APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
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Business awards 2015 Not-So Taxing Advice How House of Wealth is striving for excellence in the tax advice sector.
Up in the Clouds
HubOne offers top quality cloud computing services which can be fully integrated into existing systems.
High Voltage Electrical Contracting
When only the best electric services will do, CEC Callaghan Electrical Contractors is there for you.
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Fund Management Experts in Asia and Africa WINNER Asian Fund of Hedge Funds 2014
21/F Chuang’s Tower, 30-32 Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2253 6296 www.skyboundcapital.com
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welcome to the 2015 APAC Insider Business Awards Home to some of the most powerful and, when it comes to matters of business, innovative and forward-thinking nations on the globe, this vast region is also a hub for a huge and varied range of global sectors, among them manufacturing, tourism, communications and technology. Over the last year many corporate markets within the APAC region have expanded vastly, as overseas investment and technological advances propel the region’s business onto the international stage. Additionally, economic problems in China have created issues for businesses operating in and around the country despite the global economic ties the country is forging around the world. The 2015 APAC Insider Business Awards have been launched to ensure that the dedicated, talented and creative firms and individuals who have kept this corporate landscape going receive the recognition they deserve. We have worked hard to identify the very best firms, departments, individuals and initiatives from across the Asia Pacific region and to reward their innovation, client care and stellar performance over the past 12 months.
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4. Award for Excellence in Property Tax Advice - Accountant - House of Wealth 8. Best Electrical Contractors - New South Wales - CEC Callaghan Electrical Contractors Pty Ltd 10. Best Real Estate Agents on the Gold Coast - GC Real Estate 12. Best Cloud Integrator - Australia - HubOne 14. Best Criminal Law Firm - New South Wales - Sydney Criminal Lawyers 16. Best Leasing & Property Company – Australia - Australian Lease & Property Consultants Pty Ltd 18. Australia Wide International Education 20. KPMG International 22. Nissha Printing Co. Ltd - Junya Suzuki 26. Constructing the Future in China
APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
Award for Excellence in Property Tax Advice - Accountant
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House of Wealth are an accountancy firm specialising in providing dedicated property tax advice. We speak to Wilson Fung who talks us through the firm’s dedicated to client service, and how this has helped to shape the firm’s success.
At House of Wealth we deal with clients ranging from small business operators to medium sized property developers. Given our specialisation in the property tax industry most of our clients hold investment properties, but we also work with a range of clients providing a number of services which has provided us with a wealth of experience. Winning this award was a real honour and proves that our hard work and commitment to customer service has paid off. Awards such as this provide our clients with the assurance that the firm is a leader in their speciality and gives prospective clients the confidence that they are selecting the right person to help with their work. In order to provide our clients with the best possible service we go out of our way to educate and assist them, ensuring our clients and prospective clients are given all the facts when it comes to investing in property and making sure that things are structured correctly from the initial purchase. Additionally, we always try to ensure that our clients feel connected and supported by us. In order to achieve this we try to return their calls within a 24 hour period, and we use technology such as skype, viber, email and phone to make ourselves accessible to our clients. As members of CPA Australia and Registered Tax Agents we are also required to meet a minimum amount of training per annum and we attend many courses to ensure our knowledge is always current and up to date, which enables our staff to provide the best possible advice at all times.
