The recent ‘8th Business Sentiment Survey’ by the EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) reinforced ASEAN’s position as a strong trading partner for the EU. Chris Humphrey, Executive Director of the EU-ASEAN Business Council, unpacks what makes the ASEAN region a prime location for EU businesses.

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Are our youths equipped with sufficient digital skills when most businesses are moving towards digitalisation? Together with the recent study by DOSM that shows nearly 70 percent of our SPM graduates not wanting to further their studies in tertiary education, what should we be doing to address this? Dr. Nagulendran a/l Kangayatkarasu, Deputy Secretary General at MOSTI joins us to discuss the factors of this situation and the various initiatives being put forward to encourage the interest in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) among our youths.

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With the mergers and acquisition culture becoming more common in today’s business environment, many business owners and startup entrepreneurs need to seriously consider having an exit strategy in place just in case. But with many ways to go about it and different factors to consider, where do they even begin? Ray Chou, CEO of Infront Consulting Group, Master Business Coach at OwnersCircle and President of EO Malaysia joins us to discuss the intricacies behind the whole process and maybe help business owners out there prepare themselves better. 

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In today’s competitive work environment, more people are foregoing their vacations or paid time off to squeeze in more responsibilities and work. But is this a productive move in any way? What are the hidden dangers in pushing oneself this way? We are joined by Dr Anasuya Jegathevi Jegathesan, Dean of Psychology and Social Sciences at the University of Cyberjaya, to help us understand the motivations behind why employees are pushing themselves and why it is important to be able to take a step back and just recharge every once in a while.

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The digital nomad lifestyle is slowly gaining traction especially post-pandemic with many people embracing this unique approach to work. Malaysia has also recently announced the ‘DE Rantau’ program in a bid to capitalise on the growing economic potential from being the destination of choice for digital nomads. So what is a digital nomad and what’s driving the growth behind this lifestyle adoption? We speak to Lydia Lee, Founder of ‘Screw The Cubicle’ and work reinvention strategist to shed some light on the digital nomad lifestyle and its growing popularity.

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More and more of our youths are slipping into the low-skills, low-wage trap. What does this all mean? What are the factors behind this and are we doing enough to address this issue? We speak with Calvin Cheng, Senior Analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia to understand the issue and discuss the possible solutions Malaysia should be looking into. 

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For some entrepreneurs, having one venture is not enough. They are always looking towards the next ‘big idea’ that sparks their interests and to challenge themselves. To understand what it takes to run multiple ventures without running out of steam, we speak with Arieni Ritzal, a serial entrepreneur with multiple F&B businesses under her belt.

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The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has recently issued a guideline to provide clarity on the tax status of digital currencies and digital tokens. With Malaysian crypto ownership estimated to be 20 percent above the global average of 15 percent, this could be a sizable tax revenue if done correctly. Keegan Ong, Tax Executive Director from PwC joins us to dissect the contents of this guideline and what it could mean for digital asset ownership in Malaysia. 

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Business insurance is often overlooked or low on the company’s priority list as it involves expenditure without direct tangible returns. The various myths and misconceptions surrounding business insurance also does not help with its uptake numbers. Ng Kok Kheng, CEO of Great Eastern General Insurance (Malaysia) and deputy chairman of the Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (PIAM) joins us to answer the various questions surrounding business insurance and why it’s important for businesses to be covered.

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What’s needed to stay ahead in today’s business environment filled with disruptive innovation? According to a statistic on the Harvard Business Review, about half of the companies on the Fortune 500 list have gone bankrupt, been acquired, or ceased to exist. The message is clear: businesses need to adapt and innovate. Bikesh Lakhmichand, CEO of 1337 Ventures, joins us to unpack what corporate innovation means and why it is essential.

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