Vol 2 2015: June PP 8307/12/2012(032066)

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Seated are The Prime Ministers of Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, Sultan of Perak, President of Myanmar, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Representative of the Philippines President, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo.

Prime Minister Hun Sen, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Dato Sri Mohd Najib, Sultan Nazrin Shah, Secretary Domingo, President U Thein Sein and Mr. C.Y. Leung (partly hidden).

The Prime Minister arriving at the Forum received by ASLI Senior Vice President Mr. Max Say, CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Senior Advisor Ms. Jean Wong.

Sultan Nazrin Shah of Perak flanked by Dato Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah,Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Dato Seri Abdul Wahid Omar.

Chairman of ASLI Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah greeting the President of Myanmar U Thein Sein.

ASLI HOSTS ASEAN LEADERS

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12TH ASEAN LEADERSHIP FORUM

Linking hands in ASEAN solidarity - Sultan of Perak, Chief Executive of Hong Kong and ASEAN Leaders.

HRH Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah hitting the gong to open the Forum. Looking on are Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, MITI Minister, Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO ASLI and Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

HRH Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah arriving for the opening ceremony accompanied by Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO ASLI.

Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI presenting the ASEAN Lifetime Achievement Award to HRH Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah. Looking on are Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO ASLI, H.E. U Thein Sein, President of Myanmar (seated left), H.E. C.Y. Leung, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (seated right).

Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI presenting a memento to H.E. Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia, Looking on are H.E. Thongsing Thammavong (seated), Prime Minister of Laos and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO ASLI.

In conjunction with the 26th ASEAN Summit hosted and chaired by Malaysia, ASLI organised the 12th ASEAN Leadership Forum. The Forum was graced by HRH The Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah; the President of Myanmar U Thein Sein; the Prime Minister of Cambodia Samdech Hun Sen; the Prime Minister of Laos Thongsing Thammavong; Mr. C.Y. Leung, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Mr. Gregory Domingo, Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry representing President Benigno Aquino of the Philippines; the Minister of International Trade & Industry Dato Sri Mustapa Mohamed who is this year’s Chair of the ASEAN Economic Community Council; and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid Omar. Ministers and Business Leaders from the other ASEAN countries were also present.

Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib in his Special Message to the Forum emphasized the efforts to develop a sense of Aseaness among the people of ASEAN - “We hope to focus on a People-Centred ASEAN so that it becomes more relevant to the ordinary people of ASEAN”, Dato Sri Najib stressed in his Message, “The engagement with the younger generation as future leaders is timely and relevant”. The Prime Minister also said the Forum enables the business community to be updated on new developments in ASEAN and the prospects arising from the full implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community. The Prime Minister welcomed and complimented ASLI for organising the timely Forum.

Earlier in his Welcome Remarks, the Chairman of ASEAN Leadership Forum and CEO of ASLI, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh spoke of the 4C’s and 4I’s of ASEAN -Community, Connectivity, Centrality and Competitiveness; as well as Inclusive development, Investment, Infrastructure development and Innovation. The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dato Sri

Abdul Wahid Omar in his speech lauded ASLI for its initiative in bringing together 50 young ASEAN Leaders to deliberate on future challenges facing ASEAN. He added, the focus on the younger generation is most welcome as interaction with the youth is critical to the success of ASEAN.

HRH Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, the Sultan of Perak was conferred with the ASEAN Lifetime Achievement Award at the Forum for His Royal Highness distinguished contributions to ASEAN studies and Southeast Asia research. In his Royal Address, Sultan Nazrin said ASEAN should focus on its people. The Sultan noted that ASEAN remains as a young region, “The median age of the ASEAN countries in 2010 was only 28 years”. His Highness also warned that current leaders should not be complacent but rather be aware of the fragile and external circumstances from which ASEAN is not spared. “Most ASEAN countries are today in the middle of great intergenerational change impacting society, business and politics. It is imperative that these generations can be successive ones in politics, business and civil society”.

The Prime Minister of Cambodia H.E. Samdech Hun Sen said with the establishment of the ASEAN Community, the region would be able to maintain peace, stability and growth and at the same time integrate into an economic and political region. To achieve the One Community, One Vision, One Identity goal, ASEAN must strengthen its commitment to resolve challenges to narrow the development gap and promote connectivity. The Prime Minister of Laos H.E. Thongsing Thammavong, the incoming Chair of ASEAN in 2016 said, this was a significant year for ASEAN which would see the setting up of the ASEAN Community.

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12TH ASEAN LEADERSHIP FORUM

From left to right: H.E. U Thein Sein, President of Myanmar, H.E. C.Y. Leung, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and H.E. Gregory Domingo, Secretary of the Department of Trade & Industry, Philippines.

Dato Sri Jamaluddin Ibrahim, President and Group CEO, AXIATA Group presenting a memento to HRH Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah. Looking on are Dato Sri Mustapa Mohamed, MITI Minister; Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI; Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI and Dato Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

Left to Right :- Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI, Mr. Ian Buchanan, Senior Executive Advisor, PwC Strategy & (ANZSEA) Pty Ltd, Sydney/Chairman Australia National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (AUSTPECC); Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, Chairman, AirAsia X Berhad/former MITI Minister; Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Group President & CEO, Malayan Banking Berhad; Mr. Pushpanathan Sundram, former ASEAN Deputy Secretary General/Chairman, China-ASEAN Business Association; Mr. Rajiv Biswas, Senior Director & Asia Pacific Chief Economist, IHS Global Insight, Singapore.

Left to right: Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, MITI Minister, H.E. Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister of Laos, H.E. Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia, H.E. U Thein Sein, President of Myanmar, Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI, HRH Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO ASLI, H.E. C.Y. Leung, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Dato Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, H.E. Gregory Domingo, Secretary of the Department of Trade & Industry, Philippines.

Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI presenting a memento to H.E. Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister of Laos. Looking on are HRH Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI.

Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI, presented memento to H.E. C.Y. Leung, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Looking on are Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI; H.E. Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister of Laos; H.E. Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia; H.E. U Thein Sein, President of Myanmar; HRH Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah.

The President of Myanmar H.E. Thein Sein, last year’s Chair of ASEAN, said the People-Centred ASEAN aspiration must be built upon engagement and networking among individuals, business and organizations and also the private sector and civil society to bring a greater sense of belonging among stakeholders. President Benigno Aquino of Philippines said the development of the region rests not only on the governments but also the various communities and people should be involved. “As Leaders, we must also engage our peoples in treading the same path towards realizing our aspirations as One ASEAN Community. That is why we are here today: to engage businessmen and key stakeholders in our shared quest to realize a more progressive, more inclusive and more people driving ASEAN”. The President of the Philippines stressed that good governance means good economics. “By creating more opportunities for collaborations and partnership with citizens, we are promoting a balanced community, one that not only uplifts our people’s welfare but also empowers them as contributors in our growth as a region”.

The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Mr. C.Y. Leung also delivered a Special Address at the Forum where he spoke about enhancing Hong Kong-ASEAN ties and how ASEAN and Hong Kong can collaborate more closely. The President and CEO of AXIATA Dato’ Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim also delivered a Welcome Speech on the 2nd day of the Forum. The 1st session on the 2nd day on the topic Realising the ASEAN Economic Community had an interesting panel comprising Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, former Minister of International Trade & Industry; Mr. Ian Buchanan, Senior Adviser to PwC Strategy &; Mr. Pushpanathan Sundram, former ASEAN Deputy Secretary General;

Mr. Rajiv Biswas, Senior Director & Asia Pacific Chief Economist; and Dr. Robert Yap, Executive Chairman, YCH Group. The Forum lunch was hosted by MITI. The MITI Secretary General Tan Sri Dr. Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria gave the Luncheon Speech on behalf of the MITI Minister.

Other sessions covered are People Centred ASEAN-What More Needs to be Done; Deepening ASEAN Integration and Strengthening Competitiveness, and Developing the Post 2015 Vision. Speakers came from the ASEAN countries and included Ambassador Pradap Pibulsonggram, Thailand’s Representative to the ASEAN High Level Task Force on Connectivity and ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee; Mr. Pou Sothirak, former Minister of Energy & Industry Cambodia and Executive Director, Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace; Prof. Simon Tay, Chairman, Singapore Institute of International Affairs and former Chairman, Singapore National Environment Agency; Prof. Hidetoshi Nishimura, Executive Director, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA); Ms. Elaine Tan, Executive Director, The ASEAN Foundation, Indonesia; Ms. Penny Low, Member of Parliament, Singapore and Founder/President of Social Innovation Park Ltd; Prof. Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Director, Institute of Security and International Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.

The Strategic Partners for the 12th ASEAN Leadership Forum were Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Maybank, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Muhibbah Engineering, Siemens Malaysia and Global Movement of Moderates. The Corporate Partners were Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad and ASEAN Business Forum. The Associate Partners were Vintage Golf and UMW.

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ASLI CO-ORGANIZES CONFERENCE WITH BOAO FORUM

Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, former Prime Minister of Malaysia meeting with H.E. Zeng Peiyan, former Vice Premier of China and Vice Chairman of Boao Forum of Asia.

H.E. Zeng Peiyan and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi arriving for the Forum accompanied by Tan Sri Peter Chin, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Dato Sri David Yeat.

From Left: ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Founder, Chairman & CEO of GD Development Sdn. Bhd. Dato’ Sri David Yeat, Minister of Transport YB Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai, former Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi and Founder of Country Heights Holdings Berhad Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew.

Minister of International Trade and Industry Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed arriving at the Boao Forum for Asia with CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew.

Distinguished Panel on “One Belt and One Road” & Energy/Resources Cooperation: Anchor of CCTV Ms. Tian Wei, Executive Director of Green RE Sdn. Bhd. Mr. James Chua, President of Institute of Future Studies for Development Thailand Professor Dr. Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, and Tan Sri Fong Chan Onn, former Minister of Human Resource Malaysia and former Chairman of Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia (SEDA).

Mr. Andrew Forrest, Chairman of FMG Australia meets and greets former Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, whilst Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, Founder of Country Heights Holdings Berhad and Tan Sri Peter Chin, Chairman of Malaysian Green Technology Corporation look on.

ASLI team with YB Dato’ Lee Chee Leong, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry and Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew.

In collaboration with Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), ASLI organised a conference on Energy, Resources and Sustainable Development. It was held on 10th and 11th June, 2015 at the Shangri La Hotel. The conference focused on One Belt, One Road and Energy/Resource Cooperation. The overarching goal of the conference is to contribute towards establishing long-term relationships, both at regional and global levels for a secure and sustainable energy future for all people. It is envisioned that the One Belt, One Road Initiative will offer new impetus to the energy and resources cooperation in Asia.

Approximately more than 200 delegates attended the event. Both, Tun Abdullah Badawi, former Prime Minister of Malaysia along with Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) gave welcoming remarks at the event. Among the state leaders who attended the two-day conference were the former Vice Premier of China, H.E. Mr Zeng Peiyan, H.E. Wu Xinxiong, former Minister of China National Energy Administration, Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai, Minister of Transport and Dato Lee Chee Leong, Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, Malaysia.

In his welcoming remarks, Tun Abdullah Badawi said that Asia’s growth and development is challenged by the effects of urbanisation, public health, climate change and environmental degradation. Hence, it is imperative to urgently address these issues in a holistic manner. He also underscored that in the age of climate change, countries need to upgrade their economic model to a “new normal” that values sustainability and social justice.

In light of the ongoing shift of the economic patterns and drive of China’s economic progress of a “new normal”, Tun Abdullah Badawi pointed out that China’s adoption of a new model of sustainable development can be set as best practices to achieve a balance

between environment and economic sustainability. This refers to China being the world’s largest investor in clean and renewable energy.

