The Licensing Officer of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has agreed to grant an extension of the project implementation period for companies, which have been accorded Manufacturing Licences under the Industrial Coordination Act, 1975. This is part of the pro-active measures undertaken by the Government in ensuring that the Malaysian economic sectors remain competitive despite the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2020 Presidential Election in the United States is moving ahead full throttle amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. On 18 June 2020, AMCHAM held a webinar on Bipartisan U.S. Election Preview and Foreign & Trade Policy Implications. Leading voices of McLarty Associates brought insight on the current situation in the U.S. and how that could affect the upcoming election.

Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), a member of the MMC Group, has welcomed 4 new ship to shore (STS) quay cranes as it continues its drive to optimise services and capacity. The purchase of the Super Post Panamax cranes forms part of PTP’s Asset Management Strategy, which aims to improve the efficiency in the terminal, by increasing container handling capacity, capability and reliability, whilst meeting its safety standards.

International corruption has been estimated to cost a massive $3.6 trillion annually in the form of bribes and stolen money, amounting to over 5% of global GDP. It has been listed by the United Nations as one of the biggest impediments to achieving its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and governments worldwide have criminalised corruption in an effort to stem the losses.

Datuk Seri Stanley Thai Kim Sim of Supermax Corp, an AMCHAM member company, was the latest to join the club, with a net worth estimated at about US$1 billion (RM4.2 billion) at the stock high earlier this month, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. A jump in demand due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has propelled shares of companies making protective gear, suddenly turning Malaysia into a hotspot for creating ultra-wealthy individuals within the sector.

For decades, we’ve placed efficiency at the center of strategy: We’ve run operations as close to full capacity as we can. We’ve ordered from suppliers in ways that are tightly aligned with our production schedules. We’ve worked hard to minimize costs, “sweating assets hard” under the guidance of the CFO, and we’ve delivered financial returns on a quarterly basis. In many ways, this is a system that has worked remarkably well. But as the COVID-19 pandemic has made painfully clear, it has a major flaw: It doesn’t help firms develop resilience.

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended nearly every aspect of life, from the personal (how people live and work) to the professional (how companies interact with their customers, how customers choose and purchase products and services, how supply chains deliver them). In our recent survey of more than 200 organizations across industries, more than 90 percent of executives said they expect the fallout from COVID-19 to fundamentally change the way they do business over the next five years, with almost as many asserting that the crisis will have a lasting impact on their customers’ needs.