- Move away Grab, Lalamove is joining the e-hailing scene too
- MAHB is one step closer to being privatised
- VinFast is not moving in the right direction
IN Malaysia
Malaysia – Saudi Arabia relationship is slated to go to the next level
Assalamualaikum Saudi Arabia as Malaysia is ready to host the first coordination meeting between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia at the foreign minister level to discuss further cooperation between the two nations. Saudi Arabia always has a special place in Malaysians’ hearts, especially within the Muslim community, as Saudi Arabia is the home of Islam’s two holiest sites, Makkah and Madinah. Economically, the Kingdom was the largest trading partner of Malaysia among the West Asian countries in 2023, with total bilateral trade recorded at USD11.07 bil, an increase of 8.5% from 2022. PM Anwar is hedging its bets economically, just in case Papa Trump decides he does not like us.
Malaysia will soon be exporting data centres, says Rafizi
Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli said that within the upcoming 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), there will be plans to make the country to become a global leader in the design, manufacturing, and export of data centre infrastructure. At the moment, Malaysia is merely a data centre host and is still unable to break into the data centre’s supply chain. However, quoting Rafizi – “Malaysia has an ecosystem that can house an economy that is driven by AI. It begins with the data centre”. We want to highlight the last part of Rafizi’s statement which is the AI economy starts with a data centre and Malaysia has an abundance of it. Between 2021 and 2023, Malaysia approved a total of RM114.7 bil in investments related to data centres. It is just a matter of expanding vertically within the industry. Malaysia Boleh!
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/733534
Business news
- Penang is getting busier nowadays, not with incoming tourists looking for Nasi Kandar, but with companies looking to invest in the North. US-based medical device manufacturer Dexcom Inc has just officially launched its first manufacturing facility outside the United States. The new plant, with a price tag of RM2.83 bil is situated in the Batu Kawan Industrial Park and is expected to create over 3,000 jobs in the state. Another company, Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd has entered into a joint venture (JV) with Aspen Vision Development Sdn Bhd to develop a 36-acre plot in Seberang Perai Tengah into a mixed development consisting of 338 affordable housing units, 1,680 residential units, service apartments, as well as retail shops and offices.
- Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) has given its restu to Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) to embark on the privatisation route via an RM10.79 bil offer from Gateway Development Alliance Sdn Bhd (GDA). One interesting statement from Mavcom is the privatisation exercise ‘will not significantly reduce competition in the relevant markets due to the existence of or further erection of barriers to entry’. Basically, what Mavcom trying to say is it is already very hard to enter the aviation industry at its current state, so normal rules do not apply to the aviation industry – so hello to the name of my favourite board game – Monopoly.
- After the Estonian-based Bolt has already set foot in the country, now the e-hailing scene in Malaysia is getting more competitive as Hong Kong-based Lalamove is also expanding its services to e-hailing. Lalamove will start its pilot move into the ride-hailing market in Klang Valley first. Malaysia’s ride-hailing market still has room for growth as according to Statista, the number of users in Malaysia is reaching 11.47 mil by 2029, with user penetration increasing from 28.1% in 2024 to 31.5% by 2029. The entrance of new players such as Bolt and Lalamove is good news for consumers as with more players in the market, the price for rides will get lower and lower.
Around the S.E.A.
VinFast is in Vin trouble (Vin is read with a silent V)
VinFast Auto Ltd’s billionaire owner Oham Nhat Vuong is looking to pitch in USD2 bil into the struggling electric vehicle maker. On top of the capital infusion by the owner, VinFast will also receive an additional USD1.38 bil from its parent company Vingroup JSC and the loans towards VinFast from Vingroup will be converted into preferred shares. VinFast has been underwater since it shipped its first vehicles to the US in late 2022.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/733683
The future is looking gloomy for the company but the Middle East market may provide a lifeline for VinFast. Ku mulai dengan bismillah dan ku sudahi dengan alhamdullilah as VinFast signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a group of investors led by the Emirates Driving Company (EDC) where VinFast is set to receive at least USD1 bil from this deal. Apart from benefitting from the access to funding, VinFast will also enjoy the wealth of expertise from EDC in the development of a comprehensive electric vehicle ecosystem in the Middle East. Maybe the habibis appreciate VinFast more than the ang mohs.
Thailand to enjoy more public holidays
The country that is placed 19th in the ranking of countries with the most holidays is set to enjoy even more holidays as Thailand’s cabinet approved two additional holidays next year (June 2 and Aug 11) to encourage people to travel during the long weekends. This news will be a boon to the country’s tourism industry, which is still recovering post-pandemic.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/733662
While more holidays will prompt domestic tourists to travel to the Land of Smiles, foreign visitors will also be attracted to go to Thailand for leisure as the Thai Baht is on a downward trend compared to its peers’ currencies. The baht fell more than 1% to 34.739 per dollar on Tuesday, the weakest since Aug 19. However, the depreciation of the Thai Baht brings up a question on the independence of the country’s central bank as the performance of the Baht has been deteriorating since Kittiratt Na-Ranong, a staunch critic of the central bank and a former finance minister was appointed as the Bank of Thailand (BOT)’s new chairman. While the BOT chairman doesn’t decide on policy, Kittiratt will have a say in who joins the Monetary Policy Committee – the group that decides on rate cuts/hikes. This is the hanky panky stuff that happened when the tourism industry controls almost a fifth of the country’s GDP and employment.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/733619
For your EYES only
Let’s run away from the business matters and enjoy a bit of leisure, shall we? On that note, please watch the Indonesian movie – Ipar Itu Maut, a polarising drama that will surely put you on the edge of your seat. Just one thing, do not, I repeat, DO NOT watch it with your partner. It could ruin relationships, for real.
tengoklah mas aris @DevaMahenra gara-gara kau lah tetangga sebelah menggeram, gegara ipar maut wkwkwkwk ampe se emosi itu abangnya #IparAdalahMaut pic.twitter.com/2moxfRZN8L
— Fechutae (@febrinuraini8) November 11, 2024
