UOB Global Markets Economic Forum 2023 (Part 3/3 with Mr George Yeo)

and ladies and gentlemen thank you for staying back for this final segment of our UOB Global markets economic Forum now um to be honest I'm truly stressed about how to start this conversation with you know Mr George Hill uh how to properly and respectfully uh you know introduce him um fortunately I came across a very short and sharp and eloquent introduction given to to Mr yo by professor daniqua at last July's lky spp lecture so I didn't get a chance to ask Prof qua for permission but I think I'll quote him here just do sentences Mr you if you allow me so this is what profile said um in the world of ideas Singapore has been blessed with a whole string of men and women who are exceptionally powerful and deep thinkers and reciting in this Pantheon of exceptional singaporeans is of course our guest speaker today who is an accomplished railroad practitioner and you know a deep thinker in his own right to that I would like to add my own observations we all know that Mr yo cares a lot about our little red dot we all know that he cares about asean we all know that he cares about the world and the people around him and and of course we all know that Mr yo is an advocate of lifelong learning uh he said himself that he's just learned how to scratch the uhu and and we all know that Mr yo you know keeps to a very very mean Fitness regime at his age uh those of us who follow his Facebook knows that he runs hourly long evening runs you know at Changi point at a pace that puts you know me and my peers to shame so uh ladies and gentlemen our esteem guest Mr wee dear bosses and colleagues of yobi can we give another big round of warm welcome to Mr George so I'm going to keep this free flow uh candid you know discussion uh we did share with Mr yo a list of you know top questions we'd like to ask him first to start the ball rolling all of you uh our dear guests you have our QR code now do start peppering the questions they will show up on my iPad here and they'll work into the conversation but for today I think just two main blocks of you know discussion points which I think is very important for you know all your businesses which I think is very important for UOB as well which is basically China and asean so so we would like to focus the discussion on the economy on what to expect for China and asean so first up Mr yo if I can ask you the reopening of China very sudden very quick met with a lot of Jubilation and trepidation by everybody what's your understanding inside into this reopening of China Post covet how is their strategy to deal with the country and the economy post covet I'm sure there's a plan I'm sure there's a strategy no it was something planned many months ago when sitting being invited Jacoby to visit China I knew there was going to be an opening up after after the 20th party Congress because he was signaling to Jokowi that he's going for the G20 meeting and that's before the ashuta and before that he went to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan so to me is obvious you're sending signals to so own people that are going to open up and the first agenda item of the first meeting of the new poly Bureau standing committee in early November was on Kobe relaxation and 20 measures were announced the demonstrations might have helped to accelerate and concentrate minds but they were not the reason for opening them they had planned for this they knew that Kobe was weakening and therefore they could do it as a control fire not as an explosion but in the end it turned out to be more violent than they expected so I was wondering whether they're going to Institute controls for Chinese New Year because it's the biggest migration on Earth they didn't so once I saw that they were not going to Institute controls for for Chinese New Year I knew they were not afraid of course in various places occasionally there could be a lack of ibuprofen or Panadol or shortage of this and that but within a week two weeks everything was adjusted so I think they will come out from Kobe okay there'll be two three more ways to come because it's in the nature of epidemics but of lowering intensity and barring some strange new mutation which is not likely in virology I I think by next year when we look back at covet it's a thing of the past I like your assessment right if we looked at covet next year it will be a thing of the past um staying on on the Chinese economy Mr yo in in quite a few of your previous engagements you have highlighted that you know unfortunately deglobalization is now the trend and trade has been politicized China as we know the Chinese economic Miracle is built on globalization China is the factory to the world so now that China is reopening after covet um does that solve the other half the equation about the growth slowdown about deglobalization for the Chinese economy the period when China depended on globalization for its Economic Development will when we look back later will be seen as being relatively short in Chinese history it's been a self-contained universe and the internal circulation had always been much more important than external circulation there was a period when things have been took over and China had to learn from the world when exports and imports became a large part of its GDP but that's been coming down in the coming years it is the growth of the domestic Market and of consumption which should be the most interesting they're becoming more middle class so all the all the needs of a middle class Society all the demand for goods and services associated with green leader classes will become more important I read an article the other day that or China will have more landsat aside for national parks than the US they're starting they're learning from the U.S I think the U.S is helping them some some of those involved in the U.S are helping them and and and can you imagine outdoor activities all the equipment ski Road climbing country Cottages all these will grow in China