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Craft matters in small ways like how a coffee is brewed, and in not so small ways like how your money is cared for. Which is why for 160 years, UBS has elevated banking to a craft, tailoring unique strategies that combine human expertise with the latest technologies, all happening across 24 time zones and 12 key financial hubs. With you at the heart of it all, UBS advice is our craft. You're listening to the Globalist, first broadcast on the 20th of November, 2025 on Monocle Radio. The Globalist in association with U. Live from London. This is the Globalist with me, Emma Nelson. A very warm welcome to today's program. Coming up, Kosovo fails to pick a prime minister again with no functioning government now since February. We'll be joined by our man in the Balkans, Guy Delaunay. Guy, what happens next?
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Well, I'll be talking about this curiously convoluted collapse of Prime Minister Albin Kurti's administration. And as for what happens next, President Vjosa Osmani will be calling in the party leaders to prepare for fresh elections.
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A
Thank you, guys. Standing by to bring us more in the next few minutes. Also ahead in the next 60 minutes, with Ukraine fighting corruption as well as the Russian invasion, how does the government of Volodymyr Zelensky regain the trust at home and also abroad? We'll be in Helsinki for the startup event slash.
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And there's always a possibility in tourism where when there is a strong demand from that destination, I always believe airlines will fly.
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Why? Sabah in Malaysian Borneo has created new routes to win bigger tourism numbers. Plus, the papers and day four of the Dubai Air Show. That's all coming up on the Globalist live from London. First, a quick look at what else is happening in today's news. President Trump has signed a bill ordering the release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Italy's top appeals court has ruled that a former Ukrainian military officer will be extradited to Berlin to face charges of blowing up Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines to Germany. And the technology firm Meta says it's shutting down younger Australian teenagers. Accounts ahead of the country's social media ban for the under 16s. Stay tuned to Monocle Radio throughout the day for more on these stories. But first, for a second time, Kosovo's part, Parliament failed to elect a prime minister yesterday. Fresh elections now seem to be a certainty. For months, the caretaker leader, Albin Kurti, has been trying to secure a third term in power and yesterday he failed. Well, I'm joined now by Guy Delaunay Monocles, Balkans correspondent on the line from Ljubljana, but been following the entire affair in Kosovo, from election to parliamentary rejection. Good morning, Guy.
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Good morning, Emma, and good morning, everyone.
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A
What's gone wrong here, then?
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B
Well, we could say it's Mr. Curti has fundamentally gone wrong because he's an interesting character is Albin Curti, and I've met him on numerous occasions. If you talk to him in person, he's a very twinkly sort of fellow, but don't let that fool you. He's actually a very steely character who really doesn't want to compromise. And this is the issue that he and his party have had, that this party of his, which is called Vetvendosya in Albanian, but that translates to self determination. His party was comfortably the largest in the national assembly, easily won the largest share of the vote in the elections in February, more than 40%. But he didn't have quite enough MPs to form an overall majority. And during all the time that's elapsed since the election, which is nine months, Emma, now, that's enough time to create a brand new human being, but apparently not enough to form a government in Kosovo. And Mr. Curti has failed to form a coalition with one of the other parties, none of whom got that much more than 20% in the elections. And that meant basically that the arithmetic never added up. In the national assembly, when he was putting himself up to be prime minister, he couldn't get the votes. When he put up another member of his party who was referred to as a puppet by the opposition, he didn't get the votes either. That was the vote we're talking about from yesterday, and I've just checked the constitution. And if you fail twice, well, the president has to call elections.
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A
Why did he fail to find a coalition partner in all this?
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B
Well, as I indicated, he's a singular fellow, Mr. Curti, and when I say singular, that also means that he likes to do things by himself, at least, you know, with his party and with nobody else. So he hasn't really tried very hard to form a coalition. And that I would say is completely on brand. It's part of what draws voters to Mr. Curti and his self determination Party because they've always defined themselves against what had been the orthodoxy in Kosovo politics. Now, Kosovo, as people may remember, had a war in the late 1990s, which really was an independent struggle against Serbia. What was then Yugoslavia became an independent struggle against Serbia. Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence in 2008, and the parties which had dominated up until the last few years, had been related to that struggle. They'd been led by people who'd been senior leaders in the Kosovo liberation army. Now, voters got. Got increasingly fed up of these people who branded themselves as national heroes, but actually seemed to be very good at enriching themselves and their allies and not very good at making life better in Kosovo for everybody else. So eventually they turned to Mr. Curti as being this alternative. They wanted to see him sweep away these, as people saw it, kleptocratic parties. And now if he were to turn around and cozy up to those same parties to try and form a coalition to run the country, well, a lot of people would see that as a betrayal of what Mr. Curtis stands for. So in a way, he'd, you know, he'd made a problem for himself there. He couldn't really be seen to be making alliances with those he'd so resolutely against for so long.
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A
And there is a sort of slightly wider problem as well in terms of Kosovo's identity, aren't they? Because they are. Each party plays to different sectors of society in a very strong way that you. Yeah, you get that in other places, but this is a very particular concern in Kosovo.
