MYIX OPENING NEW POINTS OF PRESENCE (NODES) FOR NETWORKS TO EXTEND REACH WITH IMPROVED LATENCY

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 (Bernama) -- Having recently completed its network refresh to 100 Gps port capabilities, the Malaysia Internet Exchange (MyIX) is now in the process of opening two new nodes for more networks to join its internet exchange.

According to MyIX chairman Chiew Kok Hin, these new nodes serve to extend MyIX’s reach while increasing its presence points throughout the country.

Currently, MyIX operates two additional nodes which are located in Iskandar Puteri, Johor and Kuching, Sarawak to complement the main nodes located at the AIMS Data Centre and CSF Building in Cyberjaya, Selangor.

These two new nodes are set to be opened in two locations in Cyberjaya next month, and in April, respectively. These will be operated in partnership with IPSERVERONE SOLUTIONS SDN BHD and VADS BHD.

These nodes are essentially access switches located at various alternative sites; thereby enabling members and peering partners to connect to internet service providers (ISPs), other members and content hosted by MyIX.

Chiew explained that, since ISPs and content distribution networks (CDNs) are spread across various data centres, these nodes serve to provide additional exchange points for ISPs and CDNs to better connect with one another, especially useful when connecting from remote locations.

“The nodes also ensure improved latency for interconnectivity with other networks,” he added. “They would be instrumental in further enhancing the stability and performance of internet connections, lowering connection costs while minimising traffic ‘bottlenecks’.”

MyIX is an initiative under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). Today, MyIX is the country’s only non-profit national internet exchange body operated by industry.

“Due to Malaysia’s fast growing digital economy, there is now greater demand for faster and more reliable internet traffic performance,” said Chiew.

And since MyIX facilitates to keep the domestic internet traffic within Malaysia, data always travels through the most optimised route to the end user. This results in improved broadband service quality for ISPs, which translates into a better experience for end users when they access local content.

“Data also travels at an optimised distance with fewer ‘hops’ to reach the intended recipient through direct peering with MyIX. This poses a significant cost benefit for smaller ISPs, which can reduce their dependency on costly international bandwidth links,” explained Chiew.

Chiew is also encouraging international ISPs and CDNs to invest further in Malaysia.

“By having foreign ISPs and CDNs setting their regional networks here, it will reduce the network charges of consuming international content,” he concluded.

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Entegris' manufacturing facility in Kulim receives NCOSH safety excellence award

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 -- Entegris has received a safety excellence award from the Malaysian National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH), the highest safety award a company can receive in Malaysia.

According to a statement, the award was presented after a six-month evaluation process and it was received by Entegris Malaysia managing director, Derek Ong.

“Together, we keep our focus on continuous improvement through weekly management meetings, safety Gemba walks to celebrate successes and identify areas for improvement, employee safety training, two-minute safety briefings during every shift and safety promotional campaigns,” said Ong.

Over 950 employees work in the Kulim, Kedah facility, developing systems and products to ensure the clean and safe delivery of the microelectronic components used in semiconductor manufacturing processes and other high technology industries.

It is Entegris’ largest manufacturing site and a part of the company’s Advanced Materials Handling (AMH) Division.

According to AMH vice-president of operations, Mike Lloyd, among the aspects that received recognition from NCOSH were senior management’s involvement in all safety matters, substantial commitment of resources to fund health and safety programmes, system to track incidents and proactive reporting metrics.

In addition, the company has a recognition programme that rewards employees who make suggestions for safety improvements, demonstrate good safety behaviour, address safety issues and coach other employees on safety issues.

Employees also engage in a community outreach programme that promotes health and safety for children that includes First Aid training.

-- BERNAMA

BluJay Solutions acquires Australian customs, forwarding technology provider

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 -- BluJay Solutions has acquired Expedient Software, expanding its customs and forwarding technology offerings, along with its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Based in Melbourne, Expedient is a leading provider of customs and forwarding software for the logistics market in Australia and New Zealand.

“This region, Australia and New Zealand in particular, represents a significant market for global trade,” said BluJay Solutions chief strategy officer, Doug Surrett.

“Joining forces with Expedient not only expands our customs connectivity in these countries but also demonstrates our commitment to serving multi-national companies and domestic forwarders in this region.”

According to a statement, Expedient will integrate with the global BluJay team, which has Asia-Pacific offices in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and India.

BluJay Solutions is a provider of supply chain applications, networks and data solutions, helping global companies to achieve excellence in logistics and trade compliance.

-- BERNAMA

MTCC RECOGNISES OUTSTANDING STUDENTS IN FORESTRY-RELATED STUDIES

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 (Bernama) -- Year 2020 sets the fourth edition of the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) Academic Award on Sustainable Forest Management & Timber Certification (MTCC Academic Award) – a mark of recognition for academic excellence among students of forestry-based studies at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

This year, MTCC presented the awards to two graduating students from the Faculty of Forestry for their overall academic performance and final year projects related to environmental aspect and the country’s furniture industry. Muhammad Iqbal Ishak received the award for his thesis titled “Soil Erosion on Deforested Land in Cameron Highlands”, while Tan Xu Chee was given the recognition for his research on “Labour Composition, Productivity and Skill Developments in the Malaysian Furniture Sector.” Each recipient received RM1,000 in cash and a certificate from MTCC.

