GE & UEM Land- Agreement for Malaysian project

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co., the world's second-biggest company by value, signed an initial agreement with UEM Land Sdn. to develop infrastructure and security in Malaysia's largest property project.General Electric International Inc. today signed the three- year memorandum of collaboration with UEM Land, a unit of UEM World Bhd., the Malaysian company said in a statement in Kuala Lumpur today.GE will provide technology to improve safety and security in UEM's Nusajaya property development in the southern Malaysian state of Johor, UEM said. The two companies will work together on environmental projects including water treatment, energy, aviation and transport, UEM said.``GE needs to go wherever there are opportunities,'' Kamarulzaman Hassan, an analyst at TA Securities Sdn. in Kuala Lumpur, said before the signing. ``Everyone is going global. I don't think they can be tied at home.''

Domestic interest rates remain stable despite of US rate cut

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- Domestic interest rates will remain stable despite the recent 50-basis point cut in US interest rates, Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said Thursday.Bank Negara Malaysia has kept the interest rate at 3.50 percent at its past 11 monetary policy meetings, even as inflation slowed and concern heightened that the US housing loan crisis will curb global demand.Speaking to reporters after the launch of Tune Money Insurance by Tune Money Sdn Bhd here, Nor Mohamed said the US interest rate cut will not have a direct impact on the local economy.He said the move to cut rates by the United States as a result of the subprime mortgage credit crisis showed that Malaysia was right in lowering rates during the 1997/98 financial crisis.This was despite the orthodox belief that rates should be raised during a crisis, which led to Western financial markets denouncing Malaysia for doing just the opposite.But the move managed to bring stability to the volatile financial markets and helped Malaysia to recover much quicker than some of its neighbouring economies which followed Western norms and raised rates."I am sure that the authorities in the US felt that this is the time they have to give confidence to the market to make sure the effect of subprime crisis do not create a recession and linger for a long period," Nor Mohamed said."When we had a financial crisis 10 years ago, we were advised by the World Bank and people in the West that the best thing to do in a financial crisis was to increase the interest rates and reduce the liquidity. But we came out very strongly and said that these were nonsense," he said."We did just the opposite of what they advised. We reduced the interest rates as an expansionary monetary policy improved credit and liquidity," the minister said."I think what have we done in Malaysia is what the US is doing now. We don't take credit for it. But we had done it 10 years ago," he added.According to Nor Mohamed, inflation will be maintained at the current level despite global oil prices reaching record highs."At this stage we are still confident that we can get our inflation for this year to be between 2.0 and 2.5 percent," he said.On the Proton-Volkswagen talks, Nor Mohamed said: "We hope by year-end things can happen (to conclude the deal)."He, however, confirmed that talks with Germany's Volkswagen were ongoing.The government's investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd has a 43 percent stake in Proton and has been in discussions with Volkswagen since last year to push a strategic alliance between the two carmakers.Volkswagen was earlier reported to have said that it wanted an initial 20 percent stake in Proton, gradually increasing it to 50 percent within five years.The company will intensify its talks with Malaysian authorities with a view towards possible cooperation or shareholding in Proton.

Plus Expressways secures project in Indonesia

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Plus Expressways Bhd today announced that the unincorporated consortium consisting of the company and its Indonesian partners has won the tender bid for a toll road construction in Indonesia.The company and its partners, PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk and PT Capitalinc Investment Tbk, will construct the 25.4km Package 4, Cimanggis-Cibitung Toll Road on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, the company said it received a letter from the Minister of Public Works, Republic of Indonesia yesterday informing it of its winning bid.The toll road will form part of the proposed Jakarta Outer Ring Road 2 and is located on the outskirts of the Jakarta metropolitan area.The concession shall be for a period of thirty-five years from the date of the proposed execution of the concession agreement.

