Happy New Year 2012. Hope new year will bring more prosperity and good health to all of us.

The world enters new year with uncertainty in the global economy. The Euro Zone crisis persists despite various measures undertaken to cool off the heat. The US economy continues to slow down albeit some indications of recovery toward 2011 year end. Asia is also feeling the heat from both regions, though world economic growth in 2012 is expected to be very much compensated by the yet steady growth in Asia, in particular China, India and ASEAN member economies.

So many things are happening which would not help global economy to recover faster than expected. The uprising in the middle east and the abnormal climate changes which caused floods, earthquake and snow storm have affected the people daily life and at the same time has risen the cost of living esp food. There are many people who lost their jobs and struggling to earn a living.

Hope that economies all around the world unite to explore ways how to curb the rising of food prices which are a neccessity. Food security has increasingly becoming an important issue to address, taking into account the increasing number of people on the earth as well as the unstable weather that has caused destruction of agricultural farms and land. Need to act fast or otherwise one day more havoc to the social wellbeing.

It has been awhile since my last posting. Everybody is still in Hari Raya mood and the celebration will continue for the whole month of September. What I can see everytime Raya comes is that there are so many types of kuih Raya or cookies sold in the bazaar or market or even high end supermarkets and shopping malls. When I was small, I remember my parents will start making Raya cookies as early as the first week of Ramadhan or fasting month but nowadays that they have catch up with age, most of cookies are bought by the children that have grown up working and have less time to make their own Raya cookies.

My thought is that these Raya cookies shall not only target for Hari Raya but can also be promoted throughout the year as normal cookies that can be enjoyed by the locals as well as foreigners and tourists. These Raya cookies can also be exported overseas and I believe that with proper market research, Raya cookies can go beyond local borders. I have seen some of local entrepreneurs that able to export Raya cookies and this can also serve as another source of revenue for small and medium size entrepreneurs.

Recently, I attended a training on exporting business, specifically steps that a person needs to go through to be ready for export ventures. It was an interesting course with many new terminologies that I need to understand. All are related to exports, and one need to understand all the basic knowledge and terms before they can even think of venturing outside world.

Anyway, in international business and trading there are many challenges but at the same time there are also many opportunities. One needs to understand what actually outside market wants before they focus on particular products or services. Or the other way is that when one already has product(s) or services, where they should go.

There are more than 170 countries in the world, so they got to be some where that we can sell our products or services beside our own country. There got to be niche market out there where our products and services can be accepted. So, the internet world can help in gaining information about export market and which markets are regarded as potential for the products/services. Just google any info you require, there's a lot of information available. Use your own judgement and analyse the information before making up your mind of where to go.

The Ringgit recently is appreciating against US dollar. It is already hovers around RM3 per 1 US dollar and may be already reach lower then RM3 by now. What actually does it mean when Ringgit appreciates. Economists have made various analysis on the impact of Ringgit appreciation, both good and bad. Whatever the analysis, we should view it on long term basis and on the practicality and what authorities should do to mitigate the adverse effects of currency appreciation to the economy and the cost of living.

For those who know some basic economy, maybe can understand the what actually the effects of the Ringgit appreciation. For international business and trading, Ringgit appreciation can mean import cost become lower but exports become more expensive. In this regard, businesses that rely on imported raw materials, intermediate and capital goods can now sigh with relieve since the costs of importing now become cheaper and this could help them to achieve lower production cost and result with better profit margins. Some analysts say that cheaper imports should encourage SMEs to be more innovative by importing capital goods that can help to enhance productivity and quality. But still SMEs will only consider innovating their production and processes if they have enough financial backup to import capital goods or enough businesses to cater.

For exporters, they may feel the heat from the currency appreciation, especially those who rely mainly on local resources or raw materials. Since exports are quoted in US dollar and assume that the export price remain the same, the revenue that they earn when converting back to Ringgit will be lesser now. Hence, these exporters need to consider options which can include rising the export prices which may not be accepted by their customers and which can make them less competitive internationally, or by being more innovative and productive to reduce overhead costs and maintain the same price to retain the customers and remain competitive.

For those exporters who rely on imported raw materials and intermediate goods, they are less impacted and may adjust the production cost and remain competitive.

