Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Asia House and Singapore-based Business China are convening government ministers and senior business figures for a timely webinar exploring China’s role in ASEAN’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore, will be joined by His Excellency Cesar Purisima, Former Secretary of Finance, Republic of the Philippines, and Mukhtar Hussain, Group General Manager, Head of Belt and Road Initiative and Business Corridors, HSBC, to discuss the region’s rapidly changing economic and geopolitical landscape.
With highly open economies often dependent on travel and tourism, COVID-19 is hitting Southeast Asia hard. The Asian Development Bank (ADB), which in December forecasted Southeast Asia to grow by 4.7 per cent, has in April revised this downwards to 1.0 per cent. All signs point to the economic impact of COVID-19 on Southeast Asia to be on par or even greater than the fallout from the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis – a downturn with economic and political implications that continue to play out today.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and ADB nonetheless see COVID-19 to be a relatively short-term shock for the region and project a strong rebound for Southeast Asia in 2021. The IMF has suggested that much depends on the economic recovery of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s key trading partners. As its largest trading partner, third largest investor and a major driver of travel and tourism in the region, China’s role in ASEAN’s post COVID-19 recovery is one to watch. At the same time, ASEAN economies are also positioning themselves to leverage new opportunities created by businesses seeking to diversify supply chains away from China – signifying a broader structural shift for the global economy. All of this takes place against the backdrop of growing tensions between China and the US, with growing concerns among ASEAN countries that they have to choose sides.
In this webinar, co-produced with Business China, Asia House will convene a panel of high-level experts to discuss the role of China in ASEAN’s economic recovery following the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic and political implications that leaders in the region will need to contend with.
This event is the third in a new series of webinars launched by Business China, titled FC Global Business Series, which focuses on sharing the latest trends and insights concerning China, ASEAN and the world.
SPEAKERS
Dr Koh Poh Koon
Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry
Dr Koh Poh Koon was elected as a Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC on 11 September 2015. He is currently Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Trade and Industry and assumed the role of Deputy Secretary-General at the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) on 23 April 2018. As Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Dr Koh focuses on research and development and Entrepreneurship matters, and is the patron of the Action Community for Entrepreneurship.
His Excellency Cesar Purisima
Former Secretary of Finance, Republic of the Philippines
His Excellency Cesar Purisima is an Asia Fellow of Milken Institute, a global non-profit, non-partisan think tank. He is a founding partner at IKHLAS Capital, a pan-ASEAN private equity platform. From 2010 to 2016, H.E. Purisima was the Secretary of Finance of the Philippines and the Chair of Economic Development Cluster of the President’s Cabinet.
Mukhtar Hussain
Group General Manager, Head of Belt and Road Initiative and Business Corridors, HSBC
Mukhtar Hussain is a Group General Manager of HSBC based in Hong Kong. He is responsible for two of HSBC’s most important strategic growth initiatives namely the Belt and Road initiative and Business Corridors in Asia. In this role, he is responsible for driving dialogue with key clients and counterparts for HSBC Group. He reports directly to Peter Wong, Deputy Chairman and CEO of HSBC in Asia.
Xinquan Tu
Dean and Professor of the China Institute for WTO Studies of University of International Business and Economics, Beijing
Xinquan Tu is an academic and commentator whose research and teaching focuses on Chinese trade policy, the WTO, government procurement, US trade policy, and US-China trade relations. He received his PhD in international trade from the University of International Business and Economics in 2004. He authored ‘China’s position, role and strategy in the WTO‘ (published by The Press of UIBE) in 2005, and has published a number of papers and chapters in books.
This Asia House event is co-produced with Business China 