FASC: Give perks to boost growth of local shipping lines

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- The government should give more incentives to develop more home-grown shipping lines to reduce outflow of foreign exchange (forex).Federation of Asean Shippers' Councils (FASC)'s chairman, Ng Lip Yong, said such a move was vital to cater to local demand from various sectors as well as boost the exporters' competitive edge."About 90 percent of our goods exported are carried by foreign vessels. We are losing a big chunk of forex every year."If more incentives are given, then it will encourage the growth of more local shipping lines," he told reporters after FASC's annual general meeting here today.Ng said last year, the country's total trade amounted to US$291.5 billion."This is landmark achievement," said Ng, who is also Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry.He said as the country's trade grew, the deficit increased."The country recorded a deficit of RM19.6 billion in its transport services trade and paid RM35.1 billion to foreign carriers," he said.Ng said FASC also encouraged local exporters not to export on free-on-board basis but on cost, insurance and freight basis."That is why FASC is promoting double tax deduction on freight costs for usage of local carriers of member countries," he said.FASC, set up by five members of national shippers' councils in Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), comprises Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. It aims to exchange views and information on issues faced by Asian shippers.Ng said under Budget 2008, the Customs Department would reduce the 16 Customs forms to four, effective Jan 1, 2008."It is a good effort as it is easier for people to file applications directly and will save costs," he said.Ng also urged Asean members to work together to benefit from globalisation."Currently, intra-Asia trade is mainly carried by foreign vessels," he said.He said another concern among shippers was the recent US government plan to carry out 100 percent scanning on all cargo bound for US within 2008-2013."This will impact everybody and increase cost. We foresee this will cause congestion and delays at the ports."We are still studying the implications and need to find out how to go about it because US is the biggest market for most Asian countries," he said.

Global PLB ties with China firm

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Investment holding company Global PLB Sdn Bhd and China-based company, Qingdao TopOil Imp & Exp Co Ltd, today signed a shareholders' agreement to set up a joint venture to build a 200,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery on a 1,500 acres land in Pulau Carey, Selangor.The joint venture company, China-Malaysia Oil Refinery Sdn Bhd, will have a paid-up capital of RM350 million, where TopOil will hold 60 percent equity and Global PLB 40 percent.TopOil chief executive officer, Wang Zhi Qiang, said the investment was TopOil's first venture into Malaysia and the company would arrange the full financing of US$2 billion (RM1=US$3.4) through loans from Bank of China and CITIC Bank of China."The amount is expected to be used for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning activities in the refinery," he said.Asked how much the company expected to gain from the refinery, Global PLB's president Mohd Omar Ali said: "I cannot say how much but I can say a same size refinery in Melaka is making RM1 billion a year and RM3 million per day. Ours (capacity) is 20,000 barrels (per day) more than Melaka."He said the land was sub-leased from Yayasan Selangor for a tenure of 25 to 30 years, with options for extension after that.Wang said TopOil would seek permission from the central government (of China) to bring in the US$2 billion investment."Hopefully within three months, the first batch of investment can come in."The end-products will be sold to taken back to China and sold to the market there," said Wang.Mohd Omar said after three months the company could start the site clearing."When the construction starts forty months after that, we hope to have first drops of refined products to be out from the refinery," he said.

Eyeing more job for oil & gas-Muhibbah

SHAH ALAM, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- Integrated construction and engineering specialist Muhibbah Engineering Bhd's ship and marine division is looking into doing more fabrication jobs for the oil and gas sector.Managing director Mac Ngan Boon said the company had invested RM50 million to expand its shipyard in Teluk Gong, Banting, Selangor, into a fabrication facility and for the purchase of land."We hope that in five years, the expansion will contribute to a turnover of another RM300 million annually to the ship and marine division," he told reporters after the company's extraordinary general meeting (EGM) here Wednesday.Currently, the company is engaged in fabricating steel jacket for a project in Yemen. The division's order book stood at RM530 million, which will keep it busy until 2010."We are actively pursuing more works from oil and gas fabrication sector. We foresee that in the next two years this will start contributing to the group's bottomline," he said.He said an increased demand for cranes is also expected to benefit its crane unit, Favelle Favco Bhd.Consumption of energy has increased and most of the countries are upgrading their facilities particularly China and Russia, he said.Favelle Favco has an orderbook of RM570 million currently.Mac said the company was also pursuing projects worth RM10-11 billion mostly in overseas."We have identified the projects that we want to do, the clients that we want to work with and the countries that we want to go," he said, noting that some projects were related to oil and gas but they were mostly infrastructure.He said the company was also in the early stages of entering the Russian construction industry and was using its office in Germany to spearhead its business there."Northern Europe is interesting to look at," he added.Updating on its airport concession in the Sihanoukville Airport being built in Cambodia, he said it was on track to turn the airport into a fully international airport by 2011.The company has completed the first and second phase of the airport which has received flights from Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh.Muhibbah has 30 percent stake in the project while the remainder is held by Societe Concessionaire De L'Airport.The total group order is RM3.4 billion, Mac said.

