RUNDOWN

13:45     Registration
14:00     Opening Remarks
14:15     Keynote Speech and Fireside Chat: Digitalizing Global Trade
14:45     First Panel Discussion: Mainstreaming Digital Trade in Hong Kong
15:35     Coffee Break
15:50     Keynote Speech: Digital Finance and Trade
16:10     Second Panel Discussion: Digital Finance and Trade: Revitalizing Growth in Hong Kong
17:00     Closing remarks
17:30     ICC Hong Kong Anniversary Reception
19:30     End

View the full program here.

Complimentary Admission for ASHK Members only. 

Asia Society Hong Kong Center (ASHK) and the International Chamber of Commerce - Hong Kong (ICCHK) are proud to present a forum and cocktail reception in honor of ICCHK’s 25th anniversary, on Digital Trade and Finance in Hong Kong: Reasserting Global Leadership.

The evolution of global trade from analog to digital has tremendous implications for Hong Kong – not only for its leading role in trading, logistics, and shipping, but also for any organisation involved in financing and delivering digital and sustainability services within the related supply chains.  

Following a keynote speech on digitalizing global trade from John Denton, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce, and fireside chat between Mr. Denton and Marjorie Yang, Chairman of the Esquel Group, the first panel discussion will focus on mainstreaming digital trade in Hong Kong and feature Pete Chareonwongsak, CEO of Teleport, Bertrand Chen, CEO of the Global Shipping Business Network, Pamela Mar, Managing Director of the ICC Digital Standards Initiative, and Wilkie Wong, Chief Financial Officer of Esquel, in conversation with Denise Tsang, News Editor of the South China Morning Post.

The second half of the forum will focus on digital finance and feature a keynote speech by Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, followed by a panel discussion with Douglas Arner, Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong, Justin D’Agostino, CEO of Herbert Smith Freehills, Aditya Gahlaut, HSBC Managing Director and Co-Head Asia Pacific, Global Trade and Receivables Finance, and Mary Huen, CEO of Standard Chartered Hong Kong,. in conversation with Lulu Yilun Chen, Investing and Real Estate Team Leader, Bloomberg Asia.

The forum will conclude with a cocktail reception welcoming the guest of honor, the Honorable John KC Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.  

Keynote Speakers

John W.H. Denton AO  is the Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). He is a global business leader and international advisor on policy and a legal expert on international trade and investment. In 2022, John was appointed by United Nations Secretary General to represent the global private sector on the newly formed Steering Committee of the UN Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance. This year, John was appointed by the WTO Director General to represent ICC at the WTO Business Advisory Board group. He also currently serves on the WHO Foundation Strategic Advisory Group and the Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility. John is a Board member of the UN Global Compact and was appointed Chair of the UN Business and Human Security Initiative advisory board in February 2023. John is a founding member of the Business 20 (B20), Co-founder of the Australia–China CEO Roundtable and Patron of UNHCR in Australia. He serves on the Board of IFM Global Investors, a leading institutional investment manager, and is Chair of the Moeller Institute Advisory Board at the University of Cambridge. He additionally serves on the Boards of the UN Development Programme’s Impact Investing Steering Group and UNICEF’s global education initiative, GenU, and he is a member of the Advisory Board of the African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB) and the G7 Working Group on Impact Investment. A former diplomat, John co-led the Australian Government’s 2012 White Paper on “Australia in the Asian Century” and previously chaired the APEC Finance and Economics Working Group. Prior to joining ICC, he served for two decades as Partner and CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Australia’s leading independent law firm. In 2015, John was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the business community, the arts and the rights of refugees, including as a founder of Human Rights Watch (Australia) and Teach for Australia.

Eddie Yue was appointed Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) from 1 October 2019.  He began his career as an Administrative Officer in the Hong Kong Government in 1986.  He joined the HKMA upon its establishment in 1993 and was promoted to Division Head a year later.  He was appointed Executive Director in 2001 and subsequently Deputy Chief Executive in 2007 before taking up his current position. Mr Yue has participated in numerous areas of the HKMA’s work.  During his tenure as Deputy Chief Executive, he steered major policies and initiatives relating to reserves management, research, external affairs and market development.  Mr Yue was also actively involved in tackling major financial crises and played an instrumental role in enhancing the Linked Exchange Rate System.