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B
Well, the thing with Mr. Curti and vet vendorcia, the self determination movement, is that they are unapologetically Albanian nationalist. And this is the curious thing about Mr. Curti. When he first came to power, I did a number of pieces saying, well, at least he's got something in common. The one thing he does have in common with the president of Serbia, Aleksandr Vucic, is that neither of them think that Kosovo should exist as an independent country. Mr. Curti really wants unity with Albania. It's as simple as that. 90% of the population of Kosovo is ethnic Albanian. Mr. Curti, when he used to go and visit him in his office at vet vendosia, you wouldn't see the flag of Kosovo anywhere. You'd see plenty of the red and black flags of Albania. You wouldn't see the gold and blue flag of Kosovo in evidence at all around the party headquarters. Now, since going into office, Mr. Curti has said, okay, right. I do acknowledge that Kosovo is a state, and I'm not plotting unification with Albania anytime soon. But that really is what he's all about. And I think this is part of the problem that we've got in Kosovo, is that voters elected Mr. Kurti to sweep away corruption, to be a new broom, and to do something different from the parties that were associated with the kla what in fact he's done in office is to behave very much as the Albanian nationalist true believer that he is. And the thing that he's done more than, than anything else is to stoke tensions with Kosovo's ethnic Serb minority, particularly in the north of Kosovo. And that's attracted problems with the European Union, which has been withholding funds from Kosovo because of these actions, they call them uncoordinated actions of Mr. Curti and his government against the Serb minority. It's also attracted the ire of the United States, which is incredible because the United States has been the number one supporter of Kosovo over the years. So Mr. Curti has been playing a bit of a game of how to lose friends and alienate people for the past few years. And it's in parliamentary terms, it's come back to bite him.
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A
So tell us what happens now, then.
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Well, what we're going to see is this morning President Vjosa Osmani, who is ostensibly an ally of Mr. Curti, but really, to be frank, Vjosza Osmani is, I think, most interested in Vyosa Osmani. But she is going to be calling the party leaders in for a chin wag this morning, and there's not much that she can tell them beyond I am constitutionally obliged to hold elections within 40 days. So that's what's going to happen. And the issue now is what are the voters going to think of what's gone on? Are they going to look at what's happened in the past nine months and think, Ah, Mr. Curti and his party have completely blown it. They've shown an unwillingness to compromise, which you need in a system like ours, and they're not suitable for government. Or, or are they going to say, look at these other parties associated to the KLA. We put in Mr. Curti and his party with more than 40% of the vote, and nobody has been willing to acknowledge, if you like, the will of the people and form a government with him. It's a question of who gets punished at the ballot box, really.
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Guy Delaunay, our man in the Balkans, thank you so much for joining us on the Globalist. It's what, 9, 10am in Kyiv, 7:10am here in London. Now there is no doubt that Ukraine's president took public, decisive action when it emerged last week that his allies had been lining their pockets with money that should have been plowed into the energy sector while the rest of the country suffered power cuts as it fought war with Russia. Quickly dispatched were the country's energy minister and Justice Minister, but it does not seem to be enough. There is a growing feeling that the unity that Ukrainians felt at the start of Russia's invasion has now gone. Well, I'm joined in the studio by Monocle writer and Ukraine expert Julia Gent. Good morning, Julia.
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D
Good morning.
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Good to have you with us. The closeness. Let's examine this. The fact is that Zelenskyy was elected to power on an anti corruption ticket and yet the figures who were exposed as being at the heart of this corruption scandal were very, very close to him.
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D
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, so close to him. They go back to his days as an actor in that, you know, TV studio, Quartal 95. That's kind of where all this sort of stems from, this sort of band of brothers that's come from this kind entertainment industry and. Yes, absolutely. So, you know, the head of his office, the top presidential adviser, Andriy Yermak, is potentially heard on these tapes that are kind of being examined right now in Ukrainian courts for the embezzlement charge. And you know, we have then Chernyshev, who was the vice prime minister, we have, you know, Halushenko and Grinchuk, as you said, these are the ministers of justice and, and we sort of have a whole litany. And you know, the main person at the very center of all of this also is Mindich, who, you know, is being presented as a sort of middleman kind of potentially going between very high level officials, potentially even Zelenskyy sort of acting as his kind of middleman in these schemes. But his flat is at the center of all of this. This is a flat in the very, very, very center of Kyiv in a kind of one of the main buildings that I myself know, you know, Ukrainians know this building and his fl. The drama in getting these tapes and getting these recordings of these conversations is crazy. You know, anti corruption, the law, the enforcement agencies, they drilled a hole through the ceiling into his flat to record these tapes. And this is a flat that Zelenskyy has celebrated his birthday in. So it' swe can't underestimate how close this comes to the president himself.
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Just recap the problem that when it comes to Timo Mendic, he had, he's accused of organizing this kickback scheme, wasn't it? The allegations are at least US$100 million was stolen over the last, what, 15 months from the state nuclear company as a kickback to contractors. It is as simple as that. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book.
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Yes, absolutely. And you know, it touches the construction of defense structures over these energy sites. And as you said earlier, Ukrainians now are sitting, my family is sitting in their homes without heating, without light. And if we think we're cold here, God forbid how cold we would be in Ukraine where, you know, temperatures have plummeted and people don't have mobile network, for example. All of this sort of spits in people's face who are really giving up luxuries in order to kind of keep the home front going, if that makes sense. And also, and this is where the investigation really tricky and some of it has actually become cluttered, classified because of martial law. It's actually potentially touching defense companies as well. So some of the most lauded Ukrainian weapons, for example, the company Firepoint is potentially implicated in all of this as well.
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What has this done for Firstly, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's popularity. It was at 90% at the start of the war. Now it's around 50, which is still not bad for someone who's been in power for a few years and who also is managing a war and is now doing corruption. But more importantly, that unity that everybody saw rivals shaking hands, banding together to be one country against Russia. Has the corruption scandal changed this?
