Access Asia Magazine Apr / May 2019: Sustainability and Environment

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SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENT 2019

APR/MAY

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A MESSAGE FROM THE

PRESIDENT

Greetings Members, As Ian Cummin outlined in the last month's Access Asia, he has stepped down as President as he starts to migrate his activities back to Australia. On behalf of the Board I would like to extend my thanks to Ian for his time on the Board and as President during which he has led a number of important initiatives for the Chamber's ongoing success. I would also like to thank the Board for approving my appointment as President and look forward to serving the Chamber in the months ahead. Access Asia’s theme this month of Sustainability is very much aligned to my personal and professional interests as a sustainability and innovation practitioner. The two are inextricably connected. In my view no business today can successfully innovate without focusing on sustainable business models nor can we deal with the enormous challenges of environmental sustainability without drawing on the innovation capabilities of all businesses working collaboratively. Mitigating the current impacts of climate change and managing the demands of an increasing global population will place enormous strains on our ability feed the world in a sustainable manner. Based on estimates that the world’s population is likely to hit 10 billion by 2050 , The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has forecasted that food production will need to increase by 70%. At the same time it is estimated that agriculture industry currently accounts for up to 25% of carbon emissions. The evidence is clear - many aspects of the current food supply system need to change to feed the world, reduce the impact on the environment as well as improve the health and wellbeing of all citizens. To that end I am excited that CSIRO is supporting the Chamber’s new initiative, The Innovation Series. Appropriately the first event is a breakfast panel discussion, the Future of Food at the Grand Hyatt on 24 April. I look forward to seeing many of you there and the following day at the Dawn Service for ANZAC Day one of the most recognised events in the Australian calendar wherever you are in the world. Lest we forget.

Events that celebrate the best of Australian produce have been central to AustCham Singapore calendar of events. Rightfully going forward events that focus on the best of Australian technology that can drive improved, more profitable and sustainable outcomes for food should be included to compliment such activities. Watch this space as we design and confirm events for next membership year. Such attention aligns well with the Singapore Government’s intentions as evidenced by Enterprise Singapore’s investment arm Seeds Capital recent appointment of seven co-investment partners to pump more than S$90 million into Food and AgriTech startups. Further the Government announced that it would set aside 18ha for an Agri-Food Innovation Park to bring together a range of hi-tech farming and R&D activities to make Singapore and urban agriculture and aquaculture technology hub. This provides great opportunities for Australian and Singapore startups to co-create solutions in the years ahead. Such collaboration opportunities – farming in Singapore - are not what we would traditionally envisage. Creating the unexpected - now that’s true innovation. As a member of the Chamber since I moved to Singapore thirteen years ago I have had the chance to meet and know many of you and count you as friends. For the many that I don’t know please introduce yourself and let me know what more we can do to serve your needs. While I would be naïve to say we can do all that you wish I can assure that I, my fellow Board Members and the Executive Team led by Kate Baldock , Executive Director are here to serve you as best we can. Let's challenge one another to be curious, look for the unusual opportunities, innovate and contribute to a more sustainable world. I look forward to working with you all.

Adam Lyle President

BOARD MEMBERS Adam Lyle

Andrew Brown

Teena Pisarev

John Dick

PRESIDENT Padang & Co.

VICE PRESIDENT

HONORARY TREASURER ANZ Banking Group Limited

HONORARY SECRETARY Dentons Rodyk

Chris Coburn

Treasury Wine Estates

Ian Cummin BlueScope

Leonie Muldoon Austrade

Scott Speedie

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Sean Straton UBS

Benjamin Tan

Qantas Airways

Fraser Thompson AlphaBeta

Ben Vella Telstra

Amber Williams NS BlueScope


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A MESSAGE FROM THE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Welcome to the April / May edition of Access Asia magazine, where we are looking at issues around sustainability and the environment. This is a huge topic, both in terms of scope as well as importance and we have had some really meaningful contributions from our members who work in this area. In this edition you will find articles from large corporates who are building in sustainability as part of their everyday activities in areas as diverse as energy usage, circular economy and food waste. We also have some articles from our members who work in a consultancy capacity to businesses, helping them to become more aware of the benefits of being more sustainable and environmentally aware. Thank you to each of our contributors, the perspectives from your companies and industry insights are very valuable. Once again it is a time of significant activity for the Chamber, as we finish up our 2018/19 financial year and plan for 2019/20. There are a number of new things we have planned for the upcoming year, all designed to bring greater value to you as our members and facilitate strong business connections. We are well underway to set up our industry groups, with the four pilot groups set to kick off in the coming weeks and a view to expand this over the year to include more industries and areas of interest. Our events program for the year will be launched soon, including dates for our President’s Lunch and Business Awards (14th June) and the Australia Day Ball (8th Feb). These signature events are really popular and tickets sell quickly, if you would like to reserve your tables you can send us an email events@austcham.org.sg Memberships are now due for renewal, you should have received the information from Erica and our membership team. The last 12 months have seen some exciting changes and growth for the Chamber, we are looking forward to continuing this success with you in 2019/20.

Kate Baldock Executive Director

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CONTENTS 6

PROMOTING AUSTRALIA'S CAPABILITY TO HELP BUILD ASEAN'S FUTURE LIVEABLE CITIES

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NAVIGATING SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS

9

BRINGING SUSTAINABILITY TO LIFE

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CLIMATE POLICIES OF AUSTRALIAN MAJOR PARTIES

14

AUSTRALIAN RED MEAT INDUSTRY LEADING THE WORLD IN APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY

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FINANCING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

20

WASTE MANAGEMENT

22

KAER AIR

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CUTTING THE FAT CLOSING THE FOOD WASTE DATA GAP

26

EVENT RECAP

31

UPCOMING EVENTS

32

OUT & ABOUT

35

THANK YOU

36

NEW MEMBERS

38

MEMBERSHIP CARD OFFERS

39

NEWSFLASH

BRONZE SPONSORS


FOREIGN POLICY UPDATES

PROMOTING AUSTRALIA'S CAPABILITY TO HELP BUILD ASEAN'S FUTURE LIVEABLE CITIES

H.E. BRUCE GOSPER Australia’s High Commissioner to Singapore

In 2019, the Australian High Commission in Singapore is promoting Australia’s built environment and sustainable cities capability in Singapore and the region. High Commissioner Bruce Gosper explains why this is a priority for Australia in Singapore. Significant urbanisation is underway in Southeast Asia. By 2030, an additional 90 million people are expected in ASEAN cities. These urban populations are expected to triple by 2050. This rapid growth in our region presents opportunities for Australia and our companies, which have world-class capabilities in providing for the expanding needs of cities confronting urbanisation challenges. Singapore’s construction demand is tipped to remain strong this year, with total construction demand – or the value of construction contracts to be awarded – expected to be between SGD$27 billion and $32 billion. Singapore’s Finance Minister, Heng Swee Keat, signalled an increase in infrastructure investment, including urban renewal in the 2019 Budget.

“MANY CITIES HAVE LARGE TRACTS THAT SLIP INTO DISREPAIR OVER TIME - WE MUST AVOID THAT. WE MUST STRIVE TO MAKE EVERY TOWN IN SINGAPORE GREEN AND LIVEABLE BY REJUVENATING THEM SYSTEMATICALLY OVER TIME," Minister Heng Swee Keat, February 2019

There is a strong appetite for innovation and new technologies as Singapore looks to transform its build environment sector, increasing productivity and operations efficiency. Earlier this month (6 March 2019), Singapore’s Minister of State for Manpower and National Development, Mr Zaqy Mohamed, announced initiatives to support transformation efforts in Singapore’s built environment sector. This include the BuildSG Transformation Fund which consolidates existing funding schemes in Design for Manufacturing and Assembly, Integrated Digital Delivery and Green Buildings to help local firms more easily find assistance to support their transformation. These efforts present exciting potential opportunities for Australian companies and expertise. Australia has a well-established and growing green building market, with more than 12 million square metres of Green Star certified or registered green building space. We are seen as a world leader in green building design, engineering, innovative products and technology. Our national science research agency, CSIRO, is a world leader in integrated sustainable cities research. CSIRO’s Future Cities research in energy, water and waste solutions; smart city analytics and operations; and, liveability, health and well-being is of real relevance to Singapore and ASEAN cities. 6

Many Australian built environment companies already have a significant presence in Singapore, bringing expertise and capabilities to a range of projects at the cutting edge of technology, including: • Engineering company, Aurecon, helped deliver Global Switch’s new data centre in Woodlands: the first project in Singapore to use prefabricated and modular techniques on a large scale. • Construction company, Lendlease, is delivering the soon-to open $3 billion Paya Lebar Quarter: an integrated urban development project that includes retail, commercial and residential. • Urban development consultancy Cistri is supporting cutting edge Singapore efforts on the Orchard Road development blueprint. We have an opportunity and the capability to help build our region’s future cities in smart, liveable and sustainable ways to support urbanisation. This is why the Australian High Commission in Singapore, with Austrade and CSIRO, will run an Australia-Singapore Built Environment Forum in June 2019. The Forum will promote Australia’s expertise and encourage even greater collaboration between Australia and Singapore in the built environment and ASEAN smart city development. The Forum will cover the future cities in ASEAN; commercial opportunities in the region; the skills and education dimension; innovation and platforms; and, citizen wellbeing. It will also include a Built Environment Marketplace, where sponsors will have the opportunity to display their capabilities in smart cities design, construction and technologies. We expect decisionmakers, officials, business leaders and academics from around our region to attend. I’m excited about connecting Australian expertise and companies with the opportunities across our region to help develop city systems in smart and sustainable ways. More information about the Australia-Singapore Built Environment Forum and related events is at https://singapore.embassy.gov.au/sing/events.html. More information on Australia’s built environment capability is available at https://www.austrade.gov.au/International/Buy/Australianindustry-capabilities/green-building


