AmCham HK's Podcast

Regent HK reopened its door in November 2023 after a 22 year of hiatus. We sat down with Michel Chertouh, Managing Director of Regent HK on the motivations behind reviving Regent HK and its positioning in a new era. 

We caught up with female founder Fioni Fong on her food tech startup business journey and her company's aspiration toward reducing food waste.   Background music by fiftysounds

In June, AmCham's China Business Committee Co-Chair, Matthew Hosford, joined a high-level delegation to Henan and Shaanxi organized by The Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in HKSAR. We sat down with him to hear his key takeaways and the business opportunities on the ground.  Background music by fiftysounds

The young generation is the key to the future development of Hong Kong. Yet, many young people feel anxious about their future. Jason Yip, CEO of MWYO, a Hong Kong youth development think tank, shared his observation and advice to the youth: be open-minded and be patient.  Background music by fiftysounds

Companies are shifting to cloud as part of a broader IT modernization journey. Yet, the complexity of designing, deploying and managing enterprise cloud can be daunting. How can companies navigate these challenges and maximize value creation? Vincent Leung from Kyndryl shared how enterprises can fast track cloud transformation to realize their growth aspirations.  Background music by fiftysounds

Consumers have become more conscious of sustainable fashion in recent years. As a new generation of consumers take center stage reshaping the fashion industry, companies should adapt to this new environment. Jeanie Lau, Founder and CEO of ÀLA.HAUSSE shared the motivation behind establishing her start-up and the outlook of sustainable fashion.  Background music by fiftysounds

Former US Consul General to Hong Kong & Macau, Kurt Tong, who now serves as Managing Partner, The Asia Group, discussed President Biden's recent trip to Asia and the newly launched Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). An expert on the Indo-Pacific affairs, Kurt believes that the IPEF is a step in the right direction for the US to engage with allies in the region. The framework also provides the opportunity for both the public and private sectors to address supply chain issues in a collaborative manner. Background music by fiftysounds

As we continue to bring awareness of equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) issues to the workplace, we caught up with Rui Ma, Writer & Co-Host at Tech Buzz China, on ways in which individuals and organizations  can take to bridge the gender gap in tech. Rui has lived and worked in China and the US as a tech investor; she also shared her tips to anyone who wishes to venture into the tech industry. Background music by fiftysounds

Mr Joseph Armas, Managing Director, Otis, takes the helm as AmCham's 2022 Chairman. He shared with us some of the key priorities for the Chamber and vision for Hong Kong. Topics include his career in the US Army, AmCham's role in navigating through uncertainties, and the future of Hong Kong in the next 25 years. Background music by fiftysounds

On Jan 18, 2022, Colliers released a timely report on the Hong Kong property market outlook for 2022. We sat down with Rosanna Tang, Head of Research, Hong Kong SAR and GBA, Colliers to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities in the Hong Kong real estate market, and the future development of the Northern Metropolis.   Background music by fiftysounds

On the occasion of the 10th edition of Santa Fe Relocation's Global Mobility Survey, we caught up with John Rason, Group Head of Consulting, Santa Fe Relocation, on the evolution of the global mobility sector in the last decade and especially since COVID-19. His piece of advice: think like a business leader and act like a global mobility professional. 

 How has COVID-19 changed the way companies conduct business? What are the implications for multinational corporations in light of recent regulatory changes in China? And what is the outlook for Greater Bay Area development? We are delighted to get insights from Patrick Wu, Vice Chairman and Head of Valuation Advisory, Greater China, of Duff & Phelps, A Kroll Business on doing business in Hong Kong and China under the new normal and how businesses navigate amidst rising geopolitical tension. 

In the third episode of The Hong Kong Business Journey, Vivek Ramachandran, CEO of Serai, a B2B business network, discussed how digitization can help SMEs achieve supply chain transparency and sustainability.  background music by musikbrause.de 

American policy makers generally view China as a monolithic entity but often overlook the diversity and complexity of its society. In his new book, Cheng Li recommends a more nuanced approach through a prism of Shanghai middle class to reshape the US-China dialogue. Background music by fiftysounds 

AmCham Account Manager Jono Blackmore sat down with Thomas Huang, COO and Co-Founder of Happyer, a unique recruitment and talent development firm that provides deep insights into company culture and work life that are unattainable through traditional methods.  In this episode of AmCham's SME podcast series, Thomas shares his background and how he went on to start Happyer and the current recruitment environment in Hong Kong.background music by musikbrause.de 

AmCham President Tara Joseph sat down with Ben Simpfendorfer, Founder & CEO of Silk Road Associates, a geospatial analytics firm that provides unique insight to multinational companies on how and where to expand their business in the APAC region. In this inaugural AmCham's SME podcast series, Ben shared his business start-up journey and Hong Kong's business outlook.  

