Vol 1 2015: December PP 8307/12/2012(032066)

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The Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib arriving for the Innovating Malaysia Conference organised by Agensi Innovation Malaysia (AIM) and co-managed by ASLI. Behind are AIM CEO Mark Rozario, ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Minister in Prime Minister’s Dept Dato Mah Siew Keong and ASLI Senior Vice President Ng Yeen Seen.

Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor wife of the Prime Minister launching the Guide to Malaysia Publication which is distributed by ASLI and published by Leisure Guide.

Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Minister of Youth and Sports YB Khairy Jamaluddin arriving for an ASLI lunch accompanied by Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah and Tan Sri Razman Hashim.

Chairman World Chinese Economic Forum and CEO ASLI Tan Sri Michael Yeoh having a word with the Vice President of China Li Yuanchao whilst Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Transport Minister Dato Seri Liow Tiong Lai and former President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono look on.

The Vice President of China Mr. Li Yuanchao arriving at the World Chinese Economic Forum organised by ASLI accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, WCEF Patron Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia Hor Namhong and former President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

At the opening of the Asia Economic Summit, Dato Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI and Datuk Dr. Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, Secretary General, Ministry of International Trade & Industry.

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6TH WORLD CHINESE ECONOMIC FORUM

The 6th World Chinese Economic Forum (WCEF) was held on 4th and 5th December, 2014 at the Kempinski Hotel in Chongqing, China. It was hosted by ASLI in collaboration with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).

It brought together some 700 participants comprising state leaders, government officials, business leaders and academicians. The Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Li Yuanchao officiated and delivered the Keynote Address at the forum. Among the state leaders who attended the two-day summit were the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia H.E. Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the former President of the Republic of Indonesia H.E. Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation H.E. Mr. Hor Namhong, Mayor of Chongqing H.E. Huang Qifan, Dato’ Seri Liow Tiong Lai, the Minister of Transport of Malaysia and Dato Mah Siew Keong, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department of Malaysia.

Fourteen key leaders from the various countries were selected to receive the 6th WCEF Lifetime Achievement Awards.

H.E. Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudohyono, former President of Indonesia was conferred a special Benevolent Leadership Award for his contribution to the Chinese community in Indonesia.

This year, the WCEF organised and supported the Women’s Entrepreneurs and Youth Roundtables. Both roundtables sought to examine and discuss ways to economically empower women and youth.

The Vice President of the People’s Republic of China, H.E. Li Yuanchao in his speech urged for the need to strengthen cooperation across countries in sharing development opportunities. The Chinese Government calls for maintaining and developing an open world economy, which follows the trend of economic globalisation; and to serve the common interests of all countries. This includes the promotion of trade and investment liberalisation to establish an open, inclusive, transparent and a non-discriminatory global market. While China’s assertiveness was primarily driven by the need to strengthen a strong sustained growth impetus in the post-crisis era, H.E. Li Yuanchao called for an expedite reform of the international economic and financial system; and improved global governance mechanisms with a view to establish a new inclusive international economic order. It seems quite evident that the emergence of China as a major international economic player would require the pursuance of win-win partnerships.

China’s phenomenal rise as a great power has stirred the global community. The Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin commended that this year’s WCEF signifies the growing importance and ambition attached to the Greater Chinese Economy. It stretches not just to the East and SouthEast Asia, but also reaches into the economic and social investment of the Western world. From this perspective, WCEF plays a key role as an integrative forum to connect countries and entrepreneurs’ of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, as envisaged by the President Xi Jinping. ASEAN will be China’s largest trading partner by 2015, the year which coincides with the realisation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). At the ASEAN level, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with China

ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh been introduced to the Vice President of China by CCPIT Vice Chairman Yu Ping.

The Vice President of China Li Yuanchao speaking to WCEF Chairman & ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and WCEF Co-founder and Patron Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew.

WCEF Senior Programme Director Ms Ng Yeen Seen briefing the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin, Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia Hor Namhong and former President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Former President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono being conferred the WCEF Benevolent Leadership Award. From left: Sir Liu Changle Chairman Phoenix TV Hong Kong, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin, former President Susilo, Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh.

Chairman WCEF Global Advisory Council and MUI Chairman Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng greeting the Deputy Prime Minister.

Transport Minister Dato Seri Liow Tiong Lai greeting the Chongqing Party Secretary and CPC Political Bureau member Mr. Sun and Mayor of Chongqing Huang Qifan at the WCEF.

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6TH WORLD CHINESE ECONOMIC FORUM

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua and Tan Sri Lim Gait Tong. Ms Rosana Wong, Mr. Low Tuck Seng and Ms Jean Wong. WCEF Co-Chairman Dato David Yeat chairing the WCEF Young Entrepreneurs Roundtable.

presents opportunities for countries in the region to contribute to an inclusive equitable economic growth and development. The signatories to the RCEP will account for almost half of the world’s population, close to the same percentage of the global trade.

After over 30 years of sustained and fast growth, the Chinese economy has entered a new normal, with a 7.4% growth rate, along with improved economic structure. Furthermore, many parts of the Chinese economy have been integrated into the global economy. The IMF has recently ranked China’s 11 trillion economy as the largest in the world in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). China occupies a unique position among the large group of developing countries for at least four reasons, Which include: a) its large volume of exports and trade surplus b) It is the largest trading partner for over 120 countries and regions in the world c) its growing trade as well as investment links, with a focus on establishing the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road in the 21st Century, and d) its success in deepening reform in a comprehensive way.

Urbanisation has also caused the rise of land prices. Hence, real estate investment is becoming one of the largest contributors to the Chinese economy. China’s current model of urbanisation has directly contributed to major issues such as pollution; the need for land reform; and financing additional housing. In this regard, tensions were manifested in the discussion of the forum focusing on the need for China to explore on the sustainability of its urban environment, both in terms of the infrastructure quality as well as in the quality of design. Policy measures ought to reduce water wastage, energy consumption and carbon emissions. This will require a fundamental rethink of the delivery and financing of basic urban services.

China’s relations with ASEAN, Japan, Australia and other Asian countries are on the rise. These are heightened by the China-ASEAN +1 Free Trade Agreement and the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (CHAFTA). The pattern of China’s engagement with the global economy occurs within a hegemonic system of global rules under the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The Maritime Silk Road has become the bond between ASEAN and China. This represents a new economic world where trade demands for greater connectivity. People to people connectivity are seen to be the key to success. As a general comment about the Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road project, promoting the initiatives over the course of economic liberalisation requires strong public and private sector partnership. One of the most striking features of the Maritime Silk Road is the merging of 10 ASEAN countries into a trade block-building the presence of ASEAN countries in the Northern part of China and the Yangzi Economic Delta. Based on this understanding, growth can be promoted through shared prosperity between China and AsEAN countries. There is a widespread expectation that Australia and New Zealand can play an important role in promoting these strategic relations.

ASLI and CCPIT would like to thank Magnum Corporation, GD Group, Redstone Group, The MUI Group, Riverside Group, Farlim Group, UCSI Group, Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd, Lippo Group, EKOVEST, Iskandar Waterfront Holdings, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, Bank Mayapada, Tropicana Corporation Berhad, INTI International, University & Colleges Malaysia, China Development Institute, AirAsia, The Star, Nanyang Siang Pau and China Daily for their support of this successful forum.

Singapore Member of Parliament Ms Penny Low, former Indonesian Trade and Tourism Minister Dr. Mari Pangestu, former 2nd Finance Minister Singapore Mrs Lim Hwee Hua and WCEF Women Roundtable Chair Dr. Jannie Chan.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Dept Dato Mah Siew Keong witnessing the exchange of Mou’s to organise the 7th WCEF in London.

Former Lord Mayor of Melbourne Dr. John So with Dr. Tan Chin Nam Chairman Temasek Management Services and former Managing Director Economic Development Board, Singapore.

Distinguised speakers at the Maritime Silk Road Session.

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9th ASIA ECONOMIC SUMMIT

Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman, ASLI presenting memento to Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Murita in the Prime Minister’s Department. Looking on are Datuk Dr. Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, Secretary General, MITI, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI, Mr. Fong Ngai, Director Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office.

The 9th Asia Economic Summit was jointly organised by the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) and the Ministry of International Trade & Industry (MITI), and held on the 3rd & 4th November 2014 at Sunway Hotel Resort & Spa. The Asia Economic Summit has been annually organised as an important platform for decision makers to assess the future of Asia and to gain insights and information on the key challenges facing Asia in the 21st Century - “The Asia Century”.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak has sent a Message to the Summit. The Prime Minister said for Asia to continue to grow, we need to ensure regional peace and stability. The nations of the region must further strengthen confidence and take measures to avoid conflicts and wars. Peaceful settlement of any dispute is essential and a key success factor for robust regional economic growth. ASEAN must also continue to be relevant. To do so, we must accelerate the pace of community building. Building bridges and connectivity with East Asia and the rest of the world will ensure ASEAN centrality. During Malaysia’s chairmanship of ASEAN in 2015, we shall emphasize a People Centric ASEAN and work towards developing a Post-2015 Vision for ASEAN.

The two-day summit covered various sessions. These included the opening Young Asian Leaders Roundtable, titled: The Future of Asia; Asia’s Economic Resurgence - Why China, Japan, India and the USA Matter?; Has Asia Moved Beyond ASEAN - Is ASEAN Still Relevant?; Non-traditional security threats to Business and Economic Growth in Asia; The 3 I’s for Asia’s Future Growth - Innovation, Investment, Infrastructure: Fuelling Business Start Ups and Entrepreneurial Success (a co-branded

session with the China Daily); and Asia: Financial & Banking System - Supporting -Sustainable Growth and Enhanced Connectivity.

The Summit featured an Opening Address by Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, Chairman, Youth Academy / CEO, Global Movement of Moderates Foundation. He talked of the need to understand young people and address the issues that affect them. If you want to look at the youth as leaders, then look at their dynamism, idealism, activism and intellectualism, he said.

The Keynote Address, titled: Malaysia’s Economic Growth Trajectory - Towards Inclusive and Sustainable Growth, was delivered by YB Senator Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department. He gave an overview of Malaysia’s development for the past 40-years from when the economy was dependent on agriculture and commodities, to realising high-income nation status by 2020.

A Special Presentation was given by Mr. Claude Smadja, Former Managing Director, World Economic Forum, Davos, and President, Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, Switzerland, on his six trends of the current global economy. These are: a dramatic reshaping and restructuring of global supply chains; fragmented globalisation; the great middle class divide; the great demographic shift; technological convergence; and, it is nobody’s world.

The second day of the Summit featured a welcoming address by YB Senator Dato’ Lee Chee Leong, Deputy Minister of International Trade & Industry. He noted that Asia is diverse and home to some of the fastest

Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of International Trade & Industry delivering his Keynote Address. Looking on is Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO of ASLI.

MITI Secretary General Datuk Dr. Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria with Deputy MITI Minister Dato Lee Chee Leong and Chinese Ambassador Dr. Huang Hui Kang.

Tan Sri Razman Hashim, Director of ASLI presenting a memento to Dato’ Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

Dato Seri Abdul Wahid arriving at the Summit dinner accompanied by Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah and Datuk Dr Rebecca Sta Maria.

Left to right-Dato’ Khairussaleh Ramli, Managing Director, RHB Bank Berhad, Mr. Osman Morad, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank, Mr. Tay Kay Luan, Chief Executive, Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers, Dr. Arup Raha, Chief Economist, CIMB Group.

Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah with The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Dept Dato Seri Abdul Wahid and MITI Secretary General Datuk Dr. Rebecca.

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9th ASIA ECONOMIC SUMMIT

growing economies in the world. As such, Asia has massive diversity in terms of economic development, population, religion and culture.

Throughout the two day’s, sessions featured representatives from the corporate sector, diplomatic corps, academia, civil society, and government. They all gave their unique perspective on economic, socio-political and cultural trends facing the region as we enter The Asia Century.

Among the topics discussed in this 2-day interactive Summit were on Young Asian Leaders Roundtable - Future of Asia; Asia’s Economic Resurgence - Why China, Japan, India & USA Matter; Has Asia Moved Beyond ASEAN - Is ASEAN Still Relevant; Non-Traditional Security Threats to Business and Economic Growth in Asia; The 31’s for Asia’s Future Growth - Innovation, Investment, Infrastructure: Fuelling Business Start Ups and Entrepreneurial Success; and Asia: Financial & Banking System - Supporting Sustainable Growth and Enhanced Connectivity.

