11.11: It’s shopping – but not as you know it (NZ Herald)

Step off the plane in China and there is no doubt about what day it is – Singles’ Day.

It’s hard to escape the sale buzz – billboards, the airport arrival hall, malls, hotel elevators – the advertisements are everywhere.

And the numbers are astounding: more than 140,000 brands offering 15 million product listings to hundreds of millions of consumers. The annual sales event dwarfs its Black Friday or Cyber Monday equivalents in the United States.

Last night, e-commerce giant Alibaba lived up to the hype. Oscars producer David Hill was responsible for the gala event that counted down to the start of the shopping extravaganza. Held at Shanghai’s Mercedes-Benz stadium, the event was broadcast on three TV channels and featured American rapper Pharrell Williams, British singer-songwriter Jessie J and former world number one tennis superstar Maria Sharapova – plus 100 or so other celebrities.

“If you analyse why we are doing the show, it’s to turn shopping into sport and to make shopping into entertainment, so the show has got to reflect that philosophy. And the way the show is constructed – with so many segments, so many stars and fun bits – it reflects the overreaching theme of what Singles’ Day has become,” said Hill.

“We can do things in China we can’t do virtually anywhere else in the world. In America, if you stream to any more than one or two million people you get a swirling circle of death, meaning it’s not connecting. In China, we can stream to over 35 million people. It boggles the mind.”

This year’s 11/11 fiesta has been themed around “retail as entertainment”.

The company’s chief marketing officer, Chris Tung, describes the shopping festival as “bringing consumers around the world a step closer to realising the aspirational life where entertainment and retail becomes one”.

The event is also an opportunity for Alibaba to show off its latest shopping technologies, and gives us a glimpse into what the future of shopping might look like.

Alibaba’s “See Now, Buy Now” was an eight-hour marathon of singing, dancing and fashion. Broadcast on seven TV and online channels in China, the show encouraged viewers to shake their phones whenever they saw something they liked to immediately purchase it.

The Tmall platform is running a “Catch the Cat” promotion, designed to drive consumers to bricks and mortar locations including global brands Procter & Gamble, KFC and L’Occitane.

Customers use their mobiles to earn coupons, discounts and prizes by “catching” the e-store’s cat mascot – in much the same way as the game Pokemon Go.

Other online promotions are giving out virtual red envelopes containing a total of more than 250 million yuan ($54.3 million).

Maggie Zhou, managing director of Alibaba Group Australia and New Zealand, is keen to ensure New Zealand is one of the key markets supported in these new initiatives.

“New Zealand products are perceived as high quality and continue to outperform in China, and we are working … to engage more closely with New Zealand merchants and partners to further encourage this growth.”

Tim McCready travelled to Shanghai as a guest of Alibaba.

Infrastructure: Looking at the opportunities for asset recycling (NZ Herald)

Asset recycling enables the Government to boost its available funds by either selling or offering a long-term lease of underutilised, inefficient, or surplus public infrastructure to investors in the private sector.

In exchange for the sale or lease of those assets, the Government can receive a large up-front, lump-sum payment.

Capital received from divestment can be used to revitalise existing assets, or fund new and critical infrastructure needs that might otherwise have been unfunded or funded using more traditional methods such as raising taxes or increasing public debt.

New South Wales
Since 2012, asset recycling has been one of the core principles of Australia’s New South Wales Government property policy.

The NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet says that “real property assets are only held by Government when required, and in the form necessary, to support core government service provision.”

Australia’s asset recycling has extended to the sale or long-term lease of public assets including ports, “poles and wires” electricity assets and its land titles registry, and has reached a combined value of A$53 billion.

Former NSW premier Mike Baird campaigned at the 2015 election on a platform of infrastructure investment, of which the recycling of assets was the method to achieve this.

Baird’s re-election demonstrated that asset recycling and new infrastructure funding mechanisms can be economically effective as well as politically popular – but they take leadership and vision.

A recent report on asset recycling by Property NSW showed overwhelming support for the NSW Government’s policy of recycling property assets to fund infrastructure and better services.

Of those surveyed, 71 per cent said they favoured leasing or selling under-utilised assets over more traditional measures, such as raising taxes or increasing levels of public debt.

Interest from the US
During his visit to Australia earlier this year, United States Vice-President Mike Pence told business leaders that the Trump administration hoped to emulate the Australian model of infrastructure asset recycling as part of the President’s US$1 trillion infrastructure plan.

New York’s LaGuardia Airport was cited by Pence as one example of an asset that had the potential to be redeveloped with the injection of private funds.

LaGuardia is so badly in need of upgrades, expansion and improvements that President Trump has referred to it as “like from a third world country”, contrasting it (and other US airports) to the “incredible airports” in Dubai, Qatar and China.

Upgrading Circular Quay
It is estimated that the number of jobs in the iconic Circular Quay precinct in Sydney will increase by around 4500 in the next 30 years.

The ferry wharves and adjoining promenade were built in the 1940s and are nearing the end of their life. They are also not compliant with the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport.

For these reasons, they are considered long overdue for a facelift.

In order to fund the upgrade, Property NSW is divesting commercial assets that are considered not core to service delivery or of long term strategic importance.

This includes the sale of rights to the ground lease rental income at Darling Quarter for 30 years, for an upfront payment of A$192 million ($215m).

The revitalisation of Circular Quay will support new construction jobs, and the upgrades will deliver improved transport services and an enhanced retail offering for workers and visitors, boosting economic growth and tourism to the precinct.

Viewpoint: Michael Barnett, Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive
It would easy to be populist and label it privatisation and kill another opportunity for Auckland. The reality is, existing funding models are failing us and we either need to find an innovative response to this or pay the price of a lack of investment in our infrastructure over the last 40 years with low productivity and community frustration.

Old style asset recycling was essentially selling one lot of assets to fund other priorities – this often meant selling an income generating asset to fund another asset that didn’t.

Today it’s about maintaining ownership control and not owning – an example of this could be with Ports of Auckland where the land and the business could be separated or perhaps an environment where an investor of “like values” might take partial ownership of an asset investing say on behalf of a superfund of New Zealanders with only the intention of investment and not for selling on.

Of course, any funds released should then be invested in our infrastructure needs (transport) – the important thing here would be to have a narrative that articulated the benefit to Auckland that may not be in cash but in productivity, employment opportunities and growth.

