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Friday, November 11, 2016

Philippine, Malaysia to cooperate on combating terror groups and pirates

Meeting of two leaders: Najib talking to Duterte during the Philippines President’s visit to the Perdana Putra building in Putrajaya. — Bernama

https://youtu.be/yyqsLvD7WsQ

Philippine, Malaysia to cooperate on combating terror groups

President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, is making his first official visit to Malaysia. Talks between the two countries focused on ways to combat threats from militant groups. Extremists from the southern Philippines, especially Abu Sayyaf, have been responsible for numerous incidents of piracy and kidnappings in waters between the two countries.

Duterte gives Malaysia licence to enter waters to pursue pirates

The days of pirates escaping Malaysian authorities by fleeing across the border into Tawi-Tawi waters are over.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, in his inaugural visit to Malaysia, has given Malaysia the licence to enter his country’s waters in pursuit of not only kidnappers, but also militants who have been terrorising Sabah’s east coast.

https://youtu.be/dKaUuOzfoLA

Calling this a new development in Putrajaya-Manila ties, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the two leaders agreed on the need to stamp out the security risk which also affects Indonesia.

There were several kidnap-for-ransom cases this year alone, which saw 10 Malaysians whisked away by militant groups based in southern Philippines. Five are still being held captive.

“I appreciate Duterte’s understanding because this is a practical way for us to help each other. It’s a new development which has been agreed by (Indonesian President) Jokowi with Duterte, and now with me.

“We need to stamp out this crime as this is affecting the welfare and security of not only Sabahans but tourists who visit the state,” Najib said after a bilateral meeting with Duterte yesterday.

The Philippine President was here for a two-day visit, his first after assuming the presidency in June.

Defence ministers from Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia will be meeting in Vientiane on Nov 22 to discuss the standard operating procedure and the various legal aspect of this new development.

While authorities from Malaysia and Indonesia are allowed to enter its maritime borders, they have to inform the Philippine navy of their presence in the area.

“If you are in hot pursuit of the bad guys and we reach maritime boundaries, the bad guys will get away if you stop. So, President Duterte said we should continue the chase and he has given us the licence to do so. We are to inform the Philippine navy and they will assist us if they are nearby,” said Najib.

The Prime Minister said new orders would be issued to the security forces based along the Sabah east coast and that this latest development was a clear sign of the two countries’ commitment to eliminate kidnapping incidents.

“This new development will also help move relations between both countries forward.

“While we have been enjoying warm and cordial relations, we have yet to reach our full potential due to security and legal issues,” he added.

On Philippines’ claims over Sabah, Najib said that this was not an issue to be addressed immediately.

Philippines has a long standing claim to Sabah, which was once under the rule of the Sulu Sultanate.

The claim has caused snags in several matters such as the setting up of a BIMP-EAGA (Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area) regional office and a consular office in Kota Kinabalu.

Duterte expressed appreciation on Malaysia’s role in the peace process in southern Philippines, said Najib, adding that the Government has agreed to continue placing an international monitoring team there.

“With negotiations completed, there is no need for a facilitator to be placed there, but Duterte has asked for the monitoring team to remain,” he said.

Malaysia has been playing the role of facilitator in the Bangsamoro peace process negotiations and is leading the international monitoring team in the southern Philippines.

On the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah, Najib said both countries agreed to send home in stages the 7,000 Philippine nationals currently in the state.

By MAZWIN NIK ANIS JOSEPH KAOS JR The Star Asia News Network

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TPPA in danger of collapse after its biggest critic wins US presidency

KUALA LUMPUR: The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) faces its biggest challenge with the election of its major critic Donald Trump as US president. The agreement will collapse without the participation of United States, said its prime mover in Malaysia, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

The International Trade and Industry Minister explained that for TPPA to be ratified, it needs at least six countries, accounting for 85% of the combined gross domestic product of the 12 signatories.

“Without the United States, there will be no TPPA,” he said when met in Parliament yesterday.

He added that failure to carry out TPPA may affect the Malaysian economy.

“We went into TPPA for the overall interest of Malaysia. To be a part of this process, to do more trading, as we believe that this will help trade and investment for Malaysia.

“Among the reasons why we joined was to get access to Mexico and Canada, countries that we haven’t gotten access to,” he said.

He, however, was quick to add that it was too soon to make an analysis on the matter.

