UNODC and Siemens AG strengthen partnership for business integrity
Aug 2 2021
UNODC and Siemens AG strengthen partnership for business integrity

Vienna (Austria), 2 August 2021 – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Siemens AG signed a funding agreement worth US$ 4 million to strengthen business integrity.

The sum represents the largest single contribution by the private sector to UNODC’s anti-corruption work. It will be dedicated to funding a new UNODC project, called Global Action for Business Integrity, which aims to prevent and fight corruption by strengthening legal frameworks, helping small businesses identify corruption risks, and involving youth, civil society, and academia in developing anti-corruption responses. The scope of the project is global with a focus on seven countries: Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.

The Executive Director of UNODC, Ms. Ghada Waly, said: “To recover better from the COVID-19 crisis, businesses will need to recover with integrity. Thanks to the support of Siemens AG, UNODC will be able to help private sector companies build their capacity to play a bigger role in preventing and countering corruption, in line with the political declaration adopted in June by the UN General Assembly at its special session against corruption. I commend Siemens AG for its dedication to collective anti-corruption action, and I urge more companies to follow their lead.”

Sabine Zindera, Vice President, Siemens Legal and Compliance and head of Siemens’ global Collective Action activities and the Siemens Integrity Initiative added: “The fight against corruption is a clear business case for companies. What is more, Siemens has been constantly driving Collective Action over the past decade and has with a commitment of around 120 million US-dollars and 85 projects around the world strongly supported practical implementation on the ground. This is in our view indispensable for achieving lasting change and transforming the everyday into a true level playing field. We are very much looking forward to continuing our long-standing international cooperation with UNODC who is especially through the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) ideally positioned to engage and inspire many partners for practical implementation on the ground.”

The project Global Action for Business Integrity will mobilize stakeholders from the public sector, the private sector, civil society and academia to develop common responses:
• In Brazil, the project will conduct a youth hackathon to identify solutions to improve the dialogue between public sector, private sector and civil society on business integrity.
• In Colombia, the project will target civil society and academia and build their capacity to participate in collective action against corruption.
• In Egypt, the project will implement “On the Job Training” modules on business ethics for senior university students to build a culture of integrity among young professionals.
• In Ethiopia and in Saudi Arabia, the focus of the project is on training small- and medium-sized enterprises on corruption risk assessment.
• In Malaysia, UNODC will assist national authorities in the development and implementation of regulations on the liability of legal persons and beneficial ownership transparency.
• In Uzbekistan, the project will build the capacity of the public sector and civil society organizations in the area of strengthening anti-corruption components in legislation.

The project’s implementation is guided by the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the only legally binding universal anti-corruption instrument to prevent corruption and criminalize conducts such as bribery, trading in influence, abuse of functions and various acts of corruption in the private sector. In addition to the initiatives led in the seven focus countries, the project includes a global outreach component designed to identify good practices on business integrity and share them widely through publications and a global webinar series.

The project Global Action for Business Integrity is funded by Siemens AG under the Golden Stretch Funding Round, which builds upon the earlier three funding rounds. Siemens AG will now contribute US$ 4 million to UNODC over the next three years. Since the launch of the Siemens Integrity Initiative in 2009, Siemens AG has contributed over US$ 13.5 million to UNODC, enabling the Office to deliver nine projects in 17 countries.

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Jul 31 2021
Adidas presented the world’s first shoes made of mushroom‘ leather

Adidas are quite active in experimenting with new technologies. The company has now officially introduced Stan Smith Mylo. These are the first sports shoes to use Mylo – a material derived from mushrooms, which resembles natural leather. Its soft and elastic structure is a suitable solution for creating sneakers that are also more environmentally friendly.

Mylo is produced from renewable mycelium by means of highly efficient growth of the underground roots of the fungus, which takes about two weeks. Adidas specialists take advantage of modern vertical farming techniques that allow the mycelium to be grown in a system that increases production per square centimeter.

The conceptual model is another product that is being developed with the idea of ​​being harmless to nature. The use of Mylo material is possible in the outer upper part, the perforated stripes, as well as in the heel cover.

The midsole of the shoe is made of natural rubber, inform BusinessInsider and Digital.

The new concept is possible thanks to a unique and joint partnership with Bolt Threads – a biotechnology company committed to creating the next generation of advanced materials. The creation of Stan Smith Mylo is the best proof of a technology that is expected to be realized in many new products in the near future.

Cooperation is based on environmental commitments and demonstrates a long-term commitment to a more sustainable future, through serious investment in material innovation and creative solutions to ensure. In this way, companies ensure that the material is harmless to the planet, but contributes to the sporty look of the shoe.

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Egypt has filed a lawsuit for millions of euros against the owner of Ever Given
Jul 28 2021
Egypt has filed a lawsuit for millions of euros against the owner of Ever Given

Egypt has filed a multi-million euro compensation claim against the owner of a container ship that has blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week. Ever Given, owned by the Japanese company Shoei Kisen, got stuck in the Suez Canal on March 23 and was released six days later by a specialized rescue team.

The canal is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia to date. Because of this mistake, about 400 ships were waiting in line, including container ships, bulk carriers and oil tankers. They had given up more waiting and were redirected to Africa, SkyNews reported.

Ever Given’s protection and indemnity insurer, UK Club, said several lawsuits had been received and one had been filed by Egypt for 766.3m euros.

About a third of it is for an “unlocking fee” and another third for a “loss of reputation,” the insurer said. The owners and their insurers are negotiating in good faith with the Suez Canal administration about the amount of the claim.

