The next tsunami: Asian entrepreneurship - Keynote Address at St. Gallen Symposium

The spectacular performance of Asian economies, the explosion of Asia’s middle class and higher education in Asia and the consequent cultural renaissance will combine to produce a global tsunami of Asian entrepreneurs. Even in California, the hotbed of entrepreneurship, Indians and Chinese have played a key role. And many more Californians will be created by the new waves of Asian entrepreneurs.

Prof. Kishore Mahbubani (SG), Dean & Professor in the Practice of Public Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore delivered the keynote address on "The next tsunami: Asian entrepreneurship" on the second day of the St Gallen Symposium in Switzerland. He spoke in detail about how the future innovators and entrepreneurs will come from Asia. This is the return of Asia to its former position as home to the biggest economies of the world. This is only natural given the population of the region. "We are entering a completely new era which will see the end of western domination of world history and will see the return of Asia" he said.

He also talked about the cultural reasons behind this and the reasons behind this development at this point of time. The Asian countries have adapted the western pillars of wisdom which include free market economy, meritocracy, science and technology. This unprecedented growth also means numerous opportunities for other countries in terms of more partners, newer markets and new learning opportunities.

Kishore Mahbubani (born in 1948) currently serves as the Dean and Professor in the Practice of Public Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. His book The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East led to intense international discussions, as to whether it is time to acknowledge a fundamental shift in the balance of economic and political power from west to east. Prior to his academic career, Kishore Mahbubani was with the Singapore Foreign Service from 1971 to 2004. During these years, he held positions in Cambodia, Malaysia, Washington D.C. and New York and served two terms as the Ambassador of Singapore to the United Nations. Kishore Mahbubani received a Master in philosophy from the Dalhousie University, Canada