Good morning everyone. Good to see you and thank you for joining this excellent panel at the start of our growth summit. We are very conscious about the importance of growth this year because it is really very important situation we are in when this comes to reviving inclusive and sustainable global growth. Our economists and we also have seen the economists in IMF and the World Bank also predicting 2.8 to 3% global growth this year. That's a lot lower than we have been used to in the last decades. In fact we have to go all the way back to 1990 to see growth numbers at this level. So the economic backdrop that we are faced with is challenging but compared to the geopolitical backdrop that we faced with maybe even a bit less challenging. The geopolitical backdrop is also causing us concerns and is also influencing the economic situation. What we really need to avoid is that this is lost decade when it comes to growth. We need to revive growth but that also has to be done in a very smart way because we have inflationary pressure that we haven't seen in a long time so that has to be dealt with. Would you also know that this is affecting developing countries in the emerging economies quite seriously? We know that capital is now flowing to the large economies and how do we face and what kind of policies do we apply both in developed and developing world? What are the structural changes? What kind of supply side economics could we apply and how can we use trade as a tool in reviving growth? I would say that there will be no revival and a real of the economy, global economy and a recovery without the trade and investment recovery. We have an all-star panel to deal with these topics. Let me then introduce them and we'll come back to them. Of course with questions. First on my right hand side we have Minister Bandar Aikorayafef, Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources from Saudi Arabia, G20 Economy. We have then Minister from Bangladesh, Tipu Munshi, Minister of Commerce from Bangladesh. Welcome. We then have Rasya Khan, Head of Research, Chief Economist for Africa and Middle East, Standard Chartered Bank. Then we have Shandri Banerjee, Director General of the Confederation of Indian Industry and we have one of the successful industrialists, strong voice from the business sector, Boudre Okai, President and CEO of Kala Holding. Welcome. Let's give them an applause. Even with that kind of grim outlook that I was sharing, we should then try in the panel to change maybe the side cast a little bit and coming to you, Minister, we know that Saudi Arabia is a fast growing economy. We know that Saudi Arabia is the most populous of the GCC country and a real important player in also the whole MENA region and maybe increasingly so. When I was in Saudi Arabia recently and we met and also met with the crumprints, he strongly underlined that the future of Saudi Arabia is really about how one can create growth and investments. We would love to hear, of course, your answers to how to revive growth but also we know that the Middle East, the MENA region is the least integrated of all the global regions when it comes to trade. I know with the new situation in GCC that it's again cooperating much better. What are the prospects for increased integration? Over to you, Minister. Welcome to Geneva. Thank you and thank you for inviting me for this important session. I think it's needless to say that growth is a key component of every country's development. I mean, coming from private sector, it was for us clear in the private sector that the concentration of manufacturing, for example, of trade is not a sustainable. And one of the things that you just mentioned, the fact that our region is one of the least of integration is a result of how the overall trade, I would say, set up that has been developed as a result of God and then later on the World Trade Organization. And therefore, we are actually, we are seeing these challenges that are today with global trade and definitely what have happened as a result of COVID and disruption is just another demonstration of how fragile the global community is when it comes to global trade. Now we see also political tension and the war in Ukraine and so on. So definitely it's important to ensure that the global community have the right policies, the right direction to be able to build long-term investments that are integrated with the different industries on one hand, but also geographical location on the other hand. If we look at our growth in Saudi Arabia that has been fueled by our oil resources has been very impressive, but what we are doing in our Vision 2030 is really looking at how we can make this growth, impressive growth is actually selectively targeting different sectors that are going to be key in a global environment, unlocking value, adding value to our natural resources, our also geographical location. So Saudi Arabia, since the launch of the Vision, have made it clear that it is going to be a country that is connected with the global community when it comes to trade, when it comes to manufacturing, when it comes to resources, oil and gas, mineral resources and logistical, a very important logistical hub. We have seen that we have shown that the growth we have made, although definitely very impressive in terms of numbers, but the quality of the growth went to the right sectors, making sure that we connect. Now back to the question, what we are doing today, at least I would definitely talk about the agenda I'm responsible for, when we started looking at mining as a sector to be unlocked in Saudi Arabia, we made sure that we unlocked the sector, but at the same time make sure that it is linked with an added value vision. That's why we had the Ministry of Industry connected with mining. The way we are planning our mining resources and mining law is also incentivizing investors to go downstream. Definitely these investments will not only satisfy our local demand, but they are there to satisfy the region and the global community that is in very serious need towards the future of minerals. We have created the platform what we call Future Mineral Form, which today attacks more than 60 countries, trying to work together to see how this industry can be integrated, how different countries can play different roles to ensure the efficiency of supply and sustainable growth in that sector. Regionally and more regionally probably in the Gulf, for the first time in almost 17 years, we revamped the common industrial investment law that is going to integrate the different regions, the different countries in the Gulf. Also we have a unified overarching industrial strategy that is also bringing all GCC countries to see how they can cooperate with each other, how can they complement each other. It can be in manufacturing, it can be logistic, it can be in human capital, it can be in natural resources. This is a very serious discussion. We are having, for example, from our part and then we have the larger region that we see Africa, Middle East and Central Asia being an important player for the future of minerals and again that's also part of the Future Mineral Form. This region has more than 35 percent of global reserves. Unfortunately it's very fragmented, it's untapped, there's a lot of political issues, there's a lot of need for restructuring in different countries to allow this investment to take place. So as a conclusion I think our vision is all about economic diversity. It's all about really positioning Saudi Arabia to be an important player in the global trade, global resources of energy, minerals and so on. Well thank you very much Minister. I was also privileged to have your presentation of your mineral strategy when I was there. We also see that Saudi Arabia is now taking much clearer steps in saying that if you want to do business in Saudi Arabia you also have to have your regional headquarters here and you have also the launch of Riyadh Air so there's a lot of things happening. I was thinking, Rasia Khan, since you're also the chief economist of the standard Chartered Bank for this region, for Africa and the Middle East, based on the fragmentation, the challenges that I touched on in the introduction that we need to revive growth, how is your outlook economically for Africa and the Middle East? Well there's no doubting that there is at this point in time a fairly divergent outlook. The Middle East, especially the oil producing countries of the GCC have been able to reap the rewards of higher oil prices, they have recovered very well since the shocks of 2015. However the real story for many Middle Eastern economies is really around the diversification effort. What we've seen since that late 2014-2015 oil price shock is an accelerated embrace of diversification, of reform, that will hopefully allow the region to be that much more resilient through future hydrocarbon price volatility and we see this in terms of labor force inclusion, female participation in the labor force, we see it in terms of the effort to build inter-regional infrastructure. That remains an important theme everywhere as well as making banking systems that much more resilient to the oil cycles that we had seen in the past. Now for Africa we know that we are seeing a very different outlook at this point in time. The tightening of global liquidity, the capital flight from many emerging and frontier markets, a great deal of challenge. It's not clear where the financing for a lot of the closer regional integration is going to be coming from. At the same time there is great political will to make the Africa continental free trade agreement much more of a reality. It seems ambitious at first sight. We all know that of any developing region Africa had the least amount of inter-regional trade, very little trade complementarity, and the infrastructure that did exist really was there to serve the export of commodities mostly from Africa to the rest of the world. So the question we all need to be asking ourselves is how in a world where financing is going to be that much more difficult to come by, where there are big concerns about the more vulnerable economies and the external debt positions of those economies, where everyone is thinking how do you mobilize long-term financing for infrastructure? How do you build on the trade gains that can really help prosperity in this region? Many of you in this room will know that there's been a lot written about Africa's own vulnerability to global fragmentation of trade. Africa was the big beneficiary of the rise of China post-2001, the demand for its commodities. Now there's concern that if we are seeing a fragmentation of global trade, regions like Africa trading a lot with the EU, still one of the largest trading partners for the region, receiving a lot of FDI from the EU and other Western economies, but seeing a lot of trade with China, how are they going to be put at risk? If I were to summarize very quickly, I'd say the outlook for the Middle East is ultimately encouraging because of the embrace of reform, but for Africa too, the political willingness to realize those trade gains promised by the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement. It's early days, there's a lot of work to be done, many challenges still, but the political will to realize this could be a significant driver of growth. Short question, follow-up. How worried are you about some of these special African countries defaulting because of the high debt ratio? And we see that capital is no moving to some of the more developed economies because of the high interest rates. We know that there are countries now really, really vulnerable. They don't have a lot of liquidity. We know that Pakistan has been under pressure. We know that also other African countries. So how worried are you about this? And how to also agree on a deal related to, for example, a haircut? Would we in this fragmented world see, for example, China and the US agreeing on a deal to support one of, for example, African countries? So that's an excellent question. And at this point in time, markets is thinking, at some point we're going to get the Fed easing. They're pricing in quite a lot of easing still to come. Does that lend itself to more accommodative global financing conditions? Should we assume that the capital flows come back to emerging markets, that the interest will be there? Probably not for the time being, which means for much of the region locked out of international capital markets. The focus really needs to be on the mitigants that can be put in place. A lot of discussion from the international financial institutions of accelerating the amount of concessional financing in some instances grants to countries that have very low debt carrying capacity. But also this great need where countries do run into trouble with liquidity issues primarily. It starts off as a liquidity crisis, not a solvency crisis. Is there a way to prevent that from tipping over into a solvency crisis? And if it is, if there's no alternative to countries other than to seek a debt restructuring, the question we're still grappling with, is it possible to do this faster? Is it possible to reach more for global consensus, to get debt restructurings done in a much faster way, greater predictability, a restoration of growth even sooner? We all know that everyone would benefit if this were the ultimate outcome. The difficulty of course is in getting there. And in a more globally fragmented world where other geopolitical considerations run the risk of taking over, that could be an issue. Thank you very much. Very interesting. Let's then move to Bangladesh and Minister of Commerce. Looking at the last growth numbers, I looked them up last night. Bangladesh is still doing pretty well. I think we're expecting more than 6% growth this year, at least more than 5%, and I think 6% for 2024. Bangladesh has a huge export market in Europe and in the US. That's your most important export market. And most of you import. The biggest country when it comes to importing for Bangladesh is China. And then you have also a big neighbor to your west being India. So who are you maneuvering in an area where India meets China?  