Viewpoint: Kim Campbell, Employers and Manufacturers chief executive
If we are to have sufficient funds for the development of Auckland’s growing infrastructure needs we will need to find more innovative funding devices.

The community appears allergic to rates, and tolling the roads is consistently blocked by central government. So what’s left?

Recycling of assets is a tried and proven device overseas where city assets are identified as being underused, redundant or inappropriate, and sold. The funds are immediately put to use for items which will increase the city’s overall productivity.

There are many such assets in Auckland. They may have some amenity value, but the benefits may accrue to a small part of the community. This includes shares in airports, golf courses, quarries, forests, transport corridors, water systems and theatres – to name a few.

Their sale is quite legitimate as long as the money is put to more productive use immediately. Often the sold assets become more productive under new owners as we have discovered with the sale of our electrical generation assets. NSW has a long and successful history of this, including Barrangaroo and White Bay.

Viewpoint: Paul Blair, Head of Institutional Banking, BNZ
BNZ is open to talking about ways to solve the big issues facing New Zealand. Countries and governments around the world are facing infrastructure challenges – New Zealand is not alone.

It is important to look at and consider potential ways to solve issues and have those challenging conversations, but any single “tool in the tool box” (like asset recycling) can’t be a silver bullet – multiple approaches and great collaboration is more likely to get a good result.

Governments face ever-rising demands for new and better enabling infrastructure. Asset recycling is one of the tools that have been used successfully in NSW and other overseas jurisdictions. New Zealand has an opportunity to learn from these case studies.

There are many other tools as well (including modern regulation of infrastructure sectors, centralised and specialist procurement, integrated planning, governance and finance, the use of incentives to encourage private sector and local government investment, etc) and a combination of approaches is likely to be needed as these are complex problems.

New Zealand is an extremely open economy. New and modern business models and exponentially expanding technology mean we are highly integrated into global business flows and trends which are changing at an unprecedented rate.

Business and society change is driven by new technology such as artificial intelligence, social media, robotics, data science, 3D printing as well as big macro shifts in demographics, infrastructure pressures and geo-political changes.

All of this change, coupled with government’s relatively limited risk appetite and the complexity of legislating for and regulating this change, means that governments need to look at alternative models to deliver the infrastructure required to meet New Zealand’s social and economic needs.

Infrastructure: Could smart-tracking solve Auckland’s congestion problems? (NZ Herald)

Singapore aims to have the world’s most advanced road pricing system by 2020.

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) will make Singapore the first city in the world to include a dynamic distance, time, location, and vehicle type road pricing scheme.

The S$556 million (NZ$566m) project was won by NCS and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine System Asia – a price that is less than half the S$1.2 billion submitted by the other qualified bidder, ST Electronics.

The island-wide system will use satellite navigation technology to detect and measure distance travelled, as well as provide real-time traffic for every road user. Drivers will be warned before entering a charged road, giving them the option to divert elsewhere if they prefer.

Parking information obtained from every driver and automatic streetside carparking will mean circling around for a carpark and digging around for cash to buy a parking ticket will be a relic of the past.

In areas where satellite coverage could be weak (including tunnels and beneath viaducts), it is anticipated that signal beacons will be put in place.

Though some say the new system will mean personal cars become less about freedom and more like a “private taxi”, Singapore has long been ahead of the world in road user charging.

In 1998 – when Auckland was suffering from a five-week power outage in the CBD caused by multiple power cables failing – Singapore was rolling out what was then the most sophisticated urban congestion charging system on the planet.

This gantry-based electronic road-pricing system targets roads that are heavily congested, and mostly operate at peak times, applying prices to achieve a minimum “level of service”.

Though some privacy concerns have been raised around the level of surveillance that comes with tracking all road users, there are similar issues with other forms of modern transport.

A push for alternative transport
Despite Singapore moving towards a sophisticated and expensive road pricing system, car ownership is low by global standards. This is largely due to the hefty price of a certificate of entitlement – S$36,000 (NZ$36,790) for cars up to 1600cc – which allows the certificate holder to register, own and use a vehicle in Singapore for a period of 10 years.

When you consider 12 per cent of the small country’s land area is consumed by roads, it is unsurprising that Singapore’s Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Khaw Boon Wan, has set a target for 75 per cent of trips to take place by public transport by 2030, and 85 per cent by 2050.

Singapore is also significantly boosting its bus fleet, rail network, cycling paths, and the distance of its covered walkways.

Driverless cars are tipped to be a further game-changer. Singapore’s well-maintained roads and contained geography make it an ideal location for autonomous vehicles, expected to offer greater fuel efficiency, reduced road congestion and carbon emissions, and a significant reduction in accidents.

Last year US autonomous vehicle R&D firm nuTonomy ran a limited public trial for the world’s first driverless taxis in Singapore.

Despite one of nuTonomy’s self-driving cars hitting a truck, the trial was considered a success.

The company noted the accident was due to “an extremely rare combination of software anomalies,” and intends to launch a commercial service in Singapore in the next year.

It is therefore not unthinkable that at some point, mass use of driverless cars and public transport could remove the need for congestion charging altogether.

http://bit.ly/TimMcCreadyDonaldTrumpMood

Tim McCready

The “Trump factor” is one of the major issues impacting chief executives’ confidence in the global economy.

In last year’s Mood of the Boardroom survey – held just over a month before the US presidential elections – CEOs rated the election outcome as their third greatest international concern impacting on business confidence.

A year on, they see Donald Trump’s presidency and its resultant political instability as taking the edge off a generally positive outlook. CEOs rated the “Trump factor” their second highest international concern at 6.47/10 with 10 saying they were “extremely concerned” about its effect on political instability.

“The Trump regime has amplified geopolitical instability considerably,” said Rob Cameron, founder of merchant bankers Cameron Partners. “Global political outcomes are more unpredictable.”

“His performance is so poor we can only hope for impeachment,” added a law firm head.

Despite the negativity towards the president, 80 per cent of those surveyed say their view of Trump’s performance won’t affect their own company’s intentions with the United States:

“Operating in the US isn’t easy, regardless of who is in power,” said a tourism boss. “The domestic economy actually feels very strong in the US from a business operating perspective.”

