Day: May 25, 2023

Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Vo Van Hoan on May 25 hosted a reception for Jagrup Brar, Minister of State for Trade at the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation in the Canadian province of British Columbia, where they discussed orientations to promote trade and investment cooperation.

Canada currently ranks 22nd out of 117 countries and territories investing in the southern largest economic hub with 113 projects worth about 130 million USD. Two-way trade turnover hit some 630 million USD in 2022, an annual increase of more than 30%, according to the Vice Chairman.

Hoan said the outcomes, however, have yet to be on par with their potential for cooperation and expressed his hope to boost the city’s collaboration with Canadian provinces, including British Columbia, particularly in commerce and investment.

HCM City is willing to work closely with British Columbia in green growth areas where the city has demand and the Canadian province has advantages such as human resources training and waste treatment.

For his part, Brar said the two localities have seen strong progress in their trade ties and informed his host on the upcoming opening of the British Columbia trade-investment office in HCM City.

Canada and Vietnam share ample room for economic cooperation, especially in climate change, agriculture, and forestry, and the good relationship between the two countries’ people serves as a good foundation for closer joint work between the two localities in the future, he noted./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

There is no need to create a special ministry to handle Sabah and Sarawak affairs to avoid the possibility of overlapping functions with existing federal ministries.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Duties) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Division (BHESS) under the Prime Minister’s Department was established in March 2020 to facilitate and address all issues pertaining to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

“So for me, there shouldn’t be overlapping functions. Let the BHESS functions as the secretariat so that we can propose negotiations between the Federal and the Sabah and Sarawak governments without having to interfere with ministerial functions in each ministry.

“I think we need to maintain the commitment to empowerment and devolution of authority (to Sabah and Sarawak) without having to establish a special ministry in charge of Sabah and Sarawak affairs.

“In doing so, we want to avoid overlapping functions with federal ministries which would ultimately affect the efforts to devolve powers to the Sabah and Sarawak governments,” he said during Minister’s Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat today.

Apart from that, Armizan said the Federal Government’s commitment to solving the water supply issues in Sabah would also not interfere with the jurisdiction, rights and interests of the state government.

“Water is under the state’s jurisdiction as stated in List II Schedule Nine of the Federal Constitution.

“So, no need to worry. The Federal Government under the leadership of Tambun MP (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) will always respect the rights and interests of state governments, including the additional power for Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

The minister said this in reply to Lo Su Fui (GRS-Tawau) who wanted to know the government’s commitment to solving the water woes in Sabah as pledged at the Unity Government National Convention on May 14.

At the convention, Anwar was reported as saying that he would talk to Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Nor and Kelantan Menteri Besar Kelantan Datuk Ahmad Yakob to find solutions to the water woes in the two states.

The Prime Minister said he remained committed to finding solutions to the issue after receiving input from the state leaders regarding the long-standing problems plaguing the states.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

The National Defence and Security Industry Policy (DIPKN), which is slated to be launched at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2023, is still in the evaluation process, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

He said the government did not want to rush in making a decision on the matter and wanted to gather more input from stakeholders.

“We don’t want to rush things in formulating a policy. We want all stakeholders to get involved and get input from all quarters so that the government and the industry will embrace the policy.

“So we engage with them more carefully. Even though we have held engagement sessions with the stakeholders before, we want to ensure that what we are doing here will be a document or policy that can be adopted by all quarters,” he told a press conference today.

Earlier, Mohamad witnessed the signing ceremony of contract documents, memorandums of understanding, letters of acceptance and letters of intent at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre here.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

The Communications and Digital Ministry (KKD) takes a serious view of its development projects categorised as ‘sick’ because they could not be completed on schedule.

Minister Fahmi Fadzil said there are currently two sick projects under KKD – construction of the Langkawi RTM building here and Bintulu RTM building in Sarawak.

“To me and the ministry, we view seriously any projects which have been given allocations and issued with letters of acceptance but could not be implemented.

