Category: Economy

On Monday, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakon unveils Malaysia’s 12th biggest five-year development Malaysian Plan. In the Parliament, this first major policy that was introduced by the administration can prove as a litmus test for the bipartisan cooperation between Yakob’s government and the opposition.

This is the largest five-year road map with RM 400 billion (S$129 Billion) allocated for the new and existing projects. This project is 54% bigger than the 11th Malaysia’s plan that was unveiled in 2016 that had RM260 billion.

The new plan that aims to turn Malaysia into a high-income economy by 2025, has been delayed for more than a year due to the COVID-19 crisis. It focuses on eradicating poverty and increasing the contribution of small businesses to the total economic output.

The new plan will have nine main areas of focus with the theme “Prosperous, Inclusive and Sustainable Malaysia”. It also focuses on closing the income gap and development in some of Malaysia’s least-developed states like Sabah and Sarawak in Borneo.

Mr. Ismail said, ”The average annual Growth Domestic Product (GDP) under the 11th Malaysia Plan was 2.7%, lower than what was targeted, due to the contraction in 2020”.

Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Saifuddin bin Abdullah said Malaysia and Singapore are discussing the possibility of reopening their borders soon. After the plight of several people, the minister assured the lawmakers in Dewan Rakyat.

He commented that he is aware of the issue as it is not only about the COVID-19 but also about those who have been separated from their loved ones even before the start of the pandemic. He is trying his best to find the solution to overcome this situation together. Abdullah also confirmed the news of a telephonic conversation between the Health Minister and his Singaporean counterpart. The discussion was regarding the procedure on how the borders can be reopened between the two nations.

On Thursday, Foreign Affairs mentioned that the matter has been brought to the attention of the head of the committee to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in the country Mr. Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

The opening of the borders would pave the way for the country to open through the air routes with other countries like Thailand. The issue was raised by Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Ind-Muar) who received numerous pleas from Malaysians who are eager to see their loved ones.

On Tuesday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping appeared in a prerecorded video at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He said that China will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad as part of its efforts to slow climate change.

No details were provided by President Xi, however, based on how the policy is implemented, the move could significantly limit the funds of coal plants in the developing world. To meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce carbon emissions, China was under heavy diplomatic pressure. The nation was asked to put an end to its coal funding overseas as it could make it easier for the world to stay on course.

Earlier this year, Xi’s announcement followed a similar gesture by South Korea and Japan. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US climate envoy John Kerry recommended China to obey the lead of its Asian counterpart.

In Jinping’s prerecorded video he stressed China’s peaceful intentions in international relations at the UN Gathering. He said that China will set up support for other developing countries and help them develop green and low-carbon energy and the nation will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.

On Friday, the government unveiled a package of initiatives to attract high-growth, high-tech local and regional companies that will get listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

With an initial tranche of $1.5 billion, the biggest initiative is to set funds that will assist promising high-growth companies to raise capital from public listing in SGX. The funds will be co-invested by the Government and Temasek. The cash flow of firms that are growing fast usually exceeds the growth of the overall economy. In contrast, most companies do not pay dividends to stockholders, instead choosing to reinvest profits into their business expansion. It is likely that EDBI, the investment arm of the Economic Development Board, will set up this IPO fund – with an initial tranche of $500 million. It will mainly be focused on future technology innovators and market leaders.

Additionally, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will improve its Grant for Equity Market Singapore (Gems) scheme, launched in early 2019, to help companies seeking listing as well as to build the equity research ecosystem in Singapore.

Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade and Industry said that the nation will make a concerted push to establish itself as the listing destination of choice for the local and global market leader.

The United Arab Emirates seeks to grow its economic ties with Israel over $1 trillion in the coming decade. On Monday, Economy Minister Abdulla Bin Touq said that strengthening a year-old relationship with Israel has already produced billions of dollars worth of business.

Since normalizing its relationship in 2020, UAE has signed nearly 60 memorandums of understanding with Israel. They plan to expand an “influx” of trade in a coming couple of years. In a virtual conference from the US, Bin Touq said that he is leading a high-level business delegation where the USA was looking at sectors including defense, energy, and food security. He said that they have $600 to $700 million of bilateral trade happening. They have billions of dollars of funds that have been announced mutually between the two nations. They are moving in many areas of economic opportunities and are willing to create over $1 trillion of economic activity in a decade.

In the economic activities, Mubadala Investment Co.’s $1 billion purchase of Tel Aviv-listed Delek’s stake deal in the Israeli gas field was also included. Following the intense diplomacy from the US, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan also recognized Israel.

