Malaysia is No 42 in the best-performing upper-middle-income group as a talent-competitive country, just behind Brunei (No 41) and China (No 40), which are categorised as high-income and upper-middle-income nations respectively, according to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2023 released on Nov 7 by Insead, in collaboration with the Descartes Institute for the Future and the Human Capital Leadership Institute.

Malaysia is No 42 in Global Talent Competitiveness Index

The Southeast Asian region reached a critical milestone of US$100 billion (RM471.4 billion) in revenue across all digital economy sectors in 2023, up from around US$12 billion in 2016.

Spotlight on top online spenders powering Southeast Asia’s digital economy

Climate finance — financing for projects aimed at meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement — by multilateral development banks (MDBs) reached a new record high in 2022, according to the 2022 Joint Report on MDB’s Climate Finance.

Climate finance by multilateral development banks on a high

Malaysia is projected to become an ‘aged’ nation by 2043 and ‘super aged’ by 2057

The Edge Malaysia Retirement Reimagined Forum 2023: Retirement landscape in Malaysia

The adoption of quick-response (QR) payment applications in Southeast Asia has been on a rise, with analysts at international fintech firm UnaFinancial reporting a surge in user numbers in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. In July, the total number of users of these cashless payment systems reached 997,000, and experts predict this figure could soar by 78% to 1.77 million people by 2025.

No cash? No problem

Most conglomerates in Southeast Asia outperformed their peers in other parts of the world, as well as pure play companies in the region, in total shareholder returns (TSRs), revenue growth, margins and multiples from 2003 to 2012, Bain & Company’s Southeast Asia Conglomerates Report 2023 reveals. The average annualised TSRs of Southeast Asia conglomerates were eight percentage points higher than that of the region’s pure plays in that period.