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Company: House of Wealth Name: Wilson Fung Email: wilson@houseofwealth.com.au Web Address: www.houseofwealth.com.au Address: Paragon Building, Level 3, Sutie 25, 799 Springvale Road Mulgrave Vic 3170 Telephone: 03 9999 7703
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APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
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Additionally, we send our staff to external training and courses which provides them with experience and ensures that their knowledge is always up to date. So far this is year, we have already invested up to $10,000 to attend various courses and seminars. Another key means of staying up to date with our industry is listening to our clients. As most of them are also in the property industry we are constantly hearing of new developments in that area and are frequently required to analyse the tax impact of those things, which provides us with practical knowledge of the industry. There are a number of challenges inherent in our work which we have sought to overcome. One of these challenges that we are facing almost daily is to reply to emails to our clients as we receive hundreds of email each day. It takes between five and thirty minutes to reply to each client’s emails, but we work hard to ensure we reply to each of them so that they always feel connected. Another challenge we face is that Australia’s tax system is one of the most complex of all of the OECD countries. Therefore it is important to have the right tax structures when holding investment properties or property developments. When it comes to property investments, many investors, particularly high income investors, purchase their properties under their individual names in order to leverage the rental loss to save their personal income tax liabilities. However they don’t realise what they are saving now may result in adding a vast amount of income tax liabilities upon selling their investment properties. The initial structure may also prevent them from transferring the property into an SMSF later on. Because we understand this we are able to advise our clients on having the correct structure to hold their investment properties from the initial acquisition to the disposal stage, in order to minimise their future income tax liabilities and for estate planning and asset protection purposes.. Further, we realise that anyone may find themselves in a situation where they can face litigation which cause damage to another person (e.g. recklessly cause injury to other) and be forced into bankruptcy. Therefore, we recommend our clients have forward-thinking asset protection strategies in place or structure their assets in a more protected environment. It is this dedication to customer service and understanding their point of view which is why we are so unique and different from our competitors. We have earnt ourselves a strong reputation in the industry as speciality in property and property development tax advisor, and we work hard to maintain this. In the future we are keen to further build our success and are currently in the process of publishing a book which will provide an insight into our work and also offer valuable advice to anyone interested in property tax. In addition it will further deliver our message to the potential property investor clients and attract more clients to our firm. Expansion of our client base is a key feature of our future development strategy, and we have a number of advertising ideas coming up including making a video clip for Youtube and a social media campaign. We are also planning on expand into financial planning services. We are currently in the progress of obtaining RG146 and a limited AFSL license, both of which will enable us to expand our practise and provide our customers with a greater variety of services.
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APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
Best Electrical Contractors - New South Wales
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CEC Callaghan Electrical Contractors Pty Ltd offers site-wide electrical services from commercial interests such as NSW goodstart daycare centres, to providing electrical services to Glencore, Peabody and Yancoal. We speak to Daniel Callaghan about the firm’s work and how they came to win this prestigious award.
CEC Callaghan Electrical Contractors Pty Ltd offers a range of electricalservices including Low Voltage, High Voltage, Instrumentation, Fire Suppression Systems, Air Conditioning, Data and Optic fibre. Our firm has always endeavoured to offer the clients value in times of global financial crisis. Winning the APAC insider award has vindicated our commitment to keeping low overheads to allow the company to withstand global economic shocks, and keep electrical costs low for our clients. There are a number of challenges involved in our market sector at the moment, which we have worked hard to overcome. One of our largest client bases is the coal industry, which is is highly publicised at the moment, meaning that there are many challenges facing the coal industry. And whilst it would be nice to switch completely to renewables; the reality is that the renewable energy industry needs to develop further before it can take the load of power that the existing infrastructure currently uses. It is also necessary to further develop the renewable energy sector before the job creation can equal the losses that would be incurred in the destruction of the non-renewable sector. Beside price, there are many additional challenges in the coal sector which are the political and environmental movements that are trying to stifle any future development and with it the job creation that inevitably goes with billion dollar projects, and the flow on effects to the surrounding communities. You only have to go to a car park of a mine to see not only the workers but the countless contractors who service the mine, be it the IT contractor, cleaning contractor or electrical contractor. And if certain political forces were to succeed all those jobs and supporting roles would be lost, and there is no uptake
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Company: CEC Callaghan Electrical Contractors Name: Daniel Callaghan Email: contact@cecontractors.com.au Web Address: www.cecontractors.com.au Telephone: 1300 856 446
from the nascent renewable sector. It is frustrating to see the pain of low global energy prices punished further with parochial legislation pushed forward by a political movement that doesn’t understand or care what the economic consequences are. The intransigent attitude from the opposition of coal is further highlighted by the simple fact that the current rehabilitation of lands used in the non-renewable sector often leaves an environment with greater bio-diversity than before the mine was even planned. Coal companies take very seriously their environmental obligations with teams of at least three full-time environmental staff at each site. In order to confront the global energy price crisis governments need to work to with the private sector in a way that can allow the non-renewables to continue to power the country and its economy, whilst nurturing the renewable sector until it can take the load.