With the joint development of economic belt that is centred on “One Belt and One Road”, Tun Abdullah Badawi affirmed that it will serve as a solid foundation for collaboration on energy and resources amongst Asian countries. A collaboration mechanism is thus needed to be put in place.

Addressing the event, Dato Sri Mustapa remarked that the annually held Boao Forum for Asia is regarded as a highly reputable global forum for meetings of mind. The salience of this event that takes place at the time Malaysia hosts the ASEAN chairmanship this year was also mentioned by him. As made evident by the present China-ASEAN bilateral trade that has increased five-fold from USD 78 million in 2003 to USD 444 billion in 2013, Dato Sri Mustapa mentioned that China is now ASEAN’s largest trading partner and ASEAN is China’s third largest trading partner. Malaysia alone has bilateral trade with China more than US100 billion, making it third country in Asia, after Japan and South Korea.

Having regard to the agreement between the Malaysia Prime Minister Dato Sri Najib Abdul Razak and the Chinese President Xi Jinping to upgrade ties to a comprehensive strategic bilateral partnership, Dato Sri Mustapa mentioned that Malaysia and China have set an ambitious bilateral trade target of US160 billion to be achieved by year 2017. The economic interdependence between ASEAN and China has continued to be strengthened since the signing of the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Co-operation 2002. This agreement has contributed significantly in boosting trade and investment ties of both sides, namely in transport, agriculture,

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BFA ENERGY, RESOURCES ANDSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE

Secretary General of Boao Forum for Asia H.E. Zhou Wenzhong meets and greets Tun Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi, former Prime Minister of Malaysia whilst COO Ms. Ng Yeen Seen looks on.

CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Ms. Zhu Xiaohong, Managing Director of Boao Forum for Asia signing the Memorandum of Understanding, whilst Minister of Transport Malaysia Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai and Secretary General of Boao Forum for Asia H.E. Zhou Wenzhong look on.

Distinguished Panel of “One Belt and One Road”: The Role & Opportunities for ASEAN: Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, H.E. Ambassador Huang Huikang, Dato’ Sri David Yeat and Professor Dr. Kriengsak Chareonwongsak.

H.E. Zhou Wenzhong, Secretary General of Boao Forum for Asia presents a memento to the Minister of Transport Malaysia Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai.

CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh having a chat with Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay, Group Executive Chairman of the YTL Corporation.

Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, COO of ASLI and Ms. Dianna Lee, Group CEO of Country Heights Holdings Berhad exchange Memorandum of Understanding, whilst YB Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai, Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew and CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh look on.

Tan Sri William Cheng, Non-Independent Chairman and Managing Director of the Lion Group, Tan Sri Lim Gait Tong, Chairman and Chief Executive of Farlim Group (Malaysia) Berhad and distinguished guests attending the Boao Forum for Asia.

technology, energy, telecommunications, SME, Halal Development and connectivity.

Former Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan in his key note speech explained that energy and resources cooperation are the basic elements that are indispensable to human survival. The main challenge according to him is on how to coordinate cooperation among the different countries. This has been a major subject of discussion concerning global sustainable development. As the world’s economic gravity shifts to Asia, the centre of global energy consumption has also moved eastward.

The first session of the conference focused on Price Fluctuations & Supply-Demand Partnerships. Four key points were raised in this session. First, the One Belt One Road area, going forward, will have a growth rate of 4.6%. The rest of the world will have less than 2%. As to electricity demand in the One Belt area, they will have 2.5 times the demand of the rest of the world. Second, worldwide energy supply and demand is changing, shale oil is one of the factors that is pushing this change. Long term prices are set by an expectation of the long run marginal cost of supply. This is dropping, and cooperation is needed right across Asia to get the markets working. Third, in the future, choices will be directed toward natural gas and nuclear as a sustainable mix against coal. There will continue to be sharp fluctuations in the future, therefore it is important to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation to minimise this. Fourth, the One Belt and the One Road will serve as a bridge to link the Asian economic circle and the European economic circle to account for 4.4 billion people. It will allow 4.4 billion people to be connected into one single market. It also represents $20 trillion in GDP, and resources here will account for over 50% of the world total. This raises unprecedented business opportunities across the region.

The second session explored in-depth on ways to establish a sustainable Asian energy and resources partnership. To operationalise the One Belt and One Road initiative, the panellists underscored the

importance of institutionalising partnership. Partner countries were encouraged to establish commonality in visions; policies; plans; standards~agendas and conflict resolution mechanisms. Furthermore, the principle of win-win partnerships should govern the framework of energy and resources co-operation as noted by panel speakers. Considering Asia’s unique geo-politics, One Belt and One Road initiative will require a framework that has diversified co-operation mechanisms. In order to achieve this, it will need broad consensus and strong communication strategies between the supplier and demand countries. For Asian countries to establish an energy and resources partnership based on the principle of win-win partnership, the session reiterated the importance to establish a stable supplier-consumer partnership aimed at generating a stable expectation of prices of market prospect; promote the stable economic development of countries on both the supply and demand sides; and help bring about a stable world energy and resources market.

The third session discussed about the role and opportunities for ASEAN in the context of One Belt and One Road Initiative. ASEAN stands out as the most critical starting point of the Maritime Silk Road. The initiative stresses on infrastructure development, and in reference to this, the infrastructure links are still lagging behind. Years of experience in major projects has left China in a position to lead and share their expertise with ASEAN countries for the One Belt project. The Belt and the Road initiative will provide abundant capital - the total demand for infrastructure capital in ASEAN will reach $600 billion in the next decade, initial capital will be $10 billion. The Maritime Silk Road Bank will be set up to get this project started and this will be supported by other development and infrastructure banks, including The China Construction Bank, as well as AIIB. The Belt and Road will unlock the infrastructure link and remove barriers to economic growth here. This will also enhance the cooperation of all economies involved. Finally, the Belt and Road will enable ASEAN to establish strong trade ties with West Asia and other countries along the Belt. the project is the common aspiration that will be conducted

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WCEF APPOINTS HON ADVISER AND CONFERRED LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

ASLI HOSTS U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE

WCEF Chairman & ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh presenting the Certificate of Appointment to Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai as WCEF Honorary Adviser.

Transport Minister and WCEF Honorary Adviser Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai presents the Lifetime Achievement Award to CIMB Chairman Dato’ Sri Nazir Razak.

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Dato’ Sri Nazir Razak, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai. Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai, Dato’ Sri Nazir Razak, Mr. Tan Koon Swan and Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.

Group Photograph of VIP Guests. Dato’ Nazir Razak having a light moment with ASLI’s Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, Ms. Elaine Kok and Ms. Janet How.

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh with Assistant Secretary of State Mr. Russell and US Ambassador Joseph Yun.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific in a group photograph with the dinner guests.

Ms. Jean Wong, Tan Sri Eddy Chen, Tan Sri Jawhar Hassan and Datuk David Chua.

The World Chinese Economic Forum, a high level business and economic Forum organised annually by the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) to connect China and Southeast Asia and China with Europe in line with President Xi Jinping’s 21st Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road Economic Belt will be held in London on 10th and 11th November 2015. This will be the 7th edition in this annual series. The WCEF also connects the Global Chinese Diaspora. The 7th WCEF will commence with the WCEF Young Entrepreneurs Roundtable and WCEF Women Entrepreneurs Roundtable to be held at the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster. This will then be followed by the Opening Reception and Dinner at Kensington Palace followed by the full day conference at the Savoy Hotel London.

More than 40 speakers from over 20 countries will participate in this Forum drawn from Government, Business and Thought Leaders. Among the key topics that will be discussed are China in the Global Economy, The

Power of Networking and the One Belt, One Road Initiative of President Xi Jinping.

Recently the WCEF and ASLI conferred Lifetime Achievement Awards on two distinguished personalities. This is part of the Lifetime Achievement Awards conferred at each WCEF. The two recent recipients are Dato’ Seri Nazir Razak, Chairman CIMB Bank who was honoured for his Lifetime Achievement in Banking and Finance having built CIMB Bank into one of Malaysia leading banks. The other recipient is former Transport Minister and MCA President Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik honoured for his Lifetime Achievement in Government and Education. Tun Dr. Ling is also Chairman of the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR Council and a long time Chairman of the Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Several more Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented at the 7th WCEF in London in November 2015.

ASLI hosted a dinner discussion with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Mr Danny Russell on the 11th of June 2015 at the Bankers’ Club in Kuala Lumpur to discuss political and economic issues of mutual interest. It was attended by a mixed group of 14 people comprising business leaders, thought leaders, former politicians and former senior civil servants as well as senior-level representatives from the Embassy of the United States and ASLI.

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO and Director of ASLI first made general introduction to give Mr Russell a general overview of the attendees. Mr

Russell said his portfolio, focused on strategic partnership and trade and investment between the US and important countries in the APAC region, and the ASEAN bloc. They then proceeded to discuss several key issues which included the possibility of war in the South China Sea. Many present felt that war was unlikely for political and economic reasons. Mr Russell assured them that the US was mindful of any incidents that could lead to conflict, and have been investing in high level relationships with China. However, he highlighted that China’s position on the matter was that their historical claim was indisputable. He emphasised that the US was neutral on the claims whether the outcome was for or against China so long as the outcome was the result of diplomacy or arbitration.

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2ND NATIONAL ECONOMIC SUMMIT

ASLI Chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah presenting a Memento to Minister in the Prime Minister Department Dato’ Seri Abdul Wahid Omar whilst Tan Sri Michael Yeoh looks on.

Minister Dato’ Seri Abdul Wahid answering questions from the floor whilst Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah looks on.

The Minister with Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, MICCI President Dato’ Wira Jalilah Baba and ASLI Director Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.

Datuk Dr. Denison Jayasooria, Dato’ Wira Jalilah Baba, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Prof. Dato’ Dr. Noor Azlan Ghazali, Prof. Rajah Rasiah and Ms. Ng Yeen Seen.

Ambassadors at the Forum. Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam presenting a Memento to EPU Director General Dato’ Dr. Rahamat.

ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh presenting a Memento to UKAS Director General Dato Ahmad Husni Hussain.

The 2nd National Economic Summit, held at Sunway Putra Hotel on the 8th June 2015, focused on the theme Addressing Current and Future Challenges in updating those in attendance on the recently tabled 11th Malaysia Plan. Tan Sri Michael Yeoh opened the summit by congratulating the government on its progressive, thoughtful and game changing 11th Malaysia Plan that will take Malaysia to 2020.Tan Sri Yeoh called on Government to establish an independent monitoring mechanism to monitor the 11th MP.

In his Keynote Address, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Dato’ Seri Abdul Wahid Omar outlined the strategies and targets of Eleventh Malaysia Plan. Dato Seri Abdul Wahid Omar explained that the next five years are expected to be challenging with continued uncertainties in the global economy, particularly given the prospect of lower prices for crude oil and other major commodities, as well as the risk of a slowdown in the economies of our major trading partners. He also argued that the uncertainties in global outlook and changing external landscape highlight the need for continued structural reforms to sustain long-term growth and to remain competitive.

The Minister then explained that the key effort of the government is the strengthening of macroeconomic fundamentals. In particular, we need to pursue prudent fiscal policies towards achieving sustainable government finances, while supporting inclusive economic growth, he said. This is a prerequisite for macroeconomic stability, and to ensure that we have the flexibility and capability to respond effectively in times of economic uncertainties.

Datuk Seri Dr. Rahamat Bivi Yusoff, Director General of the Economic Planning Unit, gave a Special Presentation on the 11 MP. During this she noted that development plans were not new to Malaysia. She also argued that the government has always put the growth of the rakyat at the heart of the economy.

