SPH Media to host bilingual Asia Future Summit
Mia Pei
THE Business Times, The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao will jointly host the inaugural Asia Future Summit 2023 on Oct 4 and 5.
Moderated by editors from the three flagship publications of SPH Media, the summit will feature more than 20 Singapore and international speakers to share their perspectives on three main themes: geopolitical tension, economic uncertainty and societal shifts.
The two-day summit aims to generate thought-provoking conversations that offer insights for Singapore and the world to navigate the turbulent times of today.
In commemoration of the birth centenary of Singapore’s founding prime minister, this year’s summit will be dedicated to the theme Revisiting Lee Kuan Yew’s View of the World: Looking Ahead to Singapore and Asia’s Future Amid Turbulent Times.
In selected sessions, speakers and delegates will be invited to revisit the principles and values that shaped Lee Kuan Yew’s contributions to Singapore and beyond.
About 300 delegates, including thought leaders and senior representatives from the public, private and people sectors, will attend the invitation-only event.
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It will be a bilingual event held in both English and Mandarin, with simultaneous interpretation to be offered throughout, said SPH Media in a statement on Monday (Sep 18).
One of the sessions will be a commemorative panel discussion, where Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies Heng Swee Keat, former prime minister of Australia John Howard, and founder and chairman of Ma Ying-jeou Foundation Ma Ying-jeou will reflect on Lee Kuan Yew’s contributions to the development of Asia and global relations.
The reflections will aim to lend clarity and hope for the future, helping countries to navigate the uncertain times, said SPH Media.
The summit will also include an opening dialogue with Teo Chee Hean, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security.
It will conclude with a dialogue with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, moderated by Wong Wei Kong, editor-in-chief of SPH Media’s English/Malay/Tamil Media group.
The slate of speakers includes former US ambassador to Singapore Jon Huntsman, former Singapore foreign affairs minister George Yeo, Tan Kah Kee Chair in comparative and international politics of Nanyang Technological University Joseph Liow, and executive director of the China Centre for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea Zhu Feng.
Industry players, such as IT consultancy Infosys’ founder Narayana Murthy, chairman of Schneider Electric Jean-Pascal Tricoire and group chief executive officer of OCBC Helen Wong, will also share their thoughts at the event.
SPH Media’s chief executive officer Teo Lay Lim said that it has been actively building platforms to showcase diverse views and facilitate balanced and constructive discourse.
Jaime Ho, editor of The Straits Times, added that the inaugural collaboration between the three publications seeks to explore the role and opportunities of Asia in a fast-evolving geopolitical and economic landscape in the world.
“What we hope to do through this year’s summit is to provide the context and colour to not just Asia’s centrality to the world’s growth stories, but also a realistic and honest assessment of the challenges that we face,” he said.
“This is Asia’s future, and ours to continue to make, if we address these common global issues collectively,” he added.
OCBC is the presenting sponsor for the Asia Future Summit 2023.
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