Palm Oil is God’s Gift

The new slogan for palm oil campaign, ‘Palm Oil is God’s Gift”, is more universal and acceptable worldwide, Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Willie Mongin told the Dewan Negara today. — The Edge (Link)

Well…. It’s better than Love My Palm Oil right? Right? Right? I am going to breathe a long sigh, sigggghhhh. Why are we so caught up with the slogan for palm oil? There are still so much issues plaguing the palm oil industry. Europe is against the palm oil industry because it wants to protect its own vegetable oils industry. Labour issues are becoming more acute because of the movement control restrictions. Trade wars are more common these days, hampering the export industry. For the love of god (pun intended), sort those issues out first.

Vacancy Tax for Unsold Houses

The widely debated Vacancy Tax on unsold high-end properties will likely not be imposed next year as it is still being reviewed by the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT). “The Vacancy Tax idea only came around when we thought about unsold high-end properties…and it is not going to be implemented in 2021, we have other mechanisms,” she said. — The Edge (Link)

Well, this is a very interesting proposition. I am actually for this. Its high time developers buck up on their businesses rather than build recklessly and blame the government if houses can’t sell. And I AM SURE REHDA will be fuming at this, and said that we are trying to kill the property market. It is exactly this type of behaviour we SHOULD NOT encourage. We have been propping up the developers for far too long, and this has made them bolder and bolder in building houses that people can’t afford in the name of their profit margins. For context, unsold residential properties in Malaysia is now at an all time high, with most it priced above RM300k (the affordable level). Latest data in 1Q 2020 showed that unsold residential properties are at 163,011 units, very high by historical standards.

Amazon and Middle East Interested in Reliance’s Retail Arm in India

India’s Reliance Industries is offering to sell a roughly US$20 billion stake in its retail arm to Amazon.com Inc, Bloomberg News reported today, citing one unnamed person with knowledge of the matter. — The Edge (Link)

 Middle East sovereign wealth funds including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund are in talks to buy stakes in Reliance Retail, the arm of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s empire that is seeking to raise $5.7bn by selling new shares. — Financial Times (Link)

The retail arm of Reliance Industries which have a dominant position in India’s market, is currently valued at $83bn (Link). This is a big market for Amazon, with India commanding a population of 1.35bn, second only to China (1.39bn). This is an attractive investment opportunities for all the big boys out there, especially Amazon. I do think Amazon should get into the market, as the biggest market in the world, China, is dominated by Alibaba and the United States and China are currently in odds with each other. Couple that with India’s deteriorating relations with China, Indian companies will be more inclined to work with non-Chinese companies.