INSIGHT

NAVIGATING SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS LORENA PAGLIA Transformation, Corporate Governance and Development

Sustainability. It’s an often-used term with broad intent and meaning. What is it exactly and how do business leaders (and governments) navigate its’ at times complex nature? The importance of sustainable approaches, particularly in business is now more palpable then ever before. This is due to the impact it has on business risk and strategy, operational aspects, community and government policy. Sustainability is no longer a nice to have, but a collective moral and economic imperative. Both stakeholders and government policy intervention is shaping the business requirement to be transparent in their activity and ensure that investment and or impact is positive, strategic, measured and delivers value. But how do we make that real, tangible and relevant? We are now seeing the emergence of best practice and governance guidelines - from the World Economic Forum on ‘How to set up Effective Climate Governance on Corporate Boards’, the Australian Institute of Company Directors ‘Climate Change Governance Principles’, through to the COSO WBCSD ‘Enterprise Risk Management’ application to Environmental Social Governance (to name a few) – providing intentional guidance on how businesses can apply sustainability frameworks to their business model. The challenge that comes with this is two-fold; 1) some areas of private sector have yet to embrace incorporating sustainability as a model for competitive growth and doing good business; and 2) the how to integrate and implement, particularly to a mature business across multiple jurisdictions, can bring challenges and raise many questions. Businesses are encouraged to look at incorporating sustainability programs as integral to strategy, operations and the end-to-end value chain, by choosing methods and approaches, which align with governance guidelines, whilst allowing for the flexibility to operate within boundaries. Doing so is an opportunity for growth moving outside of traditional models, where the key outcomes are based on two principles that operate in unison: 1. Risk minimisation to people, environment and systems within the business, across the supply chain and communities; and 2. How businesses demonstrate smart outcomes towards efficiency and productivity with sustainable outcomes. The outcome of these principles and the solutions will vary dependant on the industry, jurisdiction, market access and area’s of operation. However, simplistically it is what all businesses need to focus on today, with the difference of understanding what this means through a sustainable lens across the business model and value chain. Whilst there are many factors to be considered from a macro-economic and global perspective, the key gaps that tend to exist for businesses on how to incorporate sustainability to existing business models, can come down a few factors including (but not limited to): • The confusion in how to chose the best approach and apply current best practice standards; • Any continuing disconnect between leadership and operations; • Full visibility of sourcing, suppliers and activity across supply

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>> NAVIGATING SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS

chains and value chains; and • Possible isolation of sustainable practices across the company’s operations and value chain. Some the key steps Boards and Leadership can undertake to integrate sustainability include: 1. Establish the Environmental Social Governance (ESG) framework in a way that best aligns with your company strategy. 2. Chose to focus on initial sustainability programs that are real and relevant to your business, industry and areas of operations (for example, focus on incorporating the specific United Nations Sustainability Goals that relate to your operations). 3. Build the chosen sustainability programs into your existing governance, risk and compliance frameworks with key drivers linked to operational outcomes (which are then reported, measured and continuously improved on). 4. Establish a clear implementation pathway considering what is practical against organisational maturity and resources available. 5. Plan and execute for transformational change across the business model. 6. Whilst embarking on this journey, the Board and Leadership need to be transparent and open with key stakeholders beyond the Annual Report. 7. At times, have courage to engage conversations that matter within the business, with external stakeholders and industry partners. By doing so, some of the demonstrable long-term benefits of this approach include: 1. Leveraging alternative business models in response to challenges facing businesses and communities; 2. Reduction in waste, negative impacts, risk, reputational damage through the demonstration of environmental social leadership;

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3. Creating social, environmental and economic benefit to the business and community; and 4. Realising efficiencies and productivity through environmental, social and stakeholder process improvement and redesign, creating sustainable evolution and development. It is time for businesses to catch up with the way great companies operate and see their role today, in a way that creates economically sound approaches whilst having a positive influence and impact. Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella describes it well “the job of a multinational is more important than ever. It needs to operate everywhere in the world, contributing to local communities in positive ways – sparking growth, competitiveness and opportunity for all” Whilst we are facing significant macro-economic pressure globally, opportunities exist everywhere. It is how we engage the conversations that matter, go about exploring the external variables in the market and engage available technology platforms that determine new and viable pathways. We can no longer simply tick the boxes; we have to move outside the lines to be strategically transformative and incorporating sustainability is part of that. Remaining competitive involves engaging audacious thinking and approaches, where business models need to transform for growth and long-term viability. I see the role private enterprise plays (together with their stakeholders) as critical to engaging and leading solutions to improve sustainable development outcomes and solve some of the challenges we face today. Great outcomes can be achieved by driving a vision for leadership, incorporating the social, environmental, economic, human and ethical principles of sustainable development as core to strategic intent. By doing so, organisations are able to play an active role in impactful market engagement, competitiveness and disruptive transformation.


BRINGING SUSTAINABILITY TO LIFE NG HSUEH LING Managing Director, Singapore and Chief Investment Officer, Asia Lendlease

No longer an afterthought, sustainability is increasingly being factored into business decisions. Globally, capital investors, policy makers and communities are seeking trusted partners who can deliver efficient, healthy, resilient, culturally and socially inclusive outcomes which deliver long term value. At Lendlease, Sustainability is about creating places for people and meeting their needs today, and in the future. We have a long history of giving emphasis to environmental, social and economic outcomes to deliver places that respond to the complex global forces shaping our future, including rapid urbanization, climate change, inequality and resource stress. MAKING BOLD SUSTAINABILITY PLEDGES Due to the nature of our business that involves the delivery of development projects from conception to creation, we have always been keenly aware that how we achieve things at Lendlease is just as important as what we achieve. We seek to adopt a longer and more holistic view in the way we operate our business, and to ensure our projects are not just accepted, but welcomed and supported by the community. Some of the commitments we have made as a business include being a signatory to the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment since 2007 shortly after it was launched the year before , requiring us to adopt and adhere to long-term principles guarding the interests of the environment and society as a whole. This is supported by our self-initiated policy on responsible investment, where we share our efforts made towards integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in our projects, advocacy and outreach every year. With 98 per cent of our total development pipeline having achieved or targeting green certification, we are looking to aggressively reduce the company’s resource consumption even further. Our goal is to eliminate waste from our business, use more clean energy, create more clean water than we use, and make significant progress against our 20 per cent reduction targets by 2020. This includes designing and building places with lighter environmental footprints from the very beginning. MAKING SUSTAINABILITY A COMMON INTEREST Whilst making bold commitments is a good starting point for us, we are focused on following through with an action plan involving long-term engagements with our stakeholders from the industry, government, and community based on our common interest to create lasting change.

This common interest approach is deeply ingrained in our culture, and was only made possible with our integrated model pioneered by our founder. By managing the entire development process from securing the land, developing the masterplan, consulting with the community and authorities and construction project management through to final delivery and then asset and property management, we have better control over the outcomes of our projects and are better able to account for wider implications, such as the longterm environmental impact of any project, in consultation with our stakeholders. Lendlease’s Green Lease programme is an example of how we partner with our stakeholders to be more sustainable, together. Our tenancy agreements incorporate various sustainability considerations from waste-sorting to requirements for efficient light and water fixtures, collectively boosting the ecological performance of the property. We also work closely with our retail tenants in Singapore on food waste management and put in place food waste digesters at our malls to process waste more efficiently, with naturally-occurring microbes breaking down the organic waste into water that is then used for cleaning the premises or discharged harmlessly into the general sewage network. MAKING SUSTAINABILITY ABOUT PEOPLE Community creation and social value are at the heart of our approach to sustainability. At Paya Lebar Quarter – our transformational urban regeneration project in Singapore that will soon become the beating social heart of the precinct upon completion – we made a deliberate decision to create 100,000 square feet of green, public space for residents, visitors and the community. In fact, our tree-positive strategy meant the community will enjoy over 300 per cent more trees than there were previously onsite, and an over 30 per cent increase in the diversity of flora and fauna. We also partnered with the Singapore Public Utilities Board to create the nation’s first private mixed-use project with ABC Waters certification, an initiative to manage stormwater collected in water-scarce Singapore while maintaining a pristine and enjoyable waterscaping for the public. In some cases, we also need to look at redefining what sustainability entails, such as including the social paradigm. After all, people are at the heart of any place, and all our projects strive for healthier outcomes for the people who live, work and play in them. Today, we are working towards built environments that create a positive impact on people’s health and wellness. 9


>> BRINGING SUSTAINABILITY TO LIFE

At Paya Lebar Quarter, we bring this concept to the fore by adopting biophilic practices when designing the entire 3.9-hectare mixeduse development. Biophilia is defined as an intrinsic and instinctive affinity by humans for nature , and there is a growing movement for workplaces to incorporate biophilic elements into their designs to increase the wellbeing and productivity of staff. Apart from the lush greenery we have incorporated liberally throughout the development, we also ensured there are ample views of the greenery we had carefully weaved in with generous and expansive views through full-length glass facades whilst making efforts to keep out the heat with high performance façade system. In fact, the office towers at Paya Lebar Quarter are Singapore’s first buildings to be registered for the International WELL Building Institute’s WELL Core and Shell Certification, the world’s first building standard focused exclusively on measuring the health and wellbeing of occupants in built environments. With people being the most important asset to any business large or small, the outcome is a happier and healthier workforce at the close to one million square feet of office spaces across the development.

