The Republic is ahead of cities such as Hong Kong, Paris, Washington and Shanghai, according to a new study by US technology giant Dell and market research firm IHS.

New York topped the ranking, followed by the Bay Area, which includes parts of San Francisco and San Jose. London was ranked third and Stockholm, fourth.

More than 700 entrepreneurs and 300 investors from around the world are taking part in the summit, including at least seven representatives from Singapore.

The Dell and IHS study assessed five key characteristics – capital, technology, talent, culture and markets – in 25 global cities.

Cities, instead of countries, were identified in order to show the impact of local policies and programmes as well as national laws and customs.

In addition to the overall ranking, Singapore came in third – after Stockholm and Beijing – on the technology front. The Republic also came in fifth for having a culture that is friendly towards entrepreneurship and women-owned firms.

Cities around the world still have some way to go towards addressing the obstacles faced by women entrepreneurs, said Ms Karen Quintos, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer at Dell.

For instance, access to funding is a significant challenge for many female business owners around the world, exacerbated by the fact that the venture capital industry is dominated by men.

Ms Quintos, who presented the research during the summit, noted that the highest-ranked city had a score of just 59 out of 100.

“We cannot ignore the role that biases play to varying degrees everywhere… We have to continue to collect data to truly understand the ecosystem and address the obstacles that women face,” she said.

“Innovation and job creation by women entrepreneurs is critical for a thriving global economy, yet our research shows some cities and countries are doing far more than others to encourage and support this important subset of the start-up community.”

Ms Grace Sai, chief executive and co-founder of The Hub Singapore, a community and co-working space, said female entrepreneurs tend to be under-represented in venture capital fund portfolios.

“This could reflect the very small number of female venture capitalists… The human brain carries unconscious biases and pattern recognition among VCs is commonly used in selecting founders, which makes the gender imbalance a deep, systemic issue that we all have to be aware of,” she noted.

Ms Sai, one of the Singapore delegates attending the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, added: “Personally, I do not feel gender- discriminated in Singapore. In fact, the gender gap is more felt in Silicon Valley than at home.

“This could be because Singapore’s start-up ecosystem is still nascent and is hence less competitive, or it could mean that a leapfrog effect has taken place – where we have learnt from the Valley’s shortcomings and are doing our best in overcoming ours on home ground.”

Cities most supportive of female entrepreneurs:

1. New York

2. Bay Area

3. London

4. Stockholm

5. Singapore

6. Toronto

7. Washington D.C.

8. Sydney

9. Paris

10. Seattle

“For the first five years, the uplift (revenue) to us is RM1 billion … Sompo will manufacture and use our branches to sell exclusively,” Tengku Zafrul told StarBiz in an interview.

The revenue, which includes fees for the distribution network as well as sales, will start to be reflected in CIMB’s financial year ending Dec 31, 2017 results.

While Sompo has a partnership with Berjaya Group Bhd to offer general insurance in Malaysia, Tengku Zafrul said the tie-up with CIMB was at the Sompo group level.

“We are the first bank in the region to do this kind of partnership, where we try to sell non-life insurance in four countries at one go,” Tengku Zafrul said.

CIMB has started selling in Singapore already and will start in Indonesia by the end of the year. In Malaysia, it currently has an agreement with Allianz Malaysia Bhd that expires in 2017 after which CIMB will distribute Sompo products, while in Thailand the banking group will start selling Sompo in 2018,” Tengku Zafrul said.

“These (four countries) are big markets, so RM1 billion is a safe number over five years.”

According to Tengku Zafrul, the income upside from the partnership comes with no incremental capital needs or charge and is in line with CIMB’s Target 2018 or T18 strategy, where the focus is on enhancing profita billionity whilst being conscious of capital deployment.

“We have freed up some capital by doing just distribution.”

CIMB has also boosted its capital base through its recent Sun Life Financial Inc deal, whereby it has agreed to sell its 51percent stake in the Indonesian life-insurance venture for RM169mil.

Tengku Zafrul said the bank will reap some RM140 million in net proceeds from this deal alone, allowing the country’s second-largest bank by asset size to bring forward its common equity Tier-1 or CET1 capital ratio target of 11% to this year instead of 2018.