Among the distinguished speakers who spoke in the summit are Mr. Claude Smadja, former Managing Director, World Economic Forum and President, Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, Switzerland; H.E. Huang Huikang, Ambassador of China to Malaysia; Mer. Bernard Chan, President of Asia Financial Group / Member, Exco Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government; Mr. Pushpanathan Sun dram, former Deputy Secretary General, ASEAN; Datuk Nicholas Zefferys, former President, AmCham; Mr. Michael Kurtz, Managing Director / Chief Equity Strategist, Asia Ex-Japan and Global Head of Equity Strategy, Nomura International Hong Kong; H.E. Joseph Yun, Ambassador of USA to Malaysia; Tan Sri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan, Chairman of NSTP & ISIS Malaysia; H.E. Dr. Makio Miyagawa, Ambassador of Japan to Malaysia; Tan Sri Dr. Mohamed Munir Maji, Chairman, CIMB Asean Research Institute & Chairman, Bank Muamalat; Dr. Ponciano Intal, Ir, Senior Economist, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Indonesia; Mr. Conrad Clifford, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific, International Air Transport Association; Lt Gen Datuk Dr. William Stevenson, Chief Executive, Malaysian Institute of Defence and Security; Dr. Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University Singapore; Prof. Christine Ennew, Provost & CEO, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and Pro.

About 200 participants attended the summit which was sponsored by Siemens as Strategic Partner; Corporate Partners are the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers; and The University of Nottingham as Associate Sponsor.

Dr.Ilham A.Habibie,President Director,PT Ilthabi Rekatama and Chairman,Culture Art and Technology Empowerment Community Speaker at the Young Asian Leader Session. Next to him is Prof. Dato’ Dr. Saran Kaur Gill, Founding Lead, ASEAN Youth Volunteer-Leaders Programme. President/Former Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Ms Ng Yeen Seen. ASLI and Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, CEO, Global movement of Moderates Federation.Mr. Claude Smadja, Dato Chew Chee Kin, Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, Dato Seri Abdul Wahid Omar.

Left to right- Mr.Conrad Clifford, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific, International Air Transport Association, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman, CPPS-ASLI, Lt. Gen. Datuk Dr.William Stevenson, Chief Executive, Malaysian Institute of Defence & Security, Dr. Oh Ei Sun, Senior Fellow, S. Rajaratnam, School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.

H.E. JosephYun, Ambassador of USA to Malaysia, Tan Sri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan, Chairman, NSTP & ISIS Malaysia Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI, H.E. Dr. Makio Miyagawa, Ambassador of Japan to Malaysia.

Datuk Dr. Rebecca Sta Maria chairing the Asia’s Economic Resurgence session with panel speakers- H.E. Huang Hui Kang, Ambasador of China to Malaysia, Mr. Claude Smadja, President Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory Switzerland/former Managing Director, World Economic Forum and Mr. Bernard Chan, President, Asia Financial Group/Member Exco, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

ASEAN Business Advisory Council Chairman Tan Sri Dr. Munir Majid making a point at the Summit.

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ASLI CO-MANAGESAIM INNOVATING MALAYSIA CONFERENCE

The Innovating Malaysia Conference 2014 themed “Return on Innovation” was held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on 28 and 29 of August 2014. It was jointly organised by Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM) and the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASU) to reflect upon the need for renewed global, regional and national efforts to stimulate a culture of innovation in Malaysia as well as to establish strategic partnerships amongst innovators, though leaders, entrepreneurs and senior executives of public and private enterprises. Approximately 500 people attended the conference.

The first day of the conference began with opening remarks by Mr Mark Rozario, CEO of AIM who provided the participants with an overview of AIM and its initiatives. Next, YB Dato’ Mah Siew Keong, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, launched the Steinbeis Malaysia Foundation based on a model recognised for successfully catalysing and facilitating technology transfer from academia to private companies in order to support Malaysia’s move towards a knowledge-based economy.

Professor Jean-Philippe Deschamps from the IMD Business School delivered the keynote address on “Governing Innovation: Why Top Management Should Care.” He spoke on the definition of innovation, describing it as an adoption of new ideas to create additional value for customers and companies. He also categorised innovation and highlighted on innovation in work practices and in thinking which are essential to achieving breakthrough results.

In the morning plenary, there were two sessions. The first was on “Driving Innovation: The Board as a Catalyst” while the second was on “Commercialising Intellectual Property: Opportunities in ASEAN.” In the first session, Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Michael Yeoh, CEO of ASU, chaired a 3-member panel comprising Professor Jean Philippe Deschamps from the IMD Business School, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Iqbal Rawther of MIM and Dato’ Abdul Aziz Abu Bakar of MINDA. They discussed about the critical role of the board in shaping management’s approach to innovation. In the second session, Mr. Naser Jaafar, COO of AIM, chaired another 3-member panel comprising Mr Meor Kamal Azhar Meor Hamzah Lotfi of SME Corporation, Mr Ong Ewe Hock of DuPont and Professor Dr Rohina Yasmin Dato’ Othman of UMCIC. They agreed that it is imperative to encourage commercialisation of intellectual property within ASEAN and weighed the importance of the customer in driving innovation.

In the afternoon, the conference was divided into two parallel tracks. Track 1 was aligned towards commercial interests while Track 2 was aligned towards academic interests. Both tracks featured two sessions each.

Under Track 1, Mr Zainal Amanshah of InvestKL, Mr Karan Hendrik Ponnudurai of Axiata, Mr Wing K. Lee of YTL Communications and Mr Rahul Gupta of GE came to the conclusion that innovation is inherently a highly cross-functional and cross?organisation activity requiring intentional efforts to adapt to change in their session entitled “A Centralised Strategy for an Innovation Powerhouse.” In the following session on “Innovation Toolkit: What’s Needed to Create a Culture of Innovation?” Mr Sajith Sivanandan

of Google, Mr Stefan Heitmann, formerly of Zuellig Pharma, Ms So-Young Kang of Awaken and Mr Edward. Clayton of PwC agreed that a culture of innovation is multi-disciplinary and requires a pro-active, inter-disciplinary community to achieve.

Under Track 2, Mr John D. Chacko of LeapEd Services, Datuk Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof of MOE, Professor Datuk Dr N.S. Rajendran of PMO, Dato’ Noor Rezan Bapoo Hashim of Khazanah Nasional and Mr Anthony Devadoss of BTl Consultants brought up the urgent need to address Malaysia’s national human capital needs and return on investment in education in their session on “21st Century Skills: Are We Ready For It?” It was followed by Genovasi’s Workshop entitled “Design Thinking to Innovation” that was led by Mr Mahadzir Shariff of Genovasi, which was purposed to allow partlcipants to quickly experience the process of design thinking.

The second day of the conference began with the official opening ceremony that was graced by YAB Dato’ Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak. He stressed to the particlpants that the government places a high premium on innovation to ensure the sustainability of Malaysia’s economic development. In addition, he commended AIM and ASLI for organising the Innovating Malaysia Conference 2014.

The first session of Day 2 was on “Outsourcing Innovation.” Dr. Abdul Reezal Abdul Latif of AIM chaired a 3-member panel comprising Professor Dr Norsaadah Ismail of UiTM, Tan Sri Yong Poh Kon of Royal Selangor International and Mr Jaffri Ibrahim of CREST. They agreed that outsourcing helps large corporations to capture the start-up spirit that drives innovation and overcome their inherent bureaucracy which stifles innovation. In the next session on “Driving Value Through Innovation Measurement,” Mr Azim Pawanchik of Alpha Catalyst Consulting, Dr Benjamin Reid of Nesta, Mr Chiew Chun Wee of ACCA and Mr Martin Brasell of Inngot discussed on the need to institutionalise innovation to make its output more predictable in order to fuel revenue growth.

“Measuring Returns on Innovation Investments” was the third and last session. Mr Abdullah Arshad of AIM, Tengku Dato’ Sri Azmil Zaharuddin Raja Abdul Aziz of Khazanah Nasional, Ms Rejina Rahim of Nomura Asset Management and Mr Anaz Ahmad Tajuddin of Air Asia shared on the need to measure innovation efforts in 3 critical areas in order to improve future performance, namely inputs, process performance and outputs.

To wrap up, YB Dato’ Seri Idris Jala, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, delivered the closing keynote address. He, highlighted 3 categories of innovation - work practices, thinking and approach and proceeded to link them to the government’s transformation initiatives to make Malaysia a high-income nation by increasing income and also ensuring inclusive growth. It is hoped that this inaugural Innovating Malaysia Conference and subsequent editions of this conference will contribute towards making Malaysia a high-income nation by building a strong foundation for the country to become a knowledge-based economy.

The CEO Roundtable with the Prime Minister.

The Opening Ceremony of the AIM Innovating Malaysia Conference.The Prime Minister looking at the Cartoon Wall of the AIM Innovating Malaysia Conference whilst Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Mr. Mark Rozario and Dato Mah Siew Keong look on.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Dept and CEO PEMANDU Dato Seri Idris Jala addressing the conference.

The Prime Minister at the conference with Dato Mah Siew Keong and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh.

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The World Muslim Leadership Forum (WMLF), the third forum since its inception in 2010, was held at the Queen Elizabeth II Convention Centre, in Westminster, London, on 25 and 26 September 2014.

The Conference addressed some of the critical issues on leadership, especially in Islamic countries and in Muslim communities. The common challenge faced by all, whether in the developed or developing nations is ethical leadership. Visionary and ethical leaders are needed to develop even the most resource-blessed nations. The need is even greater for others who are lagging behind in an increasingly competitive global economic environment. There are serious contemporary problems in many parts of the world and finding solutions to these problems. Strong leadership is required to provide solutions for this craving needs. The Forum addressed several of the critical issues.

The term Human Rights has become an integral part of both political and popular discourse, particularly among western, and western educated persons in the third world. Until very recently, most of this discourse has been in secular terms. In fact, it is frequently assumed by many advocates of human rights, in both western and non-western (including many muslim) countries, that human rights can exist only within a secular context and it is not possible for it to be a part of a religion or within a religious framework. Some muslim countries led by secular-minded proponents of human rights, say that it is not meaningful to talk about human right in Islam, because as a religious tradition, Islam has supported values and structures, which are incompatible with the tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In contrast, OIC countries have adopted the Cairo declaration on human rights, which has become an integral part of a legacy based on Islam. It is important that Muslim countries give importance to human rights to ensure that human rights are entrenched within each and every segment of society. OIC should establish an inter-governmental commission on human rights to pursue vigorously the human rights agenda.

Moderation is a good principle for policy advocacy and engagement and for the implementation of programmes for inclusiveness. Extremism of any kind must be discarded and societies must move forward with progress for the benefit of all. Moderation needs to take centre stage and legitimately hold on to progress and not let a minority or a sectarian view take control of

a situation. The Global Movement of Moderates, an initiative of Malaysia, needs support to champion the voices of moderation as a desirable action programme for leaders.

It is also important for leaders to have a clear view and understanding of the differing views even those which are extreme in nature including those who, in the name of Islam, terrorize people. Such threats should be contained, mitigated and hopefully eradicated eventually. This should be done through continuous engagement.

The 2009 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index reported that the bottom 10 index nations which are all predominantly Islamic nations, represent a population of over half a billion people. If women represent half of the population in these nations, then these bottom 10 predominantly Islamic nations are subject to an ongoing oppression of an estimated 250million women. If we take into account of Muslim women in nations like Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq which have been excluded from the report, we are looking at the ongoing oppression of an estimated 500million women. In 2013, the report once again showed that the 10 lowest scoring countries are all Muslim majority countries or where Islam is the largest religion. There is a dire need to lead and assist to emancipate these women by giving strength, building capacity and educate them to be safe, to enjoy freedom, and have a voice.

Islamic finance is now a major force in global economics. Growing acceptance of sukuk in the capital market together with other financial products is a testimony for the success of leadership in the financial domain. Even the United Kingdom realizes the potential of Islamic finance and is seeking to strengthen its role as Europe’s Islamic financial hub by appropriate changes to its legal framework.

In the next few years, the world will see a phenomenal demand-increase for food, causing a mismatch between agricultural production capability and global consumption demand. A perspective study on the depleting supply of halal provisions, conducted by the Malaysian Halal Industry Development Corporation, showed that the countries affected are not just Muslim countries, but the shortage is a global trend. Today, the global halal market is supported by 1.8billion Muslims. However, the countries involved

WMLF Secretary General Dr. Husna Ahmad presenting a memento to Tan Sri Razali Ismail, Chairman, Global Movement of Moderates.

ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh with British Patron of WMLF Lord Sheikh.

Dato Dr. Norraesah Mohamad chairing The Women’s Session.