MAKING SUSTAINABILITY RELEVANT TO THE FUTURE To truly bring sustainability to life, we need to ensure that the features of the built environment remains relevant not just to the present, but for the future as well. This means constantly pushing the boundaries in terms of sustainability innovations, such as new technology and materials including Cross Laminated Timber and Low Carbon Concrete to increase material productivity gains in the way we build. The use of timber might seem counterintuitive, but recent advances has made it a sustainable building resource. For example, the spruce tree from which we derive our timber from is an exceptionally fast-growing species from Austria. The approximately 21,175 m2 of timber we used for the world’s largest and tallest engineered timber office building, 25 King, can be regenerated by Austrian forests is as little as six hours, a remarkable feat. Our experience in developing modern materials has led to the establishment of DesignMake, our manufacturing arm focusing on crafting pre-fabricated building components for even more efficient, cost and energy-efficient construction. MAKING BUSINESS SENSE FROM SUSTAINABILITY Central to our founding philosophy is the belief that a successful company must operate both profitably and ethically. Being able to deliver sustainable developments like Paya Lebar Quarter is not just good for the environment and the community, but for business too. Our leadership in assets and funds is also globally recognized. Last September, our five Lendlease-managed funds here in Asia swept the top five positions in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB), which assessed 903 participants and over 79.000 properties. This is testament to our focus on delivering long-term value for our stakeholders, through healthy and resilient projects that are financially, environmentally and socially inclusive. We are already feeling the effects of erratic weather and the alarming regularity of major natural phenomenon. While it is good that businesses are recognizing it is no longer business-as-usual when it comes to sustainability, we should be doing more. As the stewards of our environment, our decisions and our actions determine the resilience and legacy of our cities and the future of our communities. It is therefore our responsibility to have the courage to not just make bolder commitments, but follow through with an action plan that transforms our industry and the communities we are immersed in to truly create better places. Lendlease, an international property and infrastructure group, is headquartered in Sydney. In Asia, Lendlease operates in Singapore, Malaysia, China and Japan, where its projects have received numerous green credentials and accolades.

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CLIMATE POLICIES OF AUSTRALIAN MAJOR PARTIES MARC ALLEN Technical Director Engeco

It should be no surprise by now that 2019 is an election year in Australia. Although the election itself hasn’t yet been called, the Federal budget has been scheduled for April 2, which most pundits suggest points to an election in May – either May 11, 18 or 25. In any case, an election will be taking place in coming months, driven by a requirement for a half senate election prior to terms expiring on 30 June. With this imminent, it’s a good time to reflect on the climate change and energy policies being put forward by the major parties. There are indications that climate change policy, and policies to manage Australia’s energy supply system (and energy pricing) will be a key battleground for the election. This has also spurred action from some high profile independent candidates in some seats. THE GLOBAL LANDSCAPE Climate change itself is a global issue, that requires a global response and Australian policy shouldn’t be considered in a vacuum. To give proper consideration to the parties’ policies, they have to be looked at in the context of global action. Since 1992, when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was developed, there have been a number of global agreements to deal with climate change. The most importhant for current domestic policies in all countries however was the recent Paris Agreement, signed in Paris in 2015 and coming into force from 2016 – when the minimum 55 countries, covering at least 55% of global emissions ratified the agreement. As of March 2019, 185 countries have ratified the agreement. The Paris Agreement has a headline goal that is often referred to – the goal of limiting temperature increase globally to well below 2°C from pre-industrial levels by the year 2100, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. Below this headline, there

Figure 1 - Paris Agreement goals

are a number of additional aims of the agreement that support the temperature goals. To help analyse current and future domestic policies, what’s important is how the Paris Agreement works in practice. In the first instance, the aim of peaking emissions as soon as possible and achieving net zero (and even negative emissions) by the second half of the 21st century is the thing that will achieve the stated temperature goals. Note, this is “net zero” where the amount of GHG emissions being removed from the atmosphere (e.g., by trees) is equal to the amount being emitted. All decarbonization pathways to the stated temperature goals show net zero emissions between 2050 and 2070, with developed countries having to decarbonize at a slightly faster rate than the developing world. Functionally, the Paris Agreement works by individual countries pledging to reduce their emissions within a certain timeframe. Countries are free to set their own goals, balancing the economic and environmental needs of that country. There is an expectation, though not a requirement, that countries increase their ambition as part of the five yearly review cycle of country level targets. The only legally binding aspects of the Paris Agreement are that countries must develop targets, and review them every five years. There’s no legal requirement to actually meet those targets (though there will be diplomatic and social pressure to achieve targets). So far, countries have set a range of different types of targets with different base years, different target years and different calculation bases. Australia’s target is currently a 26% - 28% reduction in absolute emissions from 2005 levels by 2030. Other targets in use are intensity related targets such as Singapore’s, which is a 36% reduction in emissions intensity (measured in tonnes of greenhouse gases per unit of GDP) from 2005 levels by 2030 – or business as usual targets such as South Korea (37% reduction on BAU levels in 2030), which sets a target of a reduction against a projected forecast. In general, Australia’s target is comparable to that set by other developed nations, when compared on a like for like basis. It’s certainly not the lowest target and, given the structure of the Australian economy with a reliance on relatively high emissions extractive industries, a potentially challenging target to achieve purely domestically. The United Nations takes these national pledges and develops a view on the gap to target, that target being the desired temperature outcome. What’s clear in the emissions gap report is that there is a significant gap between national pledges and what’s required to meet the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement. Climate Action


>> CLIMATE POLICIES OF AUSTRALIAN MAJOR PARTIES

Tracker only rates 5 countries as having targets compatible with 2°C goal and 2 countries with targets in line with the 1.5°C goal. This indicates that there will be some pressure on countries to increase their level of ambition in coming years – which will mean that domestic policies will need to be tightened. CURRENT AUSTRALIAN POLICY FRAMEWORK In Australia, there are some key policy levers currently in place to drive action on climate change and help with meeting current global commitments. These are the Carbon Farming Initiative, the Safeguard Mechanism and the Emissions Reduction Fund. In addition, the Renewable Energy Target is an energy related policy that will have an impact on decarbonization of the energy generation system. The Carbon Farming Initiative, which was set up by the ALP during the time Australia had a carbon price, sets a number of methodologies whereby companies can generate carbon credits (called Australian Carbon Credit Units – ACCUs) from emissions reduction projects. These projects include forestry projects, industrial efficiency projects, fuel switching, landfill gas recovery and others. The policy defines what projects are considered to be emissions reduction projects, the verification requirements and the issue of ACCUs for that project. Once received, companies that complete projects can use these ACCUs for a few different purposes. The Emissions Reduction Fund is a fund that has been set up by the Government whereby they can purchase ACCUs from emissions reduction projects under contract, using a reverse auction process. The Government has a money set aside in the budget to purchase these ACCUs and effectively lock in those abatement projects. The contracts for purchase of emissions abatement come with a number of caveats around actual supply of permits and verification that the abatement actually occurred. Selling abatement to the Government is the first option for companies that generate credits under the Carbon Farming Initiative. To date, the Government has purchased 193 million tonnes of abatement at an average cost of $12 per tonne in eight auctions. The Safeguard Mechanism presents a second opportunity for companies that have ACCUs to sell or use them. Under the Safeguard Mechanism, large facilities (those that have GHG emissions greater than 100,000 tonnes per year) are given an emissions baseline, which acts as a cap on emissions. If actual emissions for a reporting year exceed that baseline, one of the options for the facility is to acquire ACCUs to cover those excess emissions. Companies may get ACCUs from doing their own offset projects outside of the facility or they may purchase them on the secondary market from companies that have them. This is effectively a functional carbon market in Australia. In the 2017/18 reporting year, 259,000 ACCUs were surrendered to cover emissions exceedances.

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Finally the Renewable Energy Target, which sets a target for large scale renewable energy generation by the year 2020. The target is 33,000 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy. To meet this target, it was estimated in 2016 that an additional 6,000 MW of large scale renewables were required. As at January 2019, there was 4,757 MW accredited by the regulator, with a further 5,499 MW of commited capacity and 1,504 MW of probably capacity. It would appear that this target will be easily reached, driven largely by large reductions in the costs of renewable energy and relatively high prices for electricity. The question now is what stays and what goes under the major parties as we move into the next election cycle. COALITION POLICY The Coalition has released some detail on their proposed climate policy. The Climate Solutions Package is a $3.5b program to be delivered over the next 10 years and support Australia in meeting its Paris Agreement targets. The amount of abatement required to meet the 26% absolute emissions target is based on forecasted projections of emissions and is currently estimated at 328 million tonnes of GHG reduction (total abatement over the period) by 2030. Importantly, this abatement task includes an allowance where previous performance against Kyoto Protocol targets (where Australia performed better than target on an average basis) is carried over against the Paris Agreement targets. This carry over of 367 million tonnes of abatement is a point of discussion in the media and may be a point of distinction between the two parties.

