Inside Asia Podcast

My guest this week is Koh Lian Pin, a Singapore-based conservation scientist, and also one of nine nominated members of the Singapore Parliament. He’s staked his career on identifying ways to preserve our planet’s natural resources. His dream, as he says, is to see agri-business and forests in a state of peaceful co-existence. This week, we take a look at the movement to preserve and protect our forests. There’s a new sense of urgency in the race to combat climate change. Trees, it so happens, are one of the greatest single sources of carbon-capture. And because of that, they are receiving a well-spring of conservationist and investor attention. Programs like OneTreePlanted, Global Forest Generation, and One Trillion Trees are all encouraging individuals and corporations to plant and preserve forests. It couldn’t have come at a better time. While the pandemic might have slowed the rate of carbon output from manufacturing and travel, rain forests were not spared. In fact, the rate of deforestation accelerate

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in the member’s lounge of a local club I like to visit, and my Italian economist friend, Pietro Ventani comes up to me, sits down, and pushes a piece of paper across the table. “I’ve been thinking about this,” he says. “There’s more to it.”  What he’s referring to is an earlier conversation that resulted in the release of our first “Capitalism’s Right of Passage” episode released on April 2nd. I unfolded the paper and there, printed in black and white, were four statements with accompanying bullets. There was “The Problem,” “Root Causes,” “What governments are doing to fix the problem,” and “What governments should do to fix the problem.” We had a coffee, talked it over, then retreated to a corner of the club to have the conversation you’re about to hear. We get straight to the point. And if I’m not mistaken, we address, in its entirety, the problem with the current state of Capitalism. I’m joking of course, but I have to say, it was a pretty tight and focused conversatio

This week on Inside Asia, we reach across the Pacific to speak to Vasuki Shastry. He’s a Washington D.C.-based Senior Fellow at the US Chamber of Commerce and an Associate Asia Pacific Fellow at the policy institute Chatham House in London. We reached out to talk about his new book, provocatively entitled: Has Asia Lost It? A surprising headliner at a time when many would say the Pacific Era is upon us and Asia is most certainly on the rise. Vasuki disagrees. On the face of it, he says, things looks good. For instance, in just four short decades, the region has climbed its way out of poverty. Political and economic risk remains low. Vast wealth has accrued. And China has assumed Superpower status. Not too shabby. What we’re facing now, he says, is Peak Asia. Scratch beneath the surface and you see two systems. One that caters to the elites and one that controls the average citizen. Opportunities and upward mobility are diminishing. And unless Asia breaks the bonds of economic integration with the west throug

This week on Inside Asia, we’re tackling a big topic – Capitalism. You might argue that it’s a system as tightly imbedded in our daily lives as any other. There’s hardly a place on Earth that isn’t affected by it. In most places, it governs the basic exchange of goods and service, provides the means for that exchange, and offers a set of economic rules by which most of us can agree. It can be credited in large part for lifting half of the human population out of poverty in only half a century’s time. Healthcare and lifestyle innovations did wonders in keeping disease in check. That led to a global population explosion. But corporations responded, building things better, faster, and cheaper so that everyone could take part in the great Capitalist dream. It was all going so swimmingly, until it wasn’t. Starting in 2005, there were warning signs. By 2007, in the U.S., delinquency rates on subprime lending rose sharply. And at the outset of 2008, the markets were in free-fall. What ensued was a Global Financial

My guest this week is Assaad Razzouk, Group CEO at Sindicatum Renewable Energy and host of The Angry Clean Energy Guy podcast. We’re talking about the need for new market forces to drive sustainability and reduce carbon output. In Assaad’s view, we’ve been playing around the perimeter for too long. Now is the time to align corporate, government and societal interests to ensure a cleaner world and healthier planet.  On the environmental and cleantech front, we’re off to a fast-start in 2021, and according to my guest this episode, there’s no time to waste. Structural changes, however, are essential. And this means calling out the biggest contributors to our current climate change crises. It starts with Big Oil. They have a lot to account for, says Assaad, not just in the way they operate, but in the tactics they have long employed to divert public attention and lay the blame elsewhere.  In this 35-minute conversation, we touch on the geopolitics of climate change, fossil fuel charades, investor responsibilit