The second Special Presentation was delivered by Dato’ Ahmad Husni Bin Hussain, Director General, Public Private Partnership Unit, Prime Minister’s Department. Dato’ Hussain talked on the issue of Public Private

Partnerships (PPP) and noted that to date there have been 700 projects and 113,000 jobs eliminated from the government’s payroll. Therefore, this takes proper planning and management to achieve. Implementing agencies must ensure compliance as well as management and monitoring mechanisms in meeting KPls and payment.

The Summit then hosted a panel discussion to unpack the significance of the 11 MP and what it means for future growth in Malaysia. There was a general consensus among the speakers to not just use economic indicators when measuring development. Datuk Wira Jalilah Baba, President of MICCI, described how income can be a poor measurement because when income rises the cost of living also rises.

Professor Datuk Dr. Noor Azlan Ghazali, Vice Chancellor, National University of Malaysia (UKM), urged a sophistication of activities instead of looking only at GDP. He talked about how in developed countries, people behave differently than in developing countries. Malaysia would need to adopt this style of behaviour in order to become a fully developed nation, he argued.

Professor Dr. Rajah Rasiah from the University of Malaya, focused on the idea of public-private partnerships. He predicted many more to come around in the near future. Professor Rasiah emphasized the need for governments to stick to providing public goods, which he defined as non-excludable and non-rival. He encouraged the government to pull back and let the private sector do most of the work.

Datuk Dr. Denison Jayasooria, Secretary General of PROHAM, encouraged focusing on the bottom 40% of the population. He described how there are huge strengths in the document with regard to this, such as the multidimensional poverty index. He encouraged more work here, describing it as a human rights issue, and including sustainable development and indigenous land rights as an area which should receive focus.

Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, COO of ASLI and Senior Director of CPPS urged the audience to look at the middle class. While the bottom 40% and the top 20% often come up in conversation, the middle 40% is often left out, she said.

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19TH MALAYSIA EDUCATION SUMMIT

Minister Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh presents a sponsor memento to Mr. Zaheer Merchant, Director of Education of Qi Group, whilst Chairman Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Director Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam look on.

Minister Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh presents a sponsor memento to Datuk Dr. Parmjit Singh, whilst Chairman Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Director Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Mr. Zaheer Merchant and Professor Christine Ennew, Provost & CEO of University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus look on.

Chairman Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah presents a memento to YB Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh, Minister of Education II. whilst CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Director Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam look on.

Minister of Education II YB Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh arriving at the Summit with Chairman Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah and CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam having a chat with YB Minister Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh.

Deputy Minister of Education Datuk Mary Yap arriving at the Summit with COO Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, Director Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam and Senior VP Mr. Max Say.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam presents a memento to Datuk Mary Yap.

The 19th Malaysia Education Summit with the theme “Fix and Transform-Overcoming Challenges, Exploring Opportunities” was held at Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, Selangor on 26th and 27th May 2015.

Tan Sri Dr .Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman of the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) and Chairman and Founder of Sunway Group in his welcome speech advised maximising opportunities in digital and technological innovation in the education field to reach a wider market, of which eLearning methods can enable teaching beyond the classrooms and consequently improve students’ learning.

Dato’ Seri Idris Bin Jusoh, Minister of Education II, in his keynote address entitled “Transforming Universities: The Road Ahead with the New Higher Education Blueprint” which plans to make English and the promotion of higher order thinking skills a priority. The Minister indicated that the Blueprint has a focus on Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), which has prospects for significant growth. He believes that in 30 to 40 years Malaysian universities could be among the best in the world and announced that MIT Sloan Management School will be established in Malaysia this year.

The summit’s first session featured the Vice-Chancellors Roundtable which focused on rethinking future leadership and repositioning universities. It was moderated by Professor Dato’ Dr.Hassan Said, Vice-Chancellor and President, Taylor’s University. Panellist comprised Professor Helen Bartlett, President & Pro Vice-Chancellor, Monash University Malaysia Campus, Professor Christine Ennew, Provost & CEO, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Nottingham, Professor Dr. Sulochana Nair, Vice-Chancellor and CEO, Binary University of Management and Entrepreneurship, and Dato’ Dr. Raman Narayanasamy, Vice-Chancellor, Quest International University Perak. They agreed that the National Higher Education Blueprint sets the tone to realising aspirations for Malaysian education: to produce competitive talent but pointed out that the Blueprint neglects the private sector universities, particularly the lack of funding lacks a monitoring framework.

The second session was moderated by Dr. Mei Ling Young, Provost of International Medical University and President of Malaysian Association of Private Colleges & Universities, which discussed whether or not private and foreign education institutions are better than public education institutions. The session revealed that private institutions came about due to the government’s inability to shoulder the cost of education, matching a worldwide trend where 60% of top universities are private. Though private and foreign institutions are not necessarily better than public ones, they are quicker to adapt as they have more autonomy and room to be creative than public schools.

The third session focused on Malaysia as the Education Hub for Asia Pacific/South East Asia region, which was moderated by Professor William Oliver Kirwan, Head of Department of Medical Education & Surgical Education Advisor, Penang Medical College. Members of the panel included Dr. Elizabeth Lee, Senior Executive Director, Sunway Education Group; Emeritus Professor Dr. Muhamad Awang, Vice-Chancellor, SEGi University; and Datuk Eric Chong, Founder of Erican Group of Companies. It was agreed that four principles were needed in order for Malaysia to become a top education hub, (1) increase the overall quality of academic programmes, (2) develop niche areas, (3) develop a branding strategy , and ( 4) diversify the pool of students and academics staff by looking abroad. However, it was also revealed that inefficiencies with the education system caused by bureaucracy is killing the education “environment”.

The fourth session was moderated by Ms Ng Yeen Seen, COO of ASLI and Senior Director of CPPS, which discussed the rise of the Generation Y’s into the workforce, highlighting a World Bank report which found that many employers are finding it difficult to manage and retain their Generation Y’s and Millennial employees. Panellist include Professor Datuk Dr. Noor Azlan, Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia; Ms Pauline Lum, Executive Director of Mergers & Acquisitions Tax/International Tax Services, Price waterhouse Coopers Malaysia; Mr Stewart Forbes, Executive Director of Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Roles players

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19TH MALAYSIA EDUCATION SUMMIT

Chairman Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam and COO Ms. Ng Yeen Seen welcoming Minister Dato’ Seri Idris Jusoh.

Director-General of Education Dato’ Sri Dr. Khair bin Mohamad Yusof arriving at the Summit with Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam and Ms. Elaine Kok.

Distinguished Panel on Vice-Chancellors Roundtable: “Rethinking the Future Leadership, Repositioning Universities”: Professor Helen Bartlett,President & Pro Vice-Chancellor, Monash University Malaysia Campus, Professor Christine Ennew, Provost & CEO, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Professor Dato’ Dr. Hassan Said, Vice-Chancellor and President, Taylor’s University and Professor Dr. Sulochana Nair, Vice-Chancellor and CEO, Binary University of Management and Entrepreneurship.

Mr. Pun Tian Pouw, Principal of Korn Ferrry Kuala Lumpur, Professor Dr. Jamal Othman of Faculty of Economics and Management UKM, COO Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, Ms. Pauline Lum, Executive Director of PwC Malaysia and Mr. Stewart Forbes, Executive Director of MICCI at the session on “Generation Y and after Who’s Interviewing who?”

Professor William Oliver Kirwan from Penang Medical College makes the conclusion of his moderated session on “Malaysia the Asia Pacific/South East Asia Regional Education Hub” with Dr. Elizabeth Lee, Senior Executive Director of Sunway University & Sunway Education Group and Emeritus Professor Dr. Muhamad Awang, Vice-Chancellor of SEGi University.

COO Ms. Ng Yeen Seen presents a memento to Executive Director of MICCI Mr. Steward Forbes.

Vice-Chancellor of Sunway University Professor Graeme Wilkinson delivering his remarks whilst Ms. Susan Ooi, CEO of KDU College and Dr. Mei Ling Young, Provost of International Medical University and President of MAPCU look on.

agreed that the Gen Ys require an innovative environment in the classroom and that they move more quickly through careers than traditional employees and require a fun, flexible, creativity, and effort-recognising work environment, where they feel a sense of worth and empowerment.

The second day of the summit began with a session on “Rethinking School Models”, which was moderated by Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman, Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) and Pro Chancellor of Sunway University. Five panellist comprising Dato’ Sri Dr. Khair Bin Mohamad Yusof, Director-General of Education, Ministry of Education Malaysia; Mr Stuart Walker, Principal of Garden International School, Malaysia; YAM Tengku Nurul Azian Tengku Shahrimam, Director of Education and SRI Human Capital Development, Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU); Dato’ Lim Si Boon, Group Executive Director, Tenby Educare Sdn Bhd; and Kdr. Hashim Bin Adnan,President of the National Union of the Teaching Profession. The session revealed disturbing prevailing trends of various ethnicities still being divided throughout the primary and secondary school system. Education is not a one-size fits all system as there are various models to allow more choice for parents and students to thrive in different environments.

The day’s second session was entitled “Upgrading Technical & Vocational Education & Training: Academic & Industrial Partnership” which was moderated by Tan Sri Michael Yeoh who remarked that not enough has been done in the field of technical and vocational education. Role players agreed that education institutions and industrial support is crucial to developing an attractive career path in order to attract students to the vocational field. They also agreed that opportunities in this field have been down played by cultural perceptions, impressions and stereotypes.

The next session was moderated by Mr Tay Kay Luan on the theme, “Ancora Imparo”, or “I’m still learning” which discussed the theme of continuous learning. Panellist include Professor Dr Madhulika Kaushik, Deputy Vice Chancellor-Academic (ODL), Wawasan Open University; Professor Dr.

Habibullah Khan, Professor and Academic Registrar, GlobalNext University Malaysia; and Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Anuwar Ali, President and Vice-Chancellor of Open University Malaysia. The Panellists pointed out that labour market trends indicate a tremendous surge in demand for high-skilled jobs due to changing work demands and arrangement, where education itself is rapidly changing, causing a shorter “shelf-life” for knowledge, giving further need to constantly upgrade ourselves in a rapidly changing environment.

The final session was moderated by Dr Elizabeth Lee, entitled “Quality of English: How far behind are we?”. Panellists comprised Mr Zaheer Merchant, Member of Quest International University Council and Director of Education, Qi Group; Mr Christopher Bell, Executive Chairman of Brighton Education Group; Mr Steven McGill, Head of Partner Markets Asia, Pearson Malaysia Sdn Bhd; and Mr Matt Sheldon, Programme Director of Teach for Malaysia. Role players reminded participants that English is the lingua franca of the business world and formed a majority of literature sources. They revealed that English competency is still major factor for getting hired and argued that learning an additional language does not take away from ones skills in another language and the English-language should not be seen as a threat to national nor ethnic identity.

Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching the Deputy Minister of Education I, Malaysia, in her closing speech stressed for change in teaching methods explaining that education is not a stagnant process and must catch up with the times to engage the Digital Generation. She emphasised the Ministry’s plans to improving Malaysia’s image as a regional or global education hub by bringing in 250,000 international students to Malaysia by 2025. The Deputy Minister pointed out that these plans cannot be realised without proper engagement with the grassroots and all stakeholders, which is why forums like the Education Summit is important as it provides a platform for continuous engagement and feedback between various stakeholders.

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Minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup presenting a memento to Mr Jan Senkyr of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung for sponsoring the conference.

The Minister with the sponsors of the conference.

Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman of ASLI presenting a memento to YAB Mohamed Azmin Ali, Menteri Besar Selangor. Looking on is Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI.

From left to right: YB Elizabeth Wong, Selangor State EXCO; Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI; YAB Mohamed Azmin Ali, Menteri Besar Selangor; Tan Sri Razman Hashim, Director, ASLI.

