Greetings from MASSA !

2024 saw a year faced with many geopolitical challenges, that resulted in contagion and systemic complexities.

As we come to the close of 2024, we are thankful to MASSA members, article contributors, and collaborators for their participation and persevering support throughout the year. MASSA will continue to highlight to members, trade, investment and business leads from the South-South countries.

For this issue, we want to acknowledge Dr Mohamed Ashraf Iqbal, Chairman of Waafi Bank for connecting us with Ms Aparupa Chakravarti, Director of Botho Emerging Markets Group who had provided an article encouraging Malaysians to consider exploring & enhancing business ties with the burgeoning market of Africa, especially through capitalising on the halal economy leveraging Malaysia’s leadership in the global halal ecosystem. The article encourages businesses to consider navigating the continent, through the grouping of DUKES (Djibouti, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia), by tapping the emergence of Djibouti as a potential powerhouse of trade and finance cum logistics hub as a gateway economy.

This December Newsletter also shares with readers MASSA’s participation in MIDA’s efforts to enhance the competitiveness of Malaysia’s manufacturing industry through Direct Investment Abroad (DIA), which involves conducting a detailed assessment on Malaysia’s DIA landscape and subsequently to devise suitable DIA policies and strategies for the relevant DIA focused sectors. This took shape across a focus group discussion and a strategic visioning workshop on 18 September and 24 September, respectively.

MASSA had also connected with Malaysia Chambers Jakarta (MCJ), an entity under the patronage of the Ambassador of Malaysia to Indonesia on 2 October. This meeting led to a Working Visit from Indonesia by MCJ where MASSA had facilitated a leg of their Working Visit on 14 October 2024. The visit highlighted the business and investment opportunities in Indonesia, especially in Batam. Batam is well-positioned and strategically located as a neighbouring city to Singapore & Johor, and is one of the top 3 ports in Indonesia.

Cognisant of the important role of the burgeoning Malaysian startup ecosystem in spurring innovation, MASSA has partnered with KolaXus and the Malaysia-Japan Economic Association (MAJECA) to organise a series of Start-up Meet-up & Sharing Sessions from 2024-2025. The kickoff event on 5 December 2024, supported by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), with the theme Introducing Tomorrow’s Innovators brought together corporates and startups to explore innovation and collaboration, with the view for Corporates to discover cutting-edge startups and build strategic partnerships, grow & scale up these innovations, and for Startups to showcase ideas and connect with industry leaders.

Moving ahead, several events & engagements are in the works with our partners and collaborators for the year ahead. They include a webinar on business opportunities in Timor-Leste on 15 January 2025. For more information, please do look out for our Circulars and Forthcoming Events announcement on the MASSA website.

We also welcome members’ & readers’ initiatives to work with the MASSA Secretariat on innovative programmes that may be beneficial to members and the business community.

We wish all members and readers, season’s greetings, a happy new year 2025, stay safe and keep well.

Ng Su Fun

Editorial MASSA