Putrajaya announces RM1.6 Billion for Kulim Airport as part of 11MP review

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — The federal government has approved RM1.6 billion to build the Kulim International Airport in Kedah, said Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.

He said it was one of five high-impact projects aimed at bridging the development gap between regions as provided in the Mid-Term Review of the 11th Malaysia Plan.

“To face present economic challenges, the government has drafted a new economic policy based on growth, ensuring fairness and the sharing of prosperity which demonstrates the spirit of inclusivity that will contribute to the sharing of wealth between Malaysians.

“A regional development agenda is one of the Pakatan Harapan government’s key promises which will be realised through strategic cooperation of many parties including state governments,” he said in a statement today.

Besides Kedah, other states identified included Sarawak, Sabah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis.

The other projects announced were the development of a logistics and manufacturing hub in Sidam worth RM300 million, the implementation of an impact study for the construction of a petrochemical industrial park in Gurun (RM2 million) and the construction of a digital library in Alor Setar (RM15 million).

Also included were the construction of Phase 1A (Bandar Baharu to Sungai Petani) and Phase 1B (Bandar Baharu to Penang Second Bridge) of the Northern Corridor Expressway worth RM1.7 billion.

According to Mohamed Azmin, his ministry has approved RM1.132 billion in development expenditure for Kedah in 2019, comprising 201 ongoing projects (RM1.049 billion) and 51 new projects (RM82.5 million).

He added Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had chaired the 20th Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) meeting for the Northern Corridor Economic Region on March 18.

“At the request of the Kedah mentri besar, the NCIA has also approved the Kasih Ibu Darul Aman programme with an annual allocation of RM30million aimed at preparing basic needs for 5,482 poor families.

“The federal and state governments share the same vision, that is to provide a service to the people and execute the shared prosperity agenda for the sake of development,” he said.

malaymail.com

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2 Governors and 3 Sultans are giving Mahathir a headache.

The reason being, the MB and Cabinet Ministers chosen from Pribumi are not working with the people,and Sultan.

MB from Kedah, Perak and Johor especially, are living a good life with money falling down from the sky daily.

The Prime Minister, Azmin Ali and Daim are working very hard to blackmail, threatened, steal, beg and borrow while Muhkriz sits and do nothing for Kedah. This is the reason why the Sultan of Kedah and Kedahans are ignoring Mukhriz.  Not many know that Mukhriz no longer is needed in Kedah, in fact there is an unspoken BAN that Mukhriz must not be seen when the Sultan and Regent attend events.

In Perak the state is growing barren because the MB is busy siphoning money out to Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

Meanwhile the Johore MB who together with family members are connected to the recent poisoning of 3,200 people.

Ini semua buatan Pribumi members.

I want Azmin Ali, Daim and Mahathir to answer whether MBI International has been blackmail to fund their PFI projects to escape being sentence to 20 years in jail.

What is the fund from Qatar for?  I understand this particular fund was money siphoned out during the time when Mahathir was the 4th Prime Minister and was brought back in March.

Where is Harapan Fund of RM200 million?

Can the Prime Minister reveal the truth WHY LIM GUAN ENG HAS BEEN BAN FROM ENTERING CHINA?

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO VOTE AGAINST PH GOVERNMENT.

THERE WILL BE 8 MORE BY ELECTION SOON.

The local bourse went into a groggy sleep today. That was a surprise considering our PM’s speech at Invest Malaysia 2019. The bulk of the recommendations and initiatives were SPOT ON to reinvigorate Malaysia domestic economy, export competitiveness and capital markets. I couldn’t have scripted a better blueprint, I think. Seriously, I think the markets should be up 20-30 points today, headed to 1850 by end April.

PM Tun Mahathir’s speech at Invest Malaysia 2019:

*Friendly ties with Singapore and China – growth partner. Key trading and investment partner. 

*GLC not to crowd out private sector – become a catalytic role in driving growth. (This is important but to actually see it, in reality, is another thing, a good initiative if carried out effectively).

*Fix and strengthen government – Cabinet committee set up for anti-corruption. (Just give MACC more teeth and more protection and/or reward for whistleblowers).

*No political appointees in GLCs. (Major… implement well).

*Change in the constitution – Prime Minister term to limit to 2 terms. (Do it while you have 2/3 majority cause somebody else could very well overturn this some years down the road).

*Parliament to appoint MACC Chief. 

