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No. 4695 PP 2644/12/2009 (023092)

Thursday
February 12, 2009
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Japanese
SMEs seek
govt’s help
by Hemananthani Sivanandam
newsdesk@thesundaily.com

KUALA LUMPUR: The Japanese

Chamber of Trade & Industry Malaysia
(Jactim), which represents more than
560 Japanese companies operating
here, has asked the government for
help to manage its members’ cash
flow problem and to help keep jobs of
their workers.
In a statement released yesterday,
Jactim secretary-general H. Kitaoka said
many members; especially in the SME
(small-medium enterprises) industry,
had been facing difficulties managing
cash flow and employment.
He said an emergency proposal,
containing 27 specific measures, had
been submitted to the prime minister,
On the job ...
deputy prime minister, the Ministry of
International Trade and Industry (Miti),
the Economic Planning Unit (EPU),
N ewly-appointed Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir is
the focus of press photographers’ attention as he starts work at his
office in Ipoh yesterday.
about 500 families had been plagued with water supply problems since
last month. He immediately directed the Perak Water Board to resolve
the matter as the villagers, mostly fishermen, would not be able to carry
Ministry of Energy, Water and Commu- His first announcement was the portfolios of his six executive council out their daily routine without water.
nications, Ministry of Human Resource members who took their oath of office before the sultan on Tuesday. “I have directed PWB to repair a broken pipe from the mainland that
and Bank Negara on Jan 29. Zambry shoulders the heavy burden of eight portfolios, including has disrupted water supply to the village, in the next two or three days,”
He told theSun the proposal was land, finance and security, himself. He also appointed three advisers Zambry said.
mainly based on SMEs “because SME – with the status of exco members – from Umno, Gerakan and MIC to He added that the problem was notified by former Bukit Gantang
does not have enough sustainability handle Islamic, Chinese and Indian affairs respectively (see page 2). MP Datuk Tan Lian Hoe who was now the Gerik MP, after receiving
power to survive the recession”. After the press conference, he visited Kampung Seberang where complaints from villagers, reports Bernama.
There are about 130 SME compa-
nies which are members of Jactim.
Kitaoka said the financial turmoil

Cheaper power
had caused some companies to cut
production. He, however, could not
provide statistics as a survey had not
been conducted.
Among the measures included in
the proposal are safety net loan by
government-related financial institu-
tions, credit guarantee for SME loans
and subsidies for SMEs.
The proposal also called for support
and cooperation to maintain employ-
ment such as work-sharing system by
reducing wages of individual workers,
strengthen support for training and TARIFF REDUCTION FOR INDUSTRIAL, COMMERCIAL AND DOMESTIC USERS
subsidy to early retirement allowance.
One of the proposed measures by by Timothy Leonard “We hope the 5% reduction for companies as well as those involved a mechanism of fuel price pass-
Jactim to reduce utility cost such as newsdesk@thesundaily.com industrial users will help them to in the chemical industry. through be introduced to set the
electricity and natural gas rates has face the current economic slow- Shaziman, however, said the tariff in time to come.
UTRAJAYA: Pressure from

been met with the announcement of
new electricity tariff before March 1 by
the Energy, Water and Communications
Ministry yesterday.
“It’s good news for us because we
did propose the reduction of utility cost.
It will be helpful for our members,” said
Kitaoka, when told of the minister’s
announcement ahead.
Jactim has also called for a reduc-
tion of corporate tax from the current
25% to 20%; equivalent to the level in
Singapore. It also wants the govern-
ment to review the corporate tax
payment system based on estimated
profit, reduce or exempt import duty
and reduce import cost including Sirim
inspection for special steel bars.
An official in Miti told theSun “We
will be considering the proposal put
forward by Jactim and other industry
organisations and forward them to the
government for possible inclusion in
the second stimulus package.”
The second package is expected
to be tabled as a mini budget in the
Dewan Rakyat next month.
P
manufacturers hit by the eco-
nomic crisis has caused the
electricity tariff to be lowered
by an average of 3.7% from
March 1, with industrial users being
the biggest beneficiary.
Energy, Water and Communica-
tions Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu
Mansor yesterday announced that
industrial users would get a 5%
reduction, commercial users 2.7%
and residential users 2.54%.
He said the average 3.7% re-
duction would mean a drop from
32.5sen/kWh to 31.31sen/kWh.
He said domestic users from the
lower-income group whose bills
were below RM20 would continue
to receive an exemption till Dec 31.
“The government has also set the
life-line band for domestic users who
use 200kWh and below a month.
The current tariff of 21.8sen/kWh
will be retained as this category has
not seen an increase since 1998,”
said Shaziman.
down by reducing their operational reduction this time could not be
cost,” he said. bigger because of the increase in
He said the government was also coal prices from US$75 per tonne to
assisting foreign investors by agree- US$85 per tonne.
ing to increase the gas supply by 100 The cost of purchasing coal
mmscfd (million standard cubic feet represents 40% of the total cost for
per day). generating electricity. As such, the
The government has also
set the life-line band for
domestic users who use 200kWh
and below a month. The current
tariff of 21.8sen/kWh will be
retained as this category has not
seen an increase since 1998.”
Giving an example for domestic increase in coal prices could further
users, Shaziman said those who now raise power production cost.
paid a monthly bill of RM150 would Shaziman said the new tariff
have to pay only RM143 when the would be reviewed every six months
new rates took effect. to standardise the tariff amid volatile
He said among those that would prices of fuel and gas in the interna-
benefit from this reduction were tional market.
shopping complexes, steel and iron His ministry also suggested that
Fuel price pass-through is a
petroleum industry jargon which
refers to the process in which prod-
ucts sold change hands a number of
times on its way from the refinery
to the consumer. Since each par-
ticipant in this supply/marketing
chain incurs some cost and wishes
to make a profit, the price normally
increases with each sale. As such,
any change in price at the refinery,
or any intermediate point of sale
downstream should be expected to
affect prices at each successive sale.
Shaziman also said that apart
from lowering power rates, the gov-
ernment would also give rebates to
electricity-hungry industries.
The minister’s announcement
follows recent appeals by the
Federation of Malaysian Manu-
facturers and foreign companies
for government help to tide them
through the economic crisis, includ-
ing reducing power rates which
account for 30-40% of production
cost in some industries.