RM112 Billion for ECER

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 (Bernama) -- About 40 percent of the RM112 billion to be invested in the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) covering Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Mersing district in Johor will be spent on major transportation linkages and other key infrastructure facilities.Petronas president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican said the provision of greater access and enhanced transportation networks will be a crucial determinant for development and growth in the region.Petronas is the master planner for the economic region, which comprises 66,736 sq km or 51 percent of Peninsular Malaysia. The ECER will be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Kuala Terengganu and Kota Bahru on Oct 30 and in Kuantan on Oct 31.The ECER is the third development region to be launched by Abdullah this year after the Iskandar Development Region in Johor and the Northern Corridor Economic Region covering states in northern Peninsular Malaysia.Factoring in the population of 3.9 million in the ECER against the total spending, an estimated RM30,000 is to be spent on each person in the region during its implementation between now and 2020, he told an editors' briefing on the ECER here yesterday.The population in the ECER is 14.5 percent of the national population of 26.8 million and the region is also the Malay heartland as Bumiputeras form the bulk of the population at 86.6 percent. This is followed by the Chinese at 7.8 percent, Indians at 1.8 percent and others at 3.8 per cent.The enhanced road infrastructure will include Phase Three of the East Coast Expressway linking Kuala Terengganu and Kota Baharu, Phase Four of the expressway connecting Kuantan to Johor Baharu and a road linking Temerloh to Kuala Pilah.Hassan said of the RM112 billion, 20 percent will be financed by the private sector, 27 percent via private finance initiative (PFI) and the rest by the government.Hassan explained that the main objective of the ECER Development Plan is to accelerate growth in the region in a viable, equitable and sustainable manner.Among others, it will address the economic imbalance in the region as the ECER states have among the lowest average household incomes in Malaysia.Terengganu and Kelantan are states with highest incidence of poverty in Malaysia after Sabah, where in 2004 the incidence of poverty stood at 15.4 percent and 10.6 percent, followed by Pahang at 4.0 percent.Under the ECER masterplan, 561,000 jobs will be created by 2020 and hard core poverty will be cut to zero.The gross domestic product (GDP) pace of growth for ECER will be raised to 7.2 percent by 2020 from 5.7 percent in 2005.Both Terengganu and Pahang are targeted to grow at 7.5 percent with Kelantan at 6.4 percent.The mission of the ECER is to move the economy up the value chain, raise capacity for knowledge and innovation, address persistent socio-economic inequalities, improve the standard and quality of life and strengthen the institutional and implementation capacity.Apart from tackling accessibility to the region, the regional imbalance (West Coast states versus East Coast states) and the incidence of hardcore poverty, the ECER will also address income inequalities between the rural and urban populations and basic infrastructure, as well as optimise the property sector, including tapping the potential of Malay Reserve Land, said Hassan."Among the ideas for optimsing Malay Reserve Land is to set up a trust that will develop the land. Owners of the land can be members of the trust fund," he explained.Excluding government-owned land, a whopping 40 percent of the land in the ECER is Malay Reserve Land.Hassan said the development masterplan will capitalise on the more than 190 training institutes and institutions of higher learning in the ECER, which are mostly underutilised, with the aim of not only using them to train locals to move up the value chain but also to attract those outside the region to study there.Besides education, he said, the other sectors that have been identified to revitalise the region are tourism, oil and gas, petrochemicals, manufacturing, agriculture and education."The thrust of the ECER will be agriculture and tourism," he added.On agriculture, Hassan said it will include citrus and pineapple cultivation, goat-rearing, herbal cultivation and growing rubber trees specifically for timber to be used in furniture-making."We have identified 50,000 to 100,000 acres for growing rubber trees for timber," he added.This also means furniture-making activities, now concentrated in the southern part of the peninsula, can be expanded to the ECER, he added.As for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), Hassan said the objective is to attract all kinds of FDI, both big and small, in areas like tourism, manufacturing and education.As for Petronas, he said, "we will be investing in oil and gas like we have been doing all this while."Hassan said Petronas took seven to eight months to complete the masterplan, which will be officially handed over to the government at the ECER's launch.Petronas, he said, could be one of the private sector representatives in the council that will run the ECER.He said the council, whose members will include the prime minister and deputy prime minister, the menteris besar of the four states, two cabinet ministers and representatives of the private sector, will be responsible for the implementation of the ECER masterplan.According to him, it is too early to say whether an authority will be established to manage the ECER, as has been done for the IDR and NCER.Hassan said during the formulation of the ECER development plan, Petronas had spoken to all four state governments, including the Opposition-led Kelantan government."The plan can succeed. It will have one council, its Bill is being drafted to be tabled in Parliament in December," said Hassan."If there is focus and strong commitment, there is no reason why the ECER cannot succeed."

