IN Malaysia
Malaysia needs to be ‘non-binary’ to attract investments
Investment Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said Malaysia must continue its ‘neutral’ policy to become the go-to investment destination. According to Tengku Zafrul, Malaysia has an open economy and has established relations with all countries (except for Israel of course). This non-aligned policy has reaped benefits for the country as the number of approved investments in 1Q2024 has increased by 13%, from RM74.1 bil in the same period last year to RM83.7 bil this year. Malaysia’s economy also will likely grow at its fastest pace in 18 months in the second quarter of 2024, thanks to a strong rebound in exports and higher household consumption, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
Another sterling example of why not choosing sides in the global geopolitical works, investment-wise, is that Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) has increased its equity investment in Malaysia, from USD2.05 bil as of last year to USD2.32 bil as of July 2024. Despite the huge sum invested in Malaysia, the country only constitutes 0.1% of GPFG’s USD1.55 tril investment globally. As a comparison, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, our own investment arm, managed RM122.5 bil (USD27.71 bil) of investments as of 31 December 2022.
Transportation news
- Malaysia is embracing the leasing model one baby step at a time. This time around, Transport Minister Anthony Loke announced that Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) will enter into a 30-year leasing agreement with the Government of China for 62 units of passenger trains. The RM10.7 bil deal is part of Putrajaya’s plan to enhance the reliability of rail services and increase usage, while also managing the financial aspects of procuring the train sets. At the moment, almost 90% of passenger trains operated by KTMB are built by China Railway and Rolling Stock Corporations (CRRC). China is spreading the choo-choo gospel to Malaysia.
- After purchasing 25 Boeing B737 MAX 8 and 20 Airbus A330neo in 2022, as part of its fleet renewal program, Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) is now second-guessing itself for the second batch of its narrowbody aircraft order due to the limited factory production slots of new aircraft, especially at Boeing. In June, Boeing only managed to deliver 44 commercial jets, a 27% drop compared to the same period last year. The turmoil at Boeing is triggered by a menu of legal issues that they are facing (mid-air blowout of a door plug, pleading guilty to criminal charges for two B737 MAX fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019) and other production challenges.
Shorts
- The future is women as Maimunah Mohd Sharif will be the first female mayor for Kuala Lumpur, effective today. Prior to this appointment, Maimunah served as the executive director of the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) based in Nairobi, Kenya for six years and was the first Asian woman to hold that position. We hope one of the first things she will do is to restore Dataran Merdeka, which is now just an unutilised facade, rotting over time.
- Perak Menteri Besar Saarani Mohamad is a happy camper as he is sitting on an RM32 bil masterplan spearheaded by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd (Geely), which will set to transform Tanjung Malim into a global automotive hub. Apart from that, Saarani also stated that the state also received an RM9.5 bil grant allocation from the European Union, on top of RM72 bil in investments to develop the Lumut Maritime Industrial City.
- Malaysia has dispatched two Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) Airbus A400M airlifters to Egypt to fly in injured Palestinian civilians to be treated in Malaysia. Each aircraft could fit up to 66 stretchers, so we can expect a maximum of 132 Palestinians to be treated in Malaysia. Nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and many more injured following Israel’s offensive on Gaza in response to a Hamas attack on Oct 7 last year.
Around the S.E.A.
Instability all around
While Malaysia has started to stabilise and reap the economic benefits of it, our regional neighbours are not so lucky.
- In Thailand, the same Constitutional Court that dissolved the country’s popular progressive Move Forward Party has now removed Thailand PM Srettha Thavisin from office for violating the constitution by appointing a lawyer who had served prison time to the Cabinet. Responding to the press, Srettha accepts the verdict but he is unsure whether the next government will continue with his policies. Now, Bangkok will have a caretaker government until the lower house can vote for the next prime minister. To become prime minister, a candidate needs the backing of more than half of the lower house’s current 493 lawmakers or 247 votes. The current 11-party coalition government has 314 seats in the lower house.
- On the other hand, in Japan, PM Fumio Kishida did a Joe Biden by stating he will not seek for a re-election. Kishida faced a similar scenario as Joe Biden as certain people from his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) doubted whether Kishida could lead the LDP to a win in the next general election due in 2025. Kishida’s announcement is not a surprise as Japan is currently suffering from a megaquake, a slumping yen and not to forget – last year, four LDP cabinet ministers resigned within a fortnight over a fundraising scandal.
For your EYES only
The English Premier League is starting soon. To Manchester United, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Chelsea fans, I wish you good luck fighting for second place as we all know Manchester City going to win again. To, Tottenham fans, stop hoping that you going to win a cup. Stop hurting yourself. It is not going to happen.
Enjoying my final days of peace before I let 11 guys I’ve never met and a bald Dutch man decide my mental health for the next 9 months
— ʟᴀɴʀᴇ (@LNREutd) August 14, 2024