MTCC Chief Executive Officer Yong Teng Koon said the MTCC Academic Award is a joint effort between MTCC and UPM’s Faculty of Forestry since 2016.

“The objectives of the award are to motivate and inspire students at the university level to strive for excellence in their education as well as engage them to care for the forests and their sustainability. As we know, forestry education is very significant in helping to ensure the sustainability of our forests and shape a sustainable future.”

“The award is not only aimed at boosting academic excellence among university students from the forestry field. Most importantly, it is meant to engage and inspire these young generation to love and care for our forests and make them realise that they can make an impact from what they learn to build a sustainable future. We hope that with this award, we can instil an awareness in their eager minds that the future of our forests lies in their hands,” he added.

SOURCE :  Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC)

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SmartStream, ZILLIONe provide reconciliations solution to Sri Lankan bank

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 -- ZILLIONe, the internationally networked enterprise solutions provider, recently completed the implementation of the latest reconciliation software by SmartStream for a bank in Sri Lanka.

The Transaction Lifecycle Management (TLM®) solution has been deployed for the People’s Bank of Colombo, enabling the bank to have a consolidated view for all electronic transactions.

According to a statement, SmartStream’s reconciliation solution offers an agile packaged approach that addresses the operational challenges faced by financial institutions.

Its high degree of automation incorporated into a seamlessly integrated exceptional management solution gives a consolidated view of operational processes in one scalable platform.

This enables enterprises to identify exceptions as they occur so that it can be escalated and resolved immediately.

As one of the leading financial institutions of the country that handles millions of transactions daily, the enhanced system further improves the bank’s bid to offer seamless service to its customers.

SmartStream chief executive officer, Haytham Kaddoura said: “We are confident that People’s Bank now have greater visibility into their reconciliations processes and outstanding positions with a pre-emptive approach to managing exceptions as they occur throughout the lifecycle.”

-- BERNAMA

Japan's life insurance industry has stable outlook - AM Best

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 -- The outlook of Japan’s life insurance industry is stable, according to AM Best, a United States-based credit rating agency.

AM Best in a statement said the stable outlook was due to insurers’ solid mortality/morbidity profits, a steady investment yield backed by well-diversified bond portfolios and its solid risk-adjusted capital position.

The new Best’s Market Segment Report, titled ‘Market Segment Outlook - Japan Life Insurance’ states that Japan’s life insurance segment grew by 2.9 per cent last year, in terms of total annualised premiums from policies in force.

Overall, life insurers in Japan are likely to continue delivering robust operating results over fiscal-years 2019/20 and 2020/21, driven by solid mortality/morbidity profits despite potential volatility in investment spreads.

AM Best expects mortality/morbidity margins – this segment’s bread and butter – to remain large and relatively stable, which would help support the steady emergence of core profit.

The agency also expects the exposure to re-investment risk of most life insurers to be limited, given the expected maturity of their investment portfolios.

Despite potential challenges, AM Best believes that most of Japan’s life insurers maintain very strong levels of capitalisation and are capable of withstanding adverse market conditions.

-- BERNAMA

NIPPON EXPRESS BEGINS "NEX-FORWARDING GIBRALTAR LINER" CROSS-BORDER TRANSPORT SERVICE TO MOROCCO VIA PARIS

TOKYO, Mar. 4, 2020 /Kyodo JBN-AsiaNet/-- 

Nippon Express Co., Ltd. has launched "NEX-Forwarding Gibraltar Liner," a cross-border transport service offering consolidated air cargo transport from Japan to Casablanca and Tangier in Morocco.

(Logo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/202003027514-O2-vm40NHCv)

In the "NEX-Forwarding Gibraltar Liner" service begun on Tuesday, February 25, cargo is flown from airports in Japan to Paris and, once forwarding procedures have been completed, transported and delivered by truck to Nippon Express business locations in Morocco (Casablanca and Tangier) within six to ten days.

Nippon Express, as the only Japanese forwarder with business locations in Morocco, makes all arrangements for transport between Paris and Morocco, providing customers with reassuring support at both origin and destination.

(Image: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/
M103866/202003027514/_prw_PI1fl_T20n6qnH.jpg)

Service features
- Utilizing space on one of the many regular flights to Paris makes possible more reliable scheduling than that available with the relatively few direct flights to Morocco.
- Transport costs are lower than for conventional direct air transport to Morocco.
- The small number of direct cargo flights to Morocco makes the country a difficult destination for oversized cargo, but the problems associated with transporting such cargo can be resolved by combining one of the many flights to Paris with heavy truck shipping from Paris to Morocco arranged by Nippon Express.

Nippon Express website: http://www.nipponexpress.com/

Official LinkedIn Account: NIPPON EXPRESS GROUP
https://www.linkedin.com/company/nippon-express-group/

SOURCE: Nippon Express Co., Ltd.