Thank you, gentlemen. Inviting me here. You see, we have now lost 15 years. The growth in Bangladesh is tremendous. We almost more than 6% is around 7% growth. It was every year, but last two years, I mean, the COVID and other problem just slowed down. But now we expect in this year also, as you mentioned that today, 6% our expectation, and I think we can achieve that. You know, our 84, 83, 84% of our export is ready made garments. The destination of the ready made garments to USA and mostly European countries. Thank you. No doubt. So, and as you mentioned that this supplies mostly 60% of our supply chain comes from, I mean, from China. That's true also. Last two years, we suffered a lot for that supply was really. So now we have a different plan. We shall have to plan in different ways. You see the original things. India is our neighbor, no doubt. But we have seven sisters in Indian side with around Bangladesh and West Bengal is one, another state of India. So that's also quite big. So we are planning to reorganize all these things bringing them into in the in the growth time in the business basket also with developing the relationship and all these things. And we are trying to diversify our, I mean, we have the RMG sector, but we want to improve our other sectors also what we are doing now, especially you see if you say the ICT sector is doing trying to achieve that, I mean, target what we are now planning to go. And also you know that this is your political scenario, a lot of investments also coming to Bangladesh. They are those who are changing their place, I mean, from China to relocating these things. So we are trying to catch that thing also. So Bangladesh is ready for that thing. And we have suffered the supply thing. So we are thinking this substitute of that how to phase that thing also. And if you if you see the export now some other items are also coming up quite in a good way. So I believe that China supply we shall we are rethinking how to how to we shall have to find morning we cannot change all these things. But we shall have to find some other way that not to depend on that's true also the depending on China it was we have suffered a lot. So and we said that the local economy is doing good. We are inviting the foreign direct investment more than 100 economic zone is there to clear that a lot of investments are coming. So hopefully all these things if really happens dependency on others will be less and our export basket will be more so far I believe. Thank you. No, thank you. And it's impressive economic results. I've been several times in Bangladesh my myself and have seen the difference in 20 years. It's incredible. And also thank you for underlining the importance of diversification. Then going to India, your big neighbor in the West know the most populous country in the world 1.4 billion people. Also the fastest growing of the large economies of the world. So many are talking about India's year India's decade on top of Asia's century. And this year Mr Banerjee also have the G20 and we know that CII the confederation of Indian industry that you're heading is playing a major role also in the preparations for the G20. But I'm wondering how do you see the role of Indian business in Indian economic and structural changes moving forward to continue the growth and also the Indian industry and business role globally. Because I think you also have ambitious ambitious outlook outside India. Right. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Yes, it's indeed exciting times in India and we are as you rightly said in the presidency of G20 and as an institution we are actually now spearheading the B20 part of it and therefore I find your question relevant from that from that prison. And we are looking at a when we really look at the next 25 years in India and we achieve 100 years of our independence in 2047. We are looking at a 40 trillion economy by then at least from our side and that and where business of course both industry manufacturing and services have a huge role to play. And through that one of the things that we have been able to really achieve in India over the last few years have been a very coordinated consultation approach between the public and the business. And it is not just in a federal country and democracy like India it's not only the federal government but also the state governments which India in many ways are like 35 million years and therefore there are so you see the way we have worked we have moved to the second phases of reforms. We've seen reforms which are really like say digitization is one example that if you take it's touched millions of people people you talked about 1.4 billion people actually it is touched the people in the in the last village of India. So and that's where we see the opportunities of demand the opportunities of growth the opportunities of even sharing with the world and that gives me a segue to talk about the B20 process and which is contributing to the G20 where we are taking businesses together to move when we're talking about global value chains and to see how we develop even regional networks within within within the systems you will be working in a if you really look at in eight of India's 10 largest trading partners are from the from the region. So and trade will be one of the one of the biggest you know engines for growth and and we are really looking at we are seeing the type of foreign direct investments that are coming into India which is also led by a lot by business and Indian businesses today even mid-sized companies who are being able to even set up or acquire in U.S. or in India. So Indian investments even abroad becoming very strong which is really contributing to these global chains that I talked about. Second we think I think business has a huge role and we are working with our neighbors with our other regional networks we have been collaborating very strongly from the business side on areas like I2U2 or the India Indo-Pacific in a very very strong way and we are seeing huge results coming out of it. You see the way we are getting into FTAs that with UAE has been a phenomenal sort of an outcome that we have had well with Australia the UAE one was signed in 89 days the Australia was signed fast and we are really looking at other free trade agreements and with even if you really look at the eastern part of our side the east when we talked about our luke east policy we have trade agreements both in regions or in with countries in a very strong way. So the other point which where we see business leading a very strong role and because you mentioned 1.4 billion is is all about people so regional network of our when we talk about regional trade when we talk about global trade I think we need to also look at look at the future of jobs and you've come out with a fantastic report on future of jobs and you look at future of jobs we see how we can really make the any growth to be sort of job oriented growth and there comes a role of business in terms of looking at the future of jobs which are emerging that future and how we can sort of upskill our people look at those killings which are required which will give give jobs to to them in in our country and even people how can we can have cross-border mobility how we can have mutual recognition of of our qualifications even our new education policy if you see are allowing foreign universities much easier segue into India to come and develop and therefore even get into and recognizing vocational training to be a part of the syllabus in in in in in in in secondary schools so I think the role of business is pretty defined when we really look at how it can contribute it to India becoming a sort of developed country if I can say and even move up as I talked about a target of 35 to 40 trillion I see a growth rate in India not less than six percent definitely the coming year we have been seven percent we will end up with seven percent plus in this financial year and I see a potential of India actually growing at a much greater greater space with more of it's becoming easier to do business with India we are seeing stronger infrastructure development and there also business plays a lot of role all of this leading to much and contributing to the world and I think what we will be able to do is to see how we can share our own successes I talked about the digital stack story of India which can actually one of our legacy issues that we are really like trying to work with and I was so happy that my colleague panelist spoke about Africa because one of the things that we are really looking through the B-20 prison is to how we can get the world attention and world economically integrate with Africa so I think business has a major role to play and with our policymakers and with the regional cooperation we can take that forward thank you very much CB I visited last fall and you hosted a dinner in New Delhi and that was when there was a low point here in Europe when it came to optimism or lack of optimism I said it was like very good for me to arrive in Delhi and was at that dinner it was only optimism so it was good to feel optimism again but things are looking also a little bit better in this part of of the world we were supposed to freeze in the winter we were supposed to see inflation getting all out of control and also see major reallocation of industries we are having these challenges still but not the freezing one though but we are dealing with it and that's I think a good segue into Balder Okiai present and Sea of Kale Holding Kale Holding Kale Industries I think you represent your 17 different companies you have production in Turkey but also in several other countries you're a big industry conglomerate and you're still doing well but who have you maneuvered through all these crises Ukraine crisis the energy crisis challenges with the lira what what has your been how do you see the outlook now also if you look at at trade and how are you maneuvering thank you and I think that this summit discussing is very timely about growth and looking forward from here to the world how it can be revamped so this is in a time of uncertainty as discussed in the previous panel so it's a very visionary for the forum to put out such issues I think there are some realities that we need to focus on moving forward especially we need to discuss more among governments and businesses as India achieved and we should engage more in these discussions in order to establish a system of of thought on how the global system and globalization should be rewired for a better inclusivity for all nations and regions so as well as boosting regional