Malaysia’s target of becoming a high-income economy looks to be on track. Recently, the World Bank reaffirmed its confidence that Malaysia should become a high-income nation by 2024, as long as the country’s gross national income (GNI) per capita continues to grow at a range of four to 4.5 percent.But a talent shortage in the country can slow down progress.

While at first glance the news that China has asked the Philippines to ban online gambling may seem like just another sign of its growing involvement in the region, a quick scan of regional newspapers soon makes it obvious that the Asian superpower needs all the help it can get to battle its own gambling problem.Gambling is illegal in China, except in Macau, and gambling businesses are increasingly targeting the mainland China market by opening up shop in Southeast Asia.

Businesses in the Philippines are taking measures to improve or preserve the gender balance in leadership roles. According to a recent report, ‘Women in Business’ by Grant Thornton International Ltd., female executives in senior management positions in Philippine companies dropped to 37.5 percent in 2019 down from 47 percent in 2018.

While a recent report by two civil society groups in Cambodia outlining predatory practices by local microfinance institutions (MFIs) may not paint the clearest picture of the sector, there is no denying that there are murky waters ahead.The report by the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) and local NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut (STT) documented numerous cases of coerced land sales, child labour, debt-driven migration, food insecurity and other human

Last week, the Malaysia-China Business Council (MCBC) hosted the Malaysia-China Belt and Road Economic Cooperation Forum 2019.“With China’s advancements in digital economy and high-tech, and with Malaysia’s strengths in primary commodity and agriculture, we anticipate that more investors from China will invest in Malaysia.

China's move to devalue its currency could prove to be a double-edged sword in its escalating trade war with the United States (US), offsetting tariffs but potentially hurting Beijing's efforts to shore up its weakening economy, analysts say.Although China's central bank governor Yi Gang insisted Monday that the country would "not engage in competitive devaluation", Washington wasted no time in formally labelling Beijing a currency manipulator when the yuan plunged be

Social institutions such as education, healthcare and public housing services play a key part in a country’s soft infrastructure. Apart from roads, bridges, airports and other hard infrastructure projects needed to sustain growth across the region, soft infrastructure initiatives are just as crucial in developing knowledge, innovation and technical know-how.As a whole, the region has prospered over the past two decades with the “manufacturing for export” strategy as the main pillar i

Technological disruption will significantly affect ASEAN’s workforce, driving growth and creating new demand for workers. Based on a 2018 study, ‘Technology and the future of ASEAN jobs’ by technology company Cisco and Oxford Economics Data, 6.6 million jobs will become redundant by 2028 across the six largest ASEAN economies – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Creating new products, processes and ideas, innovators are at the forefront of development and progress. Be it a corner-shop or a multinational company, businesses that innovate are able to attract the best talent, increase revenues, scale up more efficiently and grab bigger shares of their respective markets.The best innovators are able to capture a niche market and help their brand stand out by meeting their customers’ ever-changing needs – key to any business’ longevity.

A recent report which estimates that medical tourism generates at least one-third of private hospitals’ revenue in most ASEAN countries is more proof – if needed – of the sector’s huge potential.Noting that private hospitals in Southeast Asia generate major revenue from foreign patients, the report from market research firm Zion Market Research also forecasted the global medical tourism market to generate around US$28 billion in revenue by the end of 2024 based on an estimated compound annual