Morning Brief BFM Media

Saudi Arabia hosted the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development this week, with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in attendance. We discuss Malaysia's bilateral ties with Saudi Arabia and the opportunities that could be explored in the aftermath of the event with Bunn Nagara of the Perak Academy. 

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Earlier this week the government announced a cabinet reshuffle, the first under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s watch, which saw six new faces added to the line-up and four ministers dropped. Dr Greg Raymond, Senior Lecturer, Australian National University tells us why these changes were made whilst giving us a review of Thavisin's deliverables or lack thereof.

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China's retail numbers appear to be healthy so far this year with physical sales up 5.5% for the first two months of this year, while online figures registered a 14% jump, indicating resilience in the e-commerce sector. Catherine Lim, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence breaks down the numbers and where consumer sentiment in the world's second largest economy is headed for the rest of 2024.

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The amendments to the Companies 2016 have come into force on 1 April with all Malaysian businesses that are registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia having to disclose the names of their beneficial owners. Pushpan Murugiah, Chief Executive Officer, Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism tells us the implication of this and what more needs to be done to stamp out corruption.
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The Women, Family & Community Development Ministry is investigating how welfare centres and elder care facilities operate, after video clips where a resident in a welfare home was beaten up. The centre in question was found to not have a proper licence. Delren Douglas, President of the Association for Residential Aged Care Operators of Malaysia (AGECOPE) give us a view of how these centres are regulated ... or not.
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The upcoming Kuala Kubu Baru state by-election will see a competitive four-cornered race with the incumbent Pakatan Harapan DAP candidate facing off with Bersatu for Perikatan Nasional, Parti Rakyat Malaysian and an independent candidate. Dr Lau Zhe Wei, Assistant Professor with the Department of Political Science at the International Islamic University Malaysia lays out the different scenarios how this election might pan out when voters cast their ballots on May 11th.
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