they have huge needs for health care education in pollution control and internal tourism food wine they'll become one of the most biggest producers of wine but I think paichu will hold its own in China yeah so as the U.S domestic economy was the important driver of the global economy for decades Chinese domestic economy will be a major Global driver to global economy in the coming decades and therefore something we cannot ignore yeah so so you know looks like how should I say we are going to have more positives to expect from the Chinese economy going forward as it transforms as it becomes more of a spending economy more of a Services economy and moving away from manufacturing now um staying on the the economy I think one of the questions a lot of our audience is asking about is the currency is remain B yes um we all do business in China we need the Remington and the Remington uh rightfully or wrongly has went through a very volatile patch over the past few years starting from Donald Trump to now covet 19. it used to be that we all expect Remington to be in due course a global Reserve currency in due cost to overtake the US dollar as the currency to do business with now to be honest that thought is you know much more nuance and and I remember in some of your office observations you highlighted that especially with Russia's Invasion Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions against Russia the U.S has weaponized the US dollar has blocked Russia from access to funding from payment so what's your view of the Remington in this new reality what the challenges should we look out for but first let me make a quick comment on your earlier statement that China is losing manufacturing I don't think so I think China will remain the single most important Manufacturing hub for the entire world and it will increasingly be China and Southeast Asia we can talk about that later no China has about A fifth or six of the world's population but it's one third of the robot population and I read the report that last year China accounted for half the population growth of robots in that year so it's it's certain kinds of manufacturing are moving out but a lot of it will be retained within China because no one can replicate the Chinese ecosystem for Mass manufacturing this is in the case throughout history on the remain B uh the key here is that I don't believe China will ever fully open up its capital markets because if you fully open up your Capital markets then you can be manipulated and London and New York without your knowing and by the time you find out it's too late could have moved in and done a lot of things to you in the 19th century after the end of the second Opium War around 1861. every ship calling on the China coast of the Yangtze River was inspected by a young man by white men we'll see a britisher they collected the Customs decided what they should keep for themselves and give the rest to the Qing Dynasty China Beret time had lost control of his financial system and they were not want to lose control of the financial system so I don't think the capital markets in China will ever be fully free it'll be there'll be a great wall around it a great financial wall with Gates these Gates will be police sometimes they are flung wide open and you can move in and out without any trouble sometimes you'll be control sometimes it may even be shut and if you play games you will know that they'll go after you so that as a result of this there are two pools of remain B there's a pool within China which is a huge pool and there's a pool outside China which is a relatively small pool compared to the pool inside China that blue outside China will be settled in Hong Kong Singapore London and it's a part that you can play around with and will be used as a additional Reserve currency by many countries I don't think China has any wish to displace the U.S dollar as a global Reserve currency because that also exposes you to outside forces which they do not want but there will be an important currency the U.S has been weaponizing the International Financial system and through it exercise long-up jurisdiction even to us in Singapore and to many countries and it's creating a lot of resentment with the Ukraine war an alternative system is being created much faster than we could have anticipated in the past because Russia is so heavily sanctioned that and as a result of which there are so many opportunities for those who operate outside the U.S control International Financial system so that is growing very fast some months ago I read a report that to process Russian oil and to avoid U.S sanctions the soes are keeping out of it but new entities have grown to refine Russian oil and they're called teapot refineries teapot small operations until I met the shell board in Singapore and they told me the HD port is bigger than just refinery in Singapore wow maybe she's already one of the biggest in the world so how do they settle Remini U.S dollar ruble India is also not going to be a settle at the U.S so they're also buying what do they settle Ruble rupee then there's Iran and with the withdrawal of NATO from Afghanistan the whole inner Asia is now its own world outside U.S control the most dramatic uh was a visit by Xi Jinping to react a few weeks ago you know the king Salman and MBS laid on a welcome never seen before in the entire Middle East first a bilateral meeting then I'm meeting the GCC countries definitely a meeting with leaders of the Arab world not just Arab countries but Arab organizations yes it was partly a signal to the U.S but it's also a calculation then in 10 20 30 years time China be a much bigger player in the Middle East and China is not intervening the politics of the Middle East so they keep good relations with Saudi Arabia Iran of Israel with Palestine because China is not interfering the politics but everyone knows the China will be a growing factor in their lives and this has this is of profound importance in February 1945 when the second world war was ending