Figure 2 - Coalition proposed emissions reductions


>> CLIMATE POLICIES OF AUSTRALIAN MAJOR PARTIES

The Climate Solutions Package consists mostly of the Climate Solutions Fund – which is essentially a rebadged and rebudgeted Emissions Reduction Fund. The budget for the Emissions Reduction Fund has been extended by $2b over the next 10 years. Other aspects of the Climate Solutions Package are funding for energy storage projects, improvements in household energy efficiency and a national electric vehicle strategy. The focus on energy storage enables greater penetration of renewable energy into the grid. There is no indication as to what happens to the Renewable Energy Target after 2020 but, given economics of renewable energy, it’s likely that installation of renewable energy will continue without policy intervention. Energy storage will act to minimize the impact on the grid. The package from the Coalition refers to both Snowy 2.0 (using the Snowy River hydroelectric plant for energy storage and additional generation) and the Battery of the Nation project. This project involves construction of a new power line between Tasmania and Victoria and work to utilize new hydroelectric and pumped storage capacity in Tasmania. With regard to the Safeguard Mechanism, there is work underway to make improvements to the baseline setting process and the policy package does state that there will be a review of this policy in 2020. The Safeguard Mechanism has always been a potential way to at the very least, put a cap on emissions rising in high emitting industries and at most a way to manage emissions in these industries so this will be something for businesses to watch. The Safeguard Mechanism is the area in which Australian businesses will be most exposed to climate change policy going forward. Any changes to the Safeguard Mechanism are covered in the column marked “other sources of abatement” in the waterfall chart shown in Figure 2. COALITION POLICY ALP climate change policy does currently lack firm detail in many areas though it has been hinted during some interviews and articles that they do not intend to abandon policy such as the Safeguard Mechanism, which could be amended to achieve emissions reduction goals. One very large difference between the ALP and the Coalition however is the emissions reduction target. The ALP have stated on many occasions that their emissions reduction target in 2030 will be a 45% reduction in emissions from 2005 levels. This is clearly much higher than the Coalition target and will be at the top end of emissions reductions from the developed world. The origin of the target is a report made a few years’ ago by the Climate Change Authority which indicated that a 45% emissions reduction target represents Australia’s fair share of a global commitment to 2°C temperature rise by 2100. So, the ALP target is considered to be in line with Paris Agreement expectations.

consistent with the position of other countries though a final decision by the party hasn’t been made. Not including these obviously makes the abatement task harder – and a 45% target will already be quite challenging. The ALP released some detail on energy policy in November 2018. Under their policy, there would be an extension of the Renewable Energy Target to 50% renewables by 2030. To support this, they have announced expenditure of $15b over the next five years that will be used to support large scale renewable energy projects, provide grants for installation of home battery systems and provide funding for commercial and industrial energy efficiency projects. The proposed expenditure also covers upgrades to the electricity transmission and distribution networks. DIFFERENCES IN OPINION It’s clear that the main difference between the two parties is the emissions reduction target that is proposed by each. Globally, there appears to be a trend towards increasing the level of decarbonization ambition from different countries and at the recent climate change conference in Katowice, Poland in December the Secretary General of the United Nations urged countries to be prepared to increase ambition as soon as this year. What’s not yet clear is what the cost of increasing ambition will be, both to businesses and on an economy wide basis. One item for both sides of politics to consider is potentially the use of international permits and international abatement projects to help Australia achieve its goals. There is a section in the Paris Agreement to deal with this and negotiations in this area are continuing into 2019. Given Australia’s economy, this access to international abatement may prove to be useful to allow Australian businesses to take advantage of opportunities – particularly in the ASEAN region – and to allow for flexible compliance mechanisms.

The ALP has also hinted that they may not use the carryover permits from the overachievement against Kyoto Protocol targets. This is

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AUSTRALIAN RED MEAT INDUSTRY LEADING THE WORLD IN APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY ELLEN RODGERS International Business Manager Meat & Livestock Australia

Initiatives to demonstrate the sustainability of Australian red meat are vital to protecting and growing access to overseas markets, including South East Asia. The Australian red meat industry is dependent on export. Australia is one of the top three exporters of beef and veal, and the world’s largest sheepmeat and goatmeat exporter in the world. Australia exports red meat and livestock to more than 100 countries, representing over 60% of the industry's production, making it critical to protect and expand our access to overseas markets. Asia is a key market, with Australia’s top five beef and veal export markets (by volume) in 201718 being Japan, USA, South Korea, China and Indonesia. The Australian industry recognises that the expectations of customers, investors and other stakeholders are increasingly requiring transparent information and evidence of the social and environmental impact of producing red meat. Global foods brands increasingly report on sustainability, including their whole supply chain, so to remain a viable supply partner, the Australian red meat industry needs to show the action it is taking to be sustainable. While the Australian industry’s reputation for quality and food safety is well understood around the world, there is an increasing interest and awareness on how that food is produced. That is, how beef and lamb are produced and the great care for the environment and cattle that is taken in Australia.

target to be Carbon Neutral by 2030. The beef industry recognises that from consumers’ point of view, it is now up to businesses and industries, not just government, to act responsibly to reduce emissions. Towards a carbon neutral industry by 2030 – an industry-led initiative In 2017 the Australian red meat industry set an ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2030. The Carbon Neutral initiative is a clear message to global consumers that the Australian red meat industry is serious about addressing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Benefits of setting the Carbon Neutral ambition are: increased productivity in the red meat industry, • additional farm income from carbon mitigation projects, • a major contribution to government targets on emissions reduction, and • another strong assurance for consumers of the quality and integrity of our naturally produced, great tasting Australian red meat.

Sustainability in the beef industry has been defined as the production of beef in a manner this socially, environmentally and economically responsible. We do this through the care of natural resources, people and community, the health and welfare of animals, and the drive for continuous improvement.

Setting the goal for the Australian red meat industry to be carbon neutral by 2030 also addressed the clear market signals in our high value international markets including South East Asia that emissions from livestock production are an issue for consumers who are also increasingly interested in the provenance of their food.

The Australian Beef Sustainability Framework was established in 2017 as a tool to engage and report progress on sustainable production with key stakeholders around the world including customers, investors, environment and welfare groups and consumers. The Australian sheep industry are in the early stages of developing a similar framework.

There is a huge opportunity for the Australian industry to make a real difference in mitigating climate change through increasing carbon storage in the natural landscapes the industry operates, reducing emissions, while at the same time improving productivity and deriving new revenue streams through carbon farming.

The Sustainability Frameworks are proudly ambitious and take a proactive approach to managing the risks associated with animal welfare, economic resilience, people and community, and environmental stewardship. Addressing these issues head on helps the industry be more agile to emerging risks, which is increasingly important in the rapidly changing, globalised world. Within the frameworks are six key priority areas, one of which is climate. Recognising the impact and consumer desire for low carbon products, the Australian red meat industry has set an ambitious 14

The 2030 target was set following research undertaken by CSIRO in 2017 to understand if carbon neutrality was possible in the Australian production system and if so what the most promising pathways are to achieve it. In 2018, Meat and Livestock Australia spent significant time reviewing the pathways in order to identify the most promising ones as far as likelihood of industry adoption, commercialisation opportunities of new technologies and gaps in research that required further investment.


The Carbon Neutral Implementation Plan is focussed on: Adoption: Some pathways are well known and can be acted upon now; such as improving animal genetics, feedbase management and herd management can reduce GHG emissions per unit of meat production, and sequestering carbon into soils using pastures and legumes. As well as the immediate business benefits of improved productivity there are also new revenue streams open to producers through the Emissions Reduction Fund and voluntary carbon markets. Bioadditives that can inhibit methane production in the rumen are the most promising way to significantly reduce or eliminate methane. Currently MLA is focused on working on the commercialisation path of a number of bioadditives and partnerships are being sought globally. Some bioadditives have been proven to reduce emissions by up to 90%. One challenge is how to deliver the bioadditive to the extensive Australian herd in a cost efficient and practical way. Storing carbon Sequestering or storing carbon in vegetation is well understood and in Australia land holders have the ability to be remunerated through the Emissions Reduction Fund, the centrepiece of the Australian governments approach to reducing emissions. The beef industry is the largest beneficiary of the $2.5billion fund to date, returning significant value to landholders for storing or avoiding carbon through their operations. In addition to storing carbon in vegetation a soil carbon method was approved in 2018 and the first credits received. There is further work required on cost-effectively measuring soil carbon to enable landholders to participate in these new markets. Dung beetles have been a focus of the industry for decades for improving soil health and now there is promise that they can play an important role in moving carbon in animal dung into soils. Current work is focussed on how to measure and verify the benefits dung beetles in sequestering carbon. Offsets in the short-term will be investigated, but ultimately the industry aims to balance carbon in the landscapes in which it operates. In 2018 some supply chains have begun to claim carbon neutrality and in the short-term have used offsets to achieve this.

Further demonstration of the industry’s willingness to engage is the beef industry’s commitment to reducing emissions by nominating ‘managing climate risk’ and ‘the balance of tree and grass cover’ as two of the six key priority areas within its Australian Beef Sustainability Framework. Measuring and proving sustainability through the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework – an industry led initiative The Australian Beef Sustainability Framework (the Framework) was developed by the industry to meet the changing expectations of consumers, customers, investors and other stakeholders. The industry developed its own Framework to take charge and be proactive on sustainable practices. Launched in April 2017, the Framework sets out a vision: a thriving Australian beef industry that strives to continuously improve the wellbeing of people, animals and the environment. The Framework defines what sustainable beef production is for the Australian industry with: • Four themes (animal welfare, economic resilience, environmental stewardship, and people and the community), and • 23 priorities (with six key priorities) • 47 indicators It tracks its performance over these indicators annually. The indicators are continually refined through consultation with both stakeholders and technical experts. The Framework was developed in response to customers, investors and others increasingly demanding proof of the products they buy, or buy into, are produced responsibly, in terms of their social, environmental and economic impacts. The Framework was launched in April 2017 in a baseline report. The first Annual Update was published in May 2018, reporting progress on the baseline report. The first Annual Update included key milestones for the project, including: • Established the Consultative Committee of customers, investors, NGO representatives and other key stakeholders. • Established an expert working group to advise on refining evidence-based indicators for the balance of tree and grass cover, which is a highly politicised issue in Australia. • With input from the Consultative Committee, selected six priorities for industry action. Without excluding other priority areas, these six key priority areas will focus industry and Framework activities to drive continuous improvement across the value chain. Work continues for all other 15



>> AUSTRALIAN RED MEAT INDUSTRY LEADING THE WORLD IN APPROACH TO SUSTAINABILITY priority areas. The six key priorities are: • Animal husbandry techniques • Profitability across value chain • Balance of tree of grass cover • Manage climate risk • Antimicrobial stewardship • Health & safety of people Sustainability in focus when Win-Chain delegation visits Australia These initiatives were presented to delegates from Alibaba’s new retailing and catering operations facilitator, Win-Chain, in March. The producer-owned company responsible for research, development and marketing services for the Australian red meat and livestock industry, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), hosted the delegation. The group visited exporters, abattoirs and farms throughout the country.

