As Malaysia is facing the current rise in cost of living, we discussed the current approaches that the government is taking to address the issue. Ms. Shakira Teh also shared with us about a report that she has contributed to on cost of living challenges. Ms. Shakira Teh Sharifuddin Shakira Teh Sharifuddin is a Senior Economist with the Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Global Practice at the World Bank Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Finance Hub in Kuala Lumpur. She leads the publication for one of the Bank’s flagship reports, the bi-annual Malaysian Economic Monitor and participates in the Bank’s advisory and analytical engagements with the government. Shakira obtained her Master’s degree in Public Administration from Columbia University, New York and is currently a part-time PhD student at the Institute of Education at the University College London (UCL).

In this episode, we discussed the challenges faced by the youth to get employed and the consequences of youth unemployment. Additionally, we talked about approaches to continue supporting women in the battle of gender inequality in the workplace. Ms. Shakira Teh Sharifuddin Shakira Teh Sharifuddin is a Senior Economist with the Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Global Practice at the World Bank Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Finance Hub in Kuala Lumpur. She leads the publication for one of the Bank’s flagship reports, the bi-annual Malaysian Economic Monitor and participates in the Bank’s advisory and analytical engagements with the government. Shakira obtained her Master’s degree in Public Administration from Columbia University, New York and is currently a part-time PhD student at the Institute of Education at the University College London (UCL).

Sustainable Development Goals have been a hot topic these days, especially when we begin to reopen our economies and look towards Malaysia’s long term development plans. The SDGs remind us that it is not just economic development that’s crucial, but environmental and social aspects too. In this episode of EConversation, we speak to Mr Danesh Prakash Chacko from Jeffrey Sachs Centre about SDGs progress in Malaysia, and his initiative on helping track our development. Team: Wong Yit Xiang, Brien Foo, Au Jun Wei, Dinessh Kumar Thanasegeren

Blockchain, Bitcoin, NFTs, what do all these mean? The world has seen a growing trend and hype for the use of digital assets, and Malaysia has also hopped on the same bandwagon. The everyday consumer is now considering investment decisions that they otherwise would not have, hoping to earn a profit by the side. With all these unknown variables, we seek to debunk some myths and explore some concepts of digital assets with our country's money expert - Bank Negara. Today, we speak to Mr Yip Kah Kit and Ms Norasyikin about it. Host: Yaann Tan  Team: Wong Yit Xiang, Quek Chia Seng, Lim Ee Vi, Audrey Tan, Alya Shahrina Links mentioned in the podcast: BNM Box Article: https://www.bnm.gov.my/documents/20124/6458991/ar2021_en_box1.pdf Project Dunbar Report: https://www.bis.org/publ/othp47.pdf

With the Undi18 and the emergence of Mudah, the Malaysian Political environment perceived growing influence and participation from the youth.  However, this increasing engagement arrives at this time of unstable political landscape, namingly, the pandemic, and the Sheraton Move that brought 2 prime minister’s resignation.  How can us, the Generation Z, whether as voters, or as activists, continue to immerse in political debate, amidst the spiralling confusion and distrust?  We spoke to one of the founders of Malaysian think tank IDEAS (Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs), as well as one of our Internal Advisory Council Members, Tunku Zain, for insightful advice. Host: Sarah Binti Azri Wong Team: Yvonne Tan Yu Yan, Joel Cheung Yi Lin, Connor Neo Xue Ern, Sarah Binti Azri Wong, Khoo Weng Lum, Lim Ee Vi

COVID-19 has devastated the global tourism industry, none more so than a tourism reliant country like Malaysia. However as 2021 saw a massive vaccine roll out across the globe, reopening of economies and emergence of the Delta and Omicron strain, one question remains: Can Tourism Take Off Again in 2022? Should Malaysia now open up to international visitors and what kinds of impacts can a reopening benefit all Malaysians? We spoke to a tourism expert Faeez to find out more. Host: Wilson Cheah Team: Tengku Sofea Najwa, Rui Jie Ong, Khoo Weng Lum, Wilson Cheah

Food is something all Malaysians love, but what actually goes on behind the scenes of the food we eat daily ? In this episode, we discussed with Joo Parn who is in business operations, about the food supply chain especially during the Covid-19 outbreak as well as the new trends and developments within the food industry such as the emergence of alternative meat and milk. Host: Khoo Weng Lum Team: Chin Pei Yi, Rachel Goh, Wong Yit Xiang, Tan Uei Hann, Khoo Weng Lum

Unicorns are startups worth $1 billion or more. According to CIB Insights, 136 unicorns were created in the Second Quarter of 2021 which is more than the entire year of 2017 and growing by 491% compared to 2020. Hence, we decided to speak to a prominent Malaysian entrepreneur, Mr Kamarul who is the founder of the world’s leading drone company called Aerodyne. We talked about the startup environment in Malaysia and how Aerodyne ascended to successes including but not limited to the EY 2021 Entrepreneur of the Year and being mentioned in Malaysia’s 2021 budgetary speech. We also wrote an Econsider about Malaysia’s startup environment and its unicorns titled: “Where are the Malaysian Unicorns ?” which can be read here: https://tinyurl.com/u24bv2z9 Host: Wong Yit Xiang Team: Khoo Weng Lum, Chin Pei Yi, Wong Yit Xiang

With the level of merger and acquisition activities reaching an all-time high, we want to explore and inform our listeners on what they are all about! Hence, in this episode, we are joined by Lily, the Vice President at a top European investment bank - BNP Paribas. She will introduce you to the world of M&A and offer her insights on the trends and multi-layered reasonings behind some of the deals entered between this January and June. The transactions amount to $2.6 trillion which is a rather magnificent figure given the uncertainty that surrounds our current economy. We hope you enjoy this episode. For first-year students looking to dive deeper into M&A and BNP Paribas, be sure to sign up by 1st December 2021 for their Spring Week Programmes either within Global Banking and Global Markets through the following links: London - 2022 Spring Insight Programme - Global Banking - BNP Paribas Careers London - 2022 Spring Insight Programme - Global Markets - BNP Paribas Careers Host: Lim Ee Vi Team: Khoo Weng Lum, Tengku Sofea Najwa, Rui Jie Ong, Lim Ee Vi, Eikhmal, Hazira

In today’s episode, we have Miss Zainab Ali Ahmad, the World Bank’s research analyst, who is currently working on a household survey on the impact of Covid-19. She has conducted research and data analysis on issues relevant to poverty reduction and income mobility in Malaysia. As measuring and quantifying something as abstract as poverty may not always be as easy as it sounds, we will dive into this topic in this EConversation with Miss Zainab, the industry expert. Host: Ee Vi Lim Team: Lim Ee Vi, Ong Rui Jie, Tengku Sofea Najwa, Lim Li Tzer, Callista Chim