27/02/2025

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | FEB 27, 2025

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‘Empower Asean Secretariat on NTBs’

In the Asean context, progress is often hindered by prolonged dis cussions and consensus-building without concrete action, he said, adding that “to truly realise the Asean Economic Community (AEC) vision, we must prioritise execution”. Asean-BAC feels that the Asean Business Entity (ABE) idea being pursued moves the dial on trade and investment by making it easier for companies to scale and optimise their supply chains. The Malaysia chapter of Asean BAC is proposing, among other initiatives, that Asean countries recognise a category called the Asean Business Entity (ABE) to foster companies that are neither strictly local nor global to be accorded some privileges in efforts to encourage more regional business. Once certified as an ABE, a company can enjoy incentives and privileges granted by member states, including greater market access and undertake business activities, in cluding back-office outsourcing such as information technology (IT) operations in another Asean country. Nazir also said the Asean way should embrace a results-driven approach where consensus is fol lowed through with active imple mentation and intervention.

tariffs on China, which is a major trading partner and significant in vestor in almost all Asean countries, Nazir acknowledged that “the recent actual and threatened US tariffs on China pose risks to Asean eco nomies”. This is because China is Asean’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade exceeding US$900 billion (RM3.9 trillion) in 2023. As such, Nazir said supply chain disruptions and trade diversions are likely consequences. However, he said this brings both challenges and opportunities for Asean. “When more walls are being erected around us, we should enlarge our negotiating tables. Asean must further diversify its economic part ners. There is more urgency to completing free trade agreements with Europe and Canada,” he added. Against such a scenario, Nazir said, the plan to host the first Asean Gulf Cooperation Council-China Summit in May in Kuala Lumpur is a fantastic initiative. He said businesses must take advantage of the gathering of top government and leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council and China to do more business with these two regions.

“Asean-BAC has been preparing for our (Malaysia’s) chairmanship year for 18 months now, so our priorities and initiatives are well supported by analysis and execution plans. We hope to get AEM to endorse them so that we can finalise all the necessary details for presentation to national govern ments and Asean leaders over the course of the year,” he added. The retreat, organised by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, will be chaired by its minister, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz. Nazir said the first AEM is usually the stage-setting session for the chairmanship year to come, where Asean-BAC will formally present its priorities and initiatives, as will other agencies. “Asean-BAC has submitted its proposals for regional integration to the Asean Secretariat and is actively collaborating with them to execute this year or ensure continuity beyond our (Malaysia’s) chairmanship. Our goal is to institutionalise these initiatives so that they remain actionable and drive long-term economic integration across Asean, rather than being limited to a single chairmanship term,” he said. Asked about the imposition of US

o Nazir: Give it clout to flag and get countries that resort to non-tariff barriers to remove them

KUALA LUMPUR: The Jakarta based Asean Secretariat should be given more clout to flag countries that resort to non-tariff barriers. In making the call, Tan Sri Nazir

being eliminated, NTBs continue to increase, with over 6,000 measures recorded,” said Nazir, who is also chairman of Asean-BAC Malaysia. He said NTBs can take the form of

Razak ( pic) , chairman of the Asean Business Advisory Council (Asean-BAC), said these NTBs need to be flagged and “someone needs to get countries to rescind them”. “The issue is who is that someone. We need to give some teeth to the Asean Secretariat,” he told Bernama ahead of the Asean Eco nomic Ministers (AEM)

complex customs procedures, licensing requirements and import restrictions, among others. “To state the obvious, Asean must further harmonise regulations, improve trans parency and reduce com pliance costs,” he said. Nazir reiterated that the real key, though, is in “execution”, whereby these

Retreat tomorrow in Desaru, Johor. In what is surely an un precedented move to empower the Asean Secretariat, Nazir said it would reduce obstacles to trade and private sector growth and strengthen eco nomic integration in Southeast Asia. Currently, the Asean Secretariat functions as a coordinator to facilitate effective decision-making within and among Asean bodies. “Despite 99% of intra-Asean tariffs

NTBs need to be flagged, and someone needs to get countries to rescind them.” He opined that ministers should prioritise the execution of plans to drive regional integration and liberalise trade by tackling persistent challenges, including such barriers to trade. “Execution, execution, execution. Execution must take precedence over merely generating ideas,” said Nazir.

EcoWorld targets RM3.6 billion sales in 2025

Public Bank posts RM7.15 billion net profit for FY24

Ű BY AIMIE SHAZRIE sunbiz@thesundaily.com

fident in meeting its RM3.6 billion sales target for 2025. We are committed to maintaining strong sales momentum across all our revenue pillars while strategically growing our recurring income base for sustainable long term growth,” he added. While EcoWorld has traditionally focused on acquiring, developing and selling land, Chang noted that the company is now looking at accumulating strategic assets over time. “This allows EcoWorld to retain properties that generate stable rental yields, with the flexibility to sell them later at higher valuations.” Chang said EcoWorld is also seeing interest from manufacturers who prefer leasing over ownership, creating more opportunities for the company to expand its build-and-lease model. According to Amir, initiatives contributing to this growth included easing application requirements for the Malaysia My Second Home programme, the implementation of key industrial projects in the northern region, the launch of the the New Industrial Master Plan 2030, and the establishment of the Forest City Special Financial Zone. He added that the national economy, which is projected to grow between 4.5% and 5.5% this year supported by sustained transaction activities and growth in the property construction sector, is expected to maintain a strong property market performance in 2025. “I am confident that all the commitments and incentives introduced by the Madani government will benefit the people while helping the property market achieve even stronger performance in 2025,” he said. – Bernama

