FCC: Asia’s New Complexities: The Coming Challenges for Business

Speaker: Ben Simpfendorfer
Founder & Managing Director of Silk Road Associates

MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014
12:45PM – LUNCH
1:15PM – ADDRESS
1ST FLOOR

Ben Simpfendorfer will share insights from his new book, The Rise of The New East, the result of interviews conducted with a range of business leaders in Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, Jakarta, Mumbai, Lahore, and Cairo, among other cities. He argues that simple bullish or bearish views of the region’s growth prospects overlook the growing complexity of fast-changing business models, the rise of regional MNCs, and the spread of demand into smaller cities.

He will explore such issues as how the rise of e-commerce and digital media has leveled the playing field between MNCs and local firms; why foreign film studios have succeeded in China but struggled in India; how supplying Asia’s consumers is creating new stresses on the region’s supply-chains; and why retailers still choose to source from politically unstable Egypt as costs in China rise.

Simpfendorfer is Founder & Managing Director of Silk Road Associates. He is author of “The Rise of The New East” (Palgrave, 2014) and “The New Silk Road” (Palgrave, 2009). Simpfendorfer is the former chief China Economist for RBS and senior China Economist for JPMorgan. He has lived in Asia and the Middle East for the past 20 years and is a Mandarin and Arabic speaker.

$150 (MEMBERS) $250 (GUESTS)

Please reserve with the FCC concierge at (tel) 2521 1511, (fax) 2868 4092
or (email) [email protected]

IMPORTANT

Confirmation will be sent to you once your booking is accepted. If you do not receive a confirmation within two working days, please contact our Concierge.
Please indicate your preference of dishes (fish, chicken, vegetable or vegan) when placing the booking.
Guests who arrive after 1:10pm will be served lunch only after the event ends.
No cancellations will be accepted after noon on Wednesday, October 15
Menu
American Vegetable Soup
***
Pan-roasted Supreme of Chicken
with Light Tarragon Sauce
Pimentos Rice and Asian Vegetables
OR
Seared Sea Bass with Light Mustard Sauce
Pimentos Rice and Asian Vegetables
***
Coffee or Tea
Petit Fours

Vegetarian Menu
American Vegetable Soup
***
Charred Fresh Vegetables with Olive Oil
Tomato Capers Salsa
***
Coffee or Tea
Petit Fours