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Malaysia proposed a science diplomacy and sustainable haze fund at the 27th MSC meeting in Bali, strengthening AATHP efforts. Members reaffirmed commitment to haze-free ASEAN by 2030, discussed rising hotspots, El Nino risks, SEA FDRS improvements, and agreed to expand the haze fund’s scope and governance.

Key Points

• Malaysia proposed a science diplomacy and sustainable haze fund at the 27th MSC meeting in Bali, with members agreeing to explore its feasibility and strengthen the Asean haze fund’s contributions and scope.
• ASMC reported an 86% hotspot increase in H1 2026, with El Nino expected to worsen dry conditions; Malaysia showcased SEA FDRS upgrades and the new MyCMAQ air quality model.
• Malaysia and Indonesia held bilateral talks on environmental cooperation; Malaysia will host the 28th MSC meeting in Sabah in 2027.

New Proposals to Strengthen Regional Haze Cooperation

At the 27th Sub-Regional Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) meeting in Bali, Malaysia—represented by Minister Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup—proposed a science diplomacy initiative and a sustainable haze fund to reinforce the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP).

Member states, including Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, and Timor-Leste, agreed to assess the feasibility of science diplomacy within existing or new AATHP mechanisms. They also reaffirmed commitment to the Asean Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control (ACC THPC) and welcomed progress under the Asean Investment Framework for Haze-Free Sustainable Land Management, supporting the goal of a haze-free Asean by 2030.

Rising Hotspot Risks Amid El Niño Conditions

The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) reported an 86% increase in hotspots in early 2026 compared to 2025, driven by hotter, drier weather. El Niño is expected to persist and intensify through August–September 2026, raising concerns over below-normal rainfall and heightened haze risks across the region.

To address this, MET Malaysia highlighted advances in the Southeast Asia Fire Danger Rating System (SEA FDRS), including three new automated weather stations in Peninsular Malaysia, and the March 2026 launch of the Malaysian Community Multiscale Air Quality Model (MyCMAQ) for improved air quality forecasting and haze monitoring.

Strengthening Governance and Bilateral Ties

The MSC meeting reaffirmed commitment to prevention, firefighting, and joint emergency response, guided by the Second Haze-Free Roadmap 2023–2030 and the SOP for Monitoring, Assessment and Joint Emergency Response (SOP MAJER). Members also agreed to explore expanding the Asean haze fund, broadening contribution sources and supporting scientific research through transparent governance.

Looking ahead, the 21st AATHP Conference of Parties will be held in Da Nang, Vietnam, in October, while Malaysia will host the 28th MSC meeting in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, in June 2027. Separately, Malaysia and Indonesia held bilateral talks, agreeing to deepen cooperation on environmental and climate change issues, including continued efforts to monitor and prevent transboundary haze.

Source : Malaysia proposes science diplomacy, sustainable haze fund to combat Asean haze

The weight of HDFC Bank in the Nifty was around 9.85% as on August 31, while ICICI Bank’s was 9.45%. Reliance Industries’ weight was around 7.8% as of August 31. The 1.65 percentage point gap between ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries is the widest since April 2015, according to Nuvama data.

ET Bureau

The convergence between the weights of HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank has been driven by the contrasting performance of their shares this year. HDFC Bank‘s Nifty weight has dropped from 12.7% at the end of December 2025 to 9.85%, with the stock declining around 28% so far in 2026. ICICI Bank’s weight, in contrast, has risen from 8.05% to 9.45%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points.

Read more: Midcap Street party turns selective as 15 stocks power 50% of rally

Reliance Industries has also lost ground, with its Nifty weight falling from 8.9% at the end of December to 7.8% as its shares declined around 17% this year.

Live Events

The shift marks a significant change in the Nifty’s pecking order. HDFC Bank’s weight had reached a record 19.1% in February 2020, while Reliance Industries peaked at 14.92% in September that year.
Despite the lower weight in the index, Reliance Industries remains the largest of the three with a market capitalisation of around ₹17.7 lakh crore, followed by HDFC Bank at ₹10.97 lakh crore and ICICI Bank at ₹10.32 lakh crore.

Grand Seiko has continued building out its global partnership with Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, framing the collaboration around a shared philosophy the Japanese watchmaker says centers on incremental refinement rather than singular moments of brilliance, according to a feature published this week by Revolution Watch.

Grand Seiko first signed Ohtani as a brand ambassador during his 2018 MLB rookie season with the Los Angeles Angels, an early bet on a player whose full potential had not yet become apparent to the wider sports world. The relationship expanded significantly on March 12, when Grand Seiko announced Ohtani as its new global partner through what the company calls the “Grand Moments Project,” a collaboration the brand said centers on approaching each moment with sincerity and a deep respect for the value of time, with the initiative formally launching April 1.

“To carry forward a part of Grand Seiko’s heritage, shaped through decades of dedication, is something I deeply value,” Ohtani said in Grand Seiko’s official announcement of the partnership. “Feeling that legacy as I wear the watch brings me real joy, and it is my hope that we will continue this journey together.” He added that elevating the quality of each individual moment is important to him, a sentiment the brand has tied closely to its broader marketing message around the partnership.

Grand Seiko’s Revolution Watch feature traces the connection between Ohtani and the brand back to shared geography as much as shared philosophy. Ohtani was born in Oshu, in Iwate Prefecture, a mountainous region in northern Japan, the same prefecture that is home to Grand Seiko Studio Shizukuishi, the workshop dedicated to assembling the brand’s mechanical watches. That studio, designed by architect Kengo Kuma, opened in 2020.

The partnership has produced several notable timepieces tied to specific milestones in Ohtani’s career. In 2021, Grand Seiko marked Ohtani’s American League MVP season by presenting him with the SLGH005, widely known among collectors as the “White Birch” for its dial design inspired by the birch forests surrounding the Shizukuishi studio. That watch went on to win the Men’s Watch Prize at that year’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve, an award frequently described within the watch industry as the equivalent of the Academy Awards for watchmaking. When Ohtani signed his landmark 700 million dollar contract with the Dodgers in 2023, he was photographed wearing an understated Grand Seiko piece rather than a more overtly flashy timepiece, a moment that drew attention from watch enthusiasts at the time.

According to Revolution Watch, the White Birch has since evolved into an updated model, the SLGH031, which preserves its original design while incorporating Grand Seiko’s newer Evolution 9 bracelet and clasp. The brand has also introduced the SLGB003, which showcases its latest generation of Spring Drive technology, a hybrid movement system unique to Grand Seiko that combines mechanical and quartz elements.

The Revolution Watch feature framed the partnership as an example of shared values rather than a simple celebrity endorsement, drawing a parallel to the Japanese concept of kaizen, commonly translated as “continuous improvement,” which holds that lasting success comes through countless small refinements rather than dramatic overnight change. The piece noted that both Ohtani’s development as a two-way player, a feat not widely achieved in modern baseball since Babe Ruth gradually shifted away from pitching to focus on hitting, and Grand Seiko’s decades-long approach to refining its cases, dials and movements reflect that same underlying philosophy.

Ohtani has continued adding endorsement partnerships beyond Grand Seiko in recent months, including a modeling collaboration with the fashion brand Hugo Boss announced earlier this year, which the company said drew inspiration from baseball aesthetics and heritage design. Industry analysts have noted that Ohtani now commands more endorsement income than any other athlete in the world, a status that has coincided with his four unanimous American League and National League MVP awards and back-to-back World Series titles with the Dodgers.

Grand Seiko, founded more than six decades ago, has historically built its reputation primarily through craftsmanship rather than celebrity marketing, distinguishing its approach from Swiss luxury competitors such as Rolex and Omega, which have long relied on prominent athlete ambassadors as a central part of their brand strategy. Analysts covering the partnership, including Gear Patrol, have described Ohtani’s expanded role with Grand Seiko as a notable shift for the historically understated Japanese watchmaker as it seeks greater global visibility outside dedicated watch-collecting circles.

Leong Ling
Vice President of Corporate Development

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Hibiscus Petroleum’s Quarter 4 Financial Year 2026 Results Briefing. Thank you for taking the time to join us this afternoon, especially ahead of the Merdeka long weekend.

I’m Lily Ling, VP of Corporate Development. Joining me today are Dr. Kenneth Pereira, our Managing Director; Yip CY, our CFO; Dr. Pascal Hos, our Country Head for Malaysia and Vietnam; Shaun, our Senior Manager of Corporate Finance; Deepak Thakur, our SVP Economics and Business Planning; and Song, our Country Head Brunei, both joining us online; and from my team, Andrew, [ Jehan ] and Adam. Earlier today, we released our Q4 and full year financial year 2026 results, together with our corporate and business update, press release and dividend declaration.

