- Penang looking to claim its ‘Silicon Valley of the East’ title
- Harsh weather is ravishing Thailand and China
- Pakistan struck the black gold
IN Malaysia
Nearly 100,000 Malaysians flock to the new joy-city of Hat Yai during the long weekends
Hat Yai Songkhla Hotel Association president Sittipong Sitthipatprapha said that according to a survey conducted by the authorities, almost 100,000 Malaysians visited Southern Thailand as tourists during the long weekend, especially the city of Hat Yai. He also added that more than 400 hotels, equivalent to 30,000 rooms were fully booked, with our northern neighbour cashing in about RM130 mil of revenue in one long weekend. It is truly hujan batu di negeri sendiri and hujan emas di negeri orang. Malaysians are willing to make the trip up north mainly because of the affordable accommodation and ease of finding halal food. Another reason why people are drawn to Southern Thailand – something the mainstream media may not highlight, but we can – is the allure of certain ‘herbal’ offerings that are gaining popularity.
Source: https://m.malaysiakini.com/news/719471
Another interesting piece of information, according to the Kedah Immigration Department director Mohd Ridzzuan Mohd Zain stated that more than 51,000 travellers recorded passing through the Bukit Kayu Hitam Immigration, Customs, Quarantine, and Security Complex (ICQS) border checkpoint into Thailand during the long weekend. Plus-minus the difference, not sorry to smoking the greens, more than 50% of Malaysian tourists preferred the Bukit Kayu Hitam checkpoint compared to other border gateways.
The Revival of the Silicon Valley of the East
Penang intend to claim back the title of the Silicon Valley of the East by transitioning from currently being the back-end player of the semiconductor industry, responsible for packaging and testing of the manufactured semiconductors to becoming the front-end player – responsible for water fabrication of the semiconductor components. At the moment, Malaysia is the sixth-largest semiconductor exporter in the world, controlling 13% of the global assembly, testing and packaging market. Like any typical Asian, not being number one is painful and just being mere average is an insult for us. That is why Malaysia has earmarked more than USD5.6 bil under the national semiconductor strategy to attract USD115 bil worth of investments by 2030. Penang will be leveraging the ‘China plus one’ policy while ensuring there is enough power, water and land mass to support the influx of new investments.
However, Penang needs to be wary of the availability of human capital as Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association chairman Wong Siew Hai said that the country requires another 60,000 engineers to support the boom in the chip industry. Let’s just hope PMX reads this newsletter and puts extra focus on talent development.
Shorts
- PM Anwar Ibrahim has announced an RM5 bil large-scale paddy cultivation initiative, a mega boost for the pockets of our farmers and to the overall food security. Earlier this year in May, PM Anwar said that Putrajaya would also upgrade irrigation systems in the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (Mada) region to implement a five-season paddy planting project within two years.
- The King of Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim will make his way to China on his official visit to the country starting September 19, in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Malaysia-China relationship. Sultan Ibrahim will also pay a visit to the COMAC Civil Aircraft Technical Research Centre. COMAC is the direct competitor of Boeing and Airbus, having recently launched its own commercial airliners. So, Malaysia Airlines buying COMAC jets is in the cards? Barulah Malaysia Truly Asia.
Around the S.E.A.
The weather is not treating our neighbours well
- In a humbling lesson for China, the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, the cost of polluting nature is being paid in harsh weather as Typhoon Bebinca, the fiercest storm for the past 75 years has made land in the city of Shanghai, bringing strong winds up to 150 km/h. The typhoon has led to tens of millions of people being hunkered indoors, felling over 1,800 trees and leaving 30,000 households without electricity. About 414,000 people have been evacuated to safer locations within the cities.
- On the other hand, Thailand is also suffering major flooding in its northern regions. According to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), the economic cost of the flooding is estimated at around USD800 mil. The majority of damages arise from the destruction of the agricultural areas and orchards from heavy rains.
China unbothered by its challenges in the semiconductor industry
You have to hand it to China’s perseverance in doing things. China is like your girlfriend, either you want it the easy way or the hard way, she still going to get the Goyard handbag. Earlier this week, according to some sources, the Netherlands announced that they will prohibit Dutch chip tool giant ASML Holding from servicing some of its most reliable equipment in China. This move is to please its ally, the United States which has tightened trade restrictions, targeting China on national security grounds.
In a ballsy move towards self-sufficiency, the Chinese Government stated that two of its domestically made chip-making machines have achieved significant advances. However, the two machines still lag behind ASML’s machines (the China machine operates at a wavelength of 193 nanometres (nm) compared to ASML’s machine operating at a wavelength of just 13.5 nm). Despite this, we could not undermine China’s achievement. At the moment, most of the advanced chips, either made by Samsung, TSMC or even before this China-based Huawei, utilise ASML’s lithography machines. So, to have anyone competing with ASML is a big thing.
Shorts
- Based on a survey conducted for three years, Pakistan has discovered potentially massive oil and gas reserves in its territorial waters, a big relief for the West Asia country that has an annual imported energy bill of USD17.5 bil in 2023. However, no one is rushing to dig up the fossil fuel as according to a news outlet, the exploration cost alone will put a USD5 bil hole in Pakistan’s pocket.
- Denmark-based logistics company, DSV is soon to become the world’s largest logistics management company after the company agreed to buy Deutsche Bahn’s logistics unit Schenker in a EUR14.3 bil deal. In the all-cash deal, DSV will float up to EUR5 bil of its shares (including debt) to finance the deal. Upon completion of the deal, DSV will control about 7% of the global market share and surpass DHL’s logistics business and Kuehne + Nagel on revenues.
Source: https://www.ft.com/content/8ae5ab0d-5a28-479d-9ca2-177b10d0eb44
For your EYES only
Our favourite childhood junk food that we like and our parents hate, Super Ring, is soon to get another boost in sales after social media influencer, ISHOWSPEED endorsed the brand during his visit to Malaysia. Previously, Super Ring got its own unofficial ambassador in the form of our former PM Najib Razak. From Bossku to Siuuu!
Speed : “Super Ring is the best one” sale super ring be like 📈 pic.twitter.com/ZPxZBqnhSs
— 🇲🇾 (@localrkyt) September 17, 2024