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APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
Best Real Estate Agents on the Gold Coast
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GC Real Estate is prominently located in Runaway Bay, with quick and easy access to Paradise Point, Hollywell, Biggera Waters, Coombabah and more. As members of the Real Estate Institute of Queensland (REIQ) and an accredited REIQ agency, our clients have the assurance of knowing that GC Real Estate is committed to upholding the REIQ Standards of Business Practice. We specialise in all residential property sales from prestigious waterfront homes to vacant land. The areas that we work on include the Gold Coast northern region suburbs which includes areas within minutes from our office such as Arundel, Parkwood, Southport and Labrador to the south and Hope Island, Helensvale to Oxenford to the west. At GC Real Estate we have a team of skilled sales consultants with proven results based on experience, knowledge, dedication and commitment. We are a boutique company that is family owned, and ensure that our clients’ property is professionally taken care of by the business owners. In terms of client service, we firmly believe that establishing good relationships with both the owners and tenants with friendly service and communication is the key. Our aim is to provide our clients with superior services and expertise in all aspects of managing their investment property, and ensure that they achieve the best possible return on your investment. In order to achieve the high standards of services we set for ourselves, we implement a number of measures which ensure that our clients receive a truly exceptional level of service. Firstly, we ensure that our clients have one point of contact, and this means that they only have to speak to one experienced professional to get all the answers they need. Furthermore, we discuss all of their property management requirements with them and create a solution to meet their individual needs. We also provide them with current market information, a comparable market analysis and rental appraisal.
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Company: G C Real Estate Pty Ltd Web Address: www.gcrealestate.com.au Address: 6/465 Oxley Drive, Runaway Bay QLD 4216 Telephone: 1800 007 994 Fax: 1800 007 996
Moreover, we secure the best possible qualified tenant for their property in the quickest time for the highest possible rent. In order to achieve this, prospective tenants are thoroughly screened and must meet our strict criteria before we discuss them with our clients. Once they are approved by our clients, we meet with all parties to the tenancy and explain their responsibilities to ensure their tenants will look after their property. When anyone transfers the management of their property to GC Real Estate, we guarantee that it will be done smoothly and without any stress for both them or the tenants.
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APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
Best Cloud Integrator - Australia
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HubOne is the world’s first cloud integrator with offices in Australia, Singapore, USA and partners in the Asia Pacific, Americas and Europe. By selecting only the best products and services, we assist customers and partners of all sizes select, adopt and deliver the benefits of cloud computing to their end users.
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Cloud Computing is a new delivery model for enterprise class information technology solutions. Customers can choose from accessing software directly from a service provider rather than hosting and running server machines themselves. This coupled with monthly billing ensures that not only overall costs are reduced, but also delivers a smoother running and more effective environment. Nevertheless, moving to cloud computing can be daunting. Through using our tried and tested methods and tools, we assist our clients directly or through our partner channel and move both quickly and seamlessly to the cloud with extremely low risk during the process. Furthermore, HubOne has developed the award winning Modern Practice Portal which helps accounting firms move to the cloud and saves them thousands of dollars per year. This is HubOne’s flagship architecture designed from the ground up to meet the needs of accounting firms who are looking to move to the cloud. Whether used as a methodology in itself, or delivered as a set of technology components for our clients’ business, the Modern Practice Architecture provides financial services firms with the ability to apply enterprise grade rigour to their IT processes while delivering piece-by-piece to a well-defined end strategy. HubOne first developed the Modern Practice Architecture in 2012 when attempting to define a set of product offerings to take to market for accounting firms. Since then, the Modern Practice architecture has undergone three major revisions and is now the only rigorous IT architecture available in the world today for small and medium accounting firms and their technology needs.
