11 January

MoHR Meeting on Definition of ‘Wages’

The Ministry of Human Resources called for a meeting following directive from PEMUDAH to explore the feasibility of having a common definition of wages in the Employment Act, HRDF Act, SOCSO Act and the EPF Act.  The meeting was attended by Mr T Balasubramaniam, Convenor of the MICCI Human Resources Committee and Ms Anna Dharmendran of MECA Employers Consulting Agency.

15 January

Meeting with Selangor Customs

Representatives of the Trade Facilitation Sub-Committee attended the Consultative Panel Meeting with the Selangor Customs in Klang.

17 & 18 January

MDTCA Consultative Group (CG-25) on the Proposed Fair Trade Practices Policy

A tripartite consultative group consisting of interested parties to the Fair Trade Practices (FTP) Bill has been established by the MDTCA to study on the said Bill. The Consultative Group is known as CG-25 and its composition consists of representatives from ten (10) Ministries and Government agencies, ten (10) trade associations and five (5) NGOs. En Mohd Shah Hashim of Nestle (Malaysia) Bhd has been nominated as permanent representative of the Chamber.

The CG-25 had its first meeting on 17 & 18 January 2008. As the Bill is classified under OSA, a working document containing rephrased content of the Bill was given for comments, in which, the Chamber’s Task Force on FTPP had submitted its comments on the Bill. The Ministry informed that the Fair Trade Practices Policy is expected to be implemented in January 2009.

18 January

Meeting on Co-ordination of Road Safety during CNY

Ministry of Transport, Datuk Suret Singh chaired the meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the Safety Campaign during the Chinese New Year 2008 season.

22 January         

Seminar on Life Cycle Assessment for Industry and Business Sustainability.

The objective of the seminar was to provide insights into the close linkages of LCA to the environmental profile. The environmental profile of products is now a prevalent trend in the market demands of the developed countries. The Secretariat and members of the Environment Committee attended the seminar.

24 January

EPF Briefing on Beyond Savings

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) invited members of the Chamber to a briefing on ‘Beyond Savings’ which was aimed to brief on the introduction of several changes to enable members to have more funds to cover their basic retirement needs.

On 1 February 2008, the EPF introduced the 'Beyond Savings' initiative, which is essentially a new benefit structure to enhance retirement savings of all members, involves new provisions for the EPF's contribution and withdrawal benefits. These changes will be implemented in stages, starting with the change in the account structure of members from three (3) to two (2) accounts which has been implemented since 2 January 2007. Meanwhile, a more flexible withdrawal options for members after age 55 was introduced in 1 November 2007.

25 February

Roundtable Dialogue “A New Approach To Climate Change” Balancing Adaptation and Mitigation

The purpose of the Dialogue was to provide a platform for discussion on issues related to climate change, economic growth and social development especially after the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Bali, Indonesia. A member from the Environment Committee attended this Dialogue.

26 February

Seminar on “Enhancing the Quality of Higher Education Through Research: Shaping Future Policy”

The objective of this Seminar is to discuss further on research policy and grants. This was officiated by Yg Bhg Dato’ Mustapa bin Mohamed, Ministry of Higher Education. A member from the Education Committee attended this Seminar.

27 - 28 February

T @ W Facilitation Workshop

The overall objectives of the T@W project is to undertake thematic promotion of Sustainable Energy Technologies and the emerging Emission Trading Scheme markets in EU and CDM markets in Asia.

30 January

Taiwan Trade Centre

The Executive Director, Ms Wong Hin Wei and Ms Zelda Mak paid a courtesy visit to the Taiwan Trade Centre.

11 February

Asean Inter State Agreement - Multimodal Transport meeting

The Government has signed the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods in Transit in year 1998 and ASEAN Multimodal Agreement on Multimodal Transport in year 2005.  Subsequent to these agreements, the Government is expected to sign the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Inter-State Transport by end of 2008.

14 February

MOHR Seminar with Social Partners: “Realizing Decent Work in Malaysia”

A seminar entitled “Realizing Decent Work in Malaysia” was organized by the Ministry of Human Resources to brief participants on the Ministry’s strategic plan which will be implemented from year 2008 – 2010. The Strategic Plan includes creating job opportunities & ensuring workers’ rights, ensuring industrial relations harmony, solving industrial dispute with fairness and justice, practicing safety and health at workplace, developing a competitive and skilled national workplace as well as providing social security protection.

19 February

Malaysian Industrial Development Authority

Ms Wong Hin Wei attended the Annual Media Conference of Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA).

20 February

ASEAN Harmonised Tariff Nomenclature

Representatives of the Trade Facilitation Sub-Committee attended a seminar at the Royal Malaysian Customs Head Office, Putrajaya on the ASEAN Harmonised Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN).

13 March

SMIDEC

Ms Wong Hin Wei represented MICCI at the Focus Group Meeting on Costs of Doing Business in Malaysia held at SMIDEC.