Some say that imports of food and agricultural products especially that of raw materials like onions, garlic, vegetables, fruits and dairy products may benefit the exporters, wholesalers and traders. It maybe true to exporters of processed food who rely on imported food raw materials where cheaper imports can directly mean lower production cost and they either can retain the same profit margin or better. But it may not applicable to local wholesalers or traders of these imported agricultural and dairy products. Cheaper imports do not mean the price of agricultural products like vegetables and fruits will become cheaper in the local market. In fact, the wholesalers and traders can enjoy better margin even if they retain the same price, but the likelihood of prices of these basic neccesities to increase more in future is imminent unless local authorities take serious measures to curb price increase. In this regard, the cheaper imports will not make much different to the local consumers who are facing with increasing cost of living with prices of basic neccessities especially food continue to increase.

There are many happenings around the world that will certainly deliver adverse effects to the world's economy and its sustainable development. Japan is facing the aftermath of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear radiation. These incidents will certainly affect the country's economic and social stability in the long run. The government is still find ways to minimise the impact but it is still not clear how they want to do it. At the same, time the world has shown its support to Japan in any possible methods. The nuclear radiation is not only affecting the wellbeing of its people but also impacting the most important neccessity in life; food. There is now concerns over the safety of food produced in Japan, not only for domestic consumption but also exports. Many foreign countries have taken precautionary measures on imported foodstuff from Japan; some countries have banned imports and some of them have stepped up inspection on incoming foodstuff from Japan for the fear of nuclear radiation effects on the farming as well as livestocks. Japan is taking every possible measures to mitigate the risk of having foodstuff contaminated with radiation.

Middle East and North African's crisis have also shaken the world by storms with the uprising of the people demanding for change. This has probably never happened in the past where the protests happened in many countries simultaneously. The instability in the countries and regions will certainly affect the ongoing development in the country and will take long time to recover.

Mother nature is making its calls to all parts of the world. Earthquakes, tsunamis, flood, hurricanes, storms and others are taking places in many countries and these will interrupt the present development. But probably this is the price that the world has to pay for all the development that probably go against the mother nature.

One thing for sure all these incidences will bring about social instability in the region, it is just a matter of the degree of seriousness. Food insecurity is a main issue to handle, as the prices of agricultural products have gone up drastically in tandem with the price increase of energy resources. Countries have started to invest in agricultural sector, not only back home but also in other countries to safeguard the long term supply of food. All of us need to ponder and act fast to rectify this problem, otherwise the future generation need to bear all the problems that the current generation has created.

Today is 1st May, a Labor Day all over the world. Labor is an important asset for the nation, without which development of a nation cannot be achieved. It is also important for nation to continue to generate new employment as the number of population keeps growing. It is a great challenge to offer employment and this requires more economic activities to be generated.

As for Malaysia, generating employment is an important agenda of the government under its Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) with New Economic Model and National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) and Entry Point Projects (EPPs) and the main drivers. Under ETP, the investment is to be led by the private sector and every EPP identified it should be able to generate high income for the country and also high number of employment.

Malaysia continues to prosper with its 27 million population. The economy grows steadily and there are still rooms for improvement. International trade, especially exports, continue to assume an important role in the country's economic growth. Exports flourish with new and diversified markets and focus on high value exports.

The recent China's Premier Wen Jiabao visit to Malaysia signifies the importance and close relationship that both countries have had, way back from 1974 when Malaysia established diplomatic relation with China. Malaysia was the first among ASEAN countries who established diplomatic relation with China and this displayed the vision that Malaysian leaders had at that time on China, that's going to be an important partner many years to come, economically and politically.

Malaysia should continue to explore opportunities to increase and expand its current cooperation with China, especially in trade and investment. Malaysia can offer not only commodities but also many other high value added products and services. One of potential areas is in the information and communication technology (ICT) industy sector. Though China itself is quite advance in this sector, Malaysian ICT players are also competitive and creative in creating new and niche technology and solutions. Certainly they can work with other local players in China  and target less competitive markets in second and third tier cities in China.

China is flourishing and consumers' purchasing power is increasing. Consumers are looking for imported products that they regard are of high quality and different from what the local can offer. This is another factor that Malaysian exporters should consider and put up efforts to penetrate the huge consumers market.