The official newsletter of the Consulate General of Malaysia, Ho Chi Minh City FOREWORD BY THE CONSUL GENERAL OF MALAYSIA, #ASEAN 50 in Ho Chi HO CHI MINH CITY Minh City Budget 2018 August 2017 was an auspicious month. On 31st August, Malaysia celebrated 60th year of independence. Earlier, on 8th Public transport in August, Malaysia joined ASEAN member states to commemorate Malaysia the 50th year of ASEAN’s establishment. 2017 is drawing to a close, but an exciting year awaits us. In In numbers 2018, Malaysia and Vietnam will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. This will be another Visit Pahang momentous event and a testimony of deep and strong relations between our two countries. The Consulate General look forward Beautiful Terengganu to celebrate this event with our friends and partners in Ho Chi Minh City. Highlight of activities and events - SOFIAN AKMAL ABD. KARIM Consul-General 2017 is a significant year for all citizens of ASEAN member states. 50 years ago – on 8th August 1967 – ASEAN was formed when five leaders – the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand – signed a document which declared the creation of ASEAN. The last five decades have seen extraordinary progress for ASEAN, with the bloc growing stronger, developing in scale and working to foster regional and cooperation and to strengthen solidarity, mutual understanding and trust between member states. ASEAN is a key factor in promoting dialogue and collaboration for prosperity and security across the region and the globe by playing a central role at a number of regional forums like ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3 and the ASEAN Regional Forum. Today ASEAN has become a community representing the collective will of the Southeast Asian nations, which have strong attachments of friendship and cooperation through common endeavours and efforts to ensure that our people and future generations enjoy peace, freedom and prosperity. According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, a new milestone in ASEAN's development process is the setting up of the ASEAN Community on 31st December, 2015. On 8th August 2017, Ho Chi Minh City hosted events to commemorate and celebrate ASEAN’s 50th anniversary, including a flag raising ceremony and the ASEAN Village – Ho Chi Minh City 2017. Mr. Sofian Akmal Abd. Karim, Consul General of Malaysia (sixth from right) attended the flag raising ceremony with HCM City Leaders and ASEAN Consuls General in HCM City Page 2 E-Newsletter ● Volume 4 ● Consulate General of Malaysia, Ho Chi Minh CIty From 21st to 24th September 2017, ASEAN Village was held in Ho Chi Minh City for the first time as an event to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of ASEAN and 22 years since Vietnam’s accession to the bloc. The event, organized by Ho Chi Minh City in collaboration with all ASEAN Consulates General in Ho Chi Minh City, was held to strengthen ties among the 10 ASEAN member countries and promote cultural, trade and tourism exchanges. Art performance at the opening ceremony The ASEAN Village comprised five areas, including a stage for art performances, cultural space for the ten ASEAN member nations, 126 booths showcasing trade and tourism products, 50 food stalls featuring Vietnamese and ASEAN traditional cuisine, and an area for traditional folk games. Mr. Sofian Akmal Abd. Karim, Consul General of Malaysia (middle) and Dato’ Theng Bee Han, President of Malaysian Business Chamber (right) presented Malaysian handicraft as a souvenir to Mr. Le Thanh Liem, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Ho Chi Minh City Leaders and Heads of ASEAN Consulates General in a group photo at the ASEAN Village Page 3 E-Newsletter ● Volume 4 ● Consulate General of Malaysia, Ho Chi Minh CIty The Consulate General, MATRADE, Tourism Malaysia, Education Malaysia, Malaysian companies (Cogniplus Interior, Ve Vuong Food, UMW Equipment Systems, Public Bank, Hong Leong Bank, Hotel Equatorial, KPJ and Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council), Malaysian restaurants (Kampung Pandan and D’Nyonya) and traditional jewelry makers - Ms. Salini Binti Idris and Mr. Kok Chee Keong from “Paulini”, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – participated in the ASEAN Village. University students were excited to learn about Malaysia, its people and culture A Vietnamese student tried jewelry making at “Malaysia House” Mr. Abdul Hadi Bin Che Man, Consul (Tourism) was interviewed by students from Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities about Malaysian traditional costumes and culture Malaysian companies and restaurants joined the event Page 4 E-Newsletter ● Volume 4 ● Consulate General of Malaysia, Ho Chi Minh CIty Malaysian Prime Minister and Finance Minister, YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak tabled the Budget 2018 in Parliament on 27 October 2017. The budget carries the theme “Prosper with inclusive economy, balancing