Rising crude oil price good for Scomi

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 17 (Bernama) -- Oil and gas services provider Scomi Group Bhd expects the rising global crude oil price to positively impact its performance."It is quite positive, but it doesn't really matter whether the oil prices are high or low as the company has built a long term strategy," Scomi group chief executive officer Shah Hakim Zain told reporters after attending the Scomi MyKids programme here today.Oil price hit US$80 per barrel last week, the highest since it began trading on the New York futures market in 1983. This was despite concerns about supply during winter.On the company's business, Shah Hakim said Scomi Group's oilfield services division was expecting positive contributions from its Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Mexico markets in the next two years.The contributions will come mainly from drilling fluids and drilling waste management solutions, he said, adding that the division contributed about 60 percent to the group's total revenue.Scomi Group has four core businesses, namely oilfield services, energy and logistics engineering, production enhancement and energy logistics.Commenting on its subsidiary, Scomi Engineering Bhd's move into the monorail and bus-making business, Shah Hakim said it was a positive move as there was increasing demand for such facilities.Early this month, a report from Aseambankers Bhd said Scomi Group expected to see its profit almost double this year.For the second quarter ended June 30, 2007, its pre-tax profit surged to RM182.55 million from RM28.54 million in the previous corresponding period.

Scomi's future in monorail

SCOMI Engineering Bhd is expected to ride the hive of activity and investments ploughed into the oil and gas (O&G) sector, but it is the monorail business that is the big and lucrative wild card to its future performance.
“There is no let-up in demand for O&G. We are investing heavily in that business,'' Scomi Engineering president Hilmy Zaini Zainal said.
“But we have also entered into a business that we will be focusing more on in the future. We believe monorail is the future, especially for the cities in this region.''
O&G is and has been for long the lifeblood of Scomi Engineering. The company's involvement in that sector is via its numerous machine shops sprinkled to the far corners of Asia that serve the big names in the energy sector.
Hilmy explained that Scomi Engineering, which will probably migrate to the main board of Bursa Malaysia next year, currently got the bulk of its revenue from its machine shops.
These machine shops make the threads on pipes and connectors that join the pipes together. These pipes are used in all aspects of the search and drilling for oil and gas.
Hilmy Zaini Zainal“Whenever the O&G industry needs pipes, it will need our services. In a way, our business will never end,'' he said.
The company has 11 machine shops in seven countries - all of them making threads for pipes and some making manufacturing connectors as well - spanning from Saudi Arabia to Australia (Darwin).
The newer shops were set up at the behest of its large clients.
Hilmy said some of the newest plants, like the ones in Johor and Saudi Arabia, were being built at the request of Scomi's big clients, Halliburton and Saudi Aramco.
With the trend in the O&G industry heading to deepwater fields, Scomi believes the new oilfield discoveries in the Asia-Pacific region will lead to new growth opportunities.
The increased length of pipes needed in deepwater fields will also raise the amount of work for its machine shops.
“Today we are developing deepwater connectors in order to participate in the deepwater business,'' Hilmy said.
In the past three to four years, the machine shop business has grown by 30% a year. This year Scomi Engineering invested in five new machine shops, either in new locations or on bigger premises.
“The growth there is actually quite phenomenal and there is no let-up in the O&G business,'' he said.
On next year, Hilmy said plans were being drawn up to expand the machine shop coverage in Asia. “It's preliminary, but we are looking at a few countries in the region.''
