29/04/2026

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | APR 29, 2026

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Sabah to take part in 13 international trade expos

PETALING JAYA: Royalton Coating Systems, a Malaysian manufacturer of industrial protective coatings, is collaborating with Petronas Tech nology Ventures Sdn Bhd to jointly validate and test a graphene-en hanced protective coating system. This collaboration reflects a broader push to strengthen Malaysia’s industrial innovation capacity in areas that support critical national and regional assets, including energy infrastructure, ports and heavy industry. “With manufacturing controls based in Malaysia, we can ensure quality consistency and cost efficiency for customers, and better support regional operators across Southeast Asia,” said Royalton managing director Adrian Lim. Under the collaboration, Royalton will enhance ROYALPOXY UW 410, its underwater epoxy coating system, with ProShield+, a graphene additive technology that is the wholly owned intellectual property of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas). Corrosion remains a persistent challenge for operators managing assets exposed to seawater, humidity and aggressive chemical conditions, including offshore platforms, jetty supports, pipelines, marine vessels and industrial facilities. These environments require specialised protection systems to reduce structural degradation and minimise maintenance disruption. ProShield+ is a graphene additive technology designed to enhance barrier protection in coating systems. When incorporated into coatings, graphene particles create additional protective layers that help reduce the penetration of water, oxygen, salt and other corrosive agents, while improving coating durability. When integrated into PETALING JAYA: Bond Pricing Agency Malaysia Sdn Bhd (BPAM) yesterday launched its MYOR Calculator (for the Malaysia Over night Rate), a tool designed to support financial market participants amid Malaysia’s transition from the Kuala Lumpur Interbank Offered Rate to overnight rate-based bench marks. The BPAM MYOR Calculator empowers users to accurately compute MYOR and MYOR-I based interest amounts across selected periods, integrating key market conventions such as business day adjustments, reference lags, lookback methodologies and spreads into a single, streamlined process. “The introduction of the MYOR Calculator reflects BPAM’s ongoing commitment to supporting Malaysia’s financial market participants as the market evolves towards overnight rate benchmarks,” said CEO and executive director Meor Amri Meor Ayob. Developed to drive market adoption, the BPAM MYOR Calculator enables a smoother transition towards overnight rate benchmarks by reducing operational complexity and enhancing alignment across market participants. BPAM launches MYOR Calculator to support benchmark rate transition

PETALING JAYA: Malakoff Power Bhd (MPower), a wholly owned subsidiary of Malakoff Corporation Bhd, has successfully issued a RM450 million SRI Sukuk Murabahah under its RM1.2 billion Islamic Medium-Term Notes Programme (IMTN programme). Maybank Investment Bank Bhd acted as the sole lead manager, facility agent and sustainability structuring adviser, while Maybank Islamic Bhd served as the syariah adviser. The issuance marks Asean’s first SRI Sukuk Murabahah dedicated to transition projects, signalling a major evolution in the region’s sustainable finance landscape. By mobilising capital specifically for the energy transition journey, Malakoff is reinforcing its proactive role in supporting Malaysia’s shift towards a lower-carbon economy. Proceeds from the issuance will be utilised to finance eligible green and transitional projects in line with Malakoff’s Sustainable Finance Framework. Notably, this includes a project that is aligned to the Amber Tier 2 lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions thresholds under the Asean Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance (Version 2), providing high-level credibility of the transaction’s transition credentials. As Malaysia’s largest independent power producer (IPP), this initiative underpins Malakoff’s strategic trans formation toward a cleaner energy portfolio. This alignment with the National Energy Transition Roadmap ensures the group continues to undergo a planned and orderly transition while maintaining national energy security and the goal of ment, and certification. He said the Sabah Entrepreneur Transformation Programme is also being implemented, involving 250 entrepreneurs over five years, with a focus on improving product packaging to penetrate wider mar kets. Entrepreneurship development courses, including halal certi fication, MeSTI certification and digital marketing via platforms such as TikTok and Facebook, are also being conducted to enhance the competitiveness of local pro ducts. To expand market access, Jonnybone said the state govern ment is forging strategic part nerships with leading supermarket chains, including bringing Sabah products to Peninsular Malaysia. Meanwhile, Assistant Minister of Works and Utilities Limus Jury, responding to a question from Tham Yun Fook (Warisan-Likas), said water supply disruptions in Likas were identified as being caused by ageing asbestos cement pipes and additional pressure from