“Last year, we targeted 10% and managed to do 10.3%. In the first quarter of 2016, the ratio stood at 10.6% and next quarter will be better. This is why we have moved the 11% target to this year.

“Capital is a big issue for investors, so we thought 2018 is too long for them to wait. It is to show confidence that the bank is strong, so we brought forward the target this year.”

In the first quarter ended March 31, CIMB saw its net profit surge 40.3% to RM813.8 million against RM580.12 million in the same period last year, boosted by higher net interest income and lower loan provisions.

Its revenue growth, however, was flat at RM3.73 billion as compared with RM3.68 billion a year ago.

Sompo, which has total assets of US$89.7 billion and net written premiums of US$22.5 billion, has identified bancassurance as one of its primary sales channels in the region. It was previously reported that besides Sompo, Munich-based Allianz SE and France’s Axa SA had also made bids for the bancassurance agreement.

Tengku Zafrul said CIMB selected Sompo based on a combination of factors, including its dominant position in the Japanese non-life bancassurance market – number 1 in Japan – and its growing business in various Asean markets.

At yesterday’s close, shares of CIMB closed four sen higher to RM4.34, giving it a market capitalisation of RM37.88 billion.

A recent global macroeconomic and business environment competitiveness report published by the IMD World Competitiveness Centre suggested that Malaysia’s global competitiveness ranking slipped to the 19th position (out of 61 economies) in 2015-16, down from 14th position in 2014-15.

According to the ranking, Malaysia is five spots behind Taiwan and only six ahead of China. Should this be taken as a warning sign that the Malaysian economic fundamentals are shaken?

Change in competitiveness – cyclical or structural?

The IMD competitiveness ranking heavily factors in macroeconomic performances in its criteria. Given the sharp deterioration of the ringgit exchange rate and higher costs of living, and following various domestic cost-push price pressures since 2014, these developments have certainly hurt our economic competitiveness.

However, if the weak ringgit and price pressure situations are transitory and would improve when the domestic economy rebounded, the decline in ranking could just be taken as a cyclical trend.

Therefore, the more important trends to take note of are the core fundamental factors of efficiency in market operations, logistics solutions, market transparency and business friendly policies.

According to a separate competitiveness study by the World Bank which emphasises more on “soft criteria”, i.e. efficiency in registering a property, obtaining credit, enforcing contracts and as such, Malaysia’s ranking in Doing Business 2016 Report fell one spot to 18th out of 189 countries.

Nevertheless, Malaysia (at 14th place) scores favourably in the ease in starting businesses against neighbouring Asean countries such as Thailand (96th) and Indonesia (173rd), and not too far from Singapore (10th).

Relatively less cumbersome procedures and shorter time to register a business is a positive advantage Malaysia has over red-taped laden economies such as Thailand and Indonesia.

While Malaysia’s competitiveness appears good on paper, have these “soft criteria” been translated into actual dollar and cents?

Opportunities during rough times

The proof is in the eating of the pudding. According to the latest report by the International Trade and Industry Ministry, Malaysia received RM12.8bil worth of foreign direct investment in the first quarter of this year, higher than the RM10bil received in the corresponding period in 2015.

Despite the broad slowdown in the international macroeconomic environment, it is a positive sign that foreigners still have confidence in our economy by bringing in capital.

Given the weak ringgit, it is arguably one of the more affordable investment opportunities for foreigners who remain confident in the Malaysian economy.

Notwithstanding the decline in global demand in terms of manufacturing output and oversupply in commodities such as crude oil, foreigners can lock in the value that the Malaysian market can offer at a cheaper exchange rate.

Therefore, it is a laudable effort by the gGovernment and Bank Negara to continue instilling confidence in the Malaysian economy and corporate landscape to ensure that the fundamental soundness of our market is not lost amid the noise of uncertainties and market volatility.

Essential to maintain GDP growth target

However, Malaysia cannot afford to rest on its laurels. The conundrum of the “middle income” trap remains a palpable threat.

