At Summer’s End, Back to Business

Beautiful beach in Hong Kong

We had a break over summer at Asia Insight Circle. And as a business that delivers face-to-face thought leadership events, we also had an extended break during Covid. The waves of pandemic took great chunks out of many businesses. Ours was one.

Our bespoke, in-person gatherings of CEOs weren’t as effective online. After several virtual sessions we paused programming. Zoom was wonderful until it wasn’t. June 2020 was the last in-person event – but what an event! Some 40+ gathered for “Banking Disrupted: Virtual Banks.”

We look forward later this week to announcing new events from September 2023 onwards.

Deeper Introductions Needed?

As we may have fallen out of touch, allow me to introduce Asia Insight Circle. Our C-suite members and guests meet monthly for networking, moderated dialogue, and insights from some of the most prominent leaders in business:

  • Gordon Orr, former Chairman of McKinsey Asia, provided advice for getting on boards and how to manage numerous positions. He serves as a non-executive director on the boards of Lenovo, Swire, Meituan, and more;
  • Tech influencers Robert Scoble and Marsha Collier predicted the Coronavirus growth boom for Zoom and Dropbox in their “Coronavirus Tech” talk as we all pivoted to virtual;
  • Vincent Lo, Chairman of Shui On Group, provided the inaugural talk in July 2013 on the changes expected with Xi Jinping’s appointment in November 2012.

Rich Heritage

Asia Insight Circle was founded in 2013 by Robyn Meredith, former editor for Forbes Asia. Many founding members were interviewed for her best-selling book “The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What it Means for All of Us.” The network thrived under her curation and regularly featured top-level leaders and newsmakers, from Swire to GE, Columbia University to Occupy Central.

In 2015, the late, great Sam Moon provided an introduction to Robyn, as a new role precluded her continued involvement in the business. Sam had led events and CEO networks for BusinessWeek among others. Santo Rizzuto and I were humbled and motivated to lead Asia Insight Circle. 

We look forward to re-engaging you all with new content, new events, and new insights. We host our next event in September and will post separately on that event.

What will never change is our commitment to smart events with real dialogue and expertise. These aren’t large-scale events. We select the experts and curate the audiences. We pay bespoke attention to detail, offer engaging dialogue, and timely insights.

Most importantly, Asia Insight Circle offers a fantastic peer group. It’s great to meet again and again with fellow CEOs so we all better understand the challenges and opportunities that come with the role.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Warm Regards,

Walter Jennings
CEO & Director, Asia Insight Circle

Vincent Rajiv Louis: How can NGOs align their aims with the goals of funders and investors?

Rajiv Louis: Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must align their agendas with the goals of donors and investors. Neither donors nor investors want to sponsor initiatives that fail to meet their goals. This implies that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must align their conservation agendas with the goals of donors and investors. Horses for courses, as they say. Many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) do this by framing their work in economic terms, however, this approach raises issues about the NGO’s motive and whether it is utilizing good research to achieve its aims or has an agenda that is not necessarily conservation-focused. Donors and investors must thus consider how much they trust the NGO to deliver on its promises. 

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Camera-ready for friendships bonding with Rwanda kids 
 

Vincent Rajiv Louis discusses the growing significance of technology in conservation initiatives in the Asia Pacific.

Mr. Rajiv Louis: Conservation initiatives are being transformed by machine intelligence and big data. Machine learning and big data are increasingly being used to help some very essential projects. Conservationists may use cloud computing services to store enormous volumes of data and communicate information in real-time. These technologies can also help conservationists achieve more with less. Cloud-based solutions can provide conservationists with real-time data on what’s going on in crucial habitats throughout the world. Data collected by researchers are frequently stored in many locations throughout the world. Scientists can acquire a better grasp of the flora and wildlife by connecting them and using that information to enhance their conservation efforts. 

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The magnificence of biodiversity 

The challenges of conservation in the developing world are greatly underestimate by Rajiv Louis

As more emphasis is focused on carbon markets we’ve lately observed a rise in the number of players discussing the carbon market – people who previously had little interest in conservation or the environment. This generation has a tendency to significantly underestimate how difficult and time-consuming it is to conserve forests and establish a serious carbon sequestration enterprise.

For a long time, serious individuals have been working to conserve forests and enhance biodiversity with the communities that work alongside them. These are the initiatives on which we are concentrating our efforts and with which we set out to collaborate in order to strengthen indigenous communities’ capabilities.

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Vincent Rajiv Louis of Carbon Growth Partners and Keelback Consulting talks about how people underestimate the challenges of conservation and the dedication required to forest protection in the developing world.
Working in the wild can be fun

Vincent Rajiv Louis on trends and developments in sustainable investment in Asia Pacific post pandemic.

In Rajiv Louis’s opinion, the impacts of COVID-19 are here to stay. If there is one silver lining in all of this epidemic, it is that the world’s attention has been drawn to the horrifying risks of human-animal conflict and the looming danger of zoonotic diseases. The public debate is centered around the essential concerns of sustainable development, climate action, and conservation.

The accelerating growth of corporations and the ESG side (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) that start to cautiously monitor their carbon footprints is unprecedented. Local governments and corporations have nearly doubled their Net Zero pledges in less than a year, as many prioritize climate change mitigation in the post-COVID-19 world. The Data-Driven EnviroLab and the NewClimate Institute published a report that highlights the massive increase in pledges, citing “a nine-fold increase for regions, with an additional 101 in 2020 from 11 in 2019.

Rajiv plants a tree as a symbol of Carbon Growth Partners’ missions and goals

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