Morning Brief

Parts of Sabah and Sarawak are undergoing unprecedented flooding, following heavy rainfall since January 28th, which has displaced thousands across 26 districts. We get updates on the situation and efforts to channel aid on the ground from Dato' Dr Ahmad Faizal Mohd Perdaus, President of MERCY Malaysia.

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Border control in Malaysia is now under the newly established Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS), which started operations on February 1st. Its objectives include strengthening national security, protecting the economy, improving public health, and reducing congestion at key borders like Malaysia-Singapore. What needs to be in place for this unified agency to be effective? Munira Mustaffa, Executive Director at Chasseur Group weighs in.

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On Saturday, India tabled its Budget against a backdrop of a complex economic landscape, with global headwinds and domestic inflationary pressures putting pressure on the country’s GDP. Sanjay Mathur, Chief Economist for Southeast Asia and India, ANZ Bank gives us his initial impressions of the Budget and if it does hit the mark in terms of helping India achieve developed nation status.

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Road safety is a pressing issue across ASEAN with over 97,000 deaths annually. This comes with significant human and economic costs to the countries in the region. With Malaysia as the Chair of ASEAN in 2025, are our leaders able to strengthen regional road safety measures? We discuss ways to make roads safer with Dr Nurrul Hafeezah Sahak, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia.

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With the Federal Reserve keeping rates higher for longer, the reign of King Dollar is undisputed. What does this mean for Asian currencies? Saktiandi Supaat, Head of FX Research, Global Markets, Maybank tells us the answer whilst diving specifically at the Ringgit.

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Since taking office less than two weeks ago, Donald Trump has signed a series of immigration-related executive orders, outlining a crackdown on migration in the U.S. From declaring an invasion at the border to ending birthright citizenship, these actions have sparked significant attention and pushback. We discuss the implications of these initiatives with Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh, Associate Policy Analyst at the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute.

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Retailers in Malaysia are gearing up for a busy Chinese New Year season, with the government implementing price controls on essential items and expanding the Rahmah Madani Sales Program. These initiatives are designed to make shopping more affordable for consumers. We speak to Michael Liew, Secretary-General of the Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA), to get his insights on how these measures may affect the retail industry.

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US stocks plunged on Monday with Wall Street darling Nvidia down 17% after the surprise emergence of a low-cost artificial intelligence model by Chinese start up, DeepSeek. Dan Ives, Managing Director, Wedbush Securities tells us whether this start up will cause the the end of the tech bull cycle whilst giving us a preview of the results of the Magnificent 7.

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In less than a week since the start of his presidency, Donald Trump has made several controversial foreign policy announcements. From a 25% emergency tariff and visa restrictions against Colombia, to wanting Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza and making claims on Greenland and the Panama Canal. Wes speak to Dr Prashanth Parameswaran, Fellow, Wilson Center & Founder, ASEAN Wonk Newsletter as to what to expect from US foreign policy.

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Economy Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli said that the government plans to introduce additional incentives in the 13th Malaysia Plan to stimulate the economy, based on policies aimed at driving changes in societal and behavioural economics to support national transformation. For more insights into how behavioural economics could work in Malaysia, we speak with Alex Clark, Head of International for APAC at The Behavioural Insights Team.

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