* Atleast Project Title is Required.
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Project No. |
IEG 02 2022T
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Project Title |
Capacity Building on How Investment Facilitation Policies can Enhance Sustainable Investment
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Project Status |
Completed Project
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Publication (if any) |
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Fund Account |
TILF Special Account
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Sub-fund |
None
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Project Year |
2022
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Project Session |
Session 2
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APEC Funding |
100,000
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Co-funding Amount |
100,095
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Total Project Value |
200,095
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Sponsoring Forum |
Investment Experts Group (IEG)
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Topics |
Investment
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Committee |
Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI)
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Other Fora Involved |
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Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved |
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Proposing Economy(ies) |
Chinese Taipei
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Co-Sponsoring Economies |
Australia; Chile; Indonesia; Japan; Korea; Papua New Guinea; Philippines
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Expected Start Date |
01/02/2023
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Expected Completion Date |
31/10/2023
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Project Proponent Name 1 |
Emile M P Chang
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Job Title 1 |
Director-General
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Organization 1 |
Department of Investment Services, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA)
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Postal Address 1 |
Not Applicable
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Telephone 1 |
(886-2) 23820486
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Fax 1 |
Not Applicable
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Email 1 |
[email protected]
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Project Proponent Name 2 |
Not Applicable
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Job Title 2 |
Not Applicable
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Organization 2 |
Not Applicable
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Postal Address 2 |
Not Applicable
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Telephone 2 |
Not Applicable
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Fax 2 |
Not Applicable
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Email 2 |
Not Applicable
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Declaration |
Emile M P Chang
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Project Summary |
This project aims to help APEC economies develop more effective approaches to making policies that facilitate sustainable investment by encouraging regional exchange and sharing of methods and experiences. The project encourages the participations of multi-stakeholders, including government officials, academia, businesses, MSMEs, and women entrepreneurs. The achievements will be documented in a report to APEC IEG that may be shared with APEC economies. This proposal echoes the Osaka Action Agenda, APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, Aotearoa Plan of Action (APA), and Thailand’s APEC 2022 theme of “Promoting Balance, Sustainability, and Inclusivity in All Aspects” under priority 3. The promotion of sustainable investment is vital for APEC member economies to realize inclusive recovery in the post-pandemic era. Chinese Taipei proposes an APEC regional workshop (hybrid or virtual) in April - July 2023 in Taipei to provide capacity building on how investment facilitation policies can enhance sustainable investment. Investment facilitation policies usually include financial measures (such as tax reduction, financial incentives, etc.) and non-financial measures (such as providing investment services to remove investment obstacles). Since public resources are limited, the incorporation of feasible criteria or indicators of sustainability and inclusiveness into investment promotion measures is deemed necessary and important when economies formulate policies – in order to ensure investments comply with environmental, social, and other related sustainability goals. |
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Relevance |
