Kuala Lumpur, 19 May 2020 – The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a major shift in the way people live and work. The evolving socio-economic situation has been disrupted as people adjusted to new norms, while those who rely on manual or daily wage work have suddenly found themselves with intermittent or no income. In response to the pressing needs faced by low-income communities, Zurich Malaysia together with Z Zurich Foundation has stepped in to provide support and  assistance to impacted Malaysian families in the B40 category.

Z Zurich Foundation has donated RM 1 million to Epic Society, a local non-profit organisation, to boost the COVID-19 Collective for Orang Asli initiative; a two-  pronged relief and recovery programme for the Orang Asli communities. A portion of the funds is allocated to supplement ongoing relief work, which focuses on the  distribution of essential food items as well as hygiene kits containing items such as sanitisers, soaps, face masks and over-the-counter medicines. The aid will be distributed to approximately 4,000 Orang Asli families in Peninsular Malaysia from now until June 2020. 

As the coronavirus pandemic frames our new normal, one thing is clear if nothing else – logistics, the commercial activity of transporting goods to customers, had risen to the position of being the key enabler for the digital future. As is, that trend is racing towards us faster than ever before. 

The impact of the US-China trade war on the supply chain has been a drag on the short and medium-term outlook for the global logistics sector. However, in the wake of worldwide lockdowns to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus had shifted again to the long-term prospects of logistics as its importance becomes even more apparent. 

Jakarta, May 18, 2020 – According to Bloomberg's latest capital markets league table data, Indonesia saw 26 initial public offerings (IPOs) launched in the first four months of 2020, the most among exchanges in South East Asia. This number compares to six in Singapore and eight in Malaysia. 

Despite the large number of IPOs launched, the equity capital market (IPOs and additional offerings) was relatively small in terms of value raised. The average size of each offering was US$ 10 million, a 74% drop from the average offering size of US$ 36 million in the same period last year. A total of US$ 272 million was raised via the equity capital market from January through April 2020, compared to US$ 550 million in the same period last year. By run rate, this will result in the lowest amount of equity capital raised in the last 10 years, since 2009. In the last five years, there have only been six additional equity offerings by Indonesian companies, (three in 2019 alone) which raised approximately US$ 1.1 billion. 

PETALING JAYA, 13 May 2020 – The country is finally moving towards a period of economic recovery as most businesses resumed operations following the implementation of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) on 4 May. According to KPMG’s latest report entitled Digital Banking: The Inclusive Agenda, in a post-COVID-19 world, the financial services sector will be a key driver of economic recovery and growth. In particular, the stage is set for digital banking to thrive.

Adrian Lee, Head of Financial Services at KPMG in Malaysia, observed how the changing socio-economic landscape has altered customers’ money management and spending patterns as well as the way businesses are run. For both individuals and businesses, mode of payments and channels of financial management will also change.