Roosevelt a few months before he died went to yauta in the Crimea for a meeting with Stalin and we treat you to determine how the lines will be drawn When The War ended on this way back to the U.S on board the USS Cruiser Quincy he stopped in the Suez Canal and spent a few days with King Abdul Aziz the grandfather of MBS all the kings of Saudi Arabia that we know we sense King Abdul Aziz and FDR Roosevelt had a simple agreement in return for U.S protection of the Kingdom which later extended to the entire GCC oil will be denominated in U.S dollars and that visit by sitting Pizzeria signal a shift from an agreement that helped the world together under Apex Americana for many decades so yes we will see a weakening of US dollar I don't think China wants to take over all that responsibility and all that trouble I mean I don't think the exorbitant privilege is worth it for China but that transition to a multiple level which includes a multipolar financial system will be turbulent and from time to time there'll be a crisis and something that we have got to be mindful of so on on that note of multi-polarity um Mr yo you have mentioned in quite a few of your recent you know speaking engagements yesterday at the Yoshi shop forum that the world is moving towards multipolarity and that there are new roles for the U.S and for China to play perhaps for the benefit of our audience can you share with us your thesis in a little bit more detail what to expect going forward do you see in the multiple level there'll be more conflict or is there you know a light at the end of tunnel for those of us during the second World War the U.S was untouched it fought in Europe it fought in the Pacific when the war ended the U.S economy was 40 percent of the global economy there was a cold war but the Soviet system was a smaller economy and a world unto itself so the world that we all grew up in was an American peace it was under an American piece and so we had the Bretton Woods institutions we had a U.S dollar we had all the accounting standards and we got used to it and within that system uh trade was de-politicized so you had get the WTO and we thought well globalization was the end point and when the Soviet Union collapsed China joined that war and benefited from that peace but the world doesn't stay still because the the share of the U.S economy has been coming down it faces internal problems there was a Wrath of Japan but the U.S made sure that that never threatened the U.S so you remember when Ezra Vogel wrote about Japan is number one the plaza Accord September 1985. when the Yen from I think 120 was up value to 80 to a dollar that destroyed Japanese Manufacturing but Japan couldn't do anything about it because the 55 000 soldiers you GIS in Japan in Japan depends on the U.S for the nuclear umbrella but the U.S can do that to China and this Ukraine war has accelerated the future they thought they could overwhelm Russia I don't think they can overcome Russia so easily and Russia is determined to be his own pole is a nuclear power and China doesn't want Russia to go down so China is supporting Russia 5040 or 55 40. not too much you see not with weapons but benefiting from it India is playing 50 50. so already you see there's China this a smaller pool Russia there's India in the Middle East once it's on autonomy because Islam has his own view of the world by 2050 give or take imagine one in two babies born in the world be Muslim and they had their own view of the world of life and after all and then I'm going to follow American values yeah some things yes but not on the most important things and as a result of China India countries in the Middle East Africa Latin America increasingly few that they too can find their own way to the Future and not be told that the only way to the future is the American Highway and sooner or later you'll be who I am now and while you're on this road I will tell you the progress you are making you're 20 there you're 30 percent there fifty percent there they will soon be saying no it's a good highway but there are other ways and because of my own history I'll take other ways so that's what I mean by multiple level it's not just multipolarity in economic weight in the end is multipolarity in cultures and in value systems but this is very difficult for the US and some extent for the entire West to accept because they've been dominant for so long the idea that they're competing systems of equal validity and in some way Superior is very difficult for them to accept and China must understand this and help to manage this discomfort and insecurity so building on this multi-polar will we here are in asean um I remember Mr yo in one of your past conversations with Prof Kishore mabubani you liken asean to a Motley jazz band right some times some will play to the U.S tune some will play to China's tune but most of the time or all times the jazz band at the moment of calling will come together stay neutral and outsmart the greater Powers now in the new multipolar world clearly it's going to make it difficult for asean the Jazz Band what's your viewers are seeing going forward how do we manage this unpredictably struggle in the multipolar world going forward the kingdoms of Southeast Asia were never so big that they threatened anyone beyond the region quite the opposite every time China was ascendant is influence radiated into stabilization and there was a tributary relationship in the first Millennium influences from India were important then the Western Powers came than Japan so there's a suitably modest view of ourselves in asean that we are not big I mean sukano for a period head extra large ambitions but since then the leaders of Indonesia have be more Japanese in the way they look at in religious place in Civilization and the world as a result of this asean is instinctively knows how to deal with multipolarity so all of us have a skin sense of balance I mean Talent is a classic example you push me too hard and in the other direction you push me that away I lean