WORLD MUSLIM LEADERSHIP FORUM

The Lord Sheikh, Dato Seri Mohd Iqbal, Tan Sri Razali Ismail And RT. Hon. Dominic Grieve.The Rt. Hon Dominic Grieve former UK Attorney General addressing the Forum.

Dato Seri Mohd Iqbal, Dato Dr. Norraesah Mohamad, Mr. Max Say and Mr. Badlisyah Abdul Ghani at the House of Lords, Palace of Westminister for the Forum dinner.

WMLF Chairman Dato Seri Mohd Iqbal presenting a memento to the Rt. Hon. Stephen Timms.

Dato Saifuddin Abdullah CEO Global Movement of Moderates and Dato Seri Mohd Iqbal Chairman WMLF.

(Cont. to page 17)

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17th HOUSING AND PROPERTY SUMMIT

Dato’ Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government presenting a sponsor plague to Dato Voon Tin Yow, Acting President & CEO, S.P Setia Berhad Group. Looking on are Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman ASLI and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI.

ASLI organised the 17th National Housing and Property Summit that took place between 26th August and 27th August, 2014 at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre. The Minister of Urban Well-Being, Housing & Local Government, YB Dato Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Dahlan officiated the summit. It was attended by 285 participants, mostly from the housing and property sectors, including some government agencies. The theme of the summit- “Changing Landscape, Coping with a Challenging Year” discussed issues specific to the cooling measures introduced by the government a year ago and ways in which it had impacted the cost of houses and properties in Malaysia. Among the key featured prominent speakers were Datuk Seri Fateh Mansor from REHDA, Mr Chan Kim Loong from National House Buyers Association (NBA), Ms Sarena Cheah from Sunway Group, Dato Stewart Labrroy of AXIS REIT, Mr Daniele Gambero of REI Group of Companies, Datuk Ng Seing Liong and Tan Sri Eddy Chen from MKH Berhad and REHDA.

YB Dato Haji Abdul Rahman remarked that over the past few years, this challenging landscape that is snarled by hives of economic activity and an increase in population has accelerated for housing by leaps and bounds. Looking at housing from a global perspective, Dato Abdul Rahman Dahlan noted that about 1.6 billion people live in sub-standard housing; meanwhile another 100 million are homeless. These are mostly urban residents. To address the challenge of housing is to address the issue of affordability, especially for the low and middle income group. Increasingly, many Malaysians young adults find it difficult to buy a house. He opined that the responsibility to provide adequate and affordable housing does not fall mainly on the government.

It is a sustainable eco-system, a boundless collaboration between the government, industry stakeholders, private developers, and end-financiers. According to the Minister, Dato Seri Najib, the Prime Minister has allocated RM 1 billion for PRIMA to build 80,000 houses at 20% cheaper than market price, in Budget 2014. The Ministry of Urban Well-Being, Housing and Local Government also injected more funds to provide for an additional 26,122 affordable houses-and the same effort is set to continue. He went on to stress that the government

cannot work in isolation to provide affordable housing for the rakyat. He believes that if the developers are more stringent in controlling costs, innovative in their field and keep searching for new technologies, the developers could still maintain a sizeable profit. The recent increase in the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) by Bank Negara and it should be noted that this is the first increase in a span of more than three years. The government has to constantly apply appropriate fiscal measures to curb risks surrounding the outlook for domestic growth and inflation-and also to curb financial imbalances. Despite the increase, Malaysia’s lending rates are among the lowest in the region.

YB Dato Rahman also spoke about the impact of Goods and Services (GST) Tax, on property market. Although residential housing is GST impacted, REHDA has raised a number of issues that the developers are concerned. He pointed out that his ministry is working closely with REHDA and the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to address these issues before GST takes into effect next year. He hopes to see the indirect effect of GST on residential property. Despite various cooling measures, house process continues to rise in the first quarter of 2014. In the first quarter of 2014, average house process rose by 8%, compared to 10.7% in the first quarter of 2013 and 12 % in the first quarter of 2012. Double digit increases, however, were recorded in Penang (14.8%), Johor (11.5%), Terengganu (10.3%) and Kuala Lumpur (10.1%). This lower increase in house price is in fact an encouraging indicator. YB Dato Rahman also mentioned that if process in property market continues to rise, the government shall be forced to take more drastic measures to cool the property market, in the interest of the rakyat’s ability to buy a house. Citizens are encouraged to buy houses within their means and to move away from traditional way of owning a home, replacing it with renting a house instead. To increase the supply of affordable housing, the government has announced the intention to build 1 million houses by the end of 2017. PRIMA is tasked to build 500,000 units, meanwhile the National Housing Department, Syarikat Perumahan Nasional Berhad (SPNB), other federal and state government agencies and the private developers are slated to build the remaining 500,000 units. The Ministry of Urban Well-Being has delivered 72,076 units of

The Minister having a light chat with Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar, Group Managing Director/CEO,Global Berhad and Dato’ Voon Tin Yow, Acting President CEO SP Setia Berhad Group (on right).

Dato’ Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Minister of Urban Wellbeing,Housing and Local Government presenting a sponsor plaque to Mr. Low Gay Teck, Managing Director, Land & General Berhad. Looking on are Tan Sri Dr. Jeffry Cheah, Chairman ASLI. Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO ASLI and Dato Voon Tin Yow, Acting President/CEO, SP Setia Berhad.

Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman ASLI with Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar, President of REHDA. Looking on is Mr. Max Say, Chief Business Partnership Officer, ASLI.

The Minister and Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah with Team ASLI.YB Dato’ Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government with Tan Sri Dr. Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman ASLI and Ms. Sarena Cheah, Joint Managing Director Property Development, Sunway Group.

9

17th HOUSING AND PROPERTY SUMMIT

the Peoples Housing or better known as PPR. Another 12, 101 units are under construction and 18,453 units are in the planning stage. As of June 2014, the Ministry has approved 67, 636 houses to be built by private developers. There is a need to speed up this up to 1,000,000 units. To sustain the momentum of building affordable public housing, his ministry is currently seeking to study a possibility of creating a land bank. YB Dato Dahlan foresees that this is vital in ensuring that public housing is more strategically located, and the land for this exercise should be obtained at competitive price.

Housing developers therefore should play a more pro-active role to sustain the stability of housing market in Malaysia. He concluded that the successful implementation of the national housing policy relies on the commitment from all players in the industry. He hopes that more stakeholders from the private sectors will take part in a collaborative partnership with the government for the sake of public housing in Malaysia.

In order to gain perspectives on meeting the challenges and managing the transition, housing market outcomes are influenced by a range of different factors such as the Developer’s Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS), GST on construction materials and Real Gain Property Tax (RGPT). The developer interest bearing scheme (DIBS) has been removed since 2014. It is thus important to re-introduce the DIBS for the 1 st time buyer. Without the DIBS, many can’t afford the 10% down payment. It is unfair to remove the DIBS as it is penalising the first time buyer. The only way to stabilise housing process is to provide more supply. The announcement of the revised rate of RGBT made at the disposal of properties, formerly known as the Anti-Speculation Act, under the Budget 2014, is far more superior to what was proposed under budget 2013. It is hoped that the revised RGBT rate will deter speculators and at the same time, not punish genuine buyers for their long term investment. HBA supports the government RPGT proposal and urges the public to support such as a move to curb the current excessive speculation in the property sector. The HBA also reiterates the call to the government to take on additional measures to stem the steep rise in property prices by increasing the entry cost and to outlaw the Investors Club.

It was also underscored in the summit that there is an increase rejection by the bank on loan applications. Further delays in approval are affecting the property and housing business. Secondly, with the DIBS removed, the loan rejection is a high as 70% that are affecting home buyers. Some banks are financing mass market compared to high end project. The capital contribution costs cover 30% of the construction costs. Thirdly, an inconsistent procedure for the calculation of plot ratio further hampers the industry.

On the other hand, several opportunities within the market were identified. First, is to enhance collaboration with the Korean and China GLCs who are the property investors. Secondly, it is important to deliver services and products that customers want. Thirdly, with an increase trend of lifestyle concept, it is important for developers to cater their development to this lifestyle concept. Rebranding also plays a critical role; in other words, he encouraged developers to co-brand with other known brands to promote visibility. The Housing and the Property Industry is a highly regulated industry. Property bubble is described as rapid increase in property prices; property prices have reached an unsustainable level; and property prices decline. Expectations of future capital gains, perhaps based on past experience, can amplify the impact of supply constraints resulting in escalation in housing prices and driving a wedge between house price and land prices.

Topics discussed were on “Meeting Future Challenges, Managing the Transition and Seizing New Opportunities”, “Are the Cooling Measures Good for the Market and House Buyers?”, “What’s New and What’s Hot in the Property Sector? Where to Look for to Invest? What Has Changed?”, “Urbanization and Smart Cities: Towards Township Development and Low Carbon Cities”, “Residential and Condominium Segment: Is The Market Sustainable or Over-built?”, “Commercial and Industrial Property Outlook: Where is the Market Heading?”, “Affordable Housing - Meeting a Growing Demand: New Thinking & New Strategies”, “Financing Housing & Property Development?Key Issues & Challenges”.

The main sponsor is SP Setia Berhad Group and corporate sponsors are Sunway Group, Malton, Land & General Berhad, PKNS, Ireka, IJM Land, Dulux and GD Group.

Ms. Y.Y.Lau, Country Head/Director, JLL Property Services (M) Sdn Bhd (formerly known as YY Property Solutions) chairing a session with Dato Stewart Labrooy, CEO/ Executive Director, Axis REIT Managers and Mr. Previndran Dato’ Singhe, CEO Zerin Properties.

Datuk Ng Seing Liong JP (with mike), Past President, REDHA Malaysia with Prof. Dato’ Dr. Kamarul Rashdan, President Syarikat Perumahan Negara (SPNB).

From left to right:- Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar, Group Managing Director/CEO,Glomac Berhad. Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Group Adviser, Sunway Group. Dato Othman Omar, CEO Oxley Holdings and Dato Azlan Alifiah, General Manager, PKNS.

Tan Sri Eddy Chen, Group Managing Director MKH Group with Dato Jeffrey Ng, CEO Sunway REIT.Dato Wan Hashimi Albakri, Head Property Investment and Asset Management Sime Darby Property Berhad (with mike). Ms. Veena Loh, General Manager Malaysia Property Incorporated and Mr. Daniel Teo, Chairman and Manager Director, Hong Hew Group.

Mr. Yeow Thit Sang (with mike), President, International Real Estate Federation, Ms Sarena Cheah, Jount Managing Director -Property Development Division, Malaysia/Singapore, Sunway Group and Mr. Sarly Adre Sarkum, President , Malaysia Green Building Confederation.

10

19th CAPITAL MARKET SUMMIT

ASLI organised its 19th Malaysian Capital Market Summit with the theme “The Changing Market Landscape: Sustaining The Growth” on 24th November 2014 at The Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur. This Annual Series of Malaysian Capital Market Summits, a landmark programme of the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) aims to provide timely and reliable information and analysis to investors and market players; It is a high-level gathering of industry players, fund managers, investment analysts and research houses to feel the pulse of the Malaysian market, as well as to assess future strategic challenges and opportunities. It will enable participants to feel the tempo of development and take stock of the market.

The Deputy Minister of Finance YB Datuk Chua Tee Yong delivered. the Opening Keynote Address. In his Opening Speech, YB Datuk Chua commented that the theme of the summit “The Changing Market Landscape: Sustaining The Growth” was indeed appropriate and timely given the increasing integration of economies and interconnectedness of financial markets amid a challenging external environment. The year 2015 is important for Malaysia. It marks the final year of the 10th Malaysia Plan, leaving us with less than 6 years to sustain the momentum to reach a high-income and developed nation status.

YB Datuk Chua further added that Malaysia will also assume the ASEAN chairmanship in 2015, when ASEAN would be declared an economic community. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) envisages the region as a single market and production base, and a region fully integrated into the global economy. Essentially, the AEC will transform ASEAN into a region with free movement of goods, services, investment, skilled labour and capital. This is a challenging responsibility and calls for the support of everyone in Malaysia, as well as people in the region.

The Deputy Minister highlighted some key achievements of the Malaysian capital market. The domestic capital market has grown to become a vibrant and integral component of the financial system that supports economic activity. It offers a range of fund raising instruments for issuers to optimize their cost of capital. The capital market remains a major source of financing with RM94 billion raised through corporate bonds and initial public offerings in 2013. Malaysia’s capital market is recognized as an advanced emerging market with a value of RM2.7 trillion in 2013, which is 2.8 times the GDP. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) has rose 114% from

884.45 points in January 2009 to 1,892 points in July 2014, while Market Capitalisation jumped 162% from 667.87b to RM1.7 trillion on October 2014. The bond market worth RM1 trillion is the 3rd largest in Asia, while the fund management industry at RM588 billion is the largest unit trust industry in ASEAN. In addition, the Islamic capital market has tripled since 2000 to RM1.5 trillion, and is the world’s largest sukuk market, accounting for 69% of global sukuk issuances in 2013. The Malaysian economy continues to register encouraging growth, expanding by 6.1 % for the first. nine months of 2014. Given the strong growth momentum, we are confident that the economy is on track to achieve the forecast growth of 5.5% to 6%.

