logo
China-Malaysia trade and culinary festival strengthens ties

China-Malaysia trade and culinary festival strengthens ties

Borneo Post15 hours ago
(From left to right): Liew Hongzhi, Liew Huichen, Hu Chunqiang, Zhang Wangzhou, Madam Lucy, Liew Cuncai, Xue Fuxiang, Qu Zongkuan, Datuk Frankie Liew, Ma Anmin, Zhao Ning, Bai Jie at the launching of China (Linyi) – Malaysia (Kuching) International Buyers Trade Matchmaking Conference and the China-Malaysia Culinary and Cultural Festival.
KOTA KINABALU (Aug 5): The China (Linyi) – Malaysia (Kuching) International Buyers Trade Matchmaking Conference and the China-Malaysia Culinary and Cultural Festival were successfully held at the Linyi Fulaiteng International Mall in Qingdao, China on July 29.
The event was officially launched by Sabah China Chamber of Commerce President Datuk Frankie Liew, Qu Zongkuan, Committee Member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Linyi Commercial City Management Committee, Madam Lucy, Chairperson of Copial Marting Sdn Bhd (Malaysia), and Hu Chunqiang, Chairman of Linyi Yuanyun Import and Export Co., Ltd.
The trade matchmaking conference featured precise business pairing, attracting over 120 quality enterprises from Linyi and 50 reputable Malaysian buyers, effectively creating a high-efficiency bridge for both sides to explore the international market.
The concurrently held China-Malaysia Culinary and Cultural Festival became a highlight of the event. Local Linyi delicacies were showcased alongside Sarawak-style Malaysian cuisine. Culinary demonstrations and tasting sessions drew large crowds. Chefs from both regions performed live, allowing the public to experience authentic foreign flavors and deepening mutual understanding and appreciation of Chinese and Malaysian culinary cultures.
With the theme 'Connecting Business Opportunities, Linking Taste Buds', the event significantly boosted economic and cultural exchanges between Linyi and Sarawak, Malaysia, injecting new vitality into multi-sector cooperation between the two regions.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Muamalat Invest launches MiDAS to unlock Islamic wealth for underserved sectors
Muamalat Invest launches MiDAS to unlock Islamic wealth for underserved sectors

New Straits Times

time8 minutes ago

  • New Straits Times

Muamalat Invest launches MiDAS to unlock Islamic wealth for underserved sectors

KUALA LUMPUR: Muamalat Invest Sdn Bhd (MISB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd, has launched Muamalat-i Dana Sinar (MiDAS) – a strategic initiative aimed at unlocking Islamic private wealth to fuel inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Positioned as a catalytic vehicle, MiDAS seeks to direct Shariah-compliant capital into high-impact sectors of the Malaysian economy that remain critically underfunded, including areas such as small and medium enterprises (SMEs), healthcare, agriculture, and green development. The initiative is part of MISB's broader agenda to strengthen Malaysia's Islamic finance ecosystem, aligning capital mobilisation with national priorities while delivering both ethical and economic returns. Muamalat Invest chief executive officer Khadijah Sairah Ibrahim said MiDAS serves as a platform for impactful capital, offering stable and growth-driven returns while addressing genuine financing needs within Malaysia's entrepreneurial landscape. "Our vision is to offer value-based solutions that empower investors to succeed with purpose and contribute meaningfully to nation-building," she said. MiDAS channels private capital into productive, real-sector businesses, with a focus on underserved micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), in support of Malaysia's national goals for inclusive, sustainable, and values-based economic growth. The initiative is designed to offer investors access to high-quality Islamic private credit instruments, sourced through recognised market operators (RMOs) approved by the Securities Commission Malaysia. "MiDAS is more than just an investment fund – it's a channel for purposeful capital. It delivers stable, growth-oriented returns while meeting real financing needs across Malaysia's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our vision is to offer value-based solutions that empower investors to succeed with purpose and contribute meaningfully to nation-building," Khadijah said. By unlocking capital for MSMEs, which represent over 97 per cent of Malaysian businesses, MiDAS plays a pivotal role in narrowing financing gaps, catalysing entrepreneurship, and building economic resilience.

