Asia Pacific Business Forum Podcast

In this episode of Business Class, Bill Zarit, the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, describes the monumental economic shifts that are taking place. He sees Chinese investment in the U.S. doubling, while U.S. investment in China is drifting downward. He notes that China is making strategic purchases in sectors aimed at challenging current U.S. global leadership and questions...

Wayne Forrest has been President of the American Indonesian Chamber of Commerce through many of the country’s business and political cycles. He’s been integral to Indonesia’s relationship with international energy and mining conglomerates. Now as the nature of business is shifting toward the world of startups and venture capital, the Chamber is deeply involved there as well. So much so that he hel...

Jim Castle, who describes himself as ‘an accidental businessman’ established CastleAsia in 1980 which has given him a unique view of the shifting of economic power from west to east. Through CastleAsia’s Indonesia Country Program executive roundtable, Jim meets weekly with top executives from 140 member companies. This insight is reflected in an interview that discusses his work in Indonesia, and...

Ito En sells over $4 Billion USD of tea annually in Japan. In North America Ito En hits $300 million. In this classic international brand building story, Yosuke Honjo, CEO and President of Ito En North America, describes how his company pushed by a shrinking population and growing competition domestically, “Must go out from Japan and find a new market internationally.” His plan includes continuall...

There is book learning and then there is taking your knocks on the street. The students who enroll in the USC IBEAR MBA take their knocks all around the world. The International Business Consulting Project is an extreme version of experiential learning. The class is literally turned into an international consulting firm, where clients contract for consulting services and then the students get on p...

Alfred Fung starts speaking about his gaming with the absolute that it must be fun. He traces his love for gaming to his childhood, but credits his entry into the business to the MBA he received from the USC IBEAR program. His facility with big data, business analytics, monetization and his ability to connect the dots put him ahead of a flood of applicants for his first job in the cutting edge gam...

Dan Ping Mu faces challenges for her consulting clients in China head on – and then looks at them from all angles to find the right solution. Her goal is to keep things moving ahead by presenting both sides of an issue with a clear win. She finds that many issues with ventures in China can be solved by sending the team with the not only the rights skills, but also the correct attitude. She says, “...

Marcus Lyu runs hard commodities trading in Asia for the 100 billion USD, Swiss head-quartered energy trading firm Mercuria. In this interview in Shanghai, Business Class again looks at a changing China. Marcus explains how the coal and iron ore commodities markets, give insight into Chinese policy. He also describes how the 2008 global crash has shifted many heavy industries in China from private...

Jim McGregor engages in a spirited interview on issues facing foreign companies doing business in China. Speaking with Dick Drobnick in Shanghai, they cover topics from finding employees, to product dumping, to the impact of politics. McGregor states that, “This is China’s day,” and companies need to constantly re-evaluate their position as China itself is constantly changing. With thirty years ex...

Nat Rothschild has a storied family name that defined banking for centuries. Nat spoke with Dick Drobnick while taking part in the USC IBEAR MBA 40th anniversary two day seminar. The conversation ranged from his starting of one of the 90’s most lucrative hedge funds, to losing millions in a Indonesian coal mining venture. Now in the business of ‘staying rich’ he also gives us the politics and back...

the 40th anniversary of the USC Marshall IBEAR MBA program, in a conversation with three of the past and present program directors. The IBEAR MBA was one of the first business programs in the U.S. to embrace an international focus. The early understanding of globalization has created a program with a unique group of alumni. In a discussion lead by Jim Ellis, Dean of the Marshall School of Business...

Careers are made one opportunity at a time. Gary Rieschel racked up wins all along the way in his move to be the Founder of Qiming Venture Partners in China. Qiming’s record of 59 out 60 investment wins is now facing a changing China which is ,”becoming more competitive with every deal.” In this episode of Business Class hear how an agile mind negotiates the international business landscape. Inter...