Before concluding his speech, the Deputy’ Minister said that the Government will continue to provide a conducive environment for private activity to flourish. This includes a well functioning capital market which is integral for the financing of the economy.

The Chief Regulatory Officer of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, Ms. Selvarany Rasiah delivered the Luncheon Talk on “Effective Market Regulation Towards Sustainable Growth”.

The distinguished speakers who spoke at the conference are Dr. Tan Chong Koay, Founder of PHEIM-Asset Management Sdn Bhd; Mr. Nehchal Khanna, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Group for Southeast Asia; Mr. Winston Nesfield, Director of Financial Services Southeast Asia, PwC Strategy& (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd; Mr. Shan Saeed, Chief Economist & Investment Strategist, 101 Group Holdings; Mr. Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, CEO of CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad; Mr. Chris Eng, Head of Research I Products and Alternative Investments, Etiqa Insurance and Takaful; Mrs. Sheila Halim, CEO of Amanah Mutual Berhad and last but not least Dato’ Dr. Mohd Nazri Khan Adam, Senior Asociate Director I Head of Retail Research, Affin Hwang Investment Bank Berhad.

Topics discussed were on Market and Regionalisation - Impact of AEC on the Capital Market; Malaysia - The Rising Star: Making the Market More Attractive; The Equity and Sukuk Market: Challenges, Trends and Opportunities; and Wealth Management: What’s New? What’s Next?

About 120 participants attended the conference which was sponsored by Inter-Pacific Securities and was supported by Bursa Malaysia and the Federation of Public Listed Companies.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman CPPS - ASLI chairing a session with Dr. Tan Chong Koay Founder PHEIM-Asset Management and Mr. Nehchal Khanna, Managing Director Morgan Stanley Investment Banking Group South East Asia (on his left).

Dato Dr Zaha Rina Zahari, Chairman, Manulife Holdings and Director Sage 3 Capital chairing a session with Mr. Winston Nesfield, Director, Financial Services, PWC Strategy & (Malaysia) and Mr. Shah Saeed, Chief Economist IOI Group Holdings (on her right).

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam presenting a memento to Datuk Chua Tee Yong. Looking on is Tan Sri Michael Yeoh CEO ASLI.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman, CPPS-ASLI speaking with Datuk Chua Tee Yong Deputy Minister of Finance II.

Left to Right:- Mr. Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, CEO, CIMB Islamic Bank, Mr Shan Sceed, Chief Economist & Investment Strategy IOI Group and Mr. Chris Eng Head of Reseach, Etiqa Insurance and Takaful.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam presenting a memento to Ms.Selvarany Rasiah, Chief Regulatory Officer, Bursa Malaysia Berhad.

11

ASLI COMMEMORATES ASEAN DAY

Puan Sri Susan Cheah, Dato Saifuddin Abdullah and Tan Sri Radzi Mansor.

Prof Dr. Sieh Mei Ling and Dato Ramesh Kodammal. The Australian High Commissioner and Ambassador of Argentina at the Forum.

The Growing Together: ASEAN at 47 forum was organized to celebrate ASEAN’s successes and consider the impact of the organization in the region. Currently, ASEAN is an adaptive and responsive organization with loose structures. The organization’s behaviour is not dictated by its more powerful members, but rather is directed by a rotating ASEAN chairmanship. In recent years, ASEAN has also adopted a charter, a road map, and a Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity. August 8, 2014 therefore marked the 47th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN and the forum provided opportunities for several member countries to “reflect on the past and express their vision for the future of the organization.

The day’s forum was moderated by CPPS Chairman, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam who made the point that it is remarkable to see how far ASEAN has advanced; Tan Sri Navaratnam also mentioned that he hoped ASEAN would move ahead in more concrete ways. In his welcoming address, CEO of ASLI, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh acknowledge that 47 years is a long time for an organization to exist. Therefore, it was necessary to reflect on the achievements and successes of ASEAN and consider the organization’s future challenges and ASEAN’s vision post-2015.

In his keynote address, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, YB Dato’ Hamzah Zainuddin briefly outlined ASEAN’s historical achievements since establishment. Against the backdrop of the Cold War, regional leaders in Southeast Asia wished to put in place a policy of neutrality to prevent being dragged into proxy wars many years ago, he said. This created the need for a two-pronged agenda to promote regional peace and stability, and to accelerate the economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region.

Dato’ Hamzah Zainuddin also pointed out that ASEAN is uniquely outward looking. He argued that the organization allows its members to engage with countries and leading powers on cooperation and various issues of global and regional importance. This has resulted in various agreements on trade, finance, security cooperation, health, air transport services, and other areas that now form the foundation for cooperation across 10 countries. This all lays the backdrop for a regional market that comprises over 600 million consumers, and has given way to freer movement of goods and investment alongside its outward-looking agenda that integrates Southeast Asian nations into the global economy.

Topics covered during the forum ranged from the highlights stemming from regional experiences in ASEAN, to a discussion of the three pillars of ASEAN - political and security, economic, and social and cultural. Over the past 47 years, ASEAN had moved from four C’s - charter, community, connectivity, and’ centrality - to four I’s - investments, infrastructure, inclusive development, and innovation. The regional body has also achieved three P’s - peace, prosperity, and political stability. In noting this, many speakers heralded these regional cooperation efforts.

The then High Commissioner of Singapore to Malaysia, H.E. Mr. Ong Keng Yong, spoke on the unique qualities that have made ASEAN successful and the challenges that lie ahead for the regional organization. ASEAN is an adaptive, responsive organization with loose structures. It only recently ratified a charter and even that can be circumvented at the discretion of member nations, he said. However, he noted that ASEAN was a cooperative organization whose behavior is not dictated by its more powerful members, but rather is directed by the rotating ASEAN Chairmanship.

Indonesia’s Ambassador to Malaysia, H.E. Mr. Herman Prayitno, talked about the key plank to realizing an ASEAN community would be the pursuit of economic integration in the form of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The AEC’s aim is to fuse the member states into a single market by the end of 2015, he said.

Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia, H.E. Mr. J. Eduardo Malaya, described this period as a turning point. However, he also noted that the regional body was born during challenging times, and now faces problems including climate change, militant groups, and piracy, alongside disturbing developments in the South China Sea. H.E. Malaya therefore reminded everyone of the Bangkok Declaration of 1967 and how responsibilities ought to be shared by all ASEAN countries.

Finally, Japan Ambassador to Malaysia, H.E. Dr. Makio Miyagawa, remarked on regional cooperation efforts. He said Japan was. ASEAN’s first dialogue partner and assisted in the development of Southeast Asian regional cooperation. Since then a good relationship has formed out of Japan-ASEAN summit/ministerial meetings and the nature of the relationship has evolved from donor and recipient to a more equal, even competitive at times, one.

Ambassador of Philippines, then Singapore High Commissioner, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Ambassador of Japan and Ambassador of Indonesia.

Deputy Foreign Minister Dato Hamzah Zainuddin opening the Forum whilst the Philippines Ambassador and then Singapore High Commissioner look on.

ISIS Chairman Tan Sri Jawhar Hassan (center) and other participants.Ambassadors standing for the ASEAN anthem.

12

EVENTS ROUND-UP

Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah with Director Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Mr. Fong Ngai.

Minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup with ASLI’s Prabhu Menon and Elaine Kok.

Datin Sri Rosmah Mansor and ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh at a lunch hosted by ASLI.Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with Mr. Anthony Raja Devadoss of Kelly Outsourcing, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Dato Kulasegaran, Mr. Lee Weng Keng and Mr. Max Say.

Ms Ng Yeen Seen, Mr. Claude Smadja, Dato Chew Chee Kin, Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, Dato Sri Abdullah Wahid Omar, Datuk Dr. Rebecca Sta Maria, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Dato David Yeat and Mr. Max Say.

Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with the ASLI team.

Tan Sri Kishu Tirathrai, Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah and the Ambassador of Finland.

Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, CEO Global Movement of Moderates Foundation speaking at the Young Asian Leader Session. Looking on Atty Mary Marjorie P. Martin Deputy Director General for Legal at Liberal Party of the Philipines, Ms Ng Yeen Seen ASLI and Prof Dato’ Dr. Sarah Kaur Gili.

Ambassador of China Dr. Huang Huikang with US Ambassador Joseph Yun.

Mr. Claude Smadja President of Smadja and Smadja and former Managing Director World Economic Forum speaking at the Asia Economic Summit.

Left to Right - Mr. Tay Kay Luan, Chief Executive, Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers, Tan Sri Razman Hashim, Director ASLI ; Mr. Osman Morad, Managing Director/CEO Standard Chartered Bank, Mr. Max Say ASLI , Mr. Daniel Loh BASF.

Youth & Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin with the ASLI team.

13

WCEF IN PICTURES

ASLI Director Puan Sri Susan Cheah with Minister in The Prime Minister Dept Dato Mah Siew Keong.

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Mr. Li Zhe Chairman of Riverside Group China, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew.

ASLI Senior Vice President Ms Ng Yeen Seen with Chairman Phoenix Satellite TV Sir Liu Changle.

WECF Chairman and ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh with Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Transport Minister Dato Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

Vice Precident of China Li Yuan Chao with former President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Chairman of Magnum Corporation & MPHB Capital Tan Sri Surin Upatkoon receiving Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Chairman of Phoenix Satellite TV from Hong Kong Sir Liu Changle receive his Lifetime Achievement Award.

Some of the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award.The Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Star Managing Director and CEO Dato Seri Wong Chun Wai.

Dr. Li Yao, Dr. John So, Dr. Tan Chin Nam, Ms Rossana Wong, Mr. Edmond Yeo and Dr. Sein-Wei Tan.

Dr. James Riady Chairman of Lippo Group Indonesia was also conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award for leadership in the construction industry.

14

ASLI HOSTS U.S. SENATORAND WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR

ASLI together with the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur hosted an exclusive dinner for the U.S. Senator for Tennessee Bob Corker during his first visit to the capital. The dinner provided an opportunity for the Republican politician and his delegation to meet with business leaders in Malaysia, and it was also attended by the Minister of International Trade & Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

Senator Corker expressed his admiration for the tremendous growth and development of the Malaysian economy. He also. stressed the importance of having an important strategic partnership between both countries and shared his optimism that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will play a fostering role. in deepening ties and securing peace in South China Sea.

On Tuesday, 15 July 2014, the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) hosted a special roundtable with President Barack Obama’s Senior White House advisor Dr Evan Medeiros to discuss the United States’ rebalance to Asia, US-Malaysia relations, US-China relations, and what the rebalance means for ASEAN.

Dr Medeiros began the discussion by describing reasoning behind the United States’ reengagement with Asia in terms of its self-identification as an Asia-Pacific power and its interests both economic and security related. His remarks demonstrated a forward looking approach in US foreign policy addressing not only current conditions but also the enduring projected impact that a developing Asia will have on American prosperity.

He went on to identify six policy priorities of the Obama administration’s plan to engage in an understanding and sustainable relationship with Asia.

1. The US will pursue partnerships with emerging powers, particularly with Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. In developing regional economic development and addressing security problems in the region “the US cannot do it alone”.

2. Building an open trade and investment environment in the region. The flagship method for enhancing trade and investment is the Trans-Pacific Partnership which will be capable of regulating higher level issues like barriers behind borders, intellectual property rights, and

government procurement and state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

3. Modernizing US alliances in the region. The United States force posture will assign right number and type of military personnel to the region along with the most advanced air and naval technology available. Furthermore the US will add a political collaborative non-military dimension to its alliances.

4. Participation in regional institutions. This allows to US and its partners to develop new rules and norms as well as enforce existing ones.

5. Fostering inclusive development and political stability. The US considers political, civil, and human rights as integral to regional stability.

6. People to people ties. Bucking traditional international relations fixations on economic and security matters, Dr. Medeiros highlighted the Fulbright Program and Young Southeast Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) in Malaysia as examples of the type of engagement over education, science & technology, business, and law the US wants to cultivate.

