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Malaysia
News Update - July 2002
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| May
trade surplus up 76% to RM3.7bil |
Malaysia's
trade surplus for May expanded 76% month-on-month to
RM3.7bil, from RM2.1bil in April - the 55th straight
month of trade surplus since November 1997. |
| FDIs
totaling RM15.4bil over 17 months |
Foreign
direct investments (FDIs) from five countries totalling
RM15.4bil for 502 manufacturing projects were approved
for 2001 till May this year. |
| Bank
Negara raises GDP growth forecast |
Bank
Negara has revised upward its forecast for the gross
domestic product (GDP) growth of the country from the
3.5% it predicted in March.
The
central bank's deputy governor Ooi Sang Kuang, who
did not mention a specific GDP figure, said the higher
growth rate was due to stronger consumer spending,
higher private expenditure and firmer exports, particularly
of semiconductors.
|
| IPI
up by 4% to 188 in May |
The
Industrial Production Index (IPI) rose by 4% to 187.9
in May from 180.7 in the same month last year, thanks
to positive growth in the manufacturing, and electricity
sector indices. |
| CPI
up 1.7% in the first 6 months of 2002 |
The
Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the first 6 months of
this year rose 1.7% to 103.0, from 101.3 in the same
period last year, the Statistics Department said |
| International
reserves up at US$33bil in June |
Bank
Negara said its international reserves stood at US$33.6bil
on June 29, up from US$32.7bil two weeks earlier, but
the rise partly reflected a quarterly revaluation gain |
| 3-4
large banks ideal, others specialized players |
Bank
Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz has reiterated
the ideal scenario for Malaysian banking in the longer
term: three to four large banks that are able to provide
the full range of services, while the others become
specialised banks servicing certain niche areas. |
| Ringgit
falls against major currencies in line with US$ |
The
ringgit has depreciated substantially against other
major currencies as the US dollar continues to weaken
due to withdrawal of investment funds from the US in
the wake of historic low interest rates and the uncertain
outlook for the American economy |
| May
manufacturing sales rise to RM24.9bil |
Manufacturing
sales rose 1.2% in May to RM24.9bil but was down 5.3%
or RM1.4bil on a year-on-year basis, according to the
Department of Statistics |
| Target
of 7% growth if US economy bucks up |
The
local economy can achieve seven per cent growth this
year if the world economy, especially the US, starts
bucking up fast, National Economic Action Council (NEAC)
executive director Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said. |
| Productivity
seen to grow 4% next year |
The
National Productivity Corp is forecasting the nation's
productivity level to grow by about 4% next year due
in part to the government's programmes and initiatives
to encourage human resource development and the upgrading
of skills among workers in the country. |
| Q2
business confidence up |
Business
confidence in the 2nd quarter this year rose to its
highest level since the 4th quarter of 2000, the Malaysian
Institute of Economic Research (Mier) said.
The
business confidence index (BCI), which is a summary
measure based on the results of Mier's survey of business
conditions, jumped 5.6 percentage points to 57.5 points
from the 51.9 points registered in the previous quarter.
Mier said the improvement in the index was broad-based
with all the 8 components - sales, production, domestic
order, investment in plant and equipment, expected
production, export orders, expected export orders
and capacity utilisation - registering healthy gains.
|
| Exhibition
can place Malaysia as franchise center in Asia |
The
Franchise International Malaysia 2002 (FIM2002), which
will be held from Sept 12 to 14 at the Putra World Trade
Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur, can place Malaysia as
a centre for franchise development in the Asian region. |
| Minimal
increase in petrol price |
The
proposed petrol price increase will be minimal as the
Government only wants to offset some of the increasing
petrol subsidy, which currently stands at RM6bil annually |
| Concern
on accounting standards |
The
Securities Commission (SC) has identified accounting
standards as an area of concern in its efforts to ensure
the veracity of corporate reporting in Malaysia, Deputy
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said. |
| Matrade
plans to make Miami marketing hub |
The
Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) plans
to make Miami the marketing hub for Malaysian products
penetrating the South American and Carribean markets,
according to Malaysia's trade comissioner to New York
Jamaludin Hussain. |
| Islamic
bond oversubscribed |
The
over-subscription of two times for Malaysia's global
sovereign Islamic bond, based on floating rates, is
considered very good and should not be compared with
that of six to seven times for some other fixed rate
sovereign bond issues.
The
offering, in the name of Malaysia Global Sukuk, was
structured along floating rates to appeal to the Middle
Eastern market. The offering, the first of its kind
in the world, was upsized from US$350mil to US$600mil.
