Thien Duong
Grand Final Chairperson
Managing Director, Transform Architecture
Thien Duong
Thien is a chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) with over 17 years of experience working on large scale projects in many parts of the world including Canada, Bermuda, Norway, England, Australia and Africa. In Vietnam, he is a registered Class 1 Architect, Master Planner and sits on the Board of Director of the Vietnam Green Building Council since its formation. He is also a guest lecturer at the HCMC School of Architecture. Thien founded Transform Architecture in 2005. The firm has won a number of awards including its consistent rating as one of Vietnam’s Top 10 architects by BCI Asia in 2008, 2010 and 2012.
Lui Violanti
Chairperson (Australia)
Regional Manager - Western Australian
,Inhabit Group
Lui Violanti
Over the past twenty plus years Lui has worked on a number of significant landmark and award winning projects across Australia. During this time he has been responsible for the design, delivery and management of a number of building typologies including education, health, retail, commercial, and residential.
In this capacity Lui has worked in all facets of the project development, from masterplanning, town planning, design to documentation and construction. This entails developing hand sketches and performance briefs at concept design, through to the management and delivery of production documentation, inclusive of performance specifications and glazing schedules to meet with the design intent, technical performance and budgetary constraints of the project.
His experience has been at the forefront of glass, remedial, envelope development and sustainable solutions in the façade industry. With a background in Architecture, he has worked with façade fabricators, developing expertise in curtain wall design and façade structures. Tony has designed façades on prominent buildings in Australia, in collaboration with the world’s leading consultants.
As Regional Manager for Western Australia has a key leadership role in interfacing with the design and construction teams, coordinating the requirements of the architectural, services, structural, acoustic and project brief requirements within the façade team. He also appreciates the project management systems and quality assurance system that are necessary for the delivery of large complex projects.
A personal interest in creating sustainable outcomes for supporting the construction industry drives Lui, pushing the boundaries around how architects and builders deliver superior quality, buildability and efficiency of the architectural vision and design intent.
Lui’s background as a Practice Director of an Architectural Practice, he also has a keen interest and appreciation of the architectural design, and enjoys working with designers to resolve complex geometries and developing systems that articulate design.
Education and professional qualifications
1991Registered Architect
1989Bachelor of Architecture, Curtin University, Perth
1985Bachelor of Applied Science, Western Australian Institute of Technology, Perth
Professional History
2013- PresentInhabit, Perth – Regional Manager Western Australian
2001-2013NHArchitecture, Melbourne - Practice Director
1998-2001Daryl Jackson Architects, Melbourne – Project Architect
1991-1998 Bollig Design Group, Perth – Architect
1988 -1991 Ministry of Housing and Construction, Melbourne – Graduate Architect
Specialist skills
- Project Delivery and Administration of Large Complex Projects
- Design Delivery / Lead Coordinator with Design Team
- Project Management and QA Systems
- Package Management between façade and other trades
- Performance Specifications
- Team Leader
- Buildability and Onsite works
Sorn Seap
Chairperson (Cambodia)
Industry Expert
Sorn Seap
Obtaining his BBA and MBA degrees from the National University of Management and Norton University respectively, Sorn Seap has merged his intricate academic knowledge and passion for the field of real estate into helping spearhead the operations for KEY Real Estate.
A well-seasoned veteran of over a decade in the real estate and property valuation industry, Sorn Seap contributes his experiences and profound local real estate knowledge cultivated through his former works with renowned local and international real estate companies including Lee Real Estate, Bonna Realty Group, Knight Frank (Malaysia), Knight Frank (Cambodia) and KEY Real Estate.
Versed in all aspects of real estate, his experiences has included intensive in-class training on property valuation in Malaysia, including field work on the supervisory and management levels.
Sorn Seap is currently the Executive Vice President for Cambodian Valuers and Estate Agents Association (CVEA), and he is also the Chairperson of judging panel for PropertyGuru Cambodia Property Awards.
Sun Yigong
Chairperson (Mainland China)
Chairman,Tospur Real Estate Consulting Co., Ltd.
Sun Yigong
Tongji University- Master’s degree in Automotive Engineering. Established Tongze Real Estate Consulting Co., Ltd. in 1998 and the concept is about Professionalism, Sincere Service. Active, Respectful, Frank and Sharing. Concentricity. He worked for Shanghai Real Estate Chamber of Commerce as Deputy Chairman. Committee member of Shanghai Youth Federation, Committee member of Shanghai Pudong New Area Committee CPPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), Executive Director of Shanghai Pudong New District Federation of Industry and Commerce，Vice President of Shanghai Real Estate Broker Industry Association. In 2010 & 2011, received China’s Best Outstanding Employer which is shanghai’s famous brand.
