AEC Feed

The Malaysian government has decided to suspend the recruitment of all foreign workers to Malaysia, said Deputy Prime Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“We urge all employers to recruit local workers,” Ahmad Zahid, who is also home minister, said yesterday.
He said the suspension would be in place while the government reviewed the two-tier levy programme for foreign workers.
Ahmad Zahid added that existing illegal workers in Malaysia would be detained and deported.
– The Star

Singapore exports to China suffers biggest hit in 7 years

Singapore’s exports to China took their biggest hammering in seven years last month.
Non-oil domestic exports (Nodx) to China plunged 25.2 per cent year on year, in the wake of falling demand and a shift towards domestic production in China.
The dismal numbers on China were the low point of a bleak picture last month, with overall Nodx down 9.9 per cent year on year.
This was worse than the market forecast of a 7.6-per-cent decline and a sharp fall from last December’s 7.2-per-cent contraction, according to data from trade agency International Enterprise Singapore.
Nodx to all of Singapore’s top 10 markets except the European Union and Malaysia fell last month.
– The Straits Times

Foreign investors eye Vietnam in wake of TPP

Several foreign businesses want to shift their investments into Vietnam as they see big opportunities from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and other trade agreements signed by the country, the Vietnamese government says.
Do Thang Hai, deputy minister of industry and trade, said exports from foreign direct invested (FDI) firms were one of the bright points in the economy last year.
In 2010, exports from FDI enterprises were valued at US$34 billion, accounting for 47 per cent of the total. Their exports were $47.9 billion or 49 per cent in 2011, $64 billion or 56 per cent in 2012, $81 billion or 61 per cent in 2013, and $94 billion or 63 per cent in 2014.
Last year, such exports increased by 18 per cent from 2014 to $110.59 billion and accounted for 68 per cent of the country’s total export turnover.
Hai said FDI firms had played an important role in the economy and export turnover.
They have taken advantage of cheap labour to promote their exports to big markets. The factor would become more favourable under the TPP and other trade pacts.
– Viet Nam News