Tan Sri Razman Hashim, Director of ASLI and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO of ASLI accompanying YAB Mohamed Azmin Ali, Menteri Besar Selangor to the conference.

YAB Mohamed Azmin Ali, Menteri Besar Selangor with Tan Sri Razman Hashim, Director of ASLI; YB Elizabeth Wong, Selangor State EXCO, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI and Team ASLI.

The 17th Malaysia Strategic Outlook began with a welcome address from Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO of ASLI, who points out that peace and prosperity was the key to Malaysia’s future. He emphasised the 4 C’s (Cost of Living; Commodity Price Pall; Currency Exchange Rate; Consumption) and applauded budget reductions, but emphasised more needs to be done to reduce wastage. Tan Sri Yeoh also took the opportunity to announce ASLI’s and CPPS’s extraordinarily performance in the Global Go To Think Tank Ratings. Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Josoph Kurup, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, delivered the keynote address and expressed concerned with deteriorating inter-ethnic and religious conditions in the country. He emphasised that we must strengthen social cohesion and national unity in the midst of the challenges faced. Tan Sri Kurup also condemned right-wings groups that advocate racial and religious superiority, biasness, and discriminatory in nature, declaring such extremists as the nation’s number one enemy. He urges delegates to embark on the project of building the nation together.

The first Session was moderated by Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, which key themes focused on current economic trends and outlook for the Malaysian economy. The first panel speaker, Dato’ Dr Mohd Nazri Khan Adam provided an overview of global events, describing 2015 as a challenging economic year because of there are so many uncertainties on the external front, but domestic fundamentals remain strong despite some deterioration, but not to a point of crisis. Mr. Pong Teng Siew talked about the benefits of small capitals, explaining that they tend to offer long-term out performance in investments. Dr. Lim Kim Hwa talked about the global outlook of oil prices, noting that Petronas’ profitability will experience a significant drop, and recommends that low income groups be given rebate incentives to

absorb price shocks. Mr Shan Saeed shared that the outlook in the European economy is not looking good while pointing out that there is greater confidence in Asia and believes that the Malaysian economy is healthy, rubbishing analysis who say otherwise. It is agreed that the Malaysian economy is not yet in a crisis, but there is consensus that crisis is perpetuated by confidence and perception.

The second session was moderated by Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, the COO of ASLI which focused on the Malaysian political outlook and challenges. Parliamentarian Dr Ong Kian Ming talked about the importance of strategy and winning the rural votes in Sarawak in its upcoming state elections, while touching on the dicey relationship between PAS and DAP. Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah talked on the issue of gerrymandering and an independent Elections Commission, the UNDP’s Human Development Report on intra-ethnic inequality, corporation on both sides of politics in response to the Kelantan flood crisis, Hudud concerns, the importance of “colour blind” politics, the need for local council elections, defended Barisan National’ s ability to influence national policy, and touched on the need to strengthen national integrity to uphold the Constitution. YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad comments on the lack of trust from citizen towards the government due to policies which do not benefit them, as well as the lack of trust between politicians and the importance of addressing the needs of the Malay constituents. He is confident that Pakatan Rakyat will survive and envisions that PAS will reflect a significant component of society. YB Senator Chong Sin Woon emphasised that MCA is against Hudud and does not subscribe to the notion that it is only for Muslims. He also questioned the effectiveness of power sharing by weaker parties in an UMNO dominated Barisan National, suggested party reforms within MCA to open up to non-Chinese members, believes Pakatan

17TH MALAYSIA STRATEGICOUTLOOK CONFERENCE 2015

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17TH MALAYSIA STRATEGICOUTLOOK CONFERENCE 2015

Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department elaborating a point. Looking on are Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI (standing) with Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI; YAB Mohamed Azmin Ali, Menteri Besar Selangor and Tan Sri Razman Hashim, Director, ASLI.

From left to right: Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, CEO, Global Movement of Moderates; Senator Chong Sin Woon, Chairman, MCA Youth; Mr. Ivanpal Grewal, Political Secretary to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department/Vice Chairman, Selangor Gerakan Youth; Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, COO, ASLI; Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Selangor State EXCO; Dr. Ong Kian Ming, DAP MP for Serdang.

From left to right: Datuk Mohd Rauf Nasir, Country President, Motorola Solutions Malaysia Sdn Bhd; Datuk Seri Iqbal Rawther, Vice President, ASEAN Business Forum & Chairman, Malaysian Institute of Management; Tan Sri Eddy Chen, Patron, REHDA/Managing Director, MKH Group; Dr. Daniele Gambero, CEO & Co-founder, REI Group.

From left to right: Mr. Edward Clayton, Managing Partner Malaysia of Strategy (formerly Booz & Co); Datuk Seri Iqbal Rawther, Vice President, ASEAN Business Forum & Chairman, Malaysian Institute of Management; Mr. Dixon Chew, Group CEO, Pensonic Holdings; Mr. Daniel Loh, Managing Director, BASF (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

YAB Mohamed Azmin Ali, Menteri Besar Selangor speaking with Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI. Looking on are Tan Sri Eddy Chen, Patron, REHDA/Managing Director, MKH Group; Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman CPPS-ASLI and Dato’ Chew Chee Kin, President, Sunway Group.

Rakyat will take a different form subject to Anwar Ibrahim’s verdict, the possibility of an UMNO and PAS merger, and believes Barisan National will still be in power in the next general elections with Chinese support slowly returning to BN. Mr. Ivanpal Singh Grewal notes that the ability to win seats is closely link to how voters perceive Barisan Nasional centring on the themes of income equality and inclusiveness, and such challenges provide a great opportunity to reconsider power-sharing. He also notes that to survive the political tide, parties need to be more inclusive and moderate.

The luncheon session address was given by the Selangor Menteri Besar, YAB Mohamed Azmin Ali who talked about Selangor’s role as biggest contributor to the Malaysian economy. He announced plans to improve infrastructure, means of tackling land issues, provided updates on the State’s water plans, and outlined the Selangor government’s stand to pursue communal and religious harmony using the values of justice and moderation.

The third session focused on key economic sectors driving the economy, which was moderated by Datuk Seri Mohamed lqbal Rawther, Vice President of the ASEAN Business Forum & Chairman of the Malaysian Institute of Management (MIM) who began by stating that land prices will never come down but notes that continued jitters could lead to a change in the Malaysian property market. Tan Sri Eddy Chen who is the first panel speaker, explains that the increasing price of land is due to scarcity, construction cost, compliance cost, and capital contribution charges. He also notes that the insufficient supply of housing has caused house prices to increase. Tan Sri Chen also urges that we recognise the contribution of foreign workers in Malaysia for their role in developing the nation. He also addresses GST fears, highlighting that many house

prices we see today have already factored in GST prices. Dr. Daniel Gambero gave a comparison of the local and overseas market, and what investors were looking for which are political stability, the country’s economic growth, and property related legalities. He explained that the East is gaining much attention for its economic growth due to lesser risk, whereas there are more parameters and economic conditions in Europe which are not under control. Dr. Gambero explains that the high demand for residential property is because Malaysia does not yet have proper investment grade properties like the UK, US and Australia, leading him to recommend local or regional investment for greater return, compared to overseas. The last speaker for the third session was Datuk Mohd Rauf Nasir, who outlined the current key trends in electronics, the importance of software, and highlighted Malaysia’s key strength which comes from both the Federal and State governments for providing a base of operations in Malaysia which has been important to Motorola’s R&D and production.

Datuk Seri Mohomed Iqbal Rawther continued moderating in the fourth session which focused on the theme of corporate transformation. The first speaker, Mr. Edward Clayton in his presentation entitled Using Hard Times to Prepare for Growth, suggested the concept of “slack” as an invaluable attribute for organisations in difficult times as it gives them space to maneuver. The next speaker, Mr. Dixon Chew, spoke of the successes of Pensonic as a local electronics brand and shared its rebranding strategy to “no longer produce electronics”, but to sell great customer experience. Mr. Daniel Loh presented on BASF corporate strategy, using the Verbund concept to achieve an integrated and efficient business solution.The Conference was sponsored by Konrad Adeneur Foundation, MKH Group, BASF and Rolls Royce and supported by FMM and MICCI.

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ASEAN LEADERSHIP FORUM HIGHLIGHTS

ASEAN Leaders in VIP Holding Forum (left to right): H.E. Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister of Laos; H.E. Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia; Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia; HRH Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah; H.E. U Thein Sein, President of Myanmar; H.E. C.Y. Leung, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; H.E. Gregory Domingo, Secrectary of the Department of Trade & Industry, Philippines.

Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak greeting HRH Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah. Looking on is Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI.

From left to right: Amb Pradap Pibulsonggram,Thailand’s Representative to the ASEAN High Level Task Force on Connectivity and ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee; Mr Andrew Geczy, CEO, International & International Banking, ANZ Banking Group; Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman, CPPS-ASLI/Group Advisor, Sunway Group; Mr. Alexander Wan, Senior Advisor, China Daily Asia Pacific; Mr. Vivek Pathak, Regional Director, Asia Pacific Department, International Finance Corporation.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman CPPS-ASLI presenting a memento to Tan Sri Dr. Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, Secretary General, MITI. Looking on is Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI.

Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, Chairman, AirAsia X Berhad & former Minister of International Trade & Industry with Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Group President & CEO, Malayan Banking Berhad.

Prof Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Director, Institute of Security and International Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; Ms. Penny Low, Member of Parliament, Singapore/Founder and President, Social Innovation Park Ltd, Singapore; Ms. Elaine Tan, Executive Director, The ASEAN Foundation, Indonesia.

H.E.U Thien Sein, President of Myanmar signing the Leader’s Plaque. Looking on are Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, COO, ASLI and Mr. Max Say, Chief Partnership Officer.

From left to right: Prof Dr. Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Director, Institute of Security and International Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; Ms. Elaine Tan, Executive Director, The ASEAN Foundation, Indonesia; Ms Penny Low, Member of Parliament, Singapore; Tan Sri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan, Chairman, NSTP; Mr. Benjamin Quinones and Datuk Dr. Denison Jayasooria.

Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department having a conversation with Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman and Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI.

The Forum Speakers dinner Prof Edward Chen, Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, Dato Saifuddin Abdullah, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam and Thailand’s Ambassador Pradap.

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ASEAN LEADERSHIP FORUM HIGHLIGHTS

ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Senior Vice President Mr. Max Say with Prime Minister of Cambodia Samdech Hun Sen.

H.E. C.Y. Leung, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region accompanied by Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI to the Welcome Dinner.

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh with the President of Myanmar U Thein Sein and the Foreign Minister of Myanmar, U Wunna Maung Lwin.

The session Moderator Dato’ Seri Iqbal with other speakers at the Forum.

Tan Sri Lee Oi Hian, Dato Seri Abdul Wahid, Mr. Amirul Feisal and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh. Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, CEO, Global Movement of Moderates and Prof. Simon Tay, Chairman, Singapore Institute of International Affairs / Former Chairman, Singapore National Environment Agency.

Dr. Robert Yap, Executive Chairman, YCH Group / Chairman, ASEAN BAC Singapore speaking at the conference.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam greeting the Prime Minister of Cambodia Samdech Hun Sen whilst Mr. Max Say looks on.

The ASLI team. Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO ASLI and Senior VP , Mr. Max Say welcoming H.E. Thongsing Thammavong, Prime Minister of Laos.

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HEALTHCARE FORUM 2015

Minister of Health, Datuk Seri Dr. S. Subramaniam delivering the opening keynote address where he took the opportunity to highlight his ministry’s efforts in reforming and enhancing the primary health care system in Malaysia.

