Ministry to ensure welfare of TM's employees — deputy minister

KUALA LUMPUR: The Communications and Multimedia Ministry will continue to ensure the welfare of the employees of any company involved with the ministry, including those of Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM).

Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister, Eddin Syazlee Shith said this in response to current challenges faced by TM, in view of government plans to reduce broadband pricing.

“I do not have the complete information on this matter but I believe the Communications and Multimedia Minister, Gobind Singh Deo, will make the announcements when necessary,” he told reporters after launching Maxis' eCikgu platform, an extension of its eKelas initiative.

On June 20, Gobind announced that fixed broadband prices were expected to drop by at least 25 per cent by year-end following the implementation of the Mandatory Standard on Access Pricing (MSAP), which has posed a challenge for the telecommunications company given its high operating cost and 24,000 staff.

A series of criticisms by the ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission on TM's service quality, with 43 per cent higher complaints to 7,946 from last year, had put further pressure on TM's share price.

However, Gobind in a tweet on Nov 20, said the government was prepared to assist TM wherever possible to achieve a solution which was beneficial to all concerned.

As at 3.01 pm, TM's shares stood at RM2.33, down two sen, with 2.54 million shares traded. - Bernama

Alibaba inks deal with local supplier for Musang King exports

KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese ecommerce giant, Alibaba Group, has entered into a strategic cooperation with a local durian supplier for the export of frozen Musang King (in whole fruit form) into China.

Alibaba's online shopping platform, Tmall, together with its global aggregated sourcing platform for perishable food, WinChain, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Malaysia's BEHO Fresh Sdn Bhd, as well as, China Certification & Inspection Group Malaysia (CCIC), for the initiative.

"The deal marks a further effort by Alibaba to harness the power of e-commerce and its dynamic ecosystem to contribute to the growth of Malaysia's agricultural exports," it said.

Alibaba said under the strategic cooperation, durian supplier BEHO Fresh, would be supplying WinChain with frozen whole Musang King durians for distribution on Tmall and other Chinese retail marketplaces owned by Alibaba.