logo
Zahid chairs Malaysia-Indonesia halal industry collaboration roundtable

Zahid chairs Malaysia-Indonesia halal industry collaboration roundtable

JAKARTA: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today chaired the Malaysia-Indonesia Halal Industry Collaboration Roundtable, a strategic platform highlighting both nations' shared commitment to regional cooperation and inclusive growth within the global halal economy.
The discussions focused on tackling trade-related challenges, exploring investment opportunities, and promoting joint ventures between Malaysian and Indonesian businesses.
The roundtable also aimed to bolster Asean-wide halal cooperation, positioning the region to tap into the projected US$5 trillion global halal market by 2030.
.
"The session emphasised actionable strategies to sustain and grow bilateral trade flows while capitalising on each country's comparative advantages," he said in a statement today.
Zahid said that both nations would drive inclusive growth and create complementary value for the respective halal economies by aligning Malaysia's Halal Industry Master Plan 2030 (HIMP 2030) and Indonesia's halal economy roadmap.
The roundtable, organised by the Halal Development Corporation Bhd (HDC), an agency under the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti), continues its mission to strengthen Malaysia's footprint in the halal industry.
The roundtable also emphasised Malaysia's globally recognised halal ecosystem and its crucial role as Asean chair in 2025, while bringing together key stakeholders from Malaysia and Indonesia.
"Malaysia is advancing a cooperative halal agenda that balances economic opportunity with values-based trade, showing the region's growing influence in shaping the global halal landscape," he said.
Zahid said that Malaysia and Indonesia shared a long-standing partnership in the halal sector, steered by mutual objectives to complement standards and enhance trade flows.
In June 2023, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) and Indonesia's Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Produk Halal (BPJPH) signed a cooperation agreement on mutual recognition of halal certificates.
The agreement has streamlined market access by eliminating redundant certification processes, simplifying cross-border trade for certified products in both countries.
Trade figures underscore the significance of Malaysia-Indonesia economic ties in the halal industry, with Malaysia exporting RM7.77 billion worth of halal-certified products to Indonesia between 2021 and 2023.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Firms keen to list on SGX
Firms keen to list on SGX

