The Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI) Perak Chapter had its annual luncheon to celebrate its 103rd birthday at Impiana Hotel, Ipoh on Monday, October 26.
In his opening address, Perak Chairman Dato’ Lim Si Boon, congratulated the chapter’s members who were recognised in the inaugural National Corporate Ethics Award, a proactive initiative by MICCI to promote ethical practices in the private sector in line with the government’s anti-corruption policies. The awards went to BROMMA, MEMC and Kewpump.
In view of the current haze, Dato’ Lim proposed to guest of honour, Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri DiRaja Dr Zambry Abd Kadir to extend opening hours at air-conditioned libraries and public community centres to keep children busy while their parents are at work.
“I do hope the State can review assessment rates in Ipoh and assist Perak SMEs (small and medium enterprises) taking into account the 2016 Budget announcement by the Finance Minister on money being made available to SMEs,” he told the 180-odd audience.
During the presentation of long-standing membership certificates, Sagami Manufacturers and HCM Hygenic Corp were acknowledged for their 20 years’ affiliation to the chamber.
The Menteri Besar in his speech said that to date, Perak’s overall performance has been satisfactory and it occupies the 4th position in the country’s ranking.
From January 2015 to June 2015, there was a total of 15 approved projects with total capital investment of RM2,997,472,877. Foreign investments outnumbered domestic investments. Foreign investments stood at RM2,573,925,920 whilst domestic investments capped at RM423,546,957. The sectors that had high foreign investment scores were fabricated metal products and wood products. On the other hand, domestic investments were concentrated around food industry, chemical and chemical products, rubber products, transport equipment and plastic products.
“The State is committed to ensuring the security of its people and property, as it has set up a special committee focused on crime prevention. For example, Perak is the first state in Malaysia to launch the MyCyberSecurity Clinic Premium License to address the threat of cyber security,” he explained.
Among the invitees were Vanu Gopalan Menon, the High Commissioner of Singapore, Datuk Jalilah Baba, President of MICCI and Dato’ Seri Abdul Puhat Mat Nayan, State Secretary.
Towards the end of the fruitful lunch cum networking session, Datuk Christopher Tan Chee Keong, Director of BFR Project, PEMANDU shared his successes and experience from the national perspective. “To become a high-income nation, we need enablers to ensure competitiveness and drivers to ensure focus on high-impact areas,” he remarked.