The 13th Malaysia Plan: Strategic clarity in an age of disruption
The 13th Malaysia Plan: Strategic clarity in an age of disruption

New Straits Times

time38 minutes ago

  • New Straits Times

The 13th Malaysia Plan: Strategic clarity in an age of disruption

LETTERS: As economic certainties are breaking apart at the seams by fragmentation, digital disruption and rising protectionism, the tabling of the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) under the Madani government could not have come at a more critical juncture. Where once there was predictability and stability, bolstered by robust competition, the global landscape is now dominated by intense strategic rivalry and geo-economic uncertainty. Long a trading nation and a highly open economy, Malaysia must navigate these treacherous waters, exposed to global headwinds, not least the Trump administration's re-imposition of tariffs. The current 19 per cent duty on most Malaysian exports to the US, though a reduction from earlier announcements, reflects a difficult compromise. Exemptions for key sectors such as semiconductors soften the blow, but the overall message is clear: trade is becoming more politicised, and diversification is no longer optional but essential. Some have suggested that Malaysia's arrangement with the US bears little distinction from those secured by its regional peers, or worse, represents a form of quiet capitulation. Such critiques overlook a key reality: economic diplomacy in today's climate is no longer about extracting perfect outcomes, but about managing asymmetries wisely. Malaysia's approach has been guided by strategic calculus, not submission, and herein lies the difference. Malaysia has safeguarded critical policy space, including Bumiputera affirmative action, protective tariffs for strategic industries such as automotive, and the continued issuance of Approved Permits (APs), all while ensuring continued dialogue with Washington. The 13MP responds to these realities with a forward-looking framework that positions the country for resilience and renewal. It outlines a vision of strategic autonomy rooted in structural reform, domestic capacity-building and constructive global engagement. Building Strength for a Digital and Industrial Future A central theme of the 13MP is the development of Made by Malaysia products, anchored in existing policy documents such as the New Industrial Master Plan 2030. In addition to prioritising research, commercialisation and innovation, the 13MP supports high-growth sectors, aims to attract high-impact investments, and strengthens the nation's talent base. This ambition is writ large in the commitment to artificial intelligence and digital transformation. Malaysia must move beyond backend assembly in global value chains. The RM10 billion investment by Nvidia, partnering Khazanah Nasional, reflects international confidence in Malaysia's capacity to become a regional pivot for high-performance computing, AI infrastructure and data governance. Yet, this is only the beginning. The 13MP envisions nurturing home-grown innovation, making domestic firms more competitive and equipping Malaysians for the technological frontier. It advances these goals by strengthening industry-academia collaboration, supporting the AI ecosystem under the National AI Roadmap, and promoting agile governance through regulatory sandboxes. At its core, the 13MP is about economic, institutional and societal resilience. The focus is on value creation and long-term quality investment, where public spending and policy incentives serve strategic objectives, not the least being boosting domestic value capture and supporting high-impact sectors. As for the National Energy Transition Roadmap, gearing the nation towards a low-carbon, high-value economy, the kicker is in catalytic projects and investment opportunities in green hydrogen, solar manufacturing and grid modernisation. Energy resilience and environmental stewardship are crucial to ensure we aren't left at the starting block in the global green economy race while laying the foundation for new industrial ecosystems that align with long-term national interests. Reclaiming Global Relevance Through Economic Diplomacy Malaysia's tradition of non-alignment remains a key advantage. Our credibility with both East and West, combined with a reputation for moderation and consistency, positions us to bridge divides in a fractured global order. The 13MP builds on this by encouraging deeper engagement with emerging markets, reinforcing commitment to multilateral platforms such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and reaffirming Malaysia's leadership role in Asean as well as participation in BRICS. Economic diplomacy, in this regard, is not incidental but a core pillar of the 13MP, demonstrating the inextricable link between domestic reform and global positioning. By expanding trade relations with sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and leveraging existing trade agreements, the 13MP seeks to fortify resilience in an era of shifting power and contested norms. Its call for fairness, predictability and sovereignty in digital and trade governance reflects long-term strategic interests. Still, the 13MP is only as strong as its execution. While Malaysia has never lacked for vision, the adage that between the ideal and the reality falls the shadow of incoherence and failure sometimes still rings true. Nevertheless, we take heart that the 13MP introduces mechanisms for inter-agency coordination, performance tracking and institutional accountability. This is vital considering that we were once dragged down by a system that prioritised form over substance. And, in order to truly appreciate the role of the 13MP in today's context, we must move beyond outdated critiques and assess what national planning means in an era of complexity and disruption. It has become fashionable among some commentators to dismiss Malaysia's five-year plans as relics of Soviet-style economic totalitarianism. But this ignores both the evolution of the planning process and the complexity of modern governance. Unlike Stalinist central planning, the 13MP does not attempt to micromanage the economy, nor does it presume to absolutely override market mechanisms. Instead, it provides strategic clarity in areas where the market alone cannot resolve collective dilemmas such as climate resilience, energy security, digital infrastructure and regional inequality. Clearly, Adam Smith's "invisible hand" has remained largely invisible in times of economic turmoil. Intervention, where strategically planned and executed, is imperative. Most importantly, the 13MP is not a promise of overnight transformation. Real change demands political will, technocratic skill and broad societal alignment. It calls for the courage to move beyond antiquated paradigms and the discipline to commit to long-term thinking. In the end, the 13MP represents a new understanding of development. It is not about managing scarcity or distributing subsidies, but about unlocking potential, building strategic capacity and preparing for a future that will not wait. If we approach the implementation of the 13MP with the same earnestness and clarity with which it was conceived, Malaysia can do more than weather the global storm. We can reclaim our agency, shape our regional future and advance a model of shared prosperity rooted in resilience, inclusion and innovation. A tall order, no doubt, but by no means unattainable

