PWC moves into TRX, advancing Kuala Lumpur's status as financial hub: Amir Hamzah
KUALA LUMPUR: The entry of PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia Holdings Sdn Bhd (PwC Malaysia) into Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) as an anchor tenant marks another step forward in positioning Kuala Lumpur as a premier destination for global businesses and in strengthening its International Financial Centre (IFC) ecosystem.
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said PwC's presence in the district is expected to create high-quality job opportunities and enhance regional integration across ASEAN and beyond.
"Today's groundbreaking ceremony is more than just a success for TRX, it is a win for Kuala Lumpur.
"Realising Kuala Lumpur's full potential as a competitive international financial centre demands fullalignment and coordinated execution across all arms of government, so that we continue to strengthen KL's centrality and competitiveness," he said during the groundbreaking ceremony for the New TRX Development today.
His speech was delivered by Finance Ministry Deputy Secretary-General (Investment) Datuk Shahrazat Ahmad.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Borneo Post
3 hours ago
- Borneo Post
Wrong timing, weak planning: Why businesses are bracing for impact as SST expansion approaches
While aimed at strengthening fiscal resilience, many business associations and industry commentators argue that the move has come at the worst possible time – amid a fragile economic recovery and rising global uncertainties. – Stock photo from Pixabay THE Malaysian government's decision to expand the Sales and Services Tax (SST), set to take effect this July 1, is stirring significant concern across industries as businesses groups sound the alarm on potential impacts on our domestic economy. A tax in troubled times While aimed at strengthening fiscal resilience, many business associations and industry commentators argue that the move has come at the worst possible time – amid a fragile economic recovery and rising global uncertainties. Recent GDP figures reflected this vulnerability as Malaysia's economy grew by 4.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, a notable dip from the 4.9 per cent recorded in the final quarter of 2024. The World Bank has also recently revised its 2025 GDP growth forecast for Malaysia downwards from 4.5 per cent to 3.9 per cent, further reinforcing expectations of a slowing domestic economy. Key domestic sectors, including construction and manufacturing, have also begun to slow, while external pressures such as the escalating US-China trade war, US tariffs and escalating geopolitical tensions threaten to further dampen export performance. Amid these headwinds, industry pundits pointed out that the SST expansion risks compounding domestic challenges rather than alleviating them. What's different under 2025 SST expansion? Announced under Budget 2025, the upcoming SST expansion represents a significant widening of the tax base. This includes the expansion of the sales tax to non-essential items such as king crab, salmon, imported fruits, racing bicycles, and antique artworks, while the service tax will now cover a wider spectrum of services such as renting and leasing, construction, financial services, private healthcare, education, and beauty treatments. Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan has estimated that the expanded SST will generate RM5 billion in additional revenue in 2025, bringing total SST collection to RM51.7 billion. Of this, RM2.2 billion is expected to come from the sales tax component, while RM2.8 billion from services. Amir Hamzah has emphasized that these changes aim to support government expenditure and social programs without overburdening the lower-income group. Yet, business sentiment seems to paint a different picture. Businesses sound off In a joint statement issued on June 15 by six business associations – the SME Association of Malaysia, Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA), Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA), Bumiputera Retailers Organisation (BRO), Malaysia Shopping Malls Association (PPKM), and the Federation of Malaysian Business Associations (FMBA) have expressed firm opposition to the SST rollout. In particular, the statement criticized the eight per cent service tax on commercial property rentals and leasing services, calling its timing 'gravely misguided'. 'Implementing such a broad-based tax hike amid a fragile recovery will exacerbate inflation, cripple SMEs (small and medium enterprises), discourage investment, and erode consumer confidence,' the consortium said. Already under pressure from cost inflation and sluggish demand, SMEs and retailers who find themselves having to grapple with tighter margins and elevating operating costs may inevitably find themselves having to pass these costs onto consumers which would further reduce household purchasing power and threaten the viability of retail operations. The result, they say, could be widespread downsizing, closures, and job losses – all of which would further weaken the domestic economy. That said, the associations stressed that their opposition is not to the principle of taxation, but rather to the current approach, which they describe as lacking consultation and sensitivity to the current economic realities. Lack of engagement with industries, consumers While the Ministry of Finance had earlier stated that the Royal Malaysian Customs Department was engaging with industry stakeholders to finalise the scope and rate of the tax back in February, the response from many associations suggests otherwise. The Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry Federation (MISIF), for instance, issued a statement on June 20 warning that the SST and the proposed carbon tax would severely undermine the competitiveness of the steel sector especially in the current macroenvironment. MISIF pointed out that over 240 steel-related products – including coking coal, coke, and steel scrap – would be affected. 