2nd among Asean countries in Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013.

source: http://www.mysinchew.com/node/77301

Malaysia  second spot among Asean countries in the Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013.   Ranked the country eighth among 22 Asia Pacific countries ahead of China, India and other Asean countries except Singapore, and placed it among the top 20 per cent of the most competitive countries globally in a. report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), based in Geneva, Switzerland.

WEF has acknowledged Malaysia's efforts to move up the value chain and upgraded the country's stage of development to "transition towards innovation-driven" from "efficiency-driven" previously.

Malaysia has to increasingly focus on both non-technological and technological innovations to further enhance its competitiveness, most notable advantages are its efficient and competitive market for goods and services, its remarkably supportive financial sector, and its business-friendly institutional framework.

The report put Malaysia in the top ten among the 144 countries covered in many areas, including in the legal rights index (ranked first), pay and productivity (third), government services for improved business performance (fourth) and strength of investor protection (fourth).

Malaysia also did well in government regulation and ease of access to loans (eighth); financing through local equity market (ninth); and business impact of rules on foreign direct investments, as well as efficiency of legal framework in challenging regulations (10th).

turtle eggs laying watching

Ringgit

source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-15/malaysia-s-ringgit-declines-ahead-of-economic-data-correct-.html

Malaysia’s ringgit fell before time of GDP data release data forecast to show Southeast Asia’s third-largest economy grew at the slowest pace in a year. Malaysia’s inflation rate is forecast to stay at the lowest level in two years.



Gross domestic product increased 4.6 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, compared with 4.7 percent in the previous three months, according to median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey before an official report due at 5 p.m. local time. Consumer prices rose 1.6 percent in July, unchanged from June, a separate survey showed.

 The ringgit declined 0.1 percent to 3.1226 per dollar as of 8:56 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. One-month implied volatility, a measure of exchange- rate swings used to price options, dropped 10 basis points, or 0.1 percentage point, to 6.22 percent, the lowest since July 18.
The currency will be cushioned against external weakness by Malaysia’s current-account surplus, Credit Agricole CIB said in a report today. The surplus as a percentage of GDP is the second-largest in Asia, according to the report.

Lee Chong Wei silver medalist 2012 Olympic Games

Lee is a silver medalist in both the 2012 Olympic Games and 2008 Olympic Games, thus becoming the first Malaysian to reach the final of the men's singles event and ending Malaysia's Olympic medal drought since the 1996 Games.

Lee Chong Wei (born October 21, 1982 in Bagan Serai, Perak^[2]) is a professional badminton player from Malaysia who resides in Bukit Mertajam.^[3] As a singles player, Lee was ranked first worldwide for 199 consecutive weeks from August 21, 2008 to June 14, 2012.^[4] He is the third Malaysian men's singles shuttler after Rashid Sidek and Roslin Hashim to achieve such a ranking (since official rankings were first kept in the 1980s), and is the only Malaysian shuttler to hold the ranking for more than two weeks.


source:

Pandelela bronze in the 10m diving event 2012 Summer Olympics in London

Pandelela Rinong anak Pamg (born 2 March 1993) is a Malaysian diver. She became the first female Malaysian athlete to win a medal at the Olympics, as well as the first to win an Olympic medal in any sport other than Badminton, when she took the bronze in the 10m diving event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.^[1][2]

She is 5'3" tall and weighs 109 lbs.^[3] She is from Kupuo Jugan,Bau. She is of Bidayuh ethnicity, a Bumiputera native to Sarawak, Malaysia.