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D
Yeah, absolutely. The thing is, this corruption scandal hasn't come out of nowhere. Ukrainian society has been very much aware of what's been happening. So back in June, so before the summer, we saw Chernyshrov, one of these main figures implicated in the scandal. He fled to the country and there were lots of question marks around why he was so desperate to get out, where he was, his location and so on. And there were already kind of active investigations going into him. Then over the summer, we saw the huge youth protests against Zelenskyy when he tried to disband these government agencies, government anti corruption agencies that were dealing with these investigations. Because we have to remember these are not investigations by journalists or by external reviewers kind of sent in by Western governments. This is the Ukrainian government investigating itself, which is super important to remember. So we've seen this kind of bubbling along and it's not been clear what the scale of this is. We haven't heard that 100 million figure, as you mentioned before, and now it's all come out. So I think in terms of Zelenskyy's popularity, it kind of bounces in waves. Back in the February, you know, Oval Office sort of debacle that, I mean, made it shoot up, of course, because everyone wanted to stand behind their president. Now we've even heard in the last week that potentially it's fallen down to 20% his approval ratings. I think there's a feeling that substantial, very transformative change has to happen now. And Ukraine is at a junction in its war now where unless that happens, people fear very grave consequences.
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These grave consequences are what, for starters, are we looking at the potential collapse of the Zelenskyy government? Given the factors, and we mentioned this a couple of times on the radio before. Zelenskyy has very much been front and center in the campaign to say we are trying to sort this out. And the fact remains that it was the Ukrainian government itself that did something about it. It didn't try and cover anything up. So is that any kind of salve for the problem of actually the corruption issue itself?
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D
I think that the pressure on Zelenskyy was so great that he had no choice in terms of civil society. He had no choice but to do something about it. And people were actually saying, you know, he hasn't gone far enough. There are rumors going around that potentially today he will actually dismiss his head. President, sorry, the head of his office, Yermak, who we mentioned earlier. I think that the mood is, yes, these transformative changes have to happen and Zelenskyy really has to kind of face up to the situation on the front line as well. Very difficult with kind of Ukraine really being pushed back.
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So, yes, quick question about news that's coming out of the Pentagon that we have Pentagon officials in Ukraine at the moment who are expected to meet Zelenskyy later on for talks about a pen restarting negotiations. Where are we with that now?
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D
Well, I mean, Ukraine hasn't been involved in this process, which is something that Ukrainian government officials have been very keen to make clear. And we had this meeting with Wytkov that was meant to be happening in Turkey yesterday. That was cancelled because Zelenskyy was turning up with a plan that he devised with European allies to present to Russia and the U.S. these secret negotiations that have been happening. These conversations between Wykoff and Kirill Dmitriev, who is the kind of leading Russ Russian negotiator. The latest that we know on this is there are 28 points and each of these points is slowly being leaked to the press. We know that some of these are, you know, from the Ukrainian side, unacceptable. Ukraine to halve its army. Long range weapons gone. Both of Ukrainian domestic production and any of those given to them by Western governments. And we know Russian language and church to be reinstated. These are very, very intrusive kind of changes that are being presented to the Ukrainians. You know, Trump is keen for that peace deal. He's keen to sort out that war in that extra sort of area of the world that he hasn't quite managed to sort out yet. But for Ukrainian side, you know, many of these points are unacceptable.
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Well, of course, Junior Jen, thank you so much for joining me in the studio. Still to come on today's program for.
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The current five to 10 years, the AI is the biggest shift and we are looking for how it's going to manifest itself across all layers of what we do. And as humans, we're going to be.
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Hearing from the Finnish startup festival Slush a little later on the programme. Stay with us. Craft is a matter of perspective, a unique outlook, an obsessive attention to detail. With UBS's Chief Investment Office House View, we're focused on identifying the latest investment opportunities and market risks to help you achieve your financial goals. So you get the big picture broken down into thought provoking insights delivered daily and curated by over 200 globally connected, locally active analysts. UBS banking is our craft. 7:20 here in London. Let's have a look at the newspapers. Good morning. Broadcaster Vincent McIlvinney, regular voice around the microphone. Good morning, how are you?
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E
Yes, good, thanks. How are you?
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Freezing. It's winter, everybody. If you're somewhere else in the world, that's boring to you, but my goodness, it's bitter. Right, let's talk about the papers and the New York Times. In fact, everybody is talking about these really surprise figures coming from Nvidia. Its profits have soared and as a result, so is its stock value.
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E
Yeah. And it's more than just one company. Essentially the entire global world economy was looking to this company because there has been a lot of hype, a lot of speculation about AI, concerns that a bubble was building. And if you want to know if it's real, as in the technology, the impact it will have, whether people are putting their money where their mouth is. Well, it comes to sales of Nvidia chips. They are 90% of the market for the chips that power AI. And it was the first company to be worth a publicly traded company to be worth more than $5 trillion recently. And so I don't think a quarterly earnings report has ever been looked at so closely. The, the company says profits in the most recent quarter were 31.9 billion. This was up 65% from a year before and 245% from the year before that. So this is a real powerhouse stock now, which is sort of leading the magnificent seven. And they also gave predictions that they would be having a bumper next quarter as well, showing that really sales of these chips are huge. And this is sort of breathing a little sigh of relief. We've already seen stock markets rising in Asia this morning. The Nifty50, all those are up because they want to. They were sort of a sort of holding your breath moment to see whether or not even video wasn't performing as they expected. Then the whole sort of AI thing might topple down.
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Indeed. I mean the word AI bubble is. The two words AI bubble at the beginning have been doing the rounds quite a lot in on editorial type keyboards. But looking at what the New York Times is talking about sort of develops that a little bit, saying, could this be enough to calm Wall Street? Because. Because everybody has been so the contagion from uncertainty about the AI bubble has been very loud. Do we believe that the huge Nvidia profits will soothe everybody's nerves?
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E
Wall street is really a tale of two streets at the moment because you've got this sort of top echelon in the S&P 500 of the tech stocks. So your Alphabet, your Microsoft, your Tesla, your Nvidia, which are performing very well this year, they have sort of scaled back in the last two weeks over nerves, over a. But they are still doing very well. The rate at which the valuation to profit rate is massive at the moment. Then you have the next tier and this is stocks like for instance, Target, the huge US retailer. They're putting warnings out that they think that people are cutting back this Christmas. And this is where the divergence comes in the speculative economy, hedge fund, high net wealth, individuals putting money into these big tech companies and getting good returns. And then there's the rest of the economy which is more connected to what the consumer is having to do. And we already have delays in some data which is really important because of that US government shutdown. We didn't get some of the normal data that economists look at to see, well, what is going on with public spending, what is going on with inflation that just isn't there at the moment. So there is a bit of a kind of uncertainty heading into what should be the kind of key retail quarter.