again in a sense like that in fact every country in Ascend is very good at this very good at this and I said as a whole is genius is in turning its weakness into a strength which was the subject I spoke about yesterday the key is China because China is already sorry Chinese of course I sense biggest trading partner in fact all of us in asean but we have also become China's biggest trading partner overtaking Europe some years ago and bilateral trade between asean and China I think we reached a trillion dollars within a few short years the target was actually yeah 2020 but we've not reached it but I think we've covered over it will grow very fast we are complementary because we're relatively younger than China this is the tropics China is temporary where we are wet China is dry more or less the same time zone so historically great complementarity North and South one day older Chinese will see Florida and the Caribbeans which I mean we see Hainan and Southeast Asia the way Americans see Florida and the Caribbeans the older people will all move Southwest because it's warmer it's more comfortable is healthier but asean doesn't want to become a become an end we are very good at managing this so of course when see Tim went to Jakarta to Bangkok great courtesy and when 49 Marcus went to Philippines just last week I was by the way he recollected he's meeting with Mao Zedong when he was a teenager with his mother the mother I do not know whether it's worth watching you know the interview he gave to CCTV Mao was coughing and not physically comfortable so imagine I think he was happy to be propped up by him out there yeah then he had a bit of a rough throat so Imelda wanted to give him some cough drops young Marcus kicked her says you can do this you know I mean he may affect his other medications he spoke about that encounter with such affection in nostalgia I feel uncomfortable it's okay as a private member but you're the president of the Republic of the Philippines but no he said I contributed to lay the foundation for Filipino China relations you know because teaching a knowledge him and he accepted the demolishment it's a sign of the times everyone in Civilization knows which side of the bread will be buttered more but at the same time the they they don't want to be captured by China I mean Singapore three-quarters Chinese we don't want to be captured by China either yes we want to be close friends with China we want China business we don't want China tourists there's too many to quickly maybe slow down a bit too many Chinese billionaires maybe EDP should slow down a bit but it's okay it's okay but our destiny is in Civilization so naturally we want the Americans the Japanese the Europeans everybody else to be around then our portfolio is a diversified one so that's that's an instinct and because of the way the world is going I think asiam will become more and more attractive to more and more of the major Powers not just Singapore but Vietnam Philippines Indonesia Malaysia and even though we are not as tightly organized you know as China but we don't want to be a steadily organized China because it can quite suffocating like during Kobe you know I think we were happy being Who We Are the ethnic Chinese connection will be very powerful and probably very important to UOB you know you you think about it you think about it when the Western Powers were here they had to deal with local people they could not so we did the the compradors the taipan so you had this whole intermediate group in business who are mostly Chinese who intimidated between an advanced West at a less Advanced Asia now with Asia Rising the Chinese are so used to dealing with them with one another within China outside China they're a bit clumsy and when they go to Indonesia to Thailand without the local Chinese helping them they can really succeed so those who are coming to us with the Europeans and not come products for China but it's the same instinct in the same group of people and their children now dominate high tech in Civilization but again mostly ethnic Chinese now mind you if you're not careful there'll be an anti-ethnic Chinese reaction in Civilization so there must be a deep sense that no I'm Chinese but I'm Indonesian I'm Thai I'm Filipino I'm Singaporean and are we used to try and end the world is because of this management of our identity so if we played right I think Southeast Asia who have a very bright future in the multipolar world and China will lead us the Americans who need this the Japanese will need this and we are connected in a million different ways not only with China but we're all possible and Singapore being smacked right in the middle of it should benefit a lot if we position ourselves right Mr you I want to add on to to your point so in a sense UOB is exactly playing this role we are helping the Chinese to come out to asean and we're helping us in Singapore asean to go into China yeah so so so very good to hear this from you no it's not it's not because you're of course it's also because of clever policy but it's not because you you you you are brilliant and you embarked it because in your history it's a history I mean it was Victoria out with his father his history from food chain coming down here in Southeast Asia and feeling comfortable so I remember being treated to Noodles in Saigon but we he jumped 30 years ago coffee shop but the noodle was very good not not the same that Obama had when he was oh no not buncha right that's no good so instinctively I think the ethnic Chinese sends opportunity sometimes we are wrong but it's okay it's okay to be wrong it's good to try yeah it doesn't mean become a part of China it will never become a part of China and each of us have our own separate identities in Southeast Asia and now that network is spreading is spreading into Australia New Zealand of course even into Africa and India is a bit of a India going through a phase you know I think that making a big mistake by rocking up the Chinese this may protect Indian players but in