Expanding into ASEAN  opportunities, challenges, and strategies for UK businesses

As Head of FTA Utilisation at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), David leads DBT’s work on ensuring that businesses are taking full advantage of the UK’s new FTAs. David was previously Head of Policy for Europe in the Export Support Service in the Department, where he focused on supporting exporters to adjust to the new post-Brexit trading relationship with the European Union. Prior to this, David was a relationship manager for a portfolio of multinational companies assessed as being of strategic importance to the UK Government, covering companies in the infrastructure, automotive, and defence sectors.

Gavin leads commercial and strategic initiatives across the group working alongside Hawksford's clients internationally. His experience extends across a broad range of asset classes, private and regulated investment structures, funds and international capital markets, including the London stock exchange, AIM, Aquis and Euronext. He has a strong corporate governance background acting on a variety of regulated boards, collective investment schemes and licensed trust company business.

Gavin is Co-chair of the Institute of Directors (IoD) ASEAN Special Interest Group. He also serves on the executive and trade and investments committees of the British Malaysian Society and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Manas Chawla is a political risk specialist and the Founder and CEO of London Politica, the world's largest political risk advisory for social impact. He has specialist expertise in consulting on soft power, corporate diplomacy, and crisis management, and has advised the United Nations, World Economic Forum, and a range of C-suite executives at Fortune 500 companies, and tech unicorns. An accomplished public speaker, Manas has delivered lectures and keynotes on geopolitical risk and open-source intelligence at universities and conferences across Europe, including the most widely-watched TED talk on political risk. He serves as Chairperson of LSE’s Political Risk and Investment Society and trustee of the London Speakers Union.

Manas has a background in strategic communications and has previously worked at Project Associates and Sanctuary Counsel, where he helped provide strategic counsel and reputational advice to governments, corporations, and NGOs. Before founding London Politica, he led The Youth Journal, a youth-led think tank that produced international affairs research for over 60,000 monthly readers.
Manas has authored research reports and built compliance indexes for the host countries of the G7 and G20 summits. Manas has also served as the Secretary-General of Canada's leading MUN conference, Toronto Model United Nations. He gained an undergraduate degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is an incoming Master’s candidate at the University of Oxford.

Robin is Head of Capital Markets for MHA MacIntyre Hudson and has had an extensive career in corporate finance including corporate advisory and reporting assignments, raising venture capital, management buyouts, capital reconstructions, pre-flotation planning and valuations. He has also advised on acquisitions and disposals by public and private companies as well as on over 150 IPOs, secondary offerings and RTOs in the UK and overseas, in a wide range of sectors and countries. He is also a Director of listed companies in London and in Singapore and has a 360 degree and almost unique view on and experience International capital market transactions. Robin was formerly corporate finance and audit partner and Head of Capital Markets of Crowe UK LLP and Mazars LLP.

Robin is a Chartered Accountant, a Governor of Cambridge University Hospital Trust, Vice Chair of the British Malaysian Society Trade and Investment Group, and is Co-Chair of the Institute of Directors Special Interest Group for ASEAN.

Tom is a partner in the International Corporate Department of Trowers & Hamlins LLP.

Tom has been working with Trowers & Hamlins for over 15 years and has gained a broad range of experience advising on cross-border investment, financing and commercial transactions, on both a conventional and Shari'ah compliant basis.

Tom is currently based in our London office, advising on cross-border transactions, and has previously spent approximately 5 years in our Kuala Lumpur office (heading our Corporate & Commercial team there) and 7 years in our Bahrain office.

Tom's main focus is on cross-border mergers & acquisitions, private equity, equity capital markets and joint ventures, supporting flows of capital across various regions including the UK, Middle East and SE Asia. Often this involves a significant element of Shari'ah structuring. Tom also has expertise in advising clients on international commercial contracts including franchise, distribution and agency agreements.

Tom has advised a range of clients, including governmental institutions, banks, fund and asset managers, institutional investors, operating businesses and high net worth individuals, in a variety of sectors including real estate, fund management, private equity, financial services, wholesale Islamic and conventional banking, telecommunications, food & beverage, insurance, industrial, and aviation.

Winnie is the Head of Intermediaries – Asia at Hawksford. Based in Singapore, she is responsible for helping global businesses to expand into Southeast Asia region, while assisting Asian companies with expanding into the UK.

With more than 10 years of experience in international expansion, Winnie has held different roles within the public and private sector, where she assisted multinational corporations and SMEs on their market entry and expansion needs.

Winne has lived and worked in China and Southeast Asia and is fluent in English, Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese and Hokkien. She prides herself on her good understanding of cultural sensitivity and ways of working with clients in Asia.