(L-R) Ms. Jamie Yu, Ms. Rafeah Ariffin, Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, YB Datuk Seri Dr. S Subramaniam, Tan Sri Dr. Michael Yeoh, Puan Sri Susan Cheah, Ms. Dianna Lee and Mr. Lim Char Boo.

Dr. Rozita Halina Tun Hussein represented Datuk Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah as panelist in the first session on “The 11th Malaysia Plan: What Lies Ahead in Growing Malaysian Healthcare?” Looking on from left to right are Dato’ Dr. Jacob Thomas, Prof. Abdul Aziz Bafa, Mr. Ahmad Shahizam Mohd Shariff and Dato’ Chevy Beh.

YB Datuk Seri Dr. S. Subramaniam presenting a memento to Ms. Dianna Lee of GHHS Healthcare. Looking on from the left are Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, Tan Sri Dr. Michael Yeoh and Puan Sri Susan Cheah.

Dato’ Dr. Jacob Thomas moderating discussion on “Seizing Opportunities and Overcoming Challenges in Private Healthcare: Whats New and Whats Next?” Next to him is Dr. Chong Su Lin CEO Prince Court Hospital.

(Left to Right) Ms. Carol Ying, Ms. Sherene Azura Azli, Prof. Dr. Rozi Mahmud, Mr. Tan Choe Lam and Dr. Vicknesh Welluppillai discussed the issue of aging population in session 5: Tapping the ‘Gold’ in Golden Years: Aged Care and Retirement Tourism.

ASLI organised the Healthcare Forum 2015 themed “Malaysian Healthcare: Trends, Opportunities and Challenges” on 12th March 2015 at Palace of the Golden Horses in Kuala Lumpur. Healthcare professionals, policymakers and industry leaders converged to discuss the direction of healthcare in the next five years taking into account emerging trends, opportunities and challenges. Approximately 160 people participated in this forum.

Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Michael Yeoh, CEO and Director of ASLI warmly welcomed guests and delegates, and expressed hope for the forum to look into the key issues of affordability, accessibility and quality in their discussions on the key challenges and strategic issues faced by the healthcare industry in Malaysia.

Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, Minister of Health of Malaysia delivered the Opening Keynote Address, which outlined his thoughts and the ministry’s aspirations for the healthcare industry moving forward. He focused on the reformation and enhancement of the primary care system and also the government’s investment in wellness, providing examples of inter-ministry collaboration that has seen promising results.

The first session entitled “The 11th Malaysia Plan: What Lies Ahead in Growing Malaysian Healthcare?” was moderated by Prof Abdul Aziz Baba, Vice President of International Medical University. The first speaker was Dr Rozita Halina Tun Hussein who represented Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the Director-General of Health Malaysia. She spoke about the government’s efforts in further improving our healthcare system to focus on providing people-centric services. YBhg Dato’ Dr Jacob Thomas, President of the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia highlighted the issue of quality of care, bringing attention to the shortage of skilled human resources in the sector. Mr Ahmad Shahizam, Executive Director of IHH Healthcare and Chief Executive Officer of Pantai Holdings called for resolution of the dichotomy between the public and private healthcare sectors. YBhg Dato’ Chevy Beh, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Asian Healthcare Group rounded up the panel with his views on cost containment through preventive care.

Dato’ Dr Jacob Thomas, President of the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia moderated the second session on “Seizing Opportunities and Overcoming Challenges in Private Healthcare: What’s New and What’s Next?” Dr Maxim Mamin, Senior Vice President and Healthcare Country Lead from Siemens Malaysia shared the potential benefits of technological discoveries. Dr Chong Su-Lin, Chief Executive Officer of Prince Court Medical Centre spoke about focusing on cost, performance metrics and health outcomes. The final panellist, Ms Christine Teh Chooi Hoon, Head of A&H Business Development from Berjaya Sompo Insurance shared on the opportunities and challenges faced by the healthcare insurance sector.

Prior to the networking luncheon, Mr Lim Char Boo, Business Development Manager, EUC from VMware gave a special talk entitled “VMware for Healthcare IT: Transforming

the Cost, Quality and Delivery of Patient Care” which showcased the use of its devices to facilitate workflow processes.

The third session entitled “Nurturing the World: Unlocking the Potential for Made in Malaysia Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical” was moderated by YBhg Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican, Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of MAHSA University and Former Director-General of Health Malaysia. Mr Mohamad Abdullah, Managing Director of Radiantaire and Former Managing Director of Pharmaniaga spoke about the challenges faced by local phamaceutical players and called for greater support from the government. Ms Michaela Dinboeck, President and Managing Director of Novartis Corporation Malaysia shared her perspective on the attractiveness of Malaysia as an investment destination for global pharmaceutical players.

Mr Klaus Boehncke, Executive Director of PwC moderated the fourth session on “Driving Breakthroughs in Primary Healthcare: The Potential of Innovation and Techrology.” Mr William Ngoh, Senior Product Marketing Manager, EUC, ASEAN from VMware shared about various innovations in healthcare IT. Thereafter, Dr Kong Why Hong, Head of Clinical from GHHS Healthcare spoke about the role of integrative medicine in primary care. Next, Dr H. Krishna Kumar, President of the Malaysian Medical Association shared the user’s viewpoint with emphasis on older, less competent users. Lastly, Mr Steve Monaghan, Head of Edge from AlA Hong Kong delved into how technology is impacting life expectancy and consumer expectations in the healthcare sector.

In the fifth session on “lTapping the ‘Gold’ in Golden Years: Aged Care and Retirement Tourism”, Ms Sherene Azura Azli, Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council moderated the panel comprising Col Prof Dr Rozi Mahmud, Medical Adviser of GHHS Healthcare; Ms Carol Ying, Chief Executive Officer of Aged Care Group; Mr Tan Choe Lam, Founder and Managing Director of Jeta Gardens (Australia) and Jeta Care (Malaysia); and Dr Vicknesh Welluppillai, Medical Director of Pfizer Malaysia. Dr Rozi focused on preventive measures to ensure healthy aging, Ms Carol shared on the various aspects of aging and called for closer inter-ministry collaboration to develop the aged care sub-sector in Malaysia, Mr Tan shared about his experiences in providing aged care and his concept of sustainable senior living while Dr Vicknesh shared about promoting positive aging.

“The Future of Medical Tourism: Capitalising on New Markets and Opportunities” was the final session. Mr Mohan Manthiry, Chief Executive Officer and Editor-in-Chief of InfoMed Malaysia moderated. Ms Sherene Azura Azli, Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council highlighted the need to focus on marketing to improve Malaysia’s competitiveness vis-a-vis Thailand and Singapore. YBhg Dato’ Dr Au Yong Kien Hoe spoke along the same lines, calling for more proactive measures to grow Malaysia’s market share.

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THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING SUMMIT 2015

Ms. Jean Wong, Senior Advisor, ASLI; Puan Sri Susan Cheah, Director, ASLI; Datuk Halimah bt. Mohd. Saddique, Deputy Minister at Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Government; Mr. Max Say, Senior Vice President, ASLI; Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, COO, ASLI.

Dr. Daniele Gambero, CEO & Co-Founder/REI Group; Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Tan Sri Dato’ Mohd. Mansor, Group MD/CEO, Glomac; Mr. Siva Shankar, President, Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA)/CEO Agency PPC International Sdn. Bhd.

Y.A.M Tunku Naquiyuddin ibni Tuanku Ja’afar; Datuk Halimah bt. Mohd.Saddique, Deputy Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Government; Puan Sri Susan Cheah, Director, ASLI.

Tuan Haji Azlan Mohd. Alifiah, PKNS; Datuk Halimah bt. Mohd. Saddique, Deputy Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Government; Dr. Daniele Gambero CEO & Co-Founder, REI Group.

Scott Dunn, Vice President AECOM; Dato’ Wan Hashimi Albakri, SVP Property Investments and Asset Management Sime Darby Property Bhd, Dato’ Sri Dr. Vincent Tiew, Managing Director, Andaman Property Management Sdn bhd, Mr. Gunaprasath Bupalan, Executive Director, Terra Value Sdn Bhd and Organising Chairman, The Malaysian Property Press Awards.

(L-R) Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, COO, ASLI; Ms. Jean Wong, Advisor, ASLI; Tunku Naquiyuddin ibni Tuanku Ja’afar.

Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute together with REI Group of Companies organised the National Affordable Housing Summit 2015 with the theme ‘Spearheading the Affordable Housing Supply in Malaysia for a Further Inclusive Nation’. The event was a huge success despite the first time it was produced, attended by 120 delegates and we were fortunate to gain support from SP Setia, Mah Sing Group, PKNS & Mutiara Rini as corporate partners.

The event was opened by Datuk Halimah binti Mohamed Sadique, Deputy Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government.

The first session was titled “The need of partnership between Public and Private sector to enhance the project delivery system “ and it was moderated by Ar. Aminuddin A. Manaf, Chief Operating Officer, Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia and he was joined by fellow panellists Prof. Dato’ Dr. (Sr) Kamarul Rashdan bin Salleh, President Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad; Tuan Haji Azlan Md. Alifiah, General Manager, Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS); Datuk Chia Lui Meng, Group Chief Executive Officer, United Malayan Land Bhd (UM Land); and Mr Ben Kong Chung Vui, Vice President, Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (SHAREDA).

Session 2 focused on Mixed Used Development - The right mix brings in the right buyers and this session explored the current projects and the relevancy towards the market in urban and newly development township. It was moderated by Dato’ Wan Hashimi Albakri bin Wan Ahmad Amin Jaffri, Senior Vice President, Property Investment & Asset Management, Sime Darby Property Berhad; and the panel members were Mr Scott Dunn, Vice President, AECOM; Dato’ Sri Dr Vincent Tiew, Managing Director, Andaman Property Management

Sdn Bhd; and Mr Gunaprasath Bupalan, Executive Director, Terra Value Sdn Bhd and Organizing Chairman, The Malaysian Property Press Awards.

Session 3 was about managing and eliminating the housing shortage through the development of vertical affordable housing and it was moderated by Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Tan Sri Dato’ Mohamed Mansor, Group Managing Director/CEO, Glomac Berhad & President, Real Estate and Housing Developers Association Malaysia (REHDA) and panel members were Dr. Daniele Gambero, CEO & Co-Founder, REI Group of Companies and Mr Siva Shankar, President, Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) & Chief Executive Officer, Agency PPC International Sdn Bhd.

Session 4 was towards the crux of development and was aptly titled: Engaging locally sourced material for sustainable affordable housing construction and the moderator was Ir. Ahmad Izdihar Supaat Honorary Secretary, Malaysia Green Building Confederation and the panel members were YM Raja Dato’ Abd Aziz bin Raja Muda Musa, Vice President, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers; Mr James Chua, Executive Director, GreenRE Sdn Bhd and Mr McKinley Soon, Chief Executive Officer, PU Profile Sdn Bhd and Mr B. Veeralakshmanan, Head of Inclusive Business, Bayer MaterialScience.

The final session was an open panel discussion on Green, Sustainable and Energy Efficient Malaysia in the Affordable Housing Market where Ar. Von Kok Leong, Chairman, Green Building lndex Sdn Bhd; Dr. Daniele Gambero, CEO & Co-Founder, REI Group of Companies; and Mr James Chua, Executive Director, GreenRE Sdn Bhd were examining why we have slower green conscious attitude and how this can be redefined for the future.

16

GREATER KL & MALAYSIA SMART CITY CONFERENCE

Welcome Minister for Greater KL & Malaysia Smart City Conference. Left: Tan Sri Dr. Michael Yeoh, CEO/Director of ASLI; Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Government. Right: Tan Sri Eddy Chen, Group MD, MKH Group.

