KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 8 — Penang Port Sdn Bhd is set to be a focal point for shipping and transhipment activities as one of its main terminals, the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT), was recently gazetted as a free commercial zone (FCZ).

In a statement today, the company said the process of obtaining the FCZ status was an uphill task for Penang Port.

“Since 2007, Penang Port has started the initiative to gazette NBCT as a FCZ. It was only in 2018 when Penang Port Commission (PPC) and Penang Port finally revisited the plan to gazette the entire NBCT by requesting approval and support from Penang State Economic Planning Unit.

“The gazettement of NBCT involves 10 lots of land covering the total area of 83.57 hectares. One of the most impactful activity after the gazettement of NBCT as FCZ will be transhipment. Transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination before being taken to another destination,” it said.

Apart from job opportunities, the company said the port could leverage on the FCZ status to entice investors around the world to conduct value-added activities such as break-bulking, grading, repackaging, relabelling, transit and re-export.

With the establishment of the FCZ in NBCT, it said foreign companies will be able to use the facilities before exporting their products overseas.

“This will also benet Penang Port in the long run through the exempt of customs duty, excise duty, sales tax and service tax except for certain goods.

“The local workforce and port operations will be much more ecient once the facilities are upgraded; cutting-edge technologies are implemented and introduced to cater to the foreign investors,” it said.

The FCZ operations will commence in March and this will put Penang on the world map as NBCT will be able to cater to activities such as high-tech warehousing and logistics facilities, thus spearheading the positive economic growth in the Northern region of Malaysia.

Meanwhile, it said upon completion of the NBCT T1 project, the overall capacity increased to 2.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 2.1 million TEUs.

“The increase of 200,000 TEUs will boost berth utilisation and reduce vessel waiting time to berth,” it said  

Source: Bernama

NBCT’s FCZ to boost Penang Port transhipment activities

Asia-Pacific logistics property specialist LOGOS SE Asia Pte Ltd has entered into a joint venture (JV) with local partner Global Vision Logistics Sdn Bhd to develop a RM1.5 billion sustainable integrated logistics, warehousing and e-commerce hub on three pieces of land collectively measuring roughly 71 acres in Section 16, Shah Alam, Selangor.

The project, to be completed in phases, will consist of a total development area of 745,000 sq m (8.01 million sq ft) and a gross leasable area of 505,000 sq m (5.43 million sq ft), in five warehouse blocks.

In a press statement, Knight Frank Malaysia managing director Sarkunan Subramaniam says the logistics hub will be a feature asset within the group’s portfolio, with more than five million sq ft upon completion. “We are proud to share that LOGOS’ first venture into the Malaysian industrial market is represented by the largest-ever development project in terms of square footage embarked by the group across Asia.”

Knight Frank Malaysia brokered the JV deal, which will be by way of a 60% share subscription by LOGOS into Global Vision Logistics — also the project’s special purpose vehicle — which will undertake the development.

“Given LOGOS’ extensive experience in managing and developing logistics facilities across nine countries within the region, we believe its participation will bring about advanced technical and operational know-how in developing high-grade multi-level warehouses, elevating the Malaysian logistics property landscape to the next level,” Sarkunan adds.

According to the statement, the multi-storey facility will be one of the largest one-stop logistics hubs in Malaysia upon its completion and is designed with the flexibility to cater for multiple tenants, featuring driveway, ramps and cross-docking features to facilitate logistics efficiencies and effective traffic management.

Knight Frank Malaysia executive director of capital markets Allan Sim notes that amid the pandemic, the investment by LOGOS in Malaysia is testament to the confidence of international logistics players in the growth of our industrial sector. “With this JV, LOGOS is expected to bring in a total FDI (foreign direct investment) in excess of RM1 billion to the state of Selangor. We are very excited at how this investment will spur further activities in the Klang Valley logistics market and the Malaysian economy as a whole.”

Sim also notes that the development is timely to capture and receive the increased enquiries and attention by multinationals looking to position their regional distribution centres in Malaysia. “With the government’s increased focus in Budget 2021 to position Malaysia as a global supply chain hub, coupled with MIDA’s (Malaysian Investment Development Authority) dedicated efforts to introduce tax incentives for Global Trading Centres targeted at regional distribution activities, we believe all these will be positive catalysts to attract further FDI into the country.

“This development is strategically positioned to be part of LOGOS’ regional chain of logistics facility network, providing the added advantage for our growing logistics market to leverage and tap LOGOS’ established pool of international big-name tenants,” Sim says.

