EUROCHAM Malaysia hosted the Bilaterals Working Group Meeting today. Together with our Bilateral and Associate Chambers, we discussed a range of topics that will continue to help flourish and strengthen our bilateral ties, economic development, and government relations as well as strengthening FDIs within Malaysia.

We thank all who attended and participated in the meeting and we look forward to more productive and insightful meetings like these in the near future.

Only two per cent of the adult population remains to be vaccinated for Malaysian state and international borders to be reopened safely.

Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said this based on data from the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV).

He tweeted: "88 per cent of our adult population has been fully vaccinated. That's another 2 per cent until state borders are open & Malaysians will no longer need to apply for MTP (My Travel Pass) to travel abroad."

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had said state borders would reopen once 90 per cent of the adult population is vaccinated.

Join us Thursday, October 21, 2021, at 3 PM (+8 GMT) for our Advocacy Talks webinar with Vriens & Partners on the topic of Budget 2022 in the Time of Crisis and Political Compromise.

It will be an in-depth look at what Budget 2022 might hold for businesses, especially as the nation gears up for recovery and politicians look to compromise. We will look into the political, economic, and policy dynamics that are at play this year, moreover the reasons why this budget is more significant than in previous years.

This webinar will focus on this year’s unique political considerations that will impact the budget setting and approval process in parliament, in addition, the commitment to reform will be tested via the processes committed under the MOU between the government and the opposition. As well as there are unknowns that the government will have to consider as it plans for recovery in 2022, such as oil price outlook, need for booster vaccines, and more localized responses to COVID outbreaks.

The upcoming 2022 Budget will address all immediate fiscal issues with great urgency, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri said.

The national budget for next year will be tabled by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz on October 29.

Ismail Sabri said this year, for the first time, the government had released a pre-budget statement and distributed five public consultation papers on a variety of structural reform issues.

"Underlying all these policies defined by the government, the National Recovery Council will play an active role in restoring our nation's economic health and prosperity.

"We will take a broad and inclusive societal approach for the greater good of Malaysia, drawing up a strategy and its various tactics that will take us out of the pandemic into a safe and sustainable plan in living with an endemic Covid-19 scenario.

Here are the highlights of the latest updated SOPs for Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP):

Areas Involved:

Federal Territory of Labuan and Negeri Sembilan

*This SOP must be read together with the Special SOP of the Federal Territory of Labuan.

** For areas enforced by EMCO, EMCO SOP in the area is effective until the expiry date of the EMCO.

Effective Period:

*For the Federal Territory of Labuan starting on 26 August 2021 (from 12.01 am)

** For Negeri Sembilan starting on 24 September 2021 (starting 12.01 am).