Welcome

Asia’s path to recovery and growth in 2021

Asia is set to be fastest off the blocks in the pandemic recovery, with growth projected at 8% plus in both China and India and 6% in ASEAN 5 in 2021. Whilst India is severely impacted by the pandemic, with the economy shrinking by 10% in 2020, China by contrast was the only major economy to stay in positive GDP territory at 1.9% growth. Whilst the recovery will be uneven across Asia, the region will rebound more strongly than the rest of the world in 2021, according to IMF projections. In this session we hear from leading economists on the impacts of the pandemic across different sectors and regions in Asia. The panel will also consider the trade outlook with the US under Biden, as well as the growth of intra-Asian trade, with the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Whilst positive predictions can create a glossy narrative, masking poverty pockets, market failures and uncertainty, these leading thinkers on Asia will cast their thoughts as to what the new economic order will look like as nations arise from the shocks of 2020 into the post pandemic era.

Virtual networking break

Attendees are invited to take a break, schedule meetings with peers, visit sponsor booths, check out the library for industry resources and much more.

The new digital Asian treasury: APIs, RPAs, and TMS

Asian treasuries are rapidly evolving, and the pandemic has accelerated the speed of change. The new breed of treasurers are smart tech savvy finance professionals, embracing the new and casting off the old. But that picture is not universal; in the past, local companies were perhaps cautious adopters of new treasury management systems and many companies are still to embark on their digital transformation. Yet the early technology adopters, developing systems to keep pace in an ever digitising world of payments, virtual accounts, FX and cash management and process automation, the advantages to treasury are clear, not least greater internal controls of capital and cash. Now, treasury is being revolutionised by a new crop of fintech plug and play solutions for every treasury function, with APIs spinning ever more efficient process engineering in the business. In this session we hear how regional treasury leaders have digitised their treasuries, through APIs, TMS and cloud solutions to create state of the art Asian treasury.

Virtual networking break

Attendees are invited to take a break, schedule meetings with peers, visit sponsor booths, check out the library for industry resources and much more.

Cash management and forecasting: achieving clarity in an uncertain world

Now that the fog of forecasting is lifting as the pandemic recedes, visibility and clarity is returning to treasury planning. The ongoing low global interest rate environment has intensified the focus on liquidity management and the need to put cash on deposit to work in search of greater yield. At the same time, the low cost of borrowing eases the urgency to free up locked cash pools in the business. Yet for sophisticated multi-national and multi-currency treasury operations at scale, the deployment of liquidity management strategies to release cash, get capital invested and earning is core to successful treasury management. The arrival of big data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI), promises to analyse cash flow data across the business and suppliers, to forecast cash conversion cycles, when monies will be received and available to deploy as working capital or invest in money market funds. Scanning the available cash pools in the business across multiple accounts, and automatically releasing and deploying capital is all in a nanosecond’s work for today’s treasury robots. In this session, we hear from treasurers that have mastered the newest cash management power tools and have cut out great internal treasury structures with them. Critically, we will focus on both international and regional treasury applications and the resources required to plug and play with cash technologies.

Virtual networking break

Attendees are invited to take a break, schedule meetings with peers, visit sponsor booths, check out the library for industry resources and much more.

Sustainability, Supply and ESG in Asian Treasury

The rise of corporate governance standards, encapsulated in stronger ESG principles, is beginning to impact treasury operations across the globe. Measures of ESG performance include more ethical investing, green financing, greater diversity, positive social and environmental impacts, responsible sourcing, carbon reduction and more. As the proliferation of green financing in bonds and loans expands in Asia, so wider ESG initiatives are taking root in treasury practices. Asia lies at the heart of many global supply chains, from high tech production to traditional textile manufacturing. The pandemic highlighted credit risks in suppliers whose businesses experienced volatility and uncertainty as orders fell due to global demand shocks. Global companies with strong credit ratings were able to extend financing based on strong credit ratings and lower cost of borrowing. Yet supply chain financing is also now facing greater accounting scrutiny, in the off balance sheet treatment of reverse factoring. In response to commentary from ratings agencies and regulators, and in the spirit of good governance and transparency, some companies are choosing to place their factoring programmes on balance sheet. In this session we discuss the development of SCF in Asia and how suppliers are aligning with MNC financing initiatives. In this session, we look at the development of ESG initiatives in treasury, the measurement of SCF in supply chains, and the Asian pioneers are leading the way in ESG performance.

Virtual networking break

Attendees are invited to take a break, schedule meetings with peers, visit sponsor booths, check out the library for industry resources and much more.

Fintech partnerships the Asian way

Singapore is the fintech capital of Asia. And the fintech industry has remained strong and resilient, with MAS receiving over 300 submissions for their 2020 fintech awards. In a city where taxi companies look like banks and banks look like wristwatches, you would be forgiven for thinking that you are living in a parallel dystopian universe or a slightly bewildering utopia, depending on your point of view. Take Singtel and Grab’s dash for digital banking in Singapore. Look elsewhere and a kaleidoscope of fintech solutions dazzle across the financial ecosystem and treasury space. And as companies look to digitise treasury operations, partnerships with fintechs and banks, in collaboration with core clients, is key to surviving and thriving in the post-Covid world. In this session, we discuss the diversity of fintech partnerships in Asia, the new players in the market and how partnerships with treasury are transforming day-to-day operations.

Conference concludes