“It remains a key market for us, no matter the presidency. Therefore, we remain committed to the United States,” added Don Braid, Mainfreight’s group managing director.

Others cited the ability for the US Congress to moderate the actions of the President as offering reassurance:

“Fortunately, in the United States, the founding fathers designed a constitution with checks and balances. Despite the concerns about Trump gaining a lot of media attention, his ability to implement action is limited,” explained a major law firm partner.

“He is mercifully restrained by the constitution and the checks and balances in the system,” said Kate McKenzie, Chorus CEO.

Several executives in the real estate industry thought Trump was having a positive impact on their business, as he unintentionally makes New Zealand a more appealing environment:

“As more Americans look to diversify investment and lifestyle outside the US, New Zealand’s clean green image and welcoming economic and political environment makes us a favoured destination,” said one real estate chief executive.

Another commented: “Trump’s irrational behaviour makes New Zealand’s isolation one of our greatest strengths.”

Neil Paviour-Smith, managing director of Forsyth Barr thinks Trump will help New Zealand businesses to bolster its trade in other markets. “While the New Zealand economy is continuing its expansionary phase, we are seeing more synchronised growth globally – including former laggards Japan and the EU – despite a lot of distraction from geopolitical-related activities.”

Much of the comment was pungent. Simplicity’s Sam Stubbs predicts – “as the ultimate apprentice in the ultimate game show, he will be, ultimately, fired.”

Closer to home there was some criticism of New Zealand businessman Chris Liddell – a former chief financial officer at Microsoft and General Motors – who heads Trump’s strategic development group focusing on priority projects and liaison with the private sector.

“Trump is an absolute tosser! What is Chris Liddell doing there?” questioned Local Government Funding Agency chairman Craig Stobo.

Another added: “Though in talking with a prominent Kiwi in the White House, he believes Trump is a very clever person who knows business and will succeed – as long as he gives up the stupid tweeting and mind games over people.”

Though Liddell is still in the White House, the turmoil and unprecedented staff turnover in Washington and delays in filling key jobs in US Government departments, has been noted.

“A disastrous lack of leadership is leaving the United States increasingly rudderless,” said Beca’s Greg Lowe.

“Trump is worse than I thought he was going to be,” added a real estate executive.

The Trump administration has seen a number of high-profile staff leave the White House.

Recent departures include Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to Trump; chief strategist Steve Bannon; communications director Anthony Scaramucci – dismissed after only 11 days in the job – and chief of staff Reince Priebus.

But the new chief of staff, former marine general John Kelly, is said to be bringing discipline to the show.

Protectionism rears its head
One of Trump’s first actions as president was to throw out the TPP agreement which New Zealand signed in Auckland in February 2016 along with 11 other nations. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump frequently criticised TPP – labelling it “horrible,” a “bad deal,” and a “death blow for American workers”.

His new “America First” strategy has had a wide impact on US involvement in regional and multilateral trade agreements. The president favours individual deals on the proviso they can be quickly terminated in 30 days “if somebody misbehaves.”

He has recently stepped up calls for a more protectionist stance. Dismissing some of his top staffers as globalists, he has demanded a plan be drawn up to impose tariffs to remove China’s “unfair advantage” displayed by its trade surplus with the United States. “There is no dodging it, the world is more fearful and feels (but may not be yet) more protectionist,” says a senior player in the investment community.

“The move towards protectionism causes one to be more cautious and concerned about the outlook,” says Cathy Quinn, partner and former chair at MinterEllisonRuddWatts.

The protectionist stance also brings with it the possibility of border taxes, which some congressional Republicans have put forward to support Trump’s commitment to increase American competitiveness and prevent jobs shifting overseas.

This would mean companies could no longer deduct the cost of imports, creating strong incentives to retain and relocate supply chains and research to the United States. But there are fears this could spark a trade war, as countries move away from the US and source products and materials elsewhere.

Without a detailed proposal for border taxes, it is impossible to comment on the specifics. But chief executive respondents to the Herald survey indicated they are reasonably concerned about potential risks to exporters trading with the United States, rating this at 5.2/10.

“Implementation of the Border Adjustment Tax poses a very serious risk to New Zealand’s wine exports to the United States – our biggest export market – and will undoubtedly be damaging to the industry,” says Erica Crawford, founder and managing principal of Loveblock Wines.

Threat of nuclear war
There is no doubt the threat of nuclear war has escalated considerably since Trump became president.

Earlier this month, Pyongyang said it had successfully trialled a hydrogen bomb that could be loaded onto a long-range missile.

North Korean state television said the trial, which was ordered by leader Kim Jong-un was a “perfect success” and a “very meaningful step in completing the national nuclear weapons programme.” It received international condemnation – including from New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee, who called the test “utterly deplorable.”

As is customary, Trump responded by tweet: “North Korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success.”

This was followed by: “South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!”

Trump didn’t expand on what that “one thing” might be, but at an unrelated event last month he promised to inflict “fire and fury like the world has never seen” upon the totalitarian state if it acted in a hostile manner.

It is not surprising then, that the potential for nuclear war in Asia was considered by CEOs to be of reasonable concern, rating at 5.9/10.

“North Korea is a serious issue, which would have come to a head with or without Trump. The problem is Kim Jong-un can’t be fired, only fired upon. This is not reality TV,” said Simplicity’s Stubbs.

The Trump Factor
CEOs rated President Trump’s policy initiatives and actions on a 1 to 5 scale (where 1= not impressive and 5= very impressive).

  • Implementing his campaign agenda including a radical cut to the corporate income tax to 15 per cent: 1.51/5
  • Trump’s call for an “America First” trade policy with a focus on bilateral trade deals: 1.31/5
  • Threats of a nuclear strike on North Korea: 1.30/5
  • United States withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord: 1.24/5
  • Dealing with Russian security concerns: 1.24/5

Agribusiness: Greener Pastures Under Trump? (NZ Herald)

Tim McCready

Donald Trump says his Administration is “pro-agriculture,” but the rising protectionist sentiment in the United States brings with it a significant amount of uncertainty. This is particularly true for agribusiness – an industry highly dependent on global trade and one which has benefited in the past from freer trade.

Two-way trade between our two countries reached $16.1 billion in 2016, making the United States New Zealand’s third-largest individual trading partner. The US is a major market for agricultural products, and is our largest market for beef and edible offal – worth over $1 billion.

