News in Brief

2010: Global economy back on track

According to reports, The global economy is expected to be back on track by early next year, said former World Bank economist and bond market expert Ismail Dalla.

“The world economy is in a recovery mode,” he said, adding that his outlook analysis was based primarily on the World Bank’s latest forecast for a positive growth of 2.8% in the world economy by the last quarter of 2010.

In the report, he cautioned that “despite some signs of recovery due largely to the amount of money being pumped into the US economy, interest rates will remain low and unemployment will remain high for some time to come.”

"Commenting on the development of the domestic bond market, Dalla, now a visiting professor at the School of Business, George Washington University in the US, noted that Malaysia had the largest corporate bond market as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) in the world last year, surpassing that of the US and South Korea," the report said.

He also applauded Malaysia’s efforts in developing a healthy and robust local currency bond market and the recent proposal to create a private pension fund as an alternative to the Employees Provision Fund (EPF).

220,000 jobs by 2020: SEZ PM

That's a big number and its not impossible says our prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Why? He just lauched the country'sfirst Special Economic Zone (SEZ),

The new economic zone is expected to generate investments worth RM90bil and create 220,000 new jobs by 2020, says media reports today.

The Prime Minister was quoted in the report as saying the SEZ was expected to contribute more job opportunities and yields compared with the East Coast Economic Region (ECER).

The SEZ covers an area of 3,875 sq km from Kerteh in Terengganu to Pekan and Gambang in Pahang.

Najib said the ECER SEZ was part of a new economic model designed by the Government that promises a fairer distribution of wealth and growth to be enjoyed by all.

“One of the projects identified is the Kuantan Port which will get a massive face-lift. Its current annual cargo bulk is expected to increase from 16.8 million metric tonnes to 30 million metric tonnes by 2020.

“It will involve construction of additional berths and wave breakers that will see the port becoming the main entry and exit point for the export and import of goods,” he was quoted as saying.

US: Economy’s better, but jobs are slow

Still very cautious, that’s the attitude out there in US, though the economy is showing some ease.

U.S. employers who have cut jobs over the past year are in no hurry to start hiring again just because the recession is tapering off, reports wired news service AP.

It noted that from a North Carolina machine maker to an Oregon heating-and-cooling company, small business owners say they need to see several months of rising sales before they start adding staff.

“Because labor is the biggest expense for most companies, that kind of caution is typical at the end of recessions.

“After the last one, in 2001, unemployment kept rising and didn't peak until June 2003 - 19 months into the economic recovery,” the report said.

It also noted that some economists say unemployment may not return to healthy levels until 2013.

“Companies have been slashing workers' hours, squeezing more work out of the employees who are left and relying on cheaper temporary staffers to fill the gaps,” AP reported.

Wake Up Women! We need more of you up there

Just when we thought women are now on par with men competing in the upper league when it comes to career, in comes a less pleasant news.

Yes, it seems the number of women in top posts is falling. And this news came from none other than our Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who said women were under-represented at the decision-making levels of public-listed companies.

“The percentage of women who are members of boards of directors declined from 9.9% in 2004 to 6.1% in 2008,” he said in his keynote address at the Women’s Summit 2009 yesterday, according to The Star newspaper..

He said that women only held 12% of top positions in government-linked companies.

The report also quoted him as saying that it was important for women to continue to play a role in the country’s socio-economic development.

“The cost of women’s exclusion is too high for us to bear. Gender justice and women em powerment are not only essential to our economic development but also a great leap forward in nation building,” he said.

Get that girl power going, ladies.

Jobless grads as cops?

Calling all the jobless graduates there, or at least those who are interested to wear blue uniform and fight crime.

According to newsreports, the Home Ministry is calling on all unemployed graduates to become auxiliary cops to combat crime.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the Government was willing to consider special allowances for jobless graduates to serve as law enforcers until they secured better jobs.

The report noted that those who had served would be offered positions in the police force if they felt it was their calling to become law enforcer.

Hishammuddin was also quoted as sayin that the ministry was willing to listen to suggestions from the graduates on the types of policing task that they preferred to focus on.

He added that the ministry would increase the presence of tourist police in popular destinations throughout the country.

More retain than retrench

Good trend amongst companies in Malaysia, its more about retaining staff than retrenchment. The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM) said 66% of the 306 companies it surveyed were willing to retain their workers during the current challenging economic situation, reported Sinchew Daily.

According to ACCCIM’s 2009 Malaysia First Half Year Economy Report, this shows a 14% increase in companies willing to keep their workers compared with the second half of last year.

The daily quoted its economic survey panel head Datuk Chua Tia Guan as saying that the economy continued to decline due to government policies, operating costs, higher prices of raw materials and lower local and global demand in the first half of the year.

ACCCIM, which received 306 replies from the 699 questionnaires sent out said 85% of the respondents were small and medium enterprises specialising in wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, business services and construction.

Most insurance company will pay claims for H1N1 deaths and treatment

The Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (Liam) said today that all the 16 life insurance companies under its association will pay claims arising from deaths and hospitalisation due to influenza A (H1N1), The Sun newspaper reported.

"Even though a majority of the medical policies carry exclusion on communicable diseases requiring quarantine by law, life insurers are responding to an immediate need of the nation in light of the increasing number of people who have been infected," the paper quoted a statement.

It said, however, that insurers would continue to monitor the situation and would inform policy holders of any change in decision.

The General Insurance Association of Malaysia (Piam) said the health coverage and policies varied among insurance companies.

"It depends on the companies whether to include Influenza A(H1N1) in their policy. We cannot force them to change their policies," Piam technical advisor Tan Eng Leong said.

According to the Piam website, health policies generally do not exclude hospitalisation treatment for infections or communicable diseases like H1N1.

"However, some policies do expressly exclude cover for communicable diseases requiring quarantine by law. This means that if H1N1 is classified as a communicable disease requiring quarantine by law in Malaysia, then the policy would not cover such medical expenses," he said.

Malaysian Medical Association president Dr David Quek Kwang Leng urged insurers to be more magnanimous and empathetic under such crises.