
Asia Pacific Initiative Forum (APIF)
APIF is an invite-only forum which aims to look forward 30 years into Asia’s future and create a new innovative ecosystem together with business leaders mainly from Japan, India, and the ASEAN countries. We seek to become a platform for exchange and develop synergies through innovative ideas and the work of participating companies. These missions have continued to guide our work ever since we began preparing for the inaugural forum in 2017. APIF offers numerous opportunities for individuals to discuss recent social, economic, and business trends, and share advice on how to expand firms’ operations by using the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as AI, big data, and IoT, to tackle social challenges.
Accounting for more than half of the world’s population, Asia has emerged as a leading economic power. Over time, the region has become the “factory of the world,” constituting an absolutely crucial part of global supply chains, and in the past 15 year years alone, the flow of goods, services, funds, information, and labor circulating within Asia has doubled. These flows – the main drivers of Asia’s economic growth – will continue to expand and reinforce the connectivity and economic integration of the region. APIF aims to act as a meeting ground for Asian business leaders to create a new innovation ecosystem and form a common vision for the coming decades.
Over the course of the event, next-generation innovators from Asia exchange thoughts on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as well as the factors that spawn new ideas and synergies aimed at solving shared socio-economic challenges in the region. Importantly, the forum also provides Asian innovators with unique opportunities to voice their opinions to a global audience.
The inaugural Asia Pacific Initiative Forum (APIF) was held December 6-8th, 2019, in Yokohama.
For forum-related questions, or to become an APIF partner, please contact info@apinitiative.org
〈APIF President : Dr Makio Miyagawa〉
Dr Makio Miyagawa, former Ambassador of Japan to Malaysia, joined Asia Pacific Initiative as APIF President on January 1st, 2020.
〈Profile of Dr Makio Miyagawa〉
Dr Miyagawa held numerous positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Legal Desk Chief, Deputy Director of the US-Japan Trade Division, Deputy Director of the Russian Division, Director within the Economic Affairs Bureau and Asia Oceanian Bureau, Deputy DG (Director-General) of Climate Change Negotiations, DG of Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, and DG of Middle East and North Africa. He served in the Japanese embassies in the United Kingdom and Malaysia, and in the Japanese Mission in Geneva. Currently, he holds the position of Special Advisor on National Security, NSS, within the Cabinet Bureau of Japan. He received a D.Phil. in International Relations from Oxford University, and a BSc in Aeronautical and Spacecraft Engineering from the University of Tokyo. He has lectured at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and at the University of Tokyo, and has served as Director of the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA).
<Outline of APIF 2020>
Date | December 4th (Fri) – 5th (Sat), 2020 |
Venue | Online (broadcast headquarters in Yokohama Hotel New Grand) |
Host | Asia Pacific Initiative |
Acknowledgements | Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Money Forward, Inc., MUFG Bank, Ltd., Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd. |
Speakers and Advisors in Alphabetical Order (titles as of Dec 2020) |
