Malaysia Morning News For January 22

Malaysia’s construction industry growth to slow 4.3% in 2019
Malaysia’s construction sector growth is forecasted to slow from 4.5% to 4.3% in 2019 as its newly established Pakatan Harapan coalition continues to take several measures to reduce government debt and expenditure by suspending large-scale infrastructure projects across the country, a report by Fitch Solutions revealed.
— SBR

Malaysian automotive sector on the rise
For the past few years Malaysia’s automotive sector has proven itself to be one of Malaysia’s key industries. Figures from last year reveal that the sector played a significant role in the country’s economy, contributing 4.2 percent to the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP).
— The Asean Post

Timber downstream industry welcomes logs export ban
The downstream industry in the timber sector welcomes the State Government announcement to ban the export of logs outside Sabah.
— The Borneo Post

Correction in domestic and international sector will fuel 2019 growth: MAHB
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is confident of handling about 100 million passengers across its airports in Malaysia by end of 2019, said group chief executive officer Raja Azmi Raja Nazuddin.
— New Straits Times

Tourism Malaysia shares its plans to enhance tourism industry
Led by Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, YB Datuk Mohamaddin bin Ketapi, Malaysia shows strong presence at the 38th ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam, which has been held from 14 to 18 January 2019.
— Travel Daily News

Timely to review the Malaysia’s Automotive Policy
DEPUTY International Trade and Industry Minister Dr Ong Kian Ming sat down with StarBiz to speak on a number of issues pertaining to international trade and manufacturing in Malaysia.
— The Star Online

Guan Eng : Malaysia 2018 SST collection exceeded RM4b target
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said today Malaysia’s 2018 Sales and Services Tax collection by the Royal Malaysia Customs Department amounted to RM5.4 billion, which is some 34% higher than the RM4 billion target set during the SST’s implementation on September 1, 2018.
— The Edge Markets

Electing Malaysia’s new King: What happens (a primer)
This Thursday (Jan 24), Malaysia will witness the election of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) for the 16th time, since it attained independence 61 years ago.
— Inquirer.net

Malaysia to present two initiatives to tackle global corruption
Malaysia is set to table two initiatives in its bid to tackle global corruption in a more comprehensive and effective manner.
— New Straits Times

Accused of promoting pork in magazine, Malaysia Airlines says sorry… but it was actually beef
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has apologised after it was accused of publishing an image of a pork dish in its January edition of inflight magazine Going Places, but said it was actually beef.
— Today Online

Under fire over slapping threat, Chef Wan says sorry to Najib
Celebrity chef Datuk Redzuawan Ismail today apologised to Datuk Seri Najib Razak, less than 24 hours after he threatened to slap the former prime minister.
— Malay Mail

Malaysia, first Asian country to initiate Alibaba Netpreneur training programme
Malaysia will be the first Asian country, outside China, to initiate the Alibaba Netpreneur Training Programme from March 23, 2019 to April 3, 2019, which will complement the ongoing Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP) initiatives in Malaysia.
— The Star Online

Malaysia court rules in favour of Wynn Macau in $4.2 mln case-lawyer
A Malaysian judge on Friday ruled in favour of Wynn Macau in a case against a fund manager who owed the casino millions of dollars, the company’s lawyer said, the first time a casino has been allowed to recover dues in the country.
— The Edge Markets

Duterte prefers scholars to study in Malaysia
Despite the controversial long-standing Sabah claim issue, the Philippine Government still prefers to send its qualified scholars to pursue engineering courses in Malaysia, instead of Egypt.
— Daily Express

Fund manager expects conservative upside for Bursa Malaysia in 2019
Eastspring Investments Bhd has given a conservative five per cent upside for Bursa Malaysia in 2019, as it expects volatility to continue to cloud the local equity market.
— New Straits Times

Miti minister to participate in WEF 2019 in Davos
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darell Leiking will participate in the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2019 from January 22 to 25 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
— The Borneo Post

Celebrity chef apologises to former Malaysia PM Najib over slapping threat
Celebrity chef Redzuawan Ismail on Monday (Jan 21) apologised to former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, after a tirade against the senior opposition figure on the troubles faced by the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda).
— Channel NewsAsia

Malaysia welcomes more FDIs from Austria, says Dr M
Malaysia welcomes more foreign direct investments from Austria, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.
— New Straits Times

Number of flood evacuees in Kuching rises to 122
The number of flood victims evacuated to four relief centres in Kuching has risen to 122 from 29 families as at 8 am today.
— The Borneo Post

Malaysia’s anti-graft plan that finally works?
THE National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP) 2019-2023 is expected to be launched by the Prime Minister at the end of the month.
— Eleven Myanmar

Dr M says Malaysia does not plan to ban Huawei 5G
In the recent Oxford Union interview, Tun Dr Mahathir, Prime Minister of Malaysia (Dr M) revealed that Malaysia has no plans to ban Huawei from rolling out “5G communication towers” here in Malaysia.
— Technave

Causeway Chaos: ‘Set up agency to manage checkpoint’
Efforts to reduce congestion at the Sultan Iskandar Building (BSI) customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) complex at the Causeway can be expedited if the government establishes a single agency to manage the checkpoint.
— New Straits Times

The good old dancing days at Universiti Malaya
I am among the fortunate few who spent their university life at Kolej Kediaman Zaaba, the 7th residential college at Universiti Malaya, during the mid-eighties.
— FMT

Iran-Malaysia non-oil trade hits $548.77 mn
The non-oil trade between Iran and Malaysia reached 548.77 million U.S. dollars in the first nine months of the current fiscal year starting March 21, 2018, up 3.15 percent year-on-year, Eghtesadonline reported Saturday.
— Business Recorder

Why Malaysians choose to stay put in foreign lands
In December 2014, the South China Morning Post published an article that reported that many Muslim Malays have emigrated. At the time, Umno was the government.
— Malaysiakini

Malaysia has all ingredients to be a startup hub, but lacks ‘Michelin Star Chefs’ to mix them well: Ashran Ghazi
Ashran Ghazi, who stepped down as the CEO of Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) in November last year, feels that the country has all the ingredients to turn it into a startup hub, but what it lacks is the “Michelin Star Chefs” who can mix these ingredients in the right proportion.
— Yahoo news

CSC Steel faces rocky prospects in 4Q18E and FY19E — Analysts
CSC Steel Holdings Bhd (CSC Steel) could face challenges in its earnings growth in the fourth quarter of 2018 (4Q18E) and financial year 2019 (FY19E), analysts say.
— The Borneo Post

Malaysian crackdown on Pakistanis marrying local women to bypass immigration law
The Immigration Department in Kelantan has tracked down Pakistani nationals who married local women so they could operate businesses and remain in the country for a longer period of time.
— Eleven Myanmar

Feature photo IAEA

This week’s Malaysia morning news feature photo acknowledges International Day of Education, January 24.

Find our previous morning news feature photos in the AEC News Today Morning News Feature Photos gallery where you will find a pictorial display of daily life throughout the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

Malaysia morning news by AEC News Today is your one stop source for Malaysia news on matters of governance and policies affecting Asean business communities. It is published M-F by AEC News Today: Governance, not government; policies not politics.