17 student ambassadors went to Taiwan (Taipei and
Hsinchu) and Hong Kong from January 4 to January 14,
2003. The group visited 25 companies, government
officials in Taipei and Hong Kong, and participated in
two alumni gatherings. The trip was a tremendous
success and we have numerous positive feedbacks from
the companies and alumni.
Modeled after the successful MediaTech
club’s TechTrek franchise, this trip, like other
TechTreks, provided opportunities for the students to
gain an in-depth understanding of local businesses
(with emphasis in the tech-tech and telecom sectors).
In addition, we aimed to strengthen and extend MIT
Sloan’s brand and MIT’s overall government and
business networks in Asia.
To achieve the trip’s goal, we worked hard to
prepare the students and have trip participants
conducted company and industry research. A 200-page
trip book was put together. In addition, we invited Sloan
Deputy Dean Don Lessard to travel with the group,
which gave us significant credibility with the
companies and helped MIT Sloan to renew ties with
government and business leaders. We also collaborated
with other school and club initiatives such as
recruiting company sponsors and partners for the
Entrepreneurship Center’s G-lab and E-lab courses,
the MIT internship/externship program, Sloan Spring
China Trip 2003, and Global Leadership Forum business
conference in 2004. These initiatives and discussions
provided us with more follow-on opportunities with the
people we met during the trip.
We are very grateful for the help of Epoch
foundation and MIT/MIT Sloan alumni in arranging many
of the meetings. Moreover, the time and effort of our
company hosts and their executives are greatly
appreciated.
In Taiwan:
- Mayor of Taipei – Mr. Ma Ying-jeou
- Chairman of BenQ – Mr. KY Lee
- Ex-Chairman of Chunghwa Telecom – Dr. Mao Chi-kuo
- Chairman of Delta Electronics – Mr. Bruce
Cheng
- Chairman of Mitac/Synnex – Mr. Matthew Miao
- Chairman of Quanta – Mr. Barry Lam
- Vice Chairman of Inventec – Mr. Sayling Wen
- President of ITRI – Industrial Technology
Research Institute – Dr. Chintay Shih
- CFO of Fubon Financial Services – Mr. Victor
Kung
- Executive VP of Cathay Financial Services –
Mr. Chang-Ken Lee
- Executive VP of China Industrial Development
Bank – Mr. Bing Shen
- CEO & Senior VP of Chinatrust Financial
Services – Mr. Jeffrey Koo, Jr. & Mr. Chao-Chin
Tung
- Chairman of Global Strategic Investment Fund –
Dr. George Yang
- General Partner, CID VC – Mr. David Yang
- Chairman & CEO of Industrial Bank of Taiwan
– Mr. Kenneth C. M. Lo
- Executive Director of Epoch Foundation – Mr.
Paul Hsu
- Senior VP of Uni-President Enterprise Group –
Mr. Alex Lo
- VP of Sales & Marketing of ASUStek – Mr.
Jonathan Tsang
- Former President of MIT Club of Taiwan &
Lead Organizer of the 2002 MIT Asia-Pacific Alumni
Conference – Mr. Frank Liu
- President of MIT Sloan Club in Taiwan – Mr.
Tim Chan
We also visited TSMC, MediaTek, and Accton in Taiwan.
In Hong Kong:
- Chairman of Bank of East Asia & Legislative
Councilor – Dr. David Li
- Chairman of Li & Fung & Chairman of Hong
Kong Airport Authority – Dr. Victor Fung
- Permanent Secretary for Planning & Lands of
Government of Hong Kong – Mr. John Tsang
- Executive Director of China Unicom – Mr. Xing
Hui Tan
- Managing Director of The Carlyle Group (Asia
Ventures) – Mr. Gabriel Li
- Managing Directors at Warburg Pincus – Mr.
Chang Sun and Mr. Wayne Tsou
- CFO of Legend Computers – Ms. Mary Ma
- Executive VP of Legend Capital – Mr. Hao Chen
- Chairman of Asia Spencer Stuart & Associates
(Hong Kong) – Mr. Martin Tang
- Vice President of Bain & Company (Hong Kong)
– Mr. Oliver Stratton
- CTO of Nortel Networks Asia Pacific – Mr.
Conrad Labonté
- CFO of Chinadotcom – Mr. David Widdicombe
- President of MIT Club of Hong Kong & Partner
of Baring Private Equity Partners Asia – Mr.
Gordon Shaw
- President of MIT Sloan Club in Hong Kong – Mr.
Siu Fung Chan
We also visited Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers,
Asia-Pacific Satellite Company, China Mobile, and
Reach while we were in Hong Kong.
During the company visits, the students had
stimulating discussion with the company hosts on
strategic topics and industry-specific issues. Even
though most of the trip participants had extensive
experience living and working in the region, this trip
has greatly broadened the students’ understanding of
the technology value chain, the telecom industry, and
the competitive landscape in the Greater China region.
It was also an excellent opportunity to strengthen the
ties between Asia business with the Asian Business
Club as well as MIT Sloan.
Student Organizers:
Alex Chan,
Joe Heitzeberg,
Peggy Peng, Henry
Tan, Hans
Tung, Long
Wong
Student Participants:
Tahsin Alam,
Gee Len Cham,
Yu Huang, Do
Kyun (DK) Kim, Nhat-so
Lam, Derrick
Lay, Sam Lim,
Kartika
Prihadi, Miguel
Sieh, Ervin Tu,
Shih-yu Wang
Guests:
Spencer Fung, Claire Huang, Nhat-sheng Lam, Gina Lay,
Jay Tung
