PM to announce short-term economic recovery plan
While awaiting the government’s decision to extend or lift the conditional movement control order (CMCO), which expires on June 9, Malaysians will look forward to an announcement on the Short-term Economic Recovery Plan in a special message by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Friday (June 5). The special message by the Prime Minister will be broadcast live at 3pm by local local television stations and social media networks. Meanwhile, Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Malaysia will witness major changes in the policy of employing foreign workers and to curb the entry of illegal immigrants during post Covid-19. The tourism industry, he said, was among economic sectors adversely affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, with many hotels forced to shut down their operations and retrench workers, leading to high unemployment rate. While the post Covid-19 economic recovery may be slow, the government policy would definitely put more emphasis on employing locals, he added. (The Star Online)
MEF: Attract, employ more locals
Employer groups say there is an adequate number of foreign workers in the country for now, and they want more effort made to get locals hired in less favourable jobs to reduce dependency on foreign workers. Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said only a small number of sectors had manpower issues for now due to strict government rules and its requirements for foreign workers. “The areas where the authorities are very strict about when it comes to foreign workers are, for example, some of the wet markets and construction industry, where crackdowns have been instituted,” said Shamsuddin. “The shortage of foreign workers is only limited to certain sectors, namely construction, plantation and some manufacturing sectors.” Shamsuddin said society needed to change their views of less-favourable jobs, such as those deemed 3D – dirty, dangerous and difficult. He said such jobs could be “rebranded” to attract more Malaysian workers. (The Star Online)
UEM Sunrise warns of scams using its name
Property developer UEM Sunrise Bhd has cautioned the public to beware of scammers claiming to represent the company in a get-rich-quick investment scheme. It has been brought to the company’s attention that Whatsapp messages have been sent from parties impersonating as UEM Sunrise staff, inviting the public to make deposits for investments in foreign stocks. UEM Sunrise said, the message also promised extremely high returns despite a small amount of investment in as little as five hours, and to refer to the company’s website uemsunrise.com for more information. “The scheme as stated in the Whatsapp message is not in our portfolio or operated by the company in any form or substance at any level of the organisation,” said the company in a statement. UEM Sunrise’s name and image was also previously used in a Facebook post which has since been removed, similarly to attract deposits for investments into Cryptocurrency Exchange, Derivative Trading Platform and other instruments. (The Edge)
Malaysia’s 2020 exports seen declining 10%
UOB Research foresees a 10% drop in exports for the year, even with the gradual reopening of major and regional economies alongside the restarting of most Malaysian business sectors in May. As restrictions under the movement control order (MCO) are gradually lifted, it expects demand and supply conditions to resume. “For now, we maintain our estimate for exports to decline 10% in 2020,” it said. For April, exports registered a 23.8% decline year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM64.9 billion, the largest decline since September 2009, due to most sectors of the national economy being shut down since March 18. International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said Malaysia’s exports are expected to improve in the coming months. “Similarly, companies in other countries are also ramping up their business operations. This will boost trade activities between Malaysia and other countries,” he said. (The Sun Daily)
EPF-unit to award new project in Kwasa Damansara this year
Kwasa Land Sdn Bhd, the master developer of Kwasa Damansara and a unit of the Employee Provident Fund is expected to award the development rights of an 80-hectare plot within the 932-hectare township in Sg Buloh, Selangor this year. Sources said that the proposed township development will comprise mainly of landed and high-rise residential. The estimated GDV range between RM1.5 billion and RM1.8 billion. A source described the land as “extremely strategic” given that it is not too far off from the central business district, where two MRT stations – the Kwasa Damansara station and the Kwasa Sentral station – are located. The township project had reportedly attracted a number of developers and they are mostly township builders. A large parcel of land had gone out to tender prior to the MCO and has been extended to July. The source said the condition is that there is a joint venture arrangement between the developer and Kwasa Land to make sure the former does well and comply with all the requirements. (NST Online)