However, with the possibility of border taxes in play, a US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) off the table, and ongoing North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) negotiations, the future potential of New Zealand’s trade with the United States is uncertain.

Charles Finny, former official and trade negotiator agrees. “At this stage US policy beyond withdrawal from TPP and a strong preference for bilateral agreements is still unclear, and following the recent visit of Todd McClay to Washington DC a bilateral FTA seems a possibility,” he says.

“But would that be as good a deal as was proposed for TPP? It is too early to tell whether the Trump era trade policy will be good or bad for New Zealand.”

TPP: a leadership vacuum and new opportunities

One thing that was evident throughout the Trump campaign was that America would pull out of TPP. Trump frequently criticised the deal labelling it as “horrible,” a “bad deal,” and a “death blow for American workers.”

While a TPP that includes the US is at this stage off the cards, eleven Asia-Pacific nations – including New Zealand – remain dedicated to ensuring the regional free trade deal goes ahead. The absence of the US has created a vacuum in global trade leadership which China has been more than happy to fill by supporting the Asean-led 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

For American agriculture, the TPP represented an opportunity for agricultural exporters to trade with what is now a very lucrative Asian economy. The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates that the deal would have boosted annual net farm income by US$4.4 billion.

There is concern in the US that other economies are in a prime position to take advantage of America’s lost opportunity. While in some cases the US is paying significant tariffs in Asia, New Zealand, for instance, is working towards the elimination of tariffs on 99 per cent of exports to key Asean markets by 2020.

The US Meat Export Federation believes its members will see a reduced market share in Japan – their largest export market if the US fails to strike some kind of Pacific trade deal soon. “What we’re worried about is 18 to 24 months from now when [Australia] can offer competitive prices and volumes on cuts that we now are supplying, but at duty rates that are double-digit lower, that really represents a handicap [to US exports],” says the Federation’s Senior Vice President for the Asia-Pacific, Joel Haggard.

The longer this disparity goes on, the bigger the disadvantage could be to the United States, and the greater the advantage to its competitors – including New Zealand.

Recognising this, Darci Vetter – who served as America’s chief agricultural trade negotiator under President Obama said:
“You want to have the best level of access at the time they start forming relationships with buyers and so the timing on this is critical and we’re going to be way behind New Zealand,” he says.

Tim Groser, New Zealand’s ambassador to the US and a former NZ trade minister who worked relentlessly to get the TPP across the line agrees.

“This is a competitive game and of course we aren’t going to sit in a hole and do nothing on these non-TPP fronts because everyone is in this game and if you fall behind you are in a competitive disadvantage.

“At the end of the day we’re all economic nationalists. Our responsibility is to look after our own country’s economic interests.”

Border taxes: sparking a trade war?

Also in play is a border tax on imports into the United States.

In a bid to support Trump’s commitment to increase American competitiveness and prevent jobs moving overseas, some congressional Republicans have put forward a proposal to apply a border adjustment tax (BAT).

The border adjustment tax is considered by some to be a critical part of tax reform, as it will mean that companies can no longer deduct the cost of imports, creating strong incentives to bring supply chains and research back to the United States.

While the introduction of a BAT would impact all sectors, agriculture is expected to be one of the hardest hit due to the amount of materials and inputs farmers rely on that come from outside the US – including fertiliser, fuel and chemicals. Moves to retain the entire value chain within the US could also spark a trade war, with countries like China and Mexico moving away from the US and instead buying their agricultural commodities from other countries.

The levy has divided Congressional Republicans. It is said that Trump is also against its introduction. And there is a question of the legality of the proposed BAT, with critics arguing it would violate United States commitments under World Trade Organisation rules which the US has signed up to.

“Any border tax adjustment runs the risk of breaching commitments made by the US in the WTO or regional/bilateral agreements,” explains Charles Finny.

“Without a detailed proposal it is impossible to comment on the trade law implications of such a policy. But if it appears to be in breach of commitments then the US should expect a challenge from a number of trade partners.

“How the Trump Administration reacts to any challenges will be interesting to observe.”

NZ-US FTA: No major impediments

Trump’s “America First” strategy has had an impact on the US involvement in regional and multilateral trade agreements. But Trump has stressed that he is not opposed to all trade agreements, and is in favour of individual deals on the proviso they can be quickly terminated “if somebody misbehaves.”

Early in his presidency, Trump told Fox News “believe me, we’re going to have a lot of trade deals. But they’ll be one-on-one. There won’t be a whole big mash pot.”

Last month, New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay visited Washington for talks with Trump’s Administration.

“I’ve welcomed their interest in an FTA as a demonstration of the good shape our trading relationship is in,” McClay later said.

He saw no major impediments to a trade deal with the US.

Whether Trump sees things the same way is anyone’s guess.

Capital Markets: Time for Prospectus NZ? (NZ Herald)

Fran O’Sullivan and Tim McCready

New Zealand is in a sweet spot.

Surely it’s time for our sharpest brains to come up with a major campaign to spruik New Zealand as an investment destination and go hard on capital markets?

“I just think the genie is out of the bottle with New Zealand,” says Nicholas Ross, country head for UBS New Zealand. “People are just going to keep coming and coming and coming.”

“If there was ever a time to be bold and to borrow a bit more this is it,” he adds. “Markets are in very good shape, they are very receptive to good proposals and interest rates are very low.”

It is a stance shared by a growing number of senior NZ capital markets players and business leaders.

New Zealand arguably remains behind the pace when it comes to applying financial leverage to fully fund the growing infrastructure gap sparked by rocketing net migration.

A Government spooked by a series of major earthquakes is wary of accruing too much debt in case it needs to use its balance sheet in the event of another costly natural disaster or recession. But this appears short-sighted when Trump’s America and Brexit have affected international perceptions and this country is increasingly viewed as a safe haven for people and capital.

Auckland Chamber of Commerce CEO Michael Barnett points out there are many options for funding the city’s growth.

But they all require capital.

Commonwealth Bank’s Andrew Woodward says the NZ debt market has shown it has the capacity to complete larger project finance transactions.

Woodward – who is general manager of CBA’s NZ operations – points to Transmission Gully and the Puhoi-to-Warkworth projects, which attracted support from domestic and offshore banks and investors and competitive outcomes for the NZ Government.