*Budget transparency – mid-year Budget review to be done. (Budget is one thing, the government should place utmost importance on the Auditor General’s annual report and punish all perpetrators and their heads. What’s the point in Budget clarity and integrity in the numbers if “crimes/leakages” are not punished at the end of the day?).

*Ministry of Finance to provide guidelines on appointing Head of GLCs. 

*Prime Minister’s to review salary and remuneration of government agencies and GLCs. (Too narrow, and too much discretion here. Better to have a committee of 5 from respected disciplines. Successful business people who are in tune with the labour market for top executives on a domestic and regional basis).

*Look East Policy – Learn Japan culture in hard work. 

*Shared prosperity in income levels – Income gap widening and needs to narrow with higher worker salaries with growth in profits. (Local salaries won’t grow much unless we fix the foreign workers numbers and minimum salary. Limit the number of foreign workers in certain industries over time. Increase minimum salary of foreign workers over time – e.g. RM1,300 by January 2020; RM1,500 by January 2022; RM1,700 by January 2024… thus allow business owners to plan accordingly).

*Fiscal Responsibilities Act – Government balance sheet to reduce debt and guarantees, greater risk control on government guarantees. (Need actual RATIOs, % of GDP, % of foreign reserves, etc… so that there is actual accountability and structure).

*Reduce GLCs stake of the government – monetization must not be at fire-sale prices. No disruption to capital markets. Some GLCs to be listed. 

*Fiscal Consolidation Committee headed by Prime Minister is on track to achieve targets. 

*Reduce tax leakages. 

*Holistic and simplified tax incentives for future investments. 

*Corporate tax to be reduced to 17% for SMEs. (Standing ovation!!! This will be major in boosting entrepreneurship – just remember to repeal bankruptcy laws to a 4-5 year non-perpetuity system. 17% brings us in line with even HK, and when you put in the indirect subsidies in electricity, gas, fuel… that will put Malaysia miles ahead. Thailand is not even in the race thanks to their silly foreign ownership laws).

*No new tax this year – only sugar tax to be implemented. 

*Rationalising government expenditure to be more effective – streamlining programmes for poor headed by Deputy Prime Minister. 

*NEAC given mandate to identify pain points and proposing measures to improve growth prospects. 

*Education improvements – Make National Schools Great Again. No exams for Standard 1-3. Single vocational schools. A special task force reviewing entire education policies to complete next month. 

*Regain status as Asian Tiger.

Dr M: Vengeance would be worse than Christchurch attack

Saudis accuse ulama body linked to PAS chief of terrorism

Foreign Direct investments, to me, is the singular most important macro indicator for the mid-long term outlook for the economy. Following the stupendous May election result, many were optimistic over the reforms and plugging of leakages to the system. However as the months dragged on, nothing seems to be moving. All we saw was a prolonged process of getting the culprits to their destinies. 

Some GLC heads and other high ranking officers were removed, but nothing concrete was moving the real economy. The stock market went into a slow death mode. Projects were canceled
 and still,  more inertia seems to be bugging most ministries.

Even the most apologetic among the supporters were murmuring. Things seemed to be finally moving just before CNY this year. The following bit of news will surely spark a lot of things. A 48% jump to RM80.5bn in FDI for 2018, largely came about in the second half of 2018 – which speaks volumes about the confidence foreign long term investors have in the new government. 

The figure is all important and would be an indicator of bright things to come. Long term FDI takes some time to trickle down to the real economy. 

Expect fireworks… the nice kind.

For 62 years the Non Malay and Non Muslim have been trampled on like shit.

Under the PH Government every Cabinet Ministers have become a piece of shit.

Mahathir who turned Malaysia a piece of shit when he was the 4th Prime Minister is not prepare to remove that shit when he became the 7th Prime Minister.

How long more does the Malay want to be spoon fed?

The Non Malay and Non Muslim have been insulted in race and religion daily, yet no authorities dare to stop it.

My advice to all PH Cabinet Ministers, we the PEOPLE WILL MAKE SURE YOU LOSE THIS COMING GE 15 IF YOU CONTINUE TO ACT DUMB.

AND MAHATHIR IF YOU CONTINUE TO COLLECT AND PUT THE SAME CROOKS FROM UMNO ERA INTO YOUR ADMINISTRATION, GOD HELP YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN.

MALAYSIANS WILL SWEAR AND CURSE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY FOR THE NEXT 7TH GENERATION.

