One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative will transform the level of connectivity, cooperation and trade between a band of nations stretching from China, across Asia, and into Europe and Africa. HKUST Business School researchers join hands with industry experts and practitioners to organize a series of talk on One Belt One Road, to discuss what the initiative means to the business world, especially in the up-and-coming markets on the Maritime Silk Road.

The day of RMB and Indonesia under the OBOR Initiative

In this talk, Mr Ben Chan, Head of RMB Solutions of United Overseas Bank (UOB), will give a presentation on a Business Enabler: Renminbi (RMB). Ben has extensive experience in the banking industry and he is spearheading the RMB business for the UOB Group globally. Mr David Chao, Head of Foreign Direct Investment Advisory Unit at UOB Hong Kong, will talk about a business case study of Indonesia. The presentations will follow by a panel discussion with speakers including representative of Consulate General of Indonesia in Hong Kong, and Professor Edwin Lai, Professor of Economics of the HKUST Business School, whose research areas including international trade and economies of East Asia and China.

Speaker Profile

Ben Chan is Head of RMB Solutions of UOB, overseaing the RMB business for the Group gloablly. Prior to joining UOB, he had 16 years of experiences in the Banking industry in Commercial Banking, Retail Banking, Trade Finance and Strategy for Hong Kong and Asia Pacific. He was previously Deputy Chairman of the RMB Committee of Hong Kong Association of Banks. He had also worked for Egon Zehnder, a leading global consultancy in senior executive searches and leadership advisory, as Co-Head of its Greater China Banking Practice. Ben obtained his MBA (with distinctions) from INSEAD, both in France and Singapore. He is currently a Board Member of the INSEAD Alumni Association of Hong Kong.

David Chao is Head of Foreign Direct Investment Advisory Unit at UOB Hong Kong. The Unit was newly set up in Hong Kong in 2013 to facilitate the bank's clients with their trade and investment flows between Greater China and Southeast Asia countries. Prior to working in Hong Kong, David worked in several Asia Pacific countries building strong business and governmental networks through providing advisory services to facilitate investments between China and Southeast Asia. David is a Congress-Bundestag Scholar and received a BA cum laude degree in International Political Economy from Cornell University where he was a Meinig Family National Scholar.

Edwin Lai is Professor of Economics and Associate Director of the Center for Economic Development at the HKUST since July 2009. He was Senior Research Economist and Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from August 2007 to June 2009. Before that he was Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University, Associate Professor at City University of Hong Kong and Associate Professor at Singapore Management University. His main research areas are international trade, industrial organization,technological change and growth. Edwin is a leading scholar in the study of intellectual property rights in the global economy. He is also interested in studying the economies of East Asia and China.

Event Partner