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Company: Hubone Web Address: hubone.com Telephone: 1300 650 684
By leveraging the power of cloud computing, coupled with the unique needs of accounting firms, the Modern Practice Architecture provides a simple, human friendly way of constraining the problem of IT for accountants into 12 simple concepts. Clients can engage with HubOne from a consulting bases, to understand their needs to strategies or dive right in and acquire either the entire architecture via subscription or just sample one of the services such as Practice Management.
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APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
Best Criminal Law Firm - New South Wales
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Sydney Criminal Lawyers are a highly-respected team of experienced criminal lawyers who are passionate about achieving outstanding outcomes for their clients. We speak to Ugur Nedim about how this client focused attitude has driven them to the success of winning this award.
Sydney Criminal Lawyers is a specialist criminal defence firm located in the heart of the CBD. Our lawyers are passionate, experienced advocates who act in a wide range of matters – from serious homicide cases, to small-scale drug charges, to traffic law matters. Our clients are equally diverse – we regularly take on Legal Aid matters and a number of our staff members speak languages other than English, so we are able to cater to a large client base. In order to ensure we remain at the very top of our industry, we invest a considerable amount of time and effort making the law more accessible to members of the general public and publishing 18 blogs per week across various social media platforms about changes in the law. Unlike other law firms which are cost-driven, we aim to help others by providing a wealth of free legal information about how to represent yourself in court and so on. We have also recently established the Sydney Criminal Lawyers Help Fund which allows us to give back to the community in the form of regular donations to charities. Social media is a key aspect of our work as it enables us to keep our clients informed. We were very fortunate that we recognised the power of social media and online communication early on; and as such we have a well-established following on our social media pages. Many of our competitors are following our lead now and getting involved with social media, so it’s important to stay ahead of the game and constantly review our social media strategy regularly. However social media is not the sole way we maintain our client base. We have an open-door policy – meaning that we work collectively as a group, rather
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Company: Sydney Criminal Lawyers Name: Ugur Nedim Email: info@criminallaw.com.au Web Address: http://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/ Address: Suite 507, 267 Castlereagh Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Telephone: (02) 9261 8881
than individually, so that clients benefit from our combined wealth of experience across various areas. Additionally we are also transparent about our pricing structures and ensure that our clients know what they are paying for. Looking to the future we plan to continue to expand our client base by maintaining our strong social media following and continuing to publish relevant and useful free information online.
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APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
Best Leasing & Property Company – Australia
Australian Lease & Property Consultants Pty Ltd are humbled to accept the prestigious IPAC award 2015 for “Best Leasing & Property Company – Australia”.
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In the mid-80’s we mastered the art of marketing and leasing out shops offices and industrial space. Then we started off a boutique firm offering consulting advice in South Australia over 20 years ago in the retail arena. At the same time we started documenting and writing professional papers and industry articles. We sought to contribute to improving tenancy law and making the playing field fairer. In the process we stumbled upon the fact that there was no uniform definition of “current market rent” (Gilbert, D. 1995). Today all leases and all income producing property world-wide go back to that common standard when they are being valued appraised, which was “introduced in the fourth edition of the IVS published in 2000” Marianne Tissier, Executive Director, IVSC. In 1999 we moved to the State of Queensland and in 2009 we were incorporated under the name Australian Lease & Property Consultants Pty Ltd. Essentially the name and our Trade Marked logo describes the business and what we do. At first we believed that our role was centre and forefront in all things retail. It served a purpose to become experts in our trade. We gleaned data metrics from all things Shopping Centre, Retail Business Models, understanding retail rent, the data metrics behind retail rent, and the relevance of other things in a given market eg. economic and local economic issues, how elements in the marketing mix impact on property and businesses in a catchment, contract law, tenancy laws. We therefore did not just read about how to beat an egg; we learned HOW to beat the egg by doing! We now believe our role is that we are in the “communication” business about our trade. We have taken the back seat and let our pen do the talking in regard to Expert’s Reports eg. modelling data metrics for breach of lease and or misrepresentation cases and linking same to Annual Financial Statements and assisting courts and tribunals in regard to loss claims and or claims for compensation, opinions (and determinations) about Current Market Rent, articles, papers and presentations.