He says the continued success of this style of transaction – as well as funding of significant investment by the likes of Auckland Council and Auckland Airport – will continue to rely on domestic and increasingly international debt markets supporting growth projects, with both having targeted international debt markets to meet their growing funding requirements this year.

Says Woodward: “To aid the further development of the NZ debt market there continues to be a strong role for Government in outlining a clear pipeline of projects (across a range of asset classes including toll roads, prisons, hospitals, and rail projects), so foreign capital keeps New Zealand on the radar, as well as ensuring legislation around areas such as interest withholding tax are competitive versus other jurisdictions, and encourage investment in New Zealand.

“While the domestic debt market can meet requirements up to a certain capacity, foreign capital is expected to play an increasing role to meet the planned infrastructure spend.”
Kiwis who have collectively saved more than $40 billion in KiwiSaver – an average of just under $15,000 per person – might also question whether investment allocations are structured to deliver sufficient funding for NZ growth (and the needs of savers).

Australian research firm Strategic Insight has released figures showing total KiwiSaver balances hit $40.651 billion at the end of March; up from $38.416b at the end of December.

With KiwiSaver poised to turn 10 this year, it is worth asking whether more avenues for investment should be provided onshore.

In its report, World awash with Money, Bain & Company looked at capital trends through to 2020.

The consultancy firm predicted that for the balance of the decade, markets will generally continue to grapple with an environment of “super-abundance”.

It says there has been a power shift from the owners of capital to the growers of good ideas. “In this environment, investors’ success will be determined less by how much money they command than by their ability to spot an investment’s true creation potential and act on it nimbly.

Those that can react with speed and adaptability will be best able to identify the winners, steer clear of bubbles and generate superior returns.”

There is an abundance of innovation in New Zealand. Time for that Kiwi prospectus to fund our growth and our ideas.

Asia New Zealand: Generational Division in South Korea

Tim McCready

While participating in the Foundation’s offshore forum in Korea, Leadership Network member Tim McCready gauged the mood of the country following the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. In this article, he describes a country divided along ideological and generational lines.

We arrived in Seoul for the Asia New Zealand Foundation’s offshore forum at the height of demonstrations over the the impeachment of President Park by the National Assembly. Accused of violating the constitution by helping her long-time friend extort donations from the country’s biggest business empires, Park was subsequently ousted from office in an unprecedented and unanimous ruling by the constitutional court.

The president’s ousting brought to the fore simmering tensions that run along ideological and generational lines, at the heart of which is how to deal with North Korea.

Peaceful protests are not uncommon in South Korea. The first time I visited South Korea was the one-year anniversary of the Sewol Ferry Disaster. The sinking in April 2014 cost the lives of 304 passengers and crew. This resulted in enormous protests, as South Koreans saw their government having failed to hold high-level officials accountable for the disaster.

Prior to Park’s removal, demonstrations and candlelight vigils – representing both sides – took place every Saturday over three months.

A few days after we arrived for the forum, the courts approved an arrest warrant for Park, and she was jailed. Demonstrations broke out again.

I spoke with a group of protestors living together in a tent within the city square. A man in his 70’s translated and explained to me their perspective of the situation.

“There are two distinct groups in South Korea,” he said. “One is the left wing, and the other is right wing.”

“We are the right-wing group. We follow democracy. We are protesting because the president was impeached by the left. We are embarrassed that has happened.

“It is our wish that in the future there will be unification. But it is important not to give in. The left – the younger generation – follows North Korea and China.”

While this is an extreme view, it does exemplify the generational divide in South Korea. On a simple level, the older generation think that North Korea should be dealt to with pressure and isolation. The left would prefer to have an open dialogue with the North.

A lot of this divide stems from South Korean President Park Chung-hee, the father of jailed President Park. He seized power through a military coup in 1961, at a time when South Korea was far less developed economically than the North.

By the time he was assassinated in 1979, South Korea had gone through what is referred to as the “Miracle on the Han River” – a period of rapid economic growth following the Korean War. It is because of this that Park, and his daughter, are looked on fondly by older South Koreans, despite his systematic disregard of human rights.

There are an estimated 6,700 people from separated families living in South Korea. The tragedy of the situation is most easily seen through those people who are divided from their family, who passionately long for reunification.

Now, 70 years on from the division, those with the closest ties to the North are getting very old. The requirement to seek peaceful unification between the two Korea’s is part of the South Korean constitution, yet speaking with younger South Korean’s, they are often agnostic about the prospect. They are already struggling economically, and point to the enormous economic disaster that will become their responsibility if the border were to collapse.

During a meeting with a senior banker at a major international bank in Seoul, I asked for his take on North Korea.

“I am just a simple banker,” he said, modestly.

“We are always in the shadow of war. But that aside, South Korea is a very safe place to live. That is what I care about. I don’t care what happens with North Korea.”

Younger South Korean’s I spoke with shared the banker’s point of view. They don’t worry about the looming threat of nuclear war. Instead, they are getting on with their lives, and their careers – like the rest of us.

A younger South Korean I spoke to on my flight from Seoul to Europe explained it best:

“We do not spend time worrying about what could happen. That threat has always been there,” he said.

“But we are very nationalistic. We love our country. And now our President has been jailed. We are embarrassed by her. We are embarrassed about what the rest of the world thinks of us.”

That sentiment seems to be something that all generations can agree on.

China Business: Alibaba offers sweet deals (NZ Herald)

Tim McCready chats with Alibaba’s Australia and New Zealand director of business development John O’Loghlen about the new regional office, the work being done with New Zealand businesses, and the future of online shopping.

Moving on from the rules of the WTO and global trade will allow small businesses and developing nations to tell their stories and trade together effectively using e-commerce.

Alibaba last month opened an Australian and New Zealand office in Melbourne, demonstrating the Chinese e-commerce giant’s ambition to expand its global footprint.

“Although it is headquartered in Melbourne, New Zealand is equally important,” said John O’Loghlen, Director of Business Development – Australia and New Zealand at Alibaba Group. “The leadership team in Hangzhou look at both markets together.”

Alibaba also recently appointed Pier Smulders as Director of Business Development in New Zealand, a dedicated in-market resource and experienced client service professional for Alibaba’s key accounts and opportunities in the SME space.

