What stood out to me during the recent Asia Treasury Leaders’ Forum 2016 was the sheer diversity of professionals assembled with a keen interest to learn and share information about the design of their organisational roles and functions (yes, this was what stood out to me more than the mighty cuisine Peter would point out). Having been to a couple of corporate conferences myself, I was pleasantly surprised by not only the ability of the panellists and moderators to induce thought-provoking insights, opinions and conversations, but I was taken aback by the manner in which conversations never seemed to drift away from the topic at hand, treasury functions and trends. With everyone I spoke to, the one constant was their passion and deep knowledge in the field, but kudos to manner in which the panels, workshops and speeches were effective in creating an environment which ensuring extended, subject-related engagement amongst all the forum attendees.
Starting with the snap polls that many a time challenged common (and organiser’s) belief to the highly qualified and experienced panellists, there were numerous opportunities where I (barely even a finance/accounting student, let alone a treasury professional) was able to learn much about the core changes and patterns in the industry. Hearing from the Group Treasurers of The Hongkong Electric Company, Jardine Matheson and MTR Corporation, I definitely took away more than just case-examples and success stories.
Being from Singapore, I was also extremely surprised by the perception that Singapore was gaining traction over Hong Kong in terms of being a centre for cash management and treasury operations. Personally, even though I hunted for potential reasons for such an opinion amongst those gathered at the forum, it seemed like people had their own opinions on why they felt so. Perhaps it was a general belief that the Hong Kong market was declining in terms of attractiveness, but again I do not know how qualified a statement that is. What I did figure out was that Peter actually blogged about this just a few weeks ago on the topic of Singapore (and the case of the interestingly knowledgeable taxi drivers).
Personally, Hong Kong and Singapore are very much economic strong houses in many ways (I vouch that the food is different and Singapore’s is better, but anyway…). This message was driven home by the DFS Group presentation on their cash management, procurement and operation strategies which leverage heavily on the various strengths of Singapore and Hong Kong. Not too sure if that presentation alone will convince me to buy their chocolates and perfumes at the airports, but it was definitely insightful and a great learning experience. N – c
The inspirational part of the experience was seeing the organisers themselves learn new perspectives and statistical facts about treasury operations in Asia, some of which were clearly a stark contrast to those observed in the west. Along with the diverse attendees, the event definitely appeared to be a step forward in integrating and sharing ideas from both sides of the arbitrary pair – the East and the West. Well, things have definitely got to be different in the Middle East too, so I’m looking forward to attending a similar ACT event in Dubai someday. Nonetheless, as a student, I truly enjoyed being in a setting that was equipped with opinions, ideas, experience and opportunity. At the very least, the Asia Treasury Leaders’ Forum was a unique and extremely applicable experience.
WBB student representative at the Asia Treasury Leaders’ Forum, Vinod TADIKAMALLA.