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Company: Australian Lease & Property Consultants Pty Ltd Name: Don Gilbert Email: dongilbert@auslease.com.au Web Address: www.auslease.com.au Address: Mount Gravatt,QLD 4122, AUSTRALIA Telephone: +61 (0)4 0963 4223
A full list of what we do can be found on our Webpage at www.auslease.com.au Whilst we are professionally qualified and believe we know what we do, we are continuously innovating and we strive to get better. We have invented a methodology to evaluate value metrics to back what the retail rent should be for a given retail site, which is segmented by retail business use. Why? Because each business model has a different capacity to pay an equal sum or rent. Our invention which involves a seven stage step-by-step methodology will be delivered via software which is soon to be developed. The methodology is owned and copyrighted by the proprietor. This in our opinion is a natural progression to improve our industry. We work closely with other professionals, for example Leasing Information Services Pty Ltd who have the biggest retail lease data base in Australia at https://www.leaseinfo.com.au/index.cfm; Lease 1 who manage tenant lease portfolios, negotiate leases at http://www.lease1.com.au/ and of course some of the large Property Groups and Tenant Associations. Being a typical SME Enterprise, we seek often specialist services for our clients which might include: accounting firms, lawyers, barristers, other valuers/appraisers, business brokers, commercial property agencies and the like. Once again thank you for this prestigious award.
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APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
Australia Wide International Education
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Australia Wide International Education provide immigration consultancy to people who are interested in working, studying, retiring, opening a business or migrating to Australia. We spoke to them about how their business has performed this year and how their success is underpinned by their impeccable ethical and moral values.
When working in an area such as immigration, most of our clients are trusting us not only with their future careers, but with the direction their life will take when moving to Australia. At the core of our business are the people (our clients) who are highly reliant on us to help them achieve their dreams, and support them towards a better life for both themselves and for their families. Furthermore, we support our clients throughout the settlement process, and help them to integrate in Australian society at no extra cost. Some might say this is a form of marketing, but for us, this is merely gratitude towards another human being who has trusted us enough to let us make the recommendations which will influence his career and perhaps change his/her life. We strongly believe that it is possible to run a business, by doing what we love, while growing as human beings by helping others and eventually inspiring them to give back to their communities and consequently contribute to making our world a better place. The process of immigration is changing all the time, and we constantly keep ourselves up to date with any changes in the legislation. Furthermore, we notify our clients of any potential external factors which might influence the implementation of the initial strategy and re-evaluate their options accordingly. In determining the pathway for our clients, for most cases, we use a proactive evaluation approach in designing the planning strategy and its implementation. The most important aspect in our practice however is perhaps the ‘care factor’ for our clients. Our ultimate goal is to help our clients make a positive difference in their life, whether it has something to do with a career, business, retirement or just an improved quality of life. At the same time, we support
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Company: Australia Wide International Education Name: Ramona Martinovici Email: info@awie.com.au Web Address: www.awie.com.au Address: Level 18, 101 Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000 Victoria, Australia Telephone: +61 424 515 676
them to reach their full potential in an environment (Australian society) which encourages and supports personal and corporate development. With our service, we have received a large number of referrals, which is primarily due to being reliable, honest, perseverant, resilient and innovative, as well finding optimal solutions to help our clients achieve their goals even when sometimes there are obstacles and changes in our clients’ plans. Although we are based in Melbourne, we added an extra office in London in August this year and consolidated our presence in Eastern Europe. Australia is an area that performs extremely well both economically and socially, and has a strong health and welfare system in place. There are opportunities in any field to succeed in Australia if you are determined and have the right attitude. Furthermore, Melbourne in particular has been named World’s Most Liveable City for the 5th consecutive year. Looking ahead, we remain very optimistic about the future of our company. In the first half of next year, we will commence consolidating our business’s presence in UK and Germany as well as strengthening our Eastern European collaborations. As for the second half, we are planning to make headway in the US market. We are confident that our services will can deliver in these markets and beyond.