Revenue-wise, the machine shop operations are still the biggest money spinner for the group, but Scomi Engineering believes that might change with its monorail business.
Scomi's maiden entry into this business was via a five-year contract from KTM Bhd to refurbish 1,500 wagons. That was followed by its acquisition of MTrans Transportation Sdn Bhd, which is now a wholly owned subsidiary renamed Scomi Rail Bhd.
That acquisition had allowed Scomi Engineering to tap the monorail business, where it is now one of three players in the world, said Hilmy. The other two are Hitachi and Bombardier.
The acquisition also gave Scomi Engineering its own technology in the monorail business and the ability to supply electrical and mechanical (E&M) systems and rolling stock for the monorail.
“We are building Scomi Rail Bhd to have the full range of capabilities,'' he said.
The reason behind developing a full suite of services is for Scomi Engineering to effectively bid for projects.
“When we tender for projects in Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and India, we must be able to offer everything. We cannot just say we can only fabricate the cars. It has to be a package,'' he said.
Scomi Engineering has a team of 30 in rolling stock and 25 in E&M building up the group capabilities in those two segments and it has paid off, creating the second generation of monorail, said Hilmy.
The new-generation monorail trains can fit 125 people in a car, making its people-moving capability comparable with light rail transit systems.
Cars are not only wider but now between six and eight cars can be pulled instead of the normal two people see plying the routes around KL.
Hilmy said the monorail was suitable for Asian cities as the system required a smaller footprint. Its tighter turning radius compared with LRTs lowers the cost of civil structures. The guideway beams are much narrower than LRT systems.
Other plus points, Hilmy said, were the monorail's pleasant aesthetics and its much quieter run. But the biggest advantage was that a monorail system was cheaper and faster to construct, he said.
Although no firm monorail orders are in hand, the company is at various stages of negotiations with its potential customers.
In India, Scomi Engineering is focusing on four cities interested in monorail lines.
“Now it is actually going to the next stage of identifying the right partner for the civil structures and the right form of funding, whether PFI (private finance initiative), government funding or quasi PFI,'' he said.
“We are also in an advanced stage in Vietnam – in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. We were informed we would soon be given a letter of intent to give us the exclusive right to come up with a firm proposal,'' said Hilmy.
He said Scomi Engineering's partner in Medina had been working on a proposal for the past one year and had submitted the proposal to the Ministry of Transportation. The partner is now raising funding.
For Malaysia, Hilmy said, the rail business was starting to boom.
“There are the expansion in KL, new lines in Penang and Johor Baru, and the double tracking,'' he said.
Hilmy said rail players throughout the world were coming to Malaysia and setting up offices. “Malaysia is at a cycle where the country has to invest in rail,'' he said, adding that cities in the region such as Singapore, Manila and Bangkok were also ramping up their rail emphasis. The Government during Budget 2008 announced a spending plan of RM12bil to improve public transport in KL and Penang over four years.
Although bidding prices are secret, Hilmy said that going by the KL Monorail construction prices, the bill to construct a kilometre of monorail was RM100mil.
Of the RM100mil per km, Hilmy said, the civil works accounted for 40% of the cost while systems, about 60%.
He said Scomi Engineering was discussing building more than 20km of tracks and systems in Vietnam and in Medina, it involved more than 30km.
In India, the length in total is between 40km and 50km of monorail and in Penang, where it is partnering with Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd and Penang Port, it is more than 30km.
The real problem of a rail system, he said, was funding, especially when fares were kept low.
“No rail project is self funding or self sustainable without Government assistance in one form or another,” Hilmy said.

