The Breakfast Grille

Mark Mobius, Executive Chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, discusses investment in Malaysia, dealing with issues such as stock valuations, how he is turning bullish for the first time in a very long time, how the government is proactvely seeking economic and public sector reform and what it takes to succeed. He talks about what he likes about Malaysia? And dislikes. And as well, discusse...

Cheah Kam Huan, CEO of the Malaysian Timber Council, explains why timber is not a sunset industry, and says illegal logging is not a big issue in Malaysia compared to other countries. This is despite the Norwegian Government Pension Fund selling down its shares in a major logging company. The MTC is mainly focused on working with timber players in Peninsular Malaysia while companies in S...

Mohd Nur Ismal Mohamed Kamal, Chief Executive Officer of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD), talks about SPAD, its aims, its workforce, and when it will begin, given Parliament needs to amend several existing laws relating to public road and rail transport before it can begin operations. He also discusses MMC-Gamuda's proposal for the 36b rgt MRT project, and how that can be reconciled by...

James Ng, Managing Director of Carlsberg Greater China, offers some perspective on how massive China is as a country, and as a market, Carlsberg's market share share in China as well as in Asia and how fast the China market is growing at annually. He also discusses beer advertising in China and how different it is to Malaysia, offers an update on acquisitions, and that China (along with Russia and...

Galileo Global Advisors Chairman & CEO George Ugeux (And former NYSE head) talks about global financial issues and begins with his views on Europe's debt crisis issues, how well recovery efforts are going, the risk of a currency devaluation for the Euro and the sterling, and offers his views on gold and silver prices (and whether they are a bubble). He also discusses his tenure at the NYSE, th...

Daud Ahmad, CEO of Cypark Resources, tells the potential of the company that is bound for listing on 15 October 2010. It current has 16 landfill projects under its belt and the government has earmarked 112 unsanitary landfills to be closed and restored. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aminar Rashid Salleh Managing Director of Perodua, talks about the transition from UMW in December last year to the top job in Perodua, some of the biggest differences in the way the outfit was run, the dynamics behind Perodua having the lion's share of the market,  and whether this was due to cannibalisation or from new sales, comments on analysts' view that 2010 is the second of a new 3-yea...

Sunway University College Executive Director Elizabeth Lee, talks about the reasons why Sunway University College is operated as a not-for-profit trust foundation and the amount of money that it has awarded as scholarships since its inception in 1987. She also talks about the student body, its international students, whether it is bidding to win University status and what it means to be a Universi...

Dr Aminuddin Adnan, President of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd, starts off with an overview of KTM such as shareholding, progress since corporatisation, whether it benchmarkss itself, the performance of its main business units, and the mandate for which he was brought in to KTM. He also kTM's financial performance, and the reasons for 15 straight years of losses. He also discusses controversies such a...

Wing K Lee, CEO of WIMAX operator YTL Communications Sdn Bhd introduces the technology, discusses the importance of interoperability, the reason for taking so long to launch and the government's fine for the delay. He also addreses reports that WIMAX has struggled in Europe and North America, and addresses the challenges of stability and speed, and talks about his coverage plans. He also discusses...

Salman Khan, the Founder of the not-for-profit online tutorial academy, Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org), talks about why he left the hedge-fund investment business to focus on Khan Academy, the numbers of tutorials he has currently has, range of subjects, traffic numbers, geographic range and the number of students it reaches. He also talks about how it is funded, whether it makes any money, ho...

Torstein Dale Sjotveit, CEO of Sarawak Energy, is optimistic that there will be sufficient demand for energy in Sarawak, and the environmental impact of the hydro dams and coal fired plants. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Great Wall Plastic Industries CEO Lim Kok Boon talks about the company background, the upcoming IPO, valuation, offer-fpr-sale perception, market receptiveness to another packaging company, how its business differ from other players such as Daibochi and Tomypak, use of IPO proceeds, reasons for expansion to America, issues related to oil prices, and the price of resin, addresses cyclicality of the...

Diageo Plc Regional MD for Malaysia,Singapore and Indonesia, Siobhan Hamilton, talks about the importance of the Asia Pacific region to global business, popular barnds, market trends, dynamics, themes and challenges. She also discusses the trend of premiumisation across the region and how this is being manifested in her portfolio. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dato Sri Idris Jala, CEO of PEMANDU, talks about the economic transformation programme and his plans to revive private sector investment, PEMANDU's plans to get government to step aside, how the programs will sit alongside affirmative action as well as the GLC phenomenon. He discusses how PEMANDU will convince the private sector to invest in Malaysia, the possibility of a revamp of the policy fram...

Adlan Hercus, Financial Controller at Malaysian Genomics Resource Centre (MGRC), tells us about the growth potential of MGRC and why the IPO is priced at a discount. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Derrik Khoo, CEO of ACGT, a subsidiary of Genting Plantations, tells us the potential of genome science in oil palm and jatropha. He is optimistic of the potential of jatropha despite its unproven convertibility to biodiesel and difficulties in commercial cultivation. He also gives his perspective on who would win the biodiesel versus bioethanol debate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Harrienath Pillay, Regional Director Southeast Asia, The London Speaker Bureau, tells us about what the bureau offer and how to get on the roster of speakers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ravi Prasad, Deputy Chairman of Himalaya Global Holdings, tells how the personal and healthcare products company combines Ayurveda products with modern best practices, what new products it will focus on for the next 10-20 years (anti-ageing, HIV and cancer), and also its growing business in natural drugs for animals. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Peter Wulff, co-founder of Sentinext Theraputics, tells why the biotechnology company is banking on developing the vaccine for EV71, a virus that has been spreading in Asia. While incidences of deaths may be relatively low, survivors may suffer neural damage. The company needs to raise about $1 billion to bring the drug to the market. Currently it's funded by funds from the Malaysian government. S...

Chia Song Kun, Founder and Managing Director at QL Resources justifies the investment in Lay Hong although QL is the bigger and more profitable player in egg production. On the surimi business, he tells how QL overtook its competitors in Thailand and Japan to become the number one producer in Asia, and briefly, the issues of our fishing industry. On the third business - palm oil - h...

DXN Holdings Berhad Founder/CEO Dato' Dr Lim Siow Jin talks about how his early research (and his father's job as a herbalist) led him into the medicinal properties of Lingzhi mushrooms. He also discusses the beginnings of DXN following this research, and his decision to use Multi-Level Marketing as a means to grow the business. He also discusses global expansion, operational issues, the lack of v...

Tom Huzzell, Managing Director of IKEA Malaysia Singapore and Malaysia, talks about its corporate structure, its franchise concept and its founder Ingvar Kamprad. He also discusses operational challenges, competition, pricing and styling issues. He also talks about the expansion plan and future branch openings,  the cost of opening a branch and traffic ranking on a global basis. He also discu...

Kenny Lim Seng Lee, Deputy GM of Spritzer Bhd, talks about the story of its beginnings -- how the company was founded -- how the name Spritzer come about, early challenges, branding strategies, how the brand is differentiated and market share. He also discusses company financials, the fact that that Yee Lee Corp now has 32.5% of Spritzer, whether there is anything environmentally friendly about th...

Dato Lim Cheah Chooi Founder and Managing Director of Unimech Group, talks about a possible slowdown at the end of this year, competition from China-made valves, and how business has been for this first six months of 2010. He also discusses his overseas business contributions and expansion plan. He also shares his thoughts on entrepreneurship, philanthropy and charitable donations. See omnystudio....