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A
So let's move on to a story that's happening in the waters north of Scotland. There is a Russian spy ship. I don't know if it's parks there, I don't know if you can't do that. It's the sea. But the fact is that the British Defence Secretary has been very, very clear in saying, we see you.
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E
Yeah. And I think it's really interesting. This is the second time in a week that Britain has decided to take the strategy of being very open and public with intelligence to tell the public what is really going on. So you had earlier in the these attempts by two Chinese operatives to try and gain influence in Westminster by targeting the staff of MPs and Lords on LinkedIn in quite sort of rudimentary ways. But they came very public with that information and even gave photos and showed some of the messages. Again. They have stood up in the Downing street press room to try and say very openly to the public, this is the threat we're facing from Russia's shadow fleet. So this is a specific ship called the Yantar, which has entered British waters a number of times this year and been sort of intercepted, accepted by the Royal Navy. It's thought that it's basically going around the coast of the UK and trying to map the key underwater infrastructure. So these are these huge cable systems which essentially keep the world going these days. They connect the world economy, everything that we do, if it's cloud based, everything on the Internet, you know, these huge things that are coming across the Atlantic from North America and then the UK sort of on parcel them to the rest of Europe. And the Yanta, we understand from what the Defence Secretary was saying, has been acting sort of dangerously so. RAF pilots who have been flying to sort of trace its movements. The Yanta has been sort of firing powerful laser pens into the cockpit to try and blind the pilots, which is highly dangerous. If you go on YouTube, you can actually see what happens in a cockpit when a laser is fired at that glass. It completely sort of blinds the pilots. And so this is the latest kind of attempt to be really open with the public of saying this is what it's like. We've seen huge cyber attacks at M and S this year at Jaguar Land Rover, costing the UK economy billions, thought to be coming from Russia as well. So it is this sort of hybrid warfare that is going on that they're trying to wake the public up to.
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A
Finally, international diplomacy usually involves people being nice to each other. The German Chancellor, Friedrich Meltz has perhaps fallen slightly lower than that standard. He was at a quite cop 30, he was in Berlin and he went back to Germany and someone said quite a simple question, how's Belling?
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E
Well, he actually said Mertz himself on the plane to journalists. Who among you wants to stay here? No one raised their hand. Everyone was delighted to be back in Germany and to have left that place. Now, what he's sort of saying is, and I've been to these conferences and if you're a journalist, they are exhausting. You're on a tight schedule, you're sort of running around a lot. And I think maybe it was that he was just saying, oh, are you glad to be going home? This has gone down very poorly in Brazil because it's seen as an attack on Belem, which is the sort of poorest province in Brazil. And there have been issues with the running of this conference. But, you know, Brazilians are notoriously critical of their country, but it rankles them when foreigners do the same. There has been sort of backtracking from Berlin, just sort of saying, you know, this isn't what we're saying. They were just saying it was glad to be home. But President Lula has come out swinging, saying that he should have done more whilst he was there. He should have tried the cuis, he should have gone dancing. He says he would have realized that Berlin doesn't have even 10% of the offerings of the state of Para. Other local officials taking a pop as well. The local governor saying it's curious to see that those who have contributed to global warming are surprised by the heat in the Amazon. So, yeah, a very sort of, maybe it was a sort of mistranslation, but, you know, don't offend your hosts is always a good idea.
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A
I see the Berlin Tourism Board having a day with this. Vincent McEvinney, thank you so much for joining me in the studio.
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STUDIO.
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Now, here's a quick look at some of the other stories we're keeping an eye on today. President Trump has signed a bill ordering the release of the files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The bill requires the Justice Department to release documents from its Epstein investigation within 30 days. The UK government has deployed a Royal Navy warship and RAF planes to monitor a Russian vessel on the edge of British waters. The vessel was spotted off the north coast of Scotland gathering intelligence and mapping undersea cables. Italy's top appeals court has ruled that a former Ukrainian military officer will be extradited to Berlin to face charges of blowing up Russia's Nord Stream gas pipelines to Germany. Serhi Kuznetsov was arrested in Italy in August. And the technology firm Meta says it's shutting down younger Australian teenagers accounts ahead of the country's social media ban for the under 16s. It's begun to notify users aged between 13 and 15 that it will begin deactivating their accounts from early next month. This is the globalist. Stay tuned. Now for a look behind the headlines. Here's Monocle's Anita Riota on London's Bond street becoming the world's priciest retail spot. There might still be a lot of questions around the future of a post Brexit lunch London, including a billionaire exodus and a drop in tourist shopping. Yet the city has reasons to stay optimistic. Luxury brands are taking a long term view and continuing to invest in brick and mortar retail and prime real estate. So much so that Bond street has now become the most expensive retail destination in the world. According to a report by real estate company Cushman and Wakefield, rents on the street have risen in by 22% to €1700 per square meter, surpassing the likes of New York's Fifth Avenue and last year's top spot holder, Milan's Via Montenapolone. The report reflects a flurry of activity on the street by some of the fastest growing brands in the market. Both Miu Miu and l' Europeana have invested heavily in renovating their existing flagship shop shops, while Hermes has plans to open there in 2026. As brands continue to seek more control of their retail channels and invest in larger than life boutiques where customers aren't only shopping but seeing exhibits and grabbing coffee, the trend will likely continue well into the new year. But to stay on top, London needs to ensure shoppers have enough of an incentive incentive to keep coming back. And that's Monocle's Anita Riota there. For more, sign up to our daily newsletter, the Monocle Minute. Just head over to our website monocall.com minute for more. 9:30am in Helsinki, which is where we head now because once upon a time anyone who was anyone would clamor to be part of Finland's startup festival Slush. If you were a startup, the convention was a place to connect, to make your mark. In here, some of the world's sharpest speakers. Well, 17 years later, is it still as fresh as Helsinki's air on a morning in November? Well, I'm joined now from Slush in Helsinki by our correspondent there, Petri Birts of. Good morning, Petri. How is the air in Helsinki this morning?