GCC Consortium to invest RM5 Billion in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is set to get about RM5 billion investments in its oil and gas projects, Islamic banking and property sector from a consortium from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).The consortium is led by the Qatar General Insurance and Reinsurance Co (QGIRCO) and Gulf Petroleum Ltd (W.L.L.), Qatar (GPL), said a statement here Thursday.QGIRCO is the majority shareholder in GPL."The consortium has started talks with the relevant parties in Malaysia as well as in the neighbouring countries for oil and gas projects, acquisition of equity stakes in financial institutions, acquisition of landed properties and officer towers," said QCIRCO's chairman, who is also the chairman of GPL and World Trade Centre of Doha, Sheikh Nasser Ali Saud Al-Thani.He said several agreements were expected to be signed soon and the investments in Malaysia would be not less than RM5 billion.

Astro records RM23.4 million Pre-tax loss Q2

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 (Bernama) -- Astro All Asia Networks plc reversed into a pre-tax loss of RM23.4 million in its second quarter ended July 31 from the pre-tax profit of RM97 million in the same quarter last year.Its revenue, however, rose to RM629.28 million, an 11 percent increase from RM569.08 million previously, the company said in a statement Thursday.The loss could be attributed to its Indonesian venture, with Astro saying its share of operating losses in the multi-channel digital satellite pay TV and multimedia business in Indonesia was RM43.3 million for the second quarter.Astro told Bursa Malaysia that it is providing additional provisions of RM92.4 million against the carrying value of all deferred costs and assets relating to the Indonesian venture, "where recoverability cannot be reasonably assured under current assessment."The company said that in seeking mutually acceptable solutions to effectively continue operations in the Indonesian venture, the options considered may involve restructuring of the various parties' interest.It said that in the event that no agreement is reached, there will be further costs relating to commitments already made which are estimated at RM200 million.Its chief executive officer Robert Odendaal in the statement said: "Notwithstanding the current state of the proposed investment in Indonesia, the Group remains committed to the Asian region which continues to offer significant potential for platform distribution and content development activities."

Petra Energy's unit hold RM36 million contract

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 (Bernama) -- Petra Energy Bhd's wholly-owned subsidiary, Petra Resources Sdn Bhd, has won a RM36 million contract from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd for the provision of two anchor handling tug supply vessels for its drilling programme.In a statement here Wednesday, Petra Energy said the subsidiary would provide the vessels, both of which were owned by Petra Offshore Ltd and operated by Intra Oil Services Bhd, for a primary duration of twelve months.Petra Offshore and Intra Oil are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Petra Energy."The contracts are not expected to have any material effect on the net assets and earnings of Petra Energy Group for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2007, but is anticipated to contribute positively to its future earnings," it said.

Govt needs to expedite the convergence of marginal tax rate

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has called on the government to expedite the convergence of marginal tax rate to 25 percent to avoid the setting up of personal companies.FMM president Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon said the gap between personal tax and corporate tax would encourage individuals to create "creative accounting" which would not do any good to the country."Don't let the citizens do all sorts of funny things," he said when participating in a Post-Budget Panel Discussion here today.When tabling the 2008 Budget last Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced a further corporate tax cut to 25 percent in 2009. This is said to have been a surprise to many who were expecting a reduction in personal income tax instead.The current personal income tax rate is 27 percent.Yong said the current tax bands were also narrow and tax payers would hit the maximum tax band very fast.A Finance Ministry official who attended the forum said the government would look into the tax matter.Another panelist at the forum, Prof Dr Norma Mansor, a dean with University Malaya's Faculty of Economics & Administration, said the government needs to look into the current tax regime as the high rate presently was unattractive to draw knowledge workers.On the implementation of the GST (good and services tax), a Finance Ministry official said the government has yet to decide the time for its implementation.The official said the government was working with the private sector for the implementation."It (GST) is still on the table," she said.On the manufacturing sector, Yong said the important issue now was to improve efficiency through curbing rising costs of doing business amid intense competition.Another area of concern was the availability of natural gas at stable prices to enhance the manufacturing sector's cost competitiveness, he said.FMM noted that manufactured exports are estimated to grow only by 2.1 percent this year, a significant drop from the 10.1 percent growth in 2006.