the end they'll stop learning and big players seeing the way they act from a certain judgment of the emotional immaturity but I kind of suspect that they will get over this face but let's see let's see so I want to talk a bit about Vietnam now that you mentioned Vietnam you said before that Vietnam has a love-hate relationship with China now um in in the first decade of 2000 Mr yo you of course our Minister trade industry your Minister of Foreign Affairs and you must have seen the the meteoric rise of Vietnam now all of us here have high hopes for Vietnam and in fact we're just conversing yesterday with young Chi that we have seen trade numbers businesses in Vietnam picking up very fast if it goes well Vietnam should be a balance for China and to grow the pie bigger for asean um what are your insights for Vietnam what have they done right what do they need to do next do you think Vietnam will be the next China in the next let's say 10 years no Vietnam is smaller than one Province in China in terms of economic weight so you cannot it cannot replace China you can replace China for manufacturing either because it has not got the same scale when Kobe caused the borders to be shut many manufacturing operations in Vietnam had to be shot too because the components came from China and some of the things they made went back to China so they're part of a larger manufacturing system to me the key to Vietnam's future is its ability to manage relations with China without losing his own independence in asean Vietnamese asean because without asean Vietnam cannot have a normal relationship with China the cultures are too close and in a sense they're always in danger of being absorbed by a larger China and Southeast Asia will help them within the sense of self and still have a good relationship with China the first leader Xi Jinping met after the 20th party Congress was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vienna so that decision was taken by both sides I watched the videos and if you have not I recommend you look back at the videos on the general secretary is a small guy but when he met SI Jinping he meant a gesture to embrace it didn't be is quite big of course responded then later on Xi Jinping best thought on him a friendship medal it was a simple ceremony many officials but very simply now both China and Vietnam we are chopsticks people so ritual is important form is important symbolism is important they did all this to send signals to their own people in China and Vietnam their relations are good so even though there would be quarrels in the South China Sea I think those corals are manageable and I was told when I was in I was invited to Hanoi in early December for a conference to discuss the 20th party Congress they invited experts from different parts of the world including China they asked me to give the keynote speech and I went because I was intrigued that Vietnam should take such a keen interest in the 20th party Congress we should in Singapore but we don't know we do in the economics Department here at UOB yes they do it not just economically but comprehensively all Dimensions which you have to so the they follow China very closely they determined to be independent is low profile but the relationship between the two communist parties is intimate we tend to only read about the relationship between the two foreign Ministries which of course has fireworks from time to time but I I think Vietnam being of an intense culture they will do well corruption has been a problem when sea teaming started cracking down I knew they were cracked down in Vietnam but not in the systematic and started away as China but they'll follow that rule and they're persisting so even recently two Deputy Prime Ministers were removed from office and they're persisting the less corruption there is in China the better they will be because in terms of work ethic in terms of the strength of families the attitude towards education and learning the strength of the people they will be probably the most intense country in Southeast Asia Indonesia has the advantage of scale but Vietnam has the advantage of the entire population being like that so stay on asean um we in fact we have one of our guests here sue Kim who runs escort she was at your Forum yesterday and she has a follow-up question for you about asean uh Cedric if you can gives you Kim a mic hi Mr yo I'm very privileged to see you twice you know in a week so thank you very much I know you're very Pro asean and very excited after the conference yesterday and went back you know talked about asean by the way I went back and then I went to listen to asean Anthem so you talk about it during the conference so okay my question huh I'm so happy to hear that yes it's a nice tune yes it is it is yeah so I'm here to promote what you are promoting asean Anthem okay um so asean is more than 50 years we started with ten five member country now 10. and um there's a lot of investment and growth towards the east so asean is definitely in a very good position in fact this morning in the UOB research report they talk about how FDI have actually increased in asean so definitely in a very good position you spoke about how asean will play a key role in this multi-polar world I believe that as well so Ascot also taught by escort as a significant presence in asean we operate nine out of the ten countries in the asean and about 40 percent of our portfolio is in asean so it's a very important uh area for us as well to focus on so very excited with the growth so my question is this is relating to the master plan on asean connectivity 2025 where the vision is forging ahead together and just allow me to read the vision here to achieve a seamlessly and comprehensively connected and integrated asean they will promote competitiveness inclusiveness and a greater sense of community so it's a really a great vision but my question is really this so last three years we had three years of covet and a strain on economies of the asean currencies have also taken