At the conclusion of his summation of the US policy priorities, Dr Medeiros asserted that ASEAN lay at the center of the United States’ rebalancing strategy. The US is well aware of the contributions the emerging, transitional, and advanced countries of ASEAN can make economically, as well as the strategic importance of area geographically, especially in terms of marine navigation.

The US is prepared to embrace regional multilateralism through, the East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Defense Ministerial Plus Meeting (ADMM+), the US-ASEAN Leaders Meeting, and other institutions. The US sees these institutions as forces to develop and encourage international rules and norms.

by affirming that the US is a global power and has been involved in diverse engagements all over the world for over 60 years.

In the next question Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam questioned whether the US’s rebalance was a strategy in the interest of all countries or that it

ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh delivering his welcome remarks whilst Senator Corker and other guests look on.

US Senator Bob Corker proposing a toast at the dinner. On his right is US Ambassador Joseph Yun.

Amb Yun, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Ms Ng Yeen Seen, Dr. Medeiros, Mr. Max Say, Tan Sri Navaratnam and Tunku Abidin.

Minister of International Trade and Industry Dato Seri Mustapa Mohamad delivering his remarks.

CEO AIM Mr. Mark Rozario, US Ambassador Joseph Yun and Senator Corker.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam presenting a memento to Dr Evan Medeiros.

Dato Charon Mokhzani, Ms. Tan Lei Cheng, Tan Sri Dr. Chua Soi Lek, Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad and Dato Fu Ah Kiow.

Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang, Tan Sri Kishu, Tunku Abidin, Tan Sri Michael Chen and Tan Sri Radzi Mansor.

(Cont. to page 17)

15

HUMAN CAPITAL SUMMIT

The Summit is named the Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Human Capital Summit 2014 in honour of the former Prime Minister who was also the Minister of Education and is passionate about human capital development in our country.

The theme of the summit was ‘Unleashing the Human Potential to Create Sustainable High Performance’.

In the Opening Keynote Address, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had raised several important issues pertaining to human capital in Malaysia. He noted that one of the key challenges in the world today is getting the right talent to suit various industries current and future needs. He also outlined the measures taken by the Malaysian government to ensure adequate supply of quality human capital to drive the growth of the Malaysian economy to be a high-income nation by 2020.

He had made an interesting observation where female students made up 60-70% of student population in local colleges and universities which he thought would not augur well for our society since males are traditionally seen as the head of the family. This role is now being seen taken over by women. He hoped there would be a more balanced male-female population in our higher institutions to avoid long term adverse impact.

YB Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister of Youth and Sports, delivered the Ministerial Luncheon Keynote Address where he spoke candidly on the importance of vocational and technical education worldwide but sadly not so in Malaysia. Instead, a career in this area is said to be looked down by the Malaysian society. He urged those who were present to change this perception because there is a high demand for technical workers in Malaysia as 62% of local businesses find it hard to source skilled workers. He added that 3.3 million new vacancies would be added into the workforce by year 2020 and at least 46% of this placement will require training to vocational of certificate standard whereas only 22% of those vacancies created will require university qualification.

This Summit had addressed a gamut of issues pertaining to human capital in Malaysia. It included revisiting the human capital strategy in the 10th Malaysia Plan to evaluate its effectiveness. In the session entitled - ‘Rethinking the Malaysian Human Capital Strategy: Are We on the Right Track?’ the panelists discussed the lack of quality human capital and the ways to improve the situation. The panelists were Datuk Dr. Pang Chau Leong, Director-General, Department of Skills Development, Ministry of Human Resources, Ms. Tan Mei Ling, Associate Director, Human Capital Development, Performance Management Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) and Mr Sanjeev Nanavati, President, American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce. The session was moderated by Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Director, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute & Chairman, Centre for Public Policy Studies.

Another related topic was the importance of upskilling thorough vocational education. In the session ‘Vocational and Technical Training in Malaysia: Upskilling in the 21st Century Workplace’ the panelists shared their views on the need to change our perception of vocational and technical education and cited how Australia has been successful in promoting this type of education. The panelists for the session were Puan Hafidzah Binti Omar, Senior Assistant Director (Vocational Sector), Technical and Vocational Education Division, Ministry of Education, Ms Karen Welsh, Counsellor (Education & Science), Australian High Commission and Datuk Hj. Shamsuddin Bardan, Executive Director, Malaysia Employers Federation. The moderator of the session was Datuk Dr. Pang Chau Leong, Director-General, Department of Skills Development, Ministry of Human Resources

Professor Datuk Ir. Dr Wahid bin Omar, Vice-Chancellor, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Prof. Dr. Imran Ho Abdullah, Deputy vlce-chanceilor (Industry & Community Partnerships), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia had shared their views on the benefits of university-industry partnership in creating a critical mass of talent in the session - ‘Enhancing University-Industry Partnership: Developing Human Capital for Industry’.

The other factor that drove top performance is the importance of. ethical leadership in creating a transparent,open and honest culture where integrity becomes the core value of an organisation. This was discussed in ‘Ethical Leadership and Staff Effectiveness’ session and the panelists were Mr. Andreas Dorn, Asia Mind Dynamics Sdn Bhd and Mr. Mohd Khaidzir Shahari, Executive Director, KPMG Management & Risk Consulting Sdn Bhd. Datuk Seri Mohamed Iqbal Rawther, Chairman, Malaysia Institute of Management moderated the session.

This Summit also looked at women’s role in Malaysia where Dr. Elizabeth Lee, Senior Executive Director, Sunway Education Group and Ms Rejina Rahim, Managing Director, Nomura Asset Management shared their experiences and views on how to organisations should response to the changing societal needs. Puan Nor Salinun Mohd Ghazali Head of Corporate Strategy’, IA Group moderated the interesting session.

The Summit was closed by YABhg. Tun Dato’ Seri Zaki Tun Azmi, Chancellor of Multimedia University & Former Chief Justice of Malaysia.

The summit was jointly organised by the Asian Strategy Leadership Institute and the Bukit Mertajam High School Alumni of which YABhg Tun Abdullah was an illustrious alumni. The President of Bukit Mertajam High School Alumni, Datuk S. Kulasegaran also delivered the Welcome Remarks at the Opening Ceremony.

The Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Human Capital Summit 2014 was held on 22 October 2014 at the Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam moderating a session at the summit.Dato Kulasegaran presenting a memento to Tun Zaki.ASLI Director Mr. Lee Weng Keng presenting a memento to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Minister of Youth & Sports YB Khairy Jamaluddin Tan Sri Razman Hashim, Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi arriving at the summit.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Tan Sri Razman Hashim and Dato Kulasegaran.

16

NATIONAL UNITY FORUM

A National Unity Forum on “Strengthening the Voice of the Moderates, Moving Forward Together” was organized on 4th September, 2014 at the Palace of the Golden Horses, Selangor. The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, YB Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Kurup delivered the keynote speech at the event. Approximately 249 participants, representing the government agencies, political parties, academia, civil societies, NGOs, corporate leaders and members of public attended the event. The forum aimed at promoting the voices of moderates and to strengthen the spirit of moderation. The forum envisioned contributing to a better and more united Malaysia. The forum reflects upon the need for a renewed effort among walks of life to work towards maintaining national unity, as it is critlal for enabling Malaysia to be a peaceful and stable country. National Unity is also vital for Malaysia’s progressive development and for the nation’s growth. The discussion centred upon the need to restore the spirit of accommodation that underlies in the Federal Constitution and the principles of Rukun Negara. For national unity to happen, rejection of intolerance and incitement to violence on the basis of religion is fundamental to the sustainability of our long preserved unity. One of the most valuable aspects of this forum was the opportunity to discuss how different segments of society, ranging from ordinary grassroots citizens, youth, senior leaders and policy makers can come together to address the forces that are pulling our nation apart.

At the core of discussion, there was a distinctive level of realization that irresponsible politicians are playing the racial cards to cause frictions and dissent. A lack of strong leadership in creating an enabling environment in de-Iegitimatising the extremist voices, also contributes to the rise of extremism in this country. The influence of media has been and remain profound, such that media has further intensify the voice of the extremists. A lack of unity is also primarily conceived in terms of intra-

religious harmony; despite protections for certain groups are placed in the Constitutions. Strengthening the regional unity between the peninsular Malaysia and the East Malaysia is seen as one of the pre-requisites to achieving national unity in Malaysia. Important steps towards achieving national unity include but not limited to strengthening gender equality and the priority of embracing diversity, evaluation of all initiatives introduced by the government to promote national unity, and unity impact assessment be introduced and undertaken prior to any initiatives in developing policies. As Rukun Negara serves as a fundamental tenet to national unity, more needs to be one to strengthen nation’s commitment to uphold the federal constitution, rule of law and to encourage citizens to be more united. ASLI proposed the adoption of six key measures to strengthen National Unity:-

Firstly: let us uphold the Federal Constitution and, defend the Constitution as it encapsulates the social contract upon which this national was founded and accords protection for the rights of all Malaysians.

Secondly: let us all uphold and practice the Rukunegara as our way of life.

Thirdly: we should refrain from making extremist remarks or doing extremist things. Moderate Malaysians must stand up to condemn extremist voices and extremist actions.

Fourthly: we need to compromise and seek win-win solutions for any conflicts or disputes we may have in resolving or mediating disputes.

Fifthly: we must accept, tolerate and recognize each other’s sensitivities and the sensitivities of all races and religions practices in Malaysia.

Sixthly: we must celebrate our diversity and come together as a nation, as we did so on 22nd August - the National Day of mourning for MH17.

Left to right:- Mr. Tan Koon Swan, Chairman, Tung Ling Corporation; Datuk Sri Iqbal Rawther; Chairman, MIM; Ms Jean Wong, Advisor, ASLI, Dato’ Chong Huck Joo, General Manager, TNB, Chairman’s Office.

Left to right: Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, CEO, Global Movement of Moderates Foundation; Mr. Gan Ping Sieu, Co-President, Centre for Better Tomorrow; Tan Dr. Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman, ASLI-CPPS; Datuk Seri Iqbal Rawther, Chairman, MIM; and Prof. Tan Sri Dr. Sharifah Hapsah, President, National Council of Women’s Organisation and former Vice-Chancellor, UKM.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, YB Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Joseph Kurup arriving at the conference accompanied by Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Director, ASLI.

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO. ASLI sharing a view with Dato Seri Wong Chun Wai, CEO, STAR. Looking on are Tan Sri Samsudin Osman, Chairman, NUCC, YB Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, Founder and Group Adviser, Country Heights and Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman, ASLI-CPPS.

The Minister presenting a sponsor plague to Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew Founder and Group Adviser, Country Heights. Looking on is Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI.

Recitation of Rukunegara (left to right): Tan Sri Samsudin Osman, Chairman NUCC; Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO, ASLI; YB Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department; Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, Founder & Group Adviser Country Heights and Dato Seri Wong Chun Wai, CEO, STAR.

Left to right:- YB Liew Chin Tong, DAP MP & Central Executive Committee Member; Mr. Arthur Joseph Kurup, Youth Chief and Vice President, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah; Ms Ng Yeen Seen, Senior Director, ASLI-CPPS; Mr. Zaim Mohzani, Convenor, Najib Rajan Club; Mr. Mohamad Faiz Ab. Rahman, Former Chairman, UKEC; and Mr. Michael Teoh, Founder & Lead Global Traveller.

17

NATIONAL UNITY FORUM

YB Liew Chin Tong, DAP MP & Central Executive Committee Member speaking at the conference. Looking on are Mr. Arthur Joseph Kurup, Youth Chief and Vice President, Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah; Mr. Zaim Mokhzani, Convenor, Najib Razak Club; Ms Ng Yeen Seen, Senior Director ASLI-CPPS.

Dr. Azmi Sharom, Assoc Professor, Faculty of Law University of Malaya/Star Columnist; speaking at the conference. Looking on are YB Dato’ Dr. Mujahid Yusof Rawa Member of Parliament/Chairman, PAS National Unity Bureau; Mr. Ho Khek Hua, Director of National Integrated Research & Tourism Institute.

From left to right: Dato’ Chong Huck Joo, General Manager, Chairman’s Office, Tenaga Nasional Berhad; Mr. Ho Khek Hua, Director of National Integration Research & Training Institute; Tan Sri Lee Kim Yew, Founder and Group Advisor, Country Heights Holdings; Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam, Former Archbishop of KL; Dato’ Seri Wong Chun Wai, CEO, Star Publication; Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO ASLI; Rev Julian Leow, Archbishop of KL.

