Corporate News

PNB, GLICs to develop 10 bumiputera champion firms by 2030

KUALA LUMPUR: Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), together with other Government-Linked Investment Companies (GLICs), is committed to driving the 10 Bumiputera Champions initiative to create 10 companies, each with a market capitalisation or enterprise value of at least RM500 million by 2030.

Economy

World Bank: Malaysia shows strong progress in reducing poverty, must now focus on inclusive growth

PUTRAJAYA: The World Bank has commended Malaysia for its strong progress in reducing poverty, particularly hardcore poverty, while noting that further improvements in education and health outcomes are crucial to support inclusive and equitable growth.

Business

Nestlé for Healthier Kids marks 15th anniversary, aims for 500,000 students by 2030

KUALA LUMPUR: Nestlé for Healthier Kids (N4HK) programme has reached over 220,000 children across 865 schools nationwide, marking its 15th anniversary.

Star Biz7

URA: Why it deserves support

Criticism of the Urban Renewal Bill centres on its proposed consent threshold for redevelopment.

Star Biz7

Johor — a top regional hotspot

It appears to be a foregone conclusion that Malaysia's property sector has shifted its eyes southward and the spotlight is decisively on the state that is closest to Singapore.

Star Biz7

Flooring to beat Malaysia’s heat

Floors are not constructed to be unbreakable but resilient. Regardless of spills, scratches or even unexpected floods, a good floor should be able to hold its ground.

Nation

E-invoice exemption threshold up to RM1mil starting 2026, says PM

KOTA KINABALU: The government will raise the e-invoice exemption threshold from RM500,000 to RM1mil beginning 2026 as part of efforts to ease the burden on small and medium enterprises (SME).

Forex

Ringgit to remain steady, trade within 4.10-4.12 versus greenback next week

KUALA LUMPUR: The ringgit is expected to remain steady and trade within the 4.10-4.12 range against the US dollar next week, supported by market expectations of an interest rate cut by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) at its upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. 

Star Biz7

Stable credit lights up Asia Pacific

The Asia-Pacific power sector is set for a broadly stable credit trajectory over the next 12 to 18 months, even as utilities continue heavy spending on renewable energy (RE) and grid infrastructure.

Star Biz7

FBM KLCI poised for strong year-end

Malaysia's equity market is heading into the final stretch of the year, with sentiment cautiously tilting upward and investors eyeing year-end positioning.

Insight

Future of digital is green

Data centres, cloud computing, big data. These are the digital engines of our modern world mushrooming across the globe.

Star Biz7

Cortina rolls out mobile homes for Winter Games

The Winter Olympians who have signed up to stay in Cortina d'Ampezzo's Athletes Village should not expect luxury accommodations or a cozy fire to snuggle up next to after a long day on the mountain.

Star Biz7

Thai market wades out of flood woes

Thailand's stock market is heading into the next quarter with investors looking beyond the immediate chaos of the southern floods and towards the slow, uneven rebuild that will follow.

Insight

Beijing or Global South consensus?

In 2004, the American vice-chairman of Henry Kissinger Associates, Joshua Cooper Ramo, coined the term "Beijing Consensus" as an alternative to the Washington Consensus, the neoliberal framework of economic policies devised in the 1980s by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the US Treasury.

Insight

High cost of retirement

It's the great Malaysian dream. After decades of work, discipline and sacrifice, the plan is to retire into a period of comfort and freedom.

Star Biz7

Mega port strategy in the dock

Malaysia is entering an era of mega port announcements. In recent months, proposals such as the RM144bil Maharani Freeport in Johor and the RM72bil Lumut Maritime Industrial City (LuMIC) have dominated headlines.

Star Biz7

Investors turn to EMs

Global bond investors are beginning to view select emerging markets (EMs) as safer than many far richer nations, a momentous shift that's setting the stage for the next phase of outperformance in the asset class.

Star Biz7

Super scheme blows the roof off

As the Trump administration stalls federal funding for projects intended to make states more resilient to climate change and private insurers decline to cover properties in high-risk zones, North Carolina just proved there's another way to fund disaster preparedness: a US$600mil catastrophe bond (cat bond) that rewards homeowners and their insurer for installing "super roofs."

Insight

China, five years on

China will continue to deepen structural reforms, but it has not shifted away from its growth ambitions.

Insight

Decent 3Q25, but a challenging 2026 awaits

The just-ended third quarter of financial year 2025 (3Q25) reporting season must be one of the better quarters in recent times, with more hits than misses, largely due to the corrective and adjusted earnings expectations that has already been built into the current year's forecast.