The week at a glance 4 February 2018

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Sabah & Sarawak

Review of SDC blueprint to begin soon

The review of the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) blueprint will soon commence, says Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman. He recommended on Monday for SDC authorities to publish a Regional Economic Corridor Scorecard which outlined strategies and programmes, as well as performance and its impact on the nation, a decade after the development corridor was established.

 

Malaysia hopes France’s support can become a reality at meeting

Malaysia hopes that France’s stand against the European Union’s (EU) resolution to ban palm oil imports from Asian countries can become a reality during the negotiation session between the EU Council of Ministers and EU members of Parliament. In a statement on Monday, Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong, said the open support of the French government representatives for the sustainable palm industry was important.

 

Petronas wins six blocks from Mexico auctions

PC Carigali, a unit of Malaysian oil giant Petronas, won six blocks from Mexico’s auction of 19 deep-water oil blocks located in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest such auction since the government opened the country’s hydrocarbons sector to private industry. The Petronas subsidiary specifically won two alone and four in alliance with other companies. Meanwhile, Royal Dutch Shell won nine of the blocks — four as a lone bidder, four in a consortium with Qatar Petroleum, and one in association with the state oil giant Petroleos de Mexico (Pemex), Mexican officials said.

 

East Malaysia still a big market for Go Shop

Sabah and Sarawak remains a crucial component for online shopping platform Astro Go Shop, whereby East Malaysian customers make up some six per cent of the group’s total customer base. According to Astro Go Shop chief executive officer Dr Grace Lee, with a dedicated warehouse established in East Malaysia since December 2017 as well as aggressive promotions and free delivery, the group is encouraging more buys from this market.

 

‘Continuous efforts to dispel Labuan’s tax haven image’

Efforts to correct the misperception of Labuan as a tax haven will be ongoing to ensure that the people have the right understanding about the true value of the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre (Labuan IBFC).

 

National

Alibaba to take on Kuala Lumpur’s traffic in first foreign project

Alibaba Group will set up a traffic control system harnessing artificial intelligence for Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, its first such service outside China, as the e-commerce giant pushes to grow its cloud computing business.

 

PIDM releases 2018-2020 corporate plan

Malaysia Deposit Insurance Corporation (PIDM) released its Corporate Plan 2018–2020 Summary on Monday. As an integral part of the Malaysian financial safety net system, PIDM has been mandated to protect the interest of depositors and takaful and insurance policy owners against the failure of any member institution, and to contribute to or promote financial system stability, it said in a statement.

 

TBI Tab food investments launches IPO

TFI Tab Food Investments Inc (TFI) has commenced an initial public offering (IPO) of 22 million American Depositary Shares (ADSs), with each

ADS representing 12 ordinary shares.

These include 4,500,000 ADSs to be sold by the company and 17.5 million ADSs to be sold by certain existing shareholders.

 

Bond, equity markets record inflows of RM5 billion in December 2017

The Malaysian financial markets performed strongly in December last year, with non-resident inflows into the bond and equity markets totalling RM4.1 billion and RM0.9 billion respectively, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said. The increased demand for ringgit financial assets during the month was supported by improved investor sentiments amid an upward revision in Malaysia’s growth outlook by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

 

Ringgit to range between 3.80 to 3.95 in 1Q

The Malaysian ringgit is expected to gradually strengthen against the US dollar in the near term and oscillate between 3.80 to 3.95 in the first quarter, if the upward momentum continues, said economists.

 

Quann Malaysia warns of rising QR code scams

Regional managed cyber security services provider Quann Malaysia warns that scammers have started using fake quick response (QR) codes to steal data and money from users.