The integrated project will include a drone landing pad, common canteen, workers’ dormitory, separation between pedestrian and heavy trucks movement and performance-based engineering for the fire-fighting system as well as a forklift travel path between the dock area and the warehouse.

Source: The Edge Markets

LOGOS enters JV to develop RM1.5b logistics hub in Shah Alam

SolarvestHoldings Bhd has signed two memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in an aim to grow and ramp up its inventories and solutions to ride the solar power based generation boom.

In a statement yesterday, Solarvest inked MoUs with Huawei Technologies (M) Sdn Bhd and Sungrow Power Supply Co Ltd. Sungrow is a China-based company and will supply inverters to Solarvest while Huawei will serve the same purpose.

Solarvest will commit to a cumulative order capacity of 200MW of solar inverters to further boost its competitiveness and quality of its services.

Its group CEO Davis Chong Chun Shiong said it was timely for the group to expand its inventories due to the surge in solar energy demand.

“The new capacity will fuel and accelerate our speed to market as we are aggressively increasing our market share. Engaging with top tier industry players will drive us forward in the race and further enhance our proposition,” he said.

Solarvest expects the uptake and demand for solar energy to remain robust as businesses are intensifying its environmental, social and governance efforts.

Chong said Solarvest experienced a good year in 2020 as the commercial and industrial sector’s take-up was phenomenal.

“We managed to clinch 100MWp of rooftop projects last year, which boosted our market share signi- ficantly and strengthened our leading position in the local solar engineering, procurement, construction and commiossioning industry. We believe the growth momentum will follow through in the NEM 3.0 programme with the increasing corporate participations,” Chong said.

Prior to this, Solarvest subscribed to 200MW capacity of artificial intelligence-powered energy management solutions for solar assets via a collaboration with technology player, Envision Digital International Pte Ltd.

The integration of “edge-to-cloud” artificial Internet of Things applications is expected to improve Solarvest’s operational efficiencies and help to increase solar plant’s return on investment by suggesting methods to boost solar power generation by up to 15%.

Chong said Solarvest looks forward to onboarding more large-scale solar projects this year.

Source: The Malaysian Reserve

Solarvest rides on solar boom with 2 MoUs

Malaysians spend 3.7 hours on the Internet per day pre-Covid-19, spiking to 4.8 hours at the height of the lockdown and 4.2 hours per day currently

Digitalisation in Malaysia is expected to take place rapidly, driving sectors to match each other as they chart a path to the future in terms of Internet usage.

Google Malaysia MD Marc Woo said in the recent e-Conomy SouthEast Asia 2020 report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co, three main elements stood out.

According to Woo, more than one in three Malaysians used digital services for the first time ever, including for healthcare, education, shopping and others.

“The second finding noted that e-commerce has been a driving force in Malaysia, at 87% year-on-year, which is also the highest number in South-East Asia.

“The third was that digital talent will be the key enabler in how successful the nation is,” he said at the Breakfast Series: Peering into Malaysia’s Digital Future virtual event yesterday.

The gross merchandise value is expected to reach a total value of RM121 billion by 2025.

The report noted that Malaysians spend 3.7 hours on the Internet per day before the pandemic, spiking to 4.8 hours at the height of the lockdown but has dropped to 4.2 hours per day.

Malaysia Digital Economy Corp CEO Surina Shukri said it has been working with the Education Ministry to begin bridging the digital gap.

“In secondary schools, coding is now taught as a subject. We do not want to just teach but we want to create digital maker movements.

“The next move is ensuring schools are equipped with maker labs so students can learn things like robotics. So far, we have managed to reach 2.17 million students in the country. To develop skills for the future, it takes a holistic approach,” Surina said.

Meanwhile, Surina said experts are optimistic about the changes that can take place, particularly because of how fast Malaysians adopted technology into everyday routines.

“The pandemic accelerated so many movements into digitalisation, proving that Malaysians can do it.

“The country needs to focus on talent and equipping themselves to be ready for what is coming in the future,” she noted.

Source: Malaysian Reserve

Malaysia’s digitalisation speeding up, experts say

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has reported the greatest increase in private cloud adoption as a result of Covid-19, a survey by Nutanix Inc revealed.

Nutanix Malaysia country manager Avinash Gowda said according to the firm’s latest Malaysian edition of the Enterprise Cloud Index Report 2020, 58 per cent of respondents reported that Covid-19 had caused them to increase their investment in private cloud, outpacing the global average (37 per cent) and their peers in Asia Pacific (APAC) countries (44 per cent).