Issues: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the worldwide flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in recent years. In the post-pandemic era, the promotion of sustainable investment is vital for economies to improve FDI and ensure a sustainable and inclusive recovery in the region. How economies can enhance sustainable investment through effective investment promotion policies is becoming a significant issue to be explored and addressed. Investment facilitation policies usually include financial measures (such as tax reduction, financial incentives, etc.) and non-financial measures (such as providing investment services to remove investment obstacles). Since public resources are limited, the incorporation of feasible criteria or indicators of sustainability and inclusiveness into investment promotion measures is deemed necessary and important when economies formulate policies – in order to ensure investments comply with environmental, social, and other related sustainability goals. Chinese Taipei proposes an APEC regional workshop (hybrid or virtual) between April and July 2023 in Taipei to provide capacity building. The core idea of this project is to share methods and experiences of investment promotion agencies (IPA) on how investment facilitation policies can enhance sustainable investments. It aims to help APEC economies develop more effective approaches to making policies that facilitate sustainable investment by encouraging regional exchange and sharing of methods and experiences. This project encourages the participations of multi-stakeholders, including government officials, academia, businesses, MSMEs, and women entrepreneurs. The achievements will be documented in a report to APEC IEG that may be shared with APEC economies to ensure benefits to the region. Eligibility and Fund Priorities: This project meets the eligibility criteria of the Trade and Investment Liberalization and Facilitation Fund (TILF) and supports the funding priority of achieving trade and investment liberalization and facilitation objectives articulated by the 2021 Leaders’ and Ministers’ directives. The project also relates to the areas of “Investment” and “Information gathering and analysis” listed in Part 1 of the Osaka Action Agenda. Capacity Building: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the downturn of global FDI, with the investment activities of small business and the most vulnerable members of society often hit the hardest. As member economies work to re-boost investment in the post-pandemic era, they also need to consider policies and measures that encourage sustainable investment in order to ensure an inclusive and resilient recovery. How economies can enhance sustainable investment through effective investment promotion policies is becoming a significant issue to be explored and addressed. Since public resources are limited, the incorporation of feasible criteria or indicators of sustainability and inclusiveness into investment promotion measures is deemed necessary and important when economies formulate policies - in order to ensure investments comply with environmental, social, and other related sustainability goals. This project aims to help APEC economies develop more effective approaches to making policies that facilitate sustainable investment by encouraging regional exchange and sharing of methods and experiences. The achievements will be reported to the APEC IEG and shared with APEC member economies to ensure benefits to the region. APEC member economies can take advantage of it as a reference when making policy to promote sustainable investment to accelerate and ensure an inclusive and resilient recovery.
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Objectives |
The goal of the project is to provide capacity building on how investment facilitation policies can enhance sustainable investment. This project aims to help APEC economies develop more effective approaches to making policies that facilitate sustainable investment by encouraging regional exchange and sharing of methods and experiences. This proposal echoes the Osaka Action Agenda, APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, Aotearoa Plan of Action (APA), and Thailand’s APEC 2022 theme of “Promoting Balance, Sustainability, and Inclusivity in All Aspects” under priority 3.
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Alignment |
Alignment to APEC: This project aligns with the priorities of the Osaka Action Agenda, the three economic drivers of the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, the Aotearoa Plan of Action (APA), and Thailand’s APEC 2022 theme of “Promoting Balance, Sustainability, and Inclusivity in All Aspects” under priority 3. Alignment to Forum: In 2019, the Investment Experts’ Group (IEG) specifically prioritized “Sustainable Investment” to support the APEC priority “Integration 4.0: Global Value Chains and Investment”. In 2020, the IEG further prioritized “Inclusive and Responsible Business and Investment” (IRBI) to be of utmost importance among the Next Generation Trade and Investment Issues (NGeTI) and included it as a permanent agenda item for IEG meetings. This project will be a concrete effort by the IEG to engage members in sustainable investment and IRBI. It will also contribute to APEC’s 2022 hosting economy Thailand’s main theme of “Promoting Balance, Sustainability, and Inclusivity in All Aspects” under priority 3 and serve as the foundation of future IEG discussions and collaborations.