trade and cooperation in existing fragmented world this is not easy as said before there are limitations there are regulations obviously increased increase in security and and uncertainty and all these happens as said before in the previous channel that in a less conceptual way but we are living through when we we are surfing on the global economy so these things are not easy and also it's it's very difficult to understand as discussed before there are powerful political dynamics derived resulting in driving force for also populist let's say movements and policies in different countries so this all this context makes very difficult for businesses to make decisions I think if you think after covid and living in an area as you mentioned close to war since three four years we as businesses in the region we were deeply affected so we had to overcome every regulation every global challenge and also all the macro developments that are happening worldwide which are happening among major powers and resulting in a shift in value chain so for us is really overwhelming situation but I think we think about regional cooperation we must have concrete plans and policies to maximize advantages in global change so as businesses we like to look more into integration to the global system we want to increase competitiveness while you know with the return in export and also we want to create higher value add by using opportunities of the opportunity window in technology and advancement etc in front of us but this is not easy in a fragmented and uncertain business environment so I believe in in our part of the world we were really directly impacted so we are working in two different areas one is the building materials and the other one is the aerospace business so one is very well regulated the other one is much B2C so we have been directly impacted by geopolitical drift and tensions mainly in our aerospace businesses and also for the COVID travel and bans and restrictions we had to face many problems for example some part of the world we were lucky to work during the COVID bans so we had to we had the opportunity to increase our exports but due to the trade and insecurity and problems within the economies for example we are facing right now together with India is anti-dumping tax from EU so during the for example war we are affected a lot because in the building materials we had the materials coming from Ukraine especially a precious clay that we are buying everywhere from the world from Spain Italy they are buying there so it was a you know problem in the supply chain so we had to find new ways of producing the same quality mainly relying on our R&D and human resources you know possibilities that we had our hands so this is another issue of course the pressures on climate crisis and adaptation for the businesses is another problem as Mrs. Razia said you know the financial institutions and all the financial outlook is not favorable for businesses so far so but we have for the business continuity we have to invest so to do that in a difficult financial economic system is really difficult for us so we were one of the biggest supplier of F-35 programs in Turkey so we entered the program in 2005 and since 15 years we were a part of that and we were producing 700 parts for the airplane and on the first airplane there were our parts so we were very well known manufacturer vis-a-vis the defense in aerospace industry but of course we were good ties with our suppliers but this shifts in the powers and the insecurity so affected us of course coupled with the decision taken by our government also so we work out of the program so we had to find new ways of integrating ourselves in the different programs obviously civil engineering was aviation was one of them but during covid that got a hit so we had to find other projects other let's say ways of working in the industry of course these g2g programs are very difficult to handle especially in this context of the world that we are living in but we need to continuously adapt ourselves as businesses obviously in the region when we talk about regional cooperation of course we want to increase as turkey regional cooperation and we believe that we have a good industrial base and we can help countries in the region but of course previously we had some also regional problems among different countries now things are a little bit better and lifted so hopefully we can do more working you know with these countries and this is challenging for businesses so we'll see what will be in the in the next 10 next decade so how we can adapt thank you well thank you thank you very much and and it's very impressive how your company has dealt with all the challenges and also have prospered we are in a situation that we have two minutes left and I was hoping to take questions and I was also hoping to come back to the panelists I would say if each panelist can answer two of my questions in one minute each we'll have a chance to close with the panelists I think the opening plenary starts at 11 but then we have to do one minute so I was thinking based on this discussion and the global outlook what keeps you up at night and what is the biggest hope for the year to come so let me then start with Russia come it's always good to go to an economist what keeps you up at night and what is the most hopeful thing when you look at the coming year the growth outlook is probably the thing that keeps me up most at night we know that it's been a tough time the inflation shocks and developed markets especially the persistence of inflation but the hope is that with enough resolve to try to explore other drivers of growth and this is precisely the intro regionalization that is so important that has really gone largely untapped that could be the big opportunity this is how we keep global growth going excellent excellent content and one minute cb can you match that but yes the worry is we you know we talked about trade and I'm I'm very keen that the efforts that we had put in into a you know an open multilateral sort of trading order I think that should not be shaken and we should see to it and that sometimes gives me a fright as to when we talk about regional cooperation are we moving away from multilateral which we should not and we should have a strong multilateral what gives me hope is because we have many good stories and you heard some great stories from the panel today so it's just not going to the world economic order I think we are seeing emerging areas of growth in Asia we have many many good stories so I think that gives hope that we are seeing a very strong if I can say emergence of economic sort of stability in many parts of the globe through regional collaborations and cooperation you know our country now that we have the power of working force and the policy of the government our honorable prime minister brought this our country up to this level so now we are thinking how to expand how to diversify our production how to get new product also so all we are working in that aspect and beside that you see we I have now new markets also now our country is now in such in such a position the new investments are coming so I hope that this in the future is good and we want to expand that market regional and global market so hopefully everything will go in the next year's thank you very much thank you and madame okay I yeah my conclusion would be we need to focus on not only the potential but also limitations regional trade and cooperation can achieve if the context of cooperation is not set right so companies therefore from our own experience should rely first on their capabilities and resilience built with the view on the favorite unfavorable conditions occurring internally and international but also look forward to create possibilities to be more integrated into the global system so opening up new geographies as discussed in the morning like Africa and new countries so are very important and we as business we have to try to be more part of the global system and to be a more resilient and good business partner for for a new for a new cooperation in the region thank you very much so the famous last words minister goes to you anything keeps you up at night and what keeps you up the mistake very little things keep me up at night but I think what's what's for us most important is really how to continue the the successful growth that we have been able to achieve since the launch of our revision 2030 I mean moving from a GDP of 640 billion to 1.1 trillion you know making success in all of the different parameters of efficiency in doing business ranking from 48 to 24 in in complexity and diversity in the lpi how we have moved so I think that the race today the challenge today in in the country is how to continue the continuous growth luckily the foundation that has been built in the last six years is there really the fuel that is taking us for the future we have seen many of the targets that we are we were aspiring to achieve by 2030 have already some of them is showing great progress in in difficult areas you know especially on the social side education and training and skilling in human capital development is is key but also in areas where we need a lot of a lot of prerequisites like regulation infrastructure and so on so export growth has been tremendous in the last few years from 200 billion dollars to more than 440 and so on so making sure that the pace is is strong enough luckily you know the global the global also outlook of energy is definitely going to help the country accelerate and move faster bringing the resources from the natural resources to to a more solid and sustainable growth and finally I think one of the things that we are always always focusing on is how to ensure that our human capital development is on the right track is also being being advanced in a manner that allows our future generation to be well ready for future jobs and finally the RDI structure which is research innovation and is also in place to ensure that as we progress in growing our sectors taking technologies from abroad but also being ready for doing our own technology and and growth thank you very much listening to the panels summing up here I my conclusion is that this panel really sleeps well because they're very optimistic I heard more about the positive prospects and opportunities than the challenges and thank you for that I think we need it also at the start of this summit that is about growth and jobs I think even in a world order I would say we're between world orders we don't know what's around the corner it's always a bit of instability when there is no clarity but there's also opportunities if you are willing to make sure that you do structural changes that you also look at the supply side and also as mentioned that we still have big opportunities but also challenges when it comes to skills and skills gap as you saw in our report 473 million people are in a skills gap even if you some countries do have lack of labor it's almost a half a billion people that are not employed due to this skills gap so a big applause to a great panel and you're all cordially invited to the opening that's happening on the other building just walk out there and then it's in the Eiger and it starts at 11 thank you


The U.S. Supreme Court today revolved a legal theory favoured by many conservatives that could hand a sweeping power to state legislatures to establish rules for presidential and congressional elections and draft electoral maps given huge advantages to the party already in control. The justices in a 6-3 decision authored by conservative Chief Justice John Rubin ruled against Republican state legislators in a case horizon from a legal fight over the map of North Carolina's 14 U.S. House of Representatives district. The legislators had asked the justices to embrace a once-imaginal legal theory called the Independent State Legislature Doctrine that will remove any role of state court and state constitution in regulating federal election. The Independent State Legislature Doctrine has gazed ground among conservatives and Republican politicians who have passed new laws and restrictions in numerous states they have said are aimed at combating voter fraud. This effort accelerated in the aftermath of Republican former President Donald Trump's false claims that the 2022 election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.


