Asia Business Summit

About this event

Event Theme: Asia Business Summit
Co-organizers: Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, Whampoa Group
Event Time: 14:00-17:00, May 16 (Registration: 13:00-14:00)
Location: John Jacob Ballroom, St. Regis Hotel Singapore
Language: English (with simultaneous translation into Chinese)

Co-organized by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) and the Whampoa Group, the Asia Business Summit is a half-day, invitation-only congregation of senior Asian government, business and academic leaders to shed light on new frontiers in innovation, impact and investment in RCEP. The summit will address pressing issues and trends in RCEP, amid global uncertainties, geopolitical tensions and economic headwinds. The summit aims to discover growth opportunities for businesses in Asia, including the role of the RCEP agreement and strategies for scaling up in RCEP, one of the world’s most dynamic and fastest-growing regions.

The summit also serves as a kick-off to the Global Unicorn Program, a three-day intensive training program taking place in Singapore for the first time. This program aims to equip entrepreneurs, founders and venture capitalists with the necessary mindset, tools, and network to identify growth opportunities for their businesses in the RCEP market. It covers relevant topics on developing next generation unicorn companies with an enhanced emphasis on global responsibility, social purpose and a long-term perspective.

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Agenda

13:00-14:00 | Summit Registration

14:00-14:05 | Introduction

  • • Ira ZAKA, Associate Director, Global Marketing and Communications, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB)

14:05- 14:25 | Welcome Remarks

Summit Co-Hosts:

  • • ZHOU Li, Assistant Dean, CKGSB
  • • LI Xin (CKGSB Alum), Vice President of Caixin Media and Managing Director of Caixin Global

Welcome Remarks:

  • • LI Haitao, Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance and Associate Dean, CKGSB
  • • Amy LEE, Co-founder and Chairperson, Whampoa Group

14:25 – 14:50 | Keynote - China’s Business Landscape in the Global Context: 2023 and Beyond

  • • XIANG Bing, Founding Dean and Professor of China Business and Globalization, CKGSB

14:50– 15:50 | Panel 1 - Navigating Global Uncertainties: the Perspective of RCEP

  • Moderated by: LI Haitao, Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance and Associate Dean, CKGSB

Panelists:

  • • Taimur BAIG, Chief Economist, DBS
  • • Brian SAN, Executive Director, Programmes and Strategic Development, Wealth Management Institute
  • • Katsuhiro SATO, Professor of Strategy and Finance, Waseda Business School
  • • WANG Guangyu (CKGSB Alum), Founder and Chairman, China Soft Capital; CKGSB Alumnus

15:50 – 16:50 | Panel 2 - Scaling up in RCEP

  • Moderated by: Hau LEE, The Thoma Professor of Operations, Information & Technology, Stanford University

Panelists:

  • • Oi-Yee CHOO, CEO, ADDX
  • • Willson CUACA, Founding Partner, East Ventures
  • • KIM Jong-yoon, CEO, Yanolja and Yanolja Cloud
  • • LIU Yongyan, Founder, Fintopia

16:50 -17:00 | Closing Keynote

  • • SUN Tianshu, Professor of Information Systems and Director of the Center for Technology, Big Data and Digital Transformation, CKGSB

*Speakers below are listed in alphabetical order.

Speakers

Taimur BAIG

Managing Director and Chief Economist, DBS Bank

Taimur Baig, Ph.D, heads global economics as well as macro strategy for interest rate, credit, and currency at DBS Group Research. He also advises the bank on risk management and investment strategy.

Prior to joining DBS, Dr. Baig was a Principal Economist at the Economic Policy Group, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Earlier, he spent nine years at Deutsche Bank’s Singapore office, where his last position was Managing Director and Chief Economist, Asia. During 1999-2007, he was the Senior Economist of the International Monetary Fund.

Dr. Baig sits as a council member for the Asian Financial Think Tank, Economic Society of Singapore, and Women’s World Banking.

Dr. Baig holds a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He attended London School of Economics and Wabash College for his B.A. in Economics.

Oi-Yee CHOO

CEO, ADDX

Oi-Yee was appointed CEO of ADDX in March 2022. She has 20 years of capital raising and M&A advisory experience.

Before joining ADDX as Chief Commercial Officer in January 2020, Oi-Yee was with UBS for 6 years, and was Head of Investment Banking for UBS Singapore. She joined UBS from Morgan Stanley, where she was Head of Singapore Investment Banking. Prior to Morgan Stanley, she ran the Southeast Asia real estate investment banking franchise for Nomura Singapore. She started her investment banking career with Citigroup, covering Singapore corporate and real estate clients.

