MASSA Secretariat has put together a varied set of articles from many quarters for this edition of our MASSA newsletter. The Selangor State Investment Centre (SSIC ) has contributed an article featuring the highlights of Selangor State’s potential for business and tourism. In line with our continuing theme on “SMEs”, read about Bank Negara Malaysia’s strategy to develop a Sustainable Microfinance institutional framework to enable banking institutions in Malaysia to provide microfinance to viable micro enterprises.

Matrade’s Trade Commissioner in Shanghai, China has provided readers with a snippet of the abundant opportunities for business, from his desk in Shanghai. Owing to limited space, we are not able to feature many of the Malaysian companies operating in this vibrant Southern city in the People’s Republic of China . Readers should contact our Malaysian Trade Commissioner’s office to seek their counsel and advice. We are also grateful to Expertise Resource Association (ERA) for their article highlighting the range of human resources that are available in a wide range of sectors and services that can be readily tapped to support cross border linkages.

Also, read about MIER’s views on the recently announced Malaysian National Budget for 2008. On the activity front , MASSA received business delegations from developing countries that included Swaziland and South Africa . His Majesty King Mswati III led the Swazilan d delegation and our members were privileged to meet His Majesty and the high-level officials of his Government. MASSA also visited the NCI Cancer Hospital in Nilai and the Nilai Inland Port in September. These two visits gave us interesting insights into the operations of the inland port and the hospital including its leading edge cancer treatment options. The Global SMEs 2007 event, of which MASSA was a co-organiser, was convened successfully with a good turnout of participants and visitors.

We thank all our contributors who have made this edition an interesting one for readers. To our members, we count on your continuing support and participation in all our events.

Hamidah Tun Ghafar
Editor