Businesses and the authorities must recognise by now that the underlying matter for the economy to graduate into high-income nation status boils down to the rate of gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

The Malaysian labour force has been growing at 3.4% per annum and headline consumer price index has averaged around 2.44% annually since 2010. In order to achieve our economic objectives by the end of the decade, the official Malaysia real GDP growth target in the 11th Malaysia Plan is ideally around 5%-6% per annum between 2016 and 2020.

However, the latest World Bank global GDP forecast suggests that the baseline Malaysian GDP growth could only be 4.4%, 4.5% and 4.7% in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively, falling short of official projections.

While there are elements of cyclical slowdown in the World Bank’s projections as global macroeconomic recovery post-Global Financial Crisis remains disappointing, the downside risks of slower GDP growth due to structural issues could pose serious consequences to the economy.

A sluggish economic growth rate might not be able to sustain public debt, household income growth and full employment in the coming years.

Look outward for growth

Those with good business acumen will always keep an eye out to grow top-line numbers. Given that the mining sector makes up about 10% of the Malaysian economy while the manufacturing and services sectors make up 23% and 54% respectively, there should be more emphasis on ensuring continuous manufacturing value-add, while keeping up with innovation in the services sector, particularly on the Internet-of-things.

Ultimately, the Malaysian domestic market is only as big as its 31 million population size and the total nominal value of private consumption GDP generated last year was only RM626.2bil.

In order to enhance opportunities for upside growth, there has to be a wider openness in the economy to trade with foreign countries and also to attract foreign capital as part of the solution strategy to keep GDP growth going afloat.

As mentioned, the Malaysian infrastructure and logistics are of global standards. Furthermore, stable government policies and robust financial market access also ensure connectivity and financial liquidity.

There is no reason for foreign capital to bypass Malaysia as an investment destination and head to neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Singapore, if not for the relative shortcomings within our shores.

The Malaysian economic promises remain commendable on paper, but could be lacking in execution. The Government has already outlined its thoughts on how our economy should grow under the 11th Malaysia Plan and what is left is to execute the ideas wholeheartedly.

Corporates would be responsive to the government plans as long as incentives are good and aligned to economic profit and growth.

In short, Malaysia remains an attractive destination for conducting businesses in an easily accessible market propped up by favourable economic policies. An outward looking economy anchored by steady domestic demand could be the ultimate formula to ensure a sustainable economic growth.

Manokaran Mottain is the chief economist at Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd.

On June 15, the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index added Pakistan’s Karachi stock market in its benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Index, while Vietnam remained in the MSCI Frontier Markets classification.

Being an emerging market means that Pakistan is able to absorb US$400 million from foreign investors, which is a small proportion of the total $1.5 trillion asset under management allocated for emerging markets compared to only $15 billion for frontier markets.

That has raised concerns for both government agencies, especially SSC, and local enterprises over how to improve market conditions to attract foreign investments and promote it to the emerging market level.

In order to promote Vietnam’s stock market from a frontier market to an emerging one, the country needs to work on its policies to improve the local market toward the standards set by MSCI including increasing the size of market, and enhance the market liquidity and capital flow including the foreign limit and especially the information disclosure in English to ensure the information symmetry for both local and foreign investors.

SSC has been working on some solutions and action plans to achieve conditions for a healthy and credible securities market, Nguyen Thi Lien Hoa, SSC’s Vice Chairwoman, said.

One of those solutions is to improve the market data and information disclosure by public companies toward the international standards if Vietnam wishes to become an emerging market, she said, adding that the country might become an emerging market in the next two or three years.

“Nikkei recently welcomed the Financial Times as a group member and we will cater for anyone involved in global business as an indispensable information and knowledge source and StoxPlus would be also in this global strategy not only in Vietnam but also in South East Asia in the future,” said Yoichi Noor Iwamoto, a representative from Nikkei Group and managing director of Nikkei China (Hong Kong) Ltd.

“It is time Vietnam becomes “a real rising dragon” to stimulate business and economy all over the world and the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) is going to contribute to Vietnam’s rapid development.”

TPP will increase the value of foreign direct investments in the country, and usher in more business opportunities in the stock market, and the Vietnamese economy will expand undoubtedly, according to the director.

