David Thomas

David Thomas is well known in the Asia Pacific region as a passionate and engaging speaker and a strong advocate of business, trade and investment collaboration in the Asia Pacific region. He has worked with SMEs across most industry sectors and is currently focused on supporting Australian Technology companies with their capital-raising and commercialisation activities in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area of China. With a 30 year career living and working in the UK, Hong Kong, Australia and the Philippines, he has provided advice, support and guidance to entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders as they navigate the cross-cultural challenges, barriers and opportunities of doing business and investing across the Asian region.

David lived in Hong Kong in the 1980s and 90s. His father, the Attorney General for Hong Kong (1983-88) was involved in the negotiations between Britain and China to design and implement the new Basic Law of Hong Kong in 1997. His step-mother was a senior political leader in Hong Kong and worked with Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher to negotiate the future of Hong Kong under Chinese sovereignty post 1997. David has had a life-long interest in Hong Kong’s role as a regional hub and China’s emergence as the financial engine of Asia. For the last 30 years, David has worked with entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders to successfully engage with their Chinese and Asian counterparts. In his keynote presentations and workshops he draws on his own personal stories, anecdotes and case studies to teach leaders how to communicate effectively across cultures.

David Thomas Speaks About:

1. Geopolitics – USA, China and Asia
What’s happening and why it matters?

We live in the Asian Century. In the coming years, China, India, Japan and Indonesia will become the largest economies in the world, driven by innovation, productivity and domestic consumption from their large and fast growing middle class and high net worth populations. Smaller Asian countries like South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines are also emerging as economic powers in their own right, as the World tilts towards Asia and business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors seek access to the high growth markets of the region.

Not surprisingly, this massive shift in the projection of global power, influence and leadership is causing disruption in the world, especially in the US and Europe who are threatened by the rise of powerful authoritarian countries disturbing the existing rules based world order, challenging old and well defined borders and creating conflicts in faraway places.

How should we think and react to all of this? How do we feel about China, the rising economic, military and investment super-power on our doorstep? How do we navigate the complexities of the US – China rivalry and build new relationships and create opportunities in the Asian region?

2. Innovation and Technology in the Asian Century
The importance and relevance of Hong Kong and Singapore

China’s major challenge is to deal with the massive deficit in its GDP caused by a traumatic, deep and far-reaching property crisis and the longer term impacts of the global pandemic. Consumer confidence is severely impacted and it would seem over-optimistic to believe that this gap can be filled by a rise in domestic consumption.

As a result, China is rapidly investing in its advanced manufacturing sector to boost domestic growth, stimulate exports and create new jobs for their highly educated and youthful workforce. Much of this innovation will come from overseas, at least in the short term. The innovative and high-tech companies of the future now need to commercialise, capitalise and scale their technology and products into the Asian region, starting with the traditional investment and logistical hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore, and moving north into southern China and south into ASEAN.

Australian entrepreneurs with access to innovative technology (especially in health, AI, fintech, food, agtech, clean energy and others) now have a unique opportunity to access early stage funding and investment in Asia.

3. Managing cross-cultural challenges in Asia
Crossing the Nine Bends Bridge

Despite some of Asia’s significant economic advances in recent times, their approach to doing business remains refreshingly similar to the way they’ve done business over the past one thousand years i.e. they only do business with people they know, like and trust.
Business executives, entrepreneurs and professionals need to deal with people of other Asian backgrounds to deliver successful commercial outcomes, and it’s become critical for leaders to learn how to communicate, negotiate and connect with senior decision-makers and business leaders from both sides of the cross-cultural divide.

Working with Asians can be rewarding and highly lucrative but it can also throw up cross-cultural differences and challenges which can cause frustration, stress and even conflict on both sides. Addressing, understanding and resolving areas of difference, especially when communicating and negotiating with Asian investors, entrepreneurs, partners and employees, is a skill that can be learnt and applied in high stakes situations, as well as in everyday interactions.