“This project in Langkawi is one of the two sick projects under KKD, and I will try to visit the project site of the other one in Bintulu later,” he told reporters after inspecting the project site for the Langkawi RTM building in Kampung Buluh Penyumpit, Kuah, here today.

He said the Langkawi project should have been completed on Sept 19 last year but had to be retendered after the contractor failed to implement it despite being given three extensions of time.

He said KKD and the Public Works Department finally terminated the contractor’s contract in April this year and would undertake a fresh tender process to appoint a new contractor.

“Site works are expected to begin once the project has been tendered out again. We expect the Langkawi RTM project to resume in October or November this year and to be completed about two years later by October 2025,” he said.

Earlier, Fahmi, who was accompanied by KKD secretary-general Datuk Mohamad Fauzi Md Isa, also visited the Langkawi District Information Office at the Langkawi Development Authority Complex.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

The number one family takaful operator in Malaysia, Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad (PruBSN) has launched PruBSN Damai, a new and comprehensive medical coverage to meet the changing needs of customers during hardships and uncertainties.

PruBSN Chief Executive Officer Wan Saifulrizal Wan Ismail said PruBSN Damai through Medic TotalCare rider offers unique features for the first mental health treatment for inpatient and outpatient, additional lifetime limit for advanced medical treatments, extensive cancer coverage for outpatient cancer treatment including cancer remission follow-up and daily treatments allowance when undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

He said with a high annual limit of up to RM400,000 with no lifetime limit, PruBSN Damai is an ideal solution for individuals looking for life protection with all-rounded medical coverage to address all health concerns.

Citing the 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey where one in three Malaysians suffer from mental health problems and nearly half a million Malaysians were already feeling symptoms of depression before the COVID-19 pandemic started, Wan Saifulrizal said the alarming numbers led to the inclusion of the mental health care coverage in Medic TotalCare under PruBSN Damai.

“We felt that this is the step in the right direction for us to reassure our customers that we can be their trusted companion through their difficult times.

“PruBSN Damai was designed to bridge the care of both physical and mental health so that customers have access to the care they need to maintain good health,” he said in a statement.

With PruBSN Damai, customers can also enhance their annual medical coverage limit with an additional RM1,000,000 where through this option, it will double the benefit limits for outpatient cancer and kidney dialysis treatment, advanced medical treatments and other extended benefits. Customers who stay claim free for a year will receive a Health Reward of RM500 for covered preventive care items.

Separately, customers could also opt to attach Ihsan Rider to their PruBSN Damai plans for only RM5 per month, which will be channelled to PruBSN’s Microtakaful Jariyah, a corporate social responsibility programme by PruBSN to sponsor one-year free coverage worth RM10,000 for eligible and selected breadwinners of poor and hardcore poor families.

To date, PruBSN has issued more than 100,000 certificates since its inception in 2018 and has paid out close to RM3 million of claims to families upon the demise of the breadwinner.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

The Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry aims to table the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Bill in the Dewan Rakyat this year, said minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

The proposed act, among others, will strengthen the legal framework related to energy efficiency and conservation to ensure full involvement at various levels of institutions and organisations, he said.

“The act will assist in not only regulating energy efficiency and conservation but also assist consumers to adopt more efficient equipment and appliances and better manage their energy consumption to reduce wastage,” he said in his speech at the Sustainability Leadership Seminar 2023 here today.

He said many countries including the United Kingdom had adopted such laws requiring electrical appliances to be energy efficient, which led to a consistent drop in energy demand in the country for 20 years.

In March this year, Nik Nazmi said the bill was at the research stage and would be finalised before being brought to the Attorney-General’s Chambers and presented to the Cabinet.

Stressing that much more needs to be done for energy efficiency and conservation, Nik Nazmi said Malaysia must continue to push the boundaries of innovation, collaboration and education to ensure a sustainable future for all.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency