Eleven (11) Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) were inked between Malaysian delegates and their Zambian counterparts during the Business Mission to Zambia that took place from 2 to 7 December 2009. This mission, organised by MATRADE, CIDB and MASSA, focused on the Construction and Education sector. It received the highest support from the Zambian authorities including His Excellency Rupiah Banda, the President of Zambia. We congratulate the delegates and would like to express our continuing support for them to realise their business ventures. We thank MATRADE and CIDB, especially our EXCO member YBhg Dato’ J. Jegathesan, for their support and cooperation for this successful business mission.

The global economic environment went through a tumultuous period in the last two years. In this edition, we have Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) and Thierry Apoteker Consultant (TAC) giving their respective views on the economic performance for Malaysia to date and the global outlook for 2010. We have also featured Chile and Vietnam in this edition and an update on Masscorp Bhd’s investment in Danang, Vietnam.

As the year comes to a close, we want to express our thanks to all members, associates and sponsors for assisting us in the publication of this newsletter. We look forward to working closely with all of you to build a bigger and better platform for South-South collaborations in the coming new year.

Do continue to look out for our weekly notices and circulars that will be delivered to your mail boxes. We encourage members and their business associates to join us in the activities and networking events that have been organised.

As we usher in the New Year, we in the Editorial team wish all members and readers, “Season’s Greetings” and a “Happy New Year”.

Fatimah Sulaiman 
Editor