli universities’ international cooperation has also been impacted due to boycotts. “The impacts of the conflict have been unimaginable. Around 70,000 [university] students have been called up to the reserves [out of 300,000 total students]. At the same time there’s been a resurgence of antisemitism, anti-Israeli protests, and calls for boycotts from universities,” Prof. Daniel Chamovitz, president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and chair of VERA (Association of University Heads, Israel), told UWN. In the immediate aftermath of the Hamas-led 7 October attacks, students and lecturers joined the military reserve, and the academic year was re-scheduled until January. Due to lecturers being called up, certain classes were postponed, and some universities resorted to remote teaching. Some 62,000 Israelis have been displaced from the north due to the conflict with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, forcing the Tel-Hai College in Kiriyat Shimona to teach out of other locations. “They’ve been working elsewhere for an entire year,” said Chamovitz. Universities in the north, such as the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology and Haifa University have also had to have medical school examinations held in different locations, said Chamovitz. While Israel has been targeted by rockets from multiple fronts – from Gaza, Lebanon and Iran – universities have continued to operate. “In Jerusalem, no one is safe, but we don’t need to do remote teaching. We are not in the border zones,” said Dr Michal Muszkat-Barkan, director of the department of education and professional development at Hebron Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Jerusalem. At other universities remote learning has become more common place, including for reservists. “All of us have had to deal with classes where up to half of students aren’t there,” said Chamovitz. “This academic year, we’ve seen students miss 100 to 150 days of classes, but they have succeeded, as we have found ways to give tutoring such as duplicate classes and remote teaching, and for professors to be available at strange hours. We’ve had one lecturer give a class remotely from the front line,” said Chamovitz. Some 6,500 out of 19,000 students at Ben Gurion University (BGU) are reservists, along with 600 BGU faculty. Around a quarter of Tel Aviv University’s 30,000 student body have been called up, the university reported. Now Israel has widened its military attacks in Lebanon, invading its northern neighbour in October, these demands are unlikely to fall. The ongoing conflicts on two fronts are requiring student reservists to continue with the military, causing a delay in reservists’ plans to study at the undergraduate and graduate levels. “For the past year, young reservists couldn’t start their studies, and for this coming academic year, they are not sure if they’ll be able to take the exams and get into universities. There is another whole year they may be in reserve, so can’t go to university,” said Muszkat-Barkan. All Israelis are required to carry out a minimum two-year military service and can be called up for reserve duty until 40 years old. There has also been a decline in international students studying in Israel, whether exchange students or enrolled at the country’s nine public universities. “It has been a massive drop. On October 7, many left,” said Chamovitz. He said Ben Gurion University had only had a small drop off, due to its specialisation in sustainability and climate change, and desert agriculture, whereas universities teaching more basic sciences had seen a larger decline in foreign students. Exchange and short-term visits have also declined. “It is understandable when you look at the news,” said Chamovitz. Israeli universities have been feeling the impact of calls for boycotts and disinvestment due to the ongoing conflict, with pro-Palestine demonstrations over the past several months at universities across the world, particularly in North America, calling for ending ties with Israeli academia. “We feel the anti-Israeli atmosphere in the academic world. It is not related to the subject area; it could be physics or medicine... And academics are not welcome for sabbaticals at other institutions. International collaborations among researchers are also very influenced by this situation,” said Muszkat-Barkan. Larger research funds and cooperation agreements are also at stake. In July, more than 2,000 European academics and 45 organisations issued a petition to the European Commission to end the European Union (EU)-Israel agreement https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:22022A0323(10) enabling Israeli participation with the EU research programme Horizon Europe, which has provided some EUR2.6 billion in research funding to Israel since 2007. https://bricup.org.uk/article/thousands-of-academics-call-on-eu-to-sever-research-links-with-israel/ https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-research-and-innovation-news/third-meeting-eu-israel-joint-research-and-innovation-committee-under-horizon-europe-2024-05-06_en In applying for funding, Chamovitz said there was a fear of a “passive boycott, where reviewers may negatively try to impact Israeli proposals, like for the European Research Council [ERC], but we’ve not seen that yet.” Foreign funding for research at Israeli universities has declined, including in high-tech sectors as the conflict has continued. However, private donations to universities are helping to offset losses. “We’ve seen a huge uptick in philanthropy from donors that are frustrated with universities in North America move funds to Israel,” said Chamovitz. Government budget discussions continue in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, hampered by disputes in the ruling right-wing coalition https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-823759, with ultra-orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) threatening to withhold support without guarantees that haredi men are exempt from military service. Public universities are concerned that upcoming changes to the national budget to pay for the conflict will allocate more money to the military while education will be cut. “Our fear is a war on the general budget on education in Israel. If there are massive budget cuts, we will have to decide to cut back on staff, hiring or research, I’m not sure how we will do it. Our biggest fear is a lost decade of higher education,” said Chamovitz. ENDS
New members of the European Commission have been proposed for the next 2024-29 term, starting November 1, with knitwear lobbyists facing experienced hands in the key trade and economy/de-regulation portfolios. Re-appointed Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has nominated Maroš Šefčovič, of Slovakia, as trade and economic security; interinstitutional relations and transparency Commissioner, for example.…
AUDITORS PLAY LARGER ROLE IN FIGHTING FRAUD
Auditors can play a major role in fighting fraud, with the onset of sustainability reporting creating a new opportunity to sniff out swindles. Keith Nuthall reports.
