CEO Forum 2014
Perdana Leadership Foundation
CEO Forum 2014: “Will Malaysia
Survive The Next Global
Financial Crisis?”
“It is entirely possible that another
financial crisis of the same magnitude
or greater will occur within the next few
years. Will Malaysia be ready then for
another hit to our economy?”
This was the question posed by Tan
Sri Azman Hashim, Chairman of the
Board of Trustees, Perdana Leadership
Foundation, in his opening remarks at
the 2014 CEO Forum. While it may seem
as if Malaysia escaped the worst of the
2008 crisis, the effects of the crisis are
still being felt around the world. 2015
saw Malaysia facing a different set of
challenges with the drop in the price of
oil as well as export commodities such
as palm oil which affected Malaysia’s
revenue stream. Coupled with an increase in the cost of living for ordinary
Malaysians, 2015 has proven to be a
tough year in terms of the economy.
Given this, much of the discussions
during the 2014 CEO Forum themed
“Will Malaysia Survive the Next Global
Financial Crisis” remain relevant. A few
of the panellists may even have proved to
be prescient with regard to the state of
the economy in 2015 and beyond.
The thirty-three panellists for our
2014 CEO Forum included top CEOs of
10 | P e r d a n a M a g a z in e 2 0 1 5
Malaysian companies from various industries as well as experienced analysts.
More than five hundred company directors, managers and executives, attended
the event, which took place at Berjaya
Times Square Convention Centre in Kuala
Lumpur on the 24th of September 2014.
Perdana Leadership Foundation is
grateful for the support of EY as Major
Sponsor; Berjaya Corporation as Venue
and Food and Beverage Sponsor; Dynac
Sdn Bhd, Westports Bhd, Silverlake Digital Economy Sdn Bhd and Gamuda Bhd
as our Gold Sponsors; PNB, AIA, IJM and
AmBank Group as our Silver Sponsors;
and Symphony Life Berhad, Hess Corporation, Bina Puri Holdings Berhad and
Boustead Holdings Berhad as our Bronze
Sponsors.
“T
he 2008 crisis happened
because of the lack of regulations in terms of financial products and practices. A crisis, ladies
and gentlemen, is often a signal
that something is deeply wrong
with a system. It’s a signal that
corrective action is needed. But
after the 2008 crisis, it seems that
some stakeholders including bank
depositors have been punished
through loss of jobs and bank deposits while those who made the
bad decisions have been rewarded
with bonus payments via huge bailouts by the government.
The post-crisis environment
has not brought the reforms that
are needed, but instead has perpetuated the machinery that crashed
the system in the first place. Due
to political and big business pressure, billions of dollars are