The National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations present the Pacific story. In the mounting fury of world conflict, events in the Pacific are taking on ever greater importance. Here is the story of the Pacific and the millions of people who live around this greatest place. The drama of the people whose destiny is at stake in the Pacific war. Here is the tale of the war in the Pacific and its meaning to us and to the generations to come. Tonight's Pacific story from Hollywood in Washington D.C. comes to you as another public service with drama of the past and present and commentary by Colonel C.Y. Liu. Speaking for General Pong Tsumao, director of the Chinese Air Forces in the United States. They came in over the calitide. That means that they should be here in Hangzhou in no time at all. Wang Qingxiu handed me the dispatch. I couldn't believe it. Come on, Mr. Page. We must get out of here before they come. Come. We went out into the street and scanned the skies. Almost no one ran for shelter. All right, sir. All fighting things will take off and fight them, will they not? Yes, I think they will, Wang. Do you think our fighters can stop them, Mr. Page? I didn't know how to answer. The prospect of being bombed was terrifying. No one knew much about it then. We were pretty sure that the Japanese would come in strength. And I knew there were few fighting planes in the Hangzhou area. What do you think, Mr. Page? Well, it's hard to say, Wang. I remember that just four weeks before, as a result of the incident at the Marco Polo Bridge, General Litzimo Chiang Kai-shek had called his generals together at Kuling. And it had been unofficially reported then that China had only about 200 war planes. Most of these were of inferior quality. And I knew that many of these had been up to North China. Which direction do you think they will come from, Mr. Page? They may come from any direction. There. There's a plane. One plane. See it? I squinted upwards to one fighter climbing over the city. Is that one of them? No, Wang. I think that's a Chinese fighting plane. We were to learn later that the pilot of that plane was Chao Ting-fong. Look how high he is flying. Chao Ting-fong was climbing to the clouds, which were very high that day over Hangzhou. Oh, there are two more. No, three more planes. These are Chinese fighting, too, Wang. How many Japanese bombers must they fight? Sonically, I hoped there wouldn't be too many. But I knew the condition of the Chinese Air Force. I'd been in China since 1932 when Colonel John Jeweth, the American, came over as military aviation adviser to China. Japan had just invaded and occupied Manchuria. And it looked fairly certain to the Chinese that they would have to fight. It wasn't time to build a navy, so the Chinese decided to develop an Air Force. Well, Jeweth came over, and all he found that she and Chao, near Hangzhou, was one ramshackle hangar in a field yet to be enlarged and re-equipped. About 200 Chinese who had had some training in flying were turned over to him. He made all of them take a refresher course. And half of the 200 failed. He made pilots of the rest of them and then started from scratch. Training Chinese youngsters to fly who had never even driven an automobile. One of these was Chao Ting Fong. That one plane. That first one has disappeared into the clouds. That was Chao Ting Fong. Look! Big plane! Over there! Over there! Those must be the Japanese. Are those the Japanese bombers, Mr. Page? I think they are. There are six of them. They were not much more than dots. But we could see that they were coming in fairly low. Where are our fighters? Where have they gone? Chao Ting Fong disappeared into the clouds high above. But we did not know what had become of the other Chinese fighters. The Japanese will be over us in another minute. They started to unload their bombs. Look! Look coming down out of the clouds. Down out of the clouds. Down on top of the low flying bombers. Diving like a plummet came Chao Ting Fong. There are the other Chinese fighters coming down on them too. Yes! Look! They are diving right into the Japanese planes. Came down. The machine guns blazing. The Japanese bombers had no escort. One of the Japanese bombers is falling. Look at it! It's falling! It's on fire! It's going down! There goes another one! Chao Ting Fong's bullets ripped into the bombers. They dived on them and zoomed up. In an instant he was diving on them again. Fitting fire. Hit another one! It's coming down! And that one over there too. It's falling! It's falling! I stood there breathlessly. These were some of the young Chinese. Harder more than raw recruits that I'd seen trained. They were getting the baptism of fire. There's only one bomber left! Only one left! Chao Ting Fong dived at it. He's hit it! He's hit it! It's going down! Six bombers shot down and not one of our fighters lost. It became China's Air Force Day. In three days the Chinese pilots fighting against the best the Japanese could send against them knocked down 44 Japanese planes. The Chinese Air Force had established itself as a worthy fighting army. That was the real start, that victory. It inspired the Chinese. They started immediately to develop an Air Force. The Soviets sent them help. Major General Chanel came over as chief advisor on military aviation. Young Wang Qing Tzu went away to prepare himself to be a flyer. I've had two years in the Chinese military cabinet before I came here, Mr. Page. Was that so?  Yes, sir. And in six months if I qualify in squadron flying I will be commissioned a second lieutenant. Okay, Wang. Pack the out and join your squatter now. Yes, sir. You want to be a good pilot then, boy? Yes. Are all your cadets graduates of the Chinese military academy? No. Quite a few non-commissioned pilots are trained in the flight sergeant school. Oh, I see. How much military training do they get? Well, they get three months and then they begin their flying lessons. Then they train for three years. Yes. They graduate as first-class flight pilots. They finally wake themselves up to be flight sergeants. And those specially qualified can take more training and become commissioned officers. Oh, look.  That's wonderful. There's a remarkable thing about a Page that nearly all those pilots like Wang didn't know a thing about mechanics before they started. Most of them had never even tightened a nut on a boat. There was something amazing about watching the development of the Chinese Air Force. It seemed to take shape right before my eyes. They not only trained pilots, but they sent their flyers to the war college. We are studying together with army officers, so we may be better able to cooperate with them. The work of the two services was closely knit together. The emphasis is on strategy and tactics and command. Special classes were set up in pursuit, attack, bombardment, radio, gunray and all the other things. But what they needed most was planes. We must have planes. We must raise the money for planes. We must buy planes for the government. Words went out through China, and the Chinese people responded. I saw their answers come in at Jun Qing. The people of Xinjiang will give ten planes to the government. The fourteen crowded groups of Xinjiang, the Wild West of China, were among the first to donate war planes. The Chinese and the Philippines have raised one million pesos for war planes. The Chinese beyond the seas have raised six million three hundred thousand dollars for war planes. And in China itself, in Zixuan province, the most ambitious campaign of all was organized. We of the Chinese Aviation League will raise twenty million dollars Chinese to buy one hundred war planes for the government. China had become air conscious, and soon even the remotest parts of the nation were to become familiar with the drone of airplanes overhead. From among the best of Chinese youth to be trained as pilots, the Air Force Mechanical School was expanded. A juvenile school for boys from twelve to fifteen was established. But as the war dragged on, and China's situation became more serious, the need for more planes and more facilities became grave. Watch the developing Chinese Air Force. They knew as well as we did what a powerful weapon the Air Force could be.  When the Japanese get through with this field, there will be nothing left for us to fight with. This was Wang. The young Chinese had been learning to fly several years before. How helpless we are. We must stand by and watch them blow our field to pieces. This was the field of Hang Chao. The field that John Jewett had come to nine years before. And the field where young Wang had learned to fly. There was a Chinese west point of the air. When the last bomb had been dropped, the Japanese left. And the field and most of its facilities lay in ruin. The command the court is pilots and crew is together. They have destroyed our plane. They have destroyed our field. But they have not destroyed us. Nor our will to fight. We must get to Chun Qing. But we have no way to get there. But to walk. We will walk. I saw those valiant men of the Air Force without planes. With nothing but what they had on their backs and in their hands. I saw them on that march to Chun Qing. They cannot crush us Mr. Page. Well, your situation won't be much better at Chun Qing. Will it Wang? Not at Chun Qing perhaps. But perhaps we will get orders there to go elsewhere. Where do you think? I do not know. I must go now Mr. Page. They march to Chun Qing. Then to Kunming. A thousand miles. Then the order came through. The training of Chinese pilots will be moved to India and to the United States. This was 1941. Relations between the United States and Japan were growing worse. Never talk around at war might break out at any time. It was in October of that year that the flying tigers landed in Burma. All right, one sign. Watch the fuselage coming up. Hey Jimmy, look at this. Hey Jimmy, look at this. The rest of the parts are on their way in now. Good. How long will it take you to get those summerhawks assembled? Well, we haven't got the facilities for a hurry up job. But we'll get these planes together as fast as we can. Every minute. They're assembling the other fighters up at Tunggu. And as soon as they're ready, we'll take off from here in Rangoon and join them. It took weeks to get those summerhawks assembled. The men who made up this first volunteer group in the Chinese Air Force were American Army, Navy and Marine pilots. While they were getting ready at Tunggu and Rangoon, the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbor. We waited for the arrival of the flying tigers in Kunming. But I'll never forget when they came winging in on December 19th. Nothing ever looks so good to me as those T-40s. We can expect the Japanese here any time now. The Kamahawk fighters were dispersed about the fields. Preparations were rushed to get them ready for anything the Japanese might try. The next day, the Japanese came. Look at that. One of them. But the flying tigers and their T-40s were already in the air. Look at them attacking pan. Just what the old man taught them. Chinosa taught them that one T-40 against one Japanese plane is off numbered three to one. But the two T-40s working together can out-hit and out-fight any six Japanese. Oh, there goes the first jack. They slay them. He's coming down, he's coming down. And there goes another. Add a fly, flush them up, give them the wax. They had a horse-capped squatter on its scatterer. Look at them scram.  