Onward HK Part 9: Regional Cooperation and Opportunities for Hong Kong [In-Person]

Event Details

While advanced economies put more emphasis on national security consideration in formulating trade policy, Hong Kong follows a free trade policy without any non-tariff barriers. Moreover, Hong Kong sits at the hub of many significant economies: The Greater Bay Area, Belt and Road and the Indo-Pacific.

What do these economies have in common? As reopening is in full swing, how can Hong Kong capture the fresh opportunities presented in these regional economies? What is the competitive edge of Hong Kong and what role does the city play? What role can Hong Kong play in supporting the growth of green Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure projects?

This panel invites experts to dissect these economic regions and explore the business prospect for Hong Kong.

The panel discussion will be followed by a networking session; special thanks to Azure Risk for sponsoring food & beverages.

Remarks:

Closed to the media

Agenda

May 17, 2023

Main Schedule

4:15 PM - 4:30 PM

Registration and Networking

4:30 PM - 4:35 PM

Welcome Remarks

4:35 PM - 5:45 PM

Panel Discussion

5:45 PM - 6:00 PM

End of event

Speakers

David Lyle Butts

Vice Chairman at AmCham Hong Kong (Moderator)

Isara Vongkusolkit

Honorary Chairman at Mitr Phol Group, Thailand

Khalil Manaf Hegarty

Senior Policy Advisor at American Association of the Indo-Pacific

Twinky Chai

Managing Director for Hong Kong, Macau & Taiwan of OTIS Elevator Company

Irina Fan

Director of Research at HKTDC

Witman Hung

Director of Greater Bay Area Research Center at China Silk Road iValley Research Institute

(Moderator)

David Butts is President Asia Pacific & Group Executive Vice President of the multinational, Hong Kong listed Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd, the fastest-growing and largest cordless battery powered tool and equipment business with a world-class portfolio of brands such as Milwaukee, Ryobi, Hart, and Hoover.

In his role, David reports directly to the CEO and oversees several commercial business units and Corporate functional areas. His global experience covers business development, sales and marketing, product development and engineering, and general management. He has held a progression of leadership roles working for TTI, Emerson Electric and Bosch across geographies of North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. He is a board member of a joint venture between TTI and a large German multinational. He regularly attends the TTI main Board Meetings, sits on several operating Boards for TTI and leads the Corporate Communications which regularly interfaces with the Board and Investor Relations.

As a long serving member of the American Chamber in Hong Kong, David regularly participates with the Innovation and Technology Committee. He is a graduate of Georgetown University earning a Master of Business Administration, concentrating on International Business. Prior to attending Georgetown, he earned a Master of Engineering and Bachelor of Engineering in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering at Cornell University.

Mr. Isara Vongkusolkit is the Honorary Chairman of Mitr Phol Group (the world class sugar producers and steps into the international marketplace including investment in China, ASEAN and Australia). He was the President of Mitr Phol Group in 1989, then has become the Chairman of the Group in 2008-2020.

Mr. Vongkusolkit has served as Chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce during 2013-2016. After March 2017, he becomes Senior Chairman and presently Honorary Chairman. During his role, he oversaw projects to increase Thailand’s trade potential in competitive markets, as well as to decrease economic disparity in Thai society, SMEs’ Competitiveness Enhancement and nationwide policy to start & support young generation of chambers of commerce: YEC, Young Entrepreneur Chamber of Commerce. A well-known public figure, Mr. Vongkusolkit comes with a wealth of experience and management capabilities.

Mr. Vongkusolkit is the Chairman of National Economic Reform Committee, the Member of the Higher Education Commission, the Chairman of Sub-committee on
Graduate Building and Development, the Member of the Partnership School Initiative’s Innovation Development Committee. He was a member of National Legislative Assembly during 2015-2019, also the Head of Private Sectors in the Public-Private Collaborative Committees (12 working groups).

Mr. Vongkusolkit was awarded as “Person of The Year” from the Right Livelihood Foundation in 2010 and the Masterclass Entrepreneur of the Year 2011, the Global Leadership Awards by the Leaders International Magazine of Malaysia and the Order of Friendship from Lao People’s Democratic Republic in 2016. In November 2017, he received the Lifetime Achievement Awards from Global View Leader Forum (Taiwan). In September 2018, he won “the Friendship Award” from State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs of The People’s Republic of China, the highest yearly award for 50 foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country's economic and social progress. On 9 April 2019 he was awarded “Golden Silkball Friendship Award” the highest award of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Government given to foreign experts who create outstanding works in economics, science, education, culture and hygiene in Guangxi, the People’s Republic of China. In 2020, the royal decoration of Knight Grand Cross (First Class) of the Most Exalted Order of White Elephant of Thailand was royally granted to him. On 29 June 2020 the Secretariat of the Teachers Council of Thailand, Ministry of Education, has honored him as a person that has made a great contribution to national education for the year 2020. Latest on 9 December 2021 the Government of Italy bestowed upon him the decoration of Commander of the Order of the Star of Italy.

