Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Bussinesses will suffer and ultimately the people on the ground will end up paying the price of trade wars, says     
ASEAN-India Business Council (AIBC) co-chairman, Ramesh Kodammal.

“Trade spats will not benefit any country, be it the ones that started the war, or others that are not directly involved.             

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia’s trade surplus in the first nine months of 2019 widened by 15.3 per cent to RM100.86 billion, compared with RM87.47 billion registered in the same period last year.

This was the largest January-September trade surplus recorded during the last 10 years, the International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) said in a statement today.

In September 2019, the trade surplus was valued at RM8.34 billion, a decline of 46.5 per cent year-on-year.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Five Malaysian men were again charged in the Sessions Court here today for their alleged links to the defunct LTTE ( Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) militant group.

They were a chief executive officer of a corporation, S. Chandru, 38, technician S. Arivainthan, 27, storekeeper S.Thanagaraj, 26, security guard M.Pumugan, 29, and a national secondary school teacher in Telok Panglima Garang, Selangor, Sundram Renggan @ Rengasamy, 52.

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Oct 24 (NNN-Bernama) — The MyAQSA Foundation (MyAQSA) has gathered evidence and statements from witnesses to be submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors at the end of this year to allow Israel to be charged with crimes against humanity.

MyAQSA special delegation head Lukman Sheriff Alias said during a meeting in The Hague in May, the ICC had recommended for the gathering of evidence and witnesses that could be used to drag Israel to the court.

DUBAI, Oct 22 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Malaysia is keen to strengthen its bilateral trade relationship with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and expect to see total trade between the countries to increase by five per cent this year from the US$5.7 billion recorded in 2018. 

The newly-appointed Malaysian Ambassador to the UAE Mohd Tarid Sufian said trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nation has been in its favour since 2017 but Malaysia managed to reduce the gap by 66 per cent last year. 

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Tuesday he would not retract his criticism of New Delhi’s actions in the disputed region of Kashmir even though Indian traders have urged a boycott of Malaysian palm oil.

The impasse could exacerbate what Mahathir described as a trade war between the world’s second biggest producer and exporter of the commodity and its biggest buyer so far this year.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 (NNN-Bernama) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has advised Malaysians to postpone non-essential travel to the Catalonia region in Spain.

Wisma Putra (Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry) in a statement Wednesday said the advice was issued given the current circumstances in the area, where there have been major protests which began on Oct 13, 2019.

“Malaysians who are visiting Barcelona and the Malaysian community residing in Catalonia are advised to give utmost priority to their safety and avoid the areas of rallies and demonstrations.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Turkey’s ‘Operation Peace Spring’ in the northeast of Syria is necessary to protect the Turkish border and to eliminate terror threats that can undermine national security, said Turkish Ambassador to Malaysia Merve Safa Kavakci.

She asserted that it was also Turkey’s fundamental right to defend its security and safety of subjects within the Turkey-Syria border from the threats of terror groups – the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and People’s Protection Units (YPG).

PONTIAN, Oct 13 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT) will hold discussions with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on the lowering of the threshold for foreigners to purchase condominiums and apartments in urban areas from RM1 million to RM600,000.

Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamarudin said there was a need to re-examine the policy, as there were many among the rakyat who disagreed with it.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 (NNN-Xinhua) — Malaysia’s state-owned oil firm Petronas said Friday that it has successfully won three exploration blocks in the Campos Basin, offshore Brazil.

The company said in a statement that its subsidiary Petronas Petróleo Brasil Ltda. (PPBL) has won blocks CM 661, CM 715 and CM 541 in the region.

As operator, PPBL holds 100 percent equity in blocks CM661 and CM715. As for block CM541, PPBL owns 20 percent stake, while France’s Total SA (operator) and Qatar Petroleum holds 40 percent stake each.