Sabah & Sarawak
DHL Express forays into Sarawakian market
International express services provider, DHL Express, has set up a direct presence in East Malaysia through the establishment of a new Gateway in Kuching.
As the only international express services company with a direct presence in Sarawak, the new and upgraded Gateway caters to the increasing demand for international trade, supporting businesses operating in and out of the state.
The Kuching Gateway serves as a clearance point for inbound shipments entering the state, before they are sent to DHL’s four Service Centers in Miri, Bintulu, Sibu, and Kuching for deliveries.
Sarawak govt partners Huawei to push state’s digital drive
Sarawak’s government and Huawei signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on digital economy cooperation to explore the collaboration on the ‘State Digital Economy Programmes’ which promotes economic growth in Sarawak through digital transformation.
The signing by State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Morshidi Abdul Ghani, representing Sarawak’s goverment, with Huawei Techologies (Malaysia) vice president Foo Fang Yong was witnessed by Chief Minister Datuk Amark Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg and Huawei Technologies vice president of Public Affairs and Communications Edward Zhou at the Sarawak International ICT Infrastructure and Digital Economy Conference.
Speaking at the partnership, Abang Jo said the development of digital economy is the main driving force of future economic development in Sarawak.
JKR in search of better strategies for Sarawak’s road asset management, maintenance
The search for better strategies to Sarawak’s road asset management and maintenance approaches is underway as the long-standing 15-year road maintenance performance-based contract (PBC) between the Public Works Department (JKR) and CMS Roads Sdn Bhd (CMS Roads) draws to an end early next year.
To recap, when JKR’s road maintenance was privatised on January 1, 2003, contracts for road maintenance in the state were awarded to four main contractors, most notably, CMS Roads was given a total scope of 4,973.47 state JKR roads to maintain over a period of 15 years.
The award made CMS Roads the first and only holders of road maintenance PBC in Malaysia and has proven to be successful as the group has managed to exceed its contractual performance at every level for the last 14 years, as reflected in the Road Maintenance Index (RMI) and Contractual Assessment Rating between the two organisations.
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National
High tide on Bursa persists as foreign liquidity continues
Malaysia can claim to be the most favoured Southeast Asian emerging market in 2017 among global investors, based on foreign liquidity flow on Bursa Malaysia which remained elevated for the third week running
This was the sentiment shared by MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research) as foreign investors purchased RM1.14 billion net in the open market (excluding off market deals) last week –the second week running the amount had exceeded RM1 billion.
Eco World International bullish on UK, Australia
Eco World International Bhd (EWI) which made its debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia said it still bullish over expanding property ventures in the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia.
President/chief executive officer Datuk Teow Leong Seng said moving forward, the company will continue focusing on the two countries due to their resiliency.
Malaysia not heading into property bubble in next five years
Malaysia is not expected to see a property bubble in the next five years, said iProperty General Manager Data
Services, P Premendran. He said Malaysia has prepped fallback measures from the 1997-1998 economic
turmoil and from the US sub-prime mortgage crisis in 2008.
“Malaysia would not be heading into a property bubble as the next five years look promising,” he told Bernama.
S&B: Business sentiment in Malaysia to improve in 2Q17
The business sentiment in Malaysia will improve in the second quarter of this year, for the first time since the same period of 2016.
This is according to a survey by US business information provider, Dun and Bradstreet Inc.
Chief executive 0fficer Audrey Chia said the survey is used as a measurement of D&B Malaysia’s Quarterly Business Optimism Index (BOI) which showed an increase of 3.07 percentage points in the current quarter from 1.65 in the first quarter of this year.
“The second quarter of 2017 looks set to see a continuation of the cautious optimism expressed by the business community in Malaysia since the first quarter of last year,” she said.
Ministries to concurrently implement logistics, trade facilitation masterplan — Liow
The Logistics and Trade Facilitation Masterplan will be implemented by various ministries and agencies through an integrated approach concurrently due to the dynamic development of the logistics and trade facilitation sectors.
Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, said the masterplan, launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in 2015, which aimed to enhance domestic growth, had moved into Phase 2 (2017 to 2019).
“Going forward, we will implement the remaining Action Items of the masterplan from all three phases concurrently,” he said in a statement issued after chairing the First National Logistics Task Force (NLTF) Meeting.