00:00Three, two, one, base it up, and launch!
00:11And this engagement goes beyond, of course, conferences like this, forums like this,
00:16into more intimate and direct discussion about some of the things that you have mentioned, Jacob.
00:26And I'll probably address them in my speech later.
00:30So it is an honour for me to be here today, especially on the eve of budget.
00:36In fact, I find it very difficult to speak on the eve of budget because I may have said something
00:45today
00:45and tomorrow the finance minister will have announced something totally new.
00:52Even ministers don't know the exact details of the budget until tomorrow when we have our cabinet meeting,
00:59when we have the structure.
01:02So it's very interesting that you are organising this on the eve of the budget, but we will try.
01:08Who was in Sepang last week?
01:11Can I have a short hand?
01:13That's why I said, manufacturer already kept selling.
01:17We are always compared between the manufacturer and the developer in Penang.
01:22See who's willing to spend.
01:23And then you look at their headphone, you know.
01:26Somebody was in Sepang last week, right?
01:28It was a good event.
01:29But why was the...
01:30It was not called the Malaysian Sepang F1, right?
01:34Or GP, right?
01:35It was called?
01:36We go there, the Baring flag was there.
01:38Baring GP, graphics, F1.
01:43Why is it Baring in Malaysia?
01:44Why did they move here?
01:46Why did they move here?
01:49Because of war.
01:51Because of geopolitical conflict.
01:54Because of security issue.
01:58So they moved to Malaysia.
02:00But why did they move to Malaysia?
02:01Because we are available.
02:03We are safe.
02:04We are there just in case.
02:08So, reliability, redundancy even, and security is a premium.
02:15And as a result, one of the...
02:17I was just looking through the news and one of the financial institutions projected over
02:221 billion ringgit in economic output transaction within just three days, right?
02:29And the corollary of it is that maybe about 30 to 40% of it goes to the SMG, Malaysian
02:39SMG, within just three days.
02:41So, in other words, monetize on readiness.
02:47Monetize on redundancy.
02:49Number two, geopolitical neutrality is now geo-economic capital.
02:57The winners of today's world...
03:01I'm talking about a country, but I think it's also relevant to companies as well, right?
03:08The winners in today's hyperfluff environment are countries that can pick up the phone and make deals, navigate on tariff
03:20and traffic.
03:24Leaders who can pick up the phone and say, can you let my ship pass from the street of Hummus?
03:29And you know what I mean, right?
03:31If we can negotiate trade barriers, if we can negotiate choke points, then you win.
03:37And in order to negotiate neutrality and centrality is our best premium.
03:47This is an old cliche, making friends means bigger market.
03:53The modern CEO of a country has to ensure that we have excellent stakeholder engagement.
04:02And this is where you see, right, critical, and not many countries can do this today, right?
04:08You can deal with the big superpowers that are fighting one another.
04:16So this has become a premium, making more friends.
04:21Our neutrality, our position as the friend of the world, open up new markets.
04:29And we have thumbs up from everyone on stage.
