Malaysia grew at the quickest pace in more than two decades in 2022, as pent-up demand helped the nation take the mantle of the fastest-growing economy in Asia even if the title is likely to be shortlived.

Gross domestic product rose 8.7% last year, the highest level since 2000, data from Bank Negara Malaysia and the Department of Statistics showed. That compares with the median estimate of 8.6% year-on-year growth in a Bloomberg survey, and aligns with official expectations.

In the October-December period, the economy notched up a better-than-expected 7% expansion from a year ago, helped by domestic demand. On a sequential basis, however, data showed the economy contracted 2.6% from the quarter ended September — a performance that authorities attributed to waning support from stimulus measures.

We are moving!

EUROCHAM Malaysia is happy to announce that we will be moving office soon to The Stride Strata Office at BBCC Kuala Lumpur. Our CEO and team have worked hard to achieve this feat and we can’t wait to share it with all our members and friends.

We love a good celebration, and we will be looking forward to hosting our members and guests to our Office Warming at our modern new office. Details to be shared soon – we can’t wait to utilise this opportunity to better service our ever-growing EU-MY business community.

A great start to the first quarter of the new year! EUROCHAM Malaysia collaborated with our corporate partner Ericsson on a session on 5G as a Driver for Malaysia’s Digital Transformation with our distinguished speakers, Mr David Hägerbro, President & CEO of Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and Mr Deep Prakash, Head of Enterprise Ericsson Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In attendance to the event were EUROCHAM Malaysia Chairman, Mr Oliver Roche, EUROCHAM Malaysia Deputy Chairman, Mr Luciano Pezzotta and EUROCHAM Malaysia CEO, Mr Sven Schneider who were there to show gracious support to the transformational event.

The session commenced with an enlightening and uplighting opening speech by EUROCHAM Malaysia Chairman, Mr Oliver Roche. It was then followed by an insightful keynote speech and presentation by Mr David Hägerbro on building a world-class 5G network for Malaysia. As well as a presentation by Mr Deep Prakash on 5G potential for businesses.

To successfully conclude our session, we had an engaging and informative Q&A session where our members and guests were able to ask questions and learn more about the 5G rollout as well as the ever-growing innovative possibilities. In addition to connect and discover more about 5G and its transformation for the digital landscape that will bring tremendous value for business transformation.

On behalf of our fellow member JLL Property Services (M) Sdn Bhd, we would like to extend an invitation to our fellow members.

According to #JLL's survey of 340 #sustainability leaders across #AsiaPacific, up to 42% of #occupiers and large #developers have signed leases incorporating green clauses. This being evidence of #greenleasing gaining traction in the market, conventional leases may soon be a thing of the past as 65% of sustainability leaders believe green leases to take its place by 2025.

But despite the growing green demand and expectation, about 45% of Malaysian companies have yet to allocate a sustainability budget according to a survey by the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei (UNGCMYB).

This calls for the need to raise awareness of the green movement to strategise the next best plan of action before the return on investment start to be impacted.

We would like to welcome our new member Hapag-Lloyd to EUROCHAM Malaysia! We are excited to have your esteemed organisation as part of our EU-MY business community. We look forward to working together to bolster future and stronger business alliances.

Hapag-Lloyd is a leading global liner shipping company and a powerful partner. 252 modern ships, 11.9 million TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) transported per year, and 14,500 motivated employees in more than 400 offices in 137 countries.

Its corporate film shows Hapag-Lloyd’s global shipping activities emphasising our worldwide services, high quality and environmental standards as well as our historical roots. Sustainability is an integral part of quality leadership in our industry. The topic of sustainability is anchored in its corporate strategy.

On behalf of our fellow bilateral chamber, the Malaysian Dutch Business Council (MDBC), we would like to extend an invitation to all of our members to the upcoming Morning Talk – How to avoid and efficiently resolve cross-border disputes.

In an international context, the most common mechanism for international disputes is arbitration, not court litigation.  While it is intended to be a mechanism for businesses, many companies run into pitfalls: drafting unworkable arbitration agreements, not thinking through the financing of the process, spending too much money, and running into delays; These are just some of the problems to avoid.

The mistakes companies make in international arbitration often cost them dearly and result in huge losses, unenforceable awards, or even awards, which get set aside by courts.

Join MDBC at this Morning Talk with SKRINE, co–organised with CCIFM, to receive tips and tricks from seasoned dispute resolution lawyers on how to avoid an escalation and discover the do’s and don’ts of international arbitration to gain the upper hand in the next difference or dispute you cannot avoid.