The Australian industries sustainability credentials and Carbon Neutral target were highlighted at a recent Sustainability Forum in Japan. Japan is focussed on sustainability heading into the 2020 Olympic Games where they aim to have the most sustainable games yet. To highlight the potential for sustainable food systems, Meat & Livestock Australia and the Japanese Australian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries presented on what sustainable food systems look like and in particular sustainable beef. The forum saw many Japanese customers attend to hear about Australia’s sustainable beef production. Japan’s largest retailer Aeon spoke at the event alongside a speaker from McDonald’s. The previous chair of the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework told the group of customers about the work the Australian beef industry is doing to collaborate with stakeholders and meet consumer expectations in Japan and across the world. Attendees at the event heard that Australia is blessed to have an abundance of land that is incredibly well suited to grazing cattle and sheep.

The focus of the trip was to help the buyers understand how the supply chain is managed to produce safe, nutritious meat of consistent quality, in a manner that cares for the environment, animals and people. Sustainability flagship projects to help power Tokyo Olympics

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FINANCING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE BRUCE MCKENZIE Director Institutional Banking ANZ

As the world works towards a myriad of sustainable goals and ambitions, business functions such as finance must shift to suit the needs of organisations and governments. Sustainable finance is a growing trend amongst businesses but it can be a complicated service to understand as it is made up of many components.

“A FINANCIAL CENTRE ENSURES AND IMPROVES ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY, PROSPERITY, AND ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS BOTH TODAY AND IN THE LONGTERM.” The term refers to any form of financial service integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into the business or investment decisions for the lasting benefit of both clients and society at large. A sustainable financial centre is a financial marketplace that, as a whole, contributes to sustainable development and value creation in economic, environmental and social terms. In other words, a financial centre ensures and improves economic efficiency, prosperity and economic competitiveness both today and in the long-term, while contributing to protecting and restoring ecological systems and enhancing cultural diversity and social wellbeing. For each of these categories, there are individual attributes for borrowers, investors and lenders. These loans and bonds can be largely defined within two key structures: INCENTIVE LOAN APPROACH This is a newer structure which has primarily been utilised for loan facilities (rather than bonds). The loan margin is tied to the issuer achieving a certain Environmental, Social, Governance score across a number of targets, as assessed by an independent third party such as Olam’s sustainability-linked club loan facility. USE OF PROCEEDS APPROACH There are two instruments here: •

Bonds - what most people think of when they use the phrase “green bond”. Can be used for a green, social or sustainability bond issuance. The key factor is proceeds of the bond are tied to financing or refinancing certain underlying assets of the issuer, which can be classified as eligible green or social assets. A recent example is ANZ’s Sustainable Development Goals Bond issuance.

Loans – a very similar approach to bonds, except the focus is on proceeds of a loan borrowed, rather than bond issued such as Contact Energy’s green loan, the first debt to be issued following their drafting of a Green Borrowing Programme.

THE RISE OF GREEN INVESTMENTS There are various factors driving green investments and sustainable finance such as Strategy & future financial performances - sustainability, social and environmental governance is being increasingly integrated into corporate business strategies. These strategies are supporting new investment opportunities and mitigating various business risks including climate change. It is increasingly cited as an indication of future outperformance in comparison to peers that do not have sustainability integrated into their strategies. Regulation - governments and regulators are implementing and reviewing policies to encourage sustainable development and the transition to low carbon economies. This is creating incentives for businesses to place resources in sustainable investments within their supply chains and report on progress. Reputation - there is an increasing expectation from wide-ranging stakeholders and customers to integrate sustainability into business strategy. Various regulators are requiring voluntary or mandatory disclosure on social and environmental performance. It is also demonstrating commitment and provides an avenue for transparent market reporting of sustainability performance and alignment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Two key standards investment institutions have adopted are United Nations Global Compact Principles and the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investments. Although complex, sustainable finance is an area of growth and obligation businesses must begin to focus on - or risk being left behind with all the costs that implies.

ANZ is AustCham Corporate Patron Member

Use of proceeds could include any of the categories below or those aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

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WASTE MANAGEMENT MATT STANELOS Director - Waste Business Line Veolia Singapore

For most readers of this publication, waste management may not often be a high profile topic. However in 2019 there are a number of factors keeping the topic high on the agenda for government, business and consumers, not the least of which is that in Singapore 2019 is the Year - Towards Zero Waste. The Singapore government has designated this year to highlight their vision of making Singapore a zero waste nation, moving from a traditional take, make and dispose economy to adopting a circular economy approach. The focus of this approach will be reducing waste generation and fostering reuse and recycling of resources, culminating in a Zero Waste Masterplan to be released later in 2019. Many of the key pillars to support this drive towards zero waste are already in progress, through the National Environment Agency, including: •

Mandatory installation of dual chute systems, one for waste and one for recyclables in new HDB blocks and condominiums over 4 storeys, making recycling equally as convenient as disposal from the home;

Procurement for Tuas Nexus, a combined waste and wastewater treatment facility in Tuas South which will include new facilities for food waste processing, recyclable sorting and waste to energy due to open by 2023;

Implementation of an extended producer responsibility scheme to fund increased e-waste recycling - covering traditional ICT devices as well as other appliances like air-conditioners, fridges and TV’s, batteries and portable mobility devices and PV panels; and

Implementation of mandatory packaging reporting for importers of consumer goods, with associated packaging reduction plans to identify and address plastic use in particular.

Action to address circular economy challenges, particularly plastic waste issues, won’t come from government alone, both business and consumers will need to play their part. It is estimated that only 9% of the 9 billion tonnes of plastic accumulated globally since the 1950s has been recycled. South East Asia as a region has attracted more than its fair share of the problems arising from this accumulation historically large volumes of waste imported into the region from Europe, United States and Australia, poor infrastructure to cope with both domestic plastic waste and this imported volume, resulting in significant impact on the environment - particularly to the oceans. As a result 50% of the plastic entering the oceans is estimated to wash

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from the lands of countries in Asia - China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. In recent times, businesses large and small have been making efforts to reduce plastic use in everyday single use forms - straws, bags and other packaging here in Singapore. Due to the comparative population size, a net export of plastic commodities and advanced waste infrastructure, Singapore is not a significant contributor to ocean pollution from land, but clean ups of Singapore beaches yield volumes as significant as any country faces. Once the plastic is in the ocean, it is no longer one nation problem. In these neighbouring countries different approaches are required to reduce plastic leakage to the environment and improve recycling and resource efficiency through community engagement, social programs and job creation, such as the Project STOP initiative Veolia has been involved with in Indonesia. This project involves the collaborative efforts of local communities and government, informal waste collectors and key players in the plastic value chain - all focused on reaching a sustainable and replicable long term improvement. Returning to Singapore, Veolia is currently involved in a pilot project with NEA and PUB collecting food waste from businesses, food centres and other sites for co-digestion with sewage sludge to optimise the design of this element of the future Tuas Nexus development. Another critical waste management issue for the local economy is the need for hazardous waste infrastructure. With the significant investment in oil and gas, chemical, pharmaceutical and electronics sectors in Singapore comes the need for treatment of complex industrial waste streams. Later in 2019, Veolia will deploy a range of


the latest treatment technologies at a new chemical waste treatment plant in Tuas South, bringing a new standard of service to Singapore’s major industrial players and marking a significant investment in the ongoing sustainability of industry as a whole. Hopefully in these few paragraphs I’ve highlighted that there is plenty of action on the waste management agenda in 2019 here in Singapore, driving improved sustainability and a circular economy approach for government, industry, business and consumers. While it may not always be your number one priority, don’t forget to play your part.

resources, and to replenish them. In 2018, the Veolia group supplied 95 million people with drinking water and 63 million people with wastewater service, produced nearly 56 million megawatt hours of energy and converted 49 million metric tons of waste into new materials and energy.

Veolia group is the global leader in optimized resource management. With over 171,000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy management solutions which contribute to the sustainable development of communities and industries. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available

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KAER AIR

How a “product-as-a-service” business model is disrupting the real estate industry

JUSTIN TAYLOR Chief Executive Officer Kaer

THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION Building owners all over Asia are looking for innovative ways to create better experiences for their customers. But before they can get to this important task, they have to put some basics in place. Their buildings need to have power, water and air-conditioning. Without these core services, there is no customer experience to worry about because there are no customers. Building owners simply sign a contract with a power provider to buy power on consumption basis. A unit rate and a pay-as-you-use model. Same thing for water. But the question is. Why is air-con different? Today, to provide a comfortable environment for their customers many building owners invest capital and resources into owning and operating an air-conditioning system. This comes with a long list of financial and operational challenges and requires continuous investment to ensure the performance of the system.

it to the single largest pain point for building owners in Asia to see if we could bring the “product-as-a-service” benefits to the real estate industry. KAER AIR: AIR CONDITIONING AS A SERVICE Instead of investing in and operating air-conditioning equipment, building owners simply dictate the conditions they want to achieve in their space. Kaer assumes all financial and operational responsibility to deliver the conditions and the building owner simply buys air-con on a payas-you-use basis. A SHIFT IN FOCUS The Kaer Air business model allows building owners to dedicate their time and capital to providing unique experiences for their customers whilst Kaer is fully accountable for providing the conditions they need.

