Simon Baptist is Editorial Director and Chief Economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit. Prior to his current role, he has held a number of other senior management and editorial positions in the business, including Managing Director for Asia, Regional Director of our Asia editorial team, Director of Global Forecasting, and Consulting Director in both Europe and Asia

Simon’s focus is on the global economy, national and international political developments, and public policy. He engages with business, government and international organisations, helping them to understand the operational and strategic implications of the EIU’s forecasts.

He has a doctorate in economics from and was a lecturer at Oxford University, along with degrees in economics and science from the University of Tasmania. His academic research investigated technology and the determinants of productivity in manufacturing firms.

Kristina is a highly accomplished economist, specializing in the fields of macroeconomics and public policy. She possesses over a decade of experience advising firms and governments on economic and business regulatory developments in Malaysia, enabling clients to make well-informed strategic decisions in a complex business landscape.

Prior to joining The Economist Group, Kristina was the Head of the Economic and Sovereign Research at RAM Ratings Berhad, Malaysia’s first Credit Rating Agency. Apart from providing research and analysis capabilities in-house, she also led the delivery of macroeconomic briefing services for a range of clients in sectors such as financial services and public utilities. These briefings served as valuable inputs for corporate planning and risk strategy purposes.

Kristina also garnered significant public policy experience working at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (KL) – the UK government’s department in charge of foreign affairs. During this time, she specialized in economic governance and trade policy issues. Notably, she was involved in market access strategies and Free Trade Agreement consultations between the European Union and Malaysia. Outside her role at ECN, Kristina also serves as an economic consultant for the World Bank, working on private sector development projects.

Kristina holds a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a MA in Economics from the University of Malaya.

Dr Yeah is a Professor of Economics and Senior Fellow at Jeffrey Cheah Institute on Southeast Asia (JCI) and Jeffrey Sachs Center (JSC) on Sustainable Development at Sunway University. Prior to this, he spent over 20 years in the private sector, principally as the chief economist at the country’s leading domestic credit rating agency. He holds an MBA and a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Hawaii, USA. He is currently the Deputy President of the Malaysian Economic Association. He was a former trustee of the Malaysian Tax Research Foundation and a former external member of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (2015-20).

Adib is a Director at BowerGroupAsia, where he advises multinational corporations on Malaysian political and government affairs. Adib has served multinationals from various industries including internet, food, FMCG, financial services, mining and healthcare. He had previously worked as a Political Analyst at the British High Commission, Kuala Lumpur. Adib holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Nottingham.