COMPETITIVENESS INFOLINE I N F O L I N E : TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2017 0 1 / 2 0 1 7 MALAYSIA PROMISING 2017 OUTLOOK FOR CONSTRUCTION ETALING JAYA: The construction sector outlook for 2017 seems promising, particularly for infrastructure construction players, given the slew of Pgovernment projects. A head of research said ongoing projects like the Mass Rapid Transit 2 (MRT2), Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) and Petronas’ Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project site in Pengerang will largely contribute to the order books of infrastructure construction players for the year. “Property construction activities are not going to be as buoyant. This is due to the property development cycle, which will continue to be soft this year,” he said. More construction jobs: Ongoing projects such as the MRT2 will contribute to the order books of Apart from ongoing projects, the construction infrastructure constructions players this year. sector holds more upside in light of the RM12.8bil Sabah portion of Pan Borneo Highway as well as (PDP) for the Pan Borneo Highway Sabah project the upcoming High Speed Rail (HSR) projects. in April 2016. According to an Affin Hwang Capital sector report, three packages from the Sabah portion of the Pan “Construction contract awards for Pan Borneo Borneo Highway have been awarded, with the Highway Sabah will benefit contractors with remaining packages targeted to be awarded by end- established track records and precast concrete 2017. product manufacturers in Sabah. The award deadline of end-2017 is to ensure the “Potential beneficiaries are Suria Capital Holdings project can be completed by March 2021. Bhd-Gabungan AQRS Bhd JV and WCT Holdings Warisan Tarang-UEM Group-MMC Corp joint Bhd, which are bidding for the project,” said Affin venture (JV) company, Borneo Highway PDP Sdn Hwang Capital. Bhd, was appointed as the project delivery partner INFOLINE: 01/2017 T H E S T A R TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 2017 In addition, there are more major property development “The decision on who to award the rail system projects planned in Sabah, such as the redevelopment of to will be made by end-2018. Kota Kinabalu (KK) Port with an estimated gross “It remains to be seen if the timeline will also development value of over RM5bil. cover the civil works tender. The redevelopment of KK Port, which includes the Sabah “Apart from a joint tender for cross-border HSR International Convention Centre, comprising One operations, Malaysia will also put up its own Jesselton, Jesselton Quay, and KK Convention City tender for a domestic operator to run the which are developed by the Suria-Gabungan AQRS JV, domestic service within its borders,” said CIMB SBC Corp Bhd-Suria JV and Mah Sing Group Research. Bhd respectively. The project time frame set in the bilateral Affin Hwang Capital also reported that Suria planned to agreement signed recently continues to put acquire 28.9 acres at KK Port for about RM350mil to 2026 as the targeted completion date. develop an international cruise terminal as part of the This suggests an unchanged eight-year integrated mixed development project. construction time frame, assuming that construction of the project commences in Currently, SP Setia is developing the RM2.2bil Aeropod 2018. project in Tanjung Aru while the state is developing the RM4bil Tanjung Aru Eco Development. A majority of 335km of the rail system will be Under the 11th Malaysia Plan 2016-2020, a key focus for in Malaysia, while 15km will lie in Singapore. Sabah’s development is to invest in infrastructure to improve connectivity within the state and international linkages. Besides Pan Borneo Highway Sabah, there is a planned RM311mil Kota Kinabalu Bus Rapid Transit (KK BRT) project. As part of the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC), there are plans to build a new KK Airport, light rail transit system in KK, new railway lines to connect the north and east coasts of Sabah as well as upgrading of Lahad Datu Airport. Meanwhile, CIMB Research opined that the KL-Singapore HSR theme remains relevant to rail players, such as Gamuda, IJM Corp and WCT, though the joint tender for the HSR system will only commence in the fourth quarter of this year. INFOLINE: 01/2017 COMPETITIVENESS INFOLINE I N F O L I N E : MON D A Y , FEBRUARY 20, 2017 0 1 / 2 0 1 7 MALAYSIA HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY EYES RM5 BILLION REVENUE CONTRIBUTIO N 2017 GDP UALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 — The healthcare industry is eyeing a revenue contribution of up to RM5 billion to Malaysia’s 2017 gross domestic product. K This is on the back of an estimated one million healthcare travellers visiting the country this year. In 2016, the industry’s contribution to the GDP exceeded RM1 billion, said the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) in a statement here today. It said the prime market comprises travellers from Asean, but Malaysia’s healthcare segment has also seen steady growth with visitors from China and MHTC said Malaysia’s medical travel