“THINK ABOUT SINGAPORE AIRLINES. THEY WILL TAKE AN AIRCRAFT FROM A BOEING OR AN AIRBUS AND THEN CUSTOMISE IT AND TURN IT INTO SOMETHING THAT ALLOWS THEM TO FULFIL THEIR MISSION. THEY ARE BEST-IN-CLASS IN TERMS OF DELIVERING AN EXPERIENCE TO A PASSENGER. THEY DON’T NEED TO BE OR WANT TO BE BEST-IN-CLASS AT BUILDING AIRCRAFT. BECAUSE THAT’S A TOTALLY DIFFERENT BUSINESS. THAT’S LIKE KAER AIR. WE WILL BUILD THE SYSTEM AND GIVE THE CLIMATE WITHIN THE BUILDING TO THE OWNER, AND THEY THEN TAKE THAT AND TURN IT INTO WHAT THEY WANT TO PACKAGE AND DELIVER TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.” Justin Taylor, CEO at Kaer In short building owners are forced to take on additional business risk and manage a non-core activity that negatively impacts their asset performance, yield and valuation. JOINING THE "AS-A-SERVICE" ECONOMY We are witnessing a mass migration from the traditional ownership model to a world where consumers simply subscribe for access to content and services. This global phenomenon has caused disruption in nearly every industry with large incumbents being toppled by new players in the market. Music, hotels, travel, telecoms, transport, data and even construction and manufacturing. Seeing the transformative effects of this business model Kaer applied

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AN ERA OF EXPONENTIAL CHANGE AND DISRUPTION Like many other “as-a-service” brands, Kaer has seen exponential growth over the past 5 years and now serves over 10 Million square feet of space across 3 countries. Customers include Global REITS, Developers, Educational Institutions, Business Parks and Data Centres. In addition to adding assets to the Kaer portfolio, the Kaer Air business model has been recognised by the Business and Sustainable Development Commission alongside global brands like Netflix, Google, Airbnb and Alibaba. In a recent report Kaer Air was heralded as one of the top 18 Global


Breakthrough Business Models to tackle the UN Sustainability Development Goals (UNSDGs). A BREAKTHROUGH BUSINESS MODEL WITH SUSTAINABILITY AT

Kaer is incentivised in real-time to be as efficient as possible which has resulted in the greenest and most sustainable air-conditioning systems in Asia. Every single asset in the Kaer portfolio is served by a system that exceeds Singapore’s Green Mark Platinum standards. DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY The Kaer Air business model has resulted in a large portfolio of assets under Kaer’s management which can justify higher investment in R&D. To support Kaer’s expansion into Malaysia and India, the Board quadrupled their R&D investment and developed the world’s first software platform using Artificial intelligence to drive system performance and user experience. The software, known as brIQs, uses machine learning algorithms to analyse data from all over the region to constantly improve occupant satisfaction and deliver new benchmarks in portfolio efficiency.

ITS CORE Buildings that sign up for Kaer Air dictate the space conditions they require and Kaer delivers this as and when needed. In this model Kaer is responsible for all capex and opex involved in providing the space conditions (including the electricity consumption of the system). This is the key and because of this, the burden of efficiency is transferred from the building owner to Kaer.

ICONIC PROJECTS This business model was implemented at Lendlease’s Paya Lebar Quarter which is launching this year.

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CUTTING THE FAT CLOSING THE FOOD WASTE DATA GAP AMIRUL ADLI Project Manager GA Circular

Meal tracking apps are a staple of fitness enthusiasts’ tech diet to keep track of the type of meals they eat and the number of calories they consume. A recent 2019 study showed that the more a person keeps track of their food, the more weight they lost as a percentage of their baseline weight. The principle behind this can be summarised by the well-known quote, “If you can't measure it, you can't improve it”. The success of this principle in various contexts highlights the critical role data plays in addressing a variety of issues, including food waste. The dearth of data available is an obstacle to tackling food waste, a critical waste issue due to the severe and pernicious impacts it has on the environment, society and economy.

CAUSES OF FOOD LOSS & WASTE As we begin to reckon with the impacts of FLW, we must first understand the causes and generation of FLW. Unlike the post consumption nature of single-use plastic waste which has garnered much attention recently, FLW occurs throughout the whole supply chain, not just at the end. FLW from agriculture, transportation, storage tends to be higher in developing countries as these areas are where agriculture is a more significant proportion of the economy and infrastructure is not as developed. Developed countries, in contrast, have a higher percentage of FLW from processing, retail, and consumption.

This article will use the internationally recognised term Food Loss & Waste (“FLW”) to refer to food waste. ECONOMIC & ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF FOOD LOST & WASTE According to the FAO, around 1 billion tonnes of food is wasted each year. This leads to a plethora of environmental issues such as the emission of greenhouse gases and pressure on land and water resources as the land and water used to grow food is wasted. At the same time, about 1 billion people are going hungry. While the environment and social impacts of food waste described above are alarming, the economic implications for businesses and countries are even more significant. The costs from the entire food production system total an estimated USD$5.7 trillion according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Important for businesses, there are attractive commercial opportunities for FLW reduction. A report by Champions 12.3 (named for the SDG target of reducing Food Waste by 50%) found that for every $1 spent in reducing FLW, restaurants saw a $7 return on investment. The savings came primarily from a reduction in the purchase of food, capitalising on the previously wasted value of food previously determined to be leftovers or scraps, and lower waste management costs due to lower waste generation. Other estimates show the business opportunity of tackling FLW to be about USD$700 billion. Understanding the FLW generated at all points of the supply chain will allow companies to take more effective action to prevent food from being wasted. 24

This variance underscores the need for data on FLW to understand where it happens and where interventions are needed for the most impact. For example, investments can be made in cold chain storage technology where the data shows that FLW from transportation and storage are highest. CLOSING THE DATA GAPS The path towards minimising FLW begins with data to allow for targeted solutions to be deployed. These gaps can be summarised into three key domains; 1) Direct measurement - FLW quantification using the direct measurement method is the most robust and highest quality method to understand FLW characteristics. While requiring more resources than a simple statistical estimation, the data gathered is of much higher quality.


2) Quantification in developing countries - With the globalised nature of food supply chains, governments and businesses also need to take into account the FLW generated in developing countries. 3) Quantification throughout the food supply chain- As illustrated in the diagrams above, FLW is an issue that affects the entire food supply chain. However, most studies and reports have only focused on FLW at the consumer stage - neglecting significant (and in many cases larger) sources of FLW generated before the food reaches the consumer. FLW research must cover the entire supply chain. While governments have traditionally been seen as the key stakeholder for addressing environmental and waste issues, there is a need and economic opportunity for businesses to play a leading role on FLW reduction. For example, Tesco is gathering data on FLW within its supply chain to understand what types of FLW they are generating. Also, brands such as Mars, Unilever, and General Mills are also looking into publishing data on their FLW. Understanding the FLW generated from key agri-commodities in Asia such as rice, sugar, and coffee within a businesses’ supply chain will provide companies with key data to generate savings - and reduce FLW at the same time. USING THE DATA Once a sufficient amount of data is gathered, systematic and targeted efforts at reducing FLW can begin. This involves the application of FLW management hierarchy which outlines the priority of preferred FLW management measures. To summarise, there are three main ways to reduce FLW (not counting incineration/landfilling as these are disposal - i.e. waste management methods), which are:

Next in the FLW management hierarchy is food redistribution. Food redistribution is the redistribution of food that is no longer sellable but still edible. Food redistribution organisations in Singapore include Food Bank Singapore, Food from the Heart and Free Food for All. Lastly, FLW recycling is suited for food that is no longer edible. Recycling typically involves the conversion of food or organic matter into resources. For example, the food digesters at Our Tampines Hub in Singapore recycle the FLW that the shopping mall produces into liquid plant nutrients - providing annual savings of approximately SGD$40,000. CUTTING THE FAT FLW hasn’t garnered as much attention as the plastic waste, but if urgent action is not taken, this is an issue which has the potential to have a more significant impact than the well-documented plastic issue we have now. At a high-level, businesses and governments are starting to take notice. The Courtauld Commitment 2025, for example, is a voluntary agreement which brings together different UK organisations (such as retailers like Tesco) to reduce FLW by 20% by 2025. In Singapore, MEWR and NEA have recently announced that large commercial and industrial premises will be required to segregate FLW for treatment by 2024. The road towards minimising FLW will be long and arduous. However, if we track the calories we waste like the calories we consume, that path will be much more transparent and will accelerate the transition towards a zero-waste society.

1. Reduction 2. Redistribution to people; and 3. Redistribution to animals. FLW reduction refers to the prevention of FLW generation in the first place. Having data on where FLW is generated in the supply chain will allow companies to address these leaks more effectively. Policies such as relaxing cosmetic filtering standards and better purchasing forecasts can then be made which will help prevent FLW from being generated in the first place.