Panelists

Douglas W. Arner is the Kerry Holdings Professor in Law and RGC Senior Research Fellow in Digital Finance and Sustainable Development at the University of Hong Kong, where he is also a Senior Fellow of the Asia Global Institute, Associate Director of the HKU-Standard Chartered Foundation FinTech Academy and a Member of the Management Committee of the Techno-Entrepreneurship Core as well as principal of the Reg/Tech Lab and Faculty Director of the Law, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreurship Programme (LITE). He is a non-executive director of NASDAQ and Euronext listed early-stage biotechnology development firm Aptorum Group, a PRIME Finance Expert, an Advisory Board Member of the Global Impact FinTech (GIFT) Forum, SuperCharger Ventures, Policy 4.0, the International RegTech Association, the Alliance for Innovative Regulation and the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE), and co-founder and an executive board member of the Asia Pacific Structured Finance Association. He leads the largest FinTech online course on edX, now with over 125,000 participants drawn from (almost) every country in the world. Douglas focuses on the interlinkages between finance, technology and broader sustainable development. He has published twenty books and more than 200 articles, chapters and reports on finance, technology, regulation and development, including most recently FinTech: Finance, Technology, Regulation (Cambridge 2023 forthcoming, with Ross Buckley and Dirk Zetzsche).

Peter Burnett is a Managing Director of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong). He joined the bank in 2013 as the Head, Corporate Finance, Greater China & North Asia, and a member of the Executive Committee. Peter is a Graduate of the University of Oxford (MA) and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW). In 1995 Peter moved to Hong Kong as Head of UBS ECM in Asia. In 2006 he was appointed the Chief Executive of UBS Middle East & North Africa, returning to Hong Kong as the Chairman of UBS Capital Markets, Asia in 2010. After four years in post Peter stepped down as Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong in September 2022. He is Treasurer of the English Schools Foundation (“ESF”); a member of the Hong Kong Committee of the ICAEW; and, Past Chair of the One Belt, One Road Committee for the Hong Kong Association of Banks. He joined the Committee of the London based Hong Kong Association in October 2022. Peter was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 Queen’s New Year Honours for services to the British Business Community in Hong Kong. In July 2022 Peter was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS) by the Hong Kong Government for contributions to the development of the business community in Hong Kong. Peter, who is a Hong Kong Permanent Resident, is married with three daughters all of whom were born in Hong Kong. He was born in Kolkota, India.

Pete Chareonwongsak is Chief Executive Officer of Teleport. Pete began his journey as the youngest member of the AirAsia Group Executive Leadership team before growing the data-meets-logistics ambitions of the industry with Teleport. With comprehensive experience in the airline and cargo business, Pete is spearheading Teleport’s transformation from a legacy business into the groundbreaking digital venture it is today, one 5 hour meeting at a time.

Bertrand Chen is the CEO of Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN), an independent, not-for-profit technology consortium to reimagine global trade. Bertrand oversees the consortium’s overall strategy, with a mandate to serve the best interests of the industry at large and is not influenced by any agenda and tradition. Bertrand is passionate about unlocking business value in traditional businesses through digital transformation and data science. Prior to his role at GSBN, Bertrand served as the Group Data Scientist at CK Hutchison Holdings, a conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong with global business interests spanning Telecom, Retail, Critical Infrastructure, Energy and Terminals. In his role, Bertrand worked with business units across different industries at various stages of digital transformation, to partner with leading technology vendors and innovative startups to make the digital leap and create new business models to capture new opportunities. Given the global nature of his role, Bertrand has worked in several markets including the U.S., Canada, EU, Australia, Hong Kong and Greater China. Prior to this, Bertrand spent a decade on Wall Street as a trader in credit and equity derivatives for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch in New York City and in Hong Kong. Today he brings this experience to breakdown silos between the global supply chain and the financial system which underpins it. Bertrand holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Financial Engineering from Columbia University and an MSc in Applied Mathematics from Ecole Centrale Paris.

Lulu Yilun Chen is the author of Influence Empire: The Story of Tencent and China's Tech Ambition. She is Bloomberg Asia's Investing and Real Estate Team Leader, overseeing the region's coverage in asset management, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds and property sector.
 