sector is a India. much sought-after choice in Asia. MHTC said Malaysia’s medical travel sector, The Malaysian healthcare travel sector has seen already a much sought-after choice in Asia, added tremendous growth in recent years. another feather to its cap when one of its key drivers was honoured on the international stage for Sherene’s recognition will help drive Malaysian outstanding contributions to global healthcare. healthcare to even greater heights. MHTC Chief Executive Officer Sherene Azli, joined the distinguished company of 50 other women from all walks of life, in being recognised among “Outstanding Women in Healthcare” at the World Health and Wellness Congress 2017 recently. INFOLINE: 01/2017 COMPETITIVENESS INFOLINE I N F O L I N E : WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017 0 1 / 2 0 1 7 NEW MILESTONES FOR M ALAYSIAN VARSITIES T’S the dawn of a new era for Malaysian higher placements. education. Malaysian universities continue to improve in their world university rankings In total, 19 Malaysian universities are included at based on 46 subjects. least once in this year’s QS World University I Rankings by Subject, and at least one Malaysian According to the seventh edition of the QS World university can be found in 36 of the 46 subject University Rankings by Subject recently released by tables. Quacquarelli Symonds, our local universities now rank in the top 30 for three subjects; they were only The best-ranked subject for a Malaysian ranked in the top 30 once in 2016. university is 23rd in the world for Electrical and Electronic Engineering, a position which UM Malaysian universities also made the top 50 12 shares with Carnegie Mellon University of the times; they were only ranked in the top 50 three United States. times in 2016’s edition. This is the highest-ranked position by subject achieved by a Malaysian university, and an The University of Malaya (UM) continues to be the improvement of 14 places from 2016. best-performing institution with six subjects ranked in the top 50 worldwide. The top university for this subject is Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while the Other local universities with subjects ranked in the top Asian university is Singapore’s Nanyang top 50 are Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) for four Technological University in 6th place. of its courses, while Taylor’s University and International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) UM also scored impressively for Development have one each. Studies, for which it placed 26th. This means that Malaysia now sees four of its Topping the rankings for Development Studies is universities offer at least one top-50 subject, Britain’s University of Sussex, while the top compared to two universities in 2016 . regional university is the Australian National University in 11th place. Flying the flag for Asia is The latest list also shows that Malaysian India’s University of Delhi which placed 16th. universities are ranked in the top 100 52 times, which is double 2016’s total of 26 top-100 Two Malaysian universities made it to the top 50 INFOLINE: 01/2017 NEW STRAITS TIMES WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2 0 1 7 in Rankings by Subject for Hospitality & Leisure Management, which QS has included in the list for UiTM vice-chancellor Professor Emeritus Hassan the first time. Said said that of these, eight were new subjects, namely architecture and built environment, arts Taylor’s University, in 29th place, is also the first and design, chemical engineering, agriculture private university in Malaysia to have made the and forestry, medicine, pharmacy and rankings. pharmacology, chemistry, and business management and administration. The other local university is USM, which shares 32nd place with Britain’s Sheffield Hallam “The other previously-listed five subjects, namely University. accountancy and finance, education, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer At the top for this subject is the University of science and information systems, have also Nevada-Las Vegas while The Hong Kong improved their score rankings,” he said. Polytechnic University is the highest-ranked Asian university at number three. “We are confident that with special strategy and scheduled monitoring, UiTM can continue to Three of UM’s other engineering subjects which also improve its position in the years to come.” made the top 50 rankings are Mechanical, Aeronautical & Manufacturing (33rd), Engineering & Equally ecstatic, Higher Education Minister Technology (35th) and Chemical Engineering (38th, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh congratulated the a position it shares with USM). universities for their “stellar performance” in the latest Rankings by Subject release. USM also made the top 50 for Mineral & Mining Engineering, sharing 35th spot with the Indian “Having 12 subjects across four universities Institute of Technology Kharagpur. ranked within the world’s top 50 is a highly For Education, UM is ranked 41st worldwide, a commendable improvement from three subjects position it shares with the University of Texas at in 2016.