MGA brings Industry Talk to Members Staying At Home in compliance to the Movement Control Order.

Unprecedented time indeed calls for unprecedented measures. In the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic that saw most countries, including Malaysia, imposed various levels of movement restrictions aimed at halting the march of coronavirus, companies have to be innovative and operate beyond the usual norms to stay resilient and relevant. Committed to its objective to continue serving the members, MGA leveraged on the power of technology to bring learning into the homes of MGA members.

On 30th March 2020, for the first time, MGA brought its Industry Talk online via webinar. This talk was conducted in collaboration with the Asia School of Business (ASB), a partnership between Bank Negara and MIT Sloan School of Management

The session started with opening remarks by Hazli Sham Kassim, MGA President, followed by a presentation from Prof. Renato Lima-de-Oliveira, Associate Professor of Management at ASB on “Making Sense of Key Factors affecting the Energy Market (OPEC+, Covid-19 and Energy Transition)”. Prof. Renato addressed the effects of Covid-19 on energy demand, provided some context on the recent OPEC+ negotiation breakdown and estimated the potential impacts of a low oil price on new investment and production volume. Drawing from economics, politics, and history, he discussed the causes of the recent changes and the different scenarios of how market dynamics will evolve and the effects on countries like Malaysia.

Dr. Renato concluded his presentation by listing down two potential impacts of the Covid-19 on energy markets.

• Work from home is becoming ‘a new normal’
• Break-up of global supply chains
  • Countries are increasingly adopting trade restrictions in name of national security
  • Protection and populism on the rise in the context of a health pandemic can lead to lower trade across countries, meaning lower demand for transportation of goods

Nearly 150 MGA members tuned in to the session which lasted more than 1 hour. Based on feedback, attendees were extremely satisfied with session (satisfaction level at an impressive 97% covering content, presentation and program structure). Inspired by this encouraging outcome, MGA is contemplating to make webinar a regular feature of its Industry Talks in the future. Share your thoughts with us by email to MGA secretariat@malaysiangas.com.

For those who have missed out on the session, or would like to have a refresher on what was discussed, please click on the video below :