Between 2006 and 2008, Oi-Yee was Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, for Parkway Holdings, the largest healthcare company in Asia, and helped create the Parkway Life REIT.

Oi-Yee graduated from Nanyang Technological University with a Bachelor of Accountancy. She also has a Master of Business Administration from Manchester Business School.

Willson CUACA

Founding Partner, East Ventures

Willson Cuaca is the Founding Partner at East Ventures, the most active venture capital firm in Southeast Asia. Willson manages both the Seed and Growth funds at East Ventures, which has invested in 300+ tech companies across Southeast Asia, with a central focus in Indonesia, the largest archipelago in the world.

Under Willson’s leadership, East Ventures captured the early wave of digital transformation in Indonesia by becoming the 1st investor of Indonesia’s unicorns, Tokopedia and Traveloka. East Ventures is also the early backer of many fast-growing companies in Southeast Asia such as Ruangguru, Shopback, Moladin, Sociolla, Xendit, SIRCLO and Waresix and is a shareholder of Grab and Gojek.

Willson was listed in Asia’s Top 100 People Transforming Business in 2020 by Business Insider and named Fortune Indonesia Businessperson of the Year 2022.

KIM Jong-yoon

CEO, Yanolja

KIM Jong-yoon leads Yanolja Co., Ltd., one the world’s fastest growing global travel platform and travel technology companies. Yanolja operates through the platform business for travel and leisure-related services and SaaS solutions business driven by Yanolja Cloud. Yanolja is leading the digital transformation of the global travel tech companies. Yanolja is funded by SoftBank, and the only unicorn company among travel related companies in South Korea.

Prior to joining Yanolja, Kim has worked at McKinsey & Company, Google, Bearing Point and 3M. He received his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and his BS in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University.

Amy LEE

Co-founder and Chairperson, Whampoa Group

Amy Lee was a Senior Partner at Lee & Lee, a renowned Singaporean law firm co-founded by her father, Lee Kim Yew, uncle, Lee Kuan Yew and his wife, Kwa Geok Choo.

She was later the Singapore CEO of international law firm, Hogan Lovells. Today, she serves as a Board Member of her family’s investment company, Lee Kim Yew Ltd. Throughout her career, she also sat on the boards of Clifford Capital Holdings and Infraco Asia.

Hau L. LEE

Thoma Professor of Operations, Information and Technology, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Hau L. Lee is the Thoma Professor of Operations, Information and Technology at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. His areas of specialization include global value chain innovations, supply chain management, global logistics, inventory modeling, and environmental and social responsibility. He is also the faculty advisor for the Stanford Institute for Innovations in Developing Economies, and is a co-director of the Stanford Value Chain Innovation Initiative. Professor Lee has published widely in journals, such as Management Science, Operations Research, Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review, and served on the editorial boards of many international journals.

Professor Lee has consulted extensively in the public and private sectors. He is a co-founder of DemandTec, which went public in 2007. He is on the board and advisory board of several logistics services and supply chain software companies. Professor Lee obtained his B.Soc.Sc. degree in Economics and Statistics from the University of Hong Kong in 1974, his M.Sc. degree in Operational Research from the London School of Economics in 1975, and his MS and PhD degrees in Operations Research from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1983.

LI Haitao

Dean's Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance, Associate Dean for Business Scholars Program, Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs and the Development Foundation, Director of the Family Business Research Center, CKGSB

Dr Li Haitao is the Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance, Associate Dean for Business Scholars Program and Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs and the Development Foundation at CKGSB. Previously, he was the Jack D. Sparks Whirlpool Corporation Research Professor in the Finance Department of the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He also served on the faculty of the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. Dr Li serves on the editorial boards of Management Science (the Department of Finance) and the International Review of Finance. Dr Li holds a PhD in Finance from Yale University.

LI Xin

Managing Editor and Managing Director of Caixin Global; Vice President of Caixin Media

Li Xin is the Managing Editor and Managing Director of Caixin Global, and Vice President of Caixin Media, leading the company’s global news and intelligence services, as well as Caixin’s international branding and events.