“Covid-19 has significantly accelerated digital transformation across industries. With digitisation as the new business reality, Malaysia’s businesses will look to make strategic investments in technology that will accelerate business recovery and enable them to scale for innovation and growth,” he said at a media briefing today.

Avinash said to help accelerate and advance companies’ cloud journeys and digital transformation plans, Nutanix had committed its resources to gain a better understanding of companies’ attitudes towards cloud adoption, as well as their deployment considerations.

“Businesses need to look to maximising outcomes from their investments in IT infrastructure to ensure their cloud strategies are financially sound, and future-proof,” he added.

The report said the pandemic had also forced many respondents to strengthen public cloud infrastructure to quickly accommodate large numbers of at-home workers.

A total of 67 per cent of Malaysian respondents said they had boosted public cloud usage and 51 per cent said they had increased hybrid cloud usage.

Surprisingly, the report revealed that cost was not a primary driver behind IT infrastructure change in Malaysia.

It said the motive for modernising IT infrastructures mentioned most often in Malaysia was to increase flexibility to meet business needs (74 per cent).

From there, three goals tie for second place as inspiring change, with 63 per cent of respondents from Malaysia selecting each of the following factors – gaining better control of IT resource usage, increasing the speed of meeting business needs, and better supporting customers.

By contrast, cost savings was cited by just 29 per cent of respondents from Malaysia.

Listed on Nasdaq, Nutanix is a global leader in cloud software and a pioneer in hyperconverged infrastructure solutions.

Source: NST

Malaysia leads in private cloud adoption during pandemic: Nutanix

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) aspires that Malaysians adopt other facets of the digital technology, not just the frontline such as e-commerce, but also digitisation of the business processes and all the innovation that come thereafter.

Chief executive officer Surina Shukri said in terms of talent, Malaysia is largely made up of a lot of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) but large companies and corporates have got teams of people that are dedicated to upscaling, reskilling, as well as keeping tabs on latest digital development, and the benefit of numbers.

“We need to think through how we get the benefit of fast learning and learning from each other because most of the time the corporate experience you get to also learn from each other but what we have is that it is smaller companies. The question then becomes how do you create systems and communities that can foster this ongoing training and learning, that is where something that we need to figure out,” she said.

Surina said this at the virtual ‘Google Breakfast Series — Peering into Malaysia’s Digital Future’ alongside other panelists such as Google Malaysia managing director Marc Woo, Grab Malaysia managing director Sean Goh, Maxis chief executive officer Gokhan Ogut, and PitchaEats co-founder Suzanne Ling.

Surina said SMEs must form a network and partnerships with each other to help upscale consumers.

“When we think about the digital world, we think about where we are going. The first thing that we all need to remember — it is not just recent graduates even people in the workforce — need to recognise that now and tomorrow it’s all about skills.

“You have to lead with skills, you need to recognise what kind of skills that we have and start to recognise how to fill in your skills toolbox,” she said.

Citing the MDEC website, she said it has a directory of the skills required for the future such as coding.

“And if you can demonstrate it (coding), you bring your ability to the table, companies will look forward to having you onboard as it is really a skills-based environment,” she said.

She said graduates could thrive in the digital world as long as they have a sense of curiosity and grounded on that.

“For SMEs, they have problems that they need to solve, if you’re able to have a sense of curiosity to understand what the problems are and bring their skillsets, it doesn’t matter what kind of background you actually have, you’re able to contribute to the digital world,” she said.

Concurring that the biggest challenge confronting companies is hiring skilled talent, Ling said a company has to outsource certain intellectual property digital job overseas due to lack of local talent.

“Good talents have been hired by big digital companies in Malaysia. Generally, a lot of people in Malaysia don’t take more initiative to learn the latest update and version, which caused a lot of talent here to be lagging quite behind.

“I’ve spoken to quite a few people, and a lot of people actually shared that the gap in people who are already in the (digital) scene upgrading and upscaling themselves, and keeping themselves updated with the latest programming language, and it is the biggest challenge in small and medium enterprises,” she said.

On digital shift in the next five to 10 years, Grab Malaysia managing director Sean Goh shared that Malaysians will become more and more equal in terms of talent and opportunities.

He said e-hailing has gone fully digital, thanks to Google Maps and Waze, as well as 4G, as members of our hearing-impaired community now receive commercial licences for the first time in our nation’s history to be earning an income flexibly, and that is just the beginning as there is so much we can do.

“We hope to do the same for food and beverages, for example there are so many Quick Response (QR) menus everywhere right now, digital ordering and payments. anyone can do a great job in the service industry, regardless yours are a spoken language or sign language and it doesn’t have to end there in today’s technologies,” said Goh.

