brought to you by asia club at the University of St. Gallen
in collaboration with the Asia Connect Center (ACC-HSG)

2018 Panellists​

Opening Panel topic: Switzerland: blessing or curse for Chinese companies?

Eunice Zehnder-Lai
Opening Panel Moderator 

Eunice Zehnder-Lai is Board Member of Asia Society Switzerland, DKSH and the Geberit Group. She is CEO of IPM AG and spent 20 years in the financial services industry with LGT Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch in New York, London, Hong Kong and Switzerland.
​She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Frank Walschot
CEO SR Technics

Frank Walschot is Chief Executive Officer of SR Technics (owned by HNA) as of April 1, 2018. Prior to becoming CEO, he was Chief Investment Officer of HNA Technic and was based in Haikou, China for one year. Frank joined SR Technics in 2008 as Vice President of Engine Maintenance and was appointed shortly thereafter to Head of Engine Services. In 2015, he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer, focusing on the performance and efficiency of SR Technics’ global operations, ensuring the highest safety and quality standards at all locations based on the principles of Lean and Continuous Improvement. 

Yu Zhang
Manager Business Development, Infront Sports & Media AG

Mr. Zhang has 13 years of experience working across Europe and China for governments, public organisations and private companies. He started his career as a Civil Servant in a  provincial government in China, later served a UN agency and three International Sports Federations in Switzerland and then the Swiss Embassy in Beijing. Zhang has been working in various mega events as well as diplomatic and commercial missions in and out of China such as World Expo, World University Winter Games and World Championships. His current role at Infront is to develop China business in sports development and coordinate management communication with the Chinese subsidiary and stakeholders.

Fuping (Eric) Li
Chief Representative of China Unicom, Zurich 

Mr. Fuping Li was appointed as chief representative of China Unicom Zurich Branch per January, 2017. Prior to joining China Unicom, Fuping Li worked for Huawei Switzerland as executive account manager from 2011 to 2016, during his tenure, he made an outstanding performance, which included a strategic cooperation with Swisscom. Prior to joining Huawei, Fuping Li worked for ZTE Germany as the director of technical sales. Fuping Li earned his Master’s Degree in Electronic Engineering from Wuhan University, China 2003.

Philipp Forster
Head of Representative Office, Bendura Bank AG Hong Kong

Mr Forster is the Designated Head of the new Representative Office of BENDURA BANK AG in Hong Kong. BENDURA BANK AG, founded in 1998, is a fully licensed bank with headquarter in the principality of Liechtenstein. He is in charge of establishing the bank in the Asian market and will make his permanent move to Hong Kong in the course of this year. He joined the bank in 2015, worked in a position as a Director in Trading/Treasury and was the Head of Payment Transactions. Prior joining BENDURA BANK AG Mr Forster gained his experience as relationship manager with BTV Bank in Austria. He was responsible for private banking clients. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Banking and Finance.


2017 Panellists
Opening Panel topic: Key players in tackling growth, trade and Trump's America
Prof. Dr. Tomas Casas i Klett
Director China Competence Center University of St. Gallen
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Prof. Casas is the Director of the China Competence Center and Assistant Professor at the Research Institute for International Management (FIM-HSG).
Prof. Casas worked with executives of leading global institutions and has business as well as entrepreneurial experience in countries like China, Russia and India. 
Philippe Reich
​Partner Baker & McKenzie and Vice Chairman Swiss Indian Chamber of Commerce
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​Philippe Reich is currently Partner at Baker & McKenzie, the biggest law firm in Zurich and second largest law firm in the world. He also serves as the Vice Chairman of the Swiss Indian Chamber of Commerce. Since 2010, he acts in the India Initiative on Global Steering by Baker & McKenzie as an European representative.
During his daily work, he has accumulated handful practical experiences about the legal basis of business transactions in India. From Mr. Reich, we see India beyond the cultural aspect but dive deep into the business environment from a lawyer' s perspective.

