Chicago Asia Pacific Conference
Strategic Implications of Doing Business in Asia
Ming Shen, '07
Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: GSB News
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This year's 6th Annual Chicago Asia Pacific Conference took place this past Saturday, October 21, 2006 at the HPC. Due to the hard work of organizers Eric Lam, '07, Alex Wong, '07, Tommy Tjiptadjaja, '07, and Yuji Matsumoto, '07, the conference was a wonderful success. The attendees included fellow GSB students, as well as MBA students from Columbia and Kellogg. In addition, many interested companies sent representatives to learn more about business trends in that region.
The conference began early Saturday morning with an opening keynote speech from Mr. Richard Li (Chairman, PCCW Limited; best known for building STAR TV, Asia's first satellite-delivered cable TV service.) In the true spirit of today's global business environment, Mr. Li gave his remarks via videoconference from his home in Hong Kong. He spoke about positive changes in China, while calling for more transparency and consistency from the Chinese central government.
The rest of the day was filled with three break-out sessions as well as three more keynote addresses. Mr. Brian Pomper (Chief International Trade Counsel, U.S. Senate Finance Committee,) Mr. Matthew Forney (Former Bureau Chief, Time Magazine, Inc,) and Mr. Robert Kinsella (President, Kinsella Group) spoke during each of the keynote speeches.
One major topic of discussion was China's dominance of low priced manufacturing facilities. This has forced South Korea and Japan to adopt new strategies in order to attract investment. Mr. Eddie Kim (Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency) voiced South Korea's strategy to move up the value chain and transform South Korea from a 40% manufacturing export economy to a technological and financial services economy. In addition, Mr. Takashi Tsuchiya (Japan External Trade Organization) acknowledged the declining Japanese workforce, suggesting that in the future, companies may headquarter in Japan while manufacturing in China. Perhaps the most interesting comment of the panel was given by Mr. Sean King (Park Strategies, LLC,) who operates at the juncture of government and business. He speculated that China's reluctance to allow North Korea to fall is not due the fear of North Korean refugees flooding China. Rather, should North and South Korea combine, China would not like having a US ally (the combined Koreas) on its border.
The conference began early Saturday morning with an opening keynote speech from Mr. Richard Li (Chairman, PCCW Limited; best known for building STAR TV, Asia's first satellite-delivered cable TV service.) In the true spirit of today's global business environment, Mr. Li gave his remarks via videoconference from his home in Hong Kong. He spoke about positive changes in China, while calling for more transparency and consistency from the Chinese central government.
The rest of the day was filled with three break-out sessions as well as three more keynote addresses. Mr. Brian Pomper (Chief International Trade Counsel, U.S. Senate Finance Committee,) Mr. Matthew Forney (Former Bureau Chief, Time Magazine, Inc,) and Mr. Robert Kinsella (President, Kinsella Group) spoke during each of the keynote speeches.
One major topic of discussion was China's dominance of low priced manufacturing facilities. This has forced South Korea and Japan to adopt new strategies in order to attract investment. Mr. Eddie Kim (Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency) voiced South Korea's strategy to move up the value chain and transform South Korea from a 40% manufacturing export economy to a technological and financial services economy. In addition, Mr. Takashi Tsuchiya (Japan External Trade Organization) acknowledged the declining Japanese workforce, suggesting that in the future, companies may headquarter in Japan while manufacturing in China. Perhaps the most interesting comment of the panel was given by Mr. Sean King (Park Strategies, LLC,) who operates at the juncture of government and business. He speculated that China's reluctance to allow North Korea to fall is not due the fear of North Korean refugees flooding China. Rather, should North and South Korea combine, China would not like having a US ally (the combined Koreas) on its border.
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