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EVENT RECAP

AustCham Event Recap

ANZ ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2019: ASIA NOT IN THE SAME BOAT KHOON GOH Head of Asia Research ANZ

There is growing concern over the current global growth slowdown, which is being described by some as synchronised. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this year downgraded their forecast for global growth to 3.5 per cent for 2019, down from the 3.7 per cent they had forecast back in October. In Asia, the region’s exports contracted in year-on-year terms in December, the first time since October 2016. Export performance worsened over the early part of 2019 with preliminary February data showing double digit contraction from a year ago. Early indicators for March from South Korea point to ongoing export decline, though it looks to be less negative compared to February. We are now seeing the payback from earlier frontloading of exports ahead of US tariff implementation, as well as the slowdown in the global tech cycle. Although a contraction in exports would suggest slowing gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the region, ANZ Research notes economic activity proved to be resilient the last time Asia experienced a trade recession during the 2015-2016 period. ASIA EXPORTS VS GDP GROWTH

There has been higher reliance on domestic demand, and for some countries like Indonesia and Thailand, increased government spending, especially on infrastructure, has helped support growth. ANZ Research’s view is still for a moderate slowdown over the first half of 2019, before growth stabilises and starts to improve. Stabilisation in financial markets, especially with the US Federal Reserve now in pause mode and set to end its balance sheet normalisation at the end of September, lower global oil prices from last year’s peak, and spillover from stimulus measures from China are what is expected to lead the improvement in growth. What has been notable is the divergence in the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) readings between Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia.

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SOUTHEAST ASIA FARING BETTER ON MANUFACTURING PMI COMPARED TO NORTHEAST ASIA

Source: Markit, Bloomberg, ANZ Research

Northeast Asia’s PMI is not only in contraction territory (ie below 50) but has also weakened compared to September last year. In contrast, Southeast Asia’s PMI is generally in the expansion zone even though it has declined from the end of Q3 last year. The exception is Malaysia. India, which recently revised higher their GDP growth estimates for the last two financial years, has seen its manufacturing PMI rising the most over the past five months to record the highest reading in the region. This North-South divergence is consistent with the greater reliance of Northeast Asia on China through their supply chains, compared to the rest of the region. Another reason to believe Southeast Asian economies could prove to be more resilient is their continued attractiveness as a a destination for inward foreign direct investment (FDI).


According to preliminary global FDI flows data for 2018 released by UNCTAD, total FDI inflows fell for the third year in a row to $US1.2 trillion. The decline was mainly due to developed economies. FDI flows into developing economies increased, with ASEAN being the main FDI growth engine where inflows increased by 11 per cent to $US145 billion, a new record high. FDI flows into ASEAN exceeded that going into China. Singapore accounted for 53 per cent of the overall FDI flows into ASEAN at $US77 billion. FDI into Indonesia stayed robust at USD21bn while Thailand saw a second consecutive year of increase in inflows to USD11bn. Full year estimates for Vietnam are not yet available but should record the third largest FDI flows in ASEAN behind Singapore and Indonesia. The FDI data show ASEAN remains an attractive destination despite the trade tensions between the US and China. There is the potential for Southeast Asia to benefit from a shift in manufacturing supply chains out of China, even if a trade deal were to be struck. RECORD HIGH INWARD FDI INTO ASEAN IN 2018

ANZ Economic Outlook 2019 Panel Discussion

1.

Khoon Goh and Michelle Jamrisko

This panel discussion was held on Friday 22 February 2019

EVENT SPONSOR

The divergence in the PMI and the strong FDI inflows into Southeast Asia points to a need to differentiate the different economies in the region, rather than lumping them all together into the synchronised slowdown boat.

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AustCham Event Recap

ASIA PACIFIC UPDATE: POINTS AND TIPS WHEN NEGOTIATING CONTRACTS WITH CHINESE COMPANIES CAROLINE BERUBE Singapore Attorney HJM Asia Law & Co LLC (Singapore/ Guangzhou, China)

China is a country with a rich culture dating back thousands of years. When negotiating contracts with Chinese companies, we should not only pay attention to Chinese laws, but also take note of Chinese culture, environment and language barriers.

individual requesting the information needing to provide the abovementioned documents. However, note that the Chinese government takes a dim view of persons breaching data privacy these days and in recent times, has adopted new measures in this area.

This article summarizes the pointers and tips to keep in mind when negotiating contracts with Chinese companies, namely: Company searches and credit checks, undertaking other due diligence, use of contracts, and authorized signatories.

For example, selling or illegally providing individual information or illegally obtaining information on an individual is a crime with a potential sentence of imprisonment of up to three (3) years plus a fine.

A. Company Searches and Credit Checks – Crucial! Company searches and credit checks have become more and more common in recent times, not only for foreign companies wishing to conduct business with a Chinese company, but also for Chinese companies wishing to conduct business or establish connections with each other.

B. Due Diligence Although due diligence has been seen as being more important in the last decade, due diligence on target companies is still less common in China than in the Western world.

The basic information (e.g. the name, address, date of establishment, business scope, etc.) of a duly registered Chinese company is generally open for public search (but only available in Chinese characters) by the following means:

HJM conducted due diligence on a Beijing company in early 2013. Our investigation showed that this company was well organized; the officers of the company were cooperating during the due diligence exercise and the company records were easily available. However, the officers mentioned that it was the first time they heard about and experienced a due diligence process.

1. On-site search at the registry of the local Administration of Industry and Commerce ( “AIC”); and 2. Online search via the official website of the local AIC. However, the AIC’s of certain minor cities do not provide online search facilities.

For a majority of Chinese companies, cultural sensitivities play a part. Company personnel feel offended if a team of lawyers or other professionals come to their office, scrutinize their documentation and interview their staff with dozens of questions, despite the due diligence team acting professionally and cordially.

Detailed information (e.g. shareholder structure, history of company changes, financial information, etc.) of a duly registered Chinese company can be generally obtained by an on-site search at the local AIC, on condition that the individual requiring information provides certain documents required by the AIC. Note that such information is easily available because each company (locally or foreign owned) incorporated in China must comply with laws and regulations and submit on a monthly/quarterly basis financial statements to the authorities. Documents required by AIC vary in different cities, but usually include the following:

Therefore, when conducting due diligence in China, certain aspects which may be perceived to be “offensive” by the target company may be best eliminated from the process (depending on the circumstances). For example, reviewing documentation, such as certificates on-site and interviewing the employees of the target company could be substituted by doing a neutral credit check, interviewing long-standing counter-parties of the target company (should they be willing to co-operate), and other means that would not directly cause conflict.

1. The ID card or business license of the individual requesting the information; and 2. A power of attorney authorizing the individual to proceed with the search. Service companies/agents can also provide company searches in China, and thus can provide detailed information, including financial information, about any Chinese company without the 28

C. Contract Practical pointers regarding the contract with Chinese counterparts are listed below. They focus on the importance of brevity and simplicity, avoidance of “strong” wording, use of competent translators, tips for choices in governing language and governing law, and avoidance of other common pitfalls. 1. Keep it short and simple - Western standard contracts are usually quite lengthy and thorough. They are drafted from a highly


risk averse standpoint, with the aim that no ‘loophole’ is left open which may expose the contracting party to risk. However, Chinese businesses rely on good faith and value relationship with each other, commonly called “guangxi” in China, much more than the preciseness of contracts. HJM has experienced many negotiations with Chinese companies in different fields and industries. Chinese companies prefer entertainment with their counter-party in order to obtain more knowledge about the counter-party and pay less attention to contract clauses. If the parties have established trust, the contract may only be one (1) to two (2) pages long. It is worth noting that some Chinese companies may not even review the contract before signing it. HJM once negotiated a contract more than thirty (30) page long for a Beijing company, which was drafted for our client. We spent two full days in a meeting in Beijing, where we explained the clauses of the contract providing further clarification about the contract to the Chinese counterparty. Explanations, differences of opinion and revisions went back and forth between our client and the Chinese company for more than a year – and the contract has not been finalized to date. All parties were exhausted by the length of the negotiation. A long and ‘thorough’ contract therefore may have a detrimental effect on a Chinese company’s interest in conducting business with a foreign company as it may impact the development of their “friendship”. Therefore, we suggest providing Chinese companies with contracts between five (5) and ten (10) pages which only state the necessary clauses, i.e. the terms and conditions of the transaction, the rights and obligations of each party, how can the contract be terminated, the consequences of a breach, payment terms and dispute resolution and language conflict. 2. Be fair and avoid “strong” wording - Chinese companies are sensitive and frustrated by some unconditional wordings such as “any”, “all” and “in no event”, even though the actual meaning of the whole sentence in context is fair. Chinese companies consider such wordings to be “against” them, particularly if the contract has been drafted in a ‘one sided’ manner. A disproportionate balance of rights and obligations was an issue when we negotiated with the above-mentioned Beijing company. Explaining that the true meaning of these phrases was not as ominous as they perceived was a time consuming exercise. Therefore, simple statements should be used in place of wording which may be viewed as being too strong. This does not mean that we recommend a party to agree to a contract template in obvious favor of the contract provider; merely that a simple balanced contract would save time spent on negotiations as well as costs. 3. Use a good translator with a legal background (as opposed to a young grad with only a technical/commercial background) Recently, HJM reviewed the Chinese translation of a contract between our U.S. client and a Shenzhen company, which was translated by the Shenzhen company. In the contract, the translation of some of the clauses in Chinese was completely different to the English meaning, which may have exposed our client to risk. These translation issues were particularly relevant, given that the contract provided that the Chinese version of the contract prevailed. Our client had to be informed about the discrepancy in the meaning as they had to agree and fully understand their rights and obligations before committing