Telenor top exec to meet Dr Lim On DiGi's stake

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 (Bernama) -- Top executives from Telenor ASA, led by its president and chief executive officer Jon Fredrik Baksaas would be meeting Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik to discuss the Norwegian telco company's intention to retain its controlling stake in DiGi.Com Bhd tomorrow.Telenor is facing year-end deadline to reduce its controlling stake after Dr Lim has said last month that the company would not be given another deadline to reduce its stake in DiGi after it was allowed to raise its stake in the company to 61 percent back in 2001."I'm meeting them tomorrow. They want to see me and I have agreed to meet them. I don't know what exactly they want to talk to me, but I presumed it has something to do with their stake in DiGi," he told Bernama when contacted here.Apart from Baksaas, another Telenor top executive to meet Dr Lim would be its senior vice-president and deputy CEO, who is also the head of Telenor's Asia Operations, Arve Johansen.Speaking to reporters after DiGi's annual general meeting in May, Johansen said the Oslo-based telco company will reduce its stake and comply with the target by year-end.However, two weeks ago in a interview with Bloomberg, Dr Lim said he has not seen any proposal from Telenor to pare down its equity in DiGi, despite the fact that the company has less than four months to do so.He also said Telenor will not be given another deadline to reduce its stake to 49 from currently 61 percent as its was the condition imposed when Telenor was allowed to raise its stake in 2001.Telenor is supposed to pare down its stake in DiGi by the end of last year but was given a year's extension by the Malaysian government -- until the end of this year.There is also speculation of possibility the Malaysian government investment arm, Khazanah Nasional Bhd take up some stake in DiGi from Telenor through Time dotCom.However, DiGi clarified that it has yet to make any proposal to any potential strategic partner.When contacted today, Dr Lim again reiterated that Telenor has to comply with the condition to pare it stake in DiGi by year-end and there would be no more extension."A month ago, my ministry (Energy, Water and Communication) has issued a letter to them stating that they have to comply with it. The decision has been made, they got to comply with it."I don't know exactly what they will talk to me tomorrow but we have already told them that there is no more extension," he added.Telenor has more than 129 million mobile subscribers worldwide and is regarded as one of the fastest growing providers of mobile communication services worldwide.Apart from Telenor Norway, Sweden, Pakistan, Serbia, the company also owned Sonofon (Denmark), Kyvstar (Ukraine), Pannon (Hungary), Promonte (Montenegro), VimpelCom (Russia), DiGi (Malaysia), DTAC (Thailand) and Grameenphone (Bangladesh).

PNB to invest RM1 billion overseas

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) plans to invest more than RM1 billion in overseas markets this year, its president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman said Thursday."We target between five and 10 percent of our (investment) portfolio to be done this year in overseas markets," he said at a media briefing here today.Hamad Kama Piah said PNB was slowly expanding its overseas operations."We have always been investing overseas and we are slowly expanding the portion," he said.As of now, PNB has opened offices in Singapore and the United Kingdom."We hope our people in the two new offices can learn as quickly as possible so that we can give more funds for them to manage," Hamad Kama Piah said.

Iris supply E-Passport system

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (Bernama) -- Iris Corporation Bhd has clinched a contract to supply Electronic Passport System (EPS) to the Republic of Senegal in West Africa.In a statement here today, the company said the contract is based on a build-own-transfer (BOT) project-financing model, over a 20-year period during which Iris will build and own the EPS. After the end of the period, the ownership of the system will be transferred to Senegal.The Senegal Government will pay a consideration of Euro 180 million for the 10 million units of electronic passports (E-Passports) that are scheduled to be delivered during the BOT period.Iris said the sites which have been identified for deployment and installation of EPS include the main passport operation centre in Dakar and eight regional passport operation centres in the Senegal.Besides that, eight overseas passport operation centres in the Embassies will also be installed with this system.The EPS will also include the installation of four Immigration Autogates at Dakar International Airport for automated and secure immigration clearance.The company which signed an agreement with the Senegal Government on Monday for the contract, said the agreement is expected to contribute positively towards improving its operating margins.The company's E-Passport System provides a fully integrated and highly secure solution for the enrollment, personalisation and issuance of e-Passports.