the Heat and of course in asean there are several domestic issues to manage as well so out of 10 Mr yo what do you think we are on achieving this vision and whether we are on track to achieve this Vision in 2025 Ascent is soft it's very in you you description is very young when you see a five-year plan from China you know that every paragraph has meaning and everything the state is likely to be achieved at the end of five years in asean you should have no such expectation yeah so asan will will not throw down like water in the canal it will Meander you know like a great River sometimes it does a long detour but eventually it reaches sea and there's been the story of Asia and the reason why it does that is because we are a very diverse region all the countries different religions different influences different languages but still enough commonality for us to stick together partly because we are afraid of larger powers beyond the region so I the idea of connectivity I was involved with it in fact I was one of the strong Advocates of it when I was trade Minister then as foreign minister and be deliberately took excursions for the ministers from Thailand to Danang from Chiang Rai to Kunming to to do publicity for these new rules so now we do have a very good train from coolming to Vientiane the ties were a bit slow in linking up but now because of trade they are linking up Vietnam was a bit cautious about the highways to cool Ming and do nothing the one the cool Ming is open the one to nothing now they're also catching up and then the lateral links are gradually opening up to I just took a land holiday to Malaysia Malaysia has excellent infrastructure we're always grumbling over Malaysia because we're always comparing to Singapore but compare you compare Malaysia to other countries in Southeast Asia in fact it is excellent and Indonesia many of the projects a good Jokowi started we only bear fruit in the next term and it'll be a transform Indonesia in terms of the quality of infrastructure Philippines has always been chugging along the duterte has done a lot I think now with Marcus there you'll see very significant improvements so the connectivity is improving and as an airports are generally Pleasant airports to be stuck in you can be stuck in a Chinese airport or in the American airport European airport is hell no not JFK no but they're stuck in the in the service station airport it's okay shopping the food is good then massages yeah the civilization welcoming everybody but it's off so don't rely on the master plan but no the direction and we'll get there sooner or later and my guess is sooner rather than later so so Mr you know this is a banking Global markets economic Forum right um the last question there for you obviously has to be Banking and and markets related yes and and to the best of my understanding and you have not been asked this question before so if you forgive me um how do you invest your money uh are you are you the the very astute Statesman where you put 50 in Chinese equities 50 in U.S equities or are you like us just very confused and park all into fixed deposits and treasuries right three months treasury bills or do you buy quite a bit of UOB shares a little bit [Applause] you have to ask my wife she is my finance minister my sovereign I I found the banking documents and the UOB file is a thickest [Laughter] we're a very good AML yes yes so uh ladies no but but more seriously if you are a short-term investor then you must have the instance of a Trader then you must be expect to be stressed every minute in the day even over the weekends because you got to be alert otherwise others will find brand new but if you're a long-term investor then what you must seek is diversification because it's a it's multipolar it's unstable you it's Dynamic and this can shift you think oh well I put my bed on go wait how come it's taking so long then when you say ah I moved somewhere else then suddenly goal goes up so if you are traded it's okay but most of us don't have Trader instincts you have you have to have a different temperament when I was I have a business school we had a section of 90. oh see the entire class maybe only five had the Instinct of Traders and they were of a certain personality type I'm not a Trader by Instinct so I would rather sleep better by having a diversified portfolio and not getting too upset when I think an opportunity has been lost because what goes around comes around in the end diversification works the best so you want to work with a bank who is long-term who is able to help you diversify your money you know safely we all have Diversified banking too so I found documents from many banks but yes it's still a thickest okay so so um we have come to the end of our fireside chat um I remember a interview you gave to Yahoo news last year yes in the launch of your book series musings um the second book is coming out right February February the 16th yes February the 16th Chinese version volume one will be out February 24th okay so February 16 Volume 2 of the English uh February 24th uh volume one of the Chinese yes and and I remember the reporter asking you why do you want to write the Books your reply was this is a set of books by Singaporean for singaporeans and you also said that you have a few guiding principles um if I remember correctly first you said you want to be positive in the book secondly you said you want to be frank in the book thirdly you said you won the book to be ultimately uplifting so on that note Mr yo thank you for a very Frank conversation over the past hour and thank you for giving us you know positive assessment of the world despite all the uncertainty and of course thank you for giving us you know uplifting thoughts to go back and think about for our business strategies ladies and gentlemen Mr George show thank you

Channel: UOB

Views: 89,164

Keywords: UOB, banking

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Length: 48min 33sec (2913 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 17 2023