Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Asia will address the evolution of entrepreneurialism in Asian markets in the context of political and economic factors; cultural and societal norms; and the business of innovation within corporations.

Panel 1 will showcase individual entrepreneurs and their success stories across multiple sectors in Asia. The vast challenges posed by urbanisation, infrastructure, resource constraints and population in Asian cities are widespread. The next generation of Asian entrepreneurs now look towards embracing new models of growing businesses within the rapidly changing market environment whilst maintaining their traditional growth trajectories.

Panel 2 will examine large multinational companies’ innovation strategies in Asia. A solid understanding of the in-country cultural nuances as well as policy mandates is vital to the success of Western companies in meeting future challenges in Asian markets.

Keynote Speaker:

Sharon Bamford is the Chief Executive of the Association of MBAs.  She has started and grown five companies of her own, securing contracts with China and Libya in the early 1980s and working with Vietnam, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan and Venezuela in the early 1990s in the oil and gas sector.  She was also an academic at Aberdeen Business School, lecturing on entrepreneurship to both undergraduate and MBA students.

Uday Phadke is the Chief Executive of Cartezia, which specialises in the design and building of new products, services and businesses for the emerging digital marketplace.  He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Judge Business School in Cambridge and a Charter member of TIE (The Indus Entrepreneurs & Global Mentoring Organisation).

Selina Sagayam is a Partner in the global law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.  Her practice focuses on international corporate finance transaction work, incluing public and private M&A, and she has experience working on transactions in the MENA, North Asian and SE Asian markets.

Dr Tarita Shankar is a social entrepreneur in the field of education. She founded the Shree Chanakya Education Society (SCES) in February 1994 in Pune, India, with the aim of providing top quality post-graduate education in the fields of Business Management, International Business and Information Technology. Dr Shankar holds a Degree in Arts (Gold Medalist), Law and Phd. in Management.