duniawi (worldly) and ukhrawi (other-worldly) excellence to better the lives of the rakyat towards TN50 aspirations”. A total of RM 280.25 billion has been allocated for Budget 2018, an increase of RM 19.45 billion over the 2017 budget allocation of RM 260.8 billion. Of the total figure, RM 234.45bil is for administration, the remaining RM 46 billion is for development. Malaysia's income per capita is expected to rise to RM 42, 777 by 2018, median monthly income in the country has risen from RM4, 585 in 2014 to RM5,288 in 2016. Page 5 E-Newsletter ● Volume 4 ● Consulate General of Malaysia, Ho Chi Minh CIty The eight core thrusts for Budget 2018 are as follows: To enhance investment, trade and industry Prioritising well-being of rakyat and income-making opportunities Towards achieving TN50 aspirations Preparing for the fourth Industrial Revolution and the Digital Economy Excellence in Education Development, Training, Skills and Talent Enhancing efficiency and delivery of government-linked companies (GLC) and public service Driving inclusive development Balancing between the par excellence of the worldly and the hereafter Among the highlights of 2018 budget are on investment incentives and income tax cuts. The minimum level of venture capital investment in a start-up business is to be cut from 70% to 50% for the period 2018-2022. Among the other proposals are moves to guarantee equivalent income tax deductions in all instances of start-up investment (up to an annual maximum of RM 20 million (US$4.7 million)). A number of existing income tax exemption entitlements, also relating to start-up investments, are also to be extended until 31 December 2020. The budget also saw personal income tax rates cut by 2% for those earning between RM 20,000 and RM 70,000 per annum. *** For full speech by YAB Prime Minister of Malaysia and the 2018 Budget Touch Points you may read through online at: https://www.pmo.gov.my/bajet2018/Budget2018.pdf, and https://www.pmo.gov.my/bajet2018/TouchpointsBudget2018.pdf Page 6 E-Newsletter ● Volume 4 ● Consulate General of Malaysia, Ho Chi Minh CIty Malaysia, in particular, has been showing positive progress towards encouraging its citizens in using the public transportations. The Malaysian government has the newly launched Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and the integrated transportation hub of Terminal Bersepadu Selatan alongside other well-known and more ‘international’ transportation hubs such as the KLIA2. Highways, on the other hand, are public roads built to cater the needs of the public and shorten the distance or to provide a link between two destinations. For now, basically, there are three new major expressways or highways in Malaysia and they are East Coast Expressway or Lebuhraya Pantai Timur (LPT), Kajang-Seremban Highway or LEKAS and the Pan Borneo Highway. The LPT started operating on 1 August 2004 connecting the West Coast and the East Coast of the Peninsular of Malaysia. LEKAS was launched on 22 August 2008, connecting Kajang and Seremban. Lastly, the Pan Borneo Highway which was completed way back in 1997 and made it possible to travel between Kuching and Kota Kinabalu by car or bus. Currently, the government is building newer sections of the highway to connect more rural areas in Sarawak. The Klang Valley MASS Rapid Transit (MRT) project which will be linked with Automatic Train Operation (ATO) consists of 3 lines. The MRT Line 1 for Sungai Buloh-Kajang has been fully operationalised on 17 July 2017. The MRT Line 2 for the Sungai Buloh-Serdang-Putrajaya link is scheduled to be completed by 2022. Whereas, the final line of MRT Line 3 is still at its planning and development stage. Page 7 E-Newsletter ● Volume 4 ● Consulate General of Malaysia, Ho Chi Minh CIty Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS) is located at Bandar Tasik Selatan. TBS is effectively accessible through the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2) and Sungai Besi Expressway, and it provides three major rail lines such as Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM), Express Rail Link (ERL) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) trains. It is a 24-hour incorporated transportation center point for travellers heading out to more than 150 destinations of north, south, and eastern Malaysia. There are plenty of stores located within the terminal so that people could do some shopping while waiting for the bus. The new Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) was launched on 2 May 2014. It was built to allow continuous connectivity for local and international low-cost plus to avoid crowds at KLIA. The KLIA2 is designed with greater limit to cater up to 45 million passengers per year, and supplanting the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT). The KLIA Express provide fast train service (non- stop) which could take you from KL Sentral to KLIA in only 28 minutes, and 33 minutes from KL Sentral to KLIA2.