AMCHAM would like to thank InvestKL for organizing the briefing session on the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) with Yang Berhormat Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation this afternoon. This discussion was timely as many Malaysians as well as the international business community are seeking clarity on Malaysia’s numerous vaccination programs, including PICK.
Here are some key updates and takeaways from the briefing session:
- Government announcements will be made soon on the following:
- A set of freedoms for those who are fully vaccinated.
- MySejahtera app status update mechanism for those who were vaccinated overseas.
- Quarantine exemption for fully vaccinated individuals traveling to Malaysia.
- Increased operational capacity for factories/workplaces which have a significant number of employees vaccinated.
- There are also bilateral government discussions on mutual recognition of vaccine passports.
- While the Drug Control Authority (DCA) has approved vaccination for adolescentse. those aged 14 to 18, general implementation is on hold pending further world live data. For now, consideration will only be given to those with underlying illnesses.
- CanSino has recently been approved by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) and delivery is expected over the next two to three weeks.
KPI by the Prime Minister dated 18th July 20, 2021 for PICK (August – September)
- 100% of the adult population in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur to receive at least one dose by 1st August under the Operations Surge Capacity.
- 100% of the adult population in Sarawak to receive at least once dose by the end of August 2021.
- Almost all states will reach a 50% vaccination rate by the end of August 2021.
- All states will reach 70% vaccination rate by September 2021.
- All adult population in Malaysia will be fully vaccinated by October-November 2021; and
- Vaccination capacity will be increased to reach 500,000 per day.
The e-Shared Prosperity Organisation (eSPO) is an online platform that issues an electronic acknowledgement certificate for companies that successfully implemented the Productivity-Linked Wage System (PLWS), an initiative that promotes wealth creation and sharing through productivity.
Today morning, AMCHAM hosted a briefing session on the eSPO Acknowledgement Certificate. The session was conducted by our guests from Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC), an agency under Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), currently promoting the eSPO Acknowledgement Certificate.
IR. HJ. Riwayat B. Mansor, MPC Associate, provided insight into the eSPO Acknowledgement Certificate, the process of getting recognized, what kind of questions to expect, what can be done to earn that certification and more. Attendees had a chance to raise questions and gain clarity on the certification. Special thanks to our guests from MPC for providing the briefing for our members.
Broadcom Penang is participating in the PIKAS program to help keep its employees safe. To date, 90% of Broadcom Penang associates have received at least one vaccine dose and of that number, approx 73% are fully vaccinated. Broadcom will embark on another PIKAS vaccination program starting 24 July, 2021.
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) which leads the nations digital transformation agenda has announced its 5 year plan to attract digital investment into the country. The ‘Digital Investments Future5 (DIF5) Strategy’ focuses on five key thrusts aimed at attracting these investments in line with the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint or MyDIGITAL.
The five-year initiative, which will run from 2021 to 2025 following the 12th Malaysia Plan, aims to secure high quality digital investments as it seeks to unlock new drivers of growth in the digital economy. Cumulatively, MDEC has brought in RM345 billion worth of investments via MSC Malaysia since 1996, creating 184,396 jobs, and housing 40 of the Forbes100 companies in Malaysia.
HSBC has won the coveted award for ‘Best Bank for Sustainable Finance’ in Asia as part of the 2021 Euromoney Awards for Excellence. This is the fourth consecutive year in a row that HSBC has won this award.
According to Euromoney, “HSBC’s strength in sustainable finance is deep rooted and hard to match. HSBC ranks first for green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bond issues in APAC. It’s equally strong on sustainability-linked lending. But it’s more about the sense of leadership and this manifests itself in several ways”.
On 15.6.2021, the Prime Minister of Malaysia proposed a four-phase COVID-19 recovery plan which tentatively lasts until the end of this year. It is a phased exit strategy for the country to steer out from the pandemic based on three indicators, namely the number of daily COVID-19 infections, the capability of public healthcare system and the percentage of population that has received two doses of vaccines.
This simply means that the movement restrictions will remain in implementation so long as the COVID-19 cases do not decline sufficiently.