“Purpose” as a business operating principle, has been elevated as a key priority for hundreds, if not thousands of organizations worldwide. The idea that all stakeholders are important, and not just shareholders is a new, novel, and some say, notorious concept. Convincing people within an organization to change the way they think, plan, and work is no easy task. Even so, that’s what purpose-driven organizations are trying to do – lifting their game in order to better serve people and planet. But what happens if executives tasked with developing and delivering Corporate Purpose are experiencing their own existential crises? Many have built careers by toeing the party line, delivering results, and mastering corporate politics. Achieveing career goals carries some satisfaction, no doubt. But you have to ask: To what end? For those of you who’ve been in the game for a while, chances are you’ve made your company richer, more efficient, or even better liked. That’s great. But how do you feel…you know…personally?

This week (and every week) we celebrate women, and women entrepreneurs in particular. Increasingly, female founders are launching new and innovative ventures with growing support from investor communities that for too long have been male-biased. Don’t believe me? Look at the numbers. From wage inequality, to promotions, to venture funding and social stigmas, women have had an uphill battle. The situation is particularly depressing in the poorest countries and among the least educated. Patriarchal societies are alive and well and for a woman to succeed financially or professional it takes an added level of luck, grit, and tenacity. Money helps too. And in markets the world over, women have a harder time securing credit or receiving funding than their male counterparts. One Singapore-based start-up hopes to make a difference. LUCY, a self-described “neo-bank” plans to provide the tools, network, and eventually the credit, to help entrepreneurial women succeed. I spoke with co-Founder and CEO Debbie Watkins. S

My guest this week is Rachele Focardi, author and expert on multigenerational divides. It’s a topic that continues to plague corporations that now, more than ever, need to attract and retain great talent. Rachele, Founder of XYZ@Work and author of Reframing Generational Stereotypes, sat down with me to discuss many of the challenges faced by modern corporations when it comes to identifying, understanding, and incorporating the growing needs of an increasingly diverse workforce. A lot of attention has been paid to gender and racial diversity in the workplace, but generational differences are sometimes under appreciated. My guest argues that this could prove a grave mistake, particularly at a time in history where young talent armed with technology, a gig mentality, and social agendas, have choices. Increasingly, she argues, “the value of an organization doesn’t lie in it’s assets, but in it’s people.” There’s not an organization that doesn’t pay lip service to the idea, but how many are actually backing it u

My guest this week is Josh Tetrick, Co-Founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Eat Just, Inc. And no, it’s not an episode about life beyond this planet but life on the only planet that really matters – our planet. It’s also a "chicken or the egg" story. But in this instance, the chicken and the egg both come first. What comes next is a plant-based version of the egg. Confused yet? Well hang in there, because we’re talking about one of the most centrally important subjects of our time: Food. How we produce, process, and consume it has been something that all of us have taken for granted for decades now. But when you consider – as Josh does – that fully one-third of our arable land is used to produce feed for chickens and livestock, then something is terribly wrong. East Just, Inc. and a network of like-minded start-ups are trying to make a difference and hoping to profit at the same time. Poultry is a 230 billion dollar a year business. The market for eggs is slightly smaller at 200 billion. But given that bo

Do corporations have a moral obligation to society? That’s the subject of this week’s episode of Inside Asia. My guest, Mac McKenzie, is Co-founder of the Bridge Partnership Asia and the Bridge Institute. It’s safe to say that over the course of history, companies have been viewed through the lens of profit. Causes that speak to social justice, racial and gender equality, and even environmental protection were left over the years to non-profit, religious, and government institutions. Unfortunately for them, public perception with respect to their effectiveness has all but collapsed. Only corporations, apparently, have withstood public scrutiny and are seen today as the last bastion of trust and competency. In some ways, that’s a scary thought. But regardless, it puts new impetus on companies to step it up. Even for the hold-out CEO who say “it’s not my department,” there’s no stopping consumers from wanting it to be so. It’s a dilemma for the for-profit sector, but an opportunity as well. At the heart of i