(L-R) Tan Sri Dr. Michael Yeoh, CEO/Director of ASLI; Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Government; Puan Sri Susan Cheah, Director, ASLI.

(L-R) Tan Sri Dato Seri (Dr.) Aseh Che Mat, President of Putrajaya Corporation; Mayor Dato’ James Chan, Mayor of Kuching South City.

(L-R) Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Government; Tan Sri Eddy Chen, Group MD, MKH Group; HE Herman Prayitno Ambassador of Indonesia.

(L-R) Tan Sri Dato Seri (Dr) Aseh Che Mat, President Putrajaya Corporation; Tan Sri Robert Phang, Chairman, Social Care Foundation; Mayor Dato’ James Chan, Mayor of Kuching South City.

The Greater KL & Malaysia Smart City Conference with the theme “Creating Intelligent Citizens through Sustainable City Management”, took place on 12 February 2015 at Connexion@ Nexus Bangsar South city was attended by 122 delegates from different states in Malaysia and sponsored by MKH group.

The first session on Smart City Catalyst was divided into 4 different segments. We were pleased to have Tan Sri Dato’ Seri (Dr) Aseh bin Haji Che Mat President, Putrajaya Corporation and Dato’ James Chan Khay Syn Mayor of Kuching South for the first half followed by Mr Fermin Fautsch Vice-President, Global Enterprise, Telekom Malaysia Group/Chairman and Board Director, EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Mr David Mizan Hashim Group President, Veritas Design Group for 2nd half of the session. Each presenter focused on the smart city concept that comprises city development, design, architecture, engineering, facade, technology & autonomy of city management.

Session two was titled The Self-Sufficient & Sustainable City. The Pathway of Smart City Concept where the focus was towards modernisation versus traditionalism with delicate balance of both. The moderator was Mr Shajahan Iqbal CEO, Three-Opp (M) Sdn Bhd /Board of Director & Treasurer, FTTH Council Asia Pacific and he was joined by panellist Mr Hasannudin Saidin Director, loT Focus Area, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDec), Mr Nik Ahmad Faizul Abd Mallek Vice President, Program Director for Smart Communities Special Projects/President & CEO Office, Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology and Mr Lee Vu Kit Chief Technology Officer, IBM Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

We were honoured to receive YB Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government to deliver luncheon keynote and officiate the conference.

Session three was titled Smart Technology for Smart City and was moderated by Dr. Daniele Gambero Chief Excutive Officer, REI Group of Companies and invited members of the panel were Mr Albert Chai Managing Director, Cisco Systems Malaysia, Ms Jasmine Begum Director, Legal and Corporate Affairs, Microsoft Malaysia, Mr Massimo Migliuolo Chief Executive Officer, Intelsec Sdn Bhd, Telekom Malaysia and Dr. Suhazimah Dzazali Deputy Director-General (ICT), Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU). The session focused on various models that has been in the market and we were lucky to gain perspective from the developers of the technology as well as the buyers themselves.

Session 4 focused on Smart Mobility for Smart City, focusing on the mobility of transportation that’s should focus on both rural & urban area. This session was moderated by Dr. Daniele Gambero Chief Executive Officer, REI Group of Companies and the panel members were Mr Suhaimi Yaacob President -Rail, Scomi Engineering Bhd and Mr Alexander Woo Vice President, IQI Group.

Session 5 was titled Smart Development: Vertical Green Buildings with Space Management, looking at the growing concern of overtly densed population and lack of space management. We were lucky to gain Ar. Chan Seong Aun President, Malaysian Institute of Architects and Dr Sucharita Srirangam Senior Lecturer & Researcher in Architecture & Urbanism School of Architecture, Building and Design Taylor’s Lakeside Campus, Mr James Chua Executive Director, GreenRE Sdn Bhd and Ar. Sarly Adre Sarkum President, Malaysia Green Building Confederation as panel members.

on equal footing with all countries involved to promote integration on a big scale, and realising the aspirations of all parties.

The conference outlined five recommendations for addressing the Asian Energy/Resources Cooperation (AERC). First, it is imperative to establish an Asian energy/resources market for direct trading between suppliers and consumers. Second, Asia needs to coordinate and establish harmonized guidelines for freer investment and trade flows in

energy and resources -the Asian version of the Energy Charter. Third, Asian regulators need to work together against excessive financial speculation on the energy/resources market. Fourth, the corporate sector, on both supply and supply sides, needs to try innovative means of cooperation. Fifth, supplying and consuming countries need better information-sharing to help stabilize the market.

BFA ENERGY, RESOURCES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE (Cont. from page 5)

17

MIBC SIGNING CEREMONYWITH CIREBON, INDONESIA

ASEAN YOUNG LEADERS ROUNDABLE

British High Commissioner Vicki Treadell and Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, Senior Director CPPS and COO, ASLI.

Participants at the Youth Roundtable.

Chairman of the Malaysia-Indonesia Business Council Tun Ahmad Sarji at the signing ceremony.

A “Memorandum-of-Understanding” (MOU) was signed between the Regency of Cirebon (Cirebon) in West Java, Indonesia and Amanah Nusantara International (ANI), a 100% Malaysian-owned strategic investment vehicle based in Indonesia on 25th May 2015 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. It was signed by Mr Sunjaya Purwadisastra, Regent of Cirebon; Mr Ishtiaq M. Khan, Chief Executive Officer of ANI; Mr H. Sono

Suprapto, Bappeda of Cirebon; Dato’ Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad, Chairman of ANI; and Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid, Chairman of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), Adviser of ANI and Chairman of the Malaysia-Indonesia Business Council (MIBC).

This MOU was the culmination of 4-months work and a direct result of Tun Ahmad Sarji’s visit to the Regency of Cirebon in early 2015. Cirebon is approximately 300 kilometres or 3 hours’ train ride away from the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta, with a land area of around 990 square kilometres and a population of close to 3 million people. Its main industries include tourism, agriculture, fishery and manufacturing.

The MOU outlined details of the joint-venture between Cirebon and ANI to attract foreign investment into Cirebon for the purposes of urban development as well as the development of a new sea port, highway and railway, bonded industrial lone, maritime industry, fishery industry and power plant. The role of the MIBC is to provide support and assistance when needed.

ASLI as the secretariat for MIBC assisted ANI in arranging this event, which was attended by approximately 55 people comprising high-Ievel representatives of potential investors as well as members of the media from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, Chief Operating Officer of ASLI and Senior Director of CPPS moderated the roundtable discussion conducted on the 26th April 2015 and read out the findings and resolutions of the discussion to delegates of the ASEAN Leadership Forum:

Summary Key Takeaway for ASEAN Young Leaders Roundtable

Ms. Ng remarked that the ASEAN young leaders gathered on the 26 of April for the 12th ASLI ASEAN Leadership Forum with the support of the British High Commission in KL. It was a productive discussion under the theme “Let’s Get Real: ASEAN Youth for Mutual Regional Development with an emphasis on the significant role of youth in establishing a collective identity formation of an ASEAN identity. The young leader’s roundtable noted the importance of the “4 Cs as the fundamental building block of ASEAN, namely, community building, connectivity, competitiveness and communication.

The discussion emphasised that youth from ASEAN countries are disenfranchised from the inter-governmental arena, albeit in different ways and to varying degrees. Undoubtedly, the challenges for youth that are central to ASEAN are numerous and varied. They include education, employment, health, gender and political participation issues. In most ASEAN countries, there is a lack of youth ownership of ASEAN identity among youth. Youth are mostly seen as beneficiaries under the ASEAN programmes. We need to involve youth from a bottom-up approach in an inclusive manner to participate meaningfully as stakeholders.

The emerging consensus within the roundtable discussion opined that improving youth engagement as key partners is essential to promoting the goals of regional co-operation. The discussion consisted of five broad themes intending to capture the complexity of establishing a regional common identity building; the need to respect and fulfill human rights in the context of intra-ASEAN labour migration and stateless people; dilemmas of doing business in a more sustainable manner; addressing climate change issues and resolving the dispute in the South East China Sea.

A tentative conclusion was that without a meaningful equal participation of youth in the regionalisation process, the creation of a common regional identity will remain as an elitist objective.

Taking note on the desire of young people to participate constructively in the establishment of the regional process, this roundtable requests on the basis of the discussions and recommendations thereon, that the ASEAN state members and the ASEAN organ within their respective spheres of mandate and competence to:

1. Strengthen youth engagement by enhancing the existing mechanism such as the Committee of ASEAN Youth Cooperation (CAYC). This can further improved by increasing ASEAN oriented media and entertainment targeted at youth. The use of mass-media to propagate among youth in respect of different cultures and faith across the region should be encouraged. For example, the creation of TV programmes in the form of Student Exchange Reality Show, ASEAN Idol, and ASEAN Amazing Race.

2. The development of ASEAN identity requires the examination on the role of cultural production in creating new spaces. To promote the cultural profile of youth in ASEAN and to support an important public arena through arts and culture will require intensification and refinement of communication, constant cultural exchanges through ASEAN platform for arts such as the ASEAN Short Firm Festival, ASEAN Music Festival and the ASEAN Arts Festival. The roundtable advocates that school curriculum should be used as agents for beneficial social change and repositories of ASEAN awareness in all ASEAN member states.

3. Genuine initiatives to narrow the development gaps among the

different member states require the establishment of an ASEAN youth entrepreneurial class. This will involve an increase access to funds, providing more opportunities to monetise ideas, increasing the ease of doing business and improving access to business. This can be done through diversifying funds like prototype funding, relaxing credit requirements for entrepreneurs and providing guidelines to private firms to fund young entrepreneurs whilst incentivising private sector involvement in funding entrepreneurs via tax benefits.

4. In the same vein, to inculcate the role of youth to promote the importance of making business and government more responsible and

(Cont. to page 20)

18

THE 19TH MALAYSIAN BANKING SUMMIT

Puan Sri Susan Cheah, Director, ASLI presenting a memento to Dato Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade & Industry whilst ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh looks on.

Mr. Mahendra Gursahani, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank receiving a sponsor plaque from Datuk Chua Tee Yong, Deputy Minister of Finance. Looking on are Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Director, ASLI, Mr. Chu Hong Keong, Managing Director, Silverlake Infrastructure & Logistics.

The Deputy Finance Minister with the Summit Partners and Sponsors. Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade & Industry answering questions during the Special Address moderated by Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI.

Mr. Prabhu Menon, Programme, Sales & Membership Director presenting a memento to Mrs. Nora Manaf, Group Chief Human Capital Officer, Maybank. Looking on are Mr. Anthony Raja Devadoss (Middle) Vice President-Asia Pacific, Kelly Outsourcing & Consulting Group and Mr. Pathik Gupta, Asia-Pacific Head of Wealth Management and Head of South East Asia, McLagan.

Mr. Khushwant Singh, Senior Specialist Risk Strategy & Information, Maybank; Dato’ Akhbar Satar, President Association of Certified Fraud Examiner & President, Transparency International; Mr. Lawrence Ong, Head, Group Operational Risk, RHB Bank and Supt. Harjinder Kaur, Head of Banking Fraud Unit, Commercial Crime Investigation Department, Royal Malaysia Police.

The 2nd Minister of Finance Dato’ Seri Ahmad Husni bin Mohamad Hanadzlah represented by the Deputy Minister of Finance Datuk Chua Tee Yong officiated the opening of the 19th Malaysia Banking Summit organised by ASLI.

The Minister noted that the banking sector will always be one of the primary pillars of our economy. It is in the country’s interest to ensure that our banking sector remain robust, he argued. We believe that each market player will find its role and niche in the ever-evolving market. Some may remain as the primary provider of retail products, while others may specialize in small and medium-sized industries. Whichever direction one may take, it is important to scale-up one’s specialised knowledge in their chosen sub-sector of specialisation, he said.