“StoxPlus Corp will assist SSC to improve market information and disclosure of public companies and public funds and other technical assistance to assist SSC in market supervision and actions plan to increase market transparency and development toward the upgrade of Việt Nam’s securities market to the emerging status and thus draw more attention from foreign investments into the local market,” Nguyen Quang Thuan, CEO of StoxPlus Corp, said.

“As part of the cooperation, StoxPlus will also help SSC develop high quality design and translation of its annual reports and Vietnam Annual Securities Yearbook in order to provide foreign and local investors with not only SSC’s operation information but also useful statistics and information disclosure addressing the concerns from various market stakeholders.”

“Bali has already become a popular destination for people from Kazakhstan,” I Gde Pitana, deputy minister for overseas promotion at the Tourism Ministry, told The Jakarta Post. “There are already a number of people from Kazakhstan coming to Bali, but the number is very small.”

I Gde Pitana added that he was optimistic the country would see more eastern Europeans visiting Bali and other destinations beyond the island, especially since one of the regions’ airlines has opened a new direct route to Bali.

“We realize that eastern Europe is an emerging market for tourism and there are some possibilities to increase our relationship with the region, especially since our tourism is growing and economic growth in eastern Europe is good,” said I Gde Pitana.

Bali and Beyond Travel Fair 2016, which is held in Nusa Dua until Saturday, welcomes several tour operators from countries in eastern Europe such as Ukraine, Romania, Kazakhstan and Poland. During the event, they meet local tour operators, hotels and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) and learn more about destinations, attractions and opportunities to send visitors to Indonesia.

A company from Kazakhstan said that it planned to send graduating students to visit several cities in Indonesia.

“We have programs on offer for students who pass the exams and get a good score. We want to take them to learn about Indonesian culture and the country,” said Ayupov Valentin, a manager from the Kazakhstan-based Miras Travel Agency.

Valentin said the company had designed travel programs to take graduates to several cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Yogyakarta and Bali. It also plans to include the Borobudur and Prambanan temples to the itinerary in addition to taking participants to Bali during the end of trip.

Valentin himself once visited Bali, but hasn’t explored other cities. Before this trip to Bali for the fair, he and his group from Kazakhstan were invited by the Indonesian Embassy in Kazakshtan to visit those cities.

“For our people in Kazakhstan, Bali is a new destination and it is home to a unique culture and very beautiful nature. In terms of price, traveling to Bali is not so expensive, unlike going to Europe, but the island offers so many attractions: you can see tropical animals, enjoy the culture, eat good food, everything you want you can get,” he added.

MATTA Selangor chapter chairman Akil Yusof said the price of tickets for travel in November and December might not include fuel surcharges or airport taxes.

These charges are imposed when tickets are issued, typically one month before travel, and could increase or decrease depending on the value of the ringgit.

He said there were instances in 2014 and 2015 when these charges were equivalent to or even more than the cost of the ticket.

“So passengers who get tickets costing RM2,000 today may end up paying double that,” he said.

He pointed out that the cost of accommodation, attractions, food and internal travel would also be subject to the ringgit’s value to the pound, which fell to a two-month low of RM5.46 when Britain voted for Brexit before rising to about RM5.60 yesterday.

“Tour companies which book seats in advance from airlines are also faced with these uncertainties,” said Akil, adding that they risked losing deposits if they did not fill these seats.

Many Malaysians, he pointed out, used Britain to enter or exit Europe, but this ease of travel might cease when the country formally exits the European Union (EU) in two years time.

“UK chose Brexit because they wanted to secure their borders and the EU may retaliate by imposing visas which Malaysians may also have to pay to get,” he said.

Travel search site Wego.com in a statement said as a long-serving entry hub to Europe, London might now be increasingly challenged by other key EU hub airports such as Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, which will offer inbound travellers easier onward movement around EU member countries.

Wego chief executive Ross Veitch said although it would take time, it was likely the British government would try to negotiate similar travel agreements to replicate those in place as a member of the EU.

“Regardless of whether you believe that Brexit was a positive or negative move for the UK, there will undoubtedly be repercussions for travellers in light of the decision,” he said.

