The government is in talks to add the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to the five already confirmed for Malaysia, Khairy Jamaluddin said today. The innovation, science, and technology minister who is in charge of coordinating Malaysia’s COVID-19 vaccination programme confirmed this when asked if the country was evaluating more vaccine candidates.

The government has just announced a new phase of several movement control orders (MCO) set to take effect Feb 19 to March 4. While most of the country had been under MCO 2.0 previously, this has been phased into the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) for several states. Some of the restrictions for the MCO and CMCO have also been relaxed slightly.

About 90.3% of COVID-19 patients recorded between January 1 and February 12 did not display any symptoms, said Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow. Quoting data obtained from the Health Ministry, he said there must be a focus on curbing the spread of the virus within the community, especially when sporadic spread within the community is now at 70 per cent and involves all ages.

WTO members made history today (15 February) when the General Council agreed by consensus to select Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the organization’s seventh Director-General. When she takes office on 1 March, Dr Okonjo-Iweala will become the first woman and the first African to be chosen as Director-General. Her term, renewable, will expire on 31 August 2025.

The Halal segment is a lucrative market with huge economic opportunities. Check out the Export Excellence Awards’ webinar to learn how to embrace Halal as your business value proposition and gain an understanding of the support & programmes available in this growing market. Panelists will also be sharing on the role of technology to facilitate innovation while complying to the demands of this halal consumer segment.

EY Forensic & Integrity Services invites you at the launch of “EY Global Integrity Report – emerging markets perspective”, scheduled on Thursday, 25 February 2021. The exclusive session will cover key findings of the report and the areas for organizations to prioritize in their integrity agendas. An esteemed panel comprising EY Forensics Region Leaders and leading industry experts, will share their practical experiences to assess a renewed organizational approach to compliance and prepare for the next normal.

Boston Scientific has released a Report on 2020 Gift of Hope for Orang Asli Settlements at Desa Ria, Gerik, Perak. The report depicts contributions Boston Scientific made to the Orang Asli settlements last year.

Law firm Christopher & Lee Ong recently circulated a client update on the Licensing Framework for Digital Banks. The Licensing Framework for Digital Banks policy document (“Licensing Framework”) was issued by Bank Negara Malaysia on 31 December 2020, together with a set of FAQs.

In collaboration with the EU-funded programme WeEmpowerAsia of UN Women, LeadWomen is inviting Malaysian and Malaysian-based corporates to expand on their gender diversity efforts by joining the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Activators Malaysia Campaign. This will be the FINAL WEPs Awareness Training which will bring a wider consciousness of the WEPs and provide a toolkit to help identify your companies' strengths, gaps, and determine opportunities to improve their performance on gender equality, using the Gender Gap Analysis Tool.

Join the region’s largest AmCham event of 2021 from 9-11 March for a rare opportunity to engage with industry leaders and government representatives from the U.S. and across the Asia Pacific region.

All morning plenary sessions will be taking place virtually, with afternoon in-person industry breakout discussions for each of the 14 AmCham Committees to be held at Marina Bay Sands Singapore.

Purchase your virtual pass now. Tickets for the afternoon in-person events are pending government approval, and we will notify you once registration for the in-person tickets is live.

The number of new cases of COVID-19 reported worldwide fell by 16 per cent last week to 2.7 million, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. The number of new deaths reported also fell 10 per cent week-on-week, to 81,000, the WHO said on Tuesday (Feb 16) in its weekly epidemiological update.

Several COVID-19 vaccines have been approved or authorized, but rollout has been hindered. The World Economic Forum has created a visualization tracking country-by-country progress made on vaccination to date. Countries around the world are racing to vaccinate their populations against COVID-19.