At the Melbourne opening, Alibaba founder Jack Ma acknowledged Australia and New Zealand’s clean environment provides a unique selling point for its businesses and will be a “goldmine” for the region’s economy over the next 15 years.

“In the past 30 years through a lack of experience in China we have a terrible polluted environment. There’s a lot we should have learned from Australia and New Zealand,” he said. With a local office and expert team, Alibaba will help Australian and New Zealand businesses share their world-famous products with billions of customers around the world.

“Whether a large company with existing links to China, or a mum-and-dad run exporter operating out of a garage, Alibaba is here to make it easy to do business,” he said.

The opening of the Australasian office comes after a strategic alliance was established between Alibaba and the New Zealand Government last year. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) formalised discussions for strengthening trade between China and New Zealand, with an aim to foster greater trade opportunities for businesses seeking to enter the Chinese consumer market.

At the time of signing, NZTE chief executive Peter Chrisp said: “New Zealand businesses are already using Alibaba’s channels to sell a wide range of products including dairy, meat, seafood, fruit, wine, beverage, cereal, skincare and health supplements. By providing dedicated services for New Zealand products, this new arrangement offers significant opportunities for New Zealand businesses to reach more consumers as well as advocating New Zealand’s reputation as a place of open spaces, open hearts and open minds.”

Since the MOU was signed, Alibaba and NZTE have run workshops across New Zealand, helping exporters to gain insights into doing business with China and Chinese consumers, evaluate their business models and provide education about Alibaba’s various platforms.

Last September, NZTE and New Zealand Winegrowers established a Wine Pavilion on Tmall, dedicated to the sale of about 100 different New Zealand wines, representing all key wine regions and wine varietals.

NZTE’s Trade Commissioner in Shanghai, Damon Paling, says that wine traffic has been growing through organic and paid advertising, with the conversion rate consistent with market expectations at around two per cent, and an average basket value around NZ$120.

In addition to wine, Paling says that Alibaba platforms Tmall and Taobao are “seeing good sales of various consumer dairy products, fruits, and small categories such as manuka honey, wine, breakfast cereals, and snack bars.”

Although New Zealand and Australia is perceived as a regional “sweet spot,” O’Loghlen said it is important for businesses to appreciate that companies in Switzerland, Japan, America, South America and Britain are all looking towards China too.

“There are a lot of great brands around the world. Many countries make good milk, honey, and merino sweaters.

“In order to be successful, you not only need the best-in-class product in New Zealand and Australia, but it has to stand on its own two feet globally.”

Alibaba is spending a lot of time helping clients understand that it is important to tell their own brand story effectively, while at the same time leverage the unique advantage and narrative that comes from being a New Zealand business.

While there are a huge number of opportunities in the region, O’Loghlen said one of the most significant areas of focus over the next three-to-five years would be produce and protein.

“Seafood, beef, lamb, dairy, and really exotic produce like avocados offer an exciting opportunity.

“The fresh food space is going to be fascinating. We are really excited about fresh milk on top of what has been the first round of extended shelf-life milk into China,” he said.

Alibaba’s platforms will allow businesses to sell direct to consumers, avoiding the layers of distributors that have been a hurdle for New Zealand companies in the past.

O’Loghlen said it is really important to recognise the power of the daigou community – especially in Australia and New Zealand.

Daigou is the Chinese term given to buying items overseas on behalf of others. Products are purchased and brought into China by professional personal shoppers – or bought through online channels – with international students often acting as the intermediary.

This grey market is a multibillion-dollar business, and it can be argued that daigou can help put innovative new products on the radar.

Many New Zealand products already have an unofficial presence in-market because an enterprising Chinese New Zealander found it, liked it, and introduced it to their networks in China, said O’Loghlen.

“Chinese in New Zealand are using their mobile phones to tell the story of the region, disseminating that information back to China in real time.

“My colleagues in Europe and North America do not have an equivalent demographic that we do here [in Australia and New Zealand], in terms of percentage of the Chinese population in the large urban centres,” he said.

Chinese consumers looking to buy something from this region are receiving an accelerated experience of the New Zealand and Australian culture, because – more often than not – they know someone here.

“As Chinese authorities tighten up on the grey channels, companies will need to take hold of their own story from that of the daigou community, moving beyond a commodity phase to a more branded presence,” said O’Loghlen.

“This shift will lead to strong brands telling wonderful stories, and that is where Alibaba can help.”

O’Loghlen has spent considerable time living and working in China, and has noticed the pace of change recently has been more rapid than ever.

“Opportunities are emerging that didn’t exist previously. A lot of new platforms are geared towards small businesses and newer brands.”

Alibaba’s Australasian presence will help to ensure Australian and New Zealand businesses have the information and support necessary to succeed in China and the rest of the world.

“The office here will help businesses in the region understand that the pace of change in China is very different to that of New Zealand – or even Hong Kong or Singapore,” O’Loghlen said.

“I think if you had spoken to people in e-commerce in China several years to premium Kiwi producers

“Now we have a number of bonded warehouse opportunities. For example, Alibaba’s Taobao Global taps into a network of daigou, who ship their products through a bonded warehouse, and are as far away from a grey channel as you can imagine.”

With people in-market, Alibaba can not only help companies in Australia and New Zealand stay on top of the emerging sales channels, but also bridge the cultural chasms and language barriers that come with doing business in China.

Alibaba has made a number of investments in offline department stores over the past 18 months, in a push to merge its online platforms Tmall and Taobao with bricks-and-mortar (offline) shopping.

A surge in mobile internet usage and the growth of big data capabilities is driving this new “omnichannel” shopping experience as a way to better meet consumer demand.

The most recent move by Alibaba was a strategic partnership with Bailian Group, one of China’s largest retail conglomerates with 4700 stores across 200 cities and autonomous regions.

The two companies plan to leverage their respective consumer data to “explore new forms of retail opportunities across each other’s ecosystem,” integrating offline stores, merchandise, logistics, and payment tools to deliver a better overall shopping experience.

By combining membership data, they will be able to introduce technologies including geo-location, facial recognition, and big-data driven sales and customer management systems.

“When we talk with people here, a lot of people ask us if this is like Amazon, or what the analogy is,” said O’Loghlen. “But it is actually something very unique to China.

