Keppel has signed a conditional offtake term sheet with Woodside Energy, Australia’s largest oil and gas developer, for the supply and purchase of liquid hydrogen to power Keppel’s data centres in Singapore.

Keppel intends for the potential liquid hydrogen supply to form part of a larger, long-term utility-scale lower carbon power portfolio that Keppel is building to power its assets.

The term sheet follows the signing of a non-binding heads of agreement between the two parties in April 2023 to evaluate the potential supply of liquid hydrogen to Singapore.

Their deal tables commercial principles that may pave the way for an eventual binding offtake agreement for the supply of liquid hydrogen from as early as 2030, Keppel announced on Oct 21.

The sources of liquid hydrogen would include Woodside’s proposed production facilities such as H2Perth, its facility in Perth, Western Australia.

Wong Wai Meng, chief executive of Keppel Data Centres, said the deal with Woodside has the “ability to provide a reliable and stable source of lower carbon energy to power our assets in Singapore”.

However, it remains conditional upon several factors, including the negotiation and execution of a fully termed sales and purchase agreement, as well as obtaining all necessary approvals.

The liquid hydrogen supply is expected to reduce emissions generated by Keppel Data Centres’ facilities. The supply will be used to cool data centres.

Source: Straitstimes

During the Budget 2025 speech, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the launching of Rakan KKM, a whole-of-government partnership programme to enhance Ministry of Health (MoH) hospitals and clinics for all Malaysians.

The launching of this programme reflects the prime minister’s deep commitment to ensuring that the rakyat will always have affordable access to the best healthcare available, no matter what their socioeconomic background.

In keeping with the spirit of Malaysia Madani, the higher intent of Rakan KKM is not only to raise the ceiling when it comes to the quality of public healthcare services, but also to raise the floor, so that every single patient in the public healthcare system benefits.

Under Rakan KKM, non-emergency patients will have the option to purchase “premium economy” value-added services, including personalised care, the ability to choose their specialists and additional privacy and comfort in the wards.

This partnership programme was designed with the goal of taking Malaysia’s public healthcare system to even greater heights. In achieving such heights, there are two challenges in particular that need to be innovatively addressed.

The first is the increasing number of medical specialists and other healthcare workers who are leaving public healthcare for the private sector.

The second is the availability of funds to improve and upgrade healthcare facilities and services, as well as pay our healthcare workers more.

Alongside these two challenges, the country is also experiencing high levels of inflation in the private healthcare sector. This may in turn lead to an increasing number of patients turning from the private sector to the public sector, adding a further strain on resources.

Rakan KKM is designed to robustly meet all of these challenges.

First, by providing public healthcare workers an avenue to earn more income by participating in Rakan KKM in their extra time, we increase the retention of key healthcare workers in the public healthcare system.

Second, by ensuring that a portion of its revenue is reinvested back into the public healthcare system, Rakan KKM contributes to the improvement of the public healthcare system as a whole. We can expect this to benefit the B40 especially.

Third, Rakan KKM addresses rising healthcare cost inflation by providing more value-based options for the rakyat, especially for those in the M40 segment.

In terms of pricing, Rakan KKM services are expected to be priced above cost, and below most existing private healthcare services. Rakan KKM is not designed to compete with existing luxury private healthcare services. There are also ongoing discussions with private health insurers to include Rakan KKM under their existing policies.

Rakan KKM differs from previous similar initiatives in public healthcare facilities in that first, it ensures that a greater cross section of healthcare workers can benefit directly and officially from this programme.

Second, the revenue from Rakan KKM will be reinvested directly into the hospitals in order to improve services for all, including non-Rakan KKM patients.

Rakan KKM is also designed with one key priority in mind: to never detract from the level and quality of healthcare that is currently available to the Malaysian public at its current cost.

In fact, because of the way revenue is reinvested back into the public healthcare system, Rakan KKM is designed to raise that standard of care for all to an even higher level.

In doing so, we are again aiming not only to raise the ceiling as far as the patient experience at public healthcare facilities is concerned, but also to raise the floor for every single patient.

We are able to achieve these goals via the practice of a few key operational principles.

First, Rakan KKM only applies to elective, non-emergency services. Prioritisation and access to emergency services will never be based on the ability to pay, but instead be based on clinical needs.