Abhilasha Purwar, Founder and CEO, Blue Sky Analytics Ajay Chaturvedi, Entrepreneur, Author & Philosopher; Founder, HarVa and KFN Audrey Tang, Digital Minister, Executive Yuan, Taiwan Bernise Ang, Chief Alchemist, Zeroth Labs Blair Palese, Global Climate Editor, Climate & Capital Media EHARA John Nobuyoshi, Founder, Partner, UNISON CAPITAL Inc. Gabriel Leung, Dean of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong Goh Hup Jin, Chairman, Nipsea Group IMAMURA Kenichi, Head of HITOLAB, Recruit Co., Ltd. Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, Chairman & Group Chief Executive Officer, WHA Corporation Public Company Limited Jing Pei Goh-Asmala, Regional Director, Asia Pacific, Teach for All Joey Concepcion, Philippines Chairman, ASEAN Business Advisory Council Kenn Ross, Managing Director, Asia, Minerva Project KOBAYASHI Lin, Co-Founder and Chair of the Board, UWC ISAK Japan Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment of Republic of Indonesia MAEDA Tadashi, Governor, Japan Bank for International Corporation MIZUNO Hiromichi, Special Advisor to METI; Executive Fellow of Harvard Business School; Non-Executive Board Member of Tesla Inc MURAI Jun, Dean, API Institute of Geo-economic Studies and API Senior Fellow; Distinguished Professor, Keio University Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder and Chairman, Infosys and Founding Chairman UIDAI(Aadhaar) NIINAMI Tak, President & CEO, Suntory Holdings Limited Prasad Kompalli, Cofounder and CEO, MFine Ranjith Mukundan, Cofounder and CEO, Stellapps Technologies Private Limited Regula Schegg, Managing Director, Asia Circulate Capital Ryu Kawano Suliawan, Head of Merchants, Gojek Sahar Mansoo, Founder and CEO, Bare Necessities Zero Waste India Pvt Ltd Sampad SWAIN, CEO and Co-Founder, Instamojo Technologies pvt Ltd. SASAKI Nobuhiko, Chairman and CEO, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) SATO Teruhide, Founder and CEO, BEENEXT Capital Management Pte. Ltd. SHIOZAKI Akihisa, Attorney, Partner, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu Sopon Iamsirithaworn, Director, Division of Communicable Diseases, Department of Disease Control, Thailand SUGA Chizuru, Head of the World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Japan Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Mohd. Munir Abdul Majid, Chairman, ASEAN Business Advisory Council Malaysia Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, Republic of Singapore TSURUOKA Yuta, CEO, BASE Inc. Victor L. L. Chu, Chairman and CEO, First Eastern Investment Group; Co-Founder, Peach Aviation YOSHIDA Koichiro, CEO, CrowdWorks, Inc. Yuwadee Chirathivat, Chairwoman, Central Department Store |
Videos from APIF 2020 (to show subtitle, click here for instructions)
Summary Clip of APIF 2020
DAY 1 (4th December, 2020)
Special Message from SUGA Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan
“Collaboration for Sustainable and Inclusive Prosperity”
by Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, Republic of Singapore)
“Digital Social Innovation”
by Audrey Tang, Digital Minister, Executive Yuan, Taiwan
Special Report on COVID-19 from Japanese Team
by SHIOZAKI Akihisa, Attorney, Partner, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
DAY 2 (5th December, 2020)
“Sustainability Transformation, Global Game Change for Growth and Competitiveness”
by MIZUNO Hiromichi, Special Advisor to METI, Executive Fellow of Harvard business School, Non executive Board member of Tesla Inc
Special Message from H. E. Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment of Republic of Indonesia
< Outline of Inaugural APIF >
DATES | December 6th (Fri) – 8th (Sun), 2019 |
VENUE | Hotel New Grand Yokohama https://www.hotel-newgrand.co.jp/english/ Shiseido Global Innovation Center (S/PARK) https://spark.shiseido.co.jp/?lang=en Kyocera Research Center https://global.kyocera.com/company/location/type/japan/research_labs.html Yokohama Grand Intercontinental Hotel https://www.interconti.co.jp/yokohama/en/ |
Organized by: | Asia Pacific Initiative |
Special thanks to: | City of Yokohama |
Acknowledgements: | Japan Bank for International Cooperation; MUFG Bank, Ltd.; Shiseido Company, Limited.; KYOCERA Corporation; JTB Corp.; ANA HOLDINGS INC.; ABC Cooking Studio Co., Ltd.; Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd.; Money Forward, Inc.; The University of Tokyo Edge Capital Co., Ltd.; Topaz Capital, Inc. |
Speakers and Advisors in Alphabetical Order (titles as of Dec 2019) |
Aadi Vaidya, Chief Operating Officer, Zilingo |
APIF 2019 YOKOHAMA PROGRAMAPIF 2019 SESSIONS
by Parag Khanna

by SUGA Yoshihide, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Japan

KURODA Haruhiko, Governor,
Bank of Japan

with the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama

【Sessions】