Date: June 22, 2022
Time: 16:00-17:00 Beijing Time
Digital trade has been a key driver of Asia’s economic recovery from the pandemic and could be boosted further by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) – the world’s largest free trade agreement which came into force in January 2022.
Bringing together 15 signatories across Asia Pacific, RCEP includes enhanced provisions in areas such as cross-border data flows, online consumer protection, and several aspects of digital trade. It has the potential to consolidate and deepen the digital trade environment for businesses and SMEs throughout Asia.
This digital conference, organized in partnership with Asia House, will bring together senior business leaders, government representatives and thought leaders from Asia Pacific to discuss how RCEP could play a critical role in driving the region’s digital economy. The discussion will provide valuable insights from figures at the heart of Asia’s digital trade landscape on whether RCEP can bolster and stimulate the region’s digital economy, and the opportunities arising through this landmark agreement.
This event will also provide a platform for the exclusive launch of CKGSB’s report RCEP: Can Multilateralism Lead to Economic Growth in Asia Pacific? This report aims to explore the various opportunities and challenges the new agreement will bring to the region. It will consider the likely impact on the region’s economy, politics and practical implications for businesses. In a time when many economies are turning away from multilateralism, will RCEP prove these skeptics wrong? Can it represent an opportunity to leverage liberalized trade and supply chain optimization while kick-starting Asia Pacific’s economies? Click ‘register’ now to join the discussion!
Dr. Xiang Bing is the Founding Dean and Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of China Business and Globalization at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). Under his leadership, CKGSB has evolved from a fledgling school to one of the most influential business schools in China with a global reputation since 2002.
Renowned as a foremost authority on China’s business and economy, Dr. Xiang serves as the first opening keynote speaker at the Harvard College China Forum in 2018 and 2023 and the Penn Wharton China Summit in 2023, the closing keynote speaker at the Columbia China Forum in 2024, the first closing keynote speaker at the Harvard College China Forum in 2024, and the closing keynote speaker at the SCMP China Conference on US-China Relations in New York City in 2019. Additionally, he was the First Co-Chairman for the Ditchley Foundation Annual Forum in 2018. He was also a lunch keynote speaker for the Foreign Policy Association’s Board of Trustees in 2018.
Dr. Xiang has served as an independent board member to several listed companies, including four Fortune Global 500 companies. He was a member of the Global Board of Trustees for United Way Worldwide (US) during 2011-2017.
His research interests include innovations from China, globalization of Chinese companies, China-US relations, economic disruption, social innovation, and the next-generation unicorns.
Tran Quoc Khanh is Vice Minister of Industry and Trade, Vietnam, where he is Head of the Government negotiating team on international economy and trade. He has responsibility for Vietnam’s bilateral trade relations and market development, and issues related to handling trade disputes. The Deputy Minister is in charge of relations between Vietnam and partners within the framework of ASEAN, APEC, ASEM, and the WTO, as well as other regional and international economic organisations and forums.
Satvinder Singh is the Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Economic Community for 2021-2024. In his capacity as the Deputy Secretary-General, Satvinder provides strategic advice to the Secretary-General of ASEAN for advancing ASEAN’s economic integration agenda, as well as leading the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Department of the ASEAN Secretariat in implementing the AEC Blueprint 2025. Before assuming this role, he was the Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Trade Connectivity & Business Services, at Enterprise Singapore. With over 27 years of experience in holding a variety of local, regional and global management positions across the region, Deputy Secretary-General Singh was instrumental in strengthening Singapore’s role as Asia’s trading hub as well as driving digitalisation efforts in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Phone: +86 10 8518 8858 ext. 3803
E-mail: htli@ckgsb.edu.cn
Dean, Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance, and Director of the Family Business Research Center, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB)
PhD, Yale University
Areas of Expertise: Asset Pricing, Continuous-Time Finance, Credit Risk, Financial Engineering and Derivatives, Financial Management, Hedge Funds, Insurance, Investment, Option Pricing, Term Structure
Biography
Dr Li Haitao is the Dean, Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance, and Director of the Family Business Research Center 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.
