Fuelled by Asia: Carola Richter, BASF

CAROLA Richter may not have been born or educated in Asia, but the BASF executive has been based in the region so often in her career that she sees it as her "second home".

In her close to 2 decades' stint at the German chemical giant, she has taken on roles out of Hong Kong thrice, including her current appointment in mid-2019, as president for BASF in South and East Asia, Asean, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

"I always wonder why I return to Ludwigshafen, because I love it so much, being in Asia-Pacific," she says with a laugh, in a web interview with The Business Timesfrom her office in Hong Kong. Ludwigshafen, a city on the Rhine in south-western Germany, is home to BASF and other companies.