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APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
KPMG International
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KPMG International is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. KPMG has more than 162,000 outstanding professionals working together to deliver value in 155 countries worldwide. Emmanuel P. Bonoan spoke with us to let us know how the firm has risen to the top in its area.
R.G. Manabat & Co. (RGM&Co.) is the Philippine member firm of KPMG International and one of the fastest-growing practices in the Philippines, among the KPMG practices in the Asia Pacific region. It has also been recognized as a Tier 1 in the following areas: tax practice, transfer pricing practice, leading tax transactional firm and transactional advisory firm in the Philippines by the International Tax Review. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) continues to shine as some of the emerging markets in the world. Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines have been attaining GDP growth rates of 5 to 7 percent annually while Myanmar has achieved GDP growth rates of 8 percent. Over a longer period of 30 years, growth has averaged 5.4 percent, surpassing the global average of 3.4 percent over the same period. The young and growing population of the large ASEAN economies is not only a rich source of manpower for the factories of the world. It also provides a huge market that totals as much as 650 million for the ten ASEAN countries. This demographic dividend is accompanied by the rapid rise of the middle classes that will constitute one of the most attractive markets for all types of consumer goods and services that will attract industries from all over the world to relocate in the region. These remarkable achievements have encouraged the formation, and now 2015 implementation, of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). The AEC is a milestone, promoting economic integration and development in the region. It aims to foster equitable economic development and the creation of a highly competitive economic region that will be fully integrated into the global economy.
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Company: KPMG in the Philippines (R.G. Manabat & Co.) Name: Emmanuel P. Bonoan Email: ph-inquiry@kpmg.com Web Address: www.kpmg.com.ph Address: KPMG Center, 6787 Ayala Ave., Makati City, Philippines Telephone: +63 2 885 7000
KPMG in the Philippines keeps abreast with regulatory issues raised by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulatory agencies. From local issues on framework and structure, to monitoring and enforcement, the Firm is regularly informed and up-to-date on these concerns which affect our clients. Further, we are globally aware of similar issues through the help of other KPMG International member firms. As regulators get stricter and governance and disclosure requirements become more stringent, we provide our clients with the latest and relevant issues and advice, helping them to avoid surprises and providing them with mutually advantageous solutions.
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APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
Nissha Printing Co. Ltd - Junya Suzuki
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Nissha is a technology provider of widely diversified printing technologies. At the helm of this highly innovative company is Junya Suzuki, who spoke to us about his company and how they consistently deliver for their clients.
