Breakfast with Ryan Huang, Emaad Akhtar and Audrey Siek

The Covid-19 pandemic hit the travel industry hard and many turned to technology to cope with the situation. However, as restrictions ease and borders reopen, these businesses are recovering and the focus is shifting from simply trying to stay afloat back to standing out in the industry to attract consumers. We speak to Paul Er, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Millennium Hotels & Resorts about the landscape of the travel industry during this post pandemic period.

Singapore’s digital economy has gained notoriety given its large energy consumption. Corporations and governments have the responsibility to manage this in whatever way they can. However, there are many challenges involved in the shift towards more energy efficient technology. We speak to Matthew Oostveen, Chief Technology Officer & VP, Pure Storage about creating a sustainable data centre footprint in Singapore.

In The Breakfast Brief, we take a look at the outlook of some companies such as PepsiCo, ServiceNow and Microsoft. The dollar index strengthens but several Wall Street strategists have warned that this strength in the U.S. currency could spell trouble for corporate earnings ahead. Singapore's Temasek holdings replaced China as the top investment destinationin its last financial year, when the value of its net portfolio rose above $400 billion for the first time. 

The Orthopaedic scene has seen a huge evolution since the covid-19 pandemic and the digitalisation of the healthcare industry. The use of robotic assistance in an Orthopaedic surgery can potentially lead to a faster post-surgery recovery with a more natural feel for patients.  However, will the industry be welcoming to embrace more tech in their workflow and where does Southeast Asia stand in the orthopaedic front.  Dr William Maloney, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, Senior Advisor to TE Asia & ALTY Hospital joins us to discuss these matters.

Abhilash Narayan, Senior Investment Strategist, Standard Chartered Private Bank talks about the cautious mood hanging over markets as investors await US CPI June data, amid various companies raising red flags around slowing down their hiring and headwinds from a stronger USD. 

Synopsis: The Straits Times' foreign editor Bhagyashree Garekar hosts ST’s Indochina bureau chief Tan Hui Yee. They talk about China’s presence especially in this region in light of Hui Yee's recent reporting trip to Cambodia. She visited Sihanoukville, a quiet coastal town which has been transformed by Chinese investment. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, a flood of Chinese casino and hotel investments brought a construction boom to the Cambodian coastal city. Highlights (click/tap above): 1:00 The transformation of Sihanoukville 3:55 How do residents in Sihanoukville feel? Did Cambodian businesses feel sidelined? 6:52 Surveys of regional policymakers, academicians and businessmen show China is the least trusted country in the region; but is this feeling as intense on the ground in countries like Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia? 10:25 Chinese loans, Laos and fears that it could become the next Sri Lanka, with a high debt burden 16:10 Other big China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in the region: Are they proceeding as planned? Produced by: Bhagyashree Garekar (bhagya@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Hadyu Rahim and Eden Soh Edited by: Eden Soh Subscribe to the Asian Insider Podcast channel and rate us on your favourite audio apps: Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/wQsB Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/ Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg Read Bhagyashree Garekar’s articles: https://str.sg/whNo Register for Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/stnewsletters Asian Insider videos: https://str.sg/wdcC --- Discover ST's special edition podcasts: Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wuJa The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia: https://str.sg/wuZ2 Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wuZB Invisible Asia: https://str.sg/wuZn --- Discover more ST podcast series: Asian Insider: https://str.sg/JWa7 Green Pulse: https://str.sg/JWaf Health Check: https://str.sg/JWaN In Your Opinion: https://str.sg/w7Qt Your Money & Career: https://str.sg/wB2m SG Extra: https://str.sg/wukR #PopVultures: https://str.sg/JWad ST Sports Talk: https://str.sg/JWRE Bookmark This!: https://str.sg/JWas Lunch With Sumiko: https://str.sg/J6hQ Discover ST Podcasts: http://str.sg/stpodcasts Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL Follow our shows then, if you like short, practical podcasts! #STAsianInsider

In The Breakfast Brief,  we discuss big report earnings due out from PepsiCo, Delta Air Lines, and Taiwan Semiconductor. In the retail sector, Amazon Prime Day will be competing to dominate online sales while in China, jitters over fresh Covid-19 curbs might stall market recovery which will set the pace for the monetary and fiscal stimulus for the rest of the year. In view of the Russian's nationalisation of the Sakhalin-2 gas project, the U.S., Japan, India and Australia will meet to discuss their energy security in a two-day Sydney Energy Forum. In line with that, Biden will be making a visit to the Middle-East in hopes of pressuring Saudi Arabia to pump more oil to ease the rising fuel prices despite his campaign promise to ostracize the kingdom, following the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

This month marks 20 years since REITs made their debut in Singapore. With the popularity of REITs among investors today, it might be hard to imagine that the first attempt to launch of a REIT actually failed. Let’s take a look at some of the lessons learnt with Choo Oi Yee, CEO, ADDX who also shares how blockchain is emerging as the future for property investments.

Healthcare systems around the world are becoming increasingly overwhelmed and more implementation of AI solutions could help cope with this by improving efficiency and providing accessibility to those who require these healthcare services. Recognizing this, more government based and corporate bodies are adopting these measures. George Tomeski, Co-Founder, Helfie.ai tells us more about this.