Malaysia Expands SST from July 1: What Businesses Should Know

1. Malaysia will implement a significant expansion of its Sales and Services Tax (SST) framework starting July 1, 2025. Announced as part of the government’s fiscal consolidation strategy under Budget 2025, the revised SST rules are designed to broaden the tax base without burdening essential goods or lower-income households.

2. For businesses, particularly those in the services sector, the SST expansion introduces new compliance obligations, registration requirements, and tax exposure across a wider range of activities.

Indonesia’s Consumer Stimulus: Impacts for Foreign Investors

1. Indonesia’s bold US$1.5 billion stimulus package, unveiled in late May 2025, is set to ripple through Southeast Asia’s largest economy — and foreign investors should be paying attention.

2. While the measures are aimed at boosting local household consumption, the indirect effects could reshape demand patterns across consumer goods, retail, energy, transportation, and financial sectors, opening fresh opportunities for foreign businesses.

Digital resilience as a practical blueprint for SMEs in Malaysia

1. Over the past two years, Malaysia has counted roughly one million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Together, they generate close to two-fifths of national GDP and supply nearly half of all jobs. According to the SME Association of Malaysia, as many as 90-95 per cent of firms with more than ten employees have already moved key operations online. Whether those investments translate into lasting advantage now hinges on how confidently businesses turn digital promise into measurable performance.

2. Government policy is firmly behind them. National programmes such as the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint and the forthcoming ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement aim to deepen connectivity, broaden market access and raise the region's collective digital skill base. The opportunity for growing Malaysian firms is therefore to convert high-level ambition into everyday gains that lift productivity at scale.