Trump’s shock victory stunned capital markets around the world with investors seeking safe haven assets such as gold to brace the period of uncertainties.

In an immediate after-effect Asian stock markets fell, with Bursa Malaysia performing relatively better than most other markets, shedding less than 1%.

The US dollar index, which measures the strength of the currency against a basket of currencies, spiked to more than 1,207, largely due to the weakening of emerging market currencies and strengthening of safe-haven currencies such as the Yen and Swiss francs.

The ringgit fell to RM4.224 against the greenback, a nine-month low since Feb 25. Gold spot prices went up by almost 5% to US$1,337 (RM5,645) as investors sought shelter in safe haven assets in the period of uncertainty.

Ministers and chief negotiators of TTPA countries are expected to meet in Peru soon to take stock on the fate of the agreement.

International Trade and Industry secretary-general Datuk J. Jayasiri, who was Malaysia’s chief TPPA negotiator, said there was no indication so far that Washington under President Barack Obama would not table the Bill in the US Congress for ratification.

“All indications from US Trade Representative Michael Froman is that they are working hard to table it. The US has its own domestic process and for Malaysia we will continue the process of amending our laws,” he said.

Peru will host the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperaton (Apec) summit on Nov 19 to be attended by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Obama is also expected to attend.

American Malaysia Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) executive director Siobhan Das said US business investments would continue to find a home in Malaysia.

“Amcham supports all efforts that enable free and fair trade between all parties, and looks forward to working with the new administration to grow US business interests in Malaysia,” said Das.

Malaysian Association for American Studies (MAAS) President Prof Dr K.S. Nathan believed that Trump would try to fine tune but would not scrap the agreement.

“They may renegotiate some aspects of it but I don’t see Trump pulling back on the TPPA or even the North American Free Trade Agreement”.

The US Embassy’s charge d’affaires Edgard Kagan explained it was still possible that TPPA would be approved by US lawmakers.

“There are different views on trade in the US. President Obama is committed to the TPPA and we will just have to see what happens,” he said.

In theory, the TPPA could still be ratified by Congress during its “lame duck” session.

This is the session which takes places after the US presidential election but before the inauguration on Jan 20 next year.

BY Razak ahmad, Neville spykerman, Mergawati zulfakar, Loshana k shagar, Hemananthani sivanandam, Rahimy rahim, Martin carvalho, andd. Kanyakumari The Star/ANN

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NEW YORK, Nov. 9 -- Republican candidate Donald Trump was projected by U.S. media to have won the 270 electoral votes needed for presidency early on Wednesday.

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Trump crossed the 270 electoral vote threshold at 2:31 a.m. ET with a victory in Wisconsin, according to Associated Press projections.

Republican Donald Trump has beaten Democrat rival Hillary Clinton in a close race to win the 45th U.S. presidency early on Wednesday, pulling a major upset after a controversial and scandalous campaign cycle.

According to projection by the major television networks, Trump has surpassed the threshold of 270 out of the total 538 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

His opponent, former first lady and Secretary of State Clinton, has made a formal telephone call to Trump to concede the election, but will not speak until the next morning, according to media.

In the nail-biting contest throughout the night, Trump was able to pull a winning margin in many of the crucial swing states including Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, and was even able to snatch previously democratic-leaning states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The victory has made Trump the first president that never held elected office since 1953.- (Xinhua)

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The US’ ability to project its geopolitical ambitions on the world has nearly come to an end. The rhetoric of Clinton and Trump during their campaigns may just fade away. The world should not take it seriously.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

China tops global fintech rankings

China's financial technology (fintech) firms continue to lead globally, securing four positions in the top five in a recent industrial ranking.[Photo: mindai.com]

China's financial technology (fintech) firms continue to lead globally, securing four positions in the top five in a recent industrial ranking.

Alibaba's third-party payment platform Ant Financial tops the global ranking for the 100 best performing fintech companies, with micro-loan firm Qudian, wealth management company Lufax and insurance enterprise Zhong An entering the top five, according to a report by international accounting firm KPMG and investment firm H2 Ventures.

The firms are rated according to their capital raising volume and ratio, geographic and sector diversity, and consumer and marketplace traction.

"It is no surprise to see four Chinese companies in the top five. Fintech in China has seen rapid development, fuelled by the demand to address domestic needs," said James McKeogh, Partner with KPMG China. "It is likely that we will see more of these players move to the international markets in the future."

