Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 5 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia reported 33,209 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight, the highest daily spike since the outbreak, bringing the national total to 3,561,766, according to the health ministry.

There are 441 new imported cases, with 32,768 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed.

A further 78 deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 33,106.

The ministry reported 26,352 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 3,223,650.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia strongly urges all parties to urgently de-escalate hostilities in the Russia-Ukraine conflict to prevent further loss of innocent lives and devastation, as it is also seriously concerned over the escalation of the conflict which threatens to turn into a humanitarian situation.

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (NNN-Bernama) — Both Malaysian and Croatian business communities have been urged to increase trade, investments and cooperation as there is a huge potential in the field of tourism, Information Technolog (IT), innovation, agriculture and food processing, electrical and electronics sector and in the defence industry.

In making the call, Croatia’s Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Ivan Velimir Starčević said that they should not be deterred by the distance between the two countries or by some political, economic or other differences.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia’s labour market has regained momentum in the fourth quarter of last year, recording higher labour participation while labour demand picked up, said Chief Statistician Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin.

He said the positive development was made possible as businesses operated with full employment capacity in longer operation hours as well as schools and educational institutions were opened with the admission of students in stages during the quarter.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 (NNN-Bernama) — The dairy farming industry in New Zealand’s Northland region which is increasingly becoming competitive and resilient provides great opportunities for Malaysian investors seeking to develop a dairy processing plant with local partners. 

President of New Zealand Malaysia Business Association (NZMBA) Dave Ananth noted the Northland region has a large land area suitable for dairy farming, besides a subtropical climate that supports stock growth in winter and spring.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia’s economy is set for a gradual recovery from the COVID-19 downturn, with real gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 3.1 per cent in 2021 and projected to accelerate to about 5.75 per cent in 2022, according to the preliminary findings of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) team.

The team, led by Lamin Leigh, reported that the growth would be supported by the authorities’ impressive vaccine rollout and swift implementation of economic policy support measures.

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 10 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Home Minister, Hamzah Zainudin, on Thursday confirmed that former Bangladesh High Commissioner, Mohammed Khairuzzaman, is currently detained by the authorities.

Without disclosing what offence Mohammed Khairuzzaman was arrested for, he said the arrest of the former diplomat was carried out in accordance with existing legal procedures.

“If there is a request from the country of origin that we feel has a basis, then we will make (arrest) and everything is done according to existing legal procedures,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian palm oil growers are benefitting from Indonesia’s new export ruling that came into effect on Jan 27, Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) said.

The investment bank said Malaysian crude palm oil (CPO) price gap between Indonesia and Malaysia widened further by US$58.75 (RM246) per tonne to US$329.14 (RM1,378) per tonne on Feb 3 from US$270.39 (RM1,132) per tonne on Jan 27. (US$1 = RM4.18)

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah on Saturday congratulated China for hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics.

In his speech at the Malaysia-China Chamber Of Commmerce (MCCC) Chinese New Year celebration, here, delivered via a pre-recorded video, he said the sporting event began Friday night with an extraordinary and beautiful opening ceremony.

“I am sure this will be yet another successful event hosted by China,” he said. The text of his speech was made available to the media by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry.

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 (NNN-BERNAMA) – Malaysia kicked off its vaccination drive for children aged five to 11 years old today, in a bid to protect the age group from COVID-19.

The move came, as 147,282 were infected in the past six months, with 26 deaths recorded, Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin said, in his speech at the launch of the vaccination drive here.

He said, children are also at risk of developing complications of the multisystem inflammatory syndrome and getting Long COVID that can cause prolonged symptoms and interrupt recovery.