to the Chinese party. Hence, we strongly suggest that you that do not request the Chinese counter-party to translate the contracts. A reliable neutral translator or an international law firm providing Chinese translation service is a better option. 4. Does the English version or the Chinese version prevail? Some contracts such as a joint venture contract/employment agreement must by Chinese law be in Chinese though an English version exists. In such cases, only the Chinese version prevails. HJM usually recommends our clients to have their contracts translated in Chinese and English to make sure the parties fully understand their rights and obligations. Furthermore, we advise our clients to explicitly state in the contract that the English version prevails in case of dispute. However, again, the decision depends on the bargaining power each party has – most Chinese counterparts do not feel comfortable having the English version prevailing even if they are the one who appointed the translator for the English version and such version has been notarized by a Chinese notary. 5. Can Canadian laws be the governing law of your contracts? Most contracts (saved for example for employment agreement, joint venture agreement, etc.) can be governed by foreign laws according to Chinese laws and regulations. However, parties may still opt for Chinese law as governing law in their contract as Chinese parties are usually very reluctant to have foreign law as the governing law. This discussion will be driven by the bargaining power of each party. One advantage to have Chinese laws as governing law is that in case of dispute, Chinese judges and arbitrators will be able to handle the case more efficiently than if the contract was governed by foreign law. Risks are reduced. Hence, HJM usually suggest that Chinese law governs the contract as it is more efficient in the event of dispute, especially if the dispute is handled by Chinese courts or arbitration commissions. D. Other Pitfalls Pitfalls that lawyers and companies from common law jurisdictions often fail to consider have to do with which person at the Chinese company the contract should be negotiated with, and who should sign it in order for it to be an enforceable contract. 1. With whom should you negotiate your contract? When negotiating a contract in China, you should be sure you discuss with a representative of the Chinese company that he/she is authorized in writing with the company seal affixed on the authorization/power of attorney to bargain and make decisions on behalf of the company. Otherwise, in the event that the person does not have the proper authorization, the company may deny the contract and/or any terms the “representative” has offered and/or accepted. Only the legal representative of a Chinese company can legally bind a Chinese company. Please note it may be offensive if you directly ask the representative about his/her authorization at the first meeting. You could obtain some information by asking for his/her name card and through general conversation. After the meeting you could investigate the information provided further.

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>> ASIA PACIFIC UPDATE: POINTS AND TIPS WHEN NEGOTIATING CONTRACTS WITH CHINESE COMPANIES A few options are: •

Asking your Chinese counter-party for a copy of the business licence of the company and the business licence should state the registered capital of the company, the shareholder, the duration of their business licence and the name of their legal representative;

Requesting a review of the authorization is considered fair and reasonable when the negotiation is near conclusion; and

Starting a company/credit search on the company which will state the name of the shareholders, directors, legal representative and capital/business scope/financial statements, etc..

The legal representative is key in China and should be the one you are dealing with. 2. Who should sign the contract and which forms should your contract have? a. Blanks: make sure you do not leave blanks when you sign or affix a seal on the contract. Anyone could add information, which may expose you to substantial risks. The trend in China is to affix the company seal on the edge of each page, so when all the pages are put together, the full seal can be viewed. The photos below demonstrate how this is done. b. Signature and seal: all Chinese companies have five (5) seals: an official company seal, a contract seal, a legal representative seal, a financial seal and a fapiao seal. The seals are registered with the relevant authorities. Either the official seal or company seal of the Chinese company must be affixed in order to legally and contractually bind the company. Alternatively, signatures of the legal representative or the authorized person are also sufficient to make a contract legally binding without the above seals being affixed. However, as best practice, we suggest that contracts be affixed with company/contract seals or affixed with both seals and an authorized signature, rather than only signed.

electronic methods are valid according to Chinese laws. However, there needs to be sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the sender/ recipient of such an electronic contract is the contracting Chinese company or the authorized person (in case the Chinese company contests the existence and validity of the contract). The name card, company website, promotional material and any other written materials that assist to demonstrate that the company’s or the authorized person’s email address or fax number is identical to that of the sender/recipient of the electronic contract are useful in such circumstances. Nevertheless, HJM still suggests that a printed original contract executed by both parties should be exchanged after the contract is agreed via electronic method to avoid any issues. 3. Validity of emails? Although this consideration is not as much related to the negotiation of contracts, we mention it as we experienced it recently. In 2013, a client relied on emails alleged to be from his Chinese counter-party requesting payment to a certain bank account for goods purchased. The client made the payment without contacting the Chinese party (by other means) for confirmation. It transpired that the email address of the Chinese party was hacked and the bank account belonged to the hacker. This resulted in substantial loss for the client in terms of goods never delivered, since the payment was not made to the right account, and loss of substantial sum of money. HJM strongly suggests that whenever dealing with payments, you confirm with your Chinese partner the details of the bank account in at least two (2) different ways, e.g. by email, phone call, fax, face-toface meeting, etc. Conclusion China is a country that values efficiency, good faith and personal relationships. There is a popular saying in China to this effect: “the friendship shall remain even though the deal is not made.” In light of the pitfalls and pointers mentioned above, those who seek to enter negotiations with Chinese companies should take all reasonable steps to protect their own interests whilst having regard to cultural sensitivities.

c. Electronic contracts: contracts duly agreed via emails, fax and other

Asia Pacific Update Panel Discussion This panel discussion was held on Wednesday 20 February 2019

EVENT SPONSOR

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Selwyn Black, Maggie Tsai, Murray Thornhill, Muhamad Nakhaie Ishak and Caroline Berube


UPCOMING EVENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS To find out more about our events, visit our website at WWW.AUSTCHAM.ORG.SG

APRIL Workshop

Wednesday 3 April 2019 Australian Budget Update Breakfast

After the Australian Budget has been strategically brought forward from its historical placement of the second Tuesday in May, to the 2nd of April 2019, we are expecting a very typical election budget to be handed down with something for everyone as the Coalition prepares for a tough battle at the Polls in May. Join us the morning after the budget is handed down on the 3rd of April for a Budget Update presented by Tristan Perry – Head of Tax Australia from Select Investors, which is his second year presenting this for AustCham EVENT SPONSOR

New Members

Panel Discussion

Friday 12 April 2019 Meet the Board

Wednesday 24 April 2019 Innovation Series - The Future of Food

Meet the Board is an opportunity to welcome you to the Chamber where you will learn more about what AustCham can do for your business, network with other new members to promote yourself and your company and directly engage with board members. AustCham’s board consists of 12 members that are leaders in their fields from various industries who have lived and worked in Asia for a number of years.

A mix of climate change, dwindling resources and rising populations are prompting many countries around the world to remap our approach to producing food. Join us for a lively breakfast discussion to talk about the latest food security innovation and hear from Australian and Singaporean leading in the future of food. EVENT SPONSOR

JUNE Signature Event

Friday 14 June 2019 President's Lunch and Business Awards 2019

President’s Lunch and Business Awards is a celebration of the Australia Singapore relationship over a lunch prepared by leading Australian chefs in Singapore. Featuring fantastic Australian food and wine, this event truly captures the Australian hospitality spirit and celebrates business success.

JULY Networking Event

Tuesday 23 July 2019

This July AustCham partners with BritCham to host a special networking evening.

Inter-Chamber Networking with BritCham

COMING SOON. AUSTCHAM EVENT CALENDAR 2019.


OUT & ABOUT

FEBRUARY 2019

Asia Pacific Update

In this discussion, our expert panellists shared local knowledge and industry experience in managing legal and compliance issues across Asia Pacific. Discussion topics covered various legal aspects relating to navigating jurisdictions in the region, updates on data protection regulations and employment law. Thanks to event sponsor Primerus.

Managing Legal Challenges in a Global Economy Wednesday 20 February 2019

EVENT SPONSOR

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3

5

4

1.

Amber Williams

3.

Li-Pu Lee, Murray Thornhill and Selwyn Black

2.

Selwyn Black, Maggie Tsai, Murray Thornhill, Muhamad Nakhaie Ishak and Caroline Berube

4.

Chad Sluss, Murray Thornhill, Dominic Wai and Tim Chapman

5.

Selwyn Black, Natasha Hall, Hugh Darwall and Taliessin Reaburn

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OUT & ABOUT

FEBRUARY 2019

BUSINESS CONNECTS FEBRUARY Thursday 21 February 2019

AustCham members and guests joined us for our first networking event for the year. It was held at Stamford Brasserie at the Swissotel. AustCham members and guests enjoyed an evening of networking, free flow beer, wine and canapes. Special thanks to our event sponsor Aspire Advocates.

EVENT SPONSOR

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2

3

4

5

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1.

Andrew Brown, Daniel Spencer and H.E Bruce Gosper

5.

Nicole Tang, Uma Mageshwari, Michael Ciola and Leonie Ruegg

2.

Tristan Perry, Ian Cummin, Mark Morrison and Jayde Morrison

6.

Naveen Kumar, Jay See and Sean Wee

3.

Scott Speedie and Mark Brilliant

4.

Robin Assice, May Lee, Ryan Finkelstein and Jeff Vibert

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OUT & ABOUT

FEBRUARY 2019

ANZ ECONOMIC OUTLOOK Friday 22 February 2019

In this discussion, speaker Khoon Goh Head of Asia Research from ANZ Bank presented a comprehensive outlook for Singapore and the regional economy for 2019. The discussion was moderated by Bloomberg’s Southeast Asia Economy Report Michelle Jamrisko. Special thanks to our event sponsor ANZ.

EVENT SPONSOR

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Khoon Goh and Michelle Jamrisko

3.

Marc Allen, Anna Hughes and Natasha Hall

2.

Todd Bates, Teena Pisarev, Lorena Paglia, Benjamin Vella and Adam Martin

4.

Khoon Goh, Michelle Jamrisko and Adam Lyle

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NEW MEMBERS

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MEMBERSHIP CARD OFFERS Present your AustCham membership card and enjoy these benefits.

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NEWS FLASH AUSTCHAM MEMBER REFERRAL PROGRAM Do you have friends or colleagues who you think should be an AustCham member? Invite them to join AustCham and enjoy extra perks and benefits with AustCham’s new referral program. For every referral that joins the Chamber, you will receive AustCham points that can be redeemed as event tickets.

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