In ASEAN alone, there are 20 cities with over 1.5 million citizens. From 2017 to 2030, South-east Asia’s urban population will grow by 100m people to 373m. In 2030, four cities – Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh – will have populations of over 10m people, while Kuala Lumpur will be close and Singapore is projected to have around 7m people. What are the challenges of promoting productive, inclusive and sustainable urbanisation? How can cities be engines of development? What are the implications at the city-level for climate change, including mitigation and adaptation? How can businesses thrive in these cities?

Our EICN networks around the world will come together for this research-backed exploration of the global talent landscape with a particular focus on the preferences and motivations of Gen Z. We will also examine how and why companies are experimenting with a four-day working week, and how it is impacting employee attraction, retention, workflows and productivity.

Malaysia is home to five investment corridors, who offer different investment options, and whose development is overseen by individual governing bodies. The idea behind the corridors was to shift focus from urban areas to rural ones – as a result the investment corridors already envelop close to 70% of Malaysia’s landmass.The East Coast Economic Region, which covers half of Peninsular Malaysia,  aims to leverage its strategic location as a gateway to ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific. What are the key projects and initiatives in the region? What types of cross-border investments are there? How are urban areas being transformed in the region? What industries are positioned to take advantage of the plans for the region?

Over the past few years, countless predictions have been made that the global technology industry will suffer a painful rupture because of tensions between America and China. The split is happening at two velocities. The American and Chinese software universes are heading at light speed towards total separation. They were never particularly connected, so the bull for shutting up shop and finding substitute products is quite low.  Hardware is moving much more slowly – that is because it is more globally integrated. How should trade architecture work in an age of mistrust? The goal should be to maximise trade consistent with both sides’ strategic security. That means fencing off flashpoints, such as tech, that generate lots of tension but a minority of trade, and let commerce in other areas flourish.