“Prepare to live with the pandemic,” said keynote speaker Dr Anthony Dass, Group Chief Economist, Head of AmBank Research and member of Malaysia’s Economic Action Council Secretariat. “Prepare to digitise.” He was speaking on the second day of the two-day Risk Forum organised by the IERP® and the Brunei Institute of Leadership and Islamic Finance (BILIF). Many businesses do not understand the consequences and implications of digitisation. Subsequently, there was a need to educate micro-SMEs at all levels.
In addition, there were technological issues to deal with, such as the extent of network support, which is still uneven in some areas, and the problem of raising “green” capital for businesses that appeared environmentally unsustainable but were worthy of being funded nevertheless. There were also businesses currently operating which were experiencing similar problems. But regardless of these challenges, digitisation, the use of technology and sustainability were imperatives that had to be dealt with, in order to move beyond the pandemic situation.
The pandemic has caused global supply disruption, and made the future of the workforce more challenging. Many countries went into various levels of lockdown, triggering the Work From Home (WFH) phenomenon globally.
32 The IERP® Monthly Newsletter December 2021