Extraordinary general meetings of Radio France International (RFI), its Arabic subsidiary Monte Carlo Doualiya and l’Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France (AEF) have endorsed the merger of the radio station with the international news channel France 24, the AEF announced on Monday. In a statement, the AEF said that this “allows the creation of an official French broadcasting group of international dimensions”, after more than two years of conflict and a procedural battle conducted by the RFI unions against the merger. “With this merger a new page opens, the constitution of a major international audiovisual group that is powerful and competitive”, CEO Alain de Pouzilhac.

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On last   November, the 23 rd and and 24 th , the French company Egis Avia and the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) organized a Malaysian-French session on Collaborative Decision Making (CDM), under the kind auspices of the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia. France and Malaysia already enjoy an intense partnership in the field of aeronautics, be it for manufacturing of airplane components, MRO or training. And this trend will definitely grow bigger in the coming years with further involvement of our key players like EADS and SAFRAN Groups, and all their subsidiaries. France has been a pioneer in the implementation of CDM in Europe. Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, which is now the main European airport, is the only major airport having implemented CDM in full operations. This was completed one year ago, in November 2010. This event can be the first step in a series of meetings and actions in this new field of cooperation between France and Malaysia.

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Thales has been awarded a contract of 13.5 million euros, to upgrade Kuala Lumpur’s Monorail signalling system. For this change, Scomi Engineering Bhd, which is delivering this upgrade to the operator Prasarana, has selected Thales to supply a turnkey Signalling Solution. The Monorail, operating since 2003 in Malaysia’s capital, is now expanding its passenger transportation capacity by the introduction of new rolling stock with four- carriage trains and by the replacement of the existing signalling along the eleven-stations of the Monorail. The scope of this contract includes a new signaling system for the main line section and a depot, based on an ETCS Level 1 solution, interlocking systems and a new Operational Control Centre.  Thales, will also install on-board ETCS level 1 computers on 12 new vehicles. Thales proven solutions and expertise on rail and urban domains allowed the delivery of an innovative solution that was integrated to address this type of networks. This project represents a particular challenge for Thales since the system has to be implemented in a short timeframe and without impacting the daily operation of this vital infrastructure.   The execution of the contract will be concluded by August 2012, and the new structure is expected to be inaugurated in November 2012. “Thales Malaysia is very proud to have been chosen by Scomi and Prasarana for this project. The decision demonstrates our understanding of the customer’s requirements and the challenges of developing its public transportation system, an understanding based on our long-standing involvement in the Malaysian market and our partnership with local actors. This new endorsement is further encouragement for Thales not only to continue delivering signalling solutions that achieve full customer satisfaction, but also to support Prasarana in its future programmes by steadily increasing local content and teaming with trusted, professional local partners” said Jean-Philippe Durieux, Thales  Country Director for Malaysia. Source: Thales press room

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PUTRAJAYA: European pork suppliers will be “pre-listed” starting next year to ensure the quality of pork imported to Malaysia. Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong said the ministry was working with countries in the European Union to locate pig farmers and slaughterhouses that export pork to Malaysia. “With this measure, we can do a systematic audit and inspect the suppliers to make sure that the pork supplied to Malaysia is of good quality,” he said here yesterday. “We also hope the import of pork can be done directly through the supplier. This is to ensure that if there are any problems, we can locate the source of the pork.” Chua said the ministry’s efforts to scrutinise the supply source of pork importers started in April this year. “In May, we asked importers to reveal the details of their imports, including the source country, pig farms and slaughterhouses. “However, we have not received enough details from most of them even after our deadline on July 1,” he said. Instead, the ministry noticed a big jump in imports. Last year, Malaysia had imported about 17,000 tonnes of pork. “But by June this year, Malaysia had imported over 14,000 tonnes, said Chua. “This has caused a drop in the price of pork,” he said. “That is why we want to have a system that ensures that pork prices do not fluctuate too much, and consumers can have quality pork at an affordable price.” Chua said he does not foresee an increase in the price of pork as the supply in the country will be sufficient when Chinese New Year comes around. “If everything goes well, we expect pork prices to be a little lower next year,” he said. On another matter, Chua said the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry was currently working with the Health Ministry in negotiations with the Chinese authorities to decide on a mutually acceptable level of nitrite in bird’s nests. From thestar.com.my  

