AmCham Shanghai invites you to join us on Wednesday, March 28 at the Intercontinental Suzhou for an introduction to the upcoming launch of the Yangtze River Delta Center by AmCham Shanghai Vice Chair Robert Theleen, as well as an in-depth discussion with experts on key issues and macroeconomic business trends that general managers should take into account as they continue to operate in the region.

Dr. Daxue Wang, senior China economist, Citigroup will initiate the discussion by covering key macroeconomic variables affecting businesses operating in China, including capital markets, consumer price indices, demographic indicators and government policies. Aaron Lo, partner, Management Consulting at KPMG, will benchmark the Yangtze River Delta’s (YRD) relative competitiveness with other regions, providing a strategic presentation by covering value chain issues such as labor, production and logistics. Craig Kerr, partner at PwC’s Operations Consulting practice in China and Hong Kong, will show practical principles on how businesses can generate higher value in an environment of rapidly rising costs, using a supply chain case study to demonstrate key concepts general managers can incorporate into daily operations.

The session will be followed by a networking mixer with members of the Chamber board and management team, and Suzhou Committee in attendance. Cost of attendance includes admission to the event followed by a networking mixer with evening cocktails and canapés.

About the Speakers:

Dr. Daxue Wang is currently a senior China economist at Citigroup (based in Shanghai), covering macro economic research and serving clients across the globe. Before joining Citi, he worked for BBVA (based in Madrid and Hong Kong) as its Chief China Economist. He also accumulated ample knowledge in capital markets and financial management through his over six years’ professional experience in international investment banking and auditing firms. He obtained his PhD in Finance from the IESE Business School (Spain), a bachelor’s in engineering from Tsinghua University and a master’s in finance from the University of International Business & Economics. He was a visiting scholar to Kellogg, Northwestern University during 2004-05.

Aaron Lo has more than 20 years work experience across Asia-Pacific with MNCs in manufacturing, product development & engineering, management consultancy, business modeling, operations and performance management, process improvement, supply chain and post M&A integration. He joined KPMG in Malaysia in 1998 and was the line-of-business leader for Consumer & Industrial Markets in the Advisory division. In 2007, he relocated to Shanghai as KPMG Partner of Risk Advisory Services in charge of Business Performance Services for China. Prior to joining KPMG, he worked for Whirlpool as regional project planning and R&D manager responsible for establishing the China manufacturing base. He managed projects from product engineering to manufacturing design to production prove-in. This included plastic injection toolings design and prove-in for manufacturing. An industrial engineer by training, Lo started his career in Singapore in 1988 and worked in manufacturing and research & development for 10 years. During that time he was a practitioner and trainer of six-sigma and lean manufacturing, and in charge of product costing.

Craig Kerr leads PwC’s Operations Consulting practice in China and Hong Kong and has led engagements in China, Europe and North America, focused on sustained performance improvement through operational innovation in supply chain, new product introduction and product development. He contributed to the development of the industry-recognized Supply Chain Operations Reference-model (SCOR), and was a key member of the PRTM team launching the Supply Chain Council in Europe. Starting in 2006, Kerr established and led PRTM’s China business. Prior to joining PRTM in 1993, Craig spent four years with Metapraxis, specialising in advising clients on the use of information at executive and board levels for decision-making, and two years in supply chain operation at IBM, including manufacturing and vendor management. Kerr joined PRTM with an MBA from The Darden Graduate School of Business where he received the Shermet Award and the Pendleton Scholarship, and a Masters degree in Manufacturing Sciences and Engineering from Strathclyde University. He is certified CPIM by the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS), a 6Sigma Black Belt and a member of the UK’s Institute of Directors.

Agenda:

15:00 Registration and Networking
15:30 Introduction of the Upcoming Launch of the Yangtze River Delta Center
15:45 Presentation by DaXue Wang, Senior Economist, Citigroup
16:15 Presentation by Aaron Lo, Partner, Management Consulting, KPMG
16:45 Presentation by Craig Kerr, Partner, Operations Consulting Leader, Hong Kong & China, PwC
17:15 Panel Discussion and Q&A
17:45 Event concludes, followed by a networking mixer

RSVP: All AmCham Shanghai events require confirmation of attendance (RSVP). If you attend an event without prior notification you will be charged a RMB 50 “walk in” fee.

RSVP Cancellation: If you need to cancel your RSVP please notify AmCham Shanghai’s Events Department at (86 21) 6279-7119 no less than 24 hours in advance.