Mr. Vongkusolkit graduated with bachelor degree in Management from North Carolina University, at Greensboro, U.S.A. Married with 4 children, Mr. Vongkusolkit’s hobby is playing golf and motorcycle touring. Mitr Phol Group operates 7 sugar mills in Thailand, 11 Bio-Power Plants, 5 Ethanol Plants, 6 sugar mills in China with 3 Bio-Power Plants and 1 Fertilizer Plant, 4 sugar mills in Australia, 3 sugar mills in Indonesia and 1 sugar mill in Lao PDR.

Khalil Manaf Hegarty is an expert in trade policy focusing on Southeast Asia and specializing in trade and sustainability. He has extensive experience and networks across Indonesia and Malaysia.

Khalil has more than 15 years of experience consulting for businesses and governments in Southeast Asia and East Asia, focusing on the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

He has worked as an advisor on trade policy and certification to the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. He provides ongoing policy advice to governments and the private sector in Southeast Asia, covering agriculture, manufactured goods, services, and investment.

He has managed trade policy research and advocacy programs for a broad range of companies and industry bodies in the Indo-Pacific region. These include social and economic impact assessments for major agricultural and industrial developments, conformity assessments for certification systems, and broad stakeholder consultation processes. He has represented civil society organizations at multilateral meetings, including the UNFCCC, FAO, and UNCSD.

His opinion pieces have been published across Southeast Asia in the Jakarta Post, The Star (KL), and Bangkok Post, and he is regularly quoted in media in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Khalil was a director at ITS Global and Article Three, two of Australia’s leading trade policy advisories. Prior to that, he was a journalist and editor at News Ltd and a researcher at Monash University.

As the Managing Director for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, she provides leadership and has overall general management responsibility for these three regions. Twinky provides strategic direction and operational guidance to ensure that Otis grows the business in all lines of business. With her team, Twinky will drive our service transformation efforts and continue to focus on becoming/sustaining the best customer-centric organization. Twinky will ensure that Otis maintains a fatality-free culture and create high employee engagement rooted in our values of ethics, controls and compliance.

Twinky started at Otis in 2007 as an intern, and following graduation from Purdue with her MBA in 2008, she joined Otis in the regional general management leadership program (GMLP). She was the Director/Regional General Manager for Northern California before joining Hong Kong as the Managing Director. Before joining Otis, Twinky was an account manager at Tyee Products North America and a senior case manager at Liberty Mutual Insurance.

Twinky holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Irvine and a master’s degree in operations & strategy from Purdue University.

Ms Irina Fan joined the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) as the Director of Research in January 2022, leading the Council's Research Department to conduct a wide range of surveys, research studies, and analysis on key trends that affect the global trade and economic environment and identifying business opportunities for Hong Kong companies in the Mainland China and international markets. Irina has over 25 years of research experience with extensive exposure to Mainland China, the Asia Pacific region and international markets. Prior to joining HKTDC, she held senior positions in the financial services and banking sector, including Head of Insurance Market Analysis at Swiss Re based in Zurich and Senior Economist at Hang Seng Bank. She started her career as an HKTDC economist, overseeing services-related research projects. Irina graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a Master of Economics degree.

Witman is currently the Director of Greater Bay Area Research Center of China Silk Road iValley Research Institute. He is the Executive Chairman of Chinese Big Data Society, Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Industry University Research Collaboration Association and the Monte Jade Science and Technology Association of Hong Kong.

A seasoned IT professional and angel investor, Witman served as the Principal Liaison Officer for Hong Kong of the Shenzhen Qianhai Authority for 9 years from 2014-2023. He also served one term as a Hong Kong’s deputy to the 13th National People’s Congress. He had also served in various leading positions in NGO’s including the Hong Kong Road Safety Association, the Y.Elites Association and the Internet Professional Association. He is currently an adjunct professor of College of Business, City University Hong Kong and Belt & Road Research Institute, Hainan University.
Witman was selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Hong Kong in 2008 and he was given the Asia Social Innovation Leadership Award by CMO Asia in 2016. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace by the HKSAR government in 2015.

Sponsors and Partners

Member (In-person)

Member PriceHKD 350

Non-member (In-person)

Public PriceHKD 500

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations must be provided in writing to: amchamevent@amcham.org.hk at least seven working days prior to in-house events.
Registrations for events held outside the AmCham HK office are non-cancellable and non-refundable. No-shows will be charged.
When Typhoon 8 (or above) or Black Rainstorm Signal is hoisted, all events will be canceled

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Onward HK Part 9: Regional Cooperation and Opportunities for Hong Kong [In-Person]

Event Details