For the first time ever, Business China had transient geographical restrictions to successfully present in Shanghai, China, the inaugural Future China Business Forum 2012, together with Shanghai-Singapore Business Association – Singapore Club Shanghai (SSBA-SCS). The Forum, themed “Riding The Dragon During Uncertain Times – Opportunities and Risks” was held to an enthusiastic turnout of more than 180 business leaders and professionals on 18 September, from 8.30am to 12.30pm at Millennium Hongqiao Hotel, Shanghai.
We were honoured to have Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Business China’s Adviser, helm this forum as the keynote speaker. He was joined by three other speakers, namely Mr Ji Qi, Founder & Chairman of China Lodging Group, Co-founder of Ctrip.com and Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc., Mr Edward Yu, Chairman & CEO of Analysys International and Ms Rachel Eng, Managing Partner of WongPartnership LLP. Joining the speakers as a panellist during the Q & A session was Mr Ding Wei, Head for China & Senior Managing Director of Temasek China International Pte Ltd, PRC, to address the audience’s varying concerns.
In his keynote speech, Minister Lim elaborated on Singapore-China bilateral relations, Singapore’s advantageous role and opportunities in China’s four key areas of growth, namely urbanisation, internationalisation, popularisation of the internet and ascension up the value chain. Concluding his speech, he said,“We hope to capture the new needs through the development of new capabilities, new products and provide better services. On the whole, China and Singapore are two very different countries. Although we are different, over the years, we have both achieved significantly. China is a “rare” (难得的) country, Singapore is also a “rare” (难得的) country. I believed that in future, we will have many opportunities to help each other.”
At the mostly Singaporean forum, the delegates were also interested to find out the speakers’ and economic expert’s views about the opportunities and challenges of the internet economy, challenges of further powering Singapore’s economy while balancing concerns of citizens, as well as work-life balance of working in a foreign land.
In closing the Forum, Ms Low Yen Ling, Business China’s CEO, commended the voluntary spirit of SSBA-SCS and their tireless commitment to make this event a resounding success.
This inaugural Future China Business Forum 2012 was organised in conjunction with Business China’s 5th anniversary celebration, in a bid to harness and integrate cross boundary networks and partnerships forged over the years. With this forum, we looked forward to sharing the collective wisdom of our partners with the wider business community. Accompanying Minister Lim was Business China Chairman Mr Chua Thian Poh, and one of the member from the Board of Directors, Mr Ch’ng Jit Koon.