The Knowledge to Decide

Spire Research and Consulting was invited to join the ‘Meet The Beneficiaries’ event organized by Yayasan myNADI with Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Abdul Razak as the guest of honor. The presentation was held on 24 March 2018 at Putrajaya with over 600 guests – mostly beneficiaries. Datuk Dr Jeyaindran Tan Sri Sinnadurai, Chairman of Yayasan myNADI discussed the impact study of DiverseCity International Kuala Lumpur Festival (KLIAF) 2017 jointly conducted by Spire Research and Consulting and the Nottingham University Business School. Jeffrey Bahar (Regional Advisory, Deputy Chief Executive Officer), Yap Far Loon (Lead Consultant), Haries Salim (Assistant Manager) and Nathalia Setiawan (Senior Consultant) joined the beneficiary event as supporters of KLIAF. Datin Sunita Rajkumar, the festival director of KLIAF, briefed and handed a copy of KLIAF’s Post Event report to Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/sp

Spire Research and Consulting’s Director Yap Far Loon was honored to be appointed as moderator at the 4th South-East Asia Port Expansion Summit 2017 organized by the Noppen Group. The summit was held on 26 October 2017 in Kuala Lumpur. It discussed challenges and opportunities in obtaining sustainable project financing. Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director, Public Sector, Financial Services and ICT for Spire Research and Consulting, moderated the discussion panel on financing for port expansion projects. He focused the discussion on challenges and innovative business models for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). For successful PPPs, the roles and responsibilities need to be defined clearly to all stakeholders. Local partners should also be given concessionaire flexibility to add intangible business value. Yap also shared his insights on practical business models for PPPs and how exit-based PPP models can dilute private sector investment through the listing of PP

Economics students from the University of Malaya visited Spire Malaysia for an interactive business consulting session on 17 March. Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director, Telecommunications of Spire Research and Consulting conducted the session. Spire Malaysia had the pleasure of hosting a real-world business consulting session with Economics students from the University of Malaya. The interactive session gave students an insight on the importance of applying the right theories and tools in formulating business strategies. The session focused on the realm of market research and consulting practices. Far Loon discussed the theoretical models deployed by Spire in business consulting while also elaborating on the planning and sampling strategies used in market research. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spire-malaysia-hosts-students-from-university-of-malaya-for-business-consulting-session-once-more/

Spire Research and Consulting was honored to be appointed as the Official Knowledge Partner at the Global Summit on Bitcoin & Blockchain: The State of Cryptocurrency – Opportunities and Challenges for Indian Economy – organized by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). The summit was held on 3 March 2017 in New Delhi. It aimed to discuss the challenges and opportunities posed by the new technology. Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director, Telecommunications of Spire Research and Consulting, was honored to be a guest speaker at this event. He highlighted key facts about the Bitcoin & Blockchain ecosystem in India and other countries, focusing on market acceptance of cryptocurrency, security risks and regulatory issues. Following last year’s demonetization move by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the government is not in favor of legitimizing Bitcoin as legal tender. However, a few industry players are working on Distributed Ledger T

Spire Malaysia was invited to Universiti Kuala Lumpur Business School – one of Malaysia’s leading technical universities – as a guest panellist to evaluate a social entrepreneurship pitching session by students held on 8 December. Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director, Telecommunications of Spire Research and Consulting attended the session. Spire Malaysia had the pleasure to evaluate business pitches by university students based on social entrepreneurship as part of their assessment for this subject. The 10 teams of students studying Bachelors of Business Administration were led by lecturer Muhamed Zulkiflee Osman. As a guest panellist, Far Loon shared his views on this sector in the interactive session, so as to give students an opportunity to learn what social entrepreneurship is all about from the industry perspective. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spire-malaysia-invited-as-guest-panellist-to-assess-students-at-universiti-kuala-lumpur-busine

Economics students from the University of Malaya visited Spire Malaysia for an interactive business consulting session on 30 October. Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director, Telecommunications of Spire Research and Consulting conducted the session. Spire Malaysia had the pleasure to host keen Economic students from the University of Malaya for an interactive business consulting session, which gave them an inside look into the realm of market research and how it intersects with business planning. The session focused on market research and consulting practices. Far Loon discussed Spire’s research design and approach, including sampling strategy and quantitative tools. He also discussed Spire’s approach to forming business strategy recommendations. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/spire-malaysia-hosts-students-from-university-of-malaya-for-business-consulting-session/

The Social Impact Innovation Challenge by Berbudi Berganda – driven by Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (National Innovation Agency) – brought together individuals across Malaysia to scout for innovative solutions for Malaysia’s social development. Carried out over a period of 10 weeks, 12 finalists were shortlisted out of 300 entries using selection criteria that spanned three parameters – innovation, cost-effectiveness and sustainability. Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director, Telecommunication of Spire Research and Consulting, was among the Challenge panelists interviewed on BFM 89.9 (The Business Radio Station) for the Live and Learn show. He shared his views on how to measure impact of social innovation. This Social Impact Innovation Challenge strives to turn innovative ideas into realities. To explain the impact of social innovation, Far Loon uses a simple demand-supply model. Supply here refers to the finalists. Demand refers to the beneficiaries, such as people with low-inco

Vietnam’s rural population is still struggling with access to basic financial services. With the high mobile penetration rate, can mobile phones be a platform to address their needs? Yap Far Loon, Business Development Director, Telecommunications at Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights on the untapped potential for mobile financial services to serve Vietnam’s rural population in The Saigon Times Daily. According to a Spire report, an astounding 60 million people in Vietnam do not have access to basic financial services. Only 22% of the population – predominantly those residing in urban areas – have access to financial services. Why are the rural areas being left out? Yap opined that high costs are the main reason. For instance, the cost of installation, maintenance, operation and location rental for Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) alone exceeds VND300 million annually. Moreover, as rural transaction volumes are low, economies of scale are limited, making it even