MITI Weekly Bulletin (Volume 139) - 26 April 2011

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CHART 6: WEEKLY COMMODITIES PRICE TREND, JANUARY TO APRIL 2011 Sources: MITI, Malaysia Palm Oil Board and Bloomberg TABLE 1: WEEKLY COMMODITY PRICES Crude Petroleum (per bbl) Crude Palm Oil (per MT) Raw Sugar (per MT) Iron Ore (Pellet) (per MT) Scrap Iron HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix) (per MT) TABLE 2: HIGHEST & LOWEST PRICES 2010/2011 Crude Petroleum (US$ per bbl) Crude Palm Oil (US$ per MT) As at 22 April 2011 (US$) Compiled by: MITI Note: All figures have been rounded to the nearest decimal point. 2011 2010 Highest Lowest Current Highest Lowest 111.7 (22 April) 1,326.0 (11 February) % Change from 15 April 2011 85.6 (28 January) 1,120.5 (22 April) As at 15 April 2011 (US$) 111.7 (22 April) 1,120.5 (22 April) 2010* (US$) 2009* (US$) 2008* (US$) 111.7 3.3 108.1 68.0-91.4 35.0-81.0 30.3-145.3 1,120.5 3.0 1,155.0 896.6 683.0 949.0 639.8 0.8 634.9 594.6 412.3 305.0 220.0 Unchanged 220.0 162.3 108.5 196.7 495.0 (High) 485.0 (Low) Unchanged Unchanged 495.0 (High) 485.0 (Low) 393.1 261.7 500.0 Sources: MITI, Malaysia Palm Oil Board, Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry Federation (MISIF), Bloomberg and Czarnikow Group Note: * Average price in the year except otherwise indicated Figures are rounded to the nearest decimal point March 2011 domestic price range for: i. Billets : RM2,250 - RM2,400 per MT ii. Steel bars : RM2,000 - RM2,500 per MT 91.4 (31 December) 1,263.0 (31 December) 68.0 (21 May) 767.0 (5 February) MITI Weekly Bulletin 04
YAB Perdana Menteri (YAB PM) made an official visit to Seoul, the Republic of Korea (ROK) from 4-6 April 2011 upon the invitation by his counterpart, H.E. Lee Myung-bak, the President of ROK. It was also to reciprocate the visit of the President of ROK to Malaysia in December 2010. The visit was successful in further strengthening and enhancing economic, trade and investment relations with the ROK. During the visit, YAB PM chaired a Business Luncheon attended by 33 potential Korean investors and delivered a keynote address at the Seminar on “Business Opportunities in Malaysia” participated by 332 Korean businessmen. At the Seminar, YAB PM also witnessed the exchange of a MoU between the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Malaysia (NCCIM) and the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) to establish a Joint Business Council. A total of 155 individual business matchings were held involving sectors such as palm oil, renewable energy, green technology, biotechnology, automotive parts and components, financial services and advanced electronics. Total investments worth RM5 billion were proposed in silicon metal for solar cells and solar panels, Under the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement, patent-holders are given protection for the use of their patents. However, Articles 30 and 31 of TRIPs provide exceptions with strict conditions, procedures and limitations that allow a Government to use a patent or to authorise a third party to use a patent/licence without the consent of the patent-holder. This is known as ‘compulsory licensing’. Though TRIPs does not explicitly lay down the grounds for compulsory licensing, it is noted that in Articles 7 and 8 of TRIPs, WTO Members are allowed to make provisions in their intellectual property laws to protect public health and nutrition for the purposes of social and economic welfare. Thus, compulsory licensing is a non-permanent measure instituted only when needed for the protection of public health. Article 31 of TRIPs stipulates the conditions, procedures and limitations of compulsory licensing: • authorisation given must be considered on its own merit. • the Government or third party must have made efforts to obtain authorisation from the patent-holder ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS YAB PM’s OFFICIAL VISIT TO SEOUL COMPULSORY LICENSING biomass, petrochemicals, hotel and distributive trade. Y.B. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed (YBM MITI) who was in YAB PM’s delegation to Seoul, had the opportunity to: • call on H.E. Choi Joong-kyung, Minister of Knowledge Economy, to discuss ways to widen and deepen economic, trade and investment relations between both countries including collaboration in industrial development; • call on H.E Kim Joon-hoon, Minister of Trade, to discuss the proposed Malaysia-Korea Free Trade Agreement (MKFTA). Both countries agreed to undertake separate feasibility studies within a year; and • visit Dongbu HiTek Co. Ltd., the largest analog foundry in ROK which manufactures intergrated circuits for mobile handset and flat panel LCD. The company has expressed interest to collaborate with Silterra Malaysia. After the exchange of MoU documents, the Malaysian and Korean chapters of the Joint Business Council held the first meeting in Seoul. Among others, both sides agreed to collaborate in potential sectors such as pharmaceutical, automotive and green technology. on reasonable commercial terms and conditions but no authorisation was given within a reasonable time; • the use of compulsory licensing is non-exclusive and non-assignable to another party; • it is only for supply to domestic market; • it can be terminated at any time when the condition for such use no longer exists; • the patent-holder must be compensated adequately by taking into account the economic value of the authorisation. Compulsory licensing has been used only by developing countries such as Brazil, India, Malaysia and Thailand for generic drugs manufacture mainly to produce antiretroviral drugs for AIDS treatment. However, developing countries are likely to face difficulties in using compulsory licensing, as developed countries are stipulating conditions and restrictions beyond TRIPs, under free trade agreements. There are FTAs that impose “data exclusivity” clauses to restrict the use of patent holders’ test data as the basis for granting safety approval of generic drugs. MITI Weekly Bulletin 05
Page 1 and 2: INSIDE THIS ISSUE: ECONOMIC TRENDS
Page 3: CHART 4: MALAYSIA - WEEKLY NUMBER O
Page 7 and 8: 3. INDONESIA: MINISTER ASKS FOR FTA
Page 9 and 10: IMPORT ENQUIRIES FROM INTERNATIONAL
Page 11: FINE FOOD AUSTRALIA Venue: Sydney C

MITI Weekly Bulletin (Volume 139) - 26 April 2011

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