A total of eight Chinese fintech companies are on the list, a remarkable rise from just one company in the top 100 in the 2014 ranking.

"We have seen significant investment in China's fintech sector in recent years, and an increasing appetite for innovative products, supported by the rapid pace of technology development," according to Raymond Cheong, another KPMG China Partner.

China pledged in October to improve supervision in online finance, including peer-to-peer platforms, to contain risks, improve competitiveness and increase risk awareness.

Companies related to lending and insurance are gaining larger share in the full Fintech 100 list, while the creation of value in new sub-sectors such as regulatory technology as well as data and analytics make the fintech sector more diverse, according to the report.

Source:

Related： China mulls sharing blacklist of telecom scammers

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Monday, November 7, 2016

Jack Ma advisor to Malaysian Govt on digital economy to start with e-FTZ

https://youtu.be/fb74uSG-7Ro

China-Malaysia Promising relationship: Najib delivering his speech in Beijing. ‘A digital economy with e-commerce is Malaysia’s next growth strategy,’ says the PM.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma agrees to be advisor to Malaysian Govt on digital economy

BEIJING: Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma has agreed to act as an advisor to the Malaysian Government on its digital economy aspirations, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

"We will be in partnership with Jack on the path and route to the future," said Najib.

He said that Ma had also agreed to come to Malaysia to attend the launch of its E free trade zone in March.

Najib said this before he launched Alitrip Tourism Malaysia together with Ma Friday to lure Chinese tourists to Malaysia.

"You can see that China is the place to be. It has 300 million middle-class people, larger than US population.

"We hope, together with Alibaba, we can make Malaysia and China more prosperous," he said.

In his Budget 2017 speech on Oct 21, Najib announced the setting up of a Digital Free Zone.

He also unveiled the Digital Maker Movement and the Malaysia Digital Hub to help nurture talents and create innovators to build a fully sustainable digital economy.

The digital economy is said to account for 16% of Malaysia's GDP and is expected to rise.

By Ho Wah Foon The Star

Adviser Jack Ma to start with e-FTZ

Digital push: Najib with Alibaba Group executive chairman Jack Ma (left) during launching ceremonyjof the Alitrip Malaysia Tourism Pavilion. Looking on is Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Addul Aziz - Bernama.

BEIJING: Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma will kick-start his role as adviser to the Malaysian Government on its digital economy at the launch of a e-free trade zone (e-FTZ) in March.

Ma, a global business icon, has ideas on the set up of the e-trade zone, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

“I had a (30-min) meeting with Mr Jack Ma. He has agreed to be adviser to our Government on the digital economy,” said the Prime Minister.

“Jack Ma did not ask for payment. I don’t think we can afford to pay him,” Najib said in jest later to a reporter’s question.

In his Budget 2017 ( see related posts below) speech last month, Najib announced that a digital economy that includes e-commerce would be Malaysia’s next growth strategy as this could bring about double-digit growth.

Alibaba is the largest and most well-known e-commerce giant in China and the world.

“We will be in partnership with Ma on the path and route to the future,” said Najib before launching the Alitrip Tourism Malaysia Pavilion in collaboration with Alibaba Group.

Najib said Malaysia would have to act fast to implement Alipayment, further develop online banking and online commerce as “we don’t want to miss the boat”.

On the pavilion, Najib said: “You can see that China is the place to be. It has 300 million middle-class people, larger than the US population.

“We hope, together with Alibaba, we can make Malaysia and China more prosperous,” he said.

Ma, before launching the pavilion jointly with Najib with the premier’s mobile phone, urged Chinese tourists to visit Malaysia and enjoy the culture there.

“We have a long history between these two countries. About 2,000 years ago, Chinese went to Malaya to make a living. Now, we should go there to enjoy life – not to survive,” said Ma.

He took the opportunity to pay tribute to the Prime Minister’s father for having the foresight to be the first leader in Asean to establish diplomatic ties with China when others shunned the republic for being a communist nation.

“Today, we are benefiting from this decision made 42 years ago. Malaysia is China’s largest trading partner in Asean and China is Malaysia’s biggest trading partner.”

On Malaysians, he noted that on average each Malaysian has 230 friends on his social network.

“This means Malaysians are friendly, trusting and inclusive. This is an excellent culture.

“I love Malaysia… you have the culture, environment, food and hospitality and inclusiveness.”

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