The first session saw CEOs and CFOs from various banks operating in Malaysia talking about the challenges to their industry. Mr Mahendra Gursahani, CEO Standard Chartered explained that we now have a customer that is evolving with different expectations - they want more personalised and customised services and their loyalty is the reward for meeting these expectations.

The second session focused on challenges in ASEAN to regional banking integration. Mr Joydeep Sengupta, from McKinsey & Company argued that there is talent shortage in the market. He said that this is often driven by restrictive regulations and that we are now facing an under supply of 9 million

people in ASEAN. Mr Sengupta also said that the next 15 years will see $7 trillion in infrastructure spending in the region, so there are big opportunities in housing and real estate.

The Luncheon Address was delivered by Mr. Tay Kay Luan from the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers. In his analysis, he argued that there are many talent shortages at the middle management level. This is less pronounced at the top and entry levels, he said. But across all sectors, this talent shortage places extra pressure on those with the specific and technical skills, he argued.

The first afternoon session saw discussion on what to look out for in the investment banking industry, where Tengku Dato’ Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Group CEO of CIMB Group, gave an overview of his industry, noting that the equity capital markets are 28% below 2006 levels, and this reflects a similar story in the debt capital markets.

The final session for day one covered e-Payments and Internet banking. Mr. Tan Nyat Chuan, Director of the Payment Systems Policy Department at Bank Negara Malaysia, noted that over the past 2 years, we had seen a drastic change in the use of cheques. He said that for a period there was usually a drop of 2% per year in their use, but last year alone it was 10%. This reflected the price signal and lower cost of Inter-bank Giro, as well as training courses that had been run by the banks.

1�

THE 19TH MALAYSIAN BANKING SUMMIT

(L-R) Mr. Mahendra Gursahani, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, Mr. Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir, Group Head of Global Banking, Maybank Group; Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Corporate Advisor, Sunway Group/former Deputy Secretary General, Ministry of Finance; Mr. Christopher Loh, Group Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, RHB Banking Group and Ms. Mandy Simpson, Chief Financial Officer, Ambank Group.

Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Group CEO, CIMB Group speaking in the session on International Banking, with moderator Mr. Tay Kay Luan, CEO, Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers.

Mr. Goh Peng Ooi, Chairman, Silverlake Axis and Mr. Chu Hong Keong, Managing Director, Silverlake Infrastructure & Logistics.

Tan Sri Dr. Munir Majid, Chairman, Bank Muamalat chairing session with speakers: left - Dr. John Lee, Group Chief Risk Officer, Maybank and Mr. Joydeep Sengupta, Director, McKinsey & Company.

From left to right: Raja Teh Maimunah, Managing Director/CEO Hong Leong Islamic Bank; Syed Abdul Aziz Jailani, CEO, OCBC Al-Amin Bank; Mr. Daud Vicary Abdullah, President & CEO, International Education Centre for Islamic Finance; Mr. Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, CEO, CIMB Islamic Bank and Dato’ Mohd Redza, CEO, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad.

Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade & Industry arriving at the conference, accompanied by Puan Sri Susan Cheah, Director, ASLI; Tan Sri Dr. Munir Majid, Chairman, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad; and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI.

The second day of the summit commenced with a presentation by Dato Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade & Industry, who elaborated the aims of Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2015 and echoed declarations made by the Prime Minister in late April that “this is ASEAN’s time”, Dato’ Sri Mustapa also pointed out the need for financial inclusion, highlighting that mobile banking and mobile payments has the potential annual impact of $35-53 billion by 2030, but in certain ASEAN countries only 20-36% have bank accounts. He also pointed out that ASEAN can prosper, without the need to adopt an EU-style economic union, and that the “ASEAN Way” will always be used, which works through consultation and consensus.

The session focused on the future of Islamic banking, highlighting issues Islamic Banks face competing with conventional banks. Panellist agreed there was a need for an Islamic option for all banking services and that the success of Islamic Banking in certain countries is dependent on a country’s banking objectives as regulatory frameworks are required to support Islamic Banking.

The sixth session, touched on the role of technology in banking. Mr Goh Peng Ooi, Chairman of Silverlake Axis Ltd, shared his views on Game Theory, pointing out that banks use the Theory of Money, which is a traditional symmetry. Breaking from this, the world becomes an algebraic soup with many possibilities, making predictions for long business cycles infeasible, Mr. Goh revealed. He also noted that the role of technology is extremely important for survival and if software design is not based on symmetric structures there will be no gains.

The seventh session was conducted by Mr. John Meinhold from A.T. Kearney Inc, who spoke on the future of banking in the digital world. He made a bold prediction that traditional banks will disappear in the next 10 years, giving way to Fintechs, as the traditional brick and mortar model is costly, and is made worse by a tech a savvy Gen Y wave.

The eighth session discussed developing and nurturing human capital talents in banks. Panellists reveal that the primary reason why employees leave a company is due to the lack of professional development, particularly employer-provided training. They also emphasised a need for an engaging culture to keep employees motivated and happy in the job, as well as recommending appropriate rewards for productive but underpaid workers.

The final session covered the issue of banking fraud and risk management. Supt. Harjinder Kaur, Head of PDRM’s Banking Fraud Unit, shared that between 2008 and 2014, RM785.86 million was lost to banking fraud and RM285.656 million loss in CBT cases. She noted that the real figure is actually larger, as banks seldom report fraud so as to protect their image. Members of the panel revealed that cases of fraud can occur both externally and internally, calling for the need for more scrutiny of movement between the front office and back office. They recommend thorough background checks when hiring new employees and strengthening internal controls.

20

ASLI AND CPPS RANKS HIGHIN GLOBAL THINK TANK RANKING

The China Human Rights Society delegation in the roundtable meeting with ASLI-CPPS led by H.E. Luo Hao Cai Vice Chairman of the 9th and 10th CPPCC and former Vice President Supreme Count of China.

Mr. Luo Hao Cai Vice Chairman of the CPPCC and President China Society for Human Rights Studies and Prof Chang Jian Council Member of CSHRS and Vice-Dean of Zhou Enlai School of Government with ASLI Tan Sri Michael Yeoh.

VISIT OF CPPCC VICE CHAIRMAN

The ASLI Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) earned its way into the top sixth (6th) think tanks among the 60 top think tanks in the Southeast Asia and the Pacific region. This was announced in the “2014 Global Go to Think Tank Index Report”. This annual global study on think tanks surveyed 6,618 think tanks worldwide and was conducted by the renowned University of Pennsylvania CPPS was one of the two think tanks in Malaysia that top the list. Compared to 2013, CPPS has moved up one rank as one of the top think tanks inthe South East Asia and the Pacific region.

Globally, CPPS was ranked as the top 90 think tanks worldwide (US and non-US). It has been rated as the only think tank in Malaysia that has achieved a position in that particular ranking category.

CPPS was ranked 27th in the world ranking of Transparency and Good Governance Think Tanks; and ranked 29th in the global

ranking of best Trans-disciplinary Research Programme at a Think Tank. CPPS was also ranked 35th globally in the best use of social network; 36th in the world for Best Advocacy Campaign and 49th globally in the education policy think tank. ASLI and CPPS were the only Malaysian think tanks that were ranked in the most significant impact on public policy category where ASLI ranked 48th. CPPS was the only Malaysian top 51 think tanks in the world with outstanding policy-oriented public programme.

ASLI was ranked as the top 33 in the world in the best think tank conference list; 29th Best New Idea or Paradigm Developed think tanks; and was ranked as 37th think tanks with the best external relations/public engagement programme. ‘ASLI’ success included being the 21st in world ranking for think tank to watch. This Global ranking puts ASLI as the top Think Tank in Malaysia.

accountable in addressing the issue of sustainability. This will involve strengthening co-operation between civil society organisations, government and the private sectors to establish mechanisms that is built on trust and confidence according to international standards.

5. One possible proposal which would provide incentive and regulatory oversight is the ASEAN Sustainability Listing (ASL) that can be endorsed by the ASEAN Secretariat. ASL can be used as criteria to assess companies based on environment, social and governance standards. This will allow a company to establish their reputation based on their commitment to sustainability.

6. In response to climate change, the roundtable urges the member states to re-affirm their commitments to recognise the crucial role of youth in addressing climate change. To mitigate the effects of climate change, it is important to reach a regional agreement on effective action. This should be implemented across all ASEAN nations so that there are no trade advantage/disadvantages for individual countries. This agreement should have the goal of implementing an emissions trading system with a capped level of emissions that reduces over time in line with states emission targets. Revenue from the sale of quotas should be sued to provide incentives and technological assistance to smaller enterprises who are struggling to reduce their emissions. The realisation of an ASEAN inter-connected electricity grid to take advantage of the regions diversity in renewable energy generation capability should also be explored.

7. There is an increasing interest of young people in the fundamental objectives of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, in particular the furtherance of peace, development justice and the promotion of respect for human

rights. Taking note of the principles and motivating goals set out in the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration and the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of the Migrant workers, the roundtable calls upon the member states to harmonise national legislation on social-protection for semi-skilled migrant workers corresponding to the international human rights treaties and regional standards.

8. The durable solutions for stateless people such as the Rohingyas community are crucially important for people’s ideas of a “people centred ASEAN”. The roundtable put forward the need for ASEAN member states to share the burden with the international community and UNHCR to strengthen protection of the stateless community. This can be done by ensuring the Rohingyas have adequate access to basic services in their country of asylum.

Ms. Ng mentioned that a full report of the Young Leaders Roundtable will be submitted to the ASEAN Coordination Council.

Concluding Remarks by Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Chairman, ASEAN Leadership Forum and Chief Executive Officer, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI)

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh thanked all the speakers, delegates, sponsor, and everyone who made possible the success of this year’s ASEAN Forum. He, then, expressed his hope that the take away from this year’s Forum will be forwarded to the ASEAN Secretariat and that there will be action taken to adopt these ideas. He, also, briefly mentioned one of them: the establishment of an ASEAN People Friendship Association, aiming to make people more involved and to create a people-centred ASEAN.

ASEAN YOUNG LEADERS ROUNDABLE(Cont. from page 17)

21

16TH ANNUAL HUMAN RESOURCES SUMMIT

(L) Ms Sherika Pang, Dr Elizabeth Lee and Ms Ng Yeen Seen sharing light-hearted discourse in the session on “Minding the Gender Gap: The Business Case for Advancing Women in Your Organisation”.

Mr Paul Chan, President of the Malaysian Alliance of Corporate Directors giving his views on advancing women to the board level.

The role-players for session are on “Key Trends in Malaysia’s HR Landscape POST-AEC 2015: Implications to Employees” (L-R) Ms Rosliza Abd Rahman; Professor Claire O’Malley; Mr Sam Haggag; Dato’ J. Palaniappan; Mr Lim Kah Cheng and Mr Shazmi Ali.

Dr. Khairi Khalil, Head of Human Capital from the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) speaking about “Engaging Your Multi-Generational Workforce: Building an Emotionally Committed Team”. Beside him are (L) Mr Chin Tuck Piew of Gleneagles Hospital and (R) Datuk Seri Mohamed Iqbal Rawther (MIM).

YB Dato Sri Richard Riot Jaem, Minister of Human Resources Malaysia and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO and Director of ASLI paused for a photo during discussion in the holding room.

Dato’ Sri Richard Riot Jaem, Minister of Human Resources Malaysia receiving a memento from Puan Sri Susan Cheah, Director of ASLI as Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO and Director of ASLI look on.

Asli is proud to announce the 16th Annual Human Resources Summit that took place on 9th June 2015 in Sunway Putra Hotel with the theme ‘Maximising HR’s Potential for Competitive’ was a great success with 150 delegates and endorsed by HRDF, MEF & MACD.