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Nissha’s customer base is extended to various industries such as IT handsets and terminals, automotive interiors, home appliances, consumer product packaging, gas sensors, healthcare materials and wireless networking services in the international market places. As a company working in the printing technology sector, Nissha defined the business domain back in the 1960’s and have since expanded it to: “we print on everything but water and air.” As Suzuki explains: “The most traditional understanding you may have for printed matter is something like a book or commercial handout, but this has not been our main focus. The leading products that Nissha has been delivering over the past decades are decorative films and touch sensor films which are enabling us to deal with world’s first class customers. Moreover, we aim at new frontiers, expanding territories through vertical integration from raw materials (upstream) to module assembly (downstream).” Nissha has been listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange and are a public limited company. As a result, they are always looking at maximizing their shareholders’ value. Suzuki’s role as CEO is not only to delight their shareholders, but also to satisfy other stakeholders like customers, employees, suppliers and the local society that surround them. “My mission is to establish trust from all stakeholders in Nissha,” says Suzuki. “I call this “Nissha’s Circle of Trust with Stakeholders” and this idea is shared by all of Nissha’s employees, and is a powerful value of ours.” Nissha has integrated our standard of thought, rules of conduct and corporate mission into a Corporate Philosophy for disseminating across the Nissha Group. “Across the board, everyone breaks their responsibilities down to his or her daily activities and achieve their own specific list of goals,” says Su-
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Company: Nissha Printing Co., Ltd. Name: Wataru Watanabe Web Address: www.nissha.com Address (Company Headquarters) : 3 Mibu Hanai-cho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 6048551, Japan. Telephone (Company Main Switchboard): +81 75 811 8111
zuki. “Furthermore, everyone’s activities are described in the Strategy Map and measured by key performance indicators (KPIs). At the foundation of everything we do is our can-do spirit. This has been the very core identity of Nissha since its foundation. When Naoki Suzuki, founder and also my grandfather, started the company in 1929, he stated that we will do what anyone else cannot do. This philosophy exists in the heart of Nissha People and is part of our code of conduct. “Our connection of strategy and action is prevalent in every aspect of the business,” says Suzuki. “This is particularly prevalent in our M&A growth strategy, and we are an aggressive player in this area. Whenever a new company comes and joins us, I immediately visit them and get to know them as well give them my thoughts and opinions on how we can move forward. I believe this really motivates them to be more efficient and really take action.”
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APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
As globalisation continues to change the corporate landscape, Nissha are no exception to the many challenges and opportunities it presents to businesses across the globe. “I believe globalization has led to significant changes in Nissha,” says Suzuki. “It has totally changed the company’s development from a Kyoto company to a global company in terms of business portfolio, employees’ capabilities and way of thinking. “At the time when I joined Nissha in 1998, the global market only accounted for 10% out of the total revenue. During this time, I firmly believed that our technology should be more known and used among the global society. As a result, I aggressively conducted my team to carry our marketing and sales strategy to the then growing sectors such as mobile phones, personal computers and automotive interiors. Today, Nissha IMD (a highly sophisticated decorative technique on plastic by heat transfer foil) has become the industry standard. Furthermore, Nissha FineTouch is the customer’s first choice in the sensor film sector.”
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As the company has evolved throughout the years, instilled in their culture is a passion to continually innovate and develop their services. “Seeing customers tells what you should do next,” says Suzuki. “And you should never be arrogant about your past success. Our approach is to just stay modest and see what we can and cannot do. We view our clients as not only a business counterparty, but also someone who can teach me something that I don’t know. Whenever I visit clients, I try to learn about what their needs are, which helps us bring an even better service to our clients.” In order to ensure that they stay ahead in their industry, Suzuki always has his eyes on an emerging developments or trends that affect their business. “One of the obvious trends that the global printing industry is currently directing, in my opinion, is how narrow it can go and how high it can stack up,” says Suzuki. “This relates to the technologies of ink jet and 3D printings from raw materials and equipment points of view. Another aspect that I am looking into is something similar to functional printing. Printed electronics has been considered as a new frontier, however there is no substantial commercial howling success seen so far in finding application. Personally, I think it has a tremendous potentiality if its functional or sensing capability is well merged to wireless technology. Some people believe that printing belongs to the dinosaur age, but I would firmly disagree. As I mentioned earlier, it is all a matter of definition.” When looking towards expanding Nissha’s global footprint, Suzuki has set his sights on a number of emerging markets and regions. “I expect us to expand our services in emerging regions such as Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa,” says Suzuki. “As their growth in volume and quality of life goes higher, we are gaining opportunities because our technology is characterised as a premium solution. In recent events, even emerging countries are trying to prevent environmental hazards from expanding in their own areas, and Nissha would like to provide sustainable products and services for this trend. “In order to reach our expected growth, we are seeking opportunities that acquire the relevant capabilities in those emerging regions to reach customer bases. Our target is the segment which requires premium printing for the sake of enhancing their quality of life. I believe it will not be something like book printings but functional materials and packaging for healthcare or medical applications that are covered by printing technology. “Looking further ahead, Nissha aims to become a unique printer in terms of process, engineering, value chain integration, customer portfolio and our employees’ skill. I believe that this will quash the idea that printing is obsolete, and bring it into a new age.”