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Bulgarian drones start transporting cargo in Europe for a German company
Jul 4 2021
Bulgarian drones start transporting cargo in Europe for a German company

Unmanned aerial vehicles with a range of up to 2,500 km, created by the Bulgarian company Dronamics, will start operating flights from 2022 for the German logistics group Hellmann. In a statement from Reuters in London, executives of the two companies said that in this way they would try to build a model for bypassing complicated and too long supply chains.

This problem has been exacerbated particularly last year by the pandemic-induced reduced flights and large container-clogged ports. Hellmann Worldwide Logistics says the Dronamics drones are a “real change in the rules of the game.”

“This does not mean that we will be transporting 80% of our cargo by drone tomorrow, but it is an important addition for continental transport,” Jan Kleinelastyus, COO for air transport at Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, told Reuters.

According to him, drones do a good job for emergency supplies such as spare parts for machines, vaccines, blood plasma and pharmaceuticals.

Dronamics was founded by Svilen and Konstantin Rangelovi and today has an international team as well as contracts with 39 airports in 13 countries. According to Svilen Rangelov, the goal is to use 60 drones from next year for several customers, including Hellmann.

“Our planes have a standard engine, they are already certified and the regulators know them well, so we reduce the risks as much as possible. We are also working on several issues, such as encryption, to protect them from hacker attacks and manipulation of GPS data, “he added.

It is a model called by the company “Black Swan” – “because at first it sounded like something impossible, but we persisted.” It can carry up to 350 kg of load at a speed of 200 km / h. A 400 m runway is enough for them to take off and land, and for now the drones will only fly between airports, but according to their creators, they can also land on short primitive runways. The latter means that they will be able to fly from point to point, delivering the cargo on the same day, which is not always possible on land and over water in the current organization of logistics.

Less than a week ago, the company announced that it had added three German airports to its network – Paderborn-Lipstadt, Rostock-Laage and Weeze – thanks to which it will be able to serve nearly 13 million people in a one-hour flight.

UPS was the first to receive permission for a “drone airline” in the United States and began deliveries. The United Parcel Service (UPS), based in Atlanta, Georgia, announced in 2019 that it had received from the US national aviation security regulator the first permit to use drone cargo airline.

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Hospices are becoming more and more interesting to real estate investors in Europe
Jul 4 2021
Hospices are becoming more and more interesting to real estate investors in Europe

Healthcare properties will find an increasing place in investment portfolios

Hospices as a share of investment volumes are displacing sales of homes for the elderly for the first time in five years in 2020 and in the first quarter of 2021, according to data from the consulting company in the real estate sector Colliers.

The growth in demand for more housing opportunities for older people will lead to a higher share of these assets in the investment market in the long run, experts say in a new report.

In the eight European countries included in the study – Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and Denmark, the population over the age of 65 is expected to reach a quarter of the total population of the countries and number 21.7 million. people between 2020 and 2035. This is more than the combined population of London or Paris and the Ile de France.

This is also a significant market force that must be met in terms of housing assets, experts say.

Colliers’ latest global investor survey shows that 21% of respondents have expressed interest in adult housing as an investment asset in 2021.

Although volumes of around € 7 billion per year are small compared to other sectors, the non-transparent and still immature nature of health properties as an investment grade means that the reporting of transaction volumes is undoubtedly lower than what happens in place, the report states.

Although the investment demand of primary and secondary healthcare facilities is lower, the sector will benefit from strong growth factors. In most countries, the level of hospital beds and state-provided medical care has declined over the last decade, with the shortage being offset by private, profit and non-profit operators.

In the United Kingdom, Poland and Denmark alone, most hospital beds are provided by the state. In Germany, France, Spain and Italy, this percentage has dropped to an average of around 60%, and various investors and operators from these countries are clearly expanding their sphere of influence across the continent.

Rising consumer spending on private health and private health insurance will continue to stimulate the main demand for a wider range of health assets, as the expansion of public insurance will remain weak. This will create additional opportunities for investors, albeit with a more complex and niche nature.

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The lack of freight containers in the world. And this is a problem for all consumers
Jul 4 2021
The lack of freight containers in the world. And this is a problem for all consumers

Load the containers in the heart of the world trade. Every single product or component, part of the global economy, travels by road, by rail and by highway. However, these important containers do not reach this point.

Indian exporters in North America and Europe are complaining that they have to wait a few weeks to be able to find enough money. On the other hand, British exporters believe that the deficit is causing delays in supplies to Asia for up to two weeks.

Meanwhile, the prices of commercial containers are boldly rising and they are already doubly expensive, says the Quartz website in its publication.

Market failure is another symptom of xaoca, which is causing a pandemic in international supply chains. B pezyltat na nego pazxodite za tovap i doctavki napactvat, a chast ot tozi puc ce ce ppedava i ĸam ĸpainite klienti c povishavane na tsexite nie cite.

“This will have a significant effect in the short-term plan, because supply problems will have a direct impact on inflation,” the professor said.

In fact, the biggest problem at the moment is not that there are not enough freight containers, but that they are not located in the necessary places. “This is the result of at least 16 months of imbalance in the market,” explains Professor Willie Cix of the Xapped School of Business.

“We are witnessing the accumulation of containers on the ground, which should not be the case,” he added.

Basically, the citation can be promised at the beginning of the pandemic. Then the containers from China and Asia, traveling to America, have to stay in different ports there. The reason for this was that China was closing its borders to the west. In the meantime, the production process is also beginning to close in different parts of the world, which has led to a global upheaval.

In the last year, with the gradual opening of the economy, the peak reached a peak. From its point of view, this is very much in line with the big trade ports, and a lot of people are still moving with big signs. In order to get used to the deliveries, they leave the empty containers in different ports and do not wait for them to be filled up again, but for a long time.

The situation is getting worse with the blocking of the Cyecka channel. And many experts expect it not to change until the beginning of 2022.

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