Second, healthcare workers are only allowed to participate in Rakan KKM services after serving their commitment to non-Rakan KKM patients.

Third, equipment and facilities used for Rakan KKM leverages untapped capacity.

These operational principles ensure that the level of service provided to regular patients in the public healthcare system will never be compromised.

Importantly, Rakan KKM is able to achieve these goals without any element of privatisation of our public healthcare services at all.

For there to be an element of privatisation, there must be private interests involved. In Rakan KKM, there are none. All investment for Rakan KKM comes from the government and from government-linked investment companies, thus keeping all the money, ownership and control under the government.

There are no private interests involved in investing, controlling or sharing revenue from Rakan KKM. Instead, all revenue is shared between the healthcare workers involved, and the public healthcare system as a whole.

Rakan KKM is intended to serve as a transformational agent to catalyse value-based healthcare throughout the ecosystem. With reinvigorated morale as well as modernised MoH hospitals and clinics, our healthcare teams will be able to provide even higher quality public healthcare for all.

Source: The edge markets

Malaysia’s record spending plan is set to drive further foreign interest in its assets as the government continues to build on its fiscal reforms, even if the immediate impact on equities is muted.

The government plans to cut the subsidy for the widely used RON95 petrol from mid-2025, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said in his budget presentation last Friday. The government is mulling a two-tier price system for the fuel, so that the wealthiest 15% pay the market rate for it, while the rest enjoy the current subsidised price, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Saturday.

The scope of the nation’s sales and service tax will also broaden to boost federal revenue, while wages will be hiked to help mitigate higher living costs.

Rebuilding fiscal health is key for Malaysia to retain emerging Southeast Asia’s highest credit score and lift investor confidence in the country’s growth prospects, supporting its local assets. Malaysia’s ringgit, the top performer across emerging markets this year, was little changed in early trading in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. The nation’s benchmark stock index slipped 0.1%.

Here’s what analysts said about the budget:

Kenanga Research

There is only a “small pool of clearer-cut winners, such as the consumer sector”, with a positive on discretionary names, given clarity that the subsidy pinch will be confined to those in the loftier income brackets.

The government is sowing the seeds to continually pull in foreign direct investment through better incentives and higher-value tech businesses, which should keep foreign interest high in the local market. The country is also easing into long-term environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, with the introduction of a carbon tax by 2026.

Maybank Securities Pte Ltd

Budget 2025 reaffirms the government’s commitment to fiscal consolidation, but may be insufficient to open up room for rating upside decisively. The revenue/gross domestic product and debt affordability metrics need improvements, and Malaysia’s public-debt ratio remains higher than majority of similarly rated peers.

Bond issuance in the final quarter of 2024 is likely to increase to fund a potential run-down in Treasury bill issuance. However, the supply profile is “slightly favourable” in 2025 with expectations of a RM19 billion decline in gross issuance and RM10 billion drop in net issuance. The US$1 billion maturity in April 2025 is likely to be refinanced in foreign currency.

TA Securities

The budget measures are set to drive the economy and attract investments, contributing to better corporate earnings.

We maintain our end-2024 FBM KLCI target of 1,690, which is based on a price-earnings ratio of 14.6 times versus the five-year average of 17.6.

Apex Securities

The budget is largely neutral as it seeks to alleviate concerns over the high cost of living, which is likely to lead to increased domestic spending in the future. The upward revision of economic growth projection may signal stronger corporate earnings growth. As a result, “the Malaysia stock market may sustain its recovery move” after rising about 13% this year.

For now, the market may react slightly negatively towards the introduction of a 2% tax on dividend income exceeding RM100,000 in 2025. Still, the construction, consumer, tourism-related, health-care, gloves, property and technology sectors are likely beneficiaries from the budget.

CIMB Securities

We expect the equity market’s reaction to Budget 2025 to be neutral to slightly negative.

The surprise introduction of a new tax on dividend income may reduce the appeal of dividend-yield stocks for individuals impacted by the tax.

