01/12/2025

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Youth development in Malaysia takes centre stage

Ű BY JOHN GILBERT sunbiz@thesundaily.com

KUALA Malaysia’s leadership in youth development is once again in the spotlight as it recently hosted, for the first time in Southeast Asia, the 5th Global Youth Work Conference, underscoring its role as a strategic platform for advancing the Commonwealth’s next generation. With young people making up 34% of the population, Malaysia exemplifies the economic and democratic potential that underpins the Commonwealth’s current prio rities. This focus is firmly embedded in the Commonwealth’s Strategic Plan 2025-2030, where youth empowerment is a cross-cutting theme across its three key pillars. Commonwealth Secretary General Shirley Botchwey said Malaysia’s strong showing – ranked sixth in the Commonwealth and 35th globally on the Youth Development Index – reflects a long list of “firsts” in nurturing young talent across education, employment, equality, inclusion, well-being, security and civic participation. “By bringing stakeholders together here, the Commonwealth aims to harness peer learning as a catalyst for meaningful reform and long-term impact,” she told SunBiz . She said that in the effort to professionalise youth work, Malaysia is highly ranked, with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Institute for Social Science Studies (Ipsas) developing the National Occupational Skills Standards for youth work. “I have seen firsthand how Malaysia is an excellent example of how forging strategic partnerships can prevent youth violence – particularly online. “We shall continue to build stronger relationships with like minded partners to benefit the Commonwealth’s 1.6 billion young citizens,” Botchwey said. When asked how the Common LUMPUR:

o Commonwealth secretary-general impressed by country’s efforts in nurturing young talent

wealth positions itself as a relevant and united force in international trade amid global tensions, shifting alliances, and rising protectionism, she said, “At a time when others are pulling back, the Commonwealth is reaching out. “Protectionism is putting up barriers; an estimated US$750 billion (RM3.09 trillion) in Commonwealth exports are at risk. The Common wealth sees this moment in inter national relations as an opportunity to build on its exceptionalism and make multilateralism work for its members. “Despite global protectionism, intra-Commonwealth trade is thriving. It reached US$854 billion in 2022 and is on track to exceed US$1 trillion by 2026. We intend to reach US$2 trillion by 2030. “Those figures are not just numbers. They are evidence that Commonwealth cooperation works, delivering jobs, investment, and opportunity for our people.” Botchwey said the Common wealth is one of the few places where small island states and Group of 20 economies sit as equals. “That’s powerful. Our goal is to ensure lessons flow both ways, from Australia’s digital trade systems to Mauritius’ investment facilitation, from South Africa’s renewable energy ambitions to Fiji’s climate resilience strategies.

“We are here to scale what works and make peer learning a real driver of reform,” Botchwey said. Elaborating on her overarching vision for the Commonwealth under her leadership, Botchwey said her vision is to make the Commonwealth work for resilience building across the Commonwealth and shared prosperity, for the benefit of the 2.7 billion population. “It is grounded in the need to overcome the failures of 80 years of development cooperation, the threats to democracy, and the aspirations of our citizens. “Guided by our new strategic plan, which our member states have very warmly welcomed, we will focus on five key deliverables to transform the Commonwealth. “We are strengthening democratic resilience through early-warning partnerships, advancing cross border trade with targeted policies, and empowering youth, women, and small states through digital learning and entrepreneurship support. “We will drive a renewable-energy push by linking clean-energy potential with affordable financing, and build economic resilience by uniting the Commonwealth behind the Bridgetown Initiative to ensure climate vulnerabilities are reflected in global debt and development frameworks,” Botchwey said. “We will measure success not by

Botchwey says Malaysia’s high ranking reflects a long list of ‘firsts’ in nurturing youth.

the number of meetings or reports, but by the real impact we deliver in the lives of our people – building a Commonwealth that is more resi lient, more relevant, and more results-driven.” She said the Commonwealth Strategic Plan 2025-2030, released in September, sets out a clear and practical vision for delivering measurable impact across member countries by strengthening part nerships with international and accredited organisations in areas such as education and health, establishing a roadmap that goes beyond the mechanics of democracy through stronger early-warning systems, advancing social inclusion by empowering women, young people, and persons with disabilities,

and ultimately demonstrating that the Commonwealth can be a model of effective multilateralism for all its members. “To Malaysia’s youth workers – the backbone of youth development and the heart of the Commonwealth’s mission – my message is this: your compassion, courage and innovation are our greatest strength, and to all young Malaysians, seize every learning opportunity, especially in digital skills, and share those opportunities widely,” Botchwey said. The 5th Global Youth Work Conference from Nov 17 to 19 was jointly organised by the Common wealth Secretariat, Commonwealth Alliance of Youth Workers Asso ciations and Universiti Putra Malaysia through Ipsas.

