Enterprise Explores

Sustainable development in Malaysia has been steadily progressing over the years. In supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Malaysia has developed a number of policies and programs to achieve these goals. For example, the 11th and 12th Malaysia Plan emphasised the importance of advancing sustainable economic growth, social equity, and environmental protection.However, the impacts of the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine, a weak global economy, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have revealed weaknesses and hindered progress towards the SGDs.The question remains on whether these challenges truly hindered Malaysia's journey towards sustainable development, or have they, in some way, catalysed innovation and adaptation in pursuit of these goals?Joining the discussion is Dave Sivaprasad, Southeast Asia Lead for Climate and Sustainability, Boston Consulting Group, on where Malaysia is right now, how far it is in achieving the country’s SDGs, and ways to progress further beyond 2030?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the lead up to Malaysia Day, find out why Scale Up Malaysia’s Doc Siva is “very positive about the Malaysian startup ecosystem”.In today’s episode of Enterprise Biz Bytes, we discuss the gap between Malaysia and Singapore’s startup ecosystems, what Malaysia can learn from Singapore, and what the future of Malaysia’s startup ecosystem looks like.Helping us with this conversation is Dr. Sivapalan Vivekarajah, Senior Partner & Co-Founder of ScaleUp Malaysia Accelerator and Jeffrey Seah, General Partner for the Asia Fund X at MSW Ventures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a free trade agreement (FTA) between 11 countries, including Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam. End of last year, Malaysia joined the CPTPP as its ninth member But this could grow further with several countries such as Colombia, Taiwan, Thailand, and China expressing interest in joining the CPTPP. Recently the UK agreed to join, and they’re just pending ratification. The CPTPP includes trade-facilitating Rules of Origin (ROO) that are intended to support modern business practices and further encourage greater integration of Malaysian companies into regional supply chains. So, today we'll discuss how the CPTPP can benefit or present an opportunity for local businesses, small and big, to grow and expand. Helping us with this conversation is Dr Juita Mohamed, Director of Research and Director of the Economics and Business Unit at IDEAS Malaysia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The franchise landscape in Malaysia is growing rapidly with the industry expecting to reach RM22.66 billion in sales by 2025, up from RM14.65 billion in 2020. This growth is being driven by a number of factors, including an increasing demand for convenience, and the availability of funding.There are a number of advantages as well as disadvantages to owning a franchise in Malaysia. Similarly, owning your own independent business also has its pros and cons. To shed light on this topic, we speak to Sofia Leong Abdullah, founder of Business Evolution Enterprise, and Ken Koh, Director of Continental Aces.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tech Tuesday: AI systems have learned how to deceive humans. What does that mean for our future?; What is FOBO and why is it suddenly on the rise among college-educated workers?; The top 5 tech trends in 2024 everyone must be ready for; EU “Gatekeeper” list: Not 1 European company; Apple is reportedly spending “millions of dollars a day” on AI.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At a recent event hosted by a local university, where our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was delivering a talk, a student raised concerns about the need to consider how the government disseminates information and suggested a strong media unit as a solution. It acknowledged that there is a weakness in the government's communication machinery, and the premier called on the younger generation to contribute and play a role in combating misinformation by spreading accurate information.In the corporate world, companies like Facebook, H&M, Netflix, Nike, Pepsi and Tesla, have all faced backlash from consumers and investors alike on their failure to communicate clearly and transparently on bad news related to data privacy, human rights policies to sustainable sourcing and misleading investors. Today on EBB we’ll be covering the importance of good communication in leadership. When governments, and companies, handle bad news poorly, it can damage their reputation and their bottom line. As such, it is crucial for corporate brands to have a plan in place for handling bad news, and to communicate with their stakeholders in a timely and transparent manner.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The spectrum from intent to action varies by consumer segments, indicating that sustainability goals are better achieved through unlocking consumers’ value drivers and differentiated products, according to the NielsenIQ (NIQ) thought leadership report entitled “Green Divide”.This report dives deep into the spectrum of the consumer landscape and how they think and act differently when it comes to sustainability and purchasing decisions.It is critical for businesses to understand how consumers are evolving on the journey of sustainable consumption – do they practice what they preach; what are their motivations; barriers or triggers for change?How can we tap into the unique motivators and influences across diverse groups to unlock the required behavioural change on our sustainable journey?To make sense of the report and how businesses can leverage the embedded nuggets of insights is Louise Hawley, the Managing Director for NIQ Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 26-year partnership between Malaysia Airlines Bhd and its in-flight caterer Brahim's Food Services Sdn Bhd (BFS) finally comes to an end.While there’s certainly a lot that can be discussed and dissected from this, on today’s show, we discuss the potential challenges that come from a long-standing partnership, such as dependency on a single partner as well as the legal implications that follow from a partnership dissolution. Helping us with this conversation is Low Henn Kai, Lawyer at Arnold Andrew & Co Advocates & Solicitors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is just apt, as Malaysia celebrates its 66th Merdeka, and 60th year of the Malaysia federation (Hari Malaysia), we speak to the founder of Fusion Wayang Kulit, Tintoy Chuo, on how it all started, how this passion for art-turned-business revives and promotes Malaysia’s history and culture, especially beyond our shores; and is there value in arts and heritage afterall.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tech Tuesday: From Google to Nvidia, tech giants have hired red team hackers to break their AI models; These sneakers are also fully-functional inkjet printers; TikTok sparks inspiration — and pressure — as students shop for school; How the Conceptual Web will upend everything we know about websites and search engines; Google will let you send a bot to a meeting on your behalf.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.