It achieved a good pricing of 95 basis points above
the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) and will
be listed in Labuan and Luxembourg
|
| Russian-Malaysian
trade is increasing |
Russia
is enjoying increasing trade with Malaysia, which has
become the federation's second largest trading partner
in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean).
Trade
relations have been strong enough to weather the economic
storms of 2001, which saw an increase in trade turnover
with Russia, with its exports totalling US$264.9mil
(RM1.006bil), and Malaysian imports at US$159.1mil
(RM605.6mil).
|
| German
SMIs urged to venture with local firms |
The
Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MGCC)
is keen to attract more German small and medium-sized
industries (SMIs) to set up joint ventures with Malaysian
companies.
The recent strength of the euro has not affected the
overall business with Asia-Pacific countries, including
Malaysia, according to the Berlin-based Federal Association
of German Industry.
|
| Work
with Aussie investors on halal products |
Malaysian
businesses can work with Australian investors to develop
branded halal products for the US$100bil-a-year international
halal food market, said the Malaysia Australia Business
Council chairman Tunku Datuk Seri Shahabuddin Tunku
Besar Burhanuddin |
| Update
on Iranian President's visit to Malaysia |
President
Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, arrived in Kuala Lumpur a four-day
official visit, led a 91-member delegation which includes
five ministers and deputy ministers, senior government
officials and media representatives.
Dr
Mahathir and Khatami had discussed various bilateral
issues, in particular the Islamic world. They also
discussed ways to enhance bilateral ties that could
benefit the Islamic world and how Islamic countries
could work together to acquire knowledge.
The
Visiting Iranian President has called for Malaysia
and his country to work on a "coalition of peace"
to wipe out violence, terrorism and war mongering.
He also has suggested a Trans-Asia Information Technology
(IT) Initiative be set up to pave the way for joint
collaboration between his country and Malaysia in
the IT sector.
|
| Malaysia,
Singapore unveil pricing and supply plan on first day
of talks |
Malaysia
and Singapore officially unveiled their formulae on
the pricing and supply of water to the island republic
as the two countries began talks Monday on the package
of outstanding issues with cautious optimism. |
| Malaysia-Thai
: Dr M gets pledge gas project will go ahead |
Datuk
Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad left the Thai capital after
a two-day official visit, satisfied that the troubled
Malaysia-Thai gas pipeline project will proceed, although
with some inevitable delay that will push costs beyond
the original estimate of US$800mil (RM3.04bil). |
| Majority
support for Asean plus 3 secretariat |
Malaysia's
proposal to set up an Asean secretariat with its dialogue
partners Japan, China and South Korea (Asean + 3) is
supported by the majority of Asean members. |
| New
framework to speed up free trade |
Economic
ministers from Asean announced yesterday a new framework
called the "10 minus x principle" to help
accelerate liberalisation in the region, where member
nations have the option of joining liberalisation programmes
at their own speed.
Minister
of International Trade and Industries Datuk Seri Rafidah
Aziz said that areas earmarked for initial implementation
of the 10 minus x principle are in open sky policy;
the use of smart cards among member nations to assist
in the movement of people; liberalisation in the area
of services, financial services, telecommunications,
logistics, and transportation (air, sea and land);
tourism and the movement of business people; investment
liberalisation; e-Asean to bridge the digital divide;
and in standards and conformance.
Other
areas of cooperation are in the development of small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by extending national
incentive programmes to joint venture SMEs with Asean
equity participation. Asean also suggested working
towards an AICO (Asean Industrial Cooperation Scheme)
rate of zero per cent
|
| Dr.
M: Let's go beyond business arena |
It
is more urgent now for the Langkawi International Dialogue
(LID) which convenes today to go beyond the business
and commercial arena and seek new areas of co-operation
among the nations, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir
Mohamad said |
| Abdullah
'can lead in polls' says PM |
Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not rule
out the possibility of his deputy Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi leading Barisan Nasional in the next general
election. |
| PM
endorses Dollah |
Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad expressed confidence
before an international audience in Bangkok that his
successor, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had the
capacity to push Malaysia ahead. He told a business
luncheon that his deputy had the same capacity as him
to lead Malaysia successfully.
"You
must understand that in Malaysia it is not the individual
really, it is the policy," he said when asked
by a foreign journalist whether Abdullah would be
able to provide leadership of the same calibre
|
| PAS
& hudud law |
PAS
proceed with its plan to implement its version of the
hudud law in Terengganu although the party acknowledges
the strong protests from many parties and organizations.
The Syariah Criminal Offence (Hudud and Qisas) Bill
seeks to impose Islamic law against theft, robbery,
illicit sex, drinking alcohol, and the renunciation
of Islam. The PAS state government also declared that
it will impose the hudud and qisas laws to even non-Muslims
in the state. |