While the initial goal of audits is not to detect fraud, rather to say whether financial statements (and latterly, sustainability reports) are accurate, these assessments do often uncover crime.…
EU ROUND UP – PAINT LOBBYSISTS FACE EXPERIENCED NEW EUROPEAN COMMISSION TEAM FOR 2024/9
New members of the European Commission have been proposed for the next 2024-29 term, starting November 1, with paint and coating industry lobbyists facing experienced hands in the key trade and economy/de-regulation portfolios. Re-appointed Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has nominated Maroš Šefčovič, of Slovakia, as trade and economic security; interinstitutional relations and transparency Commissioner, for example.…
ARGENTINE TOBACCO LEAF SECTOR OPTIMISTIC FOLLOWING NEW GOVERNMENT'S LIBERALISATION POLICIES
The Argentina tobacco leaf sector is optimistic about its 2025 season (February to April), thanks to the policies launched by the government of the libertarian and right-wing outsider President Javier Milei, who took office last December (2023), and growing international demand.…
INNOVATE WHEN YOU CAN IN FAST MOVING WORLD, FEICA HEARS
In a “scary” world that is moving faster, adhesive businesses should assess opportunities to innovate, focusing on their “your sense of timing”, innovation expert Peter Hinssen told participants in the FEICA 2024 European Adhesive & Sealant Conference. Speaking in Noordwijkerhout, the Netherlands, Hinssen, partner at consultancy nexxworks, told members of the Association of the European Adhesive and Sealant Industry (FEICA) companies should not wait until they are at their peak or past it, to reinvent themselves: “That doesn’t work anymore.…
MACAO PROTECTS GAMBLIGN GOLDEN EGG WITH TIGHTER AML CONTROLS
Autonomous Chinese gambling centre Macao has been responding to pressure from Beijing to tighten controls on gaming, amidst ongoing concerns that the special administrative region (SAR) is a hub for dirty money, washing through its casinos.
The Macanese government expects its tiny peninsular and associated islands of 33.3 square kilometres to generate gross gaming revenues of Macao Patacas MOP216 billion (USD27 billion) in 2024, up from MOP183.1billion (USD22.8 billion), recovering from a Covid-19 induced slump (1).…
PORTUGUESE COMPANIES ATTRACT MORE BUYERS WITH SUSTAINABILITY AND CIRCULARITY
Portuguese textile and garment industry executives have told Just Style how they can attract more international buyers and export sales at a tough time for the sector, through its sustainability, quality, innovations and proximity to main markets.
They were speaking at the 60+4 edition of Modtissimo, the oldest international textile fair in the Iberian Peninsula, in Matosinhos, northern Portugal, on September 12-13 (1).…
FRAUDSTER PROFILING BECOMING MORE SOPHISTICATED – AIDING SHORTLISTING OF SUSPECTS
Profiling fraudsters can hone anti-fraud responses, helping investigators short-list likely suspects for detailed evaluation – and with profiling research and experience expanding, the effectiveness of such approaches is sharpening.
Forensic accountant and fraud examiner Dave Oswald, who runs Canadian anti-fraud consultancy Forensic Restitution (1), said: “Fraudster profiling can provide valuable insights into the minds of those who commit these crimes, helping law enforcement agencies and organizations to prevent, detect, and respond to fraudulent activity.”…