On January 13, AMCHAM kicked off 2025 with its first event – the Welcome Back Cocktails! This much-anticipated gathering, held at the newly opened Hyatt Centric Kuala Lumpur, provided a fantastic opportunity for members to reconnect, network, and catch up over delicious food and refreshing drinks.

This year’s event featured an engaging discussion on the implications of the U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump’s inauguration from three esteemed speakers.

Qistina Walid, a fresh graduate joining our Chamber Associate program this year.

Qistina graduated from University Malaya with a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations and Strategic Studies. She also brings previous experience in diplomatic affairs and policy analysis.

On 15 January 2025, Agilent Technologies Inc. announced the World Economic Forum has named Agilent’s smart factory in Penang, Malaysia as a Global Lighthouse Network, a community of 189 industry leaders leading the way in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in advanced manufacturing. Agilent is the second factory in Malaysia and the sole analytical and clinical laboratory technology company worldwide to be recognized by the Forum.

The Personal Data Protection (Amendment) Act 2024 (“Amendment Act”), which represents the first legislative update to the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (“PDPA”) since it became effective on 15 November 2013, will be implemented in three phases during the first half of 2025, beginning on 1 January 2025, followed by 1 April 2025 and 1 June 2025.

The governments of Malaysia and Singapore exchanged the agreement for the establishment of the JohorSingapore Special Economic Zone (“JS-SEZ”) on 7 January 2025, about a year after the proposal was first agreed in principle. The exchange of agreement took place in conjunction with the 11th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat, which also involved the exchange of several other bilateral agreements.

Azmi & Associates released a number of articles from 9 -16 January, 2025. Click on the links below to read the article(s).

Knight Frank Malaysia's latest publication provides a comprehensive analysis of Malaysia’s property market in the second half of 2024.

Complementing the forward-looking insights of the recently published Malaysia Commercial Real Estate Investment Sentiment Survey (CREISS) 2025, this report covers five key sectors (industrial, office, retail, hospitality and high-rise residential), and highlights a strong performance in 2024 across several of these sectors.

Download full report here: