MASSA Events

(1)  Malaysia-Argentina Roundtable Meeting

       on 6 May 2019


The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) received an Argentina delegation, led by Vice President of Argentina, H.E. Marta Gabriela Michetti.  Her Excellency was received by YB Datuk Darell Leiking, Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Malaysia.  Accompanying the Vice President was H.E. Manual Jose Balaguer Salas, Ambassador of Argentina to Malaysia and senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and senior Argentina business people who have businesses established in Malaysia, namely Imartex and Workana.

(left) H.E. Marta Gabriela Michetti, Vice President of Argentina and (right) YB Datuk Darell Leiking, MITI Minister at the Malaysia-Argentina Roundtable Meeting

(left to right) Ambassador Pablo Quirno, UnderSecretary of International Economic Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Mr Ricardo Negri, President of the National Service of Agri-Food Health & Quality (SENASA), Mr Guillermo Bernaudo, Secretary of State for Agriculture and Fisheries and H.E. Manuel Balaguer Salas, Ambassador of Argentina to Malaysia

 

Deputy Secretary-General (Trade) of MITI, Dato’ Sri Norazman moderated the Roundtable Dialogue.  The Malaysian Industry captains at the roundtable included Petronas President & CEO, Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, Sri Inderajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd Chairman, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri A. P. Arumugam and IJM Corporation Bhd Chief Executive Officer, Dato’ Soam Heng Choon.

(left to right) Tan Sri Dato’ Seri A. P. Arumugam, Chairman, Sri Inderajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd, Tan Sri Dato’ Wong Foon Meng, Chairman of Bina Puri Holdings Bhd and Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, President & CEO of PETRONAS

(right) Tan Sri Dato’ Wong Foon Meng, Chairman of Bina Puri Holdings Bhd presenting MASSA “27th Years of South-South Co-operation” book to H.E. Marta Gabriela Michetti, Vice President of Argentina

 

MASSA was represented by Tan Sri Dato’ Wong Foon Meng, Chairman of Bina Puri Holdings Bhd, Ms Ng Su Fun and Ms Florence Khoo.  Other representatives included the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM), Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) and SMI International Trade Association (SMITA) were also present.


Argentina presents opportunities to do business in the sectors of Energy & Mining, Infrastructure, Agrobusiness, Industrial Goods and Value Added Services.  Bilateral trade is currently in Argentina’s favour.  The delegation sought the assistance of Malaysia to enable the  import of Argentinian beef into Malaysia.


(2)  Courtesy Call on President of MASSA by the

       African Diplomatic Corps in Malaysia


On May 27 2019, the African Diplomatic Corps in Malaysia made a courtesy call on MASSA President, Tan Sri Azman Hashim.  The delegation was led by the Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps who is the Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe, H.E. Cuthbert Zhakata.

His delegation comprised of:-
1.    H.E. Gamal Abdelrehim Mohamed Metwally 
       Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt

2.   H.E. Mlondi Dlamini 
      High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Eswatini

3.    H.E. Akua Sekyiwa Ahenkora 
       High Commissioner of the Republic of Ghana

4.    H.E. Francis Ndewgwa Muhoro
        High Commissioner of the Republic of Kenya

5.    H.E. Walubita Imakando 
        High Commissioner of the Republic of Zambia

 

(left to right) H.E. Cuthbert Zhakata – Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps, H.E. Walubita Imakando – High Commissioner of the Republic of Zambia, Tan Sri Azman Hashim – President MASSA, H.E. Akua Sekyiwa Ahenkora – High Commissioner of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Francis Ndewgwa Muhoro – High Commissioner of the Republic of Kenya, H.E. Mlondi Dlamini – High Commissioner of the Kingdom of Eswatini and H.E. Gamal Abdelrehim Mohamed Metwally – Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt


 (3)  YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad dialogue with

        MASSA & African Diplomatic Corps in Malaysia

        on 11 June 2019 in Putrajaya


YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad met the Executive Committee of MASSA and the Heads of African Mission based in Malaysia at a dialogue at the Prime Minister’s office in Putrajaya.

Dialogue at the Prime Minister’s office in Putrajaya

(left to right) Tan Sri Azman Hashim – President of MASSA, Tun Michael Chen Wing Sum and Datuk Lim Fung Chee, both Vice-President of MASSA at the dialogue session

MASSA was led by its President, Tan Sri Azman Hashim and the Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps who is the Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe H.E. Cuthbert Zhakata led the African side.

(center) YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad – Prime Minister of Malaysia (left) YB Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah – Foreign Minister of Malaysia and (right) Tan Sri Azman Hashim – President of MASSA

YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was accompanied by the Foreign Minister of Malaysia, YB Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, officials from the Prime Minister office and Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as Dato’ Wan Latiff Wan Musa, the Chief Executive Office of MATRADE.

Tan Sri Azman Hashim in his Opening Address, thanked YAB Prime Minister for the timely meeting and welcomed his advise, views and recommendations for reviving Malaysia-Africa relations.

(right) H.E. Cuthbert Zhakata – Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe and Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps and H.E. Samkelisiwe Mhlanga – High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa

H.E. Cuthbert Zhakata on behalf of the heads of the African Diplomatic Corps congratulated Tun Dr Mahathir on his appointment as the 7th Prime Minister following the success of his coalition party’s win at the last General Elections in May 2018.  He recalled Tun Dr Mahathir’s administration during his tenure as the 4th Prime Minister championing the South-South.  Following the recent dialogue of the heads of the African Diplomatic Corps  with YB Foreign Minister, he noted Malaysia’s stand to continue to sustain south-South cooperation.  He expressed looking forward to hear from YAB Prime Minister the policy direction of the new Malaysian government as a guide to their respective engagements, going forward.

 

YAB Tun Dr Mahathir touched on a number of issues that included the following:-
– The new Government’s role to restructure the present Government’s administration.

– Clamp down on corruption.

– Malaysia will be friendly with all countries of the world, irrespective of their ideology.

– The policy of a trading nation is to have markets for the goods and services, it produces.

– He elaborated on the role Foreign Investment (FDI) plays in helping a nation to industrialize through the attainment of technology and jobs creation.

– The need to win the hearts and mind of the populace is important for the Government to rule and administer well.

– There must be peace and stability for democracy to thrive.

– A 2 party system is the best way for democracy to function resulting in one winner and a loser.  The losing party must accept their loss (as a new culture) and only try again at the next election.  Violence shall have no place in politics.  Acceptance of defeat is important.

– We wish our neighbours to be prosperous, in order that they become a good market for us.  Hence the policy of “”Prosper The Neighbour”.

(3rd from right) H.E. Francis Ndegwa Muhoro – High Commissioner of Kenya

 

(center) H.E. Anne Namakau Mutelo – High Commissioner of the Republic of Namibia

 

The Zambian High Commission, Kenya High Commission, Namibia High  Commission and Ghana High Commission expressed their respective congratulations and thanks to YAB Prime Minister.  Some of the recommendations raised included:-

– Request to engage with the African countries on a regular sustainable basis.

– Africa is a continent of 55 countries amongst whom 50 are stable and thriving.

– It has a population of 1.2 billion.

– There is good potential for Malaysian goods, such as, palm oil & rubber gloves to gain  footholds in Africa.

– Africa is a continent with vast natural resources that is largely unexplored.

 

YAB Prime Minister responded in the affirmative to encourage more dialogues and meetings, in order to identify each other’s strengths for mutual gain.  He agreed that  business connections between Malaysia and Africa need to be resuscitated.

 

The meeting ended with a group photo taken together with YAB Prime Minister. 

(left to right) Tan Sri Dato’ Mohd Ramli Kushairi, Datuk T.Y. Lee, Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid, H.E. Anne Namakau Mutelo and Tan Sri Azman Hashim

(right) YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and (left) Dato’ J. Jegathesan

(left to right) Tun Michael Chen Wing Sum, H.E. Akua Sekyiwa Ahenkora – High Commissioner of the Republic of Ghana and Datuk Lim Fung Chee

(left to right) Dato’ Soam Heng Choon, Datuk T.Y. Lee and Dato’ J. Jegathesan

(left to right) Dato’ Wan Latiff Wan Musa, Tun Michael Chen Wing Sum and Dato’ Bala Chandran Tharman

Group photo with YAB Prime Minister

 


(4)  Coordination Meeting on “4th Showcase 

       Bangladesh” at Bangladesh High Commission

       on 17 June 2019


A coordination meeting was held to discuss the “4th Showcase Bangladesh 2018 – Go Global” at the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.  This event will be held at the Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur on 11 July 2019  Tan Sri Dato’ Soong Siew Hoong, MASSA EXCO member and Executive Adviser of ACCCIM and Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary of MASSA were present at the meeting.

(left to right) Mr Syed Moazzam Hossain – President BMCCI, H.E. Md Shahidul Islam – High Comissioner of Bangladesh to Malaysia, Tan Sri Dato’ Soong Siew Hoong – MASSA EXCO & Executive Adviser ACCCIM and (right) Mr Rajibul Ahsan – First Secretary (Commercial), Bangladesh High Commission

 

“4th Showcase Bangladesh 2018 – Go Global”  

at Royale Chulan, Kuala Lumpur on 11 July 2019


The Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI) hosted the “4th Showcase Bangladesh 2018 – Go Global”  at Royale Chulan, Kuala Lumpur.  This Showcase was supported by Malaysia South-South Association (MASSA), Malaysia External Trade Development Cooperation (MATRADE) and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA).
 

This event was graced by Special Guests; YB Dr. Ong Kian Ming, Honorable Deputy Minister, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Malaysia and Mr. Imran Ahmad, M.P., Honorable State Minister, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Chief Guest, Mr. Tipu Munshi, M.P., Honorable Minister, Ministry of Commerce, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

 

With the theme of “Go Global”, the Showcase Bangladesh aimed to expand Bilateral Trade between Bangladesh and Malaysia and to attract investments into Bangladesh.

 

This Showcase hoped to create brand awareness for Bangladeshi products, services and to promote Bangladesh as a trade and investment destination for Malaysian companies seeking to explore business opportunities in the South Asia region.  Tan Sri Azman Hashim, President of MASSA and Tan Sri Dato’ Soong Siew Hoong, MASSA EXCO member attended the Opening Ceremony.

Tan Sri Azman Hashim, President of MASSA and Tan Sri Dato’ Soong Siew Hoong, MASSA EXCO member at the Opening Ceremony

 

Participants at the Opening Ceremony

 

The Speakers at the “Go Global” Seminar included the following:-

(1) Dr. Atiur Rahman, Former Governor of Bangladesh Bank & Professor, Department of Development Studies, University of Dhaka

(2)  Dr. Ahsan H. Mansur, Executive Director, Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh

(3) Mr. Asif Ibrahim, Former President, DCCI & Vice Chairman, Newage Group

(4) Mr. Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, Secretary General, Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA)

(5) Mr Syed Almas Kabir, Vice President, Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI)

Group photo taken with Bangladesh Dignitaries

 

B2B meeting session between Malaysian and Bangladesh delegates during the Showcase Bangladesh.

 


(5)  28th Annual General Meeting of MASSA

       on 20 June 2019


Tan Sri Azman Hashim, President of MASSA chaired the Twenty-Eighth (28th) Annual General Meeting of MASSA at the Banquet Hall, 26th Floor, Bangunan Ambank Group, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur. 

The President of MASSA welcomed members and Committee members and proceeded with the business at the AGM.

(3rd from left) Tan Sri Azman Hashim – President of MASSA chairing the MASSA 28th Annual General Meeting with MASSA EXCO members (left to right) Tan Sri Dato’ Mohd Ramli Kushairi, Tun Michael Chen Wing Sum – Vice President MASSA, Tan Sri Dato’ Soong Siew Hoong, Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid and Dato’ J. Jegathesan

 

Tan Sri Azman Hashim delivered his address and the meeting proceeded to unanimously adopt the Annual Report and the audited accounts of the Association for the year ended 31st December 2018.

MASSA members attending the 28th MASSA Annual General Meeting

 

The Executive Committee and Office Bearers for the new term 2019 – 2021 are as follow:-
OFFICE BEARERS
President                                     :   YBhg Tan Sri Azman Hashim
Vice President (i)                       :   YABhg Tun Michael Chen Wing Sum
Vice President (ii)                      :   YBhg Datuk Lim Fung Chee
Honorary Secretary                   :   YBhg Datuk Lee Teck Yuen
Honorary Treasurer                   :  YBhg Tan Sri Datuk Tee Hock Seng,JP
Honorary Assistant Secretary  :  YBhg Dato’ Lawrence Lim Swee Lin

MASSA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
YBhg Tan Sri Dato’ Mohd Ramli      YBhg Tan Sri Dato’ Soong Siew
Kushairi                                                 Hoong
YBhg Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh          YBhg Dato’ Soam Heng Choon
Abdul Khalid
YBhg Dato’ J. Jegathesan                   YBhg Dato’ Tan Kia Loke
YBhg Dato’ Cheah Sam Kip                YBhg Datuk Merlyn Kasimir

EX-OFFICIO
YBhg Datuk Bahria Mohd Tamil           –   Ministry of International Trade
                                                                           & Industry (MITI) Malaysia
YBhg Dato’ Bala Chandran Tharman   –   Ministry of Foreign Affairs
                                                                          (Wisma Putra)
YBhg Dato’ Azman Mahmud                 –   Malaysian Investment
                                                                          Development Authority (MIDA)
YBhg Dato’ Wan Latiff Wan Musa        –   Malaysia External Trade
                                                                          Development Corporation
                                                                          (MATRADE)

 

The President thanked the Executive Committee and Office Bearers for their continuing support and MASSA members for their participation in MASSA events and activities.

(right) Tan Sri Azman Hashim and Ms Siti Fatma Omar, Principal Asst. Secretary, International Cooperation and Development Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

 

 

Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid, Tan Sri Dato’ Soong Siew Hoong and Dato’ J. Jegathesan

Group photo (seated, 4th from left) Tan Sri Azman Hashim, President of MASSA with MASSA members after the MASSA 28th Annual General Meeting

(left) Datuk Merlyn Kasimir – Director, AMK Business International Sdn Bhd and Ms Kavita Mathuvay – Director, Bilateral Economic & Trade Relations, America, Europe & Africa, MITI

Group photo (seated, 4th from left) Tan Sri Azman Hashim, President of MASSA with MASSA members after the MASSA 28th Annual General Meeting

 


 (6)  Presentation on “Opportunity to Change the

         World via Tech Startups” by Mr Mohd Atasha

         Alias, CEO of Foxymojo & Co.            


Mr Mohd Atasha Alias, Chief Executive of Foxymojo & Co, a digital & management consulting firm gave a talk on “Opportunity to Change the World via Tech Startups Investment in Emerging Markets / South-South Countries” to MASSA members prior to the MASSA 28th Annual General Meeting on 20 June 2019.

His focus  is to assist SMEs to accelerate growth and advise business leaders on how to thrive in the Digital Era through Digital Transformation and connects them to business and investment opportunities.

Mr Mohd Atasha Alias, Chief Executive of Foxymojo & Co. giving a talk on “Opportunity to Change the World via Tech Startups Investment in Emerging Markets / South-South Countries” to MASSA Members

 

 

Mr Mohd Atasha Alias, Chief Executive of Foxymojo & Co. giving a  talk on “Opportunity to Change the World via Tech Startups Investment in Emerging Markets / South-South Countries” to MASSA Members

(4th from left to right) Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid, Tan Sri Azman Hashim, Tun Michael Chen Wing Sum and MASSA members present at the talk


(8)  Malaysia Madagascar Business Forum 2019 on

        1 August 2019


The Ministry of International Trade and Industry Malaysia (MITI) received a delegation from Madagascar.  MASSA was invited, together with a number of Chambers, business associates and Malaysian companies who were interested to do business with Madagascar.

 

The Government delegation was led by Mr Michaelangelo Zasy, Mission Head Projects and Urban Development Presidency of the Republic of Madagascar.

(left to right) Mr Andry Ravalomanda – CEO of the Economic Development Board of Madagascar, Mr Michaelangelo Zasy – Mission Head Projects and Urban Development Presidency of the Republic of Madagascar and Datuk Bahria Mohd Tamil

  
Mr Andry Ravalomanda, CEO of the Economic Development Board of Madagascar gave an economic presentation of his country and highlighted the numerous sectors with investment potential.  These include the following areas on Agriculture, Infrastructure Development, Tourism, Mining, Light Industry, ICT, Renewable Energy, etc…

To support the development of bilateral economic exchanges with this country, the Malaysia Madagascar Business Council (MMBC) has been formed,  helmed by its Chairman, Dr Abdul Kabur Ibrahim.

 

MMBC will be organising a business mission to Madagascar from 13 to 17 October 2019.  MASSA members are encouraged to find out more about Madagascar and consider participating in the mission organised by MMBC.   https://edbm.mg will have more details.