Neoh noted that the time horizons of financial markets are getting "shorter and shorter", and that this trend rewards "the wrong companies and the wrong people. That is the reality that has got to be faced".

He added that many Asian countries desparately lacked a financial planning sector. Changing "the structure of investment" will require the cultivation of a financial planning and financial advice sector - "an above-board independent profession" - which operates transparently and declares potential conflicts of interest.

Neoh also discussed the issue of what kind of companies are suitable for investment. "There is no point all of us putting forward all of these wonderful schemes and there are no companies that we could invest in".

"That brings in the concept of corporate governance, which still has to get on to the agenda of the boardrooms," he said. The root of the problem is understanding what lies at the root of corporate governance." Among the concepts that lie at the heart of corporate governance is the concept of "intrinsic value", Neoh said. "The corporate balance sheet tells you very little," Neoh said. It doesn't tell you in fact what is the human capital of the company we have to look way beneath the surface."

"You have to look at the way the company conducts its business. You actually have to look at the human capital in the company to see whether in fact the people who run the company are really enthusiastic about it and most of all to see if the people who run this company are honest abide by the law [and] do look genuinely to the future."

Neoh said a critical issue for every company is to have "a credible plan for developing its human capital I have seen a lot of FDI going into countries where in fact the people who run them are looking for cheap labour basically. Apart from getting cheap labour what are you going to get in the future? You have to show that if you want to be a sustainable company you have to show not only to your host but also to the people investing in your company your shareholders that you are in there as a good corporate citizen that you have a stake. Every company, particularly multinationals, when they go to a particular country, they must realise this. He concluded by warning that "we are living in a world that is getting more and more polarised we should try to reduce this polarisation, we should try to reduce this inequality."