The first quarter of 2017 has just passed us.  We are cautiously optimistic that global market sentiment is improving, albeit uncertainties from Brexit, and the new US administration.  Nevertheless, Malaysia can face these challenges from a position of strength, given its highly diversified economic structure.

MASSA organised a  visit to Agensi Nuklear Malaysia on 2 March 2017.  The Director-General, Dr. Mohd Ashhar bin Hj Khalid and his Management team met our delegation on arrival.  Dr Ashhar gave a very detailed presentation on the roles, objectives and contribution of the Agency to the economic development of Malaysia.  It was an eye-opening visit for our members as we learnt of the positive attributes of nuclear energy and radiation therapies applied to industry, agriculture, medical and power generation.  Agensi Nuklear Malaysia has given us an informative article and we urge members to read and share.

MATRADE’s Trade Commissioner in Yangon has given us an excellent article on the recent developments in Myanmar and the prospects for the various business sectors.  In October 2016, Parliament approved the new Myanmar Investment Law (MIL) and will take effect from April 2017.  Also a new piece of legislation, The Myanmar Companies Law, was submitted to Parliament in January 2017 and is expected to be given final approval by mid-2017.  Once this is in place, foreign investors can expect much transparency which will bode well for business and investments. 

The 5th Showcase Malaysia 2017 will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 21 – 23 September 2017.  This event has grown bigger and better since its inaugural event in 2008.  We urge members to consider participating in this event as it is an excellent platform to showcase your products and services on a Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) platform.  This country has a population of 184 million people with growing disposable incomes.  The Expertise Resource Association (ERA) will be organising a business mission to Dhaka from 24 – 28 April 2017 led by Tan Sri Dato’ Soong Siew Hoong (ERA’s Honorary Advisor), who is also MASSA’s executive committee member.  MASSA is a supporting organisation of ERA and will collaborate and encourage MASSA members to join this mission to Dhaka, as a prelude to participating in the 5th Showcase Malaysia event in September 2017.

We thank members who have responded to our invitation to be listed in our “Business Listing” section on MASSA’s website. To those who have placed their banner advertisements on MASSA’s website, a big thank you too.  We also want to record our thanks to Agensi Nuklear Malaysia and Trade Commissioner in Yangon of contributing their informative articles.

We look forward to work closely with all our members to strengthen and further enhance the South-South linkages.

Ng Su Fun
MASSA Secretariat