​Max Weber
​Head ASEAN Center for International Business
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​Max Weber is a senior lecturer at ZHAW School of Management, and has both academic as well as professional experience in doing business across Europe, Australia, and Asia. As a lecturer, Mr. Weber has been teaching in London School of Commerce, Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and the University of Technology in Sydney.
​He is also a consultant for Trade Group Asia based in Singapore and Zurich. In addition, he held the position as a General Manager of Asia Pacific in Survey Sampling International on global access to consumer and B2B markets.
Xiankun Lu
Associate Partner of IDEAS Centre Geneva and former senior trade diplomat of China 
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​Xiankun Lu has rich and solid experience from the governmental organization. During his term as Director for Agriculture in the Ministry of Commerce of China (MOFCOM), he initiated the first negotiation by China in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Being sophisticated in trading, Mr. Lu was elected in 2013 as Chairman of Committee of Import Licensing of the WTO. Besides working in the public sector, Mr. Lu is also active academically.
He is a Senior Associate of the China Competence Centre at the University of St. Gallen and Senior Advisor of IDEAS Centre Geneva. Mr. Lu also acts as senior research fellow or adjunct professor in a number of Chinese and European universities and think tanks. Those include Shanghai Centre for Global Trade and Economic Governance, Wuhan University of China, University of International Business and Economics of China (UIBE), Lugano University of Switzerland and Sussex University of UK.
Eunice Zehnder-Lai
CEO IPM AG and Board Member, Asia Society Switzerland 

​Eunice Zehnder is CEO of IPM AG, an institute that applies psychology to enhance the emotional intelligence of business professionals. She has 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, and is a Board Member of Asia Society Switzerland and the Geberit Group. 
​Ms. Zehnder grew up in Hong Kong and received an MBA from Harvard Business School and her Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University.
​Satyadeep Rajan
Founder Swiss Learning Exchange and former Head of South Asia at the World Economic Forum

Mr. Rajan is the Founder and President of Swiss Learning Exchange (SLX), a platorm that organises international management programms with top universities. He is also the Founder of Perpetual Technology Partners (PTP), a platform for catalyzing innovation and growth through facilitating international trade and investment.
​Prior to his engagement at SLX and PTP, Mr. Rajan was the Head of Membership South Asia for the annual World Economic Forum. He holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Engineering from Mumbai University.

2016 Panellists
​Josef M. Müller
Former CEO Nestlé Greater China Region
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During Mr. Müller’s 35 years with Nestle Group, he stayed in Asia for 28 years out of which 19 were spent in the Greater China Region. After being Head of Nestlé in Pakistan, South Korea and Beijing, he finally became Chairman and CEO of Nestlé in the Greater China Region. He also holds the position of Vice President of the Beijing Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment. Following his retirement, Mr. Müller remains active as a Senior Adviser and Board Member in various organizations.
Dr. Violet Lo
Founder & Director at Inclusive Business Social
​Former Executive Director at Goldman Sachs
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Dr. Violet Lo founded the Inclusive Business Lab in 2014, a global initiative aimed at addressing the rich-poor gap issue by creating opportunities through global value chains. During her 14 years in investment banking, Dr. Lo filled several noteworthy positions. She was once Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, after being in charge of the Insurance Solutions business at Barclays Capital Asia. Dr. Lo also worked at Merrill Lynch for over 4 years, where she was relocated from London to Hong Kong in 2008 to start the financial institutions solutions business for Merrill Lynch Pacific Rim. She also worked with Deutsche Bank and Tokyo-Mitsubishi International. 
Dr. Ralf Schläpfer
Managing Partner Deloitte - Strategic Growth
Board of Swiss Chinese Chamber of Commerce (SCCC)
Expert for Chinese M&A activities
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As Managing Partner at Deloitte and Board Member of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Schläpfer is able to provide great insights into M&A of Chinese capital in Europe. Now his area of expertise consists of consulting international firms, especially Asian countries, on moving their headquarters to Switzerland. Prior to Deloitte, Dr. Schläpfer was in charge of strategic planning, external growth and acquisitions at PwC. His experience in the consulting sector and knowledge of Asia definitely makes him a great third addition to the panel discussion. 
Prof. Dr. Tomas Casas i Klett
Director China Competence Center, University of St. Gallen
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Prof. Dr. Casas i Klett attained his Bachelor from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He then continued his educational path with a Masters degree from Fudan University (Shanghai) and a PhD at the University of St.Gallen.
Through his global exposure Prof. Dr. Casas i Klett has developed cross cultural competences that allow him to successfully teach Asia-related courses at numerous Universities. His position as the director of the China Competence Center at HSG, in combination with his valuable insights into Asia, makes him a great fourth addition to the Panel Discussion.