Goh said looking ahead in the next five years, companies would be more deliberate in making technologies work for everyone.

“We should have by the end of five years real-time translation between sign and verbal language, as well as between written and spoken language.

“It sounds kind of far fetched but if you look at Google Translate today, when I point my camera I can see and read something in a different language in real-time, so are technologies that enable signs to (become) verbal, written to spoken.

“These changes weren’t wholly deliberate and relied on resourcefulness, for example, a friend of mine at the Malaysian Federation of Deaf told me of a deaf driver who was able to communicate with a blind passenger, and we didn’t plan for that. It’s no credit to us, but its credit to them because they use Grab Chat plus text to voice and voice to text, which is really amazing. “What is cool is that the digital growth has this knock-on effect, a potential to make a change that we didn’t see coming, so just imagine what we could do if we actually turn our mind to it,” he said.

Source: Bernama

Malaysians need to adopt other facets of digital technology, says MDEC

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 4): A total of 66 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-tier companies have been awarded the Government’s National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) 2020 #SMART Automation Grant (SAG).

In a statement today, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) said the grant, involving a total of RM6.2 million, was awarded to registered businesses in primarily traditional or non-technology activities from the services sector.

MDEC chief marketing officer and head of digital investments and brand Raymond Siva said the outcome-based matching grant will assist these companies to accelerate automation and achieve productive results, such as increased revenues; savings in business costs; reduction of process time cycle and man-hours spent; and creating new sources of growth.

“Each successful applicant had been allocated up to 50 per cent of their total project cost, subject to a limit of RM200,000, or whichever is the lowest, through this matching grant.  

“This means the successful applicants will pay at least 50 per cent of the total cost of the digitalisation project and, subsequently, receive the remaining amount based on the achievements of the agreed milestone deliverables,” he said.

MDEC said the SAG, which was launched in July 2020, had been conceptualised as a matching grant for companies in the services sector to spur them towards automating their business processes and pursue full digitalisation.

“The grant allocated from the 2020 PENJANA initiative aims to drive these businesses towards kickstarting the implementation of digital processes and the use of technology tools that will automate their business operations,” it said.

MDEC noted that all of the 66 approved SAG recipients come from all over Malaysia, including service providers from the wholesale and retail trade (30 per cent); general services (24 per cent); and professional services (14 per cent).

The other sectors consist of transportation and storage, tourism, education, healthcare, food and beverage, financial and insurance, and real estate and construction.

Since its unveiling, this initiative solely focused on enabling digital adoption among businesses, which is a central part of MDEC’s three strategic framework pillars, namely Digital Jobs, Digital Businesses and Digital Investments. The agency continues to set the foundation for SMEs and mid-tier companies to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era by focusing on empowering businesses at every level and in all sectors.

Source: Bernama

Govt awards RM6.2 mil Smart Automation Grant to 66 SMEs, mid-tier companies

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 3): Carrier-neutral data centre services provider AIMS Group (AIMS) is optimistic on the growth of the data centre industry in 2021, on the back of multiple opportunities fuelled by surging demands for data and cloud services to support digital transformation and business sustainability in Malaysia and the region.

In a statement today, AIMS said one of the factors for the demand of data centre arises from the potential for continued remote work amidst the “new normal”.

It said this contributes to Gartner Inc’s estimated 6% increase in global IT spending growth to US$200 billion during 2021, and expected revenue growth of more than US$800 million by 2025 for Malaysia’s data centre sector.

AIMS said that positioned as one of the fastest growing regions in the world, Southeast Asia offers ease of access, a lower cost of entry, and a fast-growing base of tech-savvy consumers to drive storage needs.

With that said, AIMS added it will continue to bolster and expand its regional and local data centre presence with its interlinked data centres across Southeast Asia.

AIMS said its recent expansion into Thailand with AIMS @ Bangkok, a carrier-neutral data centre, affords the same highly diverse ecosystem synonymous with the AIMS name.

AIMS chief executive officer Chiew Kok Hin said AIMS has the potential to attract global players looking to establish their businesses in ASEAN.

“With the data centre and co-location market in Southeast Asia tipped to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 12.9% to reach US$3.4 billion by 2024, AIMS will further enhance its dynamic digital ecosystem and cloud infrastructure in ASEAN to drive ongoing digitalisation efforts for local and global companies looking to expand their operations across the region and beyond,” he said.

Source: The Edge Markets

AIMS Group optimistic about data centre industry growth in 2021