Khairy: Malaysia expects to hit 10% national Covid-19 vaccination rate by mid-July
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that the country is expected to hit a 10% national vaccination rate by mid-July. He said that the shift from the first to the second phase of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) should happen at the end of this month. He said that currently, for every 100 doses administered to vaccine recipients, 30 doses are second shots. “So in order to fully immunise 10% of the population or 3.2 million people, we need to administer roughly 10.7 million doses. Taking into consideration the ratio that I mentioned just now, we are aiming to administer 8 million doses in June and hopefully we will reach 10.7 million in mid-July,” he said. (Malay Mail)
Most APAC companies willing to pay higher rent for green buildings
Some 70% of Asia Pacific corporations are willing to pay a rental premium to lease sustainability-certified buildings in the future, according to JLL Asia Pacific’s report “Sustainable Real Estate: From ambitions to actions”. The findings showed that this commitment aligns with broader real estate sustainability developments across the region, where 40% of corporate occupiers have already adopted net zero targets while another 40% are planning to adopt targets by 2025. The report surveyed more than 550 corporate real estate occupiers and investors across the Asia Pacific region, with a strong emphasis on Australia, China, India, Japan and Singapore. It finds that about 90% of the companies agree that tackling emissions from real estate is essential in achieving a net zero carbon agenda, signalling a new era in regional real estate portfolio leasing and investment. JLL data showed that the majority of the corporate occupiers that currently lease space in a green building are paying a rental premium of 7% to 10%. The Merdeka 118 tower will be the first tower to achieve Platinum Accreditation in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, GreenRE and Green Building Index. It is also the first in Malaysia to achieve the WELL Platinum Certification. (The Edge)
Govt looking into easing restrictions for fully vaccinated individuals
The government is looking into easing restrictions for individuals who have completed their Covid-19 vaccination including allowing them to travel interstate, says National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin. He said a technical committee comprising health and science experts set up under the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee (JKJAV) is reviewing the matter before it can be presented to the National Security Council (NSC). “For example in the United States, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention has issued a guideline for fully vaccinated people, such as allowing them to remove their face masks when meeting in a room,” he said. Khairy, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, said individuals who have completed the Covid-19 vaccination doses will have a yellow profile on their MySejahtera application which acts as a vaccine passport that will allow them a certain degree of freedom to do things that were previously not permitted. The government is negotiating with other countries including Singapore for mutual recognition of the vaccination passport. (The Star)
Iskandar Malaysia still draws investments
Iskandar Malaysia remains attractive to investors despite operating in a challenging economic landscape brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) chief executive Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, investment projects worth RM7.33bil were implemented in Iskandar Malaysia in the first four months of this year. He said the implementation of the projects between January and April saw the involvement of about 20% domestic investors while the remaining 80% were foreigners. At the same time, Irda continues to receive the support and approval for manufacturing projects from the Malaysia Investment Development Authority (Mida). He said the latter had approved projects last year to be developed in Iskandar Malaysia, including those from China, Japan and Singapore. Ismail said the top three industries approved were transport equipment, electrical and electronics, as well as machinery and equipment. Ismail noted that 61% of these investment amounting to RM209.9bil was led by the manufacturing sector, followed by logistics, tourism, creative services and healthcare services. (The Star)
MAHB submits detailed Subang Airport regeneration plan to govt
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) has submitted a comprehensive strategic long-term development plan for the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang, Selangor to the government. The airport operator also said it has sufficient internal cash reserves to undertake the Subang Airport Regeneration plan. The plan is premised on three areas of focus — the aerospace ecosystem, business aviation and for it to be an urban community airport, with the aim of turning Subang airport into the preferred aerospace and business aviation hub in the Asia-Pacific region in the next five years. MAHB group CEO Datuk Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh said since receiving the mandate to develop Subang airport into an aerospace park in 2005, MAHB had grown the ecosystem by four times, attracting 60 brand names and facilitating capital inflows of over RM500 million. He added that the regeneration plan for Subang airport will grow the ecosystem further by three times, doubling the number of global and local operators to more than 100. At the same time, it is projected to contribute RM10 billion to the national economy. (The Edge)
