[In Person] The Build Back Better Initiative and Implications for Business

Details

The Indo-Pacific Business Forum, now in its fourth year, promotes trade, investment, and economic cooperation between the United States and its partners throughout the Indo-Pacific region. This year's Forum (October 28-29 ) will highlight opportunities for US companies and their Indo-Pacific partners to play a leading role in shaping the region's economic development.

This includes major US-led Indo-Pacific Strategy initiatives related to economic recovery and resilience, climate action, and digital innovation. The G7's Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative, a values-driven, high-standard, and transparent infrastructure partnership to help meet the $40+ trillion infrastructure needs of developing countries, will also create opportunities for the private sector in Asia and beyond.

Please join AmCham and the US Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau for a discussion on what B3W means for American companies in Hong Kong, what to expect from this year's Indo-Pacific Business Forum, and the region's infrastructure needs.

Key topics to be discussed

- Insights on the Biden Administration's vision for infrastructure development in the region

- A case study on telecommunication project in Myanmar by the Development Finance Corporation

- Latest infrastructure development trends in the Indo-Pacific

IMPORTANT : Revised Guest Policy Effective June 1, 2021

From June 1, all guests who are over 16 years old will be required to complete the American Club guest declaration form and show proof of vaccination (at least the first jab), for access to the Club. The Club will be using the Hong Kong Government's scanner to verify the QR code on the guest's vaccine certificate (digital record retrieved from the"iAM Smart" app or the physical certificate).

If guests have medical exemptions the American Club will require proof via an official government form issued by the guest's doctor. In addition to the "medically not suitable for COVID-19 vaccination" exemption, The American Club will also require a negative COVID-19 PCR test, taken within 72 hours of the guest's Club visit.
All guests must use the Leave Home Safe App upon entry.

Agenda

October 6, 2021

Main Schedule

8:00 AM - 8:10 AM

Registration & Networking

8:10 AM - 8:30 AM

Breakfast is served

8:30 AM - 8:35 AM

Welcome Remarks

Jessica Bartlett (Moderator) (Chairwoman at AmCham Hong Kong)

8:35 AM - 8:40 AM

Remarks

Hanscom Smith (Consul General at US Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau)

8:40 AM - 9:00 AM

Each panelist to give his introductory remarks

Simon Booker (Infrastructure Leader – Hong Kong at PwC China and Hong Kong)

Geoffrey Tan (Managing Director, Asia Pacific of US International Development Finance Corporation)

Thura Ko Ko (Founding Partner at YGA Capital)

9:00 AM - 9:20 AM

Panel discussion

9:20 AM - 9:30 AM

Audience Q&A

Speakers

Hanscom Smith

Consul General at US Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau

Patrick Kirwan

Director, Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee Office of the Undersecretary at US Department of Commerce

Simon Booker

Infrastructure Leader – Hong Kong at PwC China and Hong Kong

Geoffrey Tan

Managing Director, Asia Pacific of US International Development Finance Corporation

Jessica Bartlett (Moderator)

Chairwoman at AmCham Hong Kong

Thura Ko Ko

Founding Partner at YGA Capital

Mr. Smith is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, most recently acting as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for China affairs.

Mr. Smith previously served as Consul General in Shanghai and as Director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs at the Department of State. He has also served at the United States embassies in Yaounde, Copenhagen, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Kabul, and Beijing. In addition, Mr. Smith worked in the Office of Japanese Affairs at the Department of State, and was team leader at the United States Provincial Reconstruction Team in Muthanna Province, Iraq. He has also worked at the American Institute in Taiwan.

Mr. Smith holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, master’s degrees from the London School of Economics and Princeton University, and a certificate in political studies from Sciences Po in Paris. In addition, he was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow in Japan. His foreign languages are Mandarin Chinese, French, Danish, and Khmer. A native of Maine, Mr. Smith is married to Ying-tsung Lu.

Mr. Kirwan is the Director of the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee Secretariat. In this capacity, he coordinates a network of 20 government agencies chaired by the Secretary of Commerce to develop and implement the National Export Strategy (a national government-wide strategy to improve federal trade promotion and finance programs to increase U.S. exports). He has focused specifically on improving the competitiveness of agency trade promotion programs, developing commercial strategies for key markets such as China and India, and improving federal/state cooperation on export promotion. Mr. Kirwan is focusing on interagency efforts related to Doing Business in Africa, infrastructure, improving customer service, and supplying actionable information to U.S. companies.

Over the last three years, Mr. Kirwan has also held two senior level positions. First, he was Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Domestic Operations within the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service, where he oversaw the operations of the 105 export assistance offices of the Department of Commerce located around the country. Second, he was Acting Director of Trade Promotion Programs where he was in charge of the Federal Government’s three main trade promotion programs- trade missions, domestic trade shows, and the overseas trade shows.