MAHATHIR KEEP YOUR PROMISES AND WORDS AND DON’T BEHAVE LIKE A SLIMEBALL.

THE THREE SLIMEBALLS TO SWEAR AND CURSE FOR THE NEXT 7TH GENERATION.

MUSLIM DO THEIR SOLAT HAJAT.

OTHERS ASK GOD TO GRANT YOUR WISH THESE THREE DISAPPEAR IN THE INDIAN OCEAN.

Within 60 days Kedah will be given to PAS and Perak to UMNO.

Mahathir has been doing backdoor trading to out beat Anwar in becoming the next Prime Minister.
Muhyiddin has been threatened or rather blackmail to relinquish his post as President of PPBM.

Expect a reshuffle soon.
 
During the recent meeting between Mahathir and Hadi (PAS) followed up by Daim in secret, it was agreed that the new airport will be build and name Tun Mahathir using the stolen funds (Mahathir and Daim during UMNO era) that was brought back to Malaysia last month in exchange Mukhriz will be name as the next Governor of Penang and PAS take over Kedah even though the Sultan of Kedah has repeatedly wanted someone else as the Menteri Besar instead of Mukhriz.  To put the Sultan of Kedah in a corner Mahathir is willing to give up Kedah to PAS.

Meanwhile PAS people will continue their business of logging in Kedah.

In plain simple english, Mahathir has turned traitor not only to the Sultan of Kedah but to all Malaysians.

The so-called next National car will be manufacture in Perak.  Again we have to thank the Sultan of Perak for being gracious to Mahathir and UMNO.  Fund is from the stolen fund.  What does UMNO get in return?  Sharing APs and Toll concession with Mahathir, Daim and Sultan of Perak.

With Sabah and Sarawak in his hands, Mahathir can afford to give Kedah and Perak away.

How many times, how much longer should we keep bailing MAS? How much have we spent… RM26bn!!! If you take from year 2000, that is more than RM1bn a year to keep this thing afloat.

We see a figure like RM26bn and it does not make much impact because we have no frame of reference. What is RM26bn? 

Let’s say the 1MDB, which was a financial crime and CBT, cost us Malaysians RM5bn. Then MAS would have meant going through about 5x 1MDB disaster. To be fair, MAS is a business and while the comparison is not entirely apples vs apples, there is still some painful truth in comparing it to 1MDB.

a) There is no shame in not having a national airline but there is a lot of shame and fiscal irresponsibility when we keep losing more than RM1bn a year for the past 20 years.

b) It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that MAS is almost unfixable owing to the: i) the union and their contracts (back in 2015 20,000 employees were terminated and 14,000 rehired, were the terms too generous our is it the culture which still infects the company?); ii) the legacy of bloated supply contracts and the greedy gatekeepers and their leakages; iii) the overcrowding for short haul flights; iv) having depleted so many international routes, MAS is having difficulty branding itself properly other than a codeshare specialist.

Since we are going to lose more than RM1bn a year, just sit down with the unions and supply chain contractors – declare bankruptcy and negoatiate to tear up all contracts at a steep discount or haircut resolution. While I am all for good unions and employee rights, somewhere along the way the MAS union has gone past what is good for the company – be honest.

Value all existing planes and landing rights, come up with a figure. Sell to AirAsiaX for shares, but golden share remains with current AirAsiaX management for 10 years.

Inject into AirAsiaX as that would be more palatable for Tony and his team. At least the better margins at AirAsia stays intact. All domestic routes to be integrated and managed by AirAsia. We cut out the duplicity and may even be able to fly more secondary support routes (such as twice a week Ipoh-Bangkok, Ipoh-KK,etc..).

As for ex-MAS employees, after getting their severance, those who are interested will need to re-apply to AirAsiaX to be integrated as AirAsia employees. This part will be critical because you don’t want an us-them situation camp fight if you were to absorb all staff automatically from MAS. Pick and choose those who will conform.

By selling to AirAsiaX, MOF will keep a healthy stake to hopefully plow back some profits to compensate for the losses to the people. Secondly, it would not be ‘nice” to sell MAS to a foreign party, only to see them turnaround the thing. 

20 years and multiple CEOs have shown and proven that MAS is not fixable because we “allowed” it to be unmanageable, hence the best professional will also not be able to do much – its like asking a chess Grandmaster to play for your country but he/she can only move your rook two spots and your bishops once every 10 moves, etc… it is ridiculous.

