I am currently an economist at Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, where I am Head of the Research division, and Co-Head of Private Markets, Investments. My work at Khazanah covers a wide range of issues including, but not limited to, industrial policy, strategic investments, impact assessment, private markets investing (direct and indirect), sustainable investing, macroeconomics, economic complexity, corporate and business strategy.
In addition, as part of the Research division, I also oversee Knowledge Management at Khazanah, covering Knowledge Systems, Events, and Publications as well as the Khazanah Resource Centre. This includes overseeing the end-to-end (content/logistics/etc.) organisation of the Khazanah Megatrends Forum, an annual forum organised by Khazanah, which brings together experts and thought leaders to discuss the main mega trends, as well as to address topical matters of interest.
I am also a Trustee of the Khazanah Research Institute, which carries out research on the pressing policy issues of the nation. I also lead stakeholder management and advisory support at Khazanah for various government Ministries and agencies.
My research interests and intellectual passions are in the political economy of economic development particularly related to the long term persistence of historical events and cultural/institutional co-evolutionary factors on economic and public policy outcomes today. In addition, I am especially interested in applying frames from Complexity Science and Cultural Evolution to these issues, i.e. a complex adaptive approach to economic development.
In 2015, I completed the 2-year MPA/ID program at the Harvard Kennedy School. I have previously served as an economist in Malaysia’s Economic Planning Unit, where I was directly involved in several national development projects. I completed my undergraduate studies in Economics in 2009 at Harvard College. I am also currently undertaking a PhD in Political Economy Research at King’s College London where I am exploring the political economy of long-term economic policy amidst short-term political cycles. For more details, please see my CV below.
This blog is a collection of my writings, focusing on my columns – be it as a sole author or as a co-author – in The Edge Malaysia, where I try to frame current political economy issues using sports, pop culture, and books I read, among others. My columns appear monthly in The Edge, generally in the first of a given month. My columns will appear on this blog 1 week after they have appeared in The Edge. I will also occasionally include writings from my class work.
I can be contacted at comments@nicholaskhaw.com