GOVT MAY MANAGE PRIVATE PENSION FUND, SAYS DEPUTY MINISTER

By Amanina Mohamad Yusof

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- The Government may manage the Private Pension
Fund but is waiting for feedback on the fund proposed under Budget 2011, says
Deputy Minister of Finance Donald Lim Siang Chai.

"The whole idea is to allow a lot of flexibility for people to contribute," he
told reporters after a media briefing on the 4th Global Bio-Herbs Economic Forum
2010.

Asked on tax relief for the fund, Lim said the proposal had been put forward to
the government for consideration.

"The Government welcomes relevant ideas and suggestions," he said.

On the Global Bio-Herbs Economic Forum, Lim said the Government was serious in
promoting the bio-herbs industry.

He said the Higher Education Ministry had approved Chinese medicine courses that
would be conducted in Mandarin at local Universiti Tun Abdul Razak.

He believed China had vast experience to commercialise the bio-herbs industry
and through it, he hoped cure for diseases like dengue that cannot be treated by
modern medicine could be found through bio-herbs medicine.

He said that it was the forum organisers' mission to make Malaysia as the
state-of-the-art research hub for bio-technology in the Asia-Pacific region.

Some 3,500 participants are expected to attend the three-day forum themed
"Building Global Channels, Steering Herbs Economy" beginning Nov 5 at a leading
hotel in Seri Kembangan near here.

The forum, which originated from Malaysia, has since spread its wings to other
Asian countries like China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore,
Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The forum is jointly hosted by Easy Pha-max Marketing Sdn Bhd, Hewo.com,
Hopematic Sdn Bhd, Platform2u.com Bhd, Green Beverly Hills and
Healthylifesoftware Sdn Bhd.
-- BERNAMA