Finding himself at the right place at the right time, he used his MBA and military training to build Four Rivers a successful Myanmar-based consulting company. His view of Myanmar’s past is that it was a country that had so much going for it: location, resources, climate that the government had to try hard to get things to go wrong. Now, he sees a country on the move forward, with a government and...

Making generational business decisions is George Drysdale’s goal when selecting an investment. Buying, operating and improving is his long term goal. He puts this strategy to work on a four square mile banana plantation in the Philippines and as a partial owner of the MLB San Francisco Giants. His 20-25 year investment horizon necessarily stretches across different political landscapes, and he dis...

Ron Somers has a long term bet on the success of India. With a career focused on large scale projects, he has experienced the country’s advantages and challenges first hand. This Business Class conversation digs into his view of India’s the wins and losses of the day. Win: a young motivated workforce Win: President Narendra Modi and his anti-corruption plans Loss: The U.S. and it’s limited H-1B vi...

Edwin Soeryadjaya of Saratoga Capital describes being a ‘forced entrepreneur’ and gives a unique look inside business in Indonesia. The task of building a business and rebuilding an empire fell to Edwin Soeryadjaya. At the center of business in Indonesia, he witnessed the highest and lowest points for his country and his family’s business. Now at the top of his career, he describes his version of...

Former U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Robert Blake, takes us from local politics in Indonesia to the Trump Administration. Who will be the new governor of Jakarta? The new president of Indonesia? How does the failure of the TPP drive Indonesia and India toward China? Does the idea of bilateral trade agreements promote U.S. business? In this edition of Business Class, we hear Ambassador Robert Blake...

In Jip Yang goes in depth on building long term international business partnerships. According to the New York times bestseller, The Drunken Botanist. “More Jinro soju is sold each year than all Smirnoff vodka, Bacardi Rum and Johnnie Walker Whisky combined.” In this interview we hear how Hite-Jinro built this powerhouse brand. Plus, we dig in to the subtleties of working with international partne...

Patrick Yoon, Managing Director at Standard Charted in Seoul, explains the path an international bank must take to do business in Korea. As one of only two international banks in the country, Standard Chartered must work under Korean regulations while competing globally. His team has instituted creative measures to bring younger employees, expand technology and still maintain the support of strong...

In an interview that took place outside of a Starbucks in downtown Tokyo, Andrew Wylegala brings new thought to US companies doing business in Japan. Regulations have been streamlined. Japan has the largest per capita R&D budget of any country. Japan and the U.S. sync up in many sectors which creates opportunities. The interviewer is Richard Drobnick, Director of the USC IBEAR MBA Program.

Business Class Podcast - Greg Drobnick, USC Alum and Co-Founder of Heal, talks about how technology is taking us back to the future and helping fix our broken healthcare system. In this presentation we listen in on Greg's visit to the USC IBEAR MBA classroom to describe the business side of Heal. He describes Heal's model of having top board certified physicians going back to the roots of medicine...

Business Class Podcast - Greg Drobnick, Co-Founder of Heal, describes how the Heal App is recreating the world of your doctor making a house call. In this presentation we listen in on Greg Drobnick’s visit to the USC IBEAR MBA classroom to describe the creation of an innovative personal healthcare startup. Greg takes the IBEAR students through a master class of how startup funding works. Heal has...

Business Class Podcast - Jack Wadsworth of Morgan Stanley, talks venture funds and the realities of investing in China. In this phone interview, Jack Wadsworth who developed Morgan Stanley’s Asia franchise, looks at venture investing in China. His analysis of growth rates, current programs to minimize corruption and the wish for Renminbi based investing brings unique insight. The interviewer is Ri...

Business Class Podcast - Sidney Rittenberg: Deal making from Maurice Greenberg to Craig Barret to Deng Xiaoping. First hand insight on the business etiquette of international deal making and the meetings that unlocked bringing Intel in to China.

Part 1 – Sidney Rittenberg discusses China and the nature of power. A man with an amazing life that has ranged from being a private translator for Mao to helping unlock the deal that brought Intel to China.