Trade tensions and technology tackled head-on at MIPIM Asia 2018

Close
to 1,000 real estate leaders assembled at APAC’s�leading
property summit

 

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - November 30, 2018 - Hundreds of movers and shakers from APAC’s fast-paced real estate
industry assembled for the region’s premier property summit, MIPIM Asia.

 

More than 900 industry leaders, representing 570
firms from 36 countries, descended on the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, on November
27-28, for the must-attend annual event.

 

Technology and trade tensions were among the
recurring themes throughout the packed programme of presentations, panel talks
and keynotes, which welcomed more than 90 speakers appearing across six stages.

 

Headline speaker Ronnie C Chan tackled current affairs head-on in a hard-hitting
talk entitled The China Growth Story: How Will it be Impacted by the US-China
Trade War?

 

“Trade is not a big deal — everybody will lose, but
as far as China is concerned, it won’t hurt that much,” Chan reassured
attendees. “Like it or not we live in a ‘G2’ world — but it does not have to be
a bipolar world. Many, many issues cannot be resolved unless we work together —
we can compete in tech and trade, and be friends too. That is the world we’re
looking for.”

 

Also among the star attractions were Google geospatial technologist Ed
Parsons, TripAdvisor‘s Head of
Destination Marketing APAC Sarah Mathews, and leading China expert Dr Jonathan Woetzel, a director at
McKinsey & Company.

 

Hard questions were also asked about the prospect
for investment in post-Brexit Britain at the UK: Still Great Tomorrow? session
— but a robust argument was put forward by the heavyweight panel, which
included British representation from Birmingham City Council Leader Ian Ward
and Department for International Trade Senior Advisor Sir Edward Lister.

 

MIPIM’s global director Ronan Vaspart laid out the
conference theme Invest in a Better Tomorrow, telling delegates that MIPIM Asia
would “invite you to imagine the world in 2030”, while a touch of
star power came from TV host Desmond So.

Mr Vaspart said: “Once again MIPIM Asia has proved
itself to be the must-attend event for property professionals across the Asia
Pacific region.

“Over the past two days we’ve heard some
fascinating insights from some of the most important voices in the industry, as
well as considering fresh perspectives and embracing voices from the world of
retail, technology, proptech and more.

“And of course we’ve offered invaluable
opportunities for networks to be built and contacts to be forged — and
hopefully, soon, for deals to be struck.”

 

The annual Meet the Chairmen session offered
investors frank advice and learned predictions from an established panel of
industry leaders, which included: Kenneth
Gaw, President and Managing Principle of Gaw Capital; George Hongchoy,
CEO of Link Asset Management Ltd; Nigel Slattery, founder and CEO of the Slattery Property Group and François Trausch, Global CEO of Allianz Real Estate and Andrew Weir, KMPG’s Global Chair of Real Estate and Construction, all moderated
by Mingtiandi founder Michael Cole.

 

Dealmakers had plenty more to chew on at a series
of compelling talks as part of the dedicated Investment tract, which attracted
seasoned industry types for a round of insightful sessions focusing on the
prospects and opportunities for the region’s property market — such as Key
Investment Trends in Asia Pacific, Investment Strategies in Top Markets in Asia
Pacific and Asian Cities: Investment & Opportunities Outlook.

 

Meanwhile Europe was declared very much open for
business at the BRI: European Opportunities panel, which hosted speakers from
four key European cities — London, Paris, Amsterdam and Moscow — to talk about
the prospects for investment in light of China’s ongoing Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a multi-billion dollar cross-border
programme of infrastructure development in Asia and Africa.

 

Guests were invited to imagine the cities and homes
of the future at a series of sessions dedicated to innovation and trends, such
as co-living which was discussed at Housing Trends for the Future, and co-working
at the Flexible Workspaces: Revolution of the Office Market panel talk.

 

Opening the programme on November 27, Dr Jonathan Woetzel, outlined his
predictions in a fascinating keynote entitled Smart Cities: For a More Liveable
Future.

 

“I can already see that people have different
reactions to that subject,” he quipped, taking to the stage. “There’s
so much noise around smart cities, so much hype — but it’s important to get the
facts. That’s what this is about: The facts.”