The Star

time36 minutes ago

  • The Star

Firms keen to list on SGX

SINGAPORE: Interest from Singapore firms to list on the local bourse via initial public offerings (IPOs) and reverse takeovers (RTOs) has been returning ahead of a US$5bil capital injection that is expected to help revive the local stock market. 'We are currently working on several listings, including the Yangzijiang Maritime spin-off and the proposed RTO involving Sincap and Skylink Apac, both expected to list on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) within the year,' Ong Hwee Li, chief executive of corporate finance firm SAC Capital, told The Straits Times. This follows April announcements by SGX-listed Yangzijiang Financial to spin off its maritime investments into a separately listed company, and by Sincap Group to acquire vehicle leasing firm Skylink for S$42.3mil via an RTO, paving the way for Skylink to become publicly listed. SAC Capital is also advising 'two to three' local IPO aspirants in sectors including events management, real estate management and natural resources. These firms expect to list on SGX in 2026. 'We are receiving more listing inquiries, about one to two per month, from companies in other industries like construction, food and beverage, technology, and financing sectors, highlighting renewed interest in IPOs,' Ong said. He added that SAC Capital's IPO pipeline is now full, with much stronger investor interest in book building compared with 2024. Book building is a stage in the IPO process where investors bid for the number of shares they want at certain price points, which helps corporate advisers gauge demand for a company's shares and how to price them before they are listed on the stock exchange. These developments are being fuelled by a central bank-led programme to allocate US$5bil in seed capital to Singapore-based funds for investing in local stocks which are not on the benchmark Straits Times Index (STI). The STI tracks the performance of the top 30 largest and most liquid companies listed on SGX. Announced in February as part of a string of measures to revive the Singapore stock market, the programme has received positive interest from global fund managers. Suitable investment strategies will be shortlisted by end-September, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has said. Analysts reckon the funds will likely be deployed before the end of 2025. Listing interest has gained momentum as a result. On June 6, Bloomberg reported that Hong Kong-based Link-REIT is considering listing a real estate investment trust (REIT) in Singapore that would include some of its properties outside of China and Hong Kong, while Japan's Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in its earnings release in May said it plans to list its data centre REIT on the SGX. In May, Reuters reported that at least five companies from mainland China or Hong Kong are planning IPOs, dual listings, or share placements in Singapore in the next 12 to 18 months. The companies include a Chinese energy company, a Chinese healthcare group, and a Shanghai-based biotech group. In April, LHN Group announced plans to take its co-living business Coliwoo Group public on the SGX. The real estate management services group, dual-listed in Singapore and Hong Kong, said it has submitted applications in both places for the proposed spin-off and separate listing of the shares of Coliwoo on the mainboard of SGX. In January, Centurion Corp said in a bourse filing that it is exploring the establishment of a REIT involving some of its worker and student accommodation assets that it plans to list on the SGX main board. US data security firm AvePoint, which trades on Nasdaq, in January also filed for a secondary listing in Singapore. If they take place, these listings will give the SGX a much-needed boost after the bourse saw just four IPOs in 2024, a record low. The bourse has hosted just one notable IPO in 2025, that of automotive group Vin's Holdings, which is now trading at 29 US cents, close to its IPO price of 30 US cents. Key to their success is how the shares are traded post-listing, Ong said, noting that many IPOs, particularly on Catalist, are too small and have controlled floats, where a company limits the number of shares available for public trading. While a limited float may initially create strong demand and price momentum, it also means there is little market depth to absorb selling pressure once investor sentiment shifts. Ong noted that SAC Capital encourages retail participation in the IPOs it manages by offering automated teller machine (ATM) tranches, which allows retail investors to apply for shares directly through their bank ATMs. He added that retail investors who receive shares through the ATM tranche tend to trade more actively, contributing to a more diversified and engaged shareholder base post-listing. — The Straits Times/ANN

Hedge funds face California rebuke over role in wildfires claims
Hedge funds face California rebuke over role in wildfires claims

The Star

time36 minutes ago

  • The Star

Hedge funds face California rebuke over role in wildfires claims

Hedge funds buying these claims from insurers are now under attack from the California Earthquake Authority, which is the administrator of the California Wildfire Fund. — Bloomberg LOS ANGELES: Hedge funds are facing pushback in California as their bets tied to insurance claims stemming from the Los Angeles wildfires are attacked as unethical. The transactions in focus are tied to so-called subrogation claims, which hedge funds, private equity firms and other alternative investment managers have been buying from insurers over the past few months. Subrogation kicks in if a third party such as a utility is suspected of being responsible for losses covered by insurers. Hedge funds buying these claims from insurers are now under attack from the California Earthquake Authority, which is the administrator of the California Wildfire Fund. It has described such transactions as 'opportunistic, profit-driven investment speculation' and said it's planning to take on 'hedge funds and other speculators' that it claims 'are actively seeking to profit from California's devastating wildfire catastrophes'. In practice, that means the authority will try to block the payout of what it said could end up being 'billions of dollars' to the investors that bought the claims, according to materials prepared ahead of a meeting that took place last month with the California Catastrophe Response Council, which oversees the fund. To that end, it plans to engage California's state legislature, according to a transcript of comments made during the meeting and seen by Bloomberg. A spokesperson for the authority declined to comment. Bradley Max, a director at Cherokee Acquisition, a New York-based investment bank that trades and invests in subrogation claims, said the development has 'put a chill on bidding', which is already visible in pricing. Subrogation rights tied to the Eaton Fire that ripped through Southern California in January were trading as high as 50 US cents on the dollar at one point, but have now dropped 'at least a few points lower', Max said. Even though the political development has led to lower prices on the subrogation claims, it hasn't held back transactions. Cherokee said in April it had brokered deals linked to the Los Angeles fires for 'larger, more sophisticated distressed debt hedge funds'. And by April 15, there had 'been at least 10 transactions, to date, totalling more than US$1bil worth of recovery rights between Eaton and Palisades' fires, investment bank Oppenheimer & Co Inc's co-head of special assets, Ronald Ryder, told the California Earthquake Authority. On April 17, Oppenheimer 'successfully traded' over US$125mil in claims in just one day, Ryder added. A spokesperson for Oppenheimer declined to comment. Cherokee didn't name the hedge funds for which it brokered deals. In an email to the California Earthquake Authority, Ryder said that as catastrophic weather events become 'more prevalent', insurers are increasingly resorting to 'recovery subrogation in the secondary market to fortify the balance sheet'. There's a growing consensus that insurers can't cover the rising costs of weather-related catastrophes alone, especially as climate change fuels more extreme events. — Bloomberg