Interest-free loans come under scrutiny IT IS not uncommon for companies within a group to provide financial transactions between related parties. This is provided for in the transfer pricing

Meta Bright’s Expogaya secures RM31.8m financing to support infra projects in Sabah PETALING JAYA: Meta Bright Group Bhd’s 70%- owned subsidiary Expogaya Sdn Bhd has secured an expanded Islamic banking facility of up to RM31.82 million from AmBank Islamic Bhd. The facility strengthens Expogaya’s working capital, trade financing capacity and operational scalability as it continues to support major infrastructure programmes in Sabah. The increased Cashline-i and Multi Trade Finance-i facilities provide stronger working capital and procurement capacity, while the new Invoice Financing-i sublimit improves cash flow efficiency as Expogaya handles larger volumes of concrete supply across Sabah. This latest financing builds upon the RM43.9 million secured from a major financial institution last year. The earlier facility was approved based on Expogaya’s proven revenue strength, year-on-year growth in sales volume, widening customer base, and the replenishment of its order book driven by ongoing construction activities statewide. Meta Bright executive director of corporate and strategic planning Derek Phang Kiew Lim said the expanded facility is timely and aligned with market demand.

as an insufficient ability to repay, weak liquidity, negative historical results and unfavourable projected cash flows. In such circumstances, an external lender would not advance funds without compensation or may decline the loan altogether. Proper analysis and documentation are essential to support this position, demon strating that the economic reality aligns more closely with a capital contribution than a short term financing arrangement. What do you do now? Taxpayers with such arrangements must be pre pared to show IRB in the event of an audit or investigation that the interest-free loan is com mercially justifiable and relevant to their busi ness. There is no golden rule that says interest free loans are not permitted. There is significant literature in the transfer pricing arena, and you can find them in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations publications, and the arguments are centered around whether such loans can be categorised as equity. The current climate is such that you must be ready to take these matters to court to defend your position if you believe that the interest-free loan is justifiable. This article is contributed by Thannees Tax Consulting Services Sdn Bhd managing director SM Thanneermalai (www.thannees.com).

assistance to one another in the form of loans, advances or trade credits. The normal expectation is such financial help will be given at a cost, and it is unlikely to be provided free of charge as the saying goes, “nothing in this world is free”. Transactions of this nature between unconnected third parties would generally attract interest, as there is an inherent cost to money. A lender who chooses not to advance funds can still earn a return by placing the money in interest-bearing deposits. Likewise, a borrower seeking funds in the open market would not be able to obtain financing without offering some form of consideration, typically in the form of interest or another form of compensation. In short, there is always a cost attached to borrowing in an independent setting. From a tax perspective if the loans between related parties carry interest, then the issue will be whether the interest meets the arm’s length test which is equivalent to the price that will be charged between independent parties in the open market. The more challenging issue arises when loans are extended between related parties on an interest-free basis. The starting position of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) on this issue is that interest should be charged at market rates for

legislation and the rules. Currently, IRB is scrutinising such cases and imposing tax on the deemed interest income on the grounds that the transaction between related parties is not at arm’s length. Is there a case for providing interest-free loans? There is no provision in the law that prevents parties from providing interest free loans to one another. It is not uncommon in real life for friends and family to provide friendly loans with out interest. It is legally acceptable to undertake such transactions. When it comes to the corporate sector, interest-free loans are provided as a form of contribution to capital and usually the tenor of the loan will be long term. The underlying reason for providing a loan as opposed to injecting share capital is the flexibility to recover the money lent with minimum administrative burden. Recovering share capital is much more cumbersome and it may involve getting permission from the court in the case of capital reduction. Interest-free loans are often provided as a form of capital injection, particularly where the borrower is unable to secure financing from independent lenders due to poor credit worthiness. This typically involves factors such