Dear Texchem family members,
I am certain that by the time you receive this issue of Texview, half a year has gone. I am truly delighted that the Group has performed well in the first quarter of 2005 compared to the same period last year. Results in the second quarter were equally satisfactory.
This must be attributed to well-placed business fundamentals, increased focus on cost management and the generally positive economic environment. Much has been said and done about the reorganisation and restructuring of our operations within the Group. What you have probably observed and experienced by now is the improvement in working attitude and work culture brought about by the elimination of many undesirable factors which hindered the Group progress in the past. This is a perpetual process and the management is committed to do even more with your support and cooperation by
working together to create superior solutions and drive new successes.
Not forgetting our roots from a humble beginning as a small chemical trading house operating within the Malaysian domestic market, Texchem has expanded to many countries
having its presence in Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, China, Cambodia and Indonesia involving in the manufacturing as well as sales and marketing activities. While having business activities spread over a wide geographic coverage offers considerable benefits in terms of market size and accessibility, the desire to operate effectively and efficiently as a single entity covering a diversity of multi-nationalities, culture and racial heritage and hoping to maximise power synergy, is really a challenge. It is therefore essential for the Group to adopt a common working language. With this passion for synchronised thinking and to ensure the long term success of Texchem, the management has embarked on a mission to promote and encourage English education Group-wide.
This initiative, I believe would bring many benefits not only to the organisation but also to
the employees career advancement. By using English as a universal language within the
Group, we may reap the following:-
- Enable effective communication for the exchange of ideas, knowledge and know-how transfer, information sharing, improvement in mutual understanding and cooperation
- Improve better management control and support
- Allow flexibility in the Group human resource requirements and provide employees
with opportunities for foreign postings to gain wider exposure for career development
The next issue I need to dwell on, is the foreign currency exchange. In recent months, there has been increasing pressure from the United States on China to revalue the Yuan,
citing trade imbalance as a reason. There appears to be a good likelihood that China would
to some extent, submit to the demands of her big customer. When and if this happens, in order to keep pace with export competition, there might be a possibility that Malaysia will review its US currency peg which has been in force since 1998. Although there is still no clue as to what kind of measures Malaysia will adopt, any change from the present currency peg regime would remove the comfort and ease of foreign currency
exchange management in our Malaysian operations. We have to acknowledge the fact that all our Malaysian operations have not been exposed to the environment of fluctuating US currency for many years since 1998, and we should be inclined
to maintain some defensive strategy. It is
time for the operating management of our Malaysian companies to make mental preparations to review and relearn so as to be able to adapt to any change.
I wish all of you well, continue to keep the profit engine humming and put your minds together to create further success
for the remaining second half of the year.