OpenAI releases free, downloadable AI models to rival Meta, DeepSeek amid pressure for transparency
OpenAI releases free, downloadable AI models to rival Meta, DeepSeek amid pressure for transparency

Malay Mail

time38 minutes ago

  • Malay Mail

OpenAI releases free, downloadable AI models to rival Meta, DeepSeek amid pressure for transparency

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 6 — OpenAI on Tuesday released two new artificial intelligence (AI) models that can be downloaded for free and altered by users, to challenge similar offerings by US and Chinese competition. The release of gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b 'open-weight language models' comes as the ChatGPT-maker is under pressure to share inner workings of its software in the spirit of its origin as a nonprofit. 'Going back to when we started in 2015, OpenAI's mission is to ensure AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) that benefits all of humanity,' said OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman. An open-weight model, in the context of generative AI, is one in which the trained parameters are made public, enabling users to fine-tune it. Meta touts its open-source approach to AI, and Chinese AI startup DeepSeek rattled the industry with its low-cost, high-performance model boasting an open weight approach that allows users to customize the technology. 'This is the first time that we're releasing an open-weight model in language in a long time, and it's really incredible,' OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman said during a briefing with journalists. The new, text-only models deliver strong performance at low cost, according to OpenAI, which said they are suited for AI jobs like searching the internet or executing computer code, and are designed to be easy to run on local computer systems. 'We are quite hopeful that this release will enable new kinds of research and the creation of new kinds of products,' Altman said. OpenAI said it is working with partners including French telecommunications giant Orange and cloud-based data platform Snowflake on real-world uses of the models. The open-weight models have been tuned to thwart being used for malicious purposes, according to OpenAI. Altman early this year said his company had been 'on the wrong side of history' when it came to being open about how its technology works. He later announced that OpenAI will continue to be run as a nonprofit, abandoning a contested plan to convert into a for-profit organization. The structural issue had become a point of contention, with major investors pushing for better returns. That plan faced strong criticism from AI safety activists and co-founder Elon Musk, who sued the company he left in 2018, claiming the proposal violated its founding philosophy. In the revised plan, OpenAI's money-making arm will be open to generate profits but will remain under the nonprofit board's supervision. — AFP

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store