All the announcements are available on our website, and the presentation deck for today’s briefing is also available here in the Teams chat. As this is our final results briefing for financial year 2026, we’ll take you through the group’s full year performance as well as the latest operational and business updates. With that, let’s begin. CY, over to you.

Chee Yip
Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Lily, and good afternoon to everyone. So FY 2026 is done, and we have got some good numbers, hopefully, to share and we will explain each one of them. Again, thanks for joining us. So I’ll just go straight into this slide.

Reform UK’s tax pledges could cost the Treasury billions of pounds in lost revenue and it remains unclear how they would be paid for, according to audit, tax and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.

Tom Goddard, an assistant manager at the firm, said Robert Jenrick, Reform UK’s shadow chancellor, had pledged to scrap tax on overtime payments, cut national insurance for businesses that “hire British workers”, lower the rate of VAT for self-employed individuals, and give every taxpayer a £30 tax credit if they are kept on the phone to HMRC for more than 30 minutes.

“However, there is little detail on how these measures would work, how much they would cost to be implemented, and how the resulting loss in tax revenue would be offset,” he said. “Although Reform UK has suggested welfare spending cuts could fund these measures in part, detailed fiscal analysis of both costs and savings would be needed to actually assess if this is feasible.”

The overtime pledge builds on a policy Nigel Farage set out in May, when the Reform UK leader promised to lift income tax from overtime pay for workers earning under £75,000 at a stated cost of around £5bn a year.

Goddard said the three headline measures would each strike at one of the UK’s largest sources of revenue. “Scrapping income tax on overtime, lowering national insurance contributions, and decreasing VAT would impact each of the UK’s ‘big three’ tax generators,” he said. “Consecutive governments have ruled out making changes to these three taxes as they constitute too large a portion of the country’s revenue, around 75% for the period from August 2025 to July 2026. Lowering the rates of the big three, even if only under specific circumstances, could cost the country billions in tax revenue which would need to be accounted for elsewhere.”

The proposal to reduce VAT for self-employed workers drew particular criticism. Goddard said it “could also create both fairness and complexity issues”, pointing out that VAT is generally levied on goods and services rather than on an individual’s employment status.

“Creating a separate VAT regime for one category of worker could introduce new administrative burdens, further costs and increase opportunities for tax avoidance through reclassification of employment status,” he said.

The firm was equally sceptical of the plan to compensate taxpayers for long waits on HMRC’s helplines, an issue that has dogged the tax authority for years, with callers reporting waits of up to 70 minutes ahead of filing deadlines.

Goddard said a new tax credit scheme based on call times “could cost the country millions in implementation before the first qualifying call”, because it would require robust mechanisms to verify eligibility, process claims, prevent fraud and administer payments.

He then set out what the credit itself might cost. “By HMRC’s own statistics, there were 24 million calls for the year in 2025, of these, 50% had a waiting time of 10 minutes,” he said. “Taking a conservative approach, 15% of total calls may have had a call time of longer than 30 minutes. This amounts to 3.6 million calls, each of which would be entitled to a £30 tax credit, therefore resulting in further cost to the government of £108m.”

HMRC’s own performance data for the 2025 to 2026 year shows the department had received just over 24 million calls in the year to January, with an average speed of answer of 13 minutes 27 seconds and 51.4% of callers waiting more than 10 minutes.

Goddard also warned that the design of the scheme could backfire. “It could be argued that linking compensation directly to time spent on a call risk encouraging individuals to remain on the line unnecessarily or to repeatedly contact HMRC in pursuit of a credit,” he said. “Even if safeguards could be introduced, doing so would add further complexity to what is intended as a remedy for long wait times.”

The intervention comes as Reform UK courts the business community, with Vodafone, Heathrow and JCB among the companies attending the party’s conference in Birmingham this week, where it is staging its first dedicated business day.

Goddard said the UK’s tax system had “serious problems” that needed to be addressed “in a proactive and comprehensive measure”. He added: “However, adding additional complexities to the system is unlikely to be the answer.”

Amy Ingham

Amy Ingham is a reporter at Business Matters, covering UK business news with a focus on breaking news, business policy, late payments and insolvency. She joined the magazine in 2026 after completing the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism at Harlow College’s journalism school. Her recent reporting includes British Steel’s nationalisation and its impact on SME suppliers, the decline in late payments by large firms, and Insolvency Service director disqualifications. Reach her at aingham@cbmeg.co.uk.