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Wangsa Tegap, a wholly owned subsidiary of Berjaya Corporation, has awarded VINCI Construction Grands Projets (70%, leader) and Hitachi (30%) a contract to build the first phase of the Berjaya Central Park residential and office complex in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This first phase, valued at €76 million, comprises the turnkey construction of a 9-storey podium block and a 46-storey office tower as well as the structural construction of a 48-storey Ritz Carlton residential tower. The complex will have a total area of 185,000 sq. metres. Work will begin immediately and take 27 months to complete. In 2003, VINCI Construction Grands Projets built the 700,000 sq. metre Berjaya Times Square complex, Asia’s largest residential and shopping complex in a single phase, for the same customer in Kuala Lumpur. Source : www.vinci-construction-projects.com , 03/10/2011

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 Boasting the largest display booth at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom World 2011 conference, Malaysia is showcasing its technological achievements in terms of broadband and connectivity. “The launch of the Malaysian pavilion is a great leap for the country, in terms of putting us on the world map, highlighting our achievements in terms of telecommunications and also other aspects in the technology field,” said Information, Communication and Culture minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim on Tuesday. This is the third time Malaysia is attending the Telecom World, featuring homegrown companies like TM, Maxis, Celcom, MSC and Measat. At least 250 world leaders ranging from heads of state and officials, city mayors, telco industry CEOs and technology gurus, of which will lead their own contingent of experts are expected to attend this year’s conference held in the land of neutrality, Switzerland. While global technological giants along the likes of Huawei Technologies Co., Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Intel, NTT Group, NTT DoCoMo, Qtel, RIM, Satorys, Swisscom, Telkom SA, Turk Telecom, TDIA, and ZTE also came in force to mark their presence. This presence was also an opportunity for UBIFRANCE Malaysia to introduce the Malaysian Communications And Multimedia Commission (MCMC) with ARCEP, the French Regulatory Authority. This meeting was very informative and we hope it will be the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration between our two countries.

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GEORGE TOWN: Malaysia has set its sights on middle-class tourists from Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Sri Lanka, China and India to boost its medical tourism industry. At present, Indonesian tourists contribute to the bulk of the business in medical tourism, with Penang and Malacca the popular destinations for treatment. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said he was optimistic that middle-class tourists from other parts of the world would seek medical treatment here as Malaysia promised first-class medical services at affordable prices. He said the government had recently set up the National Health Tourism Council, co-chaired by him and Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, to see how best Malaysia could capture the medical tourism market.   "Of late, there had been more and more middle-class people emerging in such countries who are willing to pay a little more for the best medical treatment and this is where we can come in. This is our market," he said after officiating at the topping-up ceremony of the Gleneagles Medical Centre here. Present were Parkway Pantai Limited chairman Datuk Mohammed Azlan Hashim, Pantai Holdings Bhd chairman Khairil Anuar Abdullah, Gleneagles Medical Centre chairman Datuk Seri Dr Goh Eng Toon and Gleneagles Medical Centre chief executive officer Ronald Koh. The new RM180 million 19-storey building is linked to the existing centre. Upon completion by the third quarter of next year, it will become an iconic premier hospital of 400 beds with modern wards complete with innovative facilities to enhance patient comfort. The new facility will have 10 operating theatres, 35 intensive care, coronary care and high dependency units, and an additional cardiac catheterisation laboratory. Earlier in his speech, Nor Yakcop said the new facility would create more than 700 jobs, ranging from doctors and nurses to allied health support staff. He said Gleneagles Medical Centre was also targeting RM100 million in foreign revenue for the next five years. Read more: Malaysia eyes world’s middle class for medical tourism http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/13jus/Article/#ixzz1b0ypmhUQ Source: New Strait Times, 2011/10/17

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