Bite the bullet and move on already. Forget about the votes of the employees and relatives, that’s not the way to manage a country properly.

Our government has given out soundbites that offered a more conciliatory stance towards restarting ECRL. For those who have missed the large re-rating upwards of oil & gas plays, these stocks under ECRL theme may be worth doing more research into.

The mini bull run seems to have gotten some legs, thanks to the upcoming Samurai bond and PM’s visit to China in April. 

The last two by-elections, which the rakyat handed a sound thumping to the ruling government, was actually a good thing. To me, they are not really racially based swings but more dissatisfaction from the general populace over the “excessive handbraking in the real economy” by the ruling government.

While we want to eradicate corruption, primarily by cronies of the previous government, the collateral damage has been excessive to bystanders. Coming at a time which coincided with the US-China trade war spat just made things worse over the last 12 months.

Just imagine the number of subcontractors and workers linked to the HSR and ECRL, what were they doing for the last 12 months. The stock market mostly edged lower for most of the last 12 months. The velocity of money almost ground to a halt. Coupled by a weakish palm oil price regime and gross overbuilding of properties – we have a recipe for a sluggish economic period to put it kindly.

The ECRL has merits. Not just in revitalizing domestic economic activity to Eastern block of the peninsula, but for paving access and logistics for goods and services which have a higher multiplier effect.


Why Restarting ECRL Is Probable:  Our side has apparently paid 39% of the supposed total cost already for just 13% work done. Whether some of the sums were “diverted” or “misused” is up for conjecture for now. 

Now let’s use RM55bn as the benchmark, 39% = RM21.45bn. That figure is probably not retrievable. It is likely that the Chinese side has agreed to finish the project for something a lot less than RM55bn. Judging from the statements issued thus far, a figure of RM33bn-36bn seems plausible. The pragmatic thing to do, since we have paid RM21.45bn is to get the project finished. Plus it is not wise to further irk China as a major trading partner.

ECRL – If restarted, will be at a much much lower price. Thus the main con and even sub cons should only be eyeing much tighter margins. 

Beneficiaries based on networking: Those companies who were in the front running for the ECRL scraps before, may no longer be in vogue IF they relied upon or seemed to rely extensively on their connections to the past government. I shouldn’t name names but you should know.

Beneficiaries based on need supplies: Steel – you can’t get away from that. You can’t be silly enough to import. Most steel players had a rough past 6 months thanks to the US-China trade war spat. 

I am benchmarking their stock price to their April/May 2018 prices. We may expect a reversal back close to those April/May 2018 prices should the ECRL be restarted. Using 75% of the April/May 2018 prices may be a sensible trading target.

                             Current Price        Apr/May 2018 price

LION INDUSTRIES      0.58                         1.05
MASTEEL                   0.48                         0.80
ANNJOO                    1.60                         2.90

Lafarge Malaysia has showed buying interest of late, possibly on the back of ECRL theme as well. Trading around RM2.30, its April/May 2018 price was around RM4.20.
Possible the biggest beneficiary, not that they asked or lobbied for it I think, should be AZRB. It may not be the best-run company or most aggressive company out there, but the stars are aligning just for them. The other big landowners in that area will be Pasdec but owing to nature of its shareholders, its prospects will not be as clear as AZRB.

AZRB Strong Points: 
– has a RM1.55bn contract to build an expressway from Gombak to Kajang tagged with a concession for the tollway for 50 years
– jointly awarded the RM1.7bn MRT line from Sg Buloh to Kajang with IJM
– Class 1 Bumi contractor
– 50 acres quarry land in Terengganu
– 67 acres of development land in Marang, Terengganu
– 11 acres in Bentong
– 30 acres of commercial land in Kuantan

The two oil & gas marine supply bases of AZRB at Tok Bali and Kemasik are gems.

Kemasik – RAPID refinery is there and needs more than 50m barrels of crude yearly for its refinery. AZRB has been extended another 5 years for sale of marine diesel oil. AZRB also has around 4 acres of land in Kemasik.

Tok Bali – It is the intention for Petronas to develop this into a petrochemical hub. AZRB is already in a joint venture with Petronas for marine oil supply and other supporting industries.

http://malaysiafinance.blogspot.com/2019/02/whats-up-with-azrb.html


Not a recommendation to buy or sell but information for discussion and further research if you believe there is a good likelihood of ECRL being restarted.