Southeast Asia’s countries have long sought to achieve a strategic balance between China and the U.S. – managing deep economic ties with China, while often relying on the U.S. for defence and security. This includes Singapore, the region’s financial hub; Indonesia, its largest economy, and Malaysia, whose role in the semiconductor industry has attracted attention from both China and the U.S. Under a second Trump administration, this balancing act is set to become increasingly difficult.

How are Southeast Asian countries looking to manage the China-U.S. conflict? What are their economic prospects in a world with more tariffs and restrictions? And what are opportunities in the region for Switzerland and Europe?  

This Executive Roundtable with Mercedes Ruehl, the Financial Times’ former Southeast Asia bureau chief and now the FT's new Switzerland and Austria correspondent, will bring together business leaders, policymakers, and analysts to examine the region’s strategic and economic outlook.  

The roundtable is organized jointly by Homburger and Asia Society Switzerland. Daniel Daeniker, Senior Partner at Homburger and Member of the Asia Society Switzerland Advisory Board, and Nico Luchsinger, Executive Director of Asia Society Switzerland, will moderate the conversation.

Seats are limited so an early registration is recommended. A light lunch will be served prior to the roundtable discussion.


This event is invitation only. Want to receive an invitation? Become a Passport Member today and receive regular invitations to our Executive Roundtables and other exclusive events. More information here.
 

Mercedes Ruehl is the Financial Times' Switzerland and Austra correspondent. Previously, she was the newspaper's Singapore and Southeast Asia correspondent since 2022 and, before that, its Asia technology correspondent based in Singapore and Hong Kong. She also led the Financial Times' newsletters and audience engagement team in Asia and spent six years reporting in Australia on business, finance, and politics for The Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Daniel Daeniker is the Senior Partner of Homburger AG, one of Switzerland's leading law firms based in Zurich. His practice focuses on mergers & acquisitions, corporate governance, equity capital markets and financial services regulation. Daniel Daeniker spent most of his professional career with Homburger AG. He joined the firm as a trainee in 1988, after growing up in the USA and Switzerland and gaining professional experience in Panama and Hong Kong. Daniel became a partner in 2000, was head of the Corporate / M&A practice group from 2009 to 2014, and Managing Partner from 2013 to 2019. Today, in addition to being Senior Partner, he is head of the India focus group of Homburger. He is active in various non-profit organizations, including as Chair of the Donor Foundation of Avenir Suisse, an independent Swiss free-market think tank, and as a member of the advisory board of the Asia Society Switzerland.
 

Partner

This event is co-organized with Homburger, a valued Corporate Member of Asia Society Switzerland.