It’s 2021. A new year brings new hope. For those of you who’ve generously followed Inside Asia for the past two seasons, we thank you for listening and for your loyal support. Over the course of the past 30 months, we’ve produced nearly 170 episodes, bringing to you insights through conversation from some of the region’s most compelling thinkers, leaders, and entrepreneurs. We’ve covered geopolitics, trade, technology, sustainability, the future of food, and leadership trends. We’ve covered vast territories as well, sharing insights from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India, and even the Middle East. Asia is a smorgasbord of change and innovation and it’s been an honor and pleasure to be your host. Of all the topics and ideas covered in recent years, there is one that stands out above all others, and that’s Corporate Purpose. Week-in and week-out, the topic pervades the changing business landscape. Beyond the death and devastation caused by the global pandemic, it has taught us one thing: We can no longer op

Something special happened in recent days, and in a slight departure from our regular format, I bring you a discussion held with one of the great environmental thinkers of our time, Hunter Lovins. It was on the occasion of one of our regularly scheduled gatherings of the Asia Corporate Leadership Council that Hunter joined us virtually from her ranch in Colorado. The Council is a partnership between The Conference Board, the Center for Creative Leadership, and Inside Asia, and is comprised of a select group of senior-most leaders of western multinationals, Asian conglomerates, and family offices. Our mission: To define and promote best practice in corporate purpose. Hunter is the latest in a string of featured speakers who define what good looks like, and with permission from our members, I bring you our conversation.

This week on Inside Asia, we take a look at just one more way in which artificial intelligence is ingraining itself in our daily lives. With so much hype around AI, it’s hard to know what to think of it. In one moment, AI applications can appear benevolent, even helpful. And in the next, it can be intrusive. Facial recognition, for instance, can and has been used to track and screen innocent people simply going about their business. AI, you might say, wears many faces. One moment, it’s Big Brother watching your every move. The next, it’s R2D2 trying to save your life. I’m dramatizing, but you get the point. Now, apparently AI-enabled machines are learning to listen; so well, in fact, that advanced technology is able to decipher subtle tones, language variances and emotional nuances, virtually inaudible to the human ear. In so doing, it can determine the sentiment of the speaker. And that, says Walt Mayo, CEO of expert (dot) ai, can make a world of difference. Take the just concluded US Presidential race, fo

What a difference an election makes. Or at least, that’s the hope. It’s as if the world has been holding its breath and now – after no shortage of political drama – Joe Biden has emerged as the new President of the United States. Why’s that important? Because the world is suffering – environmentally, socially, and economically. The US can’t change all that, but it does bode well for a new era of greater international cooperation. As the world’s second largest polluter and the single largest economy, the US is instrumental if any progress is to be made. It’s track record on the environment, however, is less than inspiring. When things got messy some 40 years ago, exporting the problem seemed like a good idea. From the 1980s onward, US industrialists sent their polluting problems overseas, with China as a favored destination. Trump’s four-year war on the environment hasn’t helped. What we’re left with is lost time and little action. Our planet has reached a breaking point. And thanks to a well-spring of activ

When the influence of private capital exceeds that of a sovereign state, it raises an important question: Where does real power reside? Increasingly, it seems, money makes the world go round. At a time when stocks are over-valued, bond yields are flat, and property prices are inflated, private equity is where it’s at. Indeed, since the chaos of the 2008 Global Financial Crises, PE firms have only grown in size and influence. Asia has been a key beneficiary. And China – until recently – has absorbed the lion’s share of private capital. As and when US-China tensions subside, the surge is likely to continue In this week’s episode of Inside Asia, I speak to one of the PE industry giants - Weijian Shan, Chairman and CEO of PAG Group. Shan’s new book, Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea’s Most Iconic Bank, is a tale on how deals get done in the convoluted world of big money and big personalities. It’s been over 20 years since Shan and his colleagues at Newbridge Capital landed in