Ling Liong Sik Steps Down

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 3 (Bernama) -- Transmile Group Bhd, whose directors are currently facing charges of accounting fraud, has been dealt with another blow -- the departure of former transport minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik as its chairman and director.The cargo transport company today announced to Bursa Malaysia the resignation of Dr Ling from the company with immediate effect. He holds about 75,000 ordinary shares in the company.Dr Ling is scheduled to give a press conference tomorrow.Transmile did not disclose the reason for the 64-year-old veteran politician's resignation from the company.Transmile was dragged into the limelight with news of accounting woes in May this year as auditors uncovered accounting disparities dating back to 2004.The company directors, including its founder and former chief executive officer Gan Boon Aun, were charged by the authorities for providing misleading information on the company's 2006 financial statements.Last month, Transmile appointed former RHB Capital Bhd's group chief operating officer Wong Yoke Ming as managing director after Gan resigned.Transmile, which owns landing rights in more than 10 major cities in the Asia-Pacific, reported higher net loss of RM28.02 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2007 from a net loss of RM15.09 million previously.Its revenue declined marginally to RM149.93 million from RM152 million previously.

July'07 Exports Up 2.7% to RM50.52 Billion

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia exported goods worth RM50.52 billion in July 2007, higher by 2.7 percent when compared with RM49.03 billion in the previous month but similar to the level in July last year.The increase in exports was mainly attributed to palm oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude petroleum as well as electrical and electronic products (E&E), the Statistics Department said today.Imports in July 2007 rose 5.3 percent from RM42.54 billion the previous month and up by 2.5 percent when compared with the same period a year ago, the department said in a preliminary release.A trade surplus of RM7.98 billion was recorded, making it the 117th consecutive month of trade surplus since November 1997, it added.Total trade in July 2007 was worth RM93.06 billion, up by 3.9 percent from the previous month.E&E products accounted for RM21.85 billion or 43.3 percent of total exports, followed by palm oil at RM3.32 billion or 6.1 percent, and chemicals and chemical products at RM2.82 billion or 5.6 percent.Others were LNG at RM2.21 billion or 4.4 percent, refined petroleum products (RM1.97 billion or 3.9 percent), machinery, appliances and parts (RM.18 billion or 3.6 percent), manufactures of metal (RM1.32 billion or 2.6 percent), wood products (RM1.22 billion or 2.4 percent), and optical and scientific equipment (RM1.21 billion or 2.4 percent).The department said 79 percent of the exports went to Asean, the United States, the European Union (EU), Japan, China, Hong Kong and India.Asean absorbed 25.5 percent of the country's total exports in July 2007, up by 2.9 percent due mainly to higher exports of E&E products.Exports to the US totalled RM7.62 billion or 15.2 percent, an increase of 1.5 percent from the previous month due mainly to higher exports of refined petroleum products and palm oil.In July 2007, exports to EU totalled RM6.3 billion or 12.5 percent of Malaysia's total exports, up by 5.2 percent when compared to the same period last year.Exports to Japan amounted to RM4.62 billion, down slightly from RM4.8 billion in June 2007 due mainly to lower exports of refined petroleum products and E&E products. Year-on-year, exports to Japan registered an increase of 8.3 percent.Exports to China continued on an upward trend for the third consecutive month to reach a value of RM4.12 billion, up by 0.6 percent from the previous month, the department said, adding that the increase was mainly due to higher exports of palm oil and rubber products.On July 2007 imports, the department said intermediate goods worth RM30.47 billion accounted for 71.6 percent of total imports while capital goods amounted to RM6.01 billion or 14.1 percent and consumption goods totalled RM2.52 billion or 5.9 percent.Total trade during the first seven months of 2007 was valued at RM615.63 billion, an increase of 2.1 percent from the same period last year, the department said.During the same period, exports grew by one percent to RM333.65 billion while imports expanded by 3.4 percent to RM281.99 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of RM51.66 billion, it said.