Justin D’Agostino MH is a member of the ICC's Executive Board, and the global CEO of leading international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, overseeing its client, people, practices and growth strategies.  During his 25-year career with Herbert Smith Freehills, Justin has overseen the growth of many successful businesses and its rapid expansion in Asia.  A thought leader and skilled practitioner in arbitration and dispute resolution, Justin has appeared before tribunals around the world and sits as arbitrator. The founder of the firm's first LGBT+ network in 2007, Justin is a strong advocate and active supporter of diversity and inclusion in the firm and the wider community.  A native of Edinburgh, Scotland, Justin graduated with a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Aberdeen in 1996.  He is admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and as a solicitor advocate in England.

Venkatraman is Managing Director, Head of Products and Propositions Asia Pacific of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited. He is also the Global Head of Documentary Trade and Guarantees Products. He is a seasoned banker with more than 2 decades of experience across Trade finance, business management and strategy. He is actively involved in various industry forums pushing for the digitisation of trade. He sits on Advisory Board of ICC DSI and Represents HK community in the SWIFT working groups. Currently based out of Hong Kong, Venkat has worked across multiple banks holding senior leadership positions.

Pamela Mar is the Managing Director of the Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), based in Singapore. The DSI is a public-private partnership backed by the ICC, Asian Development Bank, World Trade Organization and the Singapore government, that aims to digitalize global trade by harmonizing and digitalizing supply chain standards and documentation, and by building digital readiness across the global trade ecosystem. Prior to joining the DSI, Pamela was Executive Vice President for Supply Chain Futures, and then EVP for Knowledge and Applications for the Fung Group, a Hong Kong-based multinational supply chain manager where she was also the first Group head of Sustainability. She was named one of Asia’s ten A-list sustainability leaders in 2019 and is a recognized industry leader in this area. Prior to moving to Hong Kong, Pamela was based in Shenzhen, China, as a Director of Global Finance for TCL Multimedia Technology, the first major Chinese company to go global by buying a foreign brand. Prior to TCL, Pamela ran Greater China for the World Economic Forum, based in Geneva for five years. Pamela was born in New York and went to university in the USA but has spent the majority of her life abroad. She speaks English, French, and Chinese, and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a M.Sc from the London School of Economics.

Denise Tsang is news editor, Hong Kong, for the South China Morning Post. An award-winning journalist, Denise has spent more than 20 years in the industry and specialises in macro-economic and political-economic news in Hong Kong. As well as being a team leader, writer and forum moderator, Denise is a coach and mentor of young reporters. She was awarded Professional Journalism Fellow by the Hong Kong Baptist University.

Wilkie Wong is Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at Esquel Group, a knowledge-based innovation company that continuously pushes for positive change in the textile and apparel business, expanding into new territory to evolve with the industry and its customers. Wilkie has over 20 years of general management experience. Joining Esquel since 2004, Wilkie has led various departments from Group Finance to Production Planning and Control, Global Sourcing, Information Technology, Corporate Communications and General Management Office. He is currently in charge of the company’s finance and logistics function. Prior to joining Esquel, Wilkie was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he advised senior executives of leading companies in Greater China with a focus on consumer goods and retailing.  Wilkie has extensive consulting experience in strategy and business development, M&A advisory, organizational restructuring and operational improvements.  Wilkie has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Operations Research from Columbia University in New York.  He obtained his MBA from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Marjorie Yang is the Chairman of Esquel Group, a knowledge-based innovation company that continuously pushes for positive change in the textile and apparel business, expanding into new territory to evolve with the industry and its customers. As a strong believer in sustainable development and environmental conservation, Marjorie is a member of the High Level Steering Committee of UN Global Compact Action Platform on “Sustainable Infrastructure for the Belt and Road Initiative to accelerate the SDGs”,  the Executive Council of UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Sustainable Business Network (ESBN) and the Advisory Council of China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED). She is a member of the Chief Executive’s Council of Advisers on Economic Advancement and Sustainability, Hong Kong, China’s representative to APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and Executive Board member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Marjorie is dedicated to promoting education and innovative technologies. She is the Co-chairman of the advisory board of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Chairperson of the Steering Committee of CoolThink@JC, which is created and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. She also serves as a member of various advisory boards including Harvard University, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Tsinghua University’s School of Economics & Management, the University of Hong Kong’s Innovation Academy of the Faculty of Engineering and Guilin Tourism University. Marjorie is an Independent Non-executive Director for Budweiser Brewing Company APAC Limited and Meituan. She served as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference from 2003 to 2018 and was the Chairman of the Council of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for six years until 2015. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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