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TILF/ASF Justification |
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Beneficiaries and Outputs |
Outputs:
1) Workshop: a) Purpose: The workshop aims to provide APEC member economies with capacity building on how investment facilitation policies can enhance sustainable investment. The workshop is expected to include at least four sections, designed to provide participants with a better understanding through an exchange of knowledge and experience, as well as case studies and panel discussions from experts of APEC economies. During the workshop, participants are expected to exchange information of investment-facilitation policy-making with consideration for environment, social, inclusiveness and other sustainable goals in APEC region. Experts include government officials, academia, businesses, NGOs, MSMEs, and women entrepreneurs. The public-private dialogue will help exchange views and opinions from different perspectives for promoting sustainable investment. Participants will be from both public and private sectors, including relevant government officials and enterprises from APEC economies. b) Duration: Two days (virtual participation is limited to 3-4 hours per each day while the agenda for in-person participants is full day) c) Location: Taipei (Hybrid) d) Expected scope and scale: At least 10 experts and 4 moderators engaged, and at least 300 participants (virtual and in-person) e) Timeline: April-July 2023 (TBC) 2) Final Report: a) Purpose: The final report – at least 8-12 pages including structure such as talbe of contents, Executive Summary, topic to be covered, good practices shared during the workshop, and recommandations – will be shared with APEC IEG members economies. b) Timeline: Aug-Dec 2023 Outcomes: 1) Policy Changes: Through an exchange of opinions and experiences during the workshop, the project is to encourage the competent authorities and investment promotion agencies of APEC member economies to incorporate concepts and indicators (e.g., net zero emissions, energy conservation, wildlife conservation, health and wellbeing, consumer protection, etc.) of sustainable investment into policy-making processes, which include investment facilitation and promotion policies. 2) Process Changes: The project is also to enhance communication between competent authorities, investment promotion agencies of APEC member economies and multi-stakeholders during the process of making sustainable investment policies. 3) Behavioral Changes: The outcome of the project is additionally to encourage APEC economies to formulate and adopt investment promotion policies guiding public and private investments in the direction of sustainable investments and prompting corporations to engage in responsible business conduct. The scope also encompasses direct and indirect investments to ensure the consideration of their impact on the overall industry supply chains. 4) Impact on APEC Economies: This project also help APEC economies facilitate a positive cycle of sustainable development through investments and further promote inclusive recovery and long-term inclusive growth in the post-pandemic era. 5) Assessment of Results: A survey will be administered after the workshop to assess whether participants feel that they have a better understanding and grasp of the relevant topics within this project. The long-term results shall be assessed through the adaptation of policies and measures to facilitate sustainable investments by APEC economies. Beneficiaries: 1) Qualifications: Direct participants in the workshop will include government officials, academia, representatives from various industries, financial sector, industry associations, foreign chambers of commerce, and/or relevant civic groups/NGOs, etc. 2) Level of expertise: The workshop primarily targets experts from the public or private sectors that have experience in the stakeholder dialogue during the relevant investment-promotion policy making that enhances sustainable investments and inclusive growth. The workshop is also open to the member economies of general public interested in these issues. 3) Roles/level of responsibility: Participants will be the following persons directly related to the issues to be discussed in the workshop: government officials involved in investment policies, members of the private sector currently involved in or planning international investments, and/or civic groups/NGOs (e.g., labor unions, environmental groups, etc.) involved in sustainable development. 4) Gender: Women participation is highly encouraged and the workshop will also incorporate inclusive topics that take into account a gender perspective. 5) Economies Represented by Beneficiaries: The workshop is open to all persons from the private and public sectors of all APEC economies for participation. It also welcomes APEC economies to recommend speakers, especially the economies co-sponsoring this project (i.e., Australia, Chile, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines). 6) Governmental Departments: Primarily including government officials from competent authorities for investment policies or investment promotion agencies, although government officials from agencies involved in industry, financial supervisory, environment, labor, sustainable development, and other relevant issues are also welcome. 7) Cross-Fora Collaboration: The project will be executed through the IEG, in collaboration with the PPWE, ABAC, and other APEC forums to ensure consideration of perspectives from women and the private sector. Benefits: Policy-makers of APEC economies, especially government officials within competent authorities for investment policies or investment promotion agencies, will benefit from the experiences shared with regards to relevant policies implemented by the APEC economies participating in this workshop, as well as input from the private sector. The private sector will also benefit from friendly policies that facilitate investments and incentives to promote sustainable investments. In the long term, the outcomes shall benefit all stakeholders and society as a whole, because policy-makers will be continue to be encouraged to adopt relevant policies and measures to promote sustainable investment. (9) Above-mentioned invitation to delegates from the private sector/ international organizations will follow APEC Non-Member Participation Process.
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Dissemination |
1) Prior to the workshop, the speakers will provide materials encompassing relevant knowledge and specific practices, and the information will be collected before the workshop. Workshop documents and materials such as the meeting agenda, presentation slides, and related materials will be compiled into a handbook prior to the workshop and distributed to the participants. The related electronic documents will also be made available on the website. 2) After the workshop, the outcomes will be summarized into the final report of the project and submitted to IEG. A draft final report will be submitted to the APEC Secretariat for review, followed by the endorsement process by IEG. After endorsement by IEG, the final report will be shared with APEC members in the form of a soft-copy. It will be ensured that personal data of project participants will not appear in the project report).. 3) There are no intentions to sell or profit from any outputs arising from this project.