'These are critical raw materials, and the added cost burden could encourage cheaper imports, discourage local production, and erode Malaysia's manufacturing base.' The association also argued that taxing machinery and equipment contradicts the goals of the New Industrial Master Plan 2030, which emphasizes automation, green steel, and advanced technologies. Moreover, a 10 per cent tax on steel mesh which is widely used in Industrialised Building System (IBS) projects could also slow construction progress, as it shifts contractors away from automation, and increase their reliance on manual labour and foreign workers. Further discord emerged when the Minister of Plantation and Commodities, Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, announced that his ministry had called for an urgent consultation with stakeholders in the palm oil and oleochemical industries following negative feedback over the imposition of a five per cent SST on oleochemical products. 'I have instructed the ministry to engage with industry players. We want to know specifically which parts are affected. The SST is a taxation system that has already been implemented in our country. 'When receiving significant negative feedback, I said we should not just react; instead, we need to engage with the industry to understand the impact. If it affects competitiveness, only then will we review it,' he told the media after officiating at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board's Technology Transfer Programme 2025 on June 19. While the move indicates a willingness to engage, it also raises questions about the quality and depth of earlier consultations with stakeholders if such an urgent response had to occur. And the chorus of discontent seems to have continued to grow steadily over the last few weeks with associations like the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (Margma), the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda), the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia, and the Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) all calling for the SST changes to be delayed, revised, or restructured. Even consumers have pushed back with many questioning certain aspects of the SST expansions like the broad inclusion of imported fruits as they argue that many daily staples are imported. To this end, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced on June 26 that the government had decided to 'compromise' and exempt apples and oranges, which are consumed by the masses from the SST expansion. 'Tax reform is not the issue, a lack of strategy is' Commenting on the issue, Hedki Heng, a corporate culture researcher and serial entrepreneur, regarded the reform of the SST as 'not an inherently wrong move, but doing so without a well-communicated strategy is just lazy policy, which may erode the people's trust'. 'We're not unwilling to contribute. We just want to know what we're contributing toward. How long must we bear it? Is it worth it? In an age of uncertainty, every government decision builds or breaks public trust,' he said. 'When we voted for a government promising reform, transparency, and hope, we weren't just asking for salary reviews or tax tweaks. We wanted long-term structural change. 'But instead we what we got was policies that change so frequently both businesses and the rakyat can't plan ahead, rising taxes and falling subsidies with no real measures to boost incomes, vulnerable communities being pushed to breaking point, and a 'tax first, aid later' model that contradicts with the intent to help and disconnects people from policy,' he lamented. He argued that his current 'change first, explain later' attitude towards new policies gambled with the trust of citizens, and 'is the true crisis at hand'. 'There is a collapse in public trust. The more policies we have, the less trust we seem to gain. And when hope is betrayed, disappointment becomes even heavier. 'Please don't let this opportunity for reform become another chapter of national disappointment,' he warned. 'So, what can we do to fix this?' Well, for Heng, the answer seems obvious. 'What we desperately need now is a clear medium-to-long-term fiscal roadmap that will tell us exactly how Malaysia's revenue will be sustained, how our economy will be restructured and what our tangible fiscal goals are. 'Once that's done then, and only then, can we move towards introducing new policies that have been thoroughly studied and discussed with industry stakeholders. 'Every major policy must include clear explanations of who will be affected, how the pain will be cushioned, and what support systems are in place. No more trial-and-error policies with no accountability,' he stressed. And finally, Heng also emphasised that for the people to tighten their belts for fiscal reforms, the government must also lead by example by reforming government linked corporations (GLCs) and trim inefficiency. 'A bloated public sector and excessive spending cannot be the rakyat's burden anymore.' businesses focus lead SST tax