The Minister of Human Resources Malaysia Dato’ Sri Richard Riot Jaem delivered the keynote speech and officiated the Summit.

Session 1 was on Key Trends in Malaysia’s HR Landscape Post AEC 2015: Implications to Employers and was moderated by Mr Sam Haggag Director MSP & Sales - Asia Pac & Middle East, and Country Manager, Manpower Group - Malaysia & Indonesia. He was joined by Prof Christine Ennew Provost & CEO, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus; and Pro Vice Chancellor, University of Nottingham, Ms Rosliza Abd Rahman Head of Human Resources Division, ASEAN Secretariat, Mr Lim Kah Cheng Chief of Corporate Services, Human Resources Development Fund Malaysia, Dato’ J. Palaniappan Director of Corporate Human Resources & Legal, Panasonic Appliances Air-Conditioning Malaysia and Mr Shazmi Ali HR Director, Pfizer Malaysia.

Session 2 was titled Branding Your Organisation: Becoming the Employer of Choice to Attract and Retain the Best People and it was moderated by Mr Prashant Chadha Managing Director, Aon Hewitt Malaysia and member panellists was formed by Mr Robert Lim Managing Director, HR Strategy, CIMB Investment Bank, Mr Andy See Teong Leng Managing Director, Perspective Strategies and Ms Sherina Pang Deputy General Manager, Group HR, Times Publishing Group.

Session 3 was aptly titled “Making Every Head Count: Developing Your People to Bring Your Organisation to New Heights and it

was moderated by Mr Reza Ghazali Office Managing Director, Korn Ferry Kuala Lumpur with panel members comprising Mr Lai Tak Ming Director of Group Human Resources & Administration, Gamuda Group, Assoc Prof Dr Rohayu Abdul Ghani Director, Centre for Professional & Leadership Development, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Mr V. S. Ravi Elangkoh, Founder and CEO, CEO Leadership Coach Strategist, White Leadership Architect, and Mind-Based NeuroScience Leadership Master Practitioner, Invictus Leader.

Session 4 was titled ‘Engaging Your Multi-Generational Workforce:Building an Emotionally Committed Team’ and was moderated by Datuk Seri Mohamed Iqbal Rawther Chairman, Malaysian Institute of Management. He was joined by Ms Gladys Goh Kaye Jen Group General Manager, Nippon Paint Malaysia Group, Mr Chin Tuck Piew Head, Human Resources, Gleneagles Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Dr Khairir Khalil Head, Human Capital Department, Land Public Transport Commission, Ms Shona Especkerman Senior Associate Organisation, Change and Leadership, PwC Strategy & Malaysia.

The final Session was titled ‘Minding the Gender Gap: The Business Case for Advancing Women in Your Organisation and was moderated by Dr Elizabeth Lee Senior Executive Director, Sunway Education Group & Sunway University and she was joined by Ms Anushia Kandasamy Associate Principal, McKinsey & Company, Ms Sherina Pang Deputy General Manager, Group HR, Times Publishing Group, Ms Ng Yeen Seen Chief Operating Officer, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute & Mr Paul W Chan President, Malaysian Alliance of Corporate Directors. The success of this summit brings promises of continuity of the 17th Annual Human Resources Summit for 2016 by ASLI.

22

ASLI CHINESE NEW YEAR OPEN HOUSE

Ministers and other VIP guests tossing the Yee Sang. Ambassador of Ecuador, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Dato Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, Datin Seri Kay, and Mr. Max Say.

ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh hosting Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mah Siew Keong and Dato Seri Abdul Wahid Omar.

Ms. Tan Siok Choo, YB Teresa Kok, YB Ong Kian Ming, Ambassador Horie.

Tan Sri Lim Gait Tong, Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek, Dato K.L. Tan.

Mr. Tan Koon Swan and Mr. Max Say with the Goh Brothers of Macro Kiosk.

Mr. Sivagnanam, Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam, Tan Sri Danny Ooi, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Mr. Max Say.

Puan Sri Susan Cheah and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh.

Datuk Chua Tee Yong greeting Tan Sri Joseph Kurup whilst Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon and Tan Sri Danny Ooi look on.

Mr Ng Lip Yong, Ms Jean Wong, Tan Sri Kishu Tirathrai, Tan Sri Rastam Isa.

The ASLI team at the Open House.

Ms. Ng Yeen Seen with Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam and Rev Herman Shastri Secretary General Council of Churches.

Ms. Jean Wong, Tunku Datuk Nazihah, Tan Sri Asiah Abu Samah and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh.

The CPPS team.

23

CORPORATE MALAYSIAROUNDTABLE / STRATEGIC ISSUES FORUM

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam and Ms. Ng Yeen Seen. Mr. Gan Ping Sieu speaking at the Forum.

Dato Kulasegaran speaking at the Forum. Next to him is Canadian High Commissioner Judith St. George.

SIF/CMR Members and invited guests. Dato Vaseehar Hassan and Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.

Dato Latifah Merican Cheong, Ambassador Joseph Yun and Tan Sri Robert Phang. Dato Aziz Bahaman, Datuk David Chua and Datin Halimah Mohd Said.

The Corporate Malaysia Roundtable (CMR) and the Strategic Issues Forum (SIF) held its meeting on Malaysia’s Political and Economic Outlook: Key Challenges, Issues and Trends on 7th April 2015 at the Bankers Club Kuala Lumpur.

The meeting was chaired by Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman, Strategic Issues Forum with panel speakers Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI); Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad, a well known political commentator and analyst; and Ms. Ng Yeen Seen, Chief Operating Officer, ASLI / Senior Director, Centre for Public Policy Studies.

Tan Sri Ramon noted that the topic aptly reflected our main concerns as economics was interrelated to social, cultural, religious, political and racial issues. Such issues could create instability and fear which would impact confidence. And confidence was what matters most to businesses!

Another challenge was our preoccupation with the short term. A longer term view was needed. The nature of economics was structural - what we are doing today affect us tomorrow. He emphasised that we were at the tipping point that could lead to a crisis, and it depended on our will to manage the economy either with good governance or “state capture”.

The slowing down of the world economy as well as the decline in oil and commodity prices affected us. The question we should ask was for how long would the decline continue? The Ringgit’s decline impacted inflation, and GST pushed prices up even further. Although the official figure was around 3%, the man on the street would beg to differ. To address inflation, we must look at the endemic issues of corruption, cronyism and protectionism. Another question would be could we sustain the services industry? The prerequisite for that would be education.

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh gave a brief overview that he would only highlight key issues that we needed to think about and suggest a watch list.

In his view, Malaysia was in the best of times and also the worst of times, akin to Charles Dicken’s “Tale of Two Cities”. Malaysians were divided - some believed in the viability of the Malaysian nation while others had lost hope with the increasing erosion of human rights. Still others felt insecure and fearful with the rising crime rate and rising Islamisation, including the moderate Malays. Many who placed their hopes in Prime Minister Najib, UMNO and BN (as well as MCA and MIC) had given up although some still kept their hopes.

Tan Sri Abdullah believed that the ruling party would find it difficult to govern without a good majority at the next General Election. In his view, there was a slim possibility for the Opposition to win even though it meant sailing in unchartered waters for the first time in six decades. It could also indicate trouble over the horizon as a major clash could arise.

He believed that UMNO should remain as the ruling party. PAKATAN was unlikely to unseat UMNO as it was a house in disarray and its track record in Kelantan, Penang and Selangor was less than spectacular. However, he acknowledged that BN had descended into unprecedented unpopularity and posed two questions on “Who or what could save BN from sliding into irrelevance” and on “The seriousness of Tun Dr Mahathir’s threat that Prime Minister Najib would cause UMNO and BN to lose the next General Election”.

Ms Ng began by posing two questions: “Would UMNO continue to be the major force” and “Would Sabah and Sarawak continue to be its safe deposits”. She then requested everyone to examine these questions through a different perspective and provided statistics that the number of youths was growing steadily with no signs of slow down hence the electorate grows younger every year. These underlined that the future focus must be on youths.

In GE13, the 3 million new voters made up a quarter of total voters compared to GE12 where there were only 638,000 new voters. GE14 would very likely see even more new voters as another 2.5 million youths would turn 21 by 2017. With such huge numbers of Gen-Y voters, the power shift was very real. Votes could swing either way. Today’s youths have different priorities: transparency, good governance and corruption.

She pointed out that the government’s trust deficit kept widening. The Edelman Trust Barometer 2015 showed that trust in the government had fallen below 50%, lagging far behind Indonesia and Singapore with 70% respectively. Youths felt cheated by Prime Minister Najib’s promise to repeal the Sedition Act. Then the 1MDB fiasco brought up fears regarding the misuse of government funds. GST implementation highlighted its lack of sympathy towards the general public’s financial burden.

Another meeting of the SIF / CMR focused on Malay leadership and saw a presentation by Dato Vaseehar Hassan based on his research studies.

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ASLI CEO SPEAKS IN GLOBAL THINK TANK SUMMIT IN BEIJING

AND CALLS ON THE PREMIER OF CHINA

Chairman of NUCC Tan Sri Samsudin Osman presenting the NUCC National Unity Blueprint to the Prime Minister flanked by NUCC Members. Tan Sri Michael Yeoh is on the Prime Minister’s right.

ASLI CEO and NUCC Inclusive Development Committee Vice Chair Tan Sri Michael Yeoh highlighting a point to the Prime Minister whilst Prof. Datuk Shamsul, Tan Sri Samsudin Osman and Datuk Dr. Denison Jayasooria look on.

WORLD HALAL CONFERENCE

The Chairman of ASLI’s Centre for Public Policy Studies Tan Sri

Ramon Navaratnam and ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh sits on

the National Unity Consultative Council where Tan Sri Navaratnam

is Chairman of the NUCC Inclusive development working committee

and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, the Vice Chairman.

The NUCC recently handed over the National Unity Blueprint to the

Prime Minitster at the Prime Minister’s Department, outlining the

outcomes and strategies.

The World Halal Conference 2015 was held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia on 1st of April 2015 through 2nd of April 2015 This event was co-organised by the Halal Development Corporation (HDC) and ASLI as the knowledge Partner. It was hosted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). The conference was attended by about 1200 participants from 33 countries. This year, WHC brought together Heads of Governments and prominent leaders to share their views, provide latest updates on Halal industry development, deliberate on pertinent issues and gaps faced and network closely to sustain the dynamism and strength of the Halal economy. This is the 2nd year ASLI has partnered with HDC on the WHC.

The WHC 2015 theme “Halal Economy: A Profitable Convergence” demonstrates the importance of knowing the “know how” on converging the Halal industry and the Islamic finance. In hosting this conference, the HDC primary objective is to intensify strategic collaborations in Halal related areas and the meeting of minds is expected to inspire synergistic convergence amongst the critical sectors towards a lucrative and sustainable Halal economy. The conference encompassed six subject-focused forums featuring intensive and empowering dialogues with 80 influential speakers to map out future global Halal developments.

ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh (2nd row) joining other VIP speakers in a meeting with China’s Premier Li Keqiang in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. In front row from left Kevin Ruud former Prime Minister, Australia, Zeng Peiyan former Vice Premier China, Romano Prodi former Prime Minister Italy and Premier Li.

ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh speaking at The Global Think Tank Summit in Beijing organised by China’s top Think Tank CCIEE. Tan Sri Michael Yeoh also joined other Think Tank leaders in calling on the Premier of China Li Keqiang.

ASLI DIRECTORS SERVE ON NATIONAL UNITY

CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL

MITI Minister Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed and ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh at the Ministerial Session.