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APAC Insider 2015 Business Awards
Constructing the Future in China
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Zhong Lun Law Firm is a top-tier Chinese law firm based in Beijing with multiple offices at China’s major cities as well as in New York, London and Tokyo. Senior Partner Jihong Wang gives us an exciting glimpse into the firm’s work.
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Founded in 1993, Zhong Lun is one of the largest law firms providing a complete spectrum of legal services in China. Our team focuses on providing comprehensive legal solutions to clients in the field of PPP (Public-Private-Partnership), infrastructure, energy, M&A and environment. Additionally we have also accumulated abundant experiences in arbitration and litigation in this regard. Currently, the Chinese legal market is undergoing a number of changes, primarily in terms of legislation and public legal awareness. As the world’s second largest economy, China also has a thriving and mature legal market. In addition to these legislative changes, our region is currently experiencing growth in a number of markets. Alongside the infrastructure industry, which remains one of the main drivers of economic growth, consumer and service industries are also expanding, due to natural market conditions as well as Chinese policies towards promoting internal growth. Advanced technology sectors are also on the rise as China transitions move away from a manufacturing-based economy. In this regard, IP-related services will be a new growth point for firms participating in the Chinese legal market. There are also several sectors that are particularly promising to foreign investors within our region and which we have endeavoured to focus on in order to grow as a business. For example, China’s consistent need for infrastructure presents opportunities for foreign investors to participate in PPPs. As our country’s consumer and services sectors are growing there is room for expansion in that area, providing foreign investors with a unique opportunity to invest in a dynamic and growing market.
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Company: ZHONG LUN LAW FIRM Address: 36-37/F, SK Tower, 6A Jianguomenwai Avenue, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100022, P.R.China Telephone: 86-10-5957 2288 Fax：86-10-6568 1022/1838 E-mail: wangxiaoying@zhonglun.com
In addition, Healthcare is another promising area for foreign investors because foreign healthcare providers, such as providers of elderly care as well as pharmaceutical companies, are more sophisticated than their domestic counterparts. Similarly, the Chinese technology market has demonstrated high demand for the advanced technology held by foreign companies, as the demand for new technological capabilities increases. It is our market strength that has helped to ensure that Zhong Lun has exhibited strong growth during the past several years. 2014 witnessed a 40% increase in financial performance from the previous year. According to our database, the financial performance of Zhong Lun for the first nine months of 2015 has also increased forty percent from the first nine months of 2014. Many additional factors have also helped to promote our financial success, including the abundant opportunities provided by the Chinese market as well as our emphasis on accumulating high quality partners and associates. Additionally, our performance during the past few years has earned Zhong Lun widespread recognition, including many well-regarded domestic and international awards, further promoting our status in the Chinese market, particularly to foreign enterprises. This success and recognition could not have been possible without the strong network of legal professionals that we work alongside and the cooperation between teams working across our various offices and fields. Our collaborative approach is an important part of working practice as it ensures that we maintain our status at the top of our industry by keeping up to date with the latest industry trends and developments. It is this approach and our strong experience across the Chinese legal market which enables us to address our clients’ needs creatively and efficiently. Looking to the future, the foreign investors looking to capitalise on the exciting investment opportunities outlined within this article are going to require the expertise and regional knowledge of local legal services. As one of China’s largest and most well-known law firms, Zhong Lun provides comprehensive legal services and are able to utilise our vast professional network to ensure that our clients receive a tailored service which suits their individual needs. Additionally, we provide comprehensive plans to structuring business and investment strategies so that our client’s investment plans are supported in the long term.
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