Before Caixin, she was the Managing Editor of the Chinese Wall Street Journal and Chinese Dow Jones newswire. This is her second stint at Caixin, where she was formerly the Managing Editor of Caixin: China Economics & Finance, an English-language magazine, and Caixin Online at Caixin Media. In 2006, she founded Caijing Magazine’s first bureau in the United States, as a correspondent of politics and economics. Li moved back to China in 2007 to head Caijing Magazine’s English website. Li was a documentary producer at China Central Television between 2001 and 2004.

Li holds a bachelor degree in English language from Tsinghua University, a master degree in journalism from University of Missouri-Columbia and an Executive MBA degree from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. Li is the co-chair of China Council of the WEF future councils. She is also an Aspen China Fellow.

LIU Yongyan

CEO, Fintopia

Liu Yongyan is the founder and CEO of Fintopia Group. Founded in 2015, Fintopia’s mission is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of financial services through technology and provide superior credit experiences to users around the world. The group has business across multiple countries, including China, SE Asia, and Latin America. Since its inception in 2015, it has accumulated 57 million registered users, worked with more than 60 financial institutions and facilitated more than USD $15 billion in consumer loans.

Before Fintopia, Yongyan managed the Payment Platform team for Facebook in 2010. He was a founding member of the team and led the team to build a stable, flexible, and easy-to-use platform that enables payment for 180+ countries with 40+ payment methods for Facebook. Prior to Facebook, Yongyan was the tech lead for Google Product Search (now called Google Shopping Express) since 2007, after he graduated from Fudan University.

Brian SAN

Executive Director, Programmes and Strategic Development, Wealth Management Institute

Brian San serves as the Executive Director, Programmes and Strategic Development, Wealth Management Institute. He co-leads the Global-Asia Family Office Circle (GFO Circle) at WMI, a network platform for the family office community in Singapore and Asia.

Brian is also the Program Development Director for the Dalio Market Principles Program, a landmark initiative at WMI supported by Dalio Philanthropies, which aims to teach universal principles of market behavior to both private and public sector leaders and investors. Brian also leads program teams in the family office, investment and impact-related programs. 

Before WMI, Brian was on the senior leadership team at NTUC LearningHub, where he led the division focused on re-training low-income and unemployed workers and helmed the LHUB GO digital learning platform. He previously led M&A and partnerships for an Asia-focused education investment group and helped to launch new colleges in Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam. Brian started his career as a strategy consultant with Bain & Company, leading private equity, financial services and retail projects.

He holds a BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Katsuhiro SATO

Professor of Strategy and Finance, Waseda Business School

Katsuhiro has unrivaled expertise and experience in strategy and corporate finance from both professional and academic angles. He started his professional career at the Development Bank of Japan, where he led corporate planning, corporate finance, project finance, and global capital markets. He then advised Japanese and global leading companies and government ministries on strategy and corporate finance as a partner at McKinsey & Company.

Katsuhiro holds a PhD in Management Science from Kyoto University, M.Sc. from Stanford University, and L.L.B. from Keio University, and has published books and articles on general management, strategy, and corporate finance topics in leading media, e.g., Diamond Harvard Business Review.

SUN Tianshu

Professor of Information Systems and Director of the Center for Technology, Big Data and Digital Transformation, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business

Sun Tianshu is the Professor of Information Systems and Director of the Center for Technology, Big Data and Digital Transformation at CKGSB. He has been tenured at USC Marshall School of Business, held a joint appointment in Computer Science and been recognized with Robert R. Dockson Named Professorship. 

Tianshu’s research is focused on digital transformation, digital technology, digital platform, and digital economy. His research conducted in collaboration with leading private and public sector organizations addresses how firms and governments can combine data analytics, field experiment, causal inference, machine learning, and economic models to improve business decisions and industry policies. He has worked closely with a variety of organizations including Facebook, Alibaba and Adobe. Many findings from these studies have been implemented by collaborating organizations.

Tianshu received his Bachelor in Physics from Nanjing University, and Master in Physics and PhD in Information Systems from University of Maryland.

WANG Guangyu

Founder and Chairman, China Soft Capital

Wang Guangyu founded China Soft Capital Group (CSC) in 2008, which ranks top 10 among China’s venture capital and private equity investment enterprises. He is also the controlling shareholder of “Tianma Group” (002453.SZ), and heads the China Academy of New Supplyside Economics, which is a famous think-tank founded in 2013 that aims to support academic research on supply-side reform.

Wang is an expert in investment and financial science and technology. He has been invited to participate in the national “9th to 13th Five-Year” research. He is also the author of many renowned books such as “Equity Investment in China”, “2049 The Rise of Intelligence”. He is a professor at the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a board member of Renmin University and Jilin University, and a member of the consulting committee of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council.

