PETALING JAYA: EPF members will be able to use their future and current savings to apply for a larger housing loan beginning Sunday.

EPF chief executive officer Tan Sri Azlan Zainol said the Flexible Housing Withdrawal facility is designed to give those who qualified greater purchasing power.

“Members will now have a chance to realise their dream of a better home for their families via increased home loan eligibility.

SEOUL: Malaysia wants South Korea to take advantage of policy initiatives in the New Economic Policy and the 10th Malaysia Plan to explore opportunities and expand its business in the country.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government’s bold move to cut subsidies for sugar, petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas will have minimal impact on individuals and families.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Government will adopt an approach that will not burden the people when implementing the subsidy rationalising plan.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen has gone another step to aggressively put Malaysia on the map by promoting “art tourism”.

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 870,630 taxpayers overpaid their taxes by RM10bil in 2009, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussein.

He told Pendang Member of Parliement Datuk Dr Mohd Hayati Othman at the Dewan Rakyat that 838,644 taxpayers overpaid by RM8.6bil in 2008 while 654,606 taxpayers overpaid by RM5.4bil in 2007. Some 291,315 taxpayers overpaid by RM4.3bil in 2006.

He said as of last year, the Inland Revenue Board had yet to refund 150,757 taxpayers.

KUALA LUMPUR: Innovation within the Malaysian tourism industry will be the key to attracting more tourists to the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin said that the creation of meaningful and high-value tourism-related product was needed.

He added that Malaysia must look into arts and cultural offerings.

KUALA LUMPUR: The decision on whether to do away with the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) will be made this year.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said roundtable discussions on the matter would begin “as soon as possible” and all relevant parties would be invited to give their input.

KUALA LUMPUR: The tourism industry aims to contribute RM115bil in revenue and provide two million jobs in 2015, said minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen.

“To achieve our 2015 target, our focus would be on attracting a larger share of high end travellers, capturing a bigger share of high growth segments and increasing the number of tourist arrivals,” said the Tourism Minister.

The segments identified were from Russia, India, China and Middle East.

PETALING JAYA: AirAsia will be offering “extra low fares” to eight destinations in India from as low as RM169 (all-in fares) one way from today to next Wednesday.

The travel period for the promotion is from July 1 to Sept 24 this year.

The routes are from Kuala Lumpur to Tiruchirappalli, Kochi, Kolkata, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Penang to Chennai.

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia will have direct daily flights from Kuala Lumpur to Yangon in Myanmar from July 20.

To celebrate the introduction of the new route, AirAsia will be offering all-in fares for the new route from as low as RM29 one way.

The booking period will end this Sunday for the travel period between July 20 and May 8 next year.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians must work together to make the country a model of religious tolerance and harmony, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

The Prime Minister urged the people to join hands with him and make the country a model for the rest of the world.

PETALING JAYA: Low-cost carrier AirAsia is giving travellers a reason to cheer - the airline is giving away a million free seats starting today.

The booking period for the “Free Seats” promotion begins today until Sunday, for travel between Jan 3 and May 8 next year.

Customers can choose from 130 destinations to 20 countries including India, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam and China.

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian economy recorded a robust growth of 10.1% in the first quarter of 2010, the highest first quarter growth since the 11.7% recorded in 2000.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that given the robust performance this year and the government-introduced economic transformation initiatives, he was confident Malaysia would achieve its target of 6% growth this year.

PETALING JAYA: From today, the one-hour passport renewal and processing will be extended to 26 immigration branch offices throughout the country.

The Immigration Department said in a statement yesterday that applicants would be able to get their passports processed within an hour after payment was done.

The service will be available in Kedah, Johor, Pahang, Perak, Kelantan, Perlis, Terengganu, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.

KUALA LUMPUR: The country’s economy is likely to register growth of more than 10% in the first three months of the year – an achievement not seen in the last 10 years.

The latest economic indicators show a positive trend. Exports in March grew by 36.4% beating the market forecast of 22.4%. Imports rose by 45.3% (forecasts were around 30%).