Control Risks, a consultancy company that specializes in global risks analysis, has recently rolled out the 2021 edition of the Risk Map. Steve Wilford, Partner for Asia Pacific, global risk analysis at the firm, shared his key takeaways and advice on how companies should respond.

On Jan 22, 2021, Jessica Bartlett, AmCham’s third female chairwoman, delivered her inaugural address. She laid out her key priorities for AmCham and offered her vision on the role of the international business community in shaping Hong Kong’s future.

On Nov 25, 2020, Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, delivered her fourth policy address, which aims to set out a new vision for Hong Kong. Will there be blue sky after the storm or a break in the clouds? Alicia Garcia Herrero, Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, shared her key takeaways from the 2020 policy address.

2020 is arguably the most tumultuous year in modern US history. What lessons we can glean from past crises? What kind of presidential leadership we need during turbulent times and how to move forward? Margaret O’Mara, history professor at the University of Washington and author of The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America, offers her assessment on presidential leadership from a historical perspective.

During the 1990s, Hong Kong was once considered ‘the goose that lays the golden egg.’ Since the rise of China, Hong Kong’s economic influence seems to have waned. Facing a triple whammy of Covid-19, social movement as well as an escalated US-China tension, can Hong Kong navigate through such turbulent times and come out stronger? Simon Cartledge, Founder at Big Brain, shared his insights on the outlook of Hong Kong.

How is the Chinese economy recovering from COVID-19? Can it bounce back more quickly compared with countries that are still in lockdown? We caught up with Michael Pettis, Professor of Management Practice, Guanghua School of Management at Peking University on the state of the Chinese economy and his latest book, co-authored with Matt Klein "Trade Wars are Class Wars: How Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace."

There has been a structural change between the Dragon and the Eagle. The COVID-19 global pandemic has recently added new complications to the world’s most important bilateral relationship. AmCham’s Margaret Loo caught up with Robert Daly, the Director of the Institute on China and the United States at the Woodrow Wilson Center to gain the on the ground insight of COVID-19 and implications for US-China Relations.

As the COVID-19 situation is drastically escalating in the US, the world’s largest economy is in free fall. The US government has employed both fiscal and monetary policy tools in unprecedented ways to save the economy. AmCham’s Margaret Loo spoke with David Wessel, Director of the Hutchins Center at Brookings on the economic impact of COVID-19.

AmCham’s Margaret Loo sat down with Professor Ezra Vogel, one of the most respective scholar on East Asia, to discuss the trilateral US-China-Japan relationships and the Greater Bay Area.

Two democratic frontrunners have prevailed after a consequential Super Tuesday. Who will be the likely Democratic presidential nominee to take on Donald Trump, the incumbent president, this November? We spoke with Steve Okun, who served in the Clinton administration from 1994-1999 on the results from Super Tuesday and what they mean for the remainder of the presidential race.

AmCham spoke with Owen Haacke, Chief Representative at the Shanghai office of the US-China Business Council, on the business impact of COVD-19 on American business on the ground and implications for US-China trade relations.

Deloitte China Chief Economist Sitao Xu recently came to AmCham. AmCham Board Member Ben Simpfendorfer caught up with him to discuss China’s economic outlook and its reform in the new decade.

AmCham’s Margaret Loo sat down with Craig Allen, President of the US-China Business Council, to discuss the pending US-China trade deal, the subsequent trade negotiations and the implications for businesses.

"We believe that China is approximately five years ahead of any other major retail market in terms of its modernization and its innovation." Tomorrow Retail Consulting's Jordan Berke shares with us the three drivers that are pushing forward China's advancement in the retail industry, and how these trends affect our view of the world.

Kathy Matsui, the Goldman banker who coined the phrase, says attitudes towards gender and work have profoundly shifted as policy, demographics and the boom in responsible investing add weight to the business case for diversity and equality.

AmCham’s Margaret Loo sat down with Professor Michael Enright, who recently led a 9-month research study on the Greater Bay Area, to discuss the business opportunities and potential challenges.

Sir Gordon Wu returns to AmCham HK to share his insights on the Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong's place in China's future

Jim McGregor, a veteran China watcher who has lived in China for 30 years, spoke to AmCham members on the latest development in US-China relations. AmCham’s Margaret Loo caught up with Jim to learn more.

37th governor of California Gray Davis came to AmCham HK and gave members his views on the 2020 US Presidential election. We sat down with Governor Davis to give us the latest updates on the presidential race.