But General Chinosa taught them work well. In four and a half months, his flying tiger shot down and destroyed more than 200 Japanese planes. He began to breathe more easily. For meantime, many of the Chinese pilots who had been bombed out near Hang Chow and had been walked to Tune King and Kunming. Now we're at Thunderbird Field in Arizona. It's an impressive sight here at Thunderbird Field, ladies and gentlemen. The first class of Chinese to be graduated as pilots are all lined up here and a finer group of young men you've never seen. There are 42 of them. All of them had at least 150 hours in the air before they came here to the United States. And in these 20 weeks of intensive training, which they've just finished, they've been given the standard training of American flyers. They've learned to fly both American pursuit and bomber planes. The graduation ceremonies are over now. And I'm going to bring one of the young pilots up to the microphone. Just step right up to the microphone, Lieutenant Wong. Thank you. Lieutenant Wong, you Chinese have hung up some kind of a record here at Thunderbird, haven't you? Well, I do not know. He's just modest, ladies and gentlemen. Lieutenant Wong and most of the other Chinese pilots completed the ten-week primary course here in six weeks. And they completed the advanced course in about the same time. Congratulations. Thank you. Lieutenant Wong, what would you say has been your greatest difficulty here at Thunderbird? Well, I think the language. Well, I can imagine. It is not only the English that is strange to us, but even among us there are many dialects, and some of us have difficulty understanding the others. But all of you have given a good account of yourselves anyway.  Yes, sir, we have. We have enough training planes and gasoline here to get our full quota flying. And there are no air raids to interrupt our training. Well, thank you very much, Lieutenant Wong. We return you now. When the first group came back to China, another group went over. They went over in groups of 50. As each group came back, they went into active service against the Japanese. And there goes the first squadron. We are next. Captain Wong, Captain Wong now, sitting in the cockpit of his fighter on the heel of the Chin King. There is the signal. Let's go. See you later, Mr. Page. He waved to me as he started taxiing out onto the field. Johnny's Air Force Colonel stood beside me with a solemn face. I spoke to him. Colonel, you're sending up just about everything you have on this mission, aren't you? Yes. And if we had five or ten times as much, still we could hardly match the strength of the enemy. Yes, I know. Man for man, we are more than their match. But we have too few planes. The ones we have are the same old P-40s that we use by the Flying Tigers. Here they come. Yes. I am inspired every time I see them. The past they have is almost impossible. The enemy fields are all around us, supplied with plenty of planes and plenty of supplies. And our flyers must keep the air clear all the way to Chin 2 and as far in the other directions. Captain Wong and his squadron disappeared. The Colonel and I walked off the field in silence. About an hour later, it started. Come! Hurry! We must save the plane! Not a break! Get the planes! The planes! He's plastered the field with bombs, waved at the wave of them. And when the bombers were gone, waved the fighter's name. They've dived on us with their machine guns barking. Waved the field and the hangers on the plane. Again and again, they're trying to destroy everything. They've got patient bombs in cindieres, anti-personnel bombs, machine guns, and still they come. They came back. Again and again. At last, they were gone. We walked out on the field to survey the damage. There was a ruin nation everywhere. Major, get your men out there and fill in the holes on the runway. Our squadrons will be back in a couple of hours. They all worked like mad to get the field into some kind of shape so the Chinese pilots could land. Everyone worked. Just before dusk, the plane started to come in. There's the first one. Why? It's currently shot up like a seal. Look at the holes in it. Yeah. How could any human being live inside of a plane shot up like that? It currently didn't dance. We walked over to where the plane had taxed it in. Look at the blood coming out of the cockpit. The pilot set motion in his seat. Come on, you over there. Get this man out of this plane. Some of you might help him. Lift him up. I can get out. All right. I went in to help lift him out. Here, let me help you. Oh, I have to page. Hello, Major Chen. Here. I'll put my arm around you. No. Help the others. Lock here then. There you are. There. Major Chen. How did Captain Wong do? Captain Wong. The overwhelming odds. A fighting force growing day by day in the face of an enemy has been in every effort to destroy it. Flyers courageous with meager equipment, burling themselves against the completely equipped Japanese. By the middle of 1944 on the 7th anniversary of their first great victory, they could look with pride at their impressive record of nearly 800 enemy planes destroyed, 23 warships, nearly 1,000 transports and other ships sunk, and 1,600 enemy motor vehicles wiped out. Could have this advanced space ready for operations within two weeks, Mr. Page? Yes. To me, Colonel, this side here, tens of thousands of Chinese working with the most primitive tools, creating a great deal like this out of hills and valleys and farms kills the indomitable spirit of the Chinese people, and their will to have an air force. Yes. But there is much work to be done, Mr. Page. We have established major bases in the rear provinces, and we are building more and more advanced bases like this one, with underground fuel and bomb depots. But we realize, as your military leaders do, that not only must we have an air force, but that we must develop fields to be stepping stones to Japan. Almost nothing, 13 years ago, the Chinese Air Force is today emerging as an important factor in the war in the Pacific. To tell the part of this playing, the National Broadcasting Company presents from Washington, D.C., Colonel C.Y. Liu, speaking for General Peng Tzu Mao, director of the Chinese Air Force in the United States. The next voice you will hear will be that of Colonel Liu. We take you now to Washington, D.C. The National Broadcasting Company has asked me to say a few words on this program. I deeply appreciate its honor. For in 1937, China took up arms against the Japanese aggressors. The Chinese Air Force, young and numerically small, and flinchingly gave better to the invaders. It was making victory in the face of overwhelming and main superiority. During the ensuing years of China's long stand against aggression, it suffered from shortage of personnel and equipment. But it fought to do today all, and fought well with the bigger resources at its command. Since Pearl Harbor, China has not been fighting single-handed as formerly. Leading out the branches of Allied forces, the U.S. 14th Air Force for nearly three years has been fighting side-by-side with the Chinese Air Force. American Chinese Airmen have grown to be a closely unit. Together they say the same sky and hunt the same anime. Their exploits have given strength to our ground forces. Their presence over the anime-haired areas has brought hope and assurance to the people under Japanese tyranny. In the United States, the Chinese Air Force has received the full cooperation of the U.S. Army Air Forces into training programs. Many classes of Chinese pilots have been graduated. These graduates are now serving in China and have distinguished themselves in many battles. There's no element of surprise for me in their outstanding records because it is the logical result of the finest possible training they have received in its country. Today, the air over China is no longer the exclusive domain of Japanese planes. The air superiority which the anime enjoyed in the past years has now been rested from him. More importantly, the U.S. 20th and 21st Air Forces have marked their strength in the Pacific and have brought the entire Japanese homeland under cease-fire air bombardment. The anime has lost the control of the air and because of this loss, she will soon face the mighty Allied land and sea forces in his own backyard. We have all learned from the records of the war in Europe how air power has been the one crucible factor in all its military events today and how Allied control of the air has made the Allied invasion of continental Europe possible. Japan is certainly no exception and her collapse like that of her last ex-partner in Europe is only a matter of time. The members of the Chinese Air Force having fought through the past several years has been an advance guard against aggression. He means in honor and privilege to be now marked in sight by sight with Allied forces towards the goal of final victory. Thank you Colonel C.Y. Liu. We return you now to Hollywood. Coming to the Pacific story presented by the national broadcasting company and its affiliated independent stations as a public service to clarify events in the Pacific and to make understandable across currents of light in the Pacific Basin. For a reprint of this Pacific story program send ten cents in stamps or coin to University of California Press, Berkeley, California. It is written and directed by Arnold Marquess. The original musical score was composed and conducted by Thomas Palusso. Your principal voice was that of Jack Edward Sr. This program came to you from Washington, D.C. in Hollywood, California. This is the national broadcasting company.


