FCC club lunch with Ben SIMPFENDORFER

Speaker: Ben SIMPFENDORFER
Chief China Economist
Royal Bank of Scotland

Topic: The New Silk Road: how a rising Arab World is turning away from the West and rediscovering China

Ben SIMPFENDORFER will discuss the rise of the Arab world and its strengthening relations with China. He has spent the past three years conducting research in such cities as Beijing, Cairo, and Riyadh for his book “The New Silk Road”. He will examine the rapid growth in trade and investment links, explore the importance of oil and Islam, and speak about the rise of the Silk Road’s sovereign wealth funds.

Ben SIMPFENDORFER is Chief China Economist for the Royal Bank of Scotland based in Hong Kong. He has lived in Beirut, Damascus, Beijing, and Hong Kong. He appears regularly on Bloomberg and CNBC and is quoted in such publications as the Financial Times and The New York Times. SIMPFENDORFER speaks Arabic and Chinese and has spent fifteen years reading local newspapers, speaking with everyday people on the streets of cities from Cairo to Shanghai, and assessing economic data from the two regions.