We would like to wish all our Austrian members, friends and connections a Happy Austria National Day!

Einen schönen Nationalfeiertag, Österreich!

The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) is actively revisiting the Strategic Trade Act (STA) 2010, with the aim to streamline regulations, ensuring strategic goods and technology controls are tailored to specific industry segments.

Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said this review will also address any aspects of the Strategic Trade Management (STM) that might inadvertently hinder growth, including in the defence industry.

“The swift pace of technological advancements, while promising, also presents challenges. As highlighted by the research on Emerging Technologies and Trade Controls (2020), the rapid evolution of dual-use technologies underscores the need to balance technological leadership, economic competitiveness, as well as national security.

“While trade controls on these technologies can foster peace and reduce security threats, overly restrictive policies might unintentionally hamper economic growth, stifling competitiveness and innovation,” he said in his speech at the Malaysia Strategic Trade Summit (MySTS) 2023 on Monday.

On behalf of our fellow member Knight Frank Malaysia, we would like to share the newly launched report, ESG By Design: Selangor’s Path to Sustainable Industrial Real Estate that is available now.

The rising emphasis on embracing sustainability across industries has triggered a major shift towards the ESG agenda. In Knight Frank Malaysia’s continuous pursuit of promoting sustainable practices within the industrial real estate sector in Malaysia, we are delighted to present this supplementary appendix to our previous white paper series with a focus on the Selangor state.

Under Malaysia’s latest approved electricity generation plan, 37.81% of the nation’s installed electricity capacity in 2030 will be powered by renewable sources, said Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

This, he said in a written parliamentary reply on Thursday, is pursuant to the Power Development Plan (PDP) approved in the 2022 Planning and Implementation Committee for Electricity Supply and Tariff meeting held in February.

The committee holds meetings on an annual basis to determine the policy on the electricity sector’s fuel mix with the 20-year PDP.

As for the remaining electricity capacity in 2030, the PDP projects that 38.94% or 19,098MW will be generated with gas, while coal will still account for 23.25% (11,401MW). Renewable energy (RE) is expected to generate 18,545.05MW.

On behalf of our fellow member, JLL Property Services (M) Sdn Bhd, we would like to highlight several Budget 2024 proposals from the real estate point of view.

Budget 2024 was tabled in the Parliament on Friday, 13th October 2023 by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, YAB Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim. Based on the theme of “Reformasi Ekonomi, Memperkasakan Rakyat (Economic Reform, Empowering People)”, it will be the largest budget to-date, with an allocation of RM393.8B (approx. US$83.3B), surpassing Budget 2022's allocation of RM388.1B.

The 2024 budget is based on the MADANI Economic framework which is the main focus of the Unity Government in ensuring that the interests and needs of the people are taken into account in addition to driving the country's economic growth.