Allan B Gepty is a lawyer with diverse experience in international trade, intellectual property, public international law, commercial law and litigation. He was the Philippines’ lead negotiator in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Currently, Mr. Gepty is the assistant secretary for industry development and trade policy at the Department of Trade and Industry, handling international trade policy and trade negotiations at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. He is also the country’s senior economic official at ASEAN. He was formerly a deputy director-general of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines and commissioner of the Philippine Tariff Commission.
Hanim Hamzah is the Regional Managing Partner of ZICO Law, the first law firm network with presence across ASEAN with 18 offices in all 10 countries. She also heads the Corporate M&A practice group at ZICO Law Indonesia’s Roosdiono & Partners law firm.
Based in Singapore, her 25+ years of regional practice experience includes being resident in Malaysia, Japan, and Indonesia where she specialises in major infrastructure project financing and M&A deals in aviation, banking, insurance, mining, oil and gas, plantations, and property. Hanim is top ranked, consistently recognized as Distinguished Lawyer or Leading Lawyer across multiple practice areas in major legal directories and publications. She has authored cited articles in thought leadership in the legal profession and is currently Co-Chair of the International Bar Association’s Law Firm Management Committee, and Senior Fellow at the CIMB Asean Research Institute (CARI). Hanim was selected by the Singapore Academy of Law, as part of an expert think-tank to prepare a white paper on skills needed by legal professionals in the future. In 2019, Hanim co-founded the ASEAN Legal Tech Initiative, bringing together legal and technology experts in South-East Asia.
As a leader, Hanim champions diversity and inclusion, mental health, well-being, and safety in the legal profession. She sits on the Board of Trustees of the Mindful Business Charter UK Charity and is a Board Member of the Workplace Pride not for profit foundation dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTIQ+ people in workplaces worldwide. Hanim was also named Top Ten Pioneers of New Legal Thinking in the Financial Times Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers Awards 2018.
Hanim is also a marathoner and sings in a jazz quartet.
For more information, please visit: https://www.zicolaw.com/people/hanim-hamzah/
Concurrently David is an external advisor to Singapore’s Corrupt Investigation Practices Bureau (CPIB) in the capacity of Senior Advisor (Artificial Intelligence) and to Singapore’s Central Provident Fund Board (CPF) in the capacity of Senior Advisor (Data Science).
Prior to his current roles, David was Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) first appointed Chief Data Officer and Head of Data Analytics Group reporting to the agency Deputy Managing Director for Financial Supervision and subsequently Special Advisor (Artificial Intelligence) reporting to Deputy Managing Director for Markets and Development. In these roles he led the development of the AI strategy both for MAS and Singapore’s financial sector as well as driving efforts in promoting open cross-border data flows.
David holds a PhD in Computer Science in the field of Machine Learning from the University of Southampton and graduated from Royal Holloway, University of London with First Class Honors B.Sc. in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence.
Raymond is currently the Vice President for Customs and Regulatory Affairs for DHL Express covering Asia Pacific excluding China. His role includes working with governments, particularly Customs and Trade agencies on various reform and modernization programs and enhancing partnerships between DHL Express and Customs administrations from across the region.
He has over 25 years experience dealing with Customs and Trade issues covering both public and private sectors dealing with all aspects of this area. His first role involved setting up the ASEAN Free Trade Area in the ASEAN Secretariat in 1994 as well as managing customs cooperation and trade facilitation issues in ASEAN as the Secretariat’s Assistant Director for Trade Facilitation.
He subsequently worked as a customs and trade consultant in various consulting companies including PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young. Prior to joining DHL, he headed indirect tax issues for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa for an international tobacco company. He is active in the EU-ASEAN Business Council Working Group on Trade Facilitation and member of World Customs Organisation (WCO) Private Sector Consultative Group (Asia Pacific).
His areas of expertise include: trade facilitation and policy making, trade negotiations, customs simplification, customs valuation, tax and logistics supply chain efficiency, free trade areas and their rules and requirements, WTO and WCO issues.
Raymond graduated with a Bachelors in Economics from Cambridge University and a Masters in Economic Development (specializing in ASEAN Trade) from Oxford University.