AmCham HK just hosted a timely discussion on the latest US-China Trade Talks, a day before Chinese Chief Trade Negotiator & Vice Premier Liu He flies to Washington D.C. for a new round of trade talks. We caught up with Owen Haacke, Chief Representative at the Shanghai office of the US-China Business Council, to gain some perspective from the ground of what is happening.

A vote to authorize the Iraq war, a rocky time for the stock market, and slow economic growth marked a period of peak uncertainty for the US in 2002. Steve Forbes, Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine and erstwhile presidential candidate, shares his robust views on taxes and wealth creation, the errors of central bankers and the prospects of war with Iraq at an event hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong on September 5, 2002.

The 90-day trade war truce between the US and China will end on March 1. Can the two countries strike a deal to end the dispute or does an ‘Economic Iron Curtain’ loom for the world’s two biggest economies? In light of the latest Sino-US tension, AmCham’s Margaret Loo spoke with Steve Vickers, CEO at Steve Vickers Associates, to hear his prognosis on the wider implications for businesses.

A snippet from former governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten’s 1997 speech at a luncheon hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce. Patten talks about Hong Kong’s achievements, its economy and the importance of maintaining the city’s business-friendly environment in the face of increasing political pressure in Asia.

Dan Rosen, Rhodium Group partner and long-time China economy watcher, gave a morning breakfast briefing to AmCham members at the American Club in Hong Kong in which he discussed the recently released report “Missing Link: Corporate Governance in China’s State Sector,” produced in conjunction with the Asia Society. Hear the podcast. Read the report. https://rhg.com/research/missing-link-corporate-governance-in-chinas-state-sector/

The world is big enough to accommodate a bipolar system in which China and the West can coexist “happily within their own spheres of influence” and under different rules of engagement, Enodo Economics Dyana Choyleva told a breakfast briefing at AmCham. While there would be inevitable and major disruption from such a decoupling, “It doesn’t necessarily have to mean Armageddon,” she said. “If we stay away from the argument of which system might win” in a zero-sum contest for global dominance. The Bulgarian-born economist, who grew up under the Marxist-Leninist system of the former Eastern Bloc, also gave her insights into the structural transformation currently underway in the Chinese growth story, as well as highlighting some of the hurdles and potential pitfalls that still remain. Please see AmCham’s website for more upcoming and unmissable events.

Leaders from the EU and American chambers of commerce in China provide their insights and nuanced perspectives about doing business in China at a time of rapid and deep changes in the strategic relationship between Beijing and Washington...

On September 7, AmCham HK organized a very timely annual China Conference themed U.S. & China: Shaping the Future of Innovation & Technology. Taking this opportunity, Mr. Robert Grieves, Vice Chairman of AmCham HK sat down with world renowned academics, Prof. Stephen Roach and Prof. Minxin Pei, and to hear their insights on U.S.-China relations in the era of “coopetition.”

Stephen Olson of the Hinrich Foundation and China Development Institute’s Dr Zhang Guoping, both research fellows, speak about the fundamental divide between the post-War global trading system led by the United States and the alternative model of a rapidly rising China.

On May 15, 2018, AmCham’s China Business Committee hosted a discussion on the latest U.S.-China trade tension as Chinese Vice Premier Liu He visits Washington this week for a second round of trade talk. Taking this opportunity, AmCham’s Margaret Loo had a conversation with Mr. Jacob Parker, Vice President of China Operations at U.S.- China Business Council.

In light of China’s cybersecurity law which came into effect on June 1, 2017, Jennifer Khoo speaks to Ben Wootliff, Partner and Head of Cyber Security, Asia Pacific at Control Risks Limited; and Michael Bahar, Partner and Co-Lead of Global Cybersecurity and Data Privacy at Eversheds Sutherland.

As U.S. - China trade tensions rise, Amcham President Tara Joseph speaks to Daniel Russel, Diplomat in residence at the Asia Society Institute and Former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Paul Donovan, UBS Wealth Management’s Global Chief Economist says the world’s economy should get along just fine with some prudent risk management from regulators. We shouldn’t worry over China’s debt burden, while the Bitcoin bubble is just an amusing side-show – unless you’re one of the unlucky few that’s heavily exposed to cryptocurrencies. We caught up with the London-based Mr. Donovan after a fascinating breakfast briefing organized by AmCham on Jan. 10, when he also told us what’s amiss with the “dismal science” in the modern era.

We are delighted to have Steven Chan and Robert Grieves joining us and to share their insights and experiences on the AmCham Annual Beijing Doorknock 2017.

AmCham President Tara Joseph invited Brian Henderson, COO of Baker & McKenzie, and Women of Influence 2017 Champion for the Advancement of Women, to share his experiences and insights on advocating equality for women in the workplace.