We would like to wish all our members, friends, and connections a happy Deepavali!

Wishing everyone a Deepavali full of joy and prosperity.

Polling day for the 15th General Election (GE15) has been set for Nov 19 says the Election Commission (EC).

It also announced that Nomination Day for candidates will be on Nov 5 and early voting on Nov 15.

This was decided in a special meeting on GE15 chaired by EC chairman Datuk Abdul Ghani Salleh at its headquarters on Thursday (Oct 20).

Abdul Ghani also announced that the state elections for Perlis, Perak and Pahang will be held concurrently with GE15.

The dates for nomination, early voting and polling for the three state elections will be the same as the general election.

Today, the Commission adopted its 2023 Work Programme. It sets out a bold agenda to respond to the current set of crises affecting the everyday lives of Europeans, while doubling down on the ongoing green and digital transformations, making our European Union more resilient.

In this spirit, the Commission aims at supporting people and businesses – whether by reducing energy prices, securing the supplies critical for our industrial competitiveness and food security, or by reinforcing our social market economy.

This Commission Work Programme contains 43 new policy initiatives across all six of the headline ambitions of President von der Leyen's Political Guidelines, building on her 2022 State of the Union speech and letter of intent.

Many of the key initiatives in this Work Programme also follow up on the outcomes of the Conference on the Future of Europe. In addition, the new generation of citizens' panels will be part of the Commission's policymaking in certain key areas. The first citizens' panels will address the issues of food waste, learning mobility and virtual worlds.

On 17 October 2022,  EUROCHAM Malaysia was invited as a supporting partner to Czechia-Malaysia Seminar on Connectivity at DoubleTree by Hilton in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. There was a special address by the Deputy Head of Mission, EU Delegation to Malaysia, Mr Timo Goosmann followed by a keynote address by the Ambassador of Czech Republic to Malaysia, H.E. Milan Hupcej.

Dr Richard Hlavaty, Director-General of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic briefly addressed the attendees as well before a series of presentations assumed, delivered by Dato’ Hasan Azhari Hj Idris, CEO of Invest Selangor Berhad and Mr Sven Schneider, CEO of EUROCHAM Malaysia.

This event is in line with EUROCHAM Malaysia’s efforts in championing digitalisation across all sectors and industries, along with sustainability aligned with the EU Green Deal. The Digital Strategy sets a new vision, addressing digital transformation opportunities of a post-pandemic scenario, and supporting the delivery of the EU’s strategic priorities by 2030.

EUROCHAM Malaysia organised the bimonthly Healthcare Sector Committee meeting on 5 October 2022 at the premises of Fresenius Medical Care in Petaling Jaya. The meeting saw the attendance of pioneers within the healthcare sector in the Malaysian landscape.

Dr Emil Azril Bahari Mohd Noor, General Manager of Government Affairs & Market Access, ASEAN at B.Braun Group was appointed as the head of the Healthcare Sector Committee unanimously. Thereafter, pertinent matters were divulged and discussed i.e. foreign equity partnership. It was a productive meeting and we look forward to the next meeting at the end of November.

On behalf of our fellow member Propay Partners, we would like to share that Propay Partners is redefining Kellogg’s financial transformation roadmap in Malaysia by paving the way for an avant-garde payroll processes and quality management systems along with great customer service.

In 1995, when Kellogg Asia Marketing, the marketing division of the Kellogg Company set up its base in Kuala Lumpur, the company was still hiring for early roles. Like any multinational food company, Kellogg Asia Marketing was just testing waters in Southeast Asia, oceans away from its headquarters in USA.

After a few years of its establishment in Kuala Lumpur, the company encountered several challenges in which its workforce payroll was being handled. Eventually switching its payroll provider, the company hired Propay Partners as its outsourcing partner to give it a more streamlined, efficient and hands-on payroll partner. Read to find out how Propay Partners managed to turnaround their complexity by ensuring a more streamlined data mechanism.