direct pumping systems from water treatment plants. He said the treated water supply to the area is channelled from the Kasigui Water Treatment Plant and Moyog Water Treatment Plant. Still, existing infrastructure conditions have increased the risk of frequent pipe leakages, particularly along Jalan Keramat and Jalan Tuaran Bypass. He said the Sabah Water Depart ment is also implementing a three year Kota Kinabalu pipe main tenance contract, focusing on imme diate repairs of leaking and damaged pipes to reduce supply disruptions. The government has also approved a RM200 million project under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) to replace ageing pipelines and upgrade transmission and distribution pipes. The project is expected to be imple mented from the fourth quarter of 2027.

o Aims to widen market access and boost exports of local products

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Ministry of Industrial Develop ment, Entrepreneurship and Trans port (Mindet) will participate in 13 international trade expos this year to expand market access and boost exports of the state’s local products. Sabah Industrial Development, Entrepreneurship and Transport Assistant Minister Datuk Jonnybone J. Kurum said the participation will cover exhibitions in several countries, including Singapore, Thailand, South Korea and France. “In 2025, our participation in international trade expos delivered encouraging results. Involvement in 18 expos, comprising 124 Sabah small and medium enterprises, generated potential sales of RM95.9 million, an increase of 37.12% from RM60.4 million in 2024,” he said. Jonnybone was responding to Datuk Abdul Ghani Mohamed

Yassin (GRS-Nabawan), who asked about efforts to enhance the productivity of local entrepreneurs and the marketability of Sabah products, at the Sabah State Legi slative Assembly sitting here yesterday. Jonnybone said the ministry remains committed to empow ering local entrepreneurs through continuous entrepreneurship de velopment programmes. “The ministry is committed to enhancing the marketability of local products at both domestic and international levels through various initiatives and entrepre neurship development pro grammes,” he said. Among the key initiatives is the SME-UP Assistance Programme, which has benefited 5,879 entre preneurs as of 2025 through support for machinery, equip

“In addition, the programme to upgrade and replace asbestos cement pipes of various sizes in Kota Kinabalu district is currently under imple mentation.” – Bernama Malakoff Power issues Asean’s first SRI Sukuk Murabahah for green, transition projects

Royalton, Petronas unit team up to test graphene-enhanced protective coating

achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. The issuance attracted over whelming demand, with the order book peaking at close to five times and achieving final oversubscription of 4.5 times, despite the prevailing volatile market environment. This robust interest allowed Malakoff Power to set a new pricing benchmark, with final pricing notably lower than its 2025 issuance. Group CEO Syahrunizam Samsudin said: “This issuance is a clear reflection of Malakoff’s future-ready trajectory. We are strengthening our portfolio to ensure we generate and deliver reliable power while pro gressively scaling our lower-carbon energy platform. Our approach is deliberate; we are expanding re newable capacity through solar and hydropower, while utilising high efficiency gas as a critical transition fuel. This sukuk allows us to channel capital directly into practical, investable and are aligned with the nation’s energy demand. The successful subscription reflects the market’s confidence in our execution discipline and long-term value creation”. Maybank Investment Bank CEO Michael Oh-Lau said the transaction, as Asean’s first SRI Sukuk Murabahah for green and transition projects, marks an important step in broadening the region’s sustainable finance landscape while supporting Malaysia’s energy transition and long term energy security. “The strong investor response reflects market confidence in Malakoff’s transition strategy and the growing appetite for credible green and transition financing opportunities.

Joint inspection of coated test panels in progress as part of validation work on graphene-enhanced protective coating systems.

underwater exposure. The collaboration forms part of Royalton’s broader efforts to develop specialised protective coating systems for energy, marine, infrastructure and heavy industrial environments.

ROYALPOXY UW 410, the enhanced system is being evaluated for its potential to improve corrosion resistance, reduce micro-cracking, strengthen adhesion under immersion and extend service life in long-term