A Careless Mind and a Forced Walkabout

My mind has failed me big time today. I can no longer trust it.

I thought it was the EON Capital and Ranhill AGMs today and so I set off for KL at 9 am. Getting off at KLCC, I took a long walk until I reached Crowne Mutiara Plaza where I phoned my Sis to enquire whether it was on. To my dismay, I was told that EON 's AGM is not on today.

So what would one do?

Since Wisma Genting was nearby, I went up to the 24th Floor to inquire whether I could get the gift coupon for Resorts World which was supposed to be given to my wife, along with the annual report which never did arrived.They gave me a form for my wife to fill.

After that, off to the Monorail and I was in Brickfields. I stopped to have konloh mein at one of the shops before continuing my journey by Putra LRT to Amcorp Mall. Spent some time in Amcorp Mall and then proceeded to walk to Hilton.

Sadly, the Lysaght meeting finished at 11am.

So, I took another LRT and went home.

What a day!

Crazy Development in KL Sentral

Oh yes, go to the vicinity of KL Sentral and it's as if you have stepped into another world akin to Dubai's in her hey-day development in 2007.

I was there this morning. It was almost a mini township of offices.

Looking at the development going on,you wouldn't believe there is a recession in Malaysia.

There are foreign workers everywhere putting the finishing touch to the facades of buildings. Sub-contractors are seen busy trying to finish their packages in time for some official opening soon. The roads are all well tarred and walkways are well decorated with fine shrubbery and lush greens.

I passed AXIATA's new premises. The company has moved in. They were refurbishing the lift lobby section.

Then there is the huge Mercu UEM complex, in its monolithic splendour-all ready to start operations. They must really be proud to have their own building at long last.

I guess with all these premises occupied in due time, the KL Sentral transport hub will see more activities befitting the investment that went into it.

A Hi-5 from the World Bank to Malaysia!

So the government must be doing something right to convince the World Bank that growth in within sight in 2010.

In its latest report, "Global Development Finance 2009: Charting a Global Recovery", which charts the global economic situation, the World Bank has projected that Malaysia's real gross domestic product (GDP) will possibly fell by 4.4 per cent this year before recovering to 2.2 per cent in 2010 and 5.3 per cent in 2011.

The bank said thanks to China, the growth in developing East Asia and the Pacific would be the fastest among the world’s regions and was projected at five per cent. China is expected to grow faster than most other countries this year at an estimated 9.3 per cent but was likely to drop to 8.3 per cent next year.

It said excluding China, the GDP in the region was expected to decline by 0.2 per cent in 2009, the slowest since the crisis of the late 1990s.

According to the report, amid global economic recession and financial market fragility, net private capital inflows to developing countries fell to US$707 billion (RM2.47 trillion) in 2008, a sharp drop from a peak of US$1.2 trillion in 2007.

International capital flows are projected to fall further in 2009, to US$363 billion, it said.

The report warned that the world was entering an era of slower growth that would require tighter and more effective oversight of the financial system, saying that global growth was also expected to be negative, with an expected 2.9 per cent contraction in 2009, before rebounding to two per cent in 2010 and 3.2 per cent by 2011.

"The need to restructure the banking system, combined with emerging limits to expansionary policies in high-income countries, will prevent a global rebound from gaining traction," said the World Bank.

The World Bank hopes that developing countries could become a key driving force in the recovery, assuming their domestic investments rebound with international support, including a resumption in the flow of international credit.

I hope the World Bank is right!