“These investments in offline allow consumers to experience brands. There will be a blurring of the lines in promotion online and offline.

“People [in China] are used to scanning QR codes or buying things offline and then receiving a promotion online, or vice versa,” he said.

“We have to be able to educate people very quickly about these things, because by the time it gets reported, your competitors may be up and running on the platform.

“It doesn’t require huge marketing dollars. A huge number of these promotions rely on livestreaming, which is the communication channel of choice at the moment in China.”

Marketing via livestreaming maintains a degree of exclusivity for the consumer — if they don’t tune in, they will miss out. Companies can tell their story in a more authentic way, better connecting with buyers and consumers.

“For Singles’ Day (November 11) there were 60,000 live streams between October 21 and November 11 featuring celebrities from China and overseas.”

O’Loghlen explained that if he and I were to have this same conversation in another 12 months, China will likely have moved on from livestreaming – perhaps to augmented reality or virtual reality goggles. That is not as a far-fetched as it seems. Last year the augmented reality game Pokemon Go took the world by storm.

Alibaba’s Buy+ virtual store also made its public debut in July last year at the Taobao Maker Festival in Shanghai. Buy+ – although still in beta – allows consumers to shop and browse products in a virtual environment using a headset with 360-degree views and two hand controllers. Shoppers can even have virtual models showcase apparel and accessories on a catwalk.

Ma has spoken about his aspirations for a frictionless, borderless future for e-commerce. Central to that is the establishment of an “electronic world trade platform” (eWTP), that will use the internet to remove trade barriers and allow all manufacturers and brands – regardless of their size – to have the same opportunity to enter a consumer market.

“Australia and New Zealand are both in the driving seat to take a leadership role in the eWTP rollout,” said O’Loghlen. “Moving on from the rules of the WTO and the rules of global trade will allow small businesses and developing nations to tell their stories and trade together effectively using e-commerce.

“We want to democratise the playing field for trade. A lot of people are really excited by that vision.”

A long lasting connection
Alibaba founder Jack Ma was one of the first foreign business heavyweights to meet with Donald Trump following his election victory.

In contrast to President Trump, Ma is an advocate for global trade, and says the best advertisement for globalisation is the success of one company trading with another, and hiring more people in the process.

By expanding into Australasia, Ma said Alibaba was making it easy for our businesses “to do business anywhere”.

At the opening of Alibaba’s Australasian office, Ma described the region as one he holds a long connection with.

“Australia will always have a special place in my heart and that’s why I’m so pleased to come back to contribute to supporting Australian businesses and create opportunities and jobs in a country that has meant so much for me.”

China’s richest man electrified a luncheon for former Prime Minister John Key in Beijing last April when he thanked New Zealand “for your benefit to the whole planet”.

He revealed then that 20 of Ma’s former colleagues at China’s e-commerce giant loved New Zealand so much they have retired here.

In the 1980s when Ma was 12 years old, he introduced himself to Australian Ken Morley — who was visiting China on a family holiday — in an effort to improve his English.

Ma befriended Morley’s son, who subsequently brought him to Newcastle in Australia on his first international trip.

Ma has said the time spent in Australia when he was young changed his view of China and its relationship with the world. “I am very thankful for Australia and the time I spent there in my youth. The culture, the landscape and most importantly its people had a profound positive impact on my view of the world at that time,” he said.

Last month Ma, who according to Forbes is worth US$28.2 billion and is the second wealthiest man in China, gave A$26.4 million to establish a scholarship at the University of Newcastle.

The Ma & Morley Scholarship Programme will help establish networks between the two countries, as well as provide practical training to equip beneficiaries for leadership in the global environment.

China Business: Chinese brands make their mark (NZ Herald)

Tim McCready

A decade ago, the most respected domestic brands in China were those attached to clothing, shoes and other small items.

Nowadays, Chinese appliance brand Haier, e-commerce platform Alibaba, and personal computer manufacturer Lenovo are well recognised, and showcase China’s rapid growth and aspiration for dominance in innovation and technology.

Perhaps nothing better demonstrates this change than low-cost Chinese smartphone manufacturers. Recent surveys have shown the good quality and low prices of domestic high-tech smartphones have dramatically increased in reputation to become among the most trusted brands in China.

China is the world’s largest market for smartphones, and one that is growing rapidly. Global technology analyst firm Canalys recently reported that for the full year 2016, China reached 476.5 million unit shipments of smartphones, growing year-on-year at 11.4 per cent — vastly up on 2015’s growth rate of 1.9 per cent.

The last quarter of 2016 saw smartphone shipments in China reach 131.6 million units — the highest single quarter total in history and accounting for nearly a third of worldwide shipments.

Leading the charge in the Chinese smartphone market are Huawei, Oppo and Vivo. Their rankings jump around depending on how the data you use is captured (shipments to resellers, reported sales, phone activations), but all have experienced strong growth in sales numbers over the past year.

Traditionally, Huawei has focused on China’s larger tier-1 and tier-2 cities, with Oppo and Vivo targeting rural areas and medium cities — although that is changing as all three look to aggressively expand their market share.

The Chinese smartphone market is not without its challenges. Xiaomi was once considered by many to be the “Apple of China”. Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, has been on a mission to “change the world’s view of Chinese products”.

Yet Xiaomi has slipped to fourth place in the Chinese smartphone war, and is the only one of the top brands to decrease its shipments in smartphones over the last year.

The company sold enough to keep comparatively expensive Apple at fifth place, but has struggled with poor reviews and hasn’t been able to keep pace with the innovation, marketing, and investment into distribution channels of its domestic competitors.

Globally, Chinese brands are making big strides into international markets. Earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), an annual tradeshow for consumer electronics held in Las Vegas, many analysts reported that China’s presence marked a big change. Chinese companies were present in record numbers — 1575 exhibitors compared with 1755 from the United States, showcasing strong innovation and technologies including smartphones with high specifications and advanced cameras.

Huawei was one of the early smartphone entrants into Western markets, and has become the first Chinese company to chip away at what has been South Korea’s and the United States’ stronghold on the industry, claiming third place in the fiercely competitive global smartphone market just behind Samsung and Apple.

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said at CES that Samsung’s woes over the past year with the Note 7 catching on fire provided more fuel to the company to push ahead as a serious player in the market.

