On 20 January 2021, AMCHAM organized a Farewell Townhall session with Ambassador Lakhdhir. This virtual session marked AMCHAM’s final program with Ambassador Lakhdhir as she is soon to depart Malaysia.
The Ambassador spoke about her time in Malaysia, the journey with AMCHAM, and the member companies and what she’s going to miss most. This virtual session was attended by close to 90 members who all had a brief moment to say their farewell remarks and to reminisce on her time spent in Malaysia.
It has been a great four years of engagement with her and AMCHAM with its member companies with a host of fond memories of her time with us. All of us here at AMCHAM and all its member companies wish her safe journeys, many thanks for everything, and best of luck with all her future endeavors.
In 2020, 34 of our member companies were recognized under the MY AMCHAM CARES program.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were unable to host our traditional MY AMCHAM CARES Recognition event alongside our Thanksgiving Luncheon. However, today 20 January 2021, AMCHAM was able to have a virtual engagement session with these 34 member companies and celebrate their recognition for the past year.
Ramzi Toubassy, Chairman, AMCHAM opened the session, Solomon Lorthu, Chairman of the Corporate Citizenship Committee (CCC) remarked on all the good work the companies have done throughout the year, and H.E. Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia spoke with the recipients, congratulating them on their efforts. Recipients were given the opportunity to have a one on one session with the Ambassador which they were appreciative of, before she leaves Malaysia.
Special thanks to the Ambassador Lakhdhir for joining us in this session and congratulations to the 34 companies that were recognized for their best practices of 2020.
EY has released its Special Tax Alert No. 1/2021 on Perlindungan Ekonomi dan Rakyat Malaysia (PERMAI) assistance package.
The PERMAI assistance package improves on the existing on-going initiatives and also accelerates the implementation of related initiatives. The three main objectives of the package are:
- First: Combat the COVID-19 Outbreak
- Second: Safeguard the welfare of the people; and
- Third: Support business continuity
This special tax alert covers the tax measures and selected initiatives such as Wage Subsidy Program 3.0 and HRDF levy exemption.
KUALA LUMPUR, January 14, 2021 – Herbalife Nutrition (NYSE:HLF), a premier global nutrition company, recently launched two new Pick-Up Centres (PUC) – in Bukit Mertajam, Penang and Johor Bahru, Johor – as part of its expansion plan in the Northern and Southern regions.
“The ongoing support from our independent members and their customers has definitely given us a solid reason to look for bigger spaces in these regions to meet the growing demand for Herbalife Nutrition products,” said Steven Chin, General Manager and Director, Herbalife Nutrition Malaysia. “Our strong growth over the past few years has been driven by our members helping their communities live healthier lives. We anticipate the demand for health solutions will continue growing as consumer awareness regarding health and wellness increases.”
The new PUCs are double the size of previous centres, digitally equipped and offer a variety of services, ranging from information sharing, through product order placement, to over-the-counter pick up of products. In addition to bringing convenience for accessing Herbalife Nutrition products, the PUCs also serve as training/ meeting facilities for Herbalife Nutrition members.
“The opening of the new PUCs comes at a pivotal time, as there is a growing concern about balanced nutrition and health among Malaysians in recent years. Through our passionate independent members, we look forward to serving and inspiring more Malaysians to live a healthier, active lifestyle, supported by good nutrition,” added Steven Chin.
Herbalife Nutrition is currently operating from 19 locations nationwide.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has announced the “Perlindungan Ekonomi dan Rakyat Malaysia (PERMAI)” assistance package worth RM15bil on Monday (Jan 18). In a special address, Muhyiddin said that the government had already announced four economic stimulus packages worth RM305bil previously.
Key Highlights include:
- Vaccination Programme is on-track. The Government has signed three agreements with vaccine producers, and is expected to receive the first batch of vaccines by the end of February.
For those who will soon receive the vaccine, the guidelines and methods on receiving the vaccine will be announced soon.
The Government will recruit an additional 3,500 healthcare personnel who will start working at the end of this month, with an additional allocation of RM150 million.
- The one-off provision of RM500 to healthcare frontliners and RM300 to other frontliners will be paid in the first quarter of this year.
- The existing special monthly allowance of RM600 to healthcare frontliners and RM200 to other frontliners will continue until the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
Private hospitals have agreed to receive and treat both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients to help alleviate the strain on the public healthcare system. The Government will allocate RM100 million for this purpose.
SOCSO is involved in the COVID-19 Screening Test Program on registered foreign workers. The cost of screening will be borne fully by SOCSO in red zones to identify possible COVID-19 clusters at workplace.
The final payment of the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional or BPN 2.0 will be brought forward from 21 January 2021 onwards. A total of 11.1 million recipients will receive a total payment of RM2.38 billion.
JKM will also implement a Food Basket Program immediately which will provide essential food items worth RM100 for each eligible household, involving a total allocation of RM50 million.
The moratorium facility, including extension of the moratorium and restructuring of loan repayment will continue to be offered by banks.
The Government has been informed that EPF will provide an advance of up to RM1,000 from the amount applied under the i-Sinar Category 2 facility.
A special tax relief of up to RM2,500 on the purchase of mobile phones, computers and tablets which expired on 31 December 2020, will be extended for another year until the end of 2021.
The provision of free 1 Gigabit data has been offered to the public to browse websites, including for educational purposes will be extended until the end of April 2021.
The Wage Subsidy Program 3.0 under SOCSO will be enhanced whereby all employers operating in the MCO states will be eligible to apply, irrespective of sector.
For a period of one month, eligible employers will receive a wage subsidy of RM600 for each of their employee earning less than RM4,000. In addition, the wage subsidy limit of 200 employees for each employer will be increased to 500 employees. This initiative involves an additional allocation of RM1 billion which is estimated to benefit 250,000 workers employing more than 2.6 million workers.
RM24 million has been allocated by the Government to fund the full contribution under SOCSO’s Self-Employment Social Security Scheme.
The Government will expand the Prihatin Special Grant Plus assistance to cover 500,000 SMEs in the seven MCO states with a payment of RM1,000 each, while 300,000 SMEs in other states will receive RM500 each.
A one-off financial assistance of RM500 will be provided to 14,000 tourist guides as well as 118,000 drivers of taxis, school buses, tour buses, rental cars and e-hailing vehicles, with an additional allocation of RM66 million.
The Government has agreed to provide a special discount of 10 percent on electricity bills from January to March 2021 to six business sectors nationwide, comprising hotel operators, theme parks, convention centres, shopping malls, local airline offices as well as travel and tour agencies.
In addition, electricity rebates will be given to all TNB users, domestic and non-domestic at a rate of 2 sen per kilowatt-hour, which is equivalent to a reduction in electricity bills of up to 9 percent for a period of 6 months, from 1st January to 30th June 2021.
The Government agreed to extend the effective period of inability to perform contractual obligations to 31st March 2021 under the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of COVID-19 Act 2020, or Act 829.
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The Royal Malaysian Police has released an FAQ providing more details on the regulation of movement during the various Movement Control Orders. The FAQ covers when and who must obtain permission from the RMP to travel across districts and states, as well as the conditions in which such travel is allowed.
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