This special episode is a commentary by DBS chief economist Taimur Baig. Singapore’s January-April economic momentum will be disrupted by a set of renewed stringent measures. New coronavirus variants are highly transmissible; they may also have some vaccine resistant properties. An abundance of caution warrants a degree of reinforced stringency on mobility and proximity. Singapore’s imperative now is to vaccinate a wider population as soon as possible, as vaccinated individuals are extremely unlikely to suffer from severe illness or fatality. Japan’s real GDP likely contacted by 2% in 1Q as domestic demand deteriorated due to the resurgence of COVID-19, fully offsetting the recovery in exports. Same could be on the cards for Singapore in 2Q. Between progress with vaccination and targeted fiscal support, Singapore should come out of the May/June turbulence quickly.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Juliana Chan, founder & CEO of Wildtype Media Group, joins Kopi Time to talk about the state of publication, R&D, and public-private partnerships in the area of science and tech in Asia. She delves into the areas of transformational technology under development in China, Japan, and Singapore, the role of women in science in the region, and the burgeoning ecosystem that is promoting research commercialisation. As important as scientific breakthroughs is disseminating those insights to the public, critical to build awareness on matters such as pandemic response or climate change.   The views, information, or opinions expressed during this Podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of DBS Bank.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kishore Mahbubani, veteran expert on geopolitics and presently Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, talks about the urgent need for constructive engagement with China to avoid the risk of a lose-lose outcome for the world. A pragmatic, trade-off oriented strategy to deal with China would help achieve peace and prosperity for all, while ideologically-driven confrontations would only keep escalating matters, in his view. As always erudite, Mahbubani spans global history and geography to draw in lessons for policy makers and non-government observers alike.    The views, information, or opinions expressed during this Podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of DBS Bank.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vasuki Shastry, Associate Fellow in the Asia Pacific program of Chatham House, joins Kopi Time to discuss his book on the complexities and challenges of Asia. We go over Asia’s inner tensions and bifurcations, and the headwinds coming from aging, deglobalisation, technology disruption, poor leadership, middle income trap, inequality, climate change, gender, internal insurgencies, fragile geopolitics, and oligarchy. Vasuki is not a pessimist, but is keen to bring in realism in discussions about the region’s future. He wants the notion of Asia’s unrelenting rise to be eschewed, as it does a disservice to recognising the formidable challenges that lie ahead.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this special podcast, Piyush Gupta, CEO and Director of DBS Group, shares his thinking on a variety of topics, including: 1:10 to 4:25: Track record of banks during this pandemic 5:00 to 10:05: Evolving notion of data privacy and societal responsibilities 10:30 to 12:55: The most interesting instances of accelerated disruption in the past year (elaborated further: 16:03 to 17:00) 13:42 to 15:46: Remote working and the future of office (elaborated further: 17:29 to 18:23) 18:50 to 25:15: Short- and long-term challenges facing banks 25:42 to 30:06: Shortcoming of the way we assess economies and companies 30:15 to 37:30: ESG as an opportunity, not obligation 38:00 to 43:00 South-East Asia's prospects in the decades ahead See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We need the State to help solve these problems... but we have not paid attention to what are the attributes of government we need.” David Victor, Professor at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego, a foremost expert on the policy of decarbonisation, joins Kopi Time to shed critical light on the challenge of our generation. He begins by highlighting the urgency of deep reduction of carbon from the atmosphere, and the track record of climate policies such as cap and trade, carbon tax, and carbon offset. David walks through the reasons why he is sceptical of traditional market-based solution to pricing carbon and constraining its emission. He then delves into promising policy options and technologies, and considers the state of decarbonisation in critical sectors like energy, road transportation, and aviation. David explains why the EU has made hard-earned gains in creating a carbon marketplace, and the incentives and nudges that can help implement smart, adaptive regulations worldwide. Given the myriad of uncertainties involved, he sees wisdom in running many small policy experiments, which can then be scaled up if found promising. David takes stock of the developments in the US, China, and India, three of the most critical jurisdictions that need to pursue net zero policy over the long run. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chandran Nair, Founder and CEO of the Global Institute For Tomorrow (GIFT), an independent pan-Asian think tank and author of the book “The Sustainable State,” argues passionately about the global vulnerabilities that need to be tackled urgently. He begins by highlighting a few myths and fallacies that have been exposed by the events of the past year.  He stresses that the public sector and civil society should be central to solving our generational problems like climate change and inequality, as they simply cannot be solved by the private sector. He advocates policies that improve the quality of people’s lives in a sustainable and equitable manner, urging less reliance on GDP growth as a development target. He points out that pricing nonrenewable resources to align incentives toward conservation and devoting state spending to public and common good are the call of the hour. We discuss the need to rethink consumption-based growth models, and the danger of expecting technology to solve everything. We also cover the imperatives for China, Singapore, and the US. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spanning cutting edge design and production that range from of silicon to wafer to integrated circuits, semiconductors are perhaps the most complex and critically important product in the world today. Which countries and companies are good at the various design and production stages? Why did Intel slip over the years? What explains TSMC’s rise? Where do China, Taiwan, US, South Korea, Japan and other countries fit into this narrative? How have states gotten involved, and what are the national security implications? How will the China-US rivalry take shape around the race to establish semiconductor chip supremacy? To delve into this fascinating subject, we are lucky to have with us Dan Wang, a foremost expert commentator on the semiconductor supply chain, as well as related regulations and policies. This is a must-listen.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yes, it has been a year of Kopi Time! When we did our first recording on February 24, 2020, Covid was still a China-oriented crisis, and global financial markets were still buoyant. But even then, in that inaugural episode, Bert Hofman, Director of the East Asian Institute at NUS and Professor of Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School, warned about the sharp 1Q contraction unfolding in China and possible spillover risks. We invited Prof Hofman back to Kopi Time to take stock of the past year and the road ahead. We begin by going over the global policy response to the pandemic and the fault-lines and vulnerabilities revealed last year. Prof Hofman then considers Asia’s outlook this year, along with the risk of financial market contagion. We then discuss China at length, including Bert’s scorecard for the economy in 2020, the dual circulation economic strategy, push for innovation, agenda on climate change, developments in the digital currency space, and of course, the future of China-US relations. We thank our listeners for their time and support over the first year of Kopi Time.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ajaita Shah, founder and CEO of Frontier Markets, joins Kopi Time to talk about connecting female entrepreneurs and customers in rural India. A US citizen of Indian origin, Ajaita moved to India 15 years ago, and has spent the past decade running Frontier Markets. We talk about the incubation process of her endeavour, the challenges faced, pivots made, and the digital journey so far. She walks us through the core values of Frontier Markets, key milestones reached, and the adjustments made necessary by the Covid pandemic. Ajaita also sheds light on her experience of working as a female social entrepreneur, and her ambitious visions for the future. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.