Yu believes China deserved its previous reputation for being an imitator.

“Chinese vendors are getting strong and stronger at innovation,” he said, expecting Huawei to spend US$10 billion on research and development this year — about the same figure as Apple spends.

Huawei continues to push its brand in New Zealand — it is a regular on television adverts and billboards around the country. Last year Huawei and the Wellington Phoenix signed the largest sponsorship deal in New Zealand football history, extending their initial three-year partnership for at least another three seasons.

At the time, Huawei global rotating CEO Guo Ping said connecting with football fans through the Phoenix had been a huge part of growing the brand in New Zealand.

“This partnership has been outstanding for Huawei, building our profile in Australasia, and providing amazing experiences for our customers and friends in New Zealand.”

It seems to be working. Huawei has grown to third position in terms of share of total shipments to New Zealand, growing to 21 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016. That compared with 31 per cent of the market for Apple and 26 per cent for Samsung.

Other Chinese brands are yet to crack the New Zealand market to the same degree. Oppo is one would-be player, having signed exclusive agreements with 2Degrees and JB Hi-Fi to sell their handsets. This represents a natural next step for the Chinese producer, having enjoyed 700 per cent year-on-year growth in its Australian market share in the fourth quarter of 2016 (reaching 2.9 per cent of the market).

Global producers of smartphones have struggled to expand into China, and yet Chinese producers are rapidly accelerating into other parts of the world.

In the 2000s, Finland was the epicentre of phone manufacturing, with Nokia a ubiquitous staple in everyone’s hands. Whether or not Nokia’s recent relaunch will shake the industry up remains to be seen, but in the first quarter of 2016 Huawei sold 10 times as many phones as Apple did in Finland. Last October Huawei passed Samsung to claim the top spot of the smartphone market there.

High specifications and low prices might just be a winning formula for Huawei and others to take on Apple and Samsung — the top players in the industry since 2011 — and expand their dominance in China and Finland to the world.

China Business: UniServices goes global from Hangzhou (NZ Herald)

Tim McCready

Auckland UniServices, the commercial arm of the University of Auckland dedicated to connecting its capabilities to business, investors and the community, has recently established an innovation institute in Hangzhou, the “Silicon Valley of China”.

Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province and fourth-largest metropolitan area in China, is just an hour by bullet train from Shanghai and showcases China’s rapid transition from a low-cost manufacturer to technology-focused innovation centre.

E-commerce giant Alibaba was founded in Hangzhou, and companies such as Siemens, Motorola, Nokia and an increasing number of start-ups have set up there.

Dr Lisbeth Jacobs, General Manager International at UniServices, says “Chinese officials in Hangzhou are well aware of the University of Auckland’s success in commercialisation.”

She is responsible for all contract research and services activity outside New Zealand, Australia, and the Pacific.

In 2014, the MIT Skoltech Initiative identified UniServices and Auckland University as one of the top five “emerging leaders in entrepreneurship”, one expected to become a major international powerhouse in the coming decades.

Last year, the university was ranked 27 in a Reuters report on the 75 most innovative universities in Asia, a list that identifies the educational institutions doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies, and help drive the global economy.

“While China is very entrepreneurial and pours a lot of money into innovation, it can still be a struggle to bring new ideas to market,” says Jacobs. “China is a large market that offers a ton of opportunities but at the same time is extremely competitive.

“In order to be successful it is important to have a strong local base,” she says.

“Successful innovation depends on many different factors, but it must be process driven.

“New ventures are typically more likely to succeed when we put experienced people next to young entrepreneurs.”

Jacobs sees Hangzhou as the perfect location for UniServices, matching the type of technology being undertaken at the University.

“Hangzhou has a lot of biotech, e-commerce, logistics, precision manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and nutrition companies, and is attracting top-tier science and technology companies and researchers.”

The Government of the Hangzhou Economic and Technological Development Area (HEDA) helped UniServices find a suitable location for the innovation institute, and assisted with administrative processes and other local requirements.

UniServices will initially use the institute to gain traction in China in several areas where the university’s internationally-recognised expertise is relevant for the Chinese market, including robotics, high value nutrition, light metals research, water, clinical trials and drug development, particularly in oncology.

The University will also look to offer executive education in specific areas, including tailoring their post-graduate qualification in commercialisation and entrepreneurship, for which it is well known internationally.

While UniServices has already had several contracts with Chinese companies, Jacobs says managing them from New Zealand is not always easy.

“On previous projects we have wanted to hire staff close to the project.

“Without a Chinese entity, it is very difficult to do that. Enforcing contract terms and payment has also been challenging at times.”

The institute has been set up as a wholly foreign owned limited liability company under Chinese law.

A local entity and a base in China will make it a lot easier to hire staff, enforce existing contracts and be closer to Chinese customers.

Jacobs explains it is not possible for UniServices to hire generic staff — an engineer might be suitable for a programme in light metals but is not interchangeable to work on a drug development project.

Teams will be built around projects and research entities as is done at UniServices in Auckland.

“Our people will travel more, and as projects and research centres grow we will build teams up locally to expand beyond ad hoc projects,” says Jacobs.

“We will be able to access more work, and ensure any contracting is more effective, efficient, and enforced.

“If UniServices can contract from their own entity in China to another in China — and backed by local government — it is a lot harder to be ignored.”

UniServices has previously had an offshore presence, including a large multi-year programme to introduce an English language foundation programme at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, and it has staff in Oman to deliver a schooling improvement project alongside the government.

But establishing an office that will do everything UniServices does from New Zealand, rather than project-based work, is a first for Auckland University.

Jacobs’ vision for the institute is to be actively engaged in contract research, deliver consulting services, spin out companies from the university and incubate start-ups.

“One of UniServices’ criteria for investing in spin-outs is that they have the potential to become global players. It is easier to become global on day one from China than from New Zealand.

“We will be able to offer our start-ups the ability to go global and really test their ideas in an international market.”

Jacobs says the institute aims to bring together people from all facets of the innovation ecosystem to use the facilities and share their experience and expertise with each other.

“It is my hope that the institute will ultimately provide a link between the innovation and commercialisation in New Zealand and China.

“We want to create impact, a vibe, and a hub for innovation,” the UniServices manager says.