In the run-up to this year’s US Presidential election, the only Asia topic that appears to loom large is China. And during these days, no self-respecting US politician can talk about this rising Superpower without saying something disparaging.  Indeed, there’s hardly a businessman, legislator, or policy wonk within the Beltway who has anything positive or hopeful to say about US-China relations. Maybe that’s simply because there’s nothing to be gained politically by doing so. Americans need to blame someone for lost jobs, climate change, and a global pandemic – why not China? It’s a communist country, after all, and Americans are fond of blaming things on communists too. Remove yourself from this political quagmire and step outside of the U.S. and you get a more balanced – dare I say – sophisticated take on China, it’s role in the world, and the existential threat (if any) that it poses to a United States undergoing an identity crises.  In this episode, I turn to two of the most thoughtful commentators on

2020 has been a headline year, dominated by news of a global pandemic, US elections, Brexit and China’s rise to power. On the business front, Corporate Purpose has emerged as the theme of the year. It comes on the back of an August 2019 statement released by the US-based Business Roundtable, calling into question the primacy of shareholders. For the past 50 years, corporations have operating on the principle that the only responsibility of business is to generate profits for its shareholders. With the world in such a muddle, that core idea is coming into question. If issues like climate change, inequality, and social justice aren’t addressed, there’s growing concern that societies everywhere will come face-to-face with collapse. Corporations – so say pundits – are best positioned to make a difference. Helping companies make that shift so that purpose and profits might co-exist is the work of my two guests this episode. Robert Quinn and Anjan Thakor are US-based professors. Together, they wrote a book entitl

If the world has a problem, technology will solve it. That’s the stance taken by many technologists and industrialists who trust that human innovation – when put to the test - will prevail. It’s the “human” part of the equation, however, that is increasingly in question.    In Japan, for instance, where a demographic decline in working age citizens demands automation in order to fill the gap, Covid-19 has given the country further reason to invest in AI, robotics, and machine-learning wherever possible. Elsewhere in the world, where Covid has left millions unemployed, there’s rising concern that companies will pass on human employees in deference to machines. Observing Japan to see how it’s robotic revolution takes hold and impacts people could serve as a bellwether for policy-makers elsewhere. Governments are desperate to rekindle economic growth after Covid’s devastating effects. This means encouraging corporate recovery, while reducing unemployment. In certain sectors – primarily industrial – the two may

After living in the shadow of Western-style development for the greater part of the last 200 years, China is in the throes of crafting it’s own vision of what it means to be a modern economic power. That doesn’t always sit well with other countries – and particularly the U.S. – a nation grown accustom to it’s hard-won hegemony.  China’s demonstration of its new-found strength is showing up in dozens of ways. Militarily, as in its testing of its territorial rights with India and in the South China Sea. Politically, as reflected in its imposition of new security laws in Hong Kong. And diplomatically, squaring off – as it were – with the US over issues relating to trade and technology transfer. The country is also investing in a series of longer-term strategies to ensure it’s economic and political rebound, in some cases, thinking well ahead of the curve, and ahead of other nations like the US, the UK, and Japan – all mired in their own set of domestic issues. In this week’s episode, we tackle China’a quest t

This is Steve Stine from Inside Asia. Just 45 days from today Americans will go to the polls and cast a vote for the next president of the United States. By all counts, this is proving one of the most essential electoral decisions in modern US history. The outcome will fundamentally change the course of America and the reverberations will be felt throughout the world. As Inside Asia listeners, I’m asking one of two things of you: If you’re an American living abroad, please register and vote. If you’re not a US citizen, reach out to your American friends and colleagues and ask them if they plan to vote. If they say “no” or “not sure,” please share with them the following. According to a 2018 Pew Research survey, only 55.7 percent of eligible US voters are registered to vote. By world standards, that’s shockingly low. Among the 32 OECD countries that support free and open elections, the US ranks 26th in terms of voter turnout. Rather than explore any number of socio-political reasons as to why this might be