headlines recently, Chang emphasised that EcoWorld remains a real estate developer, not a data centre operator. “The group’s five revenue pillars – Eco Townships, Eco Rise, Eco Hubs, Eco Business Parks and Quantum – are all key focuses for growth. “Our latest deal with Pearl Computing (an affiliate of Google) at Eco Business Park V in Selangor involves a 92-acre build-and-lease data centre project, reinforcing our long-term recurring income strategy. This opens up a lot of possibilities for us in the future, including potentially exploring a REIT model,” he said, though he noted that no decision has been made. Last year, Chang said, EcoWorld’s high-rise segment alone contributed over RM1 billion in sales, reflecting the group’s broad-based approach to real estate. “With strong investor interest in its industrial land and a growing pipeline of leasing opportunities, the company is con The report was prepared by the National Property Information Centre (Napic). According to the report, the Malaysia House Price Index recorded moderate growth of 3.3% last year, with the average price per unit at RM486,678. Amir Hamzah noted that all states experienced moderate growth ranging from 0.6% to 5.5%, with semi-detached houses leading at 4.1%, followed by terraced houses at 3.6%, detached houses at 2.6%, and high-rise buildings at 2.3%. “Aside from being driven by strong economic growth of 5.1%, the positive performance of the property market in 2024 was underpinned by various government initiatives to boost Malaysia’s economy and stimulate the property market nationwide under the Madani Economic Framework,“ he said.

KUALA LUMPUR: EcoWorld Development Group Bhd has set a group-wide sales target of RM3.6 billion for 2025, with its Quantum industrial pillar playing an increasingly vital role in achieving this milestone. President and CEO Datuk Chang Khim Wah said the company’s shift towards a build-and lease model and recurring income strategy is strengthening its position in the evolving real estate market. “In the past six months alone, Quantum has generated about RM1.58 billion in land sales, reflecting the strong demand for industrial land, particularly for data centre develop ments,” he told reporters at the EcoWorld’s Data Centre and Recurring Income Strategy event yesterday which was attended by Deputy Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Liew Chin Tong. While data centre deals have made KAJANG: The property market recorded an outstanding performance in 2024, with both transaction volume and value reaching the highest levels in a decade, said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan. He said the number of transactions grew by 5.4% to 420,545 transactions, while transaction value surged by 18.0% to RM232.3 billion in 2024, compared to 399,008 transactions worth RM196.8 billion in 2023. “The primary market also saw a strong increase of 34.1% to 75,784 units, with a sales performance of 37.3% for 2024,” he said at the launch of the 2024 Property Market Report yesterday. Additionally, he noted a positive trend in the residential overhang segment, with unsold completed units declining to 23,149 units worth RM13.94 billion, compared to 25,816 units worth RM17.68 billion in 2023.

PETALING JAYA: Public Bank Group reported a pre-tax profit of RM8.93 billion and net profit attributable to shareholders of RM7.15 billion for financial year 2024 (FY24), higher by 4.6% and 7.5%, respectively, compared with 2023. Excluding the one-off impairment of good will of RM473.8 million incurred during the year for the group’s Hong Kong operations, Public Bank’s pre-tax profit recorded a higher growth of 10.1% in 2024 compared with 2023. With the proactive management of funding cost, Public Bank has been able to maintain a stable net interest margin and generate 5.1% growth in net interest and financing income to RM11.07 billion in 2024. This is complemented by stronger growth in non-interest income, which rose by 15.2% to RM2.85 billion during the period. Managing director and CEO Tan Sri Dr Tay Ah Lek commented, “The Public Bank Group’s 2024 performance was underpinned by sustained growth in both loans and deposits businesses, and further supported by stronger growth in non-interest income. Coupled with the group’s prudent cost management, as evidenced by its efficient cost-to-income ratio of 34.5%, the group achieved a commendable net return on equity of 13.2%.” The gross impaired loans ratio for 2024 remained low at 0.5%, highlighting Public Bank’s strong credit risk management and resilient loan portfolio. Loan loss coverage ratio remained prudent at 166.2% as at end December 2024. Tay said, “In recognition of the good performance in 2024, the board of directors has declared a second interim dividend of 11 sen per share.” With the first interim dividend of 10 sen per share declared in August 2024, the total dividend for 2024 amounted to 21 sen. This represents a total payout of RM4.08 billion or 57% of the group’s net profit for 2024. The second interim dividend will be paid on March 24.

“Some assets, such as factories, may be retained for recurring income before being sold at a later stage when market conditions are favourable.” Volume, value of property deals in 2024 hit decade-high levels