Left to right:- Prof Dr. Suresh Kumar Govind, President, Sathya Sai Baba Central Council of Malaysia; Puan Zainah Anwar, Foundation Member, Sisters in Islam; Assoc Prof. Dr. Madeline Berma, Director, Tun Fatimah Hashim Women’s Leadership Centre; Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, Vice Chairman, NUCC; and Datuk Dr. Denison Jayasooria, Principal Research Fellow, KITA, UKM.

WORLD MUSLIM LEADERSHIPFORUM (Cont. from page 7)

in the halal food production and export trade are only a handful amounting to a mere 20% of halal food production. Therefore, the opportunities for expansion, is huge. There is a great demand for more exchange of experience and innovative ideas. The application and implementation of halal standards and promoting the halal concept as a holistic way of life, is another leadership challenge facing the Muslim world.

The leaders and delegates gathered at the Third Session of the World Muslim Leadership Forum held in London, hereby resolve that:

1. Realising that continuous dialogues are important for peace building and for the resolution of conflicts, the voice of moderation should be heard louder and in this regards the efforts of the Global Movement of Moderates needs active support and participation to champion the views of the moderates.

2. The role of women needs to be supported and more opportunities should be created for Muslim women in all sectors of society, both in traditional societies as well as in modern sectors.

3. Religious harmony needs to be maintained at the national and international level and for this purpose engagement with dissenting groups and inter-faith dialogues should be encouraged.

4. OIC member countries need to strengthen human rights practices and consider the establishment of an intergovernmental commission for the promotion and protection of human rights.

5. The growth of Islamic Finance is a key success story of Muslim leadership and should be a model for success in other spheres.

6. The support from the United Nations for the Forum, is appreciated and the message from the UN Special Envoy on South-South Cooperation and the UN Representative to OIC, is helpful to get global recognition for the initiatives taken by the WMLF, with its Secretariats in Europe and in Asia.

7. The Islamic world, especially Muslim entrepreneurs should take account of the global food security issues and prepare to embark on projects and programmes to increase the production of halal food for the world market.

simply represent the US pursuing its provincial interests. He also asked what benefits of the rebalance would accrue specifically to Malaysia and ASEAN.

Dr Medeiros’s response was that United States has built its foreign policy by forming relationships based on mutual benefit and mutual respect. He emphasized that participation in Washington’s neoliberal order is 100% voluntary. “If you don’t want to be in TPP; you don’t have to join TPP”. Dr Medeiros noted that US interests appear to be in line with the Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib administration’s goals and that projections by the Peterson Group show Malaysia gaining significant benefits from the TPP.

Responding to a question on the United States’ approach to China, Dr Medeiros explicitly stated that the United States is not preoccupied by viewing China as a threat, instead he focused on their mutual economic ties, China is the US’s second biggest trade partner accounting for $500 billion annually, tempered by areas of complication like intellectual property rights and market access. Additionally he highlighted the security contributions China has made in dealing with North Korea and as part of the P5+ 1 talks on Iran. That is not to say that the US will ignore China’s military development. Dr Medeiros expressed US concern over cyber security issues and a need to be “mindful” of China’s potential to become a destabilizing force.

For the final question of the event, Andrew Khoo of the Malaysian Bar Council asked how human rights will fit into US rebalance ambitions for expanding economic and military ties with countries that have checkered pasts in regard to human rights.

Once again Medeiros referred back to one of the concepts from his opening presentation: fostering inclusive development and political stability. He affirmed that human rights concerns are always at the forefront of American diplomacy. Cognizant of this he described how the US has to advocate for human rights while still be respectful towards ruling powers in order to maintain progress in relationship building. He referenced President Obama’s recent press conference during his visit to Malaysia where he brought up problems of rule of law, religious freedom, opposing extremism in a way that acknowledged that the US shares similar problems and they both need to work towards improving.

ASLI HOSTS U.S. SENATORAND WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR(Cont. from page 14)

18

CHINA’S AMBASSADOR ON40 YEARS BILATERAL TIES

Dato Naim Mohamad, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, YB Nurul Izzah and Dato Izat Emir.

Pantai Member of Parliament & PKR Vice President YB Nurul Izzah asking a question.

Front row – Mr. Max Say, Ms Tan Lei Cheng, Mr. Gan Ping Seau, Tan Sri Kishu and Tan Sri Wong Foon Meng.

ASLI held a corporate Malaysia Roundtable to commemorate 40 years of bilateral Malaysia-China Relation with a Special Address by the Ambassador of China. Investments from Chinese companies into Malaysia is expected to exceed US$2 billion this year driven by the establishment of the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park, said Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Huang Huikang.

He said China would continue to encourage its companies to invest in Malaysia and this year, a big project would materialise.

“A big steel plant with a cost of US$1.4 billion will be built at the park and upon completion, it will produce 3.5 million tonnes of high quality steel,” he said at the Special Meeting of Corporate Malaysia Roundtable on the 40th Anniversary of Malaysia-China Relations.

Amb Dr. Huang said so far Malaysian companies have been investing more in China, reaching US$7 billion last year, compared with Chinese companies investment in Malaysia, which stood at US$1 billion.

However, he is confident that the unbalanced investment between the two countries will improve going forward as China’s investment has roughly maintained its momentum.

He emphasised that the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 incident on March 8, which carried 153 Chinese passengers, would not jeopardise Malaysia and China’s long-term friendship.

“We have repeatedly said that the MH370 is an incident that can happen to any country and any airline.

“We appreciate the Malaysian government’s determination to continue the search and rescue operation until the airplane is found,” he added.

The roundtable, organised by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, aims to create a better understanding of Malaysia and China’s strategic partnership among the business community.

ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh presenting a memento to Ambassador Dr. Huang.ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh with Ambassador of China, H.E. Dr. Huang Huikang.

Ambassador Dr. Huang, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Dato A.P. Yong.

Dato Alan Tong, Dato Jebasingham Issace John, Ms Jean Wong and Tan Sri Wong Foon Meng.

SWISS EXPERIENCE ON FEDERALISM

This intimate discussion was organised for visiting Swiss Expert and Member of Parliament, Mr Andi Gross to share his views’ on the the Swiss experience on Federalism and to provide potential lessons for Malaysia.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman of Centre for Public Policy Studies opened the afternoon’s event by stating how many of Mr Gross’ areas of research were similar to the problems faced by Malaysia. These included asylum seekers, discrimination against gays and lesbians, and the state of democracy. Tan Sri Ramon thanked Mr Gross on behalf of everyone present for coming to Malaysia to share his ideas and knowledge.

Ms Ng Yeen Seen, Senior Vice President / Chief Strategy & Programme Officer, ASLI, welcomed all the distinguished guests in attendance and invited a fruitful and intellectual discussion on the topic of federalism and the Swiss experience and what lessons could be learnt from this for Malaysia.

H.E. Dr. Rolf Lenz, Swiss Ambassador, introduced Mr Andi Gross as both a politician and a notable scholar in political science. He noted that Mr Gross was responsible for reports and studies in the Council of Europe, as well as being a member of observation in elections in European countries mandated by the council.

Mr Andi Gross, Swiss Member of Parliament, outlined what he called his 7 theses as the main thrust of his presentation. This outlined:

1) Federalism is what to share and decentralise powers in order to marriage the unity of the state and the diversity of the society.

2) Federations with their decentralisations and autonomies have a centrifugal tendency which need to be balanced. In Switzerland this function is realised paradoxically by its direct democracy.

3) Direct democracy can be understood as the democratic sister of federalism because it’s another way how to share power (vertically instead of horizontally).

4) Federations are power arrangements, which now and then have to be renegotiated in ways which are fixed in the constitution, the basic agreement between the citizens, the states and the federation.

5) In Switzerland people appreciate federalism and direct democracy because both are seen as ways to maximise freedom - in the sense that together we can influence the conditions and forms of our lives.

(Cont. to page 19)

19

SIF / CPPS BUDGET ROUNDTABLE

This timely discussion was focused on the key thrusts of Budget 2015. Expectations were runing high that the Government would introduce mitigating measures to alleviate the rising cost of living faced by the people and provide new incentives to companies amid the impending implementation of the goods and services tax (GST). But, at the same time, it is was widely expected that there would be no let-up in fiscal consolidation under Budget 2015 as the government strived to meet its deficit and debt level reduction targets.

Ms Ng Yeen Seen, Senior Vice President/ Chief Strategy & Programme Officer, ASLI, Senior Director, CPPS, opened the discussion by noting that it promised an array of benefits while also keeping a focus on easing the financial burden of Malaysian’s and boosting local economic growth.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman of CPPS, noted that when the public looks at a budget they often think “what’s in it for me”. Though this is a natural reaction to government announcements, the role of the budget is only one-fifth of consecutive five-year plans, so it is important to see how it fits into a larger strategy, he said.

Encik Mohd Esa Manaf, Undersecretary of Fiscal and Economics Division (FED) in the Ministry of Finance (MoF), was the first invited speaker to present. Mr Manaftalked of the department’s development philosophy when formulating the budget. He said that this included ten areas which were to be included: (1) A People’s Economy, (2) Growth with Distribution, (3) Resilience and Competitiveness, (4) Inclusiveness (race, gender, age, income and etc.), (5) Fiscal sustainability, (6) Inflation: low and manageable, (7) Creativity, Innovation and Commercialisation, (8)Employment and entrepreneurship, (9) Social safety net, (10) Environment.

Mr. Stewart Forbes, Executive Director, Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MICCI), argued that from the government’s perspective, Budget 2015 will enable them to raise more revenue through the use of the GST. As an outcome of this, more revenue would be generated if there is continued investment and trade in Malaysia. He also said that it is not difficult to see why there is subsidy rationalisation and the maximisation of public-private partnerships (PPP) - it means less expenditure for the government.

Pauline Lum, Executive Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers Taxation (PwC), explained that the budget documents have indicated how much net revenue the government is expecting to raise from the GST and that through the programme spending outlined, this will explain where this will be funnelled back to - ultimately the economy. Ms Lum also said that this will result in more people having higher disposable incomes, which through the new consumption tax, will also feed back into the economy.

Datuk Nicholas Zeffreys, Former President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), said that over the years, Malaysia’s deficit has been as high as 4.5%. In 2015, it is projected that the deficit will be reduced to 3%. He hoped that Malaysia will have a zero deficit by year 2020. On the GST, he went on to share that almost 90% of countries globally have adopted a GST system. As part of the GST policy initiatives, Datuk Nicholas also mentioned that over 900 items will be exempt.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam closed the day by noting that the one thing holding Malaysia back was a lack of meritocracy. This lack of competition is a big argument, Tan Sri Ramon noted, and it leads to a choice of the New Economic Model substituting the New Economic Policy. He also said that there has been a lack of political will to do what many other countries had done, which was to have fair and free, but also managed competition.

Mr. Stewart Forbes of MICCI, Mr. Mohd Esa Manaf from Ministry of Finance and Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.

SIF and CPPS Chairman, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam and the Panel of Speakers.

Former AMCHAM President Datuk Nicholas Zeffreys and Ms. Pauline Lum of PWC Taxation.

The Panel speakers.

Participants at the roundtable.Mr. Gan Ping Siau and Tan Sri Dr. Fong Chan Onn.

CPPS YOUTH PUBLICPOLICY ROUNDTABLE

CPPS organised a roundtable discussion on the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) on July 23rd, 2014 at the Malaysian Houses of Parliament. It was co- chaired by Ms Ng Yeen Seen and Mr Arthur Kurop, the Youth Chief and Vice President of the Sabah United People’s Party of Malaysia. The aim of the workshop was to gather young leaders below 40 years of age, from different organisations and affiliations to provide comments and recommendations to be submitted to the government. It is envisioned that the inputs submitted are to be incorporated in the 11th Malaysia Plan. At the roundtable, four main themes were covered: Liveable Cities, Convergence in Rural Communities,’ Resilient Governance and a Competitive Economy. Around 80 participants attended the roundtable.

6) The blood of direct democracy and federalism are the open and never ending deliberations. They’re at the open public sphere. The. quality of both determines the political stability of the system.

7) Today we need to think about federalism because it’s the only way how democracy can go transnational and might be constitutionally transnational. In order to be able to civilise the global market forces. This is one of the (hidden) perspectives of the European Union (EU).

On the day, Mr Gross also noted that although Malaysia is very diverse, the centralisation of Switzerland is much more than the decentralised Malaysia. In Switzerland decentralisation was important because when the state’ was made we never had a king or someone at the top, Mr Gross argued. This is why in the first constitution we had to respect large powers given to the states and only smaller ones given to the federal government.

SWISS EXPERIENCEON FEDERALISM(Cont. from page 18)

20

SARAWAK BUSINESS SUMMIT

Y.B. Senator Datuk Dr. Sim Kui Hian, President of Sarawak United Peoples’ Party delivering his presentation.

Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit, CEO of Sarawak Energy Bhd moderating a session with panel speakers Tan Sri Datuk Amar Wilson Baya Dandot, CEO of RECODA (on his right), Datuk N. Rajendran, Deputy CEO II, MIDA and Dato’ Paul Koon, CEO of Press Metal Bhd.

The Sarawak Business Summit is a premier event in East Malaysia. It had brought together corporate leaders, state leaders, policy makers, economists and NGOs with strong interest in Sarawak to share their views and observations on the key drivers and challenges in the development of Sarawak for the coming decades. The theme of the summit was ‘Turning Sarawak into a Business Hub of Malaysia’.

Many important updates and issues were discussed at length during the summit. The summit kicked off with an economic update on Sarawak where the experts shared their views on its economic performance for 2014 and also the forecast for 2015. The discussion also touched on potential growth areas and new industries to emerge in the coming years as the result of the state government’s policies which included the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE). The panelists were Datuk Abang Haji Abdul Karim Tun Abang Hj Openg, President, Sarawak Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Zakariah Abdul Rashid, Executive Director, Malaysian Institute of Economic Research and Datu Haji Ismawi bin Haji Ismuni, Director, State Planning Unit,.Chief Minister’s Department. Professor James Chin, Director, Government Studies, Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Sovtheast Asian Studies moderated the session.

Another interesting session - ‘Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy: Powering New Opportunities for Investors’ had provided new insights into the current development and the projects implemented under SCORE so far. This massive project has provided many investment and business opportunities in the state and many have deemed SCORE to be the game changer for . Sarawak to a high income nation by 2030. The session panellists were Tan Sri Datuk Amar Wilson . Baya Dandot, Chief Executive Officer, Regional Corridor Development Authority (RECODA), Datuk N. Rajendran, Deputy Chief Executive Officer II, Malaysia Investment Development Authority, and Dato’ Paul Koon, Chief Executive Officer, Press Metal Bhd. Datuk Torstein Dale Sjotveit, Chief Executive Officer, Sarawak Energy moderated the session.

One of the highlights of the summit was the Special Leaders Forum: The Future of Sarawak. This lively session had brought together Sarawak

leaders to share their visions of Sarawak in the next two decades and how they hoped to turn those visions into reality. The discussions also touched on some of the challenges they are facing or might face and also ways to enhance Sarawak integration into the Federation of Malaysia. The forum was moderated by Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Chief Executive Officerl Director, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute and the leaders that joined the discussion were YB Hajah Nancy Shukri, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, YB Dato’ Sri Wong Soon Koh, Minister of Finance (II) and Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Sarawak, YB Baru Bian, Leader of Opposition, Sarawak and Chairman, PKR Sarawak and Mr John Teo, Journalist, New Straits Times.

The session - ‘Human Capital Development in Sarawak: Challenges and Opportunities’ discussed the human capital development in Sarawak and the challenges faced by the state in producing quality human capital to fill up the various vacancies there. The panelists for the session were YB Dr Hazland bin Abang Hipni, State Assemblyman for Demak Laut!Board Member of Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Bumiputera Sarawak (TEGAS), Mr Anthony Raja Devadoss, Vice President - Asia Pacific, KellyOCG and Mr August Buma, Director, Department of Labour Sarawak, Ministry of Human Resources. The session was moderated by Ms Ng Yeen Seen, Senior Vice President! Chief Strategy & Programme Officer, ASLII Senior Director, Centre for Public Policy Studies.

Participants also had the opportunity to understand the government’s efforts to bring the Sarawak tourism industry to the next level by making ira” destination of choice in the session - ‘Tourism in Sarawak: Making Sarawak a Destination of Choice’, The panelists were Dato’ Rashid Khan, Chief Executive Officer, Sarawak Tourism Board, Dato’ Dr Au Yong Kien Hoe, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Normah Medical Specialist Centre and Mr Mike Cannon, Chief Executive Officer, Sarawak Convention Bureau while Puan Audry Wan Ullok, President, Sarawak . Tourism Board was the moderator.

There was also a Roundtable Discussion to discuss the factors that would help turn the Sarawak into a high-income state by 2030.

Distinguished panel of the special leaders forum : YB Dato’ Sri Wong Soon Koh, Minister of Finance II and Minister of Local government and Community Development Sarawak, YB Hajah Nancy Shukri, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Tan Sri Dr. Michael Yeoh, CEO of ASLI, YB Baru Bian, Chairman of PKR Sarawak and Mr. John Teo, Journalist, New Straits Times.

ASLI’s CEO, Tan Sri Dr Michael Yeoh presenting a memento to the Chief Minister of Sarawak, Y.A.B Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Haji Adenan bin Haji Satem whilst the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Y.B. Hajah Nancy Shukri looks on.

Prominent speakers at the Sarawak Economic Update Session. From left to right : Prof. James Chin, Director of Governance Studies Programme, Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia, Datuk Abang Haji Abdul Karim Tun Abang Haji Openg, President of Sarawak Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dato Haji Ismawi bin Haji Ismuni, Director of State Planning Unit and Dr. Zakariah Abdul Rashid, Executive Director of Malaysian Institute of Economic Research.

Tan Sri Peter Chin, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Tan Sri Adenan Satem and Hajah Nancy Shukri.

(Cont. to page 21)

Ms Ng Yeen Seen, Sr. Vice President/Chief Strategy & Programme Officer, ASLI Moderating at a session. On her right : YB Dr Hazland bin Abang Hipni, State Assemblyman for Demak laut and Mr. Anthony Raja Devadoss, Vice President-APAC, Kelly OCG. On her left : Assoc. Prof Dr. Firdaus Abdullah, Head, Centre of Graduate Studies and Head of Corporate Communications & International Relations, Universiti Teknologi MARA Sarawak and Mr. August Buma, Director, Department of Labour Sarawak.

21

STRATEGIC ISSUES FORUM WITHMINISTER IN THE PRIME MINISTER’S DEPARTMENT

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO of ASLI and Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Chairman of CPPS, co-chaired this special Strategic Issues Forum roundtable discussion with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, YB Dato’ Mah Siew Keong. This was Dato’ Mah’s first public discussion since taking up his ministerial post.

The agenda for the day saw Dato’ Mah talking on the issue of nuclear energy in Malaysia - part of his portfolio responsibilities, as well as multi-racial politics - a topic of great personal importance to him. On the topic of nuclear energy, Dato’ Mah noted that the realisation of this had long been the ambition of the current Najib administration, but that in the current post-Fukushima climate, the government must go about this carefully, making sure it properly engaged all the relevant stakeholders through public dialogue and education.

Dato’ Mah explained that the Malaysian Nuclear Power Corporation (MNPC), established in 2011, will oversee the development of Malaysia’s nuclear ambitions. This was necessary, he said, because at the moment 40% of Malaysia’s energy comes from natural gas and approximately 50% comes from mostly imported coal. On current trends, due to declining gas production, only 27% of Malaysia’s energy will come from natural gas, pushing the share of imported coal above 60%. .

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam noted that given the short time that Dato’ Mah Siew Keong had spent in the Ministry, it was impressive how much he had already learnt and said that the biggest challenge would be to come up with a public relations programme for this policy, as the public will often oppose these things - we can see this from TPP, but often it is simply through a lack of awareness.

Questions for Dato’ Mah Siew Keong ranged from inquiring as to whether a new Atomic Energy Act is necessary, to the importance of balancing the debate between the need for nuclear energy with that of sustainability as a whole.

Date’ Mah Siew Keong replied to the issue of establishing a new act by saying that this is being done in consultation with the International Nuclear Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - the highest and strictest authority on the issue. On the issue of sustainability, Dato’ Mah said that technologies like solar power capture the imagination of everyone, however, in many countries they are not feasible. He said that while it may be good for individual households, it might not be for large areas.

On the issue of multi-racial politics in Malaysia, Dato’ Mah said that this is where the future of Malaysia’s politics lies. Furthermore, he noted that

while Gerakan is a multi-racial party, the leaders of some of the other race-based component parties are very forward looking and interested in inclusiveness and 1Malaysia. However, in being the leader of a race-based party, there are certain priorities that must be shown because of who voted for you. Dato’ Mah said that this can be seen when leaders are popular with those outside the party but lose their own seats, for example Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah.

Dato’ Mah argued that a truly multi-racial party needs to attract votes from everybody because it is meant to represent everybody. This will make us more moderate, he said. However, he noted that 80% of his members are Chinese and how this was also a constraint. Although he did add that his senior leadership group included both Indians and devoted Muslims, and that this multi-ethnic makeup within Gerakan factored into decision-making.

The Q&A session began with a few comments from those in attendance as to how they saw the issue of multi-racial politics in Malaysia. This involved things such as how it is somewhat token to say multi-racial politics here, as the reality is we are not 1Malaysia. The press’ role in disseminating information was also called into question, with the comment being made that they have a responsibility to participate in the process of national unity instead of always trying to chase a juicy story.

Dato’ Mah began in response by saying that as President of Gerakan he has had ongoing problems regarding the press. He said that he will usually tell them what he thinks is the truth, and often this translates to one line in print that did not truly reflect what he said anyway.

Following, Dato’ Ma said that we all know the. problems facing Malaysia, but it will be about how we address them. He drew attention to the fact that Gerakan does not have a race column on their membership form. This means that when people ask how many of his members are Chinese or Indian, he cannot actually answer. He also said that in some ways he is glad that he previously lost the election and spent 6 years outside government, as it gave him some perspective.

Dato’ Mah finished by saying that in MATRADE he learnt that the biggest opportunities for Malaysia lie in India, China and the Middle East. He said that Malaysian’s have the unique opportunity in that our Chinese brothers can help us move into China, helped by the fact that the language they speak is the same. The same goes culturally for India with our Indian brothers and in the Middle East for our Muslim Malay community. He qualified this by saying that this was not him being racial, but rather looking for ways to strengthen the country.

Puan Sri Susan Cheah presenting a memento to Dato Mah.Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Dato Mah Siew Keong and Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam.

Tan Sri Robert Phang (extreme right) and Dato Wei Chuan Beng of Redtone.

Tan Sri Michael Chen, Tan Sri Radzi Mansor and other participants.

Mr. Richard Tankersley, Dato Aziz Bahaman, Tan Sri Kishu and H.E. Maria Rendon.

Mr. Michael Chow (center) and Tan Sri Danny Ooi (2nd from right).

Y.A.B. Tan Sri Datuk Patinggi (Dr) Haji Adenan bin Haji Satem, Chief Minister of Sarawak had kindly graced the summit and also delivered the Opening Keynote Address. In his address entitled: “Sarawak Looking Ahead: New Vision, New Frontier, New Opportunities”, the Chief

Minister shared his views and ways to turn Sarawak to be an economic powerhouse in the coming years.

The successful summit was closed byTan Sri Peter Chin, former Senior Cabinet Minister.

SARAWAK BUSINESS SUMMIT (Cont. from page 20)

22

URBAN TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT

The Transport Minister being welcomed by ASLI’s Mr. Max Say, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Ms Jean Wong.

The Minister presenting a memento to the corporate sponsor. China Ambassador Dr. Huang Huikang greeting Dato Seri Liow at the Forum.

Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) organised the Urban Transportation Summit with theme “Connecting the Mobility Dots” on the 6th of November at Berjaya Times Square Hotel. This forum was supported by Scania South East Asia.

The Urban Transportation Forum is the leading national event that aims to promote discussions and dialogues on effectiveness of Malaysia’s urban public transport system. This Summit updates the participants on the progress achieved in MRT construction as well as other projects to improve urban public transport. This event also evaluates the opportunities for the private sector in the urban public transport sector and promotes dialogue between government and private sector. The event kicked off with Tan Sri Michael Yeoh , CEO of ASLI presenting welcoming remarks and introducing the Minister of Transport Y.B. Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai to provide the opening keynote. Y.B Dato Sri Liow has promised the facets of urbanised transportation will change the landscape in Malaysia in coming years due to many projects and government initiatives are placed to ensure a better system is made available for the public.