The proposal to mandate employers to make Employees Provident Fund contributions for foreign workers could raise costs and pose earnings risks for companies. We maintain our KLCI target of 1,732 points. Among our 'overweight' sectors, construction and healthcare stand to benefit from the measures introduced in Budget 2025.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC)

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will remain watchful of inflationary pressures which are expected to rise on the back of the minimum wage increase and other fiscal measures.

While our baseline is for BNM to keep its policy rate unchanged at 3% in 2024 and 2025, we will continue to assess the risks around this baseline based on fiscal outcomes.

Source: The edge markets

The second 5G network can increase the country's competitiveness as well as attract investment from technology-based companies to establish business facilities in Malaysia, said the Academic Coordinator of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Associate Prof Dr Leow Chee Yen.

He said the second 5G network to be announced by the government, as tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Budget 2025 in the Dewan Rakyat last Friday, will showcase the country's infrastructure development, which is on par with that of developed nations.

"It will also speed up the digitisation of various economic sectors. With the introduction of two 5G networks, we hope to fast-track the implementation of advanced industrial applications such as automation, robotics and artificial intelligence, which demand a network that is highly responsive, fast, and reliable," he said when contacted by Bernama.

Leow praised the tabling of Budget 2025 which allocated RM120 million to improve internet access in all public institutions of higher learning (IPTA), schools, military camps and MARA institutions.

"The internet facilities in most of these institutions are now obsolete. The use of modern technology will provide faster and more efficient internet access," he said.

In another development, Leow lauded the use of MyDigital ID, a unified government application that integrates all relevant agencies, making it easier for the public to manage their affairs.

He said the application allows citizens to access various government services using one account, all at their fingertips.

"For me, more important is the advanced security features in MyDigital ID. It uses the latest technologies such as encryption, blockchain, multi-factor authentication as well as smart artificial intelligence, to ensure that all online transactions are done safely and reliably.

"In addition, the use of MyDigital ID can also reduce cases of identity theft, forgery and cyber fraud that have been increasing lately,” he said.

Meanwhile, Information Technology expert, Dr T Sashi Kumar welcomed the allocation of RM100 million to strengthen the functions of the National Information Dissemination Center (NADI) nationwide.

The move, he said, will improve existing infrastructure and services, while benefiting the Small, Micro and Medium Businesses (PMKS).

"It will help speed up the business digitization process as well as resolve issues related to financing and e-payment, as often emphasised by traders.

"This will also encourage the PMKS sector to digitalise their services and accelerate the use of electronic payments," he added.

Meanwhile, the Dean of UTM's Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Prof Dr Jafri Din said the RM20 million allocation in Budget 2025 to strengthen the role of the National Fraud Response Centre will strengthen the management of the online fraud system in this country.

Source: The edge markets

The appointment of Datin Nooryana Najwa Najib, daughter of jailed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, as a director of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) needs some explaining.

After all, the position of Matrade director does come with a paycheque and perks to boot, borne by taxpayers.

For starters, a cursory look at some of the other 12 board members of Matrade will establish the pedigree required to hold such a position.

Board members include AHAM Asset Management Bhd managing director and executive director Datuk Teng Chee Wai, Westports Holdings Bhd executive chairman and managing director Datuk Ruben Emir Gnanalingam Abdullah, Ministry of Economy deputy director general (policy) Datuk Zunika Mohamed, Hyrax Oil Sdn Bhd managing director and founder Datuk Hazimah Zainuddin, Ministry of Plantation and Commodities secretary general Datuk Yusran Shah Mohd Yusof and Datuk Mohammad Medan Abdullah, a known name in oil and gas circles and a board member of Petroleum Sarawak Bhd.

Even the two new board members appointed along with Nooryana — Datuk Hairil Yahri Yaacob, secretary general at the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, and Mastura Abdul Karim, undersecretary for the fiscal and economics division under the Ministry of Finance — seem to have the necessary credentials and are likely to contribute to Matrade.

Nooryana, 36, is an executive committee member of Umno’s women’s youth wing Puteri Umno and, as far as we can tell, has done nothing deserving of such a prominent appointment. She has no known or established professional or business career to speak of.

If anything, her petulant rants during her father’s trials would have flagged her as someone likely not suited to such a distinguished position.

We can think of at least a dozen more deserving candidates who have worked hard for the country over the years and are far more deserving of such an appointment.

Source: The edge markets