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G
Good morning, Emma. I think slush is a, is a really apt word actually for it's very slushy outside. It was really cold yesterday. The first day it was about minus 10. And I could really sense that a lot of the, a lot of the people here, they're actually not Finn, so, so you know, they were suffering. But this, this morning it's about plus two, plus three. Very, very slushy. And people myself included are feeling the effects of one of the, well, not only one but several of the 600 side events and parties that, that, that took place. But you know, there's some, there's some, there's, I would say 5, 600 people here now. It's going to get really busy in an hour or two. There's going to be over 10,000 people here and it's, yeah, it's the, it's the second.
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A
Yes. We won't gloss over the pictures you sent me from one of the dudes you were at last night. I think it involved a dinosaur. Let's talk about slush. The event itself. It's been going for a while now and it, and it's, it finds itself as you know, it still lays claim to being the greatest place on earth for startups. Is that still true?
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G
Well, you know I, I've spoken to a lot of the founders here, a lot of the VCs here and they basically all say that this is a must visit events spend globally. I mean we have people flying in from the Silicon Valley investors. Slash is throwing around the statistics that there's US$4 trillion worth of capital coming in here. So you know, that should say something. And the fact that you know, people from Silicon Valley where you know, let's, let's remember, you know, they have a, if you're an investor, if you're a VC in Silicon Valley, you know, you have your fair share of startups there, you don't have to go anywhere. But the fact that they choose to fly to the other side of the globe, to minus 10 degrees Helsinki, so that, that, that says it. Also, you know, the mood is still very upbeat actually I would say been coming here every year. Last year it was, it wasn't as upbeat and optimistic as, as it is this year is in a way. You could also say that slush, Slush is back.
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A
And the people who you're talking to, what are they saying to you about what they're, what they're wanting and what their aims are.
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G
Right. So this is, this is one, one of the things that I'm really keen to find out because I mean slush is always a place where you go there to really take stock of where the smart money is, is, is going. Because I mean yes, it's a startup and tech festival, but this is not, not tech for the sake of tech. The stuff that Emma, that you and I hate, like you are, you know, menus and restaurants this is actually like tech that is solving the world's big problems, you know, really changing the world. And speaking to the VCs and asking them where the money is going, that is one of the key questions here. So I mean one of the main answers I've been getting is AI, but it's AI. Sort of like we still don't understand how much AI is changing. Several different sectors of our businesses and different sectors of our societies. And I actually spoke with a company called Accel, it's one of the biggest VC companies in the world. And I spoke to their founder, Cenia Loginov and I believe we have a clip. So let's, let's listen to. I asked him what, what he, where his money is going. Let's listen to the clip.
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E
The world is going to look very different in 5 to 10 years in AI application are going to be everywhere, both in consumer life and enterprises. We are looking for companies that are kind of finding new ways to deploy AI and make it useful and produce return on investment for the enterprises that use it, both small companies and large companies, be it in software development, be it in customer support, legal applications, finance applications, and really the day to day life of consumers as well. So we're looking for companies that find the insight into kind of what the problem might be either in the corporate setting or the personal setting and finding a novel way to apply AI to solving the problem.
- [35:15]
G
So in other words, AI is what all the VCs are looking at right now.
- [35:18]
E
This is the big change. So as a vc, you're looking for what are the big things that are shifting in the world and what are the big things that can produce great return investment and also great kind of productivity gains for the humanity. And I think for the current five to 10 years the AI is the biggest shift and we are looking for how it's going to manifest itself across all layers of what we do as humans.
- [35:40]
G
That was Senya Loginov from Axel and he actually open Slush yesterday and he's the guy that, he's one of the guys that everybody wants to talk to. And of course being monocle and giving my business card, he ditched everybody else and wanted to give me that comment. But as you heard from him, AI is where all the, well, let's not say where all the money is going, but it's a sector that, it's a change that everybody's keeping an eye on. But it's not the only one. There's a lot of sort of, of like scientific breakthroughs that are that are being funded as well. And that's actually to me personally what makes Slush really interesting. Just like walking around and seeing this different stands where people present their innovations and some of these are just groundbreaking. I mean I believe we have another clip. I spoke to somebody from. It's a Finnish company, Finnish startup that is able to make egg protein basically without chickens. This is quite revolutionary when you think about food insecurity in the world. And I spoke to Laura Ericsson from this company called onego. Let's hear the clip.
- [36:44]
A
Hi, my name is Laura Ericsson, I'm from onegobio. So we produce real egg protein but instead of chickens we're using a technology called precision fermentation and we produce an egg protein that is exactly the same. So it has same functionality, same nutritional composition, but with a 90% lower environmental impact, consistent pricing and aqueous supply.
- [37:09]
G
Yeah, so that was, that was, that was the egg protein. Emma, Emma, what do you, what, what are you thinking when you, when you hear that? Are you going to ditch your, your chickens?
