Asia Briefing LIVE 2021

Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive Officer in April 2014, Matt held the position of Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director of the company.

Until June 2011, Echo Entertainment Group was part of Tabcorp Holdings, Australia’s premier diversified gambling company. In November 2015, the company changed its name to The Star Entertainment Group.

Matt joined Tabcorp in early 2006 as Chief Financial Officer after holding various roles with McKinsey and Company for 14 years, where he focused on building a substantial practice in both post-merger management and financial services, working across four continents.

Mr Bekier holds a degree in Economics and Commerce as well as a PhD in Finance from St Gallen University in Switzerland.

She has held a range of senior positions including Head of Established Markets and Special Adviser to the CEO on Strategy and China (Austrade) and Senior Adviser to the then Defence and Foreign Ministers. Ms Browning was also a Trade Negotiator at the Doha Development Round and for the free trade agreements Australia negotiated with the USA and Singapore. She has previously served overseas in Thailand and Singapore.

Ms Browning holds a Masters in Foreign Affairs & Trade and a Bachelor of Economics with Honours, both from Monash University.

In recent years his research extended to political and social risk management for Chinese corporations engaged in non-financial investments abroad, including the publication of an edited volume Chinese Investment Overseas: case studies on environmental and social risks, Peking University Press, 2014 and Risk Management under the Belt and Road Initiative: economic and societal dimensions, Oceanic Press, 2017).   

He is invited to serve as non-resident fellow in a number of public policy think tanks and advisory member on several international exchange associations, including the China chapter of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSPAC) and the China Association for International Exchange. 

He joined the faculty of Peking University in 2007 and held prior positions at the Renmin University of China, the International University of Japan and University of Macau. He studied at the East West Center and the University of Hawaii, where he earned a Doctoral degree in political science.

He spent more than a decade as a reporter based in Tokyo, Jakarta, and New York. He is now an independent writer, editor and consultant; is researching a book about Australia and Asia; and writes a column on economic diplomacy for The Lowy Institute’s The Interpreter. He is a member of the Australia-ASEAN Council board (AAC); and a former member of the Australian National University Indonesia Project advisory board; the Australia Japan Foundation board; and the steering committee for the Australia-Indonesia Dialogue.  

His connection with the region began as a high school Indonesian language student and then as an exchange student in the Philippines. This year he has been a member of an international observer group during the Indian election; attended the Australia-Vietnam Young Leadership Dialogue in Ho Chi Minh City; and served on the selection panel for an AAC Muslim Exchange Program in South East Asia.

Mr. Gosper is responsible for the overall management of the operations of the Budget, People, and Management Systems Department; Corporate Services Department; Office of the General Counsel; Information Technology Department; Office of the Secretary; and Procurement, Portfolio and Financial Management Department.

Prior to joining ADB, Mr. Gosper was the Australian High Commissioner to Singapore, and a member of the Asia Society Australia Advisory Council. With 40 years of experience working with multilateral and regional institutions and running large public sector organizations, he has profound knowledge and experience in digitalization, multilateral trade negotiations, regional cooperation, investments and trade promotions, international relations, diplomacy, and corporate administrations.

Mr. Gosper oversaw corporate reform initiatives as former Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission and Deputy Secretary of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that lifted gender diversity and equality, and put in place new policy directions toward greater client focus. As Ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, he led Australia’s multilateral trade initiatives and chaired the WTO General Council and WTO Dispute Settlement Body. He held senior roles in the Australian Embassies in Washington and Tokyo, as well as served on the Board of the former Australian Export Finance.

Mr. Gosper has contributed in initiating policy and administrative reforms, supporting infrastructure developments, multilateral negotiations, and promoting trade and investment relationships.

Mr. Gosper completed his Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors at Macquarie University. He acquired a graduate certificate in Public Policy from University of New England.

He is the author of fifteen books, ten of them about China, and has written widely for many magazines and newspapers. His most recent book is a novel about the US and China, My Old Home. His recent non-fiction works include: Wealth and Power: China’s Long March to the Twenty-first Century; Virtual Tibet; The China Reader; and Mandate of Heaven: The Legacy of Tiananmen Square and the Next Generation of China’s Leaders. He is a fellow at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University and a senior fellow at the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California.