Sabah & Sarawak
Businesses called to have greater compliance with tax filings
Businesses are encouraged to have greater compliance when performing their tax filings to the authority. With the Goods and Services Tax (GST) coming into force earlier this year, businesses must ensure that their tax returns are appropriately filed with the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) to avoid facing the consequences. KPMG Malaysia head of tax Tai Lai Kok said businesses need to ensure that the information and the particulars in their tax return are propertly furnished to avoid being penalised.
Instacom appoints Yeoh as joint CEO
Instacom Group Bhd has appointed Dr Yeoh Seong Mok (pic) as joint chief executive officer of the company, a title he will share with current CEO Anne Kung. Going forward, both Kung and Yeoh will each focus on their business divisions independently in order to grow and build the Company’s businesses strongly in their respective industries.
X-FAB’s investments to further grow capacity in Kuching branch
X-FAB Silicon Foundries (X-FAB) will be expanding the capacity and capabilities of its Kuching-based foundry operation, X-FAB Sarawak Sdn Bhd (X-FAB Sarawak) which has been driving the local economy growth. The expansion of capacity and capabilities of X-FAB Sarawak aims to meet accelerating demand for its core technologies – the 0.18µm and 0.35µm process platforms.
Fall in ringgit’s value against US dollar has no impact on palm oil, rubber prices
The fall in the ringgit’s value to the US dollar has had no impact on the stability of palm oil and rubber prices in the country, says the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas. The decline in prices of both commodities resulted from a number of factors, among them, the slowing down of economic growth in importing nations as China, the European Union and the United States, which affected demand.
Malaysia-Indonesia finalise MoU on establishment of CPOPC
Malaysian and Indonesian ministers met on Friday to finalise the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the establishment of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC).
The scope of the council includes promoting consultation on the development of the palm oil industry among stakeholders in the oil palm cultivating countries; enhancing the welfare of oil palm smallholders; and developing and establishing a global framework of principles for sustainable palm oil.
Sabah continues aggressive promotion to attract investors
The Sabah government will continue its efforts to aggressively promote the state in order to attract more investors. Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, who is also state Industrial Development Minister, said this would be done through the hosting of high-profile international and domestic events.
KKB’s upturn seen only in FY16
KKB Engineering Bhd’s outlook will likely remain challenging in the near term while an upturn is expected to be seen in the financial year 2016. AmResearch Sdn Bhd said KKB expects the outlook to be challenging and continues its prudent cost management.
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National
Possible removal of DIBS could trigger recovery in property transaction volumes
The possiblility of the government considering a proposal by the Real Estate Housing Developers’ Association (REHDA) to relax lending guidelines to boost first home ownership could trigger a recovery in transaction volumes in the property sector. This follows REHDA’s proposal to the government to reintroduce the Developers Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS) for first time house buyers.
Santos exits Stag field in sale to Malaysia’s Sona Petroleum
Santos Ltd, which rejected a US$5 billion takeover offer last month in the hopes of getting better value from selling assets, made its first sale on Monday with a small deal to exit the Stag oil field off northwestern Australia.
Sona Petroleum Bhd said it had agreed to buy the ageing oil field from Santos and private firm Quadrant Energy for US$50 million.
Heftier cigarette prices bad news for BAT
Analysts are less optimistic on cigarette maker British American Tobacco Bhd’s (BAT) outlook following the announcement of a price hike for its brand cigarettes.
On Tuesday, the government increased the excise duties on cigarettes by 12 sen per stick to 40 sen per stick.
Consequently, BAT increased its retail prices by RM3.20 per pack across the board effective Wednesday.
Malaysia’s September 2015 total trade up 9.1 pct to RM130.63 billion
Malaysia’s total trade rose 9.1 per cent year-on-year to RM130.63 billion in September 2015, said the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. Exports grew 8.8 per cent year-on-year to RM70.16 billion and imports rose 9.6 per cent to RM60.47 billion, giving a surplus of RM9.69 billion, it said in a statement, adding this was the 215th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997.
TPPA will benefit critical sectors, says Amcham
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) would benefit critical sectors, said the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (Amcham). In a statement, Amcham said the sectors included electrical and electronics (E&E), rubber, palm oil, timber and car components. It said the E&E sector contributed 33.4 per cent of total exports, equivalent to 43.6 per cent of total manufacturing exports from Malaysia.
Indonesia to process more of its oil as Southeast Asian supplies fall
Indonesia’s state-owned energy firm Pertamina plans to process more domestic crude oil in a bid to limit the impact on the country of declining production, a plight that is also affecting oil-rich neighbours Malaysia and Brunei.
All three countries, which rely heavily on energy revenues, are running out of oil. Reuters research based on government, industry and consultancy data shows they could run dry within the next 25 years.