- [37:15]
A
Yes, I'm going to ditch my chickens immediately. We're going to have to leave it there. Petri Birts of in Helsinki, thank you so much for joining us on the line from Slush. You're listening to the Globalist live on Monacle Radio. Now the region of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo is making a big splash at tourism fairs around the world. From the world travel market in London to Tourais in Saudi Arabia, the tourism board is pitching the area as a natural playground with a key target market. The Saudi traveler or Monocle's Tom Webb sat down with Julianus Jeffrey Jimett who's the chief executive officer of the Sabah Tourism Board to find out why people should be booking for 20266 why you.
- [37:59]
C
Should come because of our Mountain high to ocean deep. All you have actually in experience in Sabah. Mountain high is the highest peak in Southeast Asia. Mount Kinabalu. Ocean deep is the top three diving sport in the world. Sipadan from Nature Culture Adventure blended together with Ocean Beat Mountain High all you can experience in Sabah and you have.
- [38:23]
A
That in your logo.
- [38:24]
E
You've got the orangutan, you've got the big red flower. You're gonna have to tell me what.
- [38:27]
A
That flower is, please.
- [38:28]
C
The flower is actually a rafflesia flower that used to be the largest flowers in the world. And at the point of blooming a lot of actually experience and education per se that you learn can learn from the flowers itself because we also pushing for sustainability to ensure the habitat of the flowers is protected for people to experience.
- [38:48]
E
Now we need to talk about sustainability. Because you are such a great green place, you've got such a biodiversity. How are you attracting tourism but protecting that part of your country?
- [38:59]
C
We are very lucky that conservation started before tourism. Conservation of all the marine park. We have six marine parks covering about 1 million hectare. And it started in 1964. Tourism only started in early 80s. So once this gel together, the market mindset of protecting the environment, preservation of culture and tradition, protecting the sea is very much intact. Not only with the government, but the players. So when you blend it together, sustainability, the triple bottom line of sustainability. Not only for profit, but protecting the planet. And of course empowering the people towards responsible and sustainable tourism.
- [39:41]
E
And to help fill the hotels, you've got a special relationship with Royal Brunei Air Airlines. What kind of markets are you trying to attract?
- [39:49]
C
Okay. Beside domestic market is our pillar which contribute over 60% of the total arrival in Sabah. International tourism is also very important to us, which contributed much from China market, Korean market and also Brunei. But also European market and European market. Number one contributor to that, a European market is uk. Number two is German, France, Italy and Spain. But again, as I mentioned earlier, connectivity is another challenge with us. But there's always a possibility in tourism where when there is a strong demand from that destination, I always believe airlines will fly.
- [40:33]
E
Now, in terms of your size, you boast an unbelievable number of UNESCO sites for UNESCO recognitions. Can you talk us through some of those?
- [40:43]
C
Okay. Previously we have three unescos. They call it Triple Crown. And in the world there are only three countries possess Triple Crown. Number one, Jeju island in Korea, Sinonja in China and Sabah, not Borneo in Malaysia. However, with the latest induction of UNESCO, Kinabataga, UNESCO we have LA, now four UNESCOs and to have UNESCO brands in Sabah. Nat Borneo is actually a brand that well received all over the world. And for you to actually experience, number one, the Mount Kinabalu Bio Global geopark, Croc range biosphere. And the latest is Kinabatangan. Actually a very significant pull of nature towards attracting visitors, especially from Europe, European and uk.
- [41:31]
E
Now talking about European and UK visitors, myself included, I'm part of this big wave of adventure tourism. It's something that's very exciting to me. What does your region offer that space?
- [41:42]
C
Okay, you're talking about adventure tourism. The five highest peak in Malaysia, all in Sabah, Mount Kinabalu. Number one, Turismadi, Mount Sinsing, Mount Kaingaran and Mount Tambo, Yukon. All of these peaks, the top five In Malaysia, all residing in Sabah. So adventure tourism is actually one of the key area that we actually push not only domestically, but international visitors to Sabah.
- [42:09]
E
And for those tourists looking for an.
- [42:11]
B
Authentic travel experience where they can be.
- [42:14]
E
Part of the community or interact with the community, is that something that you're offering?
- [42:19]
C
Yes. Since 2014, we. We actually push for the development of community based tourism. And at this point in time, community based tourism has gained momentum. Not only from China, not only from Korea domestic, but also from European market. They want to actually, as you mentioned, to experience authentic experience with the community. Yeah. So another product, amazing product that you need to experience in Sabah is the hospitality of the local people, the local food. And I always can say that once you stay one night, two nights with local people, it's easy for you to fall in love.
- [43:01]
E
And how can you ensure people are going for the eco tourism option, that the investment and the extra money coming in is trickling down to the right people?
- [43:10]
C
Well, if you look at the composition of all the commitment from the government, is that number one, the government actually really pushing for sustainability in terms of, number one, the commitment to have 30% of total protected forests by 2025 this year. And with the blue economy, the government actually pushed it to ensure that whatever life below water sustainable goal number 14 are actually intact. And we are also a commitment from Sabah Tourism Board to actually using tourism to enhance the social economy of the community. So that from tourism income they can actually eradicate poverty especially and enhance the social economy so that they have a better living empowered by tourism.
- [43:57]
E
And finally, your presence here at the world travel market is beautiful. It's big. What is the message you're trying to push?
- [44:04]
C
You're here. I would also like to say this. Explore, experience and enjoy Sabah. Probably your journey to Sabah is not a normal journey, but a homecoming to you. While you're experiencing culture, adventure and nature, you will rediscover yourself to actually fall in with Sabah. Because Sabah is not only a destination, but an experience of a lifetime.
- [44:28]
A
That was Juliana's Jeffrey Jimett, their Chief Executive officer of the Sabah Tourism Board, in conversation with Monocle's chief. This is the globalist on Monogal Radio. Iq, EQ and AI. Three components key to the craft of innovation at ubs. Because to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving age, you need a partner with decades of experience, endless passion for the.
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Work and a finger on the pulse of leading technologies.