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Gender |
The following steps will be taken to promote female attendance: 1) Requesting the forum PD to send an email to members seeking suggestions of female participant. 2) Using the GIC to encourage economies to nominate at least one female participant. 3) Emailing the Chair of the relevant ABAC group (copying the ABAC Secretariat) to seek suggestions of women speakers/experts. Targets | Female Participants (%) | 35% | Female Speakers/Experts (%) | 30% | Referring to the Guide on Gender Criteria for APEC Project Proposals in the Guidebook on APEC Projects, please tick the pillar or pillars that this project supports, in promoting women’s economic empowerment: The project will encourage to promote female attendance for both participants and speakers/experts so that female leadership, voice and agency can be incorporate into the implementation of the project and by means of capacity building provided through the conference and project report, women skills on decision-making and implementation of investment facilitation policies can be strengthened. PO is also committed to collecting sex disaggregated data for all speakers and participants at the project event. This data will be included when submitting a Completion Report to the Secretariat upon completion of the project, as well as providing guidance to future POs on their own gender parity targets. | 5 Pillars (you may tick more than one) | 1 | Access to Capital and Assets | | 2 | Access to Markets | | 3 | Skills, Capacity Building, and Health | X | 4 | Leadership, Voice and Agency | X | 5 | Innovation and Technology | X |
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Work Plan |
Timeline | Tasks | Deliverables | Feb – Mar 2023 | Contracting of Direct Labour | A signed contract | Jan – Feb 2023 | Draft an agenda and conduct a pre-workshop participant survey. Identify representatives from APEC economies, international experts, and key stakeholders capable of supporting the workshop and who can serve as speakers. Plan and implement relevant procurement procedures. | | Mar – Apr 2023 | Finalize procurement and agreements with contractors. Finalize workshop agenda Confirm speakers/experts Compile list of participants and send out invitations. Confirm final program details and products Request permission from speakers and IEG members to record workshop. | Workshop agenda Speaker/panelist/moderator list Workshop invitations | After March 2023 | Drafting of Pre-workshop survey Identify representatives from APEC economies, international experts, and key stakeholders as Speakers for the Workshop | Draft of Pre-workshop survey Experts identified | 8 weeks before the workshop | Circulate General Information Circular (GIC) | GIC | 1 Apr 2023 | Submit APEC Project Monitoring Report | APEC Project Monitoring Report | Apr – Jul 2023 (TBC) | Host a two-day capacity-building workshop in Taipei (hybrid) focusing on how investment facilitation policies can enhance sustainable investments. | Final Workshop agenda Event Attendance List Workshop handbook List of relevant statistics | May – Aug 2023 | Administering Post-workshop Evaluations | Post-workshop Evaluation | 31 Aug 2023 | Submit draft Final Report to APEC Secretariat for review, and for endorsement by IEG. The Final Report shall include workshop outcomes, areas of improvement, and future outlook. | Endorsed Final Report | Oct 2023 | Project Completion | | Dec 2023 | Submit APEC Project Completion Report and supporting documents to the Secretariat | APEC Project Completion Report | 6 to 12 months after project completion | Participate in the Long-Term Evaluation of APEC Projects survey conducted by APEC Secretariat |
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Risks |
No. | Risks | How will it be managed? | 1 | Uncertainties due to the COVID-19 pandemic | 1. Prepare a hybrid workshop, and in addition to encouraging participants to attend in person, allowing some participants to participate virtually depending on their situation. 2. If there are new pandemic restrictions in the venue location limiting the size of in-person meetings, the workshop can be moved online. | 2 | The risk of securing an adequate number of appropriate participants from APEC economies. | Circulating workshop information and registration notice prior to the event as early as possible. Maintain contact with IEG members and circulate the invitation and nomination notice by email. | 3 | The risk of low participant engagement. | Survey the participant questions and needs before the workshop to ensure provision of appropriate information to participants. |
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Monitoring and Evaluation |