Overhead yeah, we're gonna we're gonna go low really all right. Here's the deal That was tight bro I was like I was so confident in that too. How's it going everybody? Dato do I hear back with some more samurai showdown online ranked matches and today We're going to be going back to Galford It has just been too long since we last played this character And it looks like our opponent here is playing yashimaru a character that I have I have a lot of experience with So this is actually pretty good for let me back up here and throw some oh never mind. Let me jump up. Oh Why would he dash in like that? Me slice. Okay, that was risky. Oh God Now let me back up for some more. Oh, dude.  Let me throw some dog out. Oh No overhead Did not mean to do this. Oh God This is fine. I'll just have to mix them up. Oh Surprise attack. I probably should have done it there, but that's still a lot of damage. All right We made the best out of it. Oh, I threw a blade And you have a lot of time to block after Why would I do that? Why would I try to flawless block it? It's not like I can get rage back Actually, what am I rushing in for this character is great even without a sword, dude Just keep throwing them out do the overhead crush every now and again. Oh, that's like half my health Okay, I'll stop talking now Somebody help. Oh God, I can't I can't there's not much I could do here. I just I couldn't get the space I wanted I was thinking like how do I teleport above this guy's head? But it was a real bad spot do 10 win stream Come on, dude. Let me Let me just land a heavy. Oh wow low. I like it.  Nah, we we're done going low try to surprise attack him. It's pretty fast Overhead. Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna go low really. All right. Here's the deal Perry that That was tight brawl. I was like I was so confident in that too. Oh that felt good I was like, okay. He's gonna go for something here. Yeah, he's just see how he was like.  I wish I had my rage No, I'm trying to get up close so we can actually like I'm on I want to take advantage of the recoil cancel But this guy had this actually this feels like a bad matchup for galford just based off of all of this stuff I'm not able to employ at the You know, whenever I want Like the fireball game is really tough for me. And that's usually what I play.  Oh, no He's gonna grab. Oh Big hit. We have a chance. I didn't know what to do I didn't know if that would chip damage me out or if I had a flawless block it I just tried jumping admittedly. Maybe a teleport would have been better. I should have teleported Look it back. Why didn't I oh? No, oh, we take a sweet L And we got a snap this guy's 11 win streak rematch Hey, let's try to get it. I poppy. Come on. I need you now more than ever. We need to break this guy's win streak Jump up heavy slash. Oh, I thought I thought I had to read poppy. We taking damage Okay. Oh, look at the space control. Yeah, that combos. I could have anti-air that I was too slow. Oh Nice jump. I'll give it up by that barely did anything That's damage big damage. In fact another slight. All right, keep out. Let's play it. Keep away game Why? Why do I do the things I do? Keep my bay keep my bay poppy grab him poppy. What are you doing? Oh miss?  I just got uphold that. Why do I keep trying to think of innovative ways to dodge it?  I'll give it up. Oh, I tried the command grab They run out. Oh, stay back.  Oh Rock Lee talk to him. Nice low. I'm gonna roll past you and Catch you with the look. Okay, that's fine.  Okay flawless block. I'm panicking at this point. I'm panicking. I don't know if it's obvious Hey, and overhead crush in fall for it. That's fine. Nice Counter the projectile No, we got the grab. We have to do it. We have to do it. What are you running up on me for Becca?  I don't know what pissed him off there, but he was mad He was like, all right enough of this. He countered the grab. I'm going in That was the only choice I had it cost me all of my rage. I tried to deflect it. Oh You went low too fast too fast. Oh, we have lost too much health, dude Come back looks nigh impossible now. Hey, I know wow that dash was nice Mr. By a mile we're out. Yeah, we're out. I felt it. I was like, oh, it's too low. I'm too low Okay, we had a waste rage. I think getting grabbed that there was a bad mistake on our part. He's got us zero two Zero two and I'm trying to play this up to like, I don't know four maybe for Sam show He's got these can go pretty fast. Okay zero two. I'm not letting it go That was a rough heavy I ain't the air some of these dot-toe. I try to hit him with an overhead just cuz I felt like he'd be least expecting that What do you teach? He's trying to get fancy fancy Okay, that's that that should probably set us up for a victory this round. I block block. Don't get fancy Okay, don't panic. Don't panic if we keep blocking time is on our side here He deflected as he could have won No, it's here again. All right, Poppy, you got to finish this match clearly. I'm unfit. I can never mind I got it Poppy. You can relax. Oh clearly. I was unfit there, dude. I was getting buffed I'm on 12 win streak. I got to tear it down right now I'm a I'm a He knows I want it now, dude He knows what I want. Oh, get him out of the air. Go low. Is he rolling? Where's he rolling? God, it's it's a reaction base game. You got to take it nice and slow for kicks. What am I talking about? I'm getting kicked around.  Where's the roll? Okay, that's fine. We block it walk. Why did I jump? Grab him Poppy if you grab him we went Got it. I got my sword back poppy poppy grab him.  Oh Dude Galford is like the best character without swords. I'm pretty sure but even still I was like I need that sword to win Dude, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna get a yashima rich would jump in twice in the air with these lightning blades Oh My heart was beating dude. We finally snapped the win streak. I'm gonna go for the parry again. I Gotta stop. I must be stopped Got me grabbed. Oh, he's playing angry.  What am I doing? What am I doing? Too much damage roll at him roll at him All right, maybe rolling at him was a bad strat, but I felt like I've rolled away so many times I thought it would be too obvious Okay, that's fine Back him up back him up if he jumps in we answer here bad typing on the answer here.   Oh god It was too obvious. Oh, whoa I thought he let us live there for a second. It was too obvious. Okay. That's four on his side I guess are three actually Was it three? I think it's three. Okay, so let's do up until four.  Oh, no I'm getting completely outgunned here. I try to grab. I should have just gone low. It looked like he stood up Oh my god the damage damage I should have threw something out. I could have canceled that recoil with a lightning blade, but I was just too slow That's fine. That's fine. We lost one man. Oh, dude. This guy has our number now But ask me why I did that.  Got him. That might be death Nah, it's not even that close actually Did you see what I was going for a little overhead into a low?  Those were great games though, dude. Oh Why is samurai showdown so addictive? I love this game, man. I gotta be honest. That was like a that was a hard match There was a lot to adjust to there Usually with galford you you play a lot more of the projectile game But yashimaru doesn't really have that so I was really confused But yeah, man, hopefully you guys enjoyed this online set Sorry about the lack of fighters on the channel recently the online servers were down So I just had to jump around to some other fighting games And hopefully you guys enjoyed that while you're down in the comments So if you like the channel and want to support it make sure to the like button and subscribe There's also some more videos on your screen right now if you want to check those out Feel free to do so other than that. I have been doctor do it Thank you so much for watching the end and I will see you in the next video


The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of his statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Hamza Yousaf for around 10 minutes, cabinet secretary. I'm pleased to announce that the Scottish Government has today published our autumn and winter vaccination strategy. I'm sure that members will agree with me that the Covid-19 vaccination programme has been a resounding success. The NHS and, indeed, many, many others have mobilised at breakneck speed to match supply, thereby protecting the most vulnerable in our society at a scale that has never been experienced in living memory. It's easy to forget that it was only nine months ago that we started receiving relatively small volumes of vaccine. We have now administered an incredible 8 million vaccine doses across Scotland, which demonstrates the incredible ability of our NHS and, again, our wider partners to respond in unprecedented circumstances. 92 per cent of all people aged 18 and over have had a first dose of a Covid vaccine and 86 per cent have had a second dose. That is a remarkable achievement, and I want to put on record my sincere thanks to everyone involved in this, frankly, Herkuleian effort. Vaccinations continue to play a critical role in helping to protect the people of Scotland and support our wider global effort in reducing the harm caused by Covid-19. As part of our commitment to openness and transparency, we have sought to keep Parliament and the public informed of our plans and our progress. Our autumn and winter vaccination strategy is part of this very commitment, and it illustrates that we have exceeded our expectations and set out in the original plans to vaccinate 80 per cent of the eligible population. More than that, the strategy outlines our vision and our commitment to continue to offer a vaccine to anyone eligible until at least spring next year. Finally, we set out how we will deliver Covid vaccinations alongside our biggest ever annual flu programme to help to protect as many lives as possible this winter. I am pleased that this morning Audit Scotland published its independent report on Scotland's Covid vaccination programme. It is an overwhelmingly positive report. The report highlights the remarkable success of the programme and how we have ensured good collaboration and joint working right across the board while developing new digital tools at an extraordinary pace. I hope that members will get a chance to look through this insightful report. The Audit Scotland report also highlights that the programme has been, and I am quoting, effective in reducing the number of people getting severely ill and dying from Covid-19, delivering a variety of ways to make it easier for more people to access them and the level of vaccine wastage has been low. I know that there is often much political and media commentary—understandably so, of course—when Audit Scotland produced challenging reports. I hope that there will also be attention paid to reports like this one, stating where excellent progress has been made in relation to the vaccination programme. As we look ahead to the autumn and winter months, it is vital that we build on our achievements and continue to deliver Covid vaccinations as well as seasonal flu vaccinations to all those who are eligible in Scotland. A key feature of the Covid-19 vaccination programme has been the evolving clinical advice, which has required the programme to pivot, often at quite short notice, to include new groups of people or change the vaccines that we have used. That has included, for example, extending our offer to 12 to 15-year-olds following advice from the JCVI and then the four UK chief medical officers. I thank our vaccinators for the care and sensitivity with which they are helping particularly younger people and their parents and carers to engage with the vaccination programme. It is important to reinforce that choice remains central to our approach. A great deal of emphasis has been placed on access to quality information, supported by discussions at vaccination centres to address any questions or concerns that young people may have. That was one of the key considerations that informed our own delivery and why we deliberately started vaccinations for young people within community settings to enable them to be accompanied by a parent or carer and have those really important discussions. We are also now administering a third primary dose of Covid vaccinations to those who are severely immunosuppressed. We have begun a programme of booster doses for those who are most at risk from severe disease. Booster doses are given at least six months after the second dose. This year, more than ever, we must ensure that those in the higher-risk age groups are protected against other seasonal respiratory illnesses such as flu. Our immunity may be even lower than usual due to lower levels of flu circulating last year as a result of the crucial public health measures that