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Bridging human expertise, expertise with artificial intelligence, all to elevate you. UBS banking is our craft. Welcome to the land of wine, cuisine.
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A
It's about 1445 in Jakarta, which is where we head next for a roundup of stories from Southeast Asia. I'm joined now by Randy Mulanto, who's a journalist and founder and head of writing at Red Voice Indonesia. Good afternoon, Randy.
- [46:28]
H
Hi. Hi, Emma. Thank you for having me.
- [46:30]
A
Delight. How's Jakarta looking this afternoon?
- [46:34]
H
Yeah, it looks good. Looks good. Ready to share some interesting news stories out of the country.
- [46:38]
A
The radio station is yours. Go for it.
- [46:42]
H
All right, so there's this story about Indonesia basically supporting the UN resolution on Gaza. So I read a statement from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry earlier this week which basically said that the resolution also prioritizes this conflict resolution and sustainable peace through strengthening the capacity of bpa, that's the Palestinian Authority, reconstruction assistance and peacekeeping by, you know, international Stabilization forces under a UN mandate. I think it's not a surprise. Obviously Indonesia's president has said several times that the country and under his leadership, you know, is ready to send its soldiers to Gaza for this peacekeeping mission and obviously adheres to a two state solution as well. We have to remember that Indonesia is basically a supporter of the Palestinian cause, although it, well, still does business and formally with Israel. You know, the government is also in favor of the country is also in favor of a Palestinian state and it's ready to recognize Israel once Israel recognizes Palestine statehood.
- [47:46]
E
Basically.
- [47:47]
A
It's an interesting concept, isn't it? Because there is often the sense that the people who should be sending troops to a region in the world should be kept, well, should be quite local because they will clearly understand the way that things happen. But to fly all the way from Indonesia, it seems like a huge commitment on both sides Yeah, I think it's.
- [48:10]
H
Interesting also because Indonesia has transferred aid to Gaza before the ceasefire. So I think it's not, I guess, not necessarily a struggle for Indonesia to do that again because, you know, Indonesia has done it and Indonesia has been familiar with the terrain, with the geography and so on and so forth. So I think that's what we need to look forward to in terms of Indonesian diplomacy and foreign affairs basically in the coming weeks and months.
- [48:39]
A
Let's move on to again, a military story, but the strengthening of military ties between Indonesia and Japan.
- [48:49]
H
That's correct. And Indonesia and Japan have always been, you know, friendly towards each other. I mean, relations between the two countries have been good. You know, if you want to go outside the military and government to government context here, you know, people to people exchanges and Japan's soft power have always been received well in Indonesia. Many Indonesians travel to Japan. So I think this is another aspect and another element of Indonesian Japanese ties that both countries seek to capitalize this time. What's interesting am I this time is that both officials, you know, this week, they basically committed and aim to expand their, you know, maritime security cooperation, you know, especially in its capacity building. And you know, basically as Indonesia is keen to modernize its military equipment, I mean, it's not a surprise really when it comes to the maritime security cooperation thing because Indonesia is the world's largest in archipelagic state while Japan has so many islands. So I think both countries could learn the best practices from each other as well, Emma. And also, yeah, both countries are also looking to intensify joint military trails as well as, you know, military equipment and tech operation.
- [50:02]
A
The fact that Jakarta is moving towards the likes of Tokyo and also it is announcing plans to upgrade a key defence pact with Australia. There is a sense of people now being asking, well, well, is this a sign that Jakasha is moving more towards a sort of a Western alliance here? How accurate a sort is that?
- [50:28]
H
Well, I don't think that will be the case because Indonesia has always had this, you know, free and active foreign policy principle. We call it bepastan active in Indonesia. So basically, Indonesia does not seek to side explicitly with any of the blocs. You know, it does not seek to start with the west, it does not seek to side with China as well. So I think it's a matter of Indonesia trying to broaden its strategic options. Meaning that Indonesia is open to business with, with as many countries possible. You know, it wants to make friends with as many countries as possible, really. So I don't see Anything significant in terms of Indonesia siding with one side or the other.
- [51:06]
A
Let's move on to business and mergers taking place where you are.
- [51:12]
H
Yeah, and I mean, this is not the first time that this news has, has made headlines. Basically, the story between Goto, one of Indonesia's largest tech platforms, which owns Gojek as well at the ride hailing app in Indonesia, it's Indonesian and it has previously made waves in Southeast Asia. And there's this potential merger deal with Grab as well. It's Singapore based, but it has a huge presence in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. So basically, Emma, earlier this month an Indonesian minister confirmed that, you know, there will be some sort of an involvement of Dan and it's Indonesia's new sovereign wealth fund in the proposed deal. But just, you know, days later, basically Goto, one of the parties has clarified in the middle of this month that no decision or agreement has been made. So again, this is not the first time that these news has been, you know, emerging in the headlines.
- [52:11]
A
Randy Muglianto, thank you so much for joining us on Monocle Radio. From tonight, Jakarta, you're listening to the Globalist. 07:52 Here in London, 08:52 in Zurich, which is where we head now because day four of five of the Dubai Air show, and since the start of the week, there's been a steady stream of headlines to do with deals, partnerships, partnership, purchases, each one seeming bigger than the last. Well, to make sense of it all and the rest of the news from the aviation world, delighted to say, I'm joined by Gabriel Lee, Monocle's transport correspondent, who has been to the air show this week in Dubai, but is now in Zurich. And we'll ask you about that in a minute. Good morning, Gabe.
- [52:57]
F
Good morning.
- [52:58]
A
How are things going where you are? You've been wearing out an awful lot of shoe leather in Dubai.
- [53:03]
F
Yes, absolutely. It's always a very busy, very hectic and, and this year, maybe more than ever, with so much activity, a lot of excitement around developments and aviation there, it's really, it's really become one of the places, places to be on the kind of annual aviation calendar.
