American companies is an integral part of the global supply chain and highly integrated within Malaysia's economy. As the world recovers, the pressure on Malaysia will be greater; this is an opportunity for Malaysia to capture or from which to pull away. Malaysia built itself to become a critical node for many value chains in the globe, with its strength over the decades from targeted policies attracting high-value add industries along with transferable technology.

A multinational corporation (MNC) would have spent years and money developing and training a vendor, and their personnel, to work to global standards to insert them into their supply chain. If the SME goes out of business or if an MNC loses a production line or a contract, a gap could appear in what was a robust ecosystem.

AMCHAM would like to thank InvestKL for organizing the briefing session on the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) with Yang Berhormat Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation this afternoon.

This discussion was timely as many Malaysians as well as the international business community are seeking clarity on Malaysia’s numerous vaccination programs, including PICK.

The National Security Council (NSC) is looking to allow separated family members to reunite if they have received both COVID-19 vaccines doses. The government is studying the feasibility of lifting several restrictions for fully vaccinated individuals such as possibly allowing them to travel interstate.

The status of Selayang Hospital changed from hybrid COVID-19 hospital to full COVID-19 hospital effective Wednesday (July 21). This was announced through status updates on the hospital’s official Facebook page Thursday (July 22). Patients will be notified of the changes on their appointment dates soon. Their cooperation is very much appreciated.

Broadcom Penang is participating in the PIKAS program to help keep its employees safe. To date, 90% of Broadcom Penang associates have received at least one vaccine dose and of that number, approx 73% are fully vaccinated. Broadcom will embark on another PIKAS vaccination program starting 24 July, 2021.

Phase Two of the Construction Industry Vaccination Programme (CIVac) which will kick off on Aug 5 will involve 55,000 construction workers in Penang and Johor. The registration for the vaccination was opened on July 12 with 30,000 slots allocated for the workers in Penang and 25,000, in Johor.

On 22 July, SMART Modular, under the MY AMCHAM CARES and Smart Cares programs, contributed RO Systems and other medical items to Hospital Bertam for their makeshift hybrid ICU.

Well done Smart Modular! A very valuable donation in a time of need.

Malaysia remains an attractive destination for high-value manufacturing and global services in Asia due to its favourable investment environment, according to Knight Frank Malaysia's latest publication, the Real Estate Highlights First Half of 2021 (REH).

Following its acquisition of Legg Mason in 2020, Franklin Templeton has established a new regionalised distribution model for its business and made new appointments in lead roles. In focusing on the rapidly growing Asia business, the global investment management firm has appointed Tariq Ahmad as Head of Asia Distribution to further strengthen the company’s leadership team for future growth in the region.

Today morning, AMCHAM hosted a briefing session on the eSPO Acknowledgement Certificate. The session was conducted by our guests from Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC), an agency under Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), currently promoting the eSPO Acknowledgement Certificate.

Hospital Kuala Lumpur is currently in urgent need of hospital equipments due to overwhelming number of COVID-19 patients. AMCHAM is seeking support from any of our member companies who is able to contribute.

If anyone is able to assist, please contact Kevin at kevin@amcham.com.my or Elaine at elaine@amcham.com.my

Hospital Ampang has close to 150 COVID patients now in, and for the past few weeks the hospital has been expanding the wards in terms of manpower, equipment, and proper isolation spaces.

Both patients and clinicians need equipments urgently to be able to do their work.

If anyone is able to assist, please contact Kevin at kevin@amcham.com.my or Elaine at elaine@amcham.com.my

Hospital Kepala Batas has set up the new Hospital Medan to cope with the rising numbers of ICU patients since May 2021. They are currently in urgent need of medical equipment. AMCHAM is seeking support from any of our member companies.

If anyone is able to assist, please contact Kevin at kevin@amcham.com.my or Elaine at elaine@amcham.com.my

AMCHAM is HIRING! Are you looking for a challenging and rewarding career in corporate affairs and policymaking? Are you enthusiastic and passionate about business and policy matters, especially related to Malaysian and U.S.?

If this is you, apply today to join the team as a Government Affairs Manager.

In January 2021, we made a series of projections about trends that would characterize 2021 and the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic (see sidebar, “Trends projected in January 2021”). Since then, some countries have rolled out widespread COVID-19-vaccination efforts; in others, there have been reverses. Circumstances have changed.