State governments are allowed to procure their own vaccine supplies with the condition they obtain approval from the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA).

National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP) coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) is aware of the types of vaccines the state governments are trying to purchase.

Employers can now buy the COVID-19 vaccine for their workers through the Selangor government. Interested employers can register to buy the vaccines through the state’s SELangkah application. The Selangor government has allocated some RM100mil to help expedite the National Immunisation Programme.

AMCHAM will be having a Corporate Citizenship Committee Meeting on the 24th of May, 2021.

This meeting serves as the main platform through which members in the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) space gather to share and update each other on CSR related news and to roll out AMCHAM's CSR agenda for the year.

AMCHAM strongly recommends its members to participate in the CCC meetings, especially the CSR leads, Managers or Head of the CSR departments to stay updated to what's happening in the area.

For more info, please contact Elaine at elaine@amcham.com.my or Kevin at kevin@amcham.com.my.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will convene its inaugural Global Forum on Economic Recovery on May 18 and 19, 2021, led by U.S. Chamber CEO and President Suzanne Clark, and hosted in partnership with Amazon, Google, and UPS. The forum will bring together government leaders and business executives to discuss the opportunities and impediments to a dynamic global recovery.

Organized by the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance (MICG), this Forum brings together a panel of distinguished speakers to discuss Governance matters (including anti-corruption) from the business sectors and regulators' perspectives.

AMCHAM's CEO, Siobhan Das will be appearing as a panelist on the Panel Discussion – Good Governance As A Starting Point For SMEs.

The U.S. Commercial Service, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s export promotion arm, and its strategic partner USA Healthcare Alliance (USAHA) invite you to join a Virtual Med-Tech Trade Forum with Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand. The forum will focus on Medical Devices and Health IT and will take a deep dive into the best prospects for increasing the sales of U.S. health technologies in these fast-growing markets.

AMCHAM is also recruiting members for a Healthcare and Life Sciences Committee. Should you be interested to join the committee, please email Elaine Wong at elaine@amcham.com.my.

EY has released their latest tax alert. This issue (No. 10/2021) covers:

Not only is Asia Pacific’s booming middle class getting larger and wealthier – it is also becoming more demanding.

As the region’s middle class grows, so do consumer demands. To meet these demands, multinational companies targeting these consumers increasingly need to establish regional production presence. Local production can mean being more responsive to customer needs, and more price competitive.

Keep up with AMCHAM by following us on Social Media and remember to tag us when posting notes from our member companies.

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In the postpandemic future of work, nine out of ten organizations will be combining remote and on-site working, according to a new McKinsey survey of 100 executives across industries and geographies. The survey confirms that productivity and customer satisfaction have increased during the pandemic. Despite the embrace of a hybrid model, most organizations have only begun to think through and articulate the specifics of how to carry out a more permanent mix of remote and on-site working for all roles that aren’t essential to perform on-site.