- Is SST 2.0 the new GST?
- Proton is spreading its wings to Egypt
- Chinese firms are looking to the West in search of fresh capital
IN Malaysia
Daim Zainuddin passed away
The kingmaker of Malaysia, Daim Zainuddin has vacated his throne after the former finance minister died at the age of 86-years-old. According to Daim’s lawyer, Gurdial Singh Nijar stated that for the past few weeks, he was in the intensive care unit after he had a stroke.
Daim is a true negarawan, and the tribute he received upon his death is a true testament to that. From Law Minister Azalina Othman to PAS’ Pasir Mas MP Ahmad Fadhli Shaari, across the aisle, everyone recognised Daim’s contribution to the country, especially during his stint in the Government as part of the Tun Mahathir 1.0 administration. Daim has long been regarded as a gifted and innovative politician, as well as an exemplary Malay success story who started off as a lawyer, then ventured into the business scene and ultimately get his hands ‘dirty’ by entering into politics. Rest in peace Daim.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/11/13/ministers-mps-pay-tribute-to-daim/
Is the expanded SST the new GST?
After PM Anwar Ibrahim announced the expanded version of the sales and service tax (SST) during the Budget 2025 announcement, now non-essential items and imported premium goods such as avocado and salmon will start being taxed. But some may wonder that given that basic food items and goods were also tax-exempted or zero-rated in both SST and when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented, observers reckon there is a chance that the SST will be gradually expanded to mirror the GST in every way except in name. GST is a taboo term in Malaysian society as the ‘hapus GST’ message massively contributed to Pakatan Harapan (PH) win in the 2018 General Election. So, understandable why PM Anwar and co are pulling their punches in outright replacing SST with the more efficient GST.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/732731
Nonetheless, Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan said that the soon-to-be-rollout expanded SST scheme effective 1 May 2025 will generate RM51.7 bil in 2025, a 10.7% increase in revenue compared to tax collection projected if we still follow the current SST scheme. Of the additional RM5 bil forecast, RM2.2 bil will be from the collection of sales tax while RM2.8 bil will be from the collection of service tax.
Business news
- Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Liew Chin Tong lauded that Malaysia has a strong potential to become a key player in ASEAN electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing as we have more than 40 years of experience in the automotive industry, coupled with a strong semiconductor cluster. Apart from the obvious reason for us to develop the EV industry, it is also to act as a hedge against future energy crises as the electrification of mobility is the way forward, considering we are the 21st largest net importer of petroleum. Putrajaya has set a target for electric vehicles to make up 20% of the total industry volume (TIV) by 2030, 50% by 2040, and 80% by 2050. While President-elect Trump is planning to pull the brakes on the EV push in the US, Negaraku Malaysia will still proceed ahead with our EV plans. Is the EV ‘toin coss’ bet going to pay off in the future? Only Raja Bomoh Kelapa will know.
- The Cabinet has given its green light to proceed with the RM442.3 mil upgrade for the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) in Sabah. According to Transport Minister Anthony Loke, pre-construction will commence this year and it will take two years to complete the project. Under the future upgrade package, the capacity of the main terminal will be increased by a third to 12 mil passengers a year, the construction of a multi-level car park and seven airport aprons, as well as improvements to the roads around the airport.
- During his official visit to Egypt, PM Anwar Ibrahim launched the operation of the Proton Holdings Bhd car assembly plant in the country. The new plant is expected to produce 16,000 units by 2026, generating RM570 mil revenue for our national automaker. An additional RM20 mil is set to be earned through the sale of spare parts. Interestingly, Egypt is the first market for Proton’s left-hand drive model abroad. This move is quite the opposite compared to Proton’s previously announced strategy to focus on the right-hand drive market when expanding internationally. Is this a change of direction or is just Proton trying to ciduk any available opportunities?
Around the S.E.A.
China Focus
- Chinese firms are adopting the Dasar Pandang ke Eropah when looking for fresh capital for fundraising purposes. Two China-based companies, renewable-energy firm Sungrow Power Supply Co and solar-panel maker JinkoSolar Holding Co are looking to seek RM2.99 bil and RM2.76 bil respectively in the Frankfurt Stock Exchange via the sale of global depositary receipts (GDRs). GDR is a financial instrument issued by a depository bank. GDR represents shares of a foreign company from Country A and can be traded in stock exchanges in countries outside of Country A. GDRs enable a company to access investors in capital markets beyond the borders of its own country. The sale of GDRs is made possible when there are linkages or partnerships between stock exchanges in different countries, which in this case is between the Chinese and German exchanges. Why our Bursa Malaysia is not hopping on this trend and partnering with our Chinese counterpart too?
- Beijing has announced a set of tax incentives on home and land transactions to prop up the in-crisis property market. Among the announced set of incentives are expanded eligibility of the 1% deed tax, VAT exemption when they sell the properties after two years of purchase and reduction of the minimum down payment ratio to 15%. To visualise how bad the property sector in China, at the moment –
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The value of new homes sold through August 2024 has dropped by more than 23%;
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There are the equivalent of 60 mil unsold apartments, which will take more than four years to sell without government aid;
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According to Goldman Sachs, it would take USD2.1 tril to fix China’s property sector.
For an economy like China that relies upon almost 25% of its GDP contribution to the property sector, if the property bubble does burst, God gives us mercy.
Source: https://thediplomat.com/2024/09/chinas-property-market-explaining-the-boom-and-bust
For your EYES only
Do you know who is the real winner of the US Election, not Papa Trump, but instead it is Elon Musk.
Elon Musk threw approximately $130 million into the Donald Trump campaign like it was spare change. The day Trump was elected as the 47th President, Tesla stock didn’t just rise; it catapulted into the stratosphere, earning Musk around $15 billion.
Now, if you do the math, $130… pic.twitter.com/9lrIv6SIYP
— PEPPE (@PeppeMcDoge) November 7, 2024
