AMCHAM Spotlight is a unique and interactive event platform for companies to highlight their brand and showcase particular products or services to an exclusive audience within the AMCHAM membership.

Interested? Please email our events team at events@amcham.com.my.

The ninth Prime Minister of Malaysia will be Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, says Istana Negara. Comptroller of the Royal Household for Istana Negara Datuk Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has decreed the appointment of Ismail Sabri as the ninth Prime Minister following the special meeting involving the Malay Rulers on Friday (Aug 20) afternoon.

Fully vaccinated individuals in states that are under Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) will be allowed to dine in at eateries, go camping, engage in individual and non-contact sports outdoors, as well as go to night markets starting Friday (Aug 20). English translation courtesy of the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (BMCC).

Congratulations to Jabil on successfully completing 2 doses of COVID-19 vaccinations for employees and partnering companies under the Public-Private Partnership Industrial COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PIKAS program)!

A total of 15.3K employees from Jabil and partnering companies have been fully vaccinated.

Malaysia will start to administer the single-dose CanSino vaccine after receiving 200,000 doses from China's CanSino Biologics today. The vaccine, of which its first batch landed this morning, is in the form of finished product. A total of 3.5 million CanSino vaccines have been ordered and will be delivered in stages.

The latest figures from the COVID-19 Immunisation Task Force website shows a total of 2.61 million individuals or 54.9 per cent of the adult population in Selangor have completed their two doses of the COVID-19 vaccines. This is a stark contrast to where the state was in early July, where vaccination were barely reaching the average national standard.

On August 24, 2021, EY together with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD), will be sharing updates on the Service Tax on Digital Services (SToDS) in Malaysia and some real life challenges faced by foreign service providers, and suggest practical steps to mitigate such issues and avoid potential non-compliance.

As we grapple with the health & safety challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses need to operate, employees need to attend at the workplace and dealings with third parties need to continue. How do you balance economic reality and business survival with health & safety?

As Malaysia went through intermittent lockdowns due to the ever-worsening COVID-19 pandemic, the real estate market experienced a trend of office occupiers right-sizing their office space and put expansion plans on hold as they reconsider changing work environments and practices. With more than a year of work from home (WFH) experience under their belt, occupiers are beginning to realise that WFH is feasible thus giving rise to the question, “Is the office becoming obsolete?”.

Kuala Lumpur is ranked the ninth top city in the Asia Pacific and outside of Silicon Valley/San Francisco as a leading technology innovation hub over the next four years, according to the latest survey by KPMG. In its global Technology Industry Survey 2021 involving more than 800 industry leaders, KPMG said this was based on several factors both at a local level such as infrastructure and demographics and at a macro level such as the regulatory environment and potential national tax incentives.

EY has outlined below the following Indirect Tax updates:

Export Excellence Awards 2021 (EEA) is on the lookout for Malaysia's top exporters. EEA is a platform for exporters to showcase their capabilities and inspire businesses to promote Malaysian products and services to the world.

Apply today! Tell us your export story and take your place among the best in the arena.

Applications are open until 24 September 2021.

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.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced consumer-goods companies to change priorities and pause new product launches within several categories. This has had a direct impact on the global packaging industry, as brand owners not only required fewer redesigns but also deprioritized innovative packaging. But as the world begins to emerge from the current public-health and economic crisis, brand owners could accelerate their product-launch plans to address untapped market demand.