News In Brief: Jan 21, 2021

THE FEDERATION OF MALAYSIAN MANUFACTURERS (FMM) has called for the shelving of the recently proposed amendments to the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 1988 of Act 342 indefinitely.

Malaysia, as a developing country fuelled significantly by the private sector driven economy, needs progressive policies and laws to stand tall globally, FMM said in a statement today.

“Repressive and hostile laws which have not gone through proper regulatory risk impact assessment are going to be very damaging for the economy, especially in the post-pandemic recovery period which is very critical for businesses and the economy alike,” it said.

-- BERNAMA

INSTAREM, a financial technology company offering digital cross-border money transfers, announced that its mobile application is now available in Malaysia, enabling users to send funds effortlessly.

In a statement today, the company said that the new app will allow instant onboarding for Malaysian nationals and expatriates through local partners.

“Users will be able to access the app with their fingerprint and transfer funds instantly to specific destinations via an intuitive function called Quick Send.

“The app will allow users in Malaysia to send money to beneficiaries in more than 55 markets worldwide within minutes, as well as gain faster access to recent transfers in the app dashboard,” it said.

-- BERNAMA

1337 VENTURES has announced a new RM1.2 million, 1337 Accelerator Fund I to invest in promising early-stage Malaysian startups.

The new fund is open to seed-stage startups across any industry, from financial technology, educational technology to health technology.

It will be co-funded by seasoned angel investor and venture capitalist, Asgari Stephens and JobStreet.com former chief operating officer, Suresh Thiru, together with 1337 Ventures, the company said in a statement today.

“The decision comes after realising that raising seed capital in Malaysia is challenging, as most investors prefer to invest in later-stage startups due to several reasons, including the lack of traction in early-stage startups, and no market validation.

“A consistent flow of early-stage investments is critical to the success of seeing more startups getting funded at a later stage,” it said.

-- BERNAMA

ASPEN TECHNOLOGY, INC (AspenTech), a global leader in asset optimisation software, has called for industry players in Malaysia to utilise new digital technologies in embracing the hydrogen economy as a sustainable energy transition towards a lower-carbon future.

In a statement today, it said hydrogen economy is an economy that relies on hydrogen as commercial fuel to meet the world’s energy needs, where hydrogen could replace conventional fuels such as diesel and petrol which cause environmental pollution.

“Many parts of Asia are challenged by limited access to locations that can generate enough solar or wind power to meet energy requirements. Hydrogen can potentially fill a significant fraction of the world’s need for energy and yet be generated carbon-free,” it said.

-- BERNAMA