were in place at that time to protect the population from Covid. Therefore, earlier this month, we launched Scotland's biggest ever flu vaccination programme with expanded eligibility criteria to include everyone over 50 health and social care workers, including independent contractors such as GPs, dental and optometry staff, nurses, teachers and support staff, prison staff and prison population. I urge us all to come together to thank all those who have been involved in the vaccination programme and to those who will support it as we move forward. From those who work tirelessly in our NHS across local government to those in the army that have helped out and continued to help out to the many volunteers who have stepped forward at this crucial time. I am also grateful to the many faith, third sector and community groups who have contributed so much to supporting our efforts to deliver an inclusive national programme. We could not have achieved this remarkable success without your help, so today I want to express my thanks to everyone who has stepped forward to be vaccinated and the vaccinators. The overwhelming response from the people of Scotland has been inspiring. The vaccines are highly effective at preventing severe disease and getting fully vaccinated remains the best way to be protected against the virus. I urge anyone who is eligible and not yet received a Covid vaccination to book an appointment or indeed attend a drop-in clinic at the earliest opportunity. For anyone who is hesitant because they need more reassurance or indeed information, our vaccination teams will be happy to discuss the benefits with you. We have continuously adapted our vaccination programme and incorporated lessons learned into our planning and delivery, regularly seeking feedback both from those directly and those that are indirectly involved in the programme. Vaccination along with testing remains our best route out of the pandemic and its crucial people do come forward. As a result of the positive impact of the vaccination programme, the rate of increase in Covid-19 cases has been less among those who are fully vaccinated compared with partially or indeed unvaccinated people, demonstrating the protection that is offered by vaccination. Many members know the statistic, but it is always worth repeating that, at the start of the year, around 12 per cent of cases were ending up in hospital. That figure is now down to around about 2 per cent. Across all age groups, the rate of hospital admission has been higher in unvaccinated people compared to vaccinated individuals. Most younger adults will have received their second Covid vaccine dose in late summer or early autumn, but there are currently over 170,000 adults—under 40—who have had their first dose but have yet to come forward for their second. Getting your second dose, if eligible, will give you longer lasting protection from the virus, and all help will play a part in keeping your friends, family, community and, of course, yourself safe. My plea to those who have not attended their appointment for a second dose, do not leave the job after. Please attend a drop-in clinic or arrange an appointment for the second dose of your vaccine. We have undertaken a range of national activity, as well as a range of targeted communications and engagement to encourage people who have not had their second dose for any reason to complete their vaccination. That includes a personal letter from our chief medical officer. We continue to work with colleges and universities to maximise vaccine uptake among students who are not fully vaccinated. Clear communications are a key part to encouraging uptake. We are working across social media channels to inform students of the benefits of getting vaccinated. Academic institutions are also being encouraged to work with student representatives to encourage uptake. Following advice from the JCVI and the four UK chief medical officers, all children aged 12 to 15 are now being offered a dose of the Covid vaccine. Health boards have begun to offer vaccinations to as many children as possible. Dropping clinics open for 12 to 15-year-olds to attend with their parents or carers last week. This week, eligible children and young people will be offered an appointment either at school or a community clinic. Most young people in this age group will receive a blue envelope with a scheduled appointment time and the national information leaflet. That will be for a community clinic in the health board area. There are some regions that are not undertaking the blue envelope or community clinic model. Those are NHS borders, Dumfries and Galloway, some parts of NHS Island and some island boards. In those cases, a school delivery model began earlier this week with the leaflet letter and consent form going home in school bags in those aforementioned health boards. I would encourage parents, carers and young people to read the material provided and reach an informed decision. I am pleased to report the role that has also begun of our seasonal flu programme and is progressing well. We launched our childhood and school vaccination programme on 6 September. Primary and secondary school pupils started receiving their flu vaccine from that date and, from 20 September, NHS boards began to vaccinate residents in care homes. The health and social care workers online portal for booking appointments also went live on 21 September. As members will be aware, we have prioritised those at the highest clinical risk and pregnant women. I will end, because I am already over time, by saying that we are working closely with NHS Scotland partners, local authorities and healthcare partnerships to proactively manage current system pressures. There are system pressures in terms of the workforce. We have been clear that the conditions are likely to remain challenging. I will make a statement to Parliament next week to set out immediate actions that the Scottish Government can do to assist to mitigate some of those pressures on our health service. Based on the success and good practice of the Covid programme, we will continue to improve, build and adapt the vital resources to deliver future vaccination programmes. We thank all those who have been involved in making our vaccination programme an incredible success. I look forward to taking questions from members. Thank you very much indeed, cabinet secretary. The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions at which point we will need to move on to next business. I would encourage all members who wish to ask a question to press their request-to-speak buttons now or as soon as possible. I call on Dr Sandish Gouldhani. I would like to thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of the statement. I want to say to anyone watching at home who is eligible for the Covid vaccination or the flu vaccination to please get it because it will save lives. I have had both of my Covid vaccinations and I will be getting my flu vaccination. Tess White has a disabled constituent who will have to travel from Inverburby to Stonehaven to get his vaccination, which will take him an hour door to door. Will the cabinet secretary set out a maximum travel time for patients, especially in rural areas? Will the cabinet secretary explain why he is going to give us a further update in a week and not now on vital information about mitigating pressures, maximising capacity and supporting our system response, which is key to delivery? I thank Dr Ghani for his question and I thank him for the plea that he makes at the beginning coming from not just an opposition politician but somebody who is a practicing GP. I think that that is a really important call to make to people. On the details of Tess White's constituent, I would be happy if Ms White would like to forward me details of that disabled constituent. I think that health boards are working extremely hard to ensure that there are drop-in clinics available as close to people as possible. If that is not happening, I am more than happy to take it up with the relevant health board. So there are drop-in centres right across the country. I wouldn't expect somebody to have to travel an hour. That seems to me an excessively long journey for somebody to take. So if Ms White would like to forward me the details, I will do that. My statement, hopefully to Parliament, will be in less than a week. Of course, we have already taken action to try to mitigate some of the winter pressures that we are facing. That will be a further update to that. I thank the cabinet secretary for his advance copy of his statement. The demands on the NHS are currently at crisis point, so delivering the flu vaccination and Covid booster programme at pace will be critically important. Can the cabinet secretary commit to doing the flu programme at least before Christmas rather than by March to better protect the NHS? I also welcome the development of the long-term sustainable vaccination workforce, but that will of course take time. In the meantime, locum pharmacists do not appear to be used to the same extent as locum GPs or indeed nurses. Can the cabinet secretary commit to using locum pharmacists as well as commercial pharmacists to deliver the programme? Finally, the cabinet secretary will be aware that uptake is lower in disadvantaged areas and that the vaccination centres that were closed are now reopened in order that the vaccinations are delivered as locally as possible. In terms of the programme on-going, we are talking about 7.5 million vaccines over the course of autumn and winter, so in the space of a few months, we are going to try to deliver 7.5 million doses, which is just less than the 8 million doses that we have delivered in the past nine months. An incredible effort is needed. We are confident of meeting the timescales that we have set out in the strategy. Of course, if Ms Baillie, as she requests, if we can go any quicker than that, I promise her that we absolutely will. As she has referenced already in her second part of her question, the NHS is facing severe, severe pressures. Therefore, we have to be able to make sure that we are doing this in a way that is, of course, with pace, but also managing some of those really challenging pressures. Of course, I will look at the issue again of local pharmacists. It is an issue that my sister, who is a local pharmacist herself, has raised with me, I think, in my first week as health secretary. There is also a conversation that I had with the chief pharmacist, Alison Strath. I will take that issue away, because anything that we can do to maximise our workforce is a good idea. On the final point that Ms Baillie raises, yes, again, I will have, as you can imagine, very regular engagement with health boards. If there is more that they can do around opening up additional vaccine centres, then I am sure that that is an issue that I will raise with him, but I am sure that it is an issue that he is proactively looking at. However, it is not just about access, because I think that Ms Baillie would agree with me generally when it came to dose 1 and dose 2 of the vaccine. I think that it would be fair to say that there was very good coverage of local drop-in centres, generally across the country. We have to do more around communication, do what we can to work with the third sector, working with faith leaders, for example, working with our ethnic minority organisations, such as Bemis, who have been excellent, to try to outreach to those groups where uptake is lower. Any suggestions that anybody has on this chamber will be met with an open mind from me. I am going to ask the cabinet secretary to address the issue of rural people, not just for the Covid vaccine but more for the flu vaccination roll-out. What advice does he give to health boards that there are issues about people in rural areas accessing the centres, the urban centres, where the vaccination programme has been rolled out? I think that that is a fair point that was made by Gillian Martin. People can obviously find the clinics at a local to them following the NHS boards webpage. We also have a landing page on NHS inform that takes you to your health board area, which allows you to see the nearest drop-in clinic to you. I know that this is a particular issue in rural areas and what can seem like a relatively short distance, due to public transport links and so on and so forth. Again, particularly at weekends, it can be a much longer journey. I am more than happy to speak to the rural boards in particular about that issue. If there are cases—I make this as a very open offer—if there are cases, as Dr Ghani has already done on behalf of Tess White, if there are cases where the journey time seems unreasonable, I am more than happy for MSPs to write to me directly and I will be happy to raise those with the health board. Let me also put on record my thanks to all those in our health service