On 14TH June 2017, JA Malaysia organized a More Than Money workshop at SJK (T) Ladang Batu Ampat, Klang in collaboration with HSBC. More Than Money is a financial literacy program designed for primary school students. The 76 students were introduced to the various concepts of money management such as Earning, Spending, Saving and Ways to be a good Consumer. The students, full of enthusiasm and energy, successfully grasped how to manage their personal and business bank accounts through interactive board games during the workshop. In addition, it was a fun experience not only for the students but also the volunteers as we learnt a thing or two from the students.
350 members and guests joined AMCHAM as it hosted Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib bin Tun Razak and the U.S. Ambassador Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir to celebrate 60 years of bilateral and business ties at the Mandarin Oriental on July 11, 2017. Senior officials and captains of industry were part of this illustrious audience that included Ministers Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed of MITI and Dato’ Sri Rohani Abdul Karim, Minister, Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. YABhg Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor was also present.
The American and Malaysian business communities have long recognized the strong and lasting bonds between the two countries since official ties were created in 1957. Over the years, the continuous engagement between the public and private sectors of both nations has resulted in a resilient friendship that has sustained business, cultural and diplomatic growth.
Dato’ Sri Najib bin Tun Razak delivered the keynote address that included some key announcement including the recent relief provided on GST, the call for greater ties in areas such as security.He also promised a set of guidelines that will address the new aspects of the Withholding Tax laws that have been imposed on services rendered outside of the country.A recent departure from OECD guidelines that have been disruptive to many of AMCHAM members.
The evening recognized how Malaysians deeply value the strong diplomatic and trade relations with the US, and how American firms have played an important role in driving the growth of many economic sectors in Malaysia.
“AMCHAM firms have for decades been invaluable to the Malaysian economy,” said HE Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, the US Ambassador to Malaysia. “They are in manufacturing, financial services, energy exploration, electricity production, and healthcare to name a few sectors. Equally important, these companies are vital to local communities with longstanding and still expanding programs such as training youth, empowering women entrepreneurs, and rural healthcare initiatives.
Tonight was a celebration of the business and community partnerships AMCHAM firms have made across Malaysian society.”
The gala dinner at the Mandarin Oriental, KLCC, was hosted by the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) which celebrates its 40th anniversary next year.
Also present at the gala dinner were:
YBhg Dato’ Azman Mahmud, CEO, MIDA
YBhg Datuk Seri Jayasiri Jayasena, Secretary General, MITI
YBhg Datuk Dr Hafsah Hashim, CEO, SME Corp
Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali, Director General, Immigration Department
YBhg Datuk Wan Latiff, Deputy CEO, MATRADE
YBhg Datuk Tim Garland, Interim President of AMCHAM
Siobhan Das, Executive Director of AMCHAM, said the chamber has played an important role in 40 of the 60 years of business ties between Malaysia and the US.
“Our tradition of constructive engagement and meaningful discourse continues to yield trade, investment and the development of people,” she said. “We are very honored to have Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib present at this occasion, along with Ambassador Kamala.”
This year, a key initiative called AMCHAM Cares is underway at the Chamber. It raises awareness of CSR and corporate citizenship and recognizes AMCHAM members who demonstrate best practices in creating long-term economic and social value. AMCHAM Cares seeks to benchmark CSR work and share information to maximize its impact. AMCHAM member companies engage in CSR with an array of activities from education to healthcare, environmental stewardship and community programs.
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is almost there in terms of attaining visa waiver status to the United States, according to its chief diplomat here. US Ambassador to Malaysia Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir (pic) said Malaysia was getting close, with a 96.7% approval rate for US business (B1) and tourist (B2) visas. To qualify for the US Visa Waiver Programme (VWP), she said a country needed to attain an above 97% approval rate for the visas. The envoy, however, said the full “standard” had not been reached as border and travel security measures had also to be improved.
“The Malaysian Government is improving things towards achieving that goal. We need to keep working on the list of requirements, which will improve Malaysia’s safety standards anyway.
“The world is not getting any safer,” she said at the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute’s roundtable on “Enhancing Malaysia-US ties in a new era”.
The VWP enables citizens of specific countries to travel there for tourism, business or transit for up to 90 days. Lakhdhir, who assumed her duties here in January, said the approval rate for Malaysians applying for US student visas was at 99%. She assured Malaysians that they would not be affected by US President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban the entry of people from six Muslim-majority countries.
On June 29, the ban came back in effect after being challenged in American courts for over five months, and now conditionally applies to visa applicants from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen for the next 90 days. Lakhdhir said the Trump administration was re-looking procedures on travel and border security, though it had made no formal statement on the VWP for Malaysia.
While the envoy could not predict the eventual fate of the VWP, she said there was no definitive move to terminate the initiative with Malaysia.
On Trump’s perceived isolationist policies, Lakhdhir said the United States was a global economy, and isolationist and protectionist policies would be untenable. She said although the United States had a goal of increasing the number of Malaysians studying there, several factors were keeping Malaysians from going over. These include a historic preference for studying in Britain, misconception that student visas are hard to obtain and that Muslim students are not welcome.
Lakhdhir urged Malaysian students in the United States to act as ambassadors of American education based on their positive experience there. Malaysia is among the top 25 places of origin of international students in the United States, with nearly 8,000 students there presently, an 8.3% increase from 2016.
More than one million international students are enrolled at US higher education institutions, maintaining the country’s long-standing position as the world’s top host nation for international students.
Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/07/08/msia-close-to-us-visa-waiver-status-us-ambassador-967-approval-rate/#SjM0teayCQ2PWGqQ.99
