Malaysia is doing better than Singapore in the Paris Olympics

IN Malaysia

Malaysia is doing quite well on the global stage

During the Malaysia Commercialisation Year Summit, PM Anwar Ibrahim lauded Malaysia’s achievement in becoming the second-best upper-middle-income nation, just behind China, in the 2023 Global Innovation Index. While ranking 36th out of 132 countries is a respectable achievement, PM Anwar said that Malaysia should not let off the throttle of technological breakthroughs and the current achievement should motivate future successes.

At the same event, PM Anwar also thanked his ministry, the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (Mosti) which has curated multiple programs that led to Kuala Lumpur being anointed the top 30 emerging ecosystems in the Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) 2024. According to GESR 2024, from July 1, 2021, to December 31, 2023, Kuala Lumpur’s startup ecosystem generated an ecosystem value exceeding RM220 bil, which is about the size of Bahrain’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Putrajaya to review logistics vehicle replacement policy to make road safe again (MASA)

Transport Minister Anthony Loke stated that the Government is reviewing the policy on replacing vehicles used in logistics services to incentivise the private sector to invest in new lorries. While this move will obviously make roads safer again (say goodbyes to random tayar lori terbang at highways), it will also be good for the environment. To support this notion, Loke is hinting that Putrajaya may encourage the automotive industry to expand into the assembly of electric buses and lorries to promote environmentally friendly and sustainable vehicles. Globally, MAN emerged as the market leader in electric buses, followed by Solaris, Yutong and Wrightbus. Yutong is the only non-European company in the top 4.

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China’s low-altitude economy gains speed

Sichuan Tengden Sci-tech Innovation Co, a China state-funded corporation, did a test run on China’s biggest-yet cargo drone. The Tengden-built drone which has a payload capacity of 2 metric tons, did a short 20-minute trip over the sky of southwestern Sichuan province. Drone and air taxis are deemed as the next frontier by the Chinese government after they did well with their bets on electric vehicles (EV) and the Asia superpower expects the low-altitude economy will be a USD279 bil industry by 2030. While the rest of the world still doubting whether EVs are safe or not, China has already begun commercial deliveries by drone. Cargo drone firm Phoenix Wings started delivering fresh fruits from the island province of Hainan to southern Guangdong, about 450km in distance.

Who is the winner of the global tourism war – definitely not South Korea

Due to the grassroots ‘Ban Korea’ boycott campaign in Thailand, Thai tourist seemed to prefer Japan and China over South Korea, when picking their next holiday destinations. The boycott stemmed from South Korea’s strict immigration checks that had led to a number of Thai tourists being asked to go back, costing Thais thousands of dollars. Evidently, in the first four months of this year, the number of Thais visiting South Korea fell 21% compared to the same period last year, to 119,000. Pre-Covid, in 2019, 572,000 Thai tourists visited South Korea. Being rejected into a country is no laughing matter as the rejection stamps inked into passports will make it more difficult to enter other countries.

While South Korea is suffering, Indonesia is rejoicing and thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). According to Indonesia Tourism Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, AI helped the country go in the right direction by assessing that the quality of tourists – measured by the length of their stay and spending, is more important than quantity. Thus, thanks to Mr. AI, Indonesia only focuses on targeted and sustainable tourism services. Perhaps we could see Indonesia doing a Singapore in the future by securing exclusive rights to Taylor Swift concerts in the region.

For your EYES only

Malaysia ended the Paris Olympic 2024 campaign with 2 bronzes from our badminton heroes. However, we were still unable to get our first gold and the wait for the first gold will be prolonged at least for another four years. One consolation from all of this is that Malaysia Tanah Tumpah Darahku still performed better than Singapore.