The first session was a Special Presentation by PEMANDU on Urban Planning Transport: Riding the Wave of GTP 2.0 for better future. Mr. Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah Director National Key Economic Area - Greater KL/Klang Valley & National Key Results Area - Urban Public Transport, Performance Management & Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), Prime Minister’s Department which showcased the GTP 2.0 roll out. Session 2 was titled Urban public Transport: Are we there yet and was Moderated by Tan Sri Michael Yeoh Chief Executive Officer, Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute and the Panellists Tuan Haji Idros Bin Puteh Sales Director - Bus & Coach, Scania Southeast Asia, Scania Malaysia, Datuk Wira Azhar Abdul Hamid Chief Executive Officer, Mass Rapid Transit Corporation Sdn Bhd and Mr. M. Prakash Chandran President & Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Malaysia. They reach the conclusion that government and private providers are working hard to ensure the stated plans by the Minister is indeed in motion and we are hoping to get there by 2020. Session 3 was titled Intermodal Transportation Management and we had Dato’ Ir. Dr. Dennis

Ganendra Executive Director, Minconsult Sdn Bhd as the moderator and Ar. Mustapha Kamal Bin Zulkarnain, the Joint Founder, Kuala Lumpur Electric Vehicles Sdn Bhd and Mr. Ho Chin Soon Director, Ho Chin Soon Research Sdn Bhd as the panellist member. This session examined the concept of intermodal transportation Management and how do we move forward in the world.

We were honoured to receive YBhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Syed Hamid Bin Syed Jaafar Albar Chairman, Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) for the luncheon keynote where the title of his presentation was “Our Plan for the Future- The SPAD’s roll Out on Urban Public Transportation” . It was well received by the audience as YBhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Syed Hamid Bin Syed Jaafar Albar talked on the phase of integrated transportation system enhancement as well as cutting down further loop holes that are evident in the current system.

SESSION 4 was titled Urban Sprawl & the current sustainability management where Tan Sri. Eddy Chen Group Managing Director, MKH Berhad was the moderator and the panellists included Dr. Sucharita Srirangam Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture, Building & Design, Taylor’s University and Mr. Ishmael Ho Director, Ho Chin Soon Research Sdn Bhd.

This out of the box session examined on space management, the mapping of our transportation planning as well as the real estate sector engagement.

Session 5 was titled Enabling the transformation of Urban Public Transportation System .This session looked into how ideas that seemed far-fetched a decade before is transforming into near future reality.The Moderator was Mr. Suhaimi Yaacob President- Scomi Rail Transport Solutions Division, Scomi Engineering Sdn Bhd and as panellist we had Ar. Mustapha Kamal Bin Zulkarnain Joint Founder, Kuala Lumpur Electric Vehicles Sdn Bhd and Mr. Harvinder Singh Chairman cum Managing Director, PSI Incontrol Sdn Bhd. This was an interesting session as it focused on the current available technology that is implemented to create a seamless and speedy system for trains and buses.

The Chairman of the Public Land Transport Commission (SPAD) Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar speaking at the Forum.

Transport Minister Dato Seri Liow Tiong Lai delivering the keynote address.

Tan Sri Eddy Chen (center) Managing Director MKH Group with Dr. Sucharita and Mr. Ishmael Ho.President of Siemens Malaysia Mr. Prakash Chandran speaking at the Forum.

23

E-COMMERCE CONFERENCE

Mr. Shaifubahrim of PIKOM and Ms Carrire Teoh of Cybersecurity speaking in the Forum.

MDEC COO Ms Ng Wan Peng, Cik Reihanra Abdul Razak and Dato Wei Chuan Beng of Redtone.

Young speakers at the forum.

ASLI organised the e-Commerce Conference 2014 with the theme of “Expanding Horizons and Unleashing Opportunities” on 14th August 2014 at Hotel Istana Kuala lumpur. Around 82 e-Commerce pioneers, business owners and senior executives from the public and private sectors converged to learn from each other and to form strategic partnerships to further the e-Commerce agenda in order to capitalise on this new engine of growth, which is expected to grow to MYR1.9 billion by 2016.

Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, CEO and Director of ASLI warmly welcomed everyone and thanked Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia for joining the Conference. In his welcoming remarks, he expressed confidence that the growth of e-Commerce will benefit SMEs which make up the backbone of Malaysia’s economy.

Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin, the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia delivered the opening remarks, which focused on his thoughts about the current e-Commerce ecosystem and its future potential as well as the government’s efforts to assist Malaysian businesses venture into or expand their presence in the e-Commerce space. He noted that Malaysia was ranked 7th amongst developing countries in Asia with the most potential for e-Commerce growth globally and exhorted for SMEs to embrace e-Commerce to boost their competitiveness in the global marketplace. He also touched on the joint efforts by his Ministry with the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism as well as the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia in facilitating and growing e-Commerce.

The conference had a total of five sessions, which covered e-Commerce industry outlook in Malaysia, e-Commerce for SMEs, data integrity and security, personal journeys of e-Commerce entrepreneurs and mobile commerce.

In the first session titled “Government and Industry Roundtable: The Outlook for Malaysia’s e-Commerce Space,” Mr Pranabesh Nath, Associate Director in ICT Practice from Frost & Sullivan moderated the panel discussion amongst Mr Giulio Xiloyannis, Managing Director of ZALORA; Mr Mohamad Akbar Mahbat, Senior Undersecretary in the Communications Policy Division from the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia; Ms Ng Wan Peng, Chief Operating Officer from Multimedia Development Corporation; Ms Reihana Abd Razak, Chairman of the Tribunal for Consumer Claims Malaysia from the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism; and YBhg Dato’ Wei Chuan Beng, Managing Director of REDTone International. They

discussed about opportunities and challenges, stressing on the need to break the locality barrier, develop a code of conduct and ease transactions while maintaining a high level of security.

Mr Teh Kee Sin, President of the SME Association of Malaysia chaired the second session on “A Necessary Progression: e-Commerce for SMEs.” Mr Azizi Hadi, Executive Vice President of Telekom Malaysia spoke about their efforts in helping start-ups and SMEs. Next, Mr Edmund loh, an internet entrepreneur gave advice on improving website functionality to obtain leads and drive sales. Finally, Mr Chan Kok Long, Co-Founder and Executive Director of iPay88 spoke about their experience in Indonesia and the Philippines to provide guidance for start-ups and SMEs.

“Data is Everything! Ensuring Data Integrity and Security” was the third topic. Mr Shaifubahrim Saleh, President of the Malaysian Service Providers Confederation cum Advisor to the National ICT Association of Malaysia acted as the chairman and shared the stage with Ms Carrine Teoh Chooi Shi, Head of Product Development and Marketing from CyberSecurity Malaysia. The gist of their presentations focused on confidentiality, integrity and availability as the three most important elements of information security.

Next was a panel discussion entitled “Netrepreneur Roundtable: The Journey toward Success,” which was chaired by Mr Hugh Batley, Managing Director of Lion and Lion. Panelllsts comprised Ms Eliza Lee, Co-Founder of Phat Culture Enterprise; Mr Fong Wai Hong, Chieftian of StoreHub; Mr Sidney Ng, Marketing Director of Foodpanda: Mr Wilson Quah, Co-Founder of MilkADeal and Hishop.my; and Ms Hellen Fong, Owner of At Nineteen Culinary Studio. They candidly shared their experiences of both ups and downs, giving advice to aspiring entrepreneurs to be willing to get down and dirty, to truly care about customers, to always keep in mind margins to ensure the business’ sustainability and also to focus on ising system operations as efficiently as possible from the very beginning.

The conference concluded with an individual session titled “The Next Frontier: m-Commerce” featuring Mr Giulio Xiloyannis, Managing Director of ZALORA. He spoke about the need to make application interfaces more mobile friendly, and highlighted that in the Malaysian market iOS users tend to spend more online than Android users. He concluded with some thoughts on upcoming trends in driving m-Commerce sales through chat applications.

The German Ambassador Michael Holger, ASLI Director Puan Sri Susan Cheah, Minister of Science Technology & Innovation Dato’ Dr. Ewon Ebin and ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh.

The Minister being welcomed by Ms Elaine Kok, Mr. Max Say and Puan Sri Susan Cheah.

UPDATE ON MALAYSIA-THAILAND BUSINESS COUNCIL

The Malaysia-Thailand Business Council (MTBC) hosted the 2nd MTBC-TMBC Executive Committee Meeting on 25 September 2014 at Traders Hotel, Penang. MTBC’s delegation was headed by Mr Megat Mizan Nicholas Denny (Co-Chairman) while Thailand-Malaysia Business Council (TMBC),s delegation was headed by Mr Surong

Bulakul (Chairman). Special guests included Ms Srirat Vathesatogkit, Consul-General of the Royal Thai Consulate-General Penang and Dato’ Faudzi Naim Haji Noh, Chairman of the Joint Business Council Malaysia, Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle.

(Cont. to page 24)

24

MALAYSIA FOCUS FORUM IN LONDON

Malaysian High Commissioner to UK, Dato Ahmad Rasidi with ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh.

A Young Malaysians panel - Dr. David Wong, Mr. Kenny Goh, Mr. Henry Goh.

Tan Sri Razali Ismail addressing the Forum.

Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad, Dato Ahmad Rasidi, Tan Sri Razali Ismail and Dato Saifudin Abdullah.From right : Datuk S.K.Lingam, Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad, Tan Sri Dr. Munir Majid, Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and Mr. Ross Hunter.

UPDATE ON MALAYSIA-THAILAND BUSINESS COUNCIL(Cont. from page 23)The meeting began with welcoming remarks from Mr Surong who outlined his desire for TMBC and MTBC to play larger roles in further strengthening the business ties between Thailand and Malaysia. Next, Mr Megat reviewed the minutes of the 1st MTBC- TMBC EXCO Meeting held on 23 August 2013 in Bangkok. Mr Surong proposed to accept the minutes, which was seconded by Mr Megat. He then presented a brief report of MTBC’s participation in the Phuket-Penang History Symposium and the 2nd Thai-Malaysia Business Networking Dialogue from 17 to 19 September 2014 in Phuket. He also briefly highlighted developments on Malaysia-Thailand Halal Franchise.

The main agenda item was the ASEAN Customs Transit System (ACTS). Mr Megat invited a vendor, b’smart to present their proposal for setting up, implementing and maintaining a ‘Customs Fast Lane’ to fast track Thailand-Malaysia-Singapore transit cargo more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Discussions moderated by Mr Megat followed thereafter to enable both the MTBC and the TMBC to voice their concerns as well as their suggestions on possible ways of moving forward. Points raised included the need to ensure equal treatment and equal sharing between Thailand and Malaysia, fair payment for the use of each other’s resources, adaptation to mutually agreed upon ASEAN standards; removal of restrictions on perishable cargo from a 1979 agreement; and the introduction of a green (fast-track) lane for cargo from Thailand to Penang port.

At the end of the discussions, Mr Megat noted that the MTBC and the TMBC should keep their focus on logistics for the time being with a view towards achieving the four key points of standardisation, railway green (fast track) lane between Hatyai and Butterworth, bonded warehouse in Hatyai and Butterworth to support the proposed green lane, and the 1979 treaty on perishable cargo from Thailand to Slnqapore.

The Sri Lanka-Malaysia Business Council (SLMBC) visited its counterpart the Malaysia-Sri Lanka Business Chamber (MSLBC) on 17 October 2014 at the Royal Lake Club in Kuala Lumpur. During the visit, the inaugural Bilateral Executive Committee Meeting was held, followed by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and Business-to-Business Meetings. The MSLBC’s delegation was headed by Datuk Azzat Kamaludin (President) while the SLMBC’s delegation was headed by Ms Nilrukshi S.

ASLI and Malaysia Link UK and the Friends of BN UK organised a Malaysia Focus Forum at the Limkokwing University in London recently.

The Forum was officiated by the Malaysian High Commissioner in UK Dato Ahmad Rasidi and had Tan Sri Razali Ismail Special Envoy of the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Global Movement of Moderates delivering the Keynote Address.

ASLI CEO Tan Sri Michael Yeoh presented a paper on Malaysia’s Economic Outlook and Challenges whilst Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid Chairman of the CIMB Asean Research Institute spoke on the Challenges

and opportunities arising from the Asean Economic Community and Malaysia’s chairmanship of Asean in 2015.

A session on Malaysia’s political outlook was addressed by Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad former Editor in Chief of the New Straits Times and former Special Envoy to the UN and Dato Saifuddin Abdullah CEO Global Movement of Moderates and former Deputy Minister of Higher Education.

A young Malaysians session rounded up the Forum with presentations by Dr David Wong, Mr Kenny Goh and Mr Henry Goh

MALAYSIA SRI LANKA BUSINESS COUNCIL

De Silva (President). H.E. Ibrahim Ansar, High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Malaysia was the Guest-of-Honour.

The Bilateral Executive Committee Meeting began’ with Datuk Azzat expressing hope for it to be continued on an annual basis and Ms Nilrukshi expressing gladness in being able to bring a 14-member delegation to Kuala Lumpur. ASLI acts as the Secretariat for the MSLBC.