News in Brief

RM3.5b Investment in Several Sectors

More goodies from the government. Well, from foreign investors actually. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that a sovereign wealth fund owned by the Abu Dhabi government is set to make a US$1 billion (RM3.5 billion) investment in Malaysia's energy, real estate and hospitality sectors.

In the media reports, he said the proposed investment would be carried out in partnership with a new Malaysian sovereign wealth fund to be known as "1Malaysia Development Berhad" (1MDB).

He said this on night after talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan during a brief stopover here, en route to Kuala Lumpur after earlier visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

"I had a very productive meeting with the Crown Prince. Abu Dhabi, through its sovereign wealth fund, has agreed to increase its investments in Malaysia, starting with US$1 billion," said Najib, who is also Finance Minister.

According to the report, Sheikh Mohammed is chairman of the Mubadala Development Company which, since its establishment in 2002, represents the main investment vehicle for the government of Abu Dhabi to achieve sustainable social and economic benefits for the emirate.

Consumer confidence increases

Expect more spending by Malaysians now on. Reports noted that consumer confidence in Malaysia improved in the second quarter of the year compared with the first quarter as individuals began to feel “less negative” about the current state of the economy and more optimistic about its future.

The reports said that the local Consumer Confidence Index was up from 83 to 94 alongside increases in the indexes of other Asian countries, namely Singapore, China, Thailand and Indonesia, according to independent market research agency InsightAsia Research group’s latest survey.

It added that even though economic growth was expected to remain negative this year, emergency economic policy measures and recovering equity markets had lent support to confidence, it noted.

Ban on maids already paid for lifted

For those with Indonesian maids that has been already paid for, fret not. Maid agencies which have already received payments from Malaysian employers will be allowed to bring in Indonesian maids to work with the employers concerned.

This assurance was given by Indonesian Manpower and Transmigration Minister Dr Erman Suparno at a meeting with Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam at the Human Resources Ministry.

This, Dr Subramaniam said in media reports, was among the agreements arrived at after a two-hour meeting between the two ministers to discuss the maid issue.

Dr Subramaniam told his Indonesian counterpart to do something to reverse the trend of Indonesian maids absconding from their employers. Last year, 8,000 of them ran away from their employers.

He has asked Indonesia to extend insurance coverage for maids to also cover cases of maids who run away, in order to protect Malaysian employers.

Private pension given green light

Those not involved in current pension scheme can rejoice. A private pension funds scheme will kick off by next year.

The announcement was made by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who said the new scheme would target the two million self-employed and those who were outside the current pension scheme.

The media reports quoted him as saying that the new pension funds could either be operated by new fund management firms to be licensed by the Securities Commission, or by existing firms.

He added that the funds would be regulated by the Securities Commission.