 

MIPIM Asia also hosted the dedicated Retail Forum
offshoot, powered by MIPIM sister show
MAPIC. Highlights included the opening Retail Property Outlook panel
featuring Nicholas Bradstreet of Savills, Michael Ross, Vice Chairman of CP
Group and Chris Wu, Managing Director of Chongbang Group.

 

Retailers also flocked to hear the thoughts of Dr
William Lo, Vice Chairman of China’s largest toy retailer, Kidsland. “I don’t believe physical retail will die,
especially in Asia,” said Lo. “In Hong Kong we live in very small spaces,
we need to go out, so the shopping mall is very important.”

 

MIPIM Proptech Asia: On the
Road to a Bright Feature

 

Taking place concurrently to MIPIM Asia was the
first edition of MIPIM Proptech Asia — a regional spin on the thriving property
technology summit, following from successful editions of flagship MIPIM
Proptech NYC and this year’s debut MIPIM Proptech Europe.

 

The standalone programme launched a day earlier on
November 26, with a networking event and keynote speech from Carrie Law, CEO of
China’s largest international property portal, Juwai. Other speakers who appeared as part of this dedicated series
included Microsoft‘s Wincy Chan,
Anuj Nangpal of JLL Spark, Knotel‘s Ed Shenderovich and Andrew
Young of Sino Land Company — who all
participated in the optimistic opening panel talk Proptech: On the Road to a
Bright Future.

 

The MIPIM
Startup Competition saw six fledging firms serve up energetic, reality
TV-esque pitches to an expert judging panel — made up of Hong Kong King Wai
Group’s Antonio Chan, Jayne Chan of InvestHK’s StartmeupHK, Real Estech co-founder
Vincent Pavanello and Christopher Tay of sponsors Union Investment Real Estate
— all conducted by the upbeat personality of Master of Ceremonies Aaron Block, Co-founder
and Managing Director of MIPIM Proptech global partners Metaprop NYC.

 

The winning entrants NEOMA & Untitled Group
will now be invited to compete in the global MIPIM Startup Competition finals,
at the flagship MIPIM summit — which celebrates its 30^th anniversary
in Cannes on 12-15 March 2019.

 

Download images of MIPIM Asia 2018 here: www.reedmidemphotos.com

For more on MIPIM
Asia visit: www.mipim-asia.com
—

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Notes for editors

About MIPIM
Asia Summit

MIPIM Asia Summit is the annual property leaders’ summit in Asia Pacific organised
by Reed MIDEM, is widely seen as a “must-attend” event for leading industry
professionals. It features expert-led conference sessions, premium networking
accelerators and an exclusive awards gala dinner over a two-day period. Distinguished
speakers, senior executives, high-level business professionals and industry
experts from around the world will discuss the latest developments and
prevailing trends in the property and retail industry. MIPIM — the world’s
property market is the leading and largest global property event. The four day
event takes place annually in Cannes every March. 24,200 delegates attended in
2017 with 5,000 investors, and 100 different countries being represented.

 

About Reed MIDEM:

Founded in 1963, Reed MIDEM is an organiser of professional,
international markets that are essential business platforms for key players in
the sectors concerned. These sectors are MIPTV, MIPDOC, MIPCOM, MIPJUNIOR in
Cannes, MIP China in Hangzhou and MIP Cancun in Mexico for the television and
digital content industries; MIDEM in Cannes for music professionals; Esports
BAR in Cannes and in Miami for the esports business; MIPIM in Cannes, MIPIM UK
in London, MIPIM Asia Summit in Hong Kong and MIPIM PropTech NYC in New York
and MIPIM PropTech Europe in Paris for the real estate industry; MAPIC in
Cannes, MAPIC Russia in Moscow, MAPIC Italy in Milan, MAPIC India in Mumbai and
MAPIC Food & Beverage in Milan for the retail real estate sector.
www.reedmidem.com

 

About
Reed Exhibitions:

Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organiser, with over 500
events in 30 countries. In 2017 Reed brought together over seven million event
participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business.
Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East,
Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 38 fully staffed offices. Reed
Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is
part of RELX Group, a global provider of information and analytics for
professional and business customers across industries.

www.reedexpo.com