- [53:16]
A
Okay, so let's go through these exciting things. Let's pick three. So the first thing that I think I've been noticing when we've been looking at the coverage from Dubai is it is the scale now is actually jaw dropping.
- [53:31]
F
Yeah, that's right. Especially you see these sort of orders, especially from the carriers of the Emirates, both Emirates itself and the sort of sister carrier Fly D Dubai, they're just Ordering so many aircraft, it's hard to even comprehend the size that these fleets will take on.
- [53:46]
A
Tell us a little bit more about that.
- [53:48]
F
So I mean the big order news came for Boeing and Boeing has been, as we know, as we've covered for a long time now, you know, not in the best way, kind of under fire in many, many senses. And their 777X which is their flagship new aircraft, is heavily delayed as well. So that's, that's been a source of frustration, especially for airlines that like Emirates, who are looking to replace massive fleets in the coming years. So Emirates put a surprising large order, billions worth, billions for more 777x. They have already ordered some and it was a much needed vote of confidence for Boeing. So that was the sort of headline one. And you see sort of massive orders from Fly Dubai as well, from both Airbus and Boeing because they just want so many aircraft that in the end they have to split their orders across the two major manufacturers.
- [54:30]
A
And this, this order that they've put in, I think we saw the president, president of Emirates, Tim Clark, saying he has confidence in Boeing to develop the larger model of the 777X even at the moment, as Boeing is concentrating on certifying, making sure that the current model is absolutely fine. But at the moment the order was, what was it for 65 more 777xs.
- [54:57]
F
Yeah, I believe that was right. And that brings their total eventually if they take all of these, will be 270, 777X in the fleet. And these are larger, large aircraft.
- [55:05]
A
Let's talk about what else you, what else struck you as you were walking, as you were walking on the tarmac.
- [55:09]
F
Well, the, the very interesting thing for me was to see the, the COMAC C919 which is the Chinese basically competitor or would be competitor to the, the sort of Airbus A320, Boeing 737 single aisle workhorses. And, and China is really looking to break into that market. So far they have not, they only have the three major Chinese airlines lines as customers. But the aircraft, they were showing it off and they were sort of, they were sort of really eager to have people look up, up close, you know, try the bins, everything to see that this is actually a proper aircraft, that the quality was actually surprisingly good. And it left me with the feeling that, you know, it's just a matter of time. We, we will start to see more orders from beyond China and eventually, you know, there'll be a real contender.
- [55:49]
A
So there was a, a flying display, wasn't there by the. The Chinese C919 or C9. C9.19. 919 jetliner. What was that like?
- [55:59]
F
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's, it's not, it's not like watching a fighter jet do display, you know, in teams, but it's, it's, it's sort of. It was poignant. It was, it was a meaningful moment that China was here and it was one of the, you know, commercial aircraft that were showing off what it can do. Obviously, the 777X and its flying display took center stage and took a lot of the attention because it's big and because it did some really fantastic maneuvers. But seeing China, you know, with their aircraft there, it's sort of, it's seemed like a moment of, you know, a sort of pivotal moment for them.
- [56:28]
A
I mean, if you were Airbus and you've got the, you know, the A320 series or, you know, you're Boeing and you've got the 737, how worried should you be when you see the 919 in the sky?
- [56:39]
F
I think they're definitely paying close attention. It's not going to chip into their market share just yet, but it certainly will be an issue. And I mean, at the moment, the airlines just can't get enough aircraft. Many of them are desperate for them. You know, you see that in the Emirates carriers, but also all over the world. World right now between engine issues, supply chain issues, and just the fact that these two manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, can't really keep up with growing demand. So there is room for more, I think, but they're definitely watching it closely.
- [57:07]
A
Okay. Why are you in Zurich?
- [57:09]
F
I'm actually here now. I just flew overnight from Dubai in order to catch the first intercontinental flight, a transatlantic flight of the new Swiss A350, which is the. They're going to be their sort of flagship aircraft going forward. They have this one that's been flying around Europe for a few, few weeks and now they're going to send it to Boston for the first time this evening. So I'm going to join that and be on the kind of celebratory inaugural of the new era for Swiss and their Swiss Senses product.
- [57:34]
A
So tell us a little bit more about why the A350 and the Swiss A350s is going to be a game changer.
- [57:41]
F
Well, Swiss has a good reputation for good service, but a lot of their onboard products, business class and all that especially, are quite old now. They've been around for many years. So this represents the new era of it's much, much like Lufthansa's product, which has been rolling out slowly. The Allegris product. Swiss has their own version of that. It has Swiss branding and Swiss colors and all that, and their own take on it. But it's basically a much improved business class, a very, very premium first class. And then there's a premium economy, which is very, very attractive in terms of being in, in the middle there, and even economy. Actually, I tried out economy on a European flight and it was very nice as well. So it just represents a step up in sort of what they can offer. Quality, quality. And it's a fantastic aircraft for a passenger. It's just, it's just great to fly on them. So it's really nice to see them starting to take these and indeed.
- [58:25]
A
Well, I think by all accounts, if we, if we're keen to jump on one soon enough, I think there's 10 of them on the way and they will be operational by 2031. Not long to wait. Gabriel Lee in Zurich wishing you the best flight. Thank you so much for joining us on the line. And that's all the time we have for today's programme. The warmest of thanks to all my guests and to the producers Vincent, Matt Makavinney, Tom Webb and Chris Chermack. Our researcher is Joanna Moser and our studio manager was Christy o', Grady, with editing assistance by Steph Chungu. After the headlines. More music on the way. The briefings live at midday here in London. The Globalist is back at the same time tomorrow. But for now, from me, Emma Nelson. Goodbye. Thank you very much for listening. With ubs, you have a truly global.
- [59:38]
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