Search Results for: Malaysia

TAKING tips online, Malaysians are increasingly adopting a DIY stance for comparatively simple home maintenance tasks such as painting walls – a trend that has led the country’s home paint sales to surge – notwithstanding weak economic conditions, experts say.

Indeed, an economic softening in 2016 partly led consumers to opt for DIY so that they can cut the cost of hiring professionals to paint walls, an analyst from London-based market intelligence company Euromonitor International said.…

THE MALAYSIAN government has effectively scrapped the country’s Goods & Services Tax (GST) reducing its rate from 6% to 0%, effective June 1. The move follows the election of a new administration under former opposition alliance Pakatan Harapan, defeating the incumbent Barisan Nasional.…

CHINA’S State Council has announced reductions in mainland VAT, with businesses being saved Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY400 billion (USD62.8 billion) in this year alone, it has said. Rates have been lowered (from May 1, 2018) from 17% to 16% for manufacturing and other industries, and 11% to 10% for transport, construction bills, standard telecommunications service, and direct farm output purchasers by consumers (12% when these goods are bought by manufacturers for onward processing).…

The Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam, a religious duty every Muslim should perform once in their lifetime. But with 1.7 billion Muslims worldwide and the Hajj only occurring over five days every year, the event is a logistical challenge for the Saudi Arabian government, tour operators, hospitality service providers, retailers and accountants.…

AS in the Caribbean, small island jurisdictions in the south Pacific vary regarding their anti-money laundering (AML) exposure through the extent to which they host offshore financial sectors. As a result, when comparing the counties of Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands, it is clear which of the three global AML regulators have had to worry about – Vanuatu.…

THE HONG Kong-based shirt producer Esquel Group has been bedding in operations of a new ground-breaking manufacturing facility launched in March. Based in the Jiumeiqiao area, Guilin, Guangxi province, in southern China, it is part of a Chinese Yuan Renminbi CNY2 billion (USD313.3 million) Esquel sustainable manufacturing investment project called ‘Integral’.…

EXPERTS have expressed mixed reactions on how a proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), now years in the making, could help revive the garment and textile sector in South East Asia.

The 16-member bloc that includes the 10 ASEAN member countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and six other countries – Australia New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea – have been negotiating the deal since November 2012.…

Word from US President Donald Trump that he may reverse a longstanding position and explore the possibility that the country may join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) after all, has left the fashion industry – along with much of the American business community – somewhat sceptical, while being supportive.…

PROTECTIONISM and currency problems are posing challenges for north Africa’s beauty and personal care market, often forcing consumers to change their purchasing behaviour and turn to locally manufactured products, when they are available.

In Egypt, the region’s most populous country, the fall in value of the local currency, the Egyptian pound, against the Euro, has helped increase the price of imported products.…

THE HONG Kong financial secretary has proposed a 75% reduction of profits tax, salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for the 2017-18 assessment year, up to Hong Kong dollars HKD30,000 (USD3,820) per case. In his annual budget speech, Paul Chan also proposed widening tax bands, adding one more (HKD150,000 to HKD200,000); adjusting marginal tax rates for salaries tax; introducing a personal disability allowance; increasing basic, additional child allowances, dependent parent/grandparent allowance and additional allowance.…