Malaysia Morning News For May 3

Malaysia is key market for Airbus
Malaysia is a key strategic market in South East Asia for Airbus, with the European multinational airframe producer contributing US$400 million (RM1.57 billion) annually to the local economy.
— New Straits Times

GE14 continues to exert pressure on the ringgit
Investors are holding off on ringgit-based assets in expectation of a closely contested 14th General Election (GE14), causing the local note to lose ground against the strengthening greenback.
— The Malaysian Reserve

GST had minimal impact on inflation: economists
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) has had minimal impact on inflation since it was introduced in 2015, economists said.
— New Straits Times

Malaysian manufacturing conditions deteriorate further in April
Malaysian manufacturing conditions deteriorated for the third successive month in April due to faster declines in output and new orders.
— The Sun Daily

Malaysia’s March exports likely up, imports down 3%
Malaysia’s exports for the month of March will see a somewhat tepid recovery from the contraction seen in the previous month but indicators show that shipments may slow in the coming months.
— The Star Online

Fuel prices unchanged from tomorrow to May 9
The retail fuel prices will remain unchanged for the first week of May.
— New Straits Times

Hartalega gearing up for Industry 4.0
Hartalega Holdings Bhd, the world’s largest synthetic glove manufacturer, is investing over RM14 million to upgrade its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, as part of its commitment towards realising Industry 4.0.
— New Straits Times

Petronas Chemicals cautiously optimistic
Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PCG), which expects a better market in 2018, aims to perform as well as it did last year despite the heavy turnaround activities planned, said its chairman Datuk Md Arif Mahmood.
— The Sun Daily

New scan of ocean floor hasn’t found any sign of MH370
The new scan of the Indian Ocean floor for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has searched nearly 80,000 square kilometers since January without finding any sign of the wreckage. But the company looking for the plane missing for more than four years said it is still determined.
— Chiang Mai Mail

SME Corp wants firms in sector to go cashless
SME Corp Malaysia is targeting for 100,000 SMEs to move into cashless transactions this year, from 7,000 now, through collaborations with industry players and its awareness programmes with SMEs.
— The Sun Daily

Public Bank posts record Q1 earnings of RM1.405b
Public Bank Bhd posted record earnings for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 with net profit attributable to shareholders rising nearly 12.6% to RM1.405bil from RM1.248bil a year ago.
— The Star Online

Net financing growth continues to support economic activity
Malaysia’s net financing growth continued to support economic activity, but moderated to 6.8% in March this year from 7.4% in February.
— The Malaysian Reserve

Indonesia and Malaysia Enter a New Phase to Deepen Bilateral Economic Ties
Malaysia now strengthens its position as a regional hub for tech start-ups. The launch of Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) in Malaysia, as the world’s first digital trade platform outside China to create 60,000 jobs, plays a key role to boost the Southeast Asia’s ecommerce boom.
— AsiaOne

AP Explains: 1MDB graft scandal heats up Malaysia politics
Malaysia’s image as a striving, modern nation that upholds the rule of law has been undermined by an epic corruption scandal at state investment fund 1MDB.
— kdhnews

iPrice ranks top e-commerce sites in Malaysia
Lazada Malaysia is the most visited website among desktop users, with an average online traffic of 48.4 million in the first quarter of 2018. This was according to iPrice Group’s Map of E-Commerce list, which noted that Lazada’s average monthly traffic jumped 25.3% from 38.6 million.
— Marketing

Foreign buyers on Bursa picking up as GE14 looms closer
Analysts are observing a rise in foreign participation on Bursa Malaysia in its daily trade as Malaysia’s 14th General Election (GE14) looms closer.
— The Borneo Post

KLCI closes down 18pts as Maxis, CIMB and Maybank weigh
Blue chips closed on a weak note on Wednesday ahead of the 14th General Election on May 9 as investors decided to stay on the sidelines.
— The Star Online

Malaysia’s March broad money supply records 33-month high
Malaysia’s broad money supply growth (M3) accelerated in March to 5.9 per cent year-on-year, the highest growth recorded since June 2015 or a 33-month high, buoyed by a surge in net foreign assets at 6.4 per cent, providing a higher 1.9 percentage points (ppts) contribution to the overall M3 growth.
— New Straits Times

Malaysia’s rural voters see more China and less Mahathir
The removal of campaign billboards promoting the opposition alliance in Malaysia’s May 9 election has triggered nationalist sentiments against Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, which already faces declining support among its ethnic Malay base.
— Nikkei Asian Review

MRCB Gamuda Consortium bags HSR PDP-North package project
The MRCB Gamuda Consortium, a 50:50 consortium formed between Gamuda Bhd and Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd, has been appointed as the project delivery partner (PDP) for the northern section of the High-Speed Rail (HSR) project.
— New Straits Times

Trade between Taiwan and Malaysia to surpass US$19 billion in 2018
TAITRA is preparing to host a Taiwan Excellence showcase in Kuala Lumpur from May 4-6, displaying the newest innovative products for market representatives in Malaysia.
— Taiwan News

Project delivery partners of HSR project receive letters of appointment
The two project delivery partners (PDPs) for the KL-Singapore high speed rail (HSR) have received their respective letters of appointment from MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd today.
— The Star Online

Malaysia, Philippines drop 1%; Thailand bounces back in late trade
Malaysian and Philippine shares fell 1% each and snapped three straight sessions of gains, while Thai stocks bounced back in late trade to close more than 0.5% higher.
— The Edge Markets

WSF partners TM to foster startup champions
US-based global entrepreneurship platform The World Startup Festival (WSF) and its accelerator partner, D’Academy have partnered with Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) to foster regional startup champions for funding and market access.
— New Straits Times

PMB Investment wins four awards
PMB Investment Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pelaburan MARA Bhd, has bagged four awards at the Thomson Reuters Lipper Global Islamic Fund Awards.
— New Straits Times

Qatar Chamber hosts visiting Malaysian trade delegation
The Qatari market is looking for more partnerships and alliances between Qatari and Malaysian companies, Qatar Chamber Vice-Chairman Mohamed bin Ahmed bin Towar Al Kuwari said yesterday at a meeting with a visiting a Malaysian business and trade delegation.
— The Peninsular Qatar

Feature photo Ah Wei (Lung Wei)

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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.