| Evaluation Focus | Indicators | Target Goals | Evaluation Method | Reporting Method | Outputs | 1. Workshop | 1. No. of participants (excl. speakers/ experts) | 300 | Event Attendance List | Completion Report | 2. % of participating men/women (excl. speakers/experts) | 65/35 | Event Attendance List | Completion Report | 3. No. of speakers/ experts engaged | 14 | Event Attendance List | Completion Report | 4. % of speakers/ experts (men/women) | 70/30 | Event Attendance List | Completion Report | 5. No. of attending economies | 16 | Event Attendance List | Completion Report | Content developed and deployed | 31 May 2023 | Certification by PO | Completion Report | 2. Final Report | 1. No. of pages | 15 | Certification by PO | Email to the Secretariat | 2. Submission to the Secretariat | 31 Aug 2023 | Submission to the Secretariat | Email to the Secretariat | Out-comes | 1. Participants knowledge increase | 1. % of participants report substantial knowledge increase | 75% | Post-workshopevaluations | Completion Report | | 2. Developing APEC economies report substantial knowledge increase | 25% | Post-workshop evaluations | Completion Report | 3. Women report substantial knowledge increase | 33% | Post-workshop evaluations | Completion Report | 2. Recommendations on how to implement | 1. No. of recommendations made | 10 | Included in the Final Report | Report to the Working Group The Longer-term Evaluation of APEC Projects (LTEAP) |
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Linkages |
1) Engagement: Maintain communication and contact with IEG members, and especially the economies involved in the proposal of this program, via Email during the preparatory phase. By working in tandem, we shall facilitate cross-fora collaboration with PPWE and ABAC forums to incorporate perspectives from women and the private sector. Also, relevant and key stakeholders shall also be included within the list of participants and invited speakers. 2) Previous work: The project builds on the APEC workshop entitled “Sustainable Investment to Enhance Digitally-enabled & Inclusive Recovery: Paradigms & Capacity Building on Precision Health” organized by Chinese Taipei in 2021, as well as the work of previous IEG projects on sustainable investment from the other APEC member economies. Investment promotion policies are at the center of the workshop, and we hope to deepen and widen the scope of further discussions. The proposal aligns with the Osaka Action Agenda, APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040, Aotearoa Plan of Action (APA), and Thailand’s APEC 2022 theme of “Promoting Balance, Sustainability, and Inclusivity in All Aspects” under priority 3. To prevent redundancy with past or existing programs, new discussions in future workshops may explore industry- or individual-SDGs, and other related fields. 3) APEC’s comparative advantage: The program provides a platform to connect the stakeholders from private and public sectors of the APEC economies, and non-APEC participants, and encourages wide-ranging policy discourse – aligning with the important initiatives and purposes of the APEC. The results will facilitate inclusive recovery within the APEC region and may be used as reference for other APEC economies as an example to follow. As such, APEC is also the best source of funding.
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Sustainability |
1) The project will encourage participants to share and discuss the advice and experiences imparted in the workshop, with regards to promoting sustainable investments, with their colleagues and government officials involved in investment policies and promotion. A final report will also be provided for their reference. 2) The workshop will initiate dialogues on investment promotion policy-making to enhance sustainable investments that also create an opportunity for future discussions on the topic. Potential directions for future development include: a) Evaluating the possibility of organizing workshops on sustainable-investment policy making for specific industries to highlight differential needs across various industries. b) Considering approaching the topic from an SDGs standpoint and conducting specific workshops to hone in on the issue and provide more tangible policy suggestions. c) Evaluating the possibility of conducting further research in specific fields via research proposals.
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Project Overseers |
PO: Name: Mr. Emile M. P. Chang Title: Director-General Organization: Department of Investment Services, MOEA Tel: +886-2-23820486 E-mail: [email protected] Other contact person: Name: Mr. Ming-Huei Yu Title: Executive Officer Organization: Department of Investment Services, MOEA Tel: +886-2-23892111 ext. 62 E-mail: [email protected]
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Cost Efficiency |
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Drawdown Timetable |
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Direct Labour |
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Waivers |
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Are there any supporting document attached? |
No
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Attachments
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