The African Summit that began on Tuesday, September 7, organised Collective action to combat climate change, was listed as the key agenda at the inaugural Caribbean Community and the African Union (CARICOM).

The virtual meeting will bring CARICOM and African Union Heads of States and Government from the Caribbean community together. They will deliberate the trade and investment between the two nations. The summit will be on “Unity between continents and oceans: opportunities to deepen integration”

The statement released from Kenya’s Foreign Office said that the Participants at the event will include Heads of State and the Government of the Caribbean Community and the African Union. The session will be chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta which was earlier slated for 2020 but triggered the cancellation due to the pandemic.

Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley opened the Caribbean community diplomatic office at Two Rivers Complex on Limuru Road during her visit to Kenya in December 2019. She said that their region and Africa are not just separated not just by the Atlantic Ocean but by centuries of division and exploitation and they will not not allow this separation to continue further.

El Salvador became the first country to accept cryptocurrency Bitcoin as legal tender. Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador and advocate of digital currency said that the policy that took effect on Tuesday made the morning historic.

The nation opened its digital wallet app to residents and consumers for the first time. However, the first few hours for the status of Bitcoin in the country were marred by technological hiccups. The government of El Salvador holds 550 Bitcoin which is equivalent to $26 million.

Earlier the president suggested that the legalization of Bitcoin will spur investment in the country and that it can help approximately 70% of Salvadorans who lack access to “traditional financial services”. In his statement on Monday, he said that they must break with the paradigms of the past. He believes that El Salvador has the right to advance toward the first world. He further added that using Bitcoin can be an effective way to transfer billions of dollars. The transfer will be in remittances and Salvadorans who are living outside the country send them back to their homeland each year.

Bukele’s government is being criticized by political opponents and is facing pushback from the international community over a recent court decision that is seen as unconstitutional.

China wants to import more African agricultural products across its e-commerce platform and wants to expand the sales as per a senior Chinese foreign ministry official.

The director-general of the ministry department of African affairs Wu Peng said at the launch of “African Products Online Promoting Season” that the nation has never stalked surplus trade with Africa. He said the online promotion will be helpful for African products, especially agricultural products that will gain more market shares in China. The country will encourage e-commerce with live streaming platforms to promote the export of agricultural products.

In the first seven months of the year, the trade volume between the two nations reached $139.1 billion. According to China’s ministry of commerce, these imports from Africa were $59.3 billion.

70% of the East African country’s sales to the Asian economic giant are mineral’s despite the small size of its resources industry. The main exports to China according to the 2019 data by the Observatory of Economic Complexity are titanium ore, niobium, tantalum, vanadium and zirconium ores, iron ore, and manganese ore.

Currently, agricultural products that are imported by China are tea, coffee, and cut flowers which are not among the top five imports for the nation.

President Xi Jinping announced that a new Beijing Stock exchange will be set up as part of this year’s China International Fair for Trade in Services. He remarked this in a video link at the Global Trade in Service Summit on September 2.

Jinping believes this to be the primary platform to serve the leading innovation-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Its decision caught widespread attention as the Beijing Stock Exchange will become the main financing provider for innovation-driven small-sized enterprises. It is the latest deepening reform known as the New Third Board of the National Equities Exchange. It will comprise of Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange which are the growth enterprise board and the science and technology innovation board respectively.

According to the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the reform of the New Third Board will embark on a new journey after the Beijing Stock Exchange is set up and starts running. It will be based on the innovation-driven SMEs selected from the New Third Board and will be an upgraded version to be precise.

The three stock exchanges will form a three-pillar framework for the nation’s capital market with different focuses and meet the diverse demands of different kinds of enterprises.

On Monday, the world’s top exporter Saudi Arabia slashed crude prices for Asia over the weekend as oil prices extended losses. This signaled that the global markets are well supplied.

Since November, the Brent crude futures fell 98 cents (1.8%) to $71.63 a barrel by 0613 GMT and US West Texas Intermediate crude for October fell 95 cents (1.4%) to $68.34 a barrel. On Sunday, a statement was released from the state oil giant Saudi Aramco to the customers that they will cut October prices by at least $1 a barrel for all crude grades sold to Asia. Asia is their biggest buying region and the cuts in prices were larger than expected among Asian refiners.

In August the Asian customers requested fewer Saudi volumes as the delta variant prompted the return of movement of restriction. OPEC group expects the global oil market to continue tightening this year. They plan to receive output before flipping into surplus again in 2020.

The US indicated a patchy economic recovery that signals a slower fuel demand during a resurgent pandemic after the decline in crude. In the wake of Hurricane Ida, the losses were capped by the concerns that US supply would remain limited.