At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships, she won a bronze medal in the Women's 10 m Synchronized Platform with Mun Yee Leong^[4] and placed 5th in the Women's 10 m platform.^[5] She also competed in the Women's 10 m platform at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.^[6]
She was the flag bearer for the Malaysian contingent at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore where she won the silver medals in the girls' 10m platform event and 3m springboard event.^[7]
At New Delhi 2010, she won Malaysia's first Commonwealth Games gold medal in an aquatic sport by winning the women's 10m platform.
She became Malaysia's first female flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics where she competed in the individual 10 m platform and the 10 m platform synchronized event with her partner Leong Mun Yee.
She became the first Malaysian female athlete to win an Olympics medal, and the first Malaysian athlete to win an Olympics medal in a sport besides badminton by winning a bronze medal in the Women's 10 m platform at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandelela_Rinong

Batu Caves, Malaysia

source: http://youtu.be/6P6sybV2pJ0

Datai Beach, Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia

source: http://youtu.be/6Nqrir7SomY

Perhentian Island - Besar (Malaysia)

source:  http://youtu.be/zM5FXaO7Kpo






source: http://youtu.be/_gQgOJLuMNQ

Redang Island, Malaysia

source: http://youtu.be/0qHSGshNxk8

Pangkor Laut, Malaysia

source: http://youtu.be/NOVndD73xog

Malaysia key players

source: http://youtu.be/M1e5WDDj1zM



source: http://youtu.be/PR7yg9ifB6U



source: http://youtu.be/pRtgkGeXB8U

Malaysia set to be premium crops exporter

source: http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120704001201/Article/index_html

MRT Japan wants its partnership with Malaysian firm JPB Asia Pacific to expand its collaboration with farmers in the Northern Corridor Economic Region to the rest of the country.

Read more: Malaysia set to be premium crops exporter http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120704001201/Article/index_html#ixzz211fK1kci

If Malaysian contract farmers participating in a planned programme to supply premium fruits and vegetables to Japanese markets play their cards right, they may very well put the country on the agriculture map for such crops.

MRT Japan Co Ltd, which currently has contract farming programmes in China and Indonesia, wants its partnership with Malaysian firm JPB Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd to succeed and expand its existing collaboration with farmers in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) to the rest of the country.

"We want to make our collaboration successful not only in Penang and Kedah, but also to improve the quality and value of the fruits and vegetables available in Malaysia," the company's president Shiro Komura told Malaysian reporters here yesterday.

The visit is part of the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority's drive to boost the agriculture sector in the NCER states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak. Also present was NCIA chief executive Datuk Redza Rafiq.

Read more: Malaysia set to be premium crops exporter http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120704001201/Article/index_html#ixzz211fUKDdu

Komura said a contract farming arrangement with China, which was set up by his company more than two decades ago, had been reviewed and imports from China have now been "minimal".

"We have also tried this in Indonesia since two years ago, but so far the production has not met our stringent export requirements," he added.

Stressing that Japanese consumers - both in Japan and those living abroad - were particular about food security, Komura said that initial collaboration with farmers in China had seen the produce pass all quality checks.

"This is because we have been supporting them with fertilisers and methods which are up to Japanese standards," he added.

MRT Japan is engaged in the marketing of horticultural products including fruits and vegetables in Japan and overseas.

The company and JPB Asia Pacific on Monday inked an agreement to set up a joint-venture company for their collaboration in Malaysia, which has seen RM35 million ploughed in for two green cultivation houses in Ara Kuda and Bukit Kura in Kedah, respectively, for crops such as rockmelons, chillies and Japanese pumpkins.

An extra RM70 million is due to be injected till 2015 which will see the creation of some 100 agropreneurs and also 100 greenhouses.

Komura said two Japanese farmers have expressed interest to farm in the northern states and several contract farmers from Japan have been going to Penang to test the soil for the farming needs of premium produce.

Redza said that via the recently inked collaboration, the NCIA is hoping that more investors from Japan will participate in the project, and help uplift the standard of living in the NCER.
"Agriculture is the way to go and we have a very efficient logistics network - via Penang Airport and MASkargo at the Penang International Airport - to support this initiative," added Redza.

Read more: Malaysia set to be premium crops exporter http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120704001201/Article/index_html#ixzz211fc8xQH