Malaysia, like many of its regional peers, has undergone a great many transformations since its independence. Having transitioned from a predominantly commodities-based economy to one whose industries are well-plugged into the global value chain, Malaysia has emerged to be a competitive, complex and robust Asian economy. But what are the factors that have enabled such a transformation? Tracing our history back to the 1980s-1990s, one can observe that the globalization and internationalization of the value chain has helped Malaysia leapfrog and industrialize. This phenomenon was also aided by factors such as a rising female labor force participation rate, an increasingly integrated ASEAN business community, and the influx of cheap foreign labor.

However, as Malaysia advances closer to its aspiration of becoming a high income and developed nation, the country now finds itself navigating unchartered waters. Malaysia faces a whole host of challenges such as its uncharacteristically high youth unemployment rate which will affect our long-term productivity growth, the perpetual exploitation of foreign labor by Malaysian companies, the persistence of inequality faced by women in the workplace, and the challenge of a hyper-Internet era, which has resulted in the digitization of the political sphere. This indicates that Malaysia is at risk of being ensnared in a deeper economic and political disenfranchisement that may derail the economy's ability to achieve its full potential. The Youth Economic Forum of 2018 seeks to explore and address some of these issues and has organized this forum along 7 distinct perspectives – namely, The Business and Industry Agenda, The Entrepreneurship Agenda, The Social Agenda, The Economic Agenda, The Future Agenda, and The ASEAN Agenda, and the Budget Agenda. The programme and theme will be further enhanced and rounded out by the various Keynote and Special Addresses, networking sessions and a Special Session.