Enterprise Explores

BFM Media

Helping you navigate the ever-changing universe of business, from headlines to the bottom line

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    Why Solar Can’t Beat Coal, Yet: Fixing SEA’s Power Market

    In the last four years, Southeast Asia’s electricity demand has surged by 24%. Yet, despite the falling cost of renewables, nearly 80% of that new demand was met by coal and gas. The problem isn't the technology, it's a "locked-in" market structure that indirectly blocks the green transition Alexandre Salesse, Partner at BCG, explains how the "Single Buyer" model and "Take or Pay" contracts have created a reliability gold standard at the cost of future flexibility. He also unpacks the four critical reform levers needed to modernise the grid without triggering blackouts or investor flight. Learn about: The Physics of Power: Why electricity is a unique commodity that requires a perfect "bicycle balance" between production and consumption. The "Sunk Cost" of Coal: How long-term contracts force utilities to prioritise fossil fuels they’ve already paid for, leaving no room for cheaper solar. Unbundling for Competition: The necessity of separating power purchasers from plant owners to resolve built-in conflicts of interest. The ASEAN Power Grid: Why it took 14 years to negotiate one wind farm and how a regional framework could fast-track future cross-border projects. Targeted Subsidies: Moving away from hidden "blanket" subsidies toward transparent, time-bound support for those who need it most. Avoiding Wishful Thinking: Why Southeast Asia shouldn't aim for immediate, Western-style liberalisation, but rather incremental "flexibility levers." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    35 min
  2. 6 DAYS AGO

    Malaysia’s 59 IPOs Raised $1.4B, Singapore’s 13 Raised $2B

    In 2025, Malaysia had 59 IPOs raising US$1.4 billion, the highest volume in the region, but when we look at the money, Singapore raised US$2 billion with just 13 deals. So Malaysia won on volume, but Singapore won on value. Wong Kar Choon from Deloitte Malaysia joins BFM Enterprise Explores to unpack the structural differences driving this divide. While Bursa Malaysia has become the region's engine for SME growth, with 44 of those 59 listings occurring on the ACE Market, Singapore continues to be the "global capital gateway" for high-value institutional deals in the region We discuss: The Valuation Gap: Why Malaysia’s domestic-driven market supports volume but caps valuations, unlike Singapore’s access to global funds. ACE Market Dominance: With 44 out of 59 listings occurring on the ACE Market, we ask if Malaysia is becoming a "volume factory" for small caps rather than a home for regional champions. The "Silicon Valley" Paradox: Why the narrative of Malaysia as the "Silicon Valley of the East" hasn't translated into a wave of semiconductor listings, and whether the real value is locked in MNCs and Private Equity. "Real Tech" vs. "PowerPoint Tech": The new criteria for 2026, where investors demand profitability and cash flow over growth stories. The 2026 Playbook: How Malaysia can move from "Recovery" to "Reinvention" by attracting foreign institutional capital and hosting marquee IPOs in AI and data infrastructure. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    28 min
  3. 4 FEB

    How AI is Starving the Internet

    For decades, the internet ran on a simple economic contract: creators publish content, search engines organise it, and humans click on it. That click was the currency of the open web. But in 2025, that contract is unraveling. Nan Hao Maguire of Cloudflare reveals that the internet is shifting from a human utility to a "Machine-to-Machine Economy." With AI crawlers like Google Bot consuming data without sending traffic back, we are seeing a 24-25% "referral deficit" that threatens to bankrupt the creator economy. We also dive into the dark side of this shift: the rise of Agentic AI and autonomous cyber threats. Cloudflare’s data shows a terrifying escalation in brute force, with the Aisuru botnet hitting peak attack rates of 31.4 terabits per second, a scale that legacy infrastructure simply cannot survive. We discuss: The Broken Contract: How AI crawlers are creating a "referral deficit" by scraping answers without providing clicks, forcing creators toward "pay-per-crawl" licensing models. The Machine Web: Why 31% of all internet traffic is now bot-originated, and how we are moving from "AI as a tool" to "AI as a teammate" (Agentic AI). The Aisuru Escalation: The massive leap in cyber attack volume from 7.9 Tbps to 31.4 Tbps in just months, and why most providers fail past the 20 Tbps mark. Malaysia’s Vulnerability: Why "People in Society" (individuals) have become the #1 cyber target in Malaysia, surpassing banks and government agencies. Autonomous Defense: The shift toward "AI vs. AI" warfare, where autonomous defense systems are the only way to counter agentic attacks. The Quantum Leap: The silent positive trend of Post-Quantum Encryption, which has jumped from 30% to 52% adoption on Cloudflare’s network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    37 min

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Helping you navigate the ever-changing universe of business, from headlines to the bottom line