John Riady vs John Denton: Doing business in Indonesia and Australia

We are pleased to announce that John Riady and John Denton will be taking part in CAUSINDY 2014 in a special debate which will explore everything from doing business in Indonesia and Australia, to navigating politics and attitudes towards investment. Both Johns have experience in the government, private and educational sectors, which will make for very interesting insights during the debate.

Mr Riady is Director of several companies across the media, property and investment industries, including Berita Satu Media Holdings, Lippo Group and as Editor in Chief of Jakarta Globe. He is also a prominent figure in higher education as Dean of and Professor of Law at Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH). CAUSINDY delegates can look forward to unique insights from Mr Riady on what it takes to build and run successful businesses in Indonesia.

As CEO and Partner of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Mr Denton has been involved in shaping the Australian Government’s policy on how Australia engages with its neighbours as an advisor on the “Asian Century” White Paper. He is also well versed in doing business in Indonesia and visits Jakarta regularly in partnership with Indonesian law firm Soemadipradja & Taher. Mr Denton was a speaker at CAUSINDY last year in Canberra where he entertained the audience with stories on negotiating trade deals and trying to solve humanitarian issues. We look forward to welcoming Mr Denton back to CAUSINDY in Jakarta.

About John Riady

John Riady is an Indonesian lawyer, professor, social entrepreneur, and businessman. He is currently Dean and Professor of Law at UPH (Universitas Pelita Harapan) Faculty of Law, one of Indonesia’s leading universities; Editor at Large of the Jakarta Globe, an Indonesian English language newspaper; Director of Berita Satu Media Holdings, a diversified Indonesian Media Conglomerate; and Director of the Lippo Group.

Born in New York City, John spent his early childhood in the United States, before returning to Jakarta at the age of four. John was educated at Georgetown University where he majored in Political Philosophy and Economics. He also received his MBA from the Wharton School of Business–graduating as a Palmer Scholar–and a Juris Doctor from Columbia University Law School.

John is also a member of the NY Bar Association, and serves as Chairman of KIKAS-KADIN (the United States Committee within the Indonesian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry), member of the Columbia University Law School International Advisory Board, and the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council.

About John Denton

Partner & CEO of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, John is a global leader in three arenas; a legal expert in the areas of government, workplace relations, and international trade and investment; a national business leader and an international adviser on global policy.

John is one of three Prime Ministerial representatives on the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC); a Board Member of the Business Council of Australia (BCA); a Board Member of Asialink and Asia Society; Chairman (emeritus) of the Experts Group on Trade and Investment in Indonesia; Chairman of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees Australia for more than a decade (among other important positions).

John was also an external adviser on the Federal Government advisory panel that oversaw the development of the ‘Australia in the Asian Century’ White Paper released in October 2012 and a member of the Australian Government Cabinet sub-committee for the Asian Century White Paper review process. He is now a member of the Strategic Advisory Board advising the Government on implementation of the White Paper and on emerging policy issues.

He is recognised as one of the best labour law practitioners in the Asia Pacific by Asialaw Leading Lawyers Survey and one of Australia’s best government and trade lawyers in the Best Lawyers peer survey.

Karina Akib, Co-Founder and Director

Karina currently works in Jakarta as an Associate for Boston Consulting Group. She is passionate about social entrepreneurship and prior to joining BCG, she led a product launch at Jakarta based social business RUMA which uses mobile phone technology as a tool to develop the livelihood of individuals at the base of the pyramid and also lead business development as a Director at the Inaugural Global Social Change Film Festival in Bali.