- Penang and Bursa Malaysia is making waves
- Sarawak may be in a bit of a hiccup due to the European Union (EU)
- Thailand will soon has its first silicon chip factory
IN Malaysia
Sinkhole-gate strikes the country, again
Mashallah, Malaysia need to start to pray religiously again as bad luck is not so foreign lately. After an almost-sinkhole (land subsidence) was spotted at Jalan Sultan Ismail on Monday due to a burst underground pipe, an actual sinkhole emerged in front of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s (KLIA) VIP complex, out of all places yesterday. The 5-meter wide S-hole (pun intended) appeared near the entrance of the Bunga Raya complex. For the same reason as the almost sinkhole at Jalan Sultan Ismail, the S-hole at KLIA was also caused by a burst pipe.
Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/sinkhole-klia-malaysia-vip-complex-bunga-raya-sewage-4634516
Penang in the spotlight
- RM2.2 bil port expansion – Penang Port Sdn Bhd CEO Sasedharan Vasudevan said that the port authority is waiting for Putrajaya’s green light for its RM2.2 bil expansion plan at the North Butterworth Container Terminal. The expansion is part of the deal when the Federal Government granted Penang Port a 30-year concession extension, up to 2055. Currently, Penang Port’s quayside capacity stands at 2.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), with plans to increase this to 4.1 million TEUs by 2045–2050. Given that Penang Port maximise its potential future capacity, the port will be comparable to the Abu Dhabi Port in the UAE.
- EPB Group is expanding its operations – EPB Group Bhd forked out RM22.49 mil to buy 7.84 acres of industrial land in Penang Science Park North. The new land will house a new corporate office, a factory building with a warehouse and a showroom. The land acquisition will be funded mainly from the proceeds of its IPO.
Something is brewing at our local bourse
More companies are starting to ditch Singapore and opt for Malaysia to look for more capital. According to the ASEAN and Singapore IPO leader at Ernst & Young LLP, Chan Yew Kiang stated that the Malaysian bourse, Bursa Malaysia has successfully positioned itself to attract small- and mid-cap companies to list. At the moment, Bursa Malaysia has successfully completed more than 30 deals raising a healthy RM5.35 bil. Singapore-listed Grand Venture Technology Ltd, a supplier to the semiconductor industry, is eyeing a secondary listing in Malaysia that could happen as early as 2025, while UMS Holdings Ltd, another chip-related firm listed in Singapore, has said it is considering a similar move. While Malaysia is flourishing, our little neighbour Singapore is on track for its worst year for new stock listings since 1998. Nak gelak tapi jahat but I cannot stop from feeling a bit terhibur.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/727882
Another news that will attract more ‘green’ investors and companies to our Bursa Malaysia is the launch of the National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF). Securities Commission (SC) chairman Mohammad Faiz Azmi said that all listed companies and non-listed companies with annual revenue of more than RM2 bil, will need to comply with NSRF, but in phases –
- Phase 1 (starting 2025) – Applicable to large listed companies on the Main Market with a market capitalisation of RM2 bil and above.
- Phase 2 (starting 2026) – All companies in the Main Market.
- Phase 3 (starting 2027) – All listed companies on the ACE Market and large non-listed companies with revenue more than RM2 bil.
Shorts
- There is a truce between Petronas and Sarawak’s Petros, on the surface at least, after both companies issued a joint statement stating that the former has no intention to initiate legal actions against the Sarawak Government and the state-owned oil and gas company Petros. At the moment, both Petronas and Petors are negotiating the terms of the gas distribution in Sarawak after the Sarawak State Assembly previously announced that Petros will be the sole gas aggregator in Sarawak.
- While Sarawak is snatching away the gas deal from Petronas, its timber and palm oil industries may be in jeopardy after environmental groups are urging Sarawak to be designated as ‘high risk’ under the European Union (EU) new anti-deforestation rules. Under the new law, all goods produced on land that was deforested after December 2020 will be banned from being imported into the EU. Although deforestation is bad for the environment, in this case, I think the EU is being a bit hypocritical. They are shadowing the US in being the ‘holier than thou’ world police, at the expense of the development of other emerging economies. Perhaps, we need to remind the West that they were once a poor nation and they also monetise their natural resources to get where they are now.
Around the S.E.A.
All about Indonesia
- Indonesia President Joko Widodo, in his lame duck era and nearing the end of his tenure, broke ground on a Chinese firm’s property complex at Ibu Kota Nusantara. China-based Delonix Group is the pioneer foreign investor at the new Indonesian capital, aiming to invest USD33 mil in the form of hotels and offices. During Jokowi’s tenure in office, he struggled to bring in foreign firms to invest in the new capital. Perhaps, the Ibu Kota Nusantara is too deep in hutan belantara.
- Jokowi also announced that the USD283 mil Nusantara Airport at the new capital, which was initially built for VVIPs (people with large spending power, high political rank or socio-economic status) will now open to the public by the end of the year. The airport is equipped with a runway that is able to accomodate wide-body aircraft and has a capacity to cater up to 200,000 passengers. Nusantara Airport will be a bit bigger than Kedah’s Sultan Abdul Halim Airport and one-eight the size of the Subang Airport. Previously, any average joe that intend to go to the new capital need to land at Balikpapan and travel for another two-hour on road to arrive at the USD35 bil Ibu Kota Nusantara.
Thailand will have its first silicon chip plant, in two years time
Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) has approved the joint venture between two local companies, Hana Microelectronics and PTT, to build the country’s first silicon carbide chip factory with an initial investment of about USD350 mil. The factory will require two years to construct at the Saha Group Industrial Park in Chon Buri, before it can kickstart its operation in 1Q2027. This news signalled Thailand intention to snatch a bite at the semiconductor market pie as the country is trying not to be too reliant on its tourism sector.
Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/tech/40041730
For your EYES only
You sometimes wonder why there is a traffic jam in front of you but as you travel further onwards, you see there is no accident causing the jam. In that case, the traffic jam may caused by a dumb*** that suddenly brakes slightly and the ones behind it brake just a bit more to avoid hitting it, with the braking eventually amplifying until it produces a wave of stopped or slowed traffic. This phenomenon is called ‘phantom traffic jam’.
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Punca2 jem ? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/zbMlw3y7ml
— ًِ (@bckupacc99) September 25, 2024