Stable yields to support performance of REITs
Stable yields to support performance of REITs

The Star

time36 minutes ago

  • The Star

Stable yields to support performance of REITs

Maybank IB Research remained positive on REITs. PETALING JAYA: The outlook for Malaysian real estate investment trusts (REITs) is becoming more challenging even as yields remain stable amid rising unit prices, analysts say. This is also despite the KL REIT Index gaining 0.9% against Bursa Malaysia's benchmark FBM KLCI's 8.2% loss over the five months to May. Analysts said that the expanded Sales and Service Tax (SST), which will come into effect on July 1, would have an impact on REITs as it would require them to them to impose an 8% service tax (unless specific lessee exemption criteria are met), raising operating costs for tenants. Revisions to Malaysia's SST include targeted increases for non-essential goods and an expansion of the services tax to six new categories: leasing or rental services, construction, financial services, private healthcare, education, and beauty services. While the aim of revising the SST is to broaden the tax base with minimal impact on the majority of Malaysian consumers, specific business sectors, particularly REITs and financial services, are expected to bear a more direct and potentially adverse impact, analysts said. CGS International Research said while REITs with prime assets would remain resilient due to strong tenant profiles and footfall, weaker properties may face tenant attrition. 'In this regard, REITs with lower-quality portfolios may be compelled to provide rental support, which could weigh on earnings and distributions,' the research house said. Maybank Investment Bank Research (Maybank IB Research) remained positive on REITs, with its top pick being Sunway-REIT. The research house said retail and industrial REITs remained resilient, but office REITs face challenges despite long leases and stable occupancy. It added that domestic REITs offer attractive average dividend yields of between 5.6% and 6.1% or a healthy spread of between 208 and 258 basis points against the 3.5% for current 10-year Malaysian Government Securities (MGS). 'We see room for spread compression should Bank Negara initiate an overnight policy rate cut in the second half of this year that would benefit REITs with higher floating-rate debt exposure,' Maybank IB Research said, adding that this would support valuation upside and lower financing costs for growth-oriented REITs. It noted that the managements of various REITs maintained a cautiously optimistic outlook but flagged a few concerns such as the potential 8% service tax that could limit their ability to raise rents, as well as the potential increase in electricity tariffs and broader economic uncertainty such as subsidy rationalisation for RON95 petrol and international trade tensions. MIDF Research, which downgraded REITs to 'neutral' from 'positive', said most of the positives have been priced in. 'Going forward, we expect REITs to continue registering earnings growth. However, we expect moderate earnings growth going forward from a normalised base in 2024. 'Besides, the yields of REITs under our coverage tapered to 4.6% following the increase in unit prices of REITs recently,' the research house said. It expects its top pick, Pavilion-REIT, with an unchanged target price of RM1.69, to see its earnings supported by a rental revision for Pavilion KL Mall, while Pavilion Bukit Jalil's performance remains stable. MIDF Research said that the KL REIT Index was resilient in the first five months of the year following a gain of 11.4% last year in comparison to the KLCI, as investors flocked to defensive investments. However, the research house said the increase in unit prices have also narrowed the yield spread versus 10-year MGS, which makes them less attractive to investors.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store