KUALA LUMPUR: Lee Soon Seng Plastic Industries Sdn Bhd, which manufactures thermo-formed plastic packaging and extrusion sheets, has seen its new product introduced this year gaining popularity in the Australian, New Zealand and European markets.
The product, AIR-TIGHT disposable food containers - ensure that biscuits or cookies remain crunchy for days. It can also store liquids without any spillage. So far, the company has developed over 10 designs of the products which are made of polyenthylene terephthalate, an environmentally-friendly material.
Lee Soon Seng's managing director, Datuk Seri Lee Hock Seng, said the company had perfected the thermo press-form technology after a one-year ...view middle of the document...
We undertake a brief review of empirical studies on the issue of FDI-led growth process. We highlight a very basic point emerging from the literature, that FDI is not a sine qua non for development. FDI-led growth is not a process that occurs automatically in the host country, and this reflects the complex nature of the interrelationships between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and host country economic agents. A vast majority of the existing empirical studies indicate that FDI does not always make a positive contribution to either economic growth and factor productivity. This is often because host countries are not able to capture the bulk of benefits associated with FDI without a certain threshold level of absorptive capabilities.
Global economic slowdown and political uncertainty in Malaysia
August 15th, 2012
Author: Shankaran Nambiar, Kuala Lumpur
The world is on the brink of an economic crisis and the consequences are likely to be dire. The current state of the global economy presents multiple challenges to Malaysia. While the effects will first be felt within the economic sphere, they will also have a significant impact on domestic politics. This will add to the prevailing state of political uncertainty. Some of Malaysia’s key trading partners are already struggling economically. The crisis rocking the euro zone has received a considerable amount of analysis, but the economic situation in other countries also merits attention.
The performance of the US economy is a concern for Malaysia. US GDP, which saw growth of 3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011, decreased to 1.9 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2012. Growth in the US hardly recovered, but whatever recovery it had achieved now appears shaky. Analysts put the forecast for US growth at 1–1.5 per cent for 2012. Some have raised the probability of a recession to 50 per cent. The unemployment rate has not budged from 8.2 per cent, as the increase in employment opportunities has not kept pace with population growth. Any hopes that could have come from China have been dashed. In the previous quarter, China grew by 8.1 per cent. The growth rate has now fallen to 7.6 per cent for the period stretching from April to June. This makes it China’s slowest quarter since the first quarter of 2009, when it was feeling the effects of the global financial crisis. With the rest of the world experiencing a slowdown, Singapore’s economy has also been affected. Singapore is a significant trading partner for Malaysia, and what happens to Singapore will affect Malaysia greatly.
In light of the problems its trading partners are experiencing, Malaysia can also expect difficulties. On the economic front, it is hard to see where the export-oriented manufacturing sector will find demand for its products. Low global demand will translate, sooner or later, into low GDP figures. All indications are that the Malaysian economy will slow in the next quarter. On the fiscal side, the problems are no...