Regardless of the value of the ringgit, self-admitted local Anglo­phile Kim Lin said she would still visit Britain.

“I have two children studying there and I visit at least once a year,” said the housewife from Kuala Lumpur.

The weaker pound is also boon for those who buy British products online.

Leila Ali Zubir from Shah Alam usually shops for clothing at http://www.lindybop.co.uk or from Asos UK websites but is only able to afford one item a month.

“Usually one item will cost RM200, but now I can get three pieces for about RM350.

“So yeah, I’ll buy the stuff I’ve been aiming for while the low ex­­change rate lasts,” said the 25-year-old writer.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, who witnessed the event at the ninth Hui Zhou World Convention at Wisma Huazong here, said the cooperation was one of the initiatives to boost trade and economy between Malaysia and China under the One Belt, One Road strategy.

“We are also strengthening our partnership in human capacity training programmes,” he told a press conference.

The first vessel was expected to ply the new route soon.

Besides working with the port authorities, Malaysia was also engaging ship liners and operators to explore more opportunities, he added.

Some 1,500 guests of the Hui Zhou clan from more than 10 countries including Canada, the United States, Holland, New Zealand, Brazil, Thailand and Britain attended the convention.

Also present were Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang, Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia president Pheng Yin Huah, Federation of Fui Chiu Association Malaysia president Lee Jin Xian and Kuantan Port Authority chairman Tengku Azlan Sultan Abu Bakar.

In his speech, Lee, who is also Kuantan Port Authority director, praised Prime Minister Najib Razak for bringing the Malaysia-China relationship to a new height.

Under his leadership, he said, investments from China had shown a tremendous increase over the past three years.

To his clansmen from overseas, he introduced Najib as a liberal leader, who leads the country with moderate and practical policies.

“He fights against extremism and terrorism while advocating power-sharing concepts by all races in the common efforts of bringing peace, development and prosperity to the country and its people,” he said.

He also urged his clansmen to set up a Hui Zhou overseas Chinese park and museum to preserve the more than 2,000-year history of the clan and its cultural heritage.

At the event, another MoU was signed to develop 18 parcels of mining concessions in Pahang to become eco-friendly parks for green technology industries and tourism attractions among Mekar Unggul, Supreme Broadway, Vibrant Holding and Angang Machinery Development.

At first glance, all 170 houses have become a discordant chain of primary colours since May when volunteers from the village put up scaffolding and unpacked their paint brushes.

But each day, travellers cruising through Kilometre 3 slowly discover what is actually taking shape at Stonehill: Giant flowers with multicoloured petals.

The mural project was first pitched to the households last year as a simulation of the colourful “favela” murals of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Many residents quickly turned to the internet to read up about the favelas, which were slums or shantytowns, until a government pacification program in 2005 emboldened Dutch artists Haas&Hahn (Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn) to convert a row of slum houses into a giant painting.

It has been no secret in La Trinidad that the houses were selected for a giant mural project by tourism officials because the low-income settlements were the first structures that travellers see when they drive through the valley.

Stonehill residents welcomed the attention. It prompted the town government to improve services in their area, beginning with the repair of their sewage system, for example.

Many households volunteered relatives to paint their walls with their designated colours. As much as 20 gallons of paint are consumed each day, said Gloria Agasen, a Botiwtiw resident whose house was not included in the project.

“My house was removed from the list because it was not visible along the highway,” said Agasen, who volunteered as coordinator tasked with distributing paint.

But living the next five years as part of a living landscape of flowers and strawberries has just started to sink in for some residents.

A resident, Joan Mangachil, said he was still waiting to see what colour had been chosen for his house. “Maybe I am entitled to yellow or blue or green because my house is part of the giant landscape’s background. That probably means I get 2 gallons of paint because I have a small house,” he said.

Another resident, Antonia Warrey, said her house is now a perfect yellow box. “I help my husband paint. This chore has become a perfect way to bond with him. We have two kids, ages 9 and 5, and they help by taking our photographs every day we set out to paint,” she said.