who participated in delivering the vaccine programme. It has clearly saved lives and will continue to do so. Cabinet Secretary, today's Audit Scotland report states that the vaccine programme so far has been reliant on temporary staff and volunteers. It notes that work is currently taking place to establish the size of workforce that is needed. I notice that there is reference to this within the development plan. You have recognised the pressures. How many staff do you envisage will be required to sustain not only the Covid vaccine programme but the flu one as well? I thank Ms Weber for the question, because it is an incredibly important one. She will know that the information on page 19 of the strategy deals with workforce. It gives detail of how many vaccinators we have to date and how many volunteer hours have also helped in that vaccination effort. I will not put a number on it just now, because it would depend on the diversity of that workforce. However, I would say to Ms Weber that no stone from this Government is being left unturned to ensure that we meet the ambitious targets that I have already referenced to Ms Bailey of our vaccination programme for the autumn winter. Can the cabinet secretary provide an update as to how Scots have been vaccinated outside of Scotland, including my constituent, who lives in Echelfechan, but works for NHS England where they were first vaccinated? How can they obtain proof of vaccination status? There are a number of things that can be done. First and foremost, I say to anybody who has been vaccinated outside of Scotland, for example, when it comes to the certification scheme that comes into force at 5am tomorrow, you can use, for example, the NHS England app, or indeed you can use certification proof from anywhere across the common travel area. For a number of those countries in the common travel area, we already have, for example, with England, a data exchange that is available. What we are doing from tomorrow is launching an online form for people to complete if they have been vaccinated in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, but live in Scotland. We ask that if an individual vaccination from another part of the UK is not showing, and there may well be times when there are errors and all members have contacted me about that, we would ask people to phone the Covid status helpline on<PHONE_NUMBER>5, and they aim to fix those issues within 14 days. I am at a loss to understand why the GCVI does not consider police officers amongst being a priority group. Given the incredible efforts that Police Scotland and Serving Police officers will make, Police in COP26, with up to 25,000 people attending, exposing them to considerable risks, is the Government planning on asking the GCVI to include police officers as being a priority for the booster vaccine as they should be? She asked questions with absolute sincerity, and I, as a former Justice Secretary, know the incredible efforts that our police officers, men and women, right across the country make. She is right to reference the fact that they will make an incredible impact in relation to arrangements around COP26. I would say to Pauline McNeill that it is right that the GCVI gives us that clinical expertise. It is also the case in my understanding that police officers have taken up, of course, in good numbers and very high numbers the offer of vaccination. We will continue to listen to the advice of the GCVI in relation to when and who should be prioritised in relation to vaccination and immunisation. I wonder what advice the cabinet secretary would give to somebody who is thinking of declining their third or booster jag because they would like to see that jag going to somebody in the developing world. Cabinet secretary? I would ask them not to delay. I can understand what might seem like good intentions on their behalf, but to give them some sort of assurance we are working with international partners and also working with the UK Government, Welsh Government and Northern Irish Government in relation to the COVAX scheme. I have had many good conversations with other health ministers right across the UK about what contribution Scotland can make to that global effort, but by not going for your booster dose or your third dose or indeed any of the first two doses, that is an automatic guarantee that that dose ends up somewhere in the developing world. Please be assured that we are working with international partners and domestic partners around the COVAX scheme and working with the World Health Organization, but please, if you are eligible for a vaccine for your first, second, third or indeed booster dose, then please step forward. On the SNP's shambolic plans for Covid certification, very little has been said so far about how fraud will be combated. So, in the absence of a photographic component, can the cabinet secretary tell me how the system actually proves that the person who presents the passport is, in fact, the same person to whom it was issued? As far as I can see, it doesn't, and from tomorrow the system will be wide open to fraud through impersonation. I do not agree, of course, with Craig Hoy's characterisation of the scheme and, in fact, the courts have made it clear in their judgment that they believe that we have taken the appropriate steps in relation to launching our scheme tomorrow. I do not agree with the characterisation of it being shambolic. Secondly, as a number of security features on the Covid certificate, the QR code itself cannot be altered. I find it slightly distressing that Craig Hoy is now suggesting that people should have to prove their ID and show their ID alongside any paper copyright of the vaccination status. That is not something that we are calling for. I would say to Mr Hoy, although I respect the fact that he disagrees, he should not be trying to create confusion or, indeed, giving inaccurate claims around a certification scheme. Cabinet secretary, we know that winter pressures on the NHS exist at all times, notwithstanding Covid in the mix for this year coming. Can you please emphasise to people how important it is that the flu jab is taken up in order to protect their NHS over the winter period? Yes, in short, it is absolutely vital. The information and advice that I have received from our own clinicians is where we can try to co-administer both the booster and the flu vaccine. However, in some cases, the timeline will not necessarily match up. Therefore, what we are not going to do is delay the flu vaccine. It is really important, given that we fear the worst around the flu vaccine because we think that people's immunity is lower to flu because there was not much flu circulating last year. It is really, really vital to protect our NHS and to protect individuals and people themselves that they come forward and take up that offer of the flu vaccine as soon as their priority group is eligible. Several pharmaceutical companies are in advanced clinical trials on second-generation vaccines that particularly target vaccine escape in variations such as Delta. Can the cabinet secretary first reassure the chamber that current first-generation vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious illness? However, can he also indicate to the chamber how we will fold in those second-generation vaccines into the booster programme when they become available? I think that I will call Hamilton for a very good question. Yes, on this first point, of course, they are highly effective and there is plenty of data there in research to show the efficacy of the current vaccines. Again, this is a conversation that I have regularly across the four nations with other health ministers. What we do, of course, is to wait for not just the MHRA approval once the clinical trials have been completed. I think that we are expecting the results of the cough boost trial mid next month. Once we receive those results, it will be for the JCVI and others to give details of how those vaccines should be deployed. We are well plugged into that and hope to get the results of the cough boost trial mid next month. I will come back to the member with further detail. As the cabinet secretary will be aware, those who are vulnerable to flu, such as those with mild to moderate asthma and young children, were not in the original priority groups for the Covid vaccine. I am concerned that, as the flu and Covid booster vaccine programmes are run simultaneously, there is a risk that some may incorrectly assume that they are not eligible or do not need a flu vaccine. How will the Scottish Government ensure that those who are eligible for the flu vaccine are aware of that and attend to their appointment? That is an excellent question by Gillian Mackay, because there can be some confusion. There are a number of vaccines under way. We talked about a third dose, we talked about a booster dose, we talked about a flu vaccine and so on and so forth. She is absolutely right. We have already done work on that with communication colleagues to see how we can simplify the message and target it to those that we think are eligible and make sure that nobody is missed out. We are urgently working on that. We have done some work on that already, and she will have seen some of the communications, but I think that it can be made a bit sharper and a bit crisper, and therefore we are actively exploring that very issue as we speak. To ask the cabinet secretary when is the anticipated completion date for all Covid booster vaccines to have been administered. In some respects, it is an evergreen offer because she will be aware from my statement and from previous statements on the booster programme. Of course, the booster dose cannot be given until six months after the second dose, so we will continue to offer that as well as, I suppose, it is not possible in some respects to have a definitive completion date, but we aim to provide boosters to those who are eligible as close to the six months from receiving the second dose, but we will keep that programme rolling on and rolling on, much like we are doing for the primary doses of the vaccine. The pandemic has clearly shown the inequalities that our communities still face. One of them is, of course, internet access. The Scottish Government vaccination strategy is clear in its push for online bookings, but the cabinet secretary knows that many of our constituents still are unable to gain access either at home or at their local libraries. This is a real issue, particularly for older residents. Therefore, I ask the cabinet secretary how the Scottish Government intends to reach out to those with no internet access. Will the Government commit more resources for hard copy letters to be sent? I thank Mr Trowdry for the question. I also pay credit to him personally, because I know that he has been involved particularly in the ethnic minority community in Edinburgh through the work that he has done with Elric over a number of years to ensure that the vaccine uptake is high among those ethnic minority communities. I thank Mr Trowdry for his personal efforts in that regard. Let me give him an absolute assurance for those who do not register with the portal. There will be a deduplication process and letters will be sent out. We have the resource for that, but based on his question, I will go away to look to see if there is anything further that we can do for those who might be digitally excluded. Vaccination and testing are crucial tools in ensuring that our schools remain safe for staff and pupils. Teachers are eligible for the flu jab this year but are not being prioritised for the Covid booster jab. Will the cabinet secretary look again at this decision and also commit to not introducing charges for lateral flow tests? I have real concerns about changing or moving away from our universal offer of lateral flow tests, so that is absolutely not within this Government's purview at the moment at all. I know that it has been raised by the UK Government as part of their winter plan, but I have put on record to the UK Government that I think that it is a wholly inappropriate step to be taking. In fairness to the UK Government, I do not think that they are looking to do that immediately. On her first question again, much like I said to her colleague Pauline McNeill, we take advice from the experts on vaccine and immunisation, the JCVI. If they change the advice, we will listen to that. First, I will put on record my thanks to our teachers for the incredible work that they have done throughout the pandemic to make sure that our children's education is not disrupted. I would say to those teachers that please do step forward for your booster vaccine when you are eligible six months after the second dose that you have received. Thank you very much. That concludes questions on the statements and there will be a brief pause before we move to the next item of business.