Hongkong 2007

HPAIR Business Conference Hongkong

August 24th - 26th

Facing changes within key areas in Asia and their impact on world-community, HPAIR’s mission expanded in 2004 to promote those discussions spotlighting business aspects affecting Asia and its business environment. Since then, prominent leaders of the world of business, government and law have been working with university students and young professionals on their understanding of Asia and its place within and impact on global economy. This year, more than 200 applicants out of 5000 were accepted to meet and discuss key development in Asia based on a business perspective.

Hong Kong symbolizes a meeting of different cultures, political views, cultures and people having an eventful history behind. As the region’s most cosmopolitan world city that became a global financial center, Hong Kong provides an ideal backdrop for discussions on case-studies, panels and workshops around global economy.

Taking a more specific detailed perspective asks besides interested motivated delegates especially young professionals for contribution to HPAIR’s Business Conference. The University of Hong Kong hosting and the staff from Harvard University did a brilliant performance organizing this great event beforehand: This year’s location hosting the Business Conference: Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center and Hotel Grand Hyatt.

A newly formed German Delegation found itself in the early evening hours at the opening ceremony at the magnificent Grand Haytt Grand Ballroom.

Engaging Asia: Collaboration and Competition

This year’s Conference focused precisely on the Asian market and its impact on world economy. The program provided plenary sessions enlarging everyone’s perspective generally before taking detailed looks at specific aspects within discussion panels. Case study workshops transferred theoretical descriptive approaches into real cases. Thus, we were enabled to regard on issues from every considerable perspective.

Plenary Sessions:

I. Made in China: The Competitive Advantage

China’s re-emergence as a leader in the global economy has been a story of the last quarter century. Yet, it is still an economy in transition. Sustainable growth and diversification are main current topics. The domestic perspective, the role of the accession to the WTO, China’s integration within the global market and its impact were discussed.

II. Pan Asian Integration: Economic Growth and Foreign Investment

The continued success of China and India has been the major driver of Asia’s economic prosperity in recent decades. The economies of Japan and Southeast Asia proportional to the continued market explosion, technical overspill within the frame of globalization, the main question arising out of those aspects: will it allow developing countries a catch up or will the impact furthermore lead to an overshadow by these emerging giants? The interaction has been put up for discussion.

The plenary sessions were among other distinguished speakers joined by the following:

Mr. Jonathan Anderson
Head of Asia-Pacific Economics; beforehand he worked many years for the following institutions: Goldman Sachs, International Monetary Found, Resident Representative in China and Russia. He is as well author of “The Five Great Myths About China and the World”.

Mrs. Ann Chen
Partner at the Hong Kong Office of Bain & Company and head of the greater China consumer products and retail practice. Her main focus lies within the development and the implementation of strategies with companies in China from market entry to distribution to acquisition and due diligence. She publishes on consumer and retail trends in both the Harvard Business Review and the Wall Street Journal among other local and Asian Journals.

Mr. Kyung Tae Lee
President of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy; Chair of the APEC Economic Committee and member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council. He served as Korean Ambassador to the OECD before and has published extensively about economic and political interaction.

Mr. James Z. Li
Chairman and CEO of E.J.McKay, a Shanghai based investment banking firm present in 23 financial centers all around the world. Prior to joining E.J.McKay, Mr. Li worked at the offices of Merrill Lynch in New York and Hongkong, McKinsey in Shanghai. He was as well head of China operations for the European corporation VA Technologie AG based in Beijing, China and Vienna, Austria.

The plenary sessions gave us a great overview about current issues. A lot of detailed information and estimation about future development, advantage and risks arose from the very experienced perspective of the roundtable. Bearing some of those aspects in mind, we entered the following:

Discussion Panels:

Financial Service:
• Capital Rules: Risk, Reward and Innovation in Asia’s Financial Institutions
Foreign capital found in Asia an increasingly attractive destination. This panel focused on the future prospects of the banking industry in the economy and its interplay with the public and private sector.

Energy and Infrastructure:
• Bright and Green: The Future of Energy, Infrastructure and Environment
Rapid economic growth on the one hand, local energy supplies and infrastructure on the other: This panel explored the implications for policymakers and business leaders. Which policies are required to facilitate the participation of foreign investors in power and transport projects?

Foreign Direct Investment:
• Global Investors: Asia’s Capital Working at Home and Abroad
By entering the Asian market, multinational corporations face diverse opportunities and challenges. This panel considered significant challenges, currency devaluations and ever-changing government regulations.

Consumer Branding & Marketing:
• Asia ™: Building a Brand in Asia
Participating in this panel, the delegates faced the interaction of China’s consumer market and the increasing globalization of markets establishing strong brands in the face of rampant counterfeiting. Constraints of innovation, the growing presence of multinationals and the continuing popularity of foreign brands were issues discussed.

Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital:
• Acres of Diamonds: Asia’s Outstanding Entrepreneurs and How to Find Them
This panel examined the unique market opportunities giving rise to successful entrepreneurship ventures. Besides, numerous challenges and competition lying ahead has been analyzed.

Corporate Governance and Regulation:
• Law in the Boardroom, Law on Streets: Corporate Governance and Regulation
Discussing the effect of restrictive regulations and growing demands from international shareholders on business development in Asia has been the task of this panel.

Media and Entertainment:
• Selling News, Selling Fun: Media and Entertainment in Asia
The prevalence of direct state ownership, government partnerships create a divers and challenging legal environment rewarding well-established links of trust and sensitivity to the complexities of the Chinese business and political world.

Again: the panels as the following workshops were guided and filled with life by excellent speakers. Among all, we worked with:

Mr. Fan Jiang
Chief Investment Officer of the Investment Management Division Goldman Sachs (Asia)

Mr. Jasper Becker
Foreign correspondent 20 years of experience, author of best-selling books on China and Korea: “Hungry Ghosts” (1996), “The Chinese” (2000).

Mr. Stephen Selby
Director of Intellectual Property for the Intellectual Property Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Mr. Eric Tsai
CEO of eriQoo.com, recognized by Business Week Asia as No. 1 entrepreneur under 25, awarded the highly prestigious United States of America Presidential Award; youngest fixed-income analyst recruited at Credit-Suisse.

Mr. Jörg Zobel
General Manager of PUMA Far East

The Workshops we worked in were the following ones:

• The Art of Price Wars: Lead by John Zhang, professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, Univ. of Pennsylvania, focusing on targeted pricing, pricing strategies, competitive strategies and retail management.

• Samsung Electronics & Lincoln Electric: Lead by Joran Siegel, professor in the strategy group at Harvard Business School, teaching Advanced Global Strategy (MBA program) and Economics of International Business (doctoral program).

• China & the WTO: Law and Bureaucracy: Lead by Louis T. Wells, professor of International Management at Harvard Business School.

• Leveraging External Sources of Innovation: Managing and Recruiting Talent: professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, Univ. of Pennsylvania.

Resumé
Having enjoyed excellent programs, the open discussion did not end with the closing ceremony. Enjoying a wonderful gala dinner at the last evening, everyone got the chance to meet again with its fellows. As the group of participants was smaller compared to the Academic Conference, it enabled us also to take again some more pictures, share contact informations and fun moments with other delegates from all around the world. After the official end of the Business Conference, everyone changed the smoking with a pair of jeans to celebrate a last evening in the city of Hongkong.
The atmosphere of young, working people, discussions and the exchange of perspectives, the share of experience and opinions made the Business Conference once more a glorious and great moment. What does anyone expect more?!

For more detailed information, please have a glance at the following report:
Review of the HPAIR Conferences 2007 in Beijing and Hong Kong (PDF)