“We have been painting for a week now. We start early in the morning and end at 2pm when the rains pour. It’s good to be selected for this project. The only part of the house which used to have a coat of paint was our roof,” she said.

Agasen said it was a community undertaking that was not without problems.

“Many complained because all the mural would cover were parts of the house that could be seen from the road. They asked, ‘Why won’t they allow us to paint the rest of the house, too?’ Some households, which were not part of the project, also asked for paint, and I promised them I could only share the excess paint,” she said.

“We’ve always been in furniture, so our growth area is in lighting and accessories, which we haven’t really gone into full blast,” said Cobonpue, who’s also creative director of Hive, a design collective that started 15 years ago, creating lighting and home accessories. (Hive’s pieces can be seen at Cobonpue’s showroom in Makati.)

“We’re developing a lot of them this year. We’ll be launching a lot towards the end of the year,” he added.

Workspace

At the centre of his showroom in Greenbelt Residences were, face to face, two units of his new cocoon-like swivel chair/personal workspace called Savant. But in front of the shop facing Arnaiz Avenue were samplings of his so-called fun pieces.

Hovering above the outdoor-theme indoor showcase were the undulating lines of the Spina hanging lamp—a series of white powder-coated metal sheets on a steel frame, inspired by the form of the vertebrae.

On a curved work desk below sits Spina’s table version, a copy of which was gifted to the emperor of Japan on a recent state visit, said its designer.

Cobonpue also has his eye on the great commercial potential of lighting and accessories, which, he said, are “less difficult” to make, smaller in scale, and don’t require as much technical skill as making furniture.

“People are more experimental with buying lighting,” he said. “It’s not as expensive so you can be as creative in your purchase. “People will think twice about spending on a chair or a piece of furniture.”

He added: “In Manila FAME, there are a lot of interesting lighting designs, but very, very few really interesting furniture designs. In fact, Budji and I have been discussing, is there a really good young furniture designer out there? We can’t put a finger on one yet. But there are a lot of good lighting designers. It’s simpler to make a light. If I take a cardboard box, punch a hole on it and put a bulb, that’s a light. You can’t do that with a chair.”

The Cebuano designer has also updated the color palettes for some of his popular designs, like the Chiquita stool, which now comes in pastel colors. The Yin & Yang sofa, the first design in his collection, is now available in cerulean blue.

“We’re now in the pastel mode. Those were the colours of the furniture in Milan,” he said, adding, with mirth, “we show these things, but people will still buy the most boring ones, anywhere in the world. You show the orange and the red, and they’ll buy the grey or the beige one. It’s safe.”

The local market has been good to Cobonpue’s brand, though he continues to court the global markets, appearing in three back-to-back shows in the United States in May alone. He is also set to show his lighting and accessories in Paris in September.

“Of course, we’re affected by the downturn, even the luxury brands are,” he noted. “It’s not good now, especially as the price of oil has gone down, and there are no Arab buyers. But we’re still growing abroad, we haven’t slowed down.”

Constant reinvention

The core values of the Cobonpue brand—evidently the key to his enduring success—are constant reinvention, coming up with something new and fresh each season.

“The world doesn’t need another chair,” he pointed out. “Always search for a look that’s different, otherwise you can’t make your mark in the world… no one cares about you. Everything has been done. That’s why what we do is to keep reinventing what Filipino design is about, to make sure that there’s nothing like it in the world, and that it can only be produced in the Philippines—at a certain cost, of course.”

It’s easy to see how Cobonpue could be any aspiring Filipino furniture designer’s benchmark, with an impressive list of both commercial and private clientele, from hotels to restaurants and private homes around the world, as well as Hollywood movie sets and now, even popular Korean dramas.

Asked if he sees the next Kenneth Cobonpue in a new breed of furniture designers, he said: “In furniture, there are a few who create hits, but there’s no one that’s consistent. There’s no one that comes out with something nice season after season, year after year.”

Skill, talent, exposure, “a lot of things” could be lacking, he added. “It’s difficult, even for me… You need to mentor with somebody good—Budji was my mentor—because design isn’t a science. It’s very subjective so you need a good eye, you need a good mentor to lead you in the right direction.”