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Why last-minute revamp of 13th Malaysia Plan, Rafizi asks govt
Former economy minister Rafizi Ramli said the 13th Malaysia Plan is an important document for the nation. PETALING JAYA : Former economy minister Rafizi Ramli has questioned the government's decision to revamp the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), slated to be tabled in Parliament at the end of July. Rafizi said the last-minute overhaul of the next five-year development plan would raise concerns among the civil servants who prepared the 13MP, market analysts, and Malaysians as a whole. The PKR MP for Pandan also asked whether the changes would be rushed since there would be insufficient time to refer the plan to the inter-agency planning group, the technical working group, and experts who formulated the initial 13MP. 'Why is this overhaul of the 13MP arising now when there was no such issue raised when the economy ministry and I tabled the contents of the 13MP previously? 'The 13MP is an important document for the nation and Malaysians, developed by thousands of Malaysians from various segments of society. If we're not careful, the 13MP will be dragged into political polemics which would end up affecting the people's confidence in the final document. 'If this happens, it would be a great injustice to those who worked hard on the 13MP over the past year,' he said in a statement. Earlier today, the government announced that finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan has taken on the duties and functions of the economy portfolio, and given the duty of overhauling the 13MP. Amir said he had received 'a lot of feedback' from his Cabinet colleagues on the plan, which necessitated an overhaul of the document. Rafizi said the preparation of the 13MP started in September 2024 when feedback was obtained from all stakeholders, first through the inter agency planning group which involved every government ministry and agency. Then, he said, there was a technical working group comprising policy experts in specific areas, from health, fiscal and education reforms to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. He said there were also numerous engagements between the economy ministry and state governments, industry players, and MPs from September to December 2024. 'At the same time, there was a 'top down' process, namely the development of key policies that were bold and radical, running concurrently involving the economy ministry and experts. 'These policies, categorised according to the various fields, were identified as key catalysts for structural reforms in those areas. These bold and radical policies that were proposed may not have been acceptable to the relevant ministries. 'That's why I tabled them to the prime minister multiple times beforehand between February to April, and tabled it twice to the Cabinet to achieve a compromise and consensus,' he said. Rafizi said there was a tight schedule to prepare and table the 13MP compared with previous Malaysia plans. He also said the 13MP was fully developed by civil servants without the involvement of external consultants.
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Amir given economy minister's duties, to overhaul 13th Malaysia Plan
Senator Amir Hamzah Azizan was appointed as finance minister II in December 2023. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : The Cabinet has agreed for finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan to take on the duties and functions of the economy portfolio, effective immediately. In a statement, chief secretary Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar said this was decided by the Cabinet on Wednesday. 'His main duty will be to amend and overhaul the contents of the 13th Malaysia Plan, which will be tabled in Parliament on July 31, with additional information submitted by the ministries as well as the views and comments given by the Cabinet,' he said. Amir, a senator, was appointed as finance minister II in December 2023. The economy minister's post became vacant with the resignation of Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, who stepped down after losing his post as PKR deputy president. Rafizi said he had completed the 13th Malaysia Plan before his resignation, describing it as his final responsibility as economy minister. He said the document was drafted to place greater emphasis on comprehensive reforms, including several involving the education ministry. Following his resignation, the Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (Samenta) urged Putrajaya to ensure continuity in economic policies and commitment to long-term reforms. Samenta chairman William Ng said the 13th Malaysia Plan in particular must not be seen as the vision of a single minister but a national blueprint born out of broad consultations and urgent necessity. Ng also warned that Malaysia risked missing out on yet another economic cycle if key reforms outlined in the plan were not retained and fully implemented. In a separate statement, Amir thanked Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for entrusting him with the responsibility of the economy ministry's duties in the interim. He said he had received 'a lot of feedback' from his Cabinet colleagues on the 13th Malaysia Plan which necessitated an overhaul of the document. 'This is to best showcase the policies that the Madani government is prioritising while continuing the momentum of our economic reform agenda,' he said.