Prior to assuming his current duties, Mr. Kirwan spent two years in the White House at the Domestic Policy Council working on a variety of trade-related issues. As part of the Executive Office of the President, Mr. Kirwan participated in the development of a number of long-term strategic trade initiatives in areas such as electronic commerce, export controls, international standards setting, trade finance, and China and Asia policy.

Simon Booker is a Partner in PwC’s Infrastructure practice. He specialises in Infrastructure finance and procurement. He has a particular sector focus on commercial real estate, transport, healthcare and social infrastructure and the regulated utility sectors including energy and water. His clients include infrastructure investors and Government bodies alike.

Simon has advised on landmark infrastructure projects, including the Hong Kong Macau Zhuhai Bridge, Hong Kong International Airport, the new Beijing International Airport, Chinese toll roads, and Hong Kong Disneyland. He led the procurement of the West Kowloon Cultural District Public Private Partnerships (PPP’s), and the development of the Hong Kong Airport North Commercial District. He has supported investors in their acquisition of infrastructure assets throughout China and the wider Asia Pacific region and specializes in providing insight into the regulatory and project risks surrounding the development and operation of infrastructure assets. More generally he has advised on infrastructure projects in Europe, India, Africa, the Middle East and North America.

Prior to joining PwC, Simon worked as a Government official for the UK Government, advising on major infrastructure projects including London Heathrow Terminal 5, the National Air Traffic Services PPP, and the development of CrossRail and High Speed 2.

Geoffrey Tan is a Managing Director at U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). As DFC’s representative based in Singapore, he is responsible
for business development in Malaysia, Mongolia, the Pacific and the Philippines as well as overall coordination across DFC’s Bangkok, Jakarta and Mumbai offices. Mr. Tan has worked in emerging markets investment financing for over 20 years. Since
joining Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) – now DFC - in 2003, he has worked primarily on power, renewable energy and infrastructure projects, but has also diversified into financial institutions transactions. These have been across
Latin America, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. Prior to OPIC Mr. Tan worked for the Chase Manhattan Bank (now JPMorgan Chase) in New York, Singapore and Hong Kong focusing on project and structured finance,
and for Emerging Markets Partnership in Singapore focusing on private equity infrastructure investments. Mr. Tan is a graduate of Cornell University and the University of Virginia, and attended Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium.

Jessica Bartlett is the Director of Financial Crime Legal – APAC at Barclays and is based in Hong Kong. Jessica advises compliance and legal teams and the business lines across the APAC region on financial crime issues including economic sanctions, export controls, anti-money laundering, fraud, and anti-corruption. Jessica joined Barclays at the beginning of 2018, and previously was a senior associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer based in Hong Kong for three years and focused on providing advice on financial crime issues arising in internal and regulatory investigations, transaction due diligence, contract negotiations and Hong Kong High Court litigation.

Before relocating to Hong Kong in early 2015, Jessica was an associate at Freshfields and Shearman & Sterling based in New York City. Prior to joining private practice, Jessica clerked for the Honorable Sidney H. Stein, District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Jessica graduated summa cum laude with a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois. She also holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Brandeis University, and Bachelors of Arts degrees in Art History and Political Science from Southern Methodist University. Jessica is Chairwoman for the American Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong.

U Thura Ko Ko is the founding partner of YGA Capital, a Myanmar-registered advisory company focused on identifying and investing in attractive growth opportunities in Myanmar
for global and regional PE funds.

Prior to returning to Myanmar in 2010, U Thura worked for over 12 years in global investment banking and private equity firms covering Asia out of Hong Kong. He was most recently a Vice
President at Providence Equity, the global telecom and media fund. Prior to this, he worked for Goldman Sachs, the global investment bank, and N.M. Rothschild, the U.K.-based
privatization and M&A house.

Transactions completed included the privatization of Philippines national electricity grid, Transco, and advising on foreign direct investments into Vietnam’s water distribution and treatment plants.

In Myanmar, he is currently a member of the board of directors for Apollo Towers Myanmar Limited, a telecom tower operator with over 1,800 towers installed. Until end of 2017, he was also a member of the board of Myanmar Distillery Company Limited, a leading local beverage company. He is a Senior Advisor to TPG, a global private equity house and is also an advisor to CDC, the development agency of the U.K. Government. He is also a board
member of the Myanmar Institute of Directors.

U Thura holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics, University of London and was elected as a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum in 2013.

Sponsors and Partners

Members & Guests

Standard PriceHKD 350

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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[In Person] The Build Back Better Initiative and Implications for Business

Details