Wang Guangyu graduated from China Youth University of Political Studies, Tsinghua University and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is also an alumnus of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB), where he completed the CEO Program and the Business Scholars Program (DBA).

XIANG Bing

Founding Dean, Professor of China Business and Globalization, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB)

PhD, University of Alberta

Dr. Xiang Bing is the Founding Dean and Professor of China Business and Globalization at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). CKGSB is China’s first faculty-governed, independent and private business school with headquarters in Beijing, campuses in Shanghai and Shenzhen and representative offices in Hong Kong, London and New York.

He has served as an independent board member of a number of companies (including four Fortune Global 500 companies) listed in Hong Kong, Mainland China and the United States. He is a member of the International Advisory Council of Fundação Dom Cabral (FDC) in Brazil, a member of the Global Advisory Board of Yonsei School of Business in Korea, a member of the International Advisory Council for the Royal Academy of Management (RAM) in Oman, a member of the Advisory Board of Asia House in London and a Counselor for One Young World Summit in Dublin. He was a member of the Board of Trustees for United Way Worldwide (US) from 2011-2017.

Dr. Xiang’s research interests include the reform of state-owned enterprises, innovation and the role of the private sector in China, and economic disruptions. He is a leading authority on China business, innovations in China, globalization of Chinese companies, China’s development models, global implications of China’s transformation, social innovation, economic disruptions, China-US relations, global trade and investment systems and global governance. His writings and cases on these subjects are considered among the most influential in China and beyond.

Dr. Xiang has served as keynote speaker at influential forums and conferences around the world. These events include Harvard China Forum (closing keynote, 2017; first keynote, 2018; opening keynote, 2019; first keynote, 2023; Harvard University), Morgan Stanley Twenty-first Century Asia Pacific Summit (November 16-17, Singapore; keynote), SCMP China Conference: USA 2019 (December 10, 2019; New York City; closing keynote), FT Banking Summit 2017 (November 30, 2017; London; closing keynote), CKGSB-Brookings US-China Forum 2016 (December 14, 2016; New York City; opening keynote & Dialogue with Dr. Henry Kissinger) and US Committee of 100 Annual Conference 2016 (April 16, 2016; Los Angeles; opening keynote). He has been invited to prestigious webinars such as Bo’ao Dialogue 2020, Asian Leadership Conference 2020, 2022 and 2023 (Seoul, Korea), World Knowledge Forum 2021 (Seoul, Korea) and World Chinese Economic Summit 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021.

He has participated in many prominent closed-door conferences, including Ditchley Foundation Annual Forum (2010, 2012, 2018 (First Co-Chairman) and 2021), Yale CEO Summit (2016) and Rome Roundtable (2017—2020 and 2022). He was also an invited speaker for forums such as the World Economic Forum, Bo’ao Forum for Asia and Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, and for institutions like the Foreign Policy Association (September 27, 2018; New York City; lunch keynote for members of the Board of Trustees), Center for Strategic and International Studies (September 28, 2018; Washington D.C.; lunch keynote and roundtable panelist) and Pheu Thai Party in Thailand (September 2, 2019; Bangkok; a special talk for 350 parliament members).

Dr. Xiang was named the “China Philanthropist of the Year” in 2018, 2020 and 2022 by China Philanthropy Times. He was awarded the “Vanguard for Social Responsibilities” in 2020 by Southern Weekly.

Dr. Xiang received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Alberta in Canada, and his bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China. 

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ZHOU Li

Assistant Dean, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business

Mr. Zhou Li joined CKGSB in 2010 as an Assistant Dean. He is primarily responsible for the School’s English-language Executive Education Programs, overseas operations, Case Center and applied research projects. He also serves as Chief Editor for CKGSB Knowledge, the School’s English-language magazine. He teaches “Understand China and Its Business People” to Executive MBA students of top-tier business schools and senior executives of global companies from around the world.

Prior to CKGSB, Dean Zhou worked for more than 20 years as CEO and in other management positions at telecom, IT, investment and consulting companies in Canada, Hong Kong and mainland China. Before he joined the corporate world, Dean Zhou was on the faculty of Renmin University in China, where he developed and taught International Business Management courses and was given the ‘Best Lecturer’ award. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Economics at Renmin University in China and his MBA at McGill University in Canada.

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