- Malaysia to continue talking to the US on tariff
- Negeri Sembilan is rivalling Johor
- Pakistan and India is just a few inches away from war
IN Malaysia
Malaysia-US trade talks to continue
Trade & Investment Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz stated that there will be a second leg of discussion between the United States (US) and Malaysia, after a productive first round during Tengku Zafrul’s three-day visit to Washington, which included meetings with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. During the meetings, four key areas of discussion were covered, namely cutting the trade deficit, easing non-tariff barriers, strengthening tech safeguards and exploring a bilateral trade deal.
For the second round of sparring with the US, Tengku Zafrul confirmed that one of his deputy secretary-generals will be the chief negotiator. At the moment, his ministry has three deputy secretary-generals – Mastura Ahmad Mustafa (Trade), Hanafi Sakri (Industry) and Bahria Mohd Tamil (Investment and Management).
Negeri Sembilan is on the rise
Emboding the spirit of the ‘Ipar Itu Maut’ movie, the wife ‘Johor’ is no longer the talk of the town, now comes her ‘sister-in-law’ Negeri Sembilan. As Johor struggles with slower approval of investment due to concerns about overloading its resources (energy and water), Negeri Sembilan is capitalising on this opportunity and emerging as the new hub for data centres. Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Aminuddin Harun announced that two data centres are being developed in the state, where one will be a green data centre developed by US investors, while the other is an artificial intelligence (AI) data centre by local construction firm Gamuda Bhd. On the latter, Aminuddin added that Gamuda will construct and develop a water treatment plant with a capacity of 67 mil litres per day to ensure sufficient supply for areas surrounding the data centres.
Apart from data centres, the Negeri Sembilan logistics sector is also set to be given a boost after Transport Minister Anthony Loke has urged for the expedited approval to build an AI-driven container port in Port Dickson (PD), given that the investment for the project from a private company has been secured. Do you know that even Port Dickson has a ‘port’ in its name, but there is no actual port in the area? Previously, Port Dickson did have a port as Sir John Frederick Dickson, a British High Officer, played a role in transforming the area into a seaport and a retreat for British officials during the late 19th century. The soon-to-be-built port will be the first container port development within the state’s maritime boundary.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2025/04/28/loke-wants-pd-container-port-approval-to-be-expeditedn
The INs and OUTs of investment
INs – Digital Minister Gobind Sungh Deo announced that Malaysia has recorded total investments of RM16.2 bil from digital companies between January and mid-April this year. Focusing on the northern region, Penang alone has attracted RM1.23 bil in approved investments, with 266 jobs expected to be created. While 93% of these investments are driven by data centre and cloud, more than 60% of job opportunities are in high-value sectors such as IC (integrated circuit) design and embedded software.
OUTs
- US firm bails out of a Sarawak project – US oil firm ConocoPhillips hinted a surprise withdrawal from its joint-venture with Petronas on the Salam-Patawali oil field – an RM13.7 bil major deepwater oil and gas project off the Borneo coast. ConocoPhillips cited the ongoing Petronas-Petros spat as the main reason for the withdrawal, as the situation created a regulatory uncertainty and tensions over the control of oil and gas resources in Sarawak. According to a senior executive of an oil & gas company who spoke on the situation, foreign companies are uncomfortable because they see that Petronas is under pressure in Sarawak, and Petronas is often the joint-venture partner in many exploration projects. ConocoPhillips’ exit follows a trend of foreign firms reassessing their presence in Sarawak, with a previous move by Thailand’s PTTEP to restructure its RM28.6 bil Lang Lebah gas project off Sarawak. Is Petros killing the economy of its own state?
- China lari from Melaka – Maxeon Solar Technologies, which is owned by China-based TCL Group, has put its 126-acre piece of industrial land in Melaka World Solar Valley, Alor Gajah, up for sale. The tract of land houses an existing 800,000 sq ft factory, which produces interdigitated black contact (IBC) cells, passivated emitter and rear contact, and tunnel oxide passivated contact solar cells.
Around the S.E.A.
Pakistan and India are on the brink of war
Following the deadly militant attack in the northern region of Kashmir that killed 26 people, which India obviously pinned the blame on Pakistan, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that the next few days will be crucial as Pakistan is working hard, with the help of other players such as China, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states to act as intermediaries, in talking down India from engaging in a war. However, India has alreay started punishing Pakistan by suspending a crucial water-sharing treaty, amongst others. The treaty governs the distribution and use of waters from the Indus River and its tributaries (where all source rivers are in India), which feed 80% of Pakistan’s irrigated agriculture and its hydropower. However, according to a Pakistani water expert, Naseer Memon, India still cannot starve Pakistan of water in the short term, as India’s existing dams do not have the capacity to block or divert water. But, Memon warned of disastrous consequences if Delhi started to ignore its obligations to inform authorities in Pakistan about development on the rivers in the future.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/29/farmers-pakistan-indus-waters-treaty-india
Spain and Portugal suffer from a mysterious blackout
People in Spain, Portugal and parts of France thought that Malaikat Izrail had already datang menjemput them as a massive blackout occurred on Monday that halted trains, bank machines and traffic lights, in one of Europe’s biggest ever power system collapses. Spanish grid operator Red Electrica had blamed a strong oscillation in the power flow, which triggered ‘a very significant loss of generation’ as the main cause for the blackout. Another important fact is that Spain’s energy mix relies heavily on renewable energy (which is very volatile) – 59% from solar energy, wind nearly 12%, nuclear almost 11% and combined cycle gas plants 5%. So, when there is a sudden fall of power generation, there is not enough firm power such as gas, nuclear or hydropower to act as a buffer.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/what-could-be-behind-iberian-power-outage-2025-04-29/