Paul Tse
Chairperson (Hong Kong, Macau)
President, Board of Directors, of Macao Association of Building Contractors and Developers
Paul Tse
Paul Tse has been active in property development and hotel investment in Asia and North America, sitting on the board of Keck Seng Investments (HK) Ltd, Sheraton Saigon Hotel, Caravelle Hotel in HoChiMinh City, Holiday Inn Wuhan Riverside, W Hotel San Francisco, Sofitel New York, and Golden Crown Development Ltd in Macau, where he was appointed by the SAR Government to serve as member on the Economic Council, Town Planning Council, Urban Renewal Council, as well as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Macau Electric Company. A member of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Committee of Yunnan Province, Mr. Tse is the current Chairman of The American Chamber of Commerce in Macau, and President of the Macau Association of Building Contractors and Developers.
Amit Khanna
Chairperson (India)
CEO, InterGlobe Real Estate Ventures
Amit Khanna
Chartered Accountant, Post Graduate Programme in Management (Indian School of Business - ISB, Hyderabad, Co2004), Owners President Management Program OPM49, Harvard Business School.
Amit is an Accountant and Management graduate by qualification and is based in New Delhi. In his current role, as CEO of InterGlobe Real Estate Ventures, Amit has setup the Real Estate division for InterGlobe Enterprises and manages assets and cash equivalent to $300m.
Prior to his role at InterGlobe, Amit ran ‘The Phoenix Fund’, a SEBI registered Portfolio Management Scheme of which Amit was the Founder & CIO.
He was also the Founder Director at GRAAVAA which engaged in mining, processing and retailing of natural stone (Granite, Marble, Travertine, Onyx and Semi-Precious Stones).
As an avid investor, Amit has invested in various private & public companies such as Hopscotch.in (online baby clothes e-commerce site), Shantha Biotech (Biotech Company), Aro Granite (Listed granite processing company), PayTM (payments gateway), Cipher (Cancer Care), United Wind (US based distributed wind energy company) etc.
Amit is also a keen collector of Indian Modern Art.
At ISB, Amit has served on the advisory council of the Endowment Fund and as a member of the Admissions Committee. He was also instrumental in conceptualising and seeding the endowment for the school and is also one of the co-founders of ISB’s Family Business Forum.
Amit has served on the advisory board of Udayan Care, an NGO for abandoned and orphaned children.
Amit was also part of “Champions of Change” a program for policy making initiated by Niti Aayog under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Doddy A. Tjahjadi
Chairperson (Indonesia)
Managing Director, PTI Architects
Doddy A. Tjahjadi
Pending bio
Prem Kumar
Chairperson (Malaysia)
Deputy Managing Director, Jones Lang Wootton
Prem Kumar
Prem Kumar has 30 years experiences in providing real estate professional services. He was the resident partner at the Johor Bahru office from 1992 to 2002 and became a Proprietary Partner/ Executive Director of Jones Lang Wootton in February 1998. He started his career as a graduate valuer with Jones Lang Wootton in Kuala Lumpur, gaining experience in undertaking valuation of various types of properties including, amongst others, office buildings, hotels, industrial premises, plantations, townships, development land, on-going development projects as well as plant and machinery. Besides valuations, he also has extensive exposure to the entire spectrum of real estate professional services such as agency, property management and research and consultancy.
Richard Emerson
Chairperson (Myanmar)
Managing Director, Emerson Real Estate
Richard Emerson
Mr. Richard Emerson is the managing director of Emerson Real Estate, an independent international real estate advisory business specializing in the Myanmar market. He has more than 25 years of experience in international real estate markets, working in the UK and Vietnam, and has been based in Myanmar since 2013.
Christophe Vicic
Chairperson (Philippines)
Country Head, Jones Lang LaSalle Philippines, Inc.
Christophe Vicic
Christophe has over 35 years of professional experience. He has worked extensively for international corporations across Western and Eastern Europe, Pakistan, Middle East and
Africa and gain a wealth of multi-cultural experience. He holds an International Executive Master’s degree from London Business School. His current position is Country Head for JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle) Philippines. Previously he was for 7 years with JLL Russia & CIS based in Moscow. Amongst his prior notable roles, he was International Director Europe for SIRVA managing the company in Europe, Scandinavia and former Eastern Europe. Prior to that he worked for 6 years for Millicom International Cellular SA. Starting as the CEO in Pakistan and subsequently in 1998 to the position of CEO for Africa, Russia/CIS and the Middle East region. Previously he worked for 9 years as Managing Director for DHL where he has managed companies in West Africa, Poland, Russia & CIS.
Dr. Nirmal De Silva
Chairperson (Sri Lanka)
Director/CEO, Paramount Realty
Dr. Nirmal De Silva
With a broad-based knowledge of the Real Estate industry, Dr. Nirmal De Silva is a business professional with over 15 years of senior management experience. He was instrumental in setting up operations for Regus PLC, the world’s largest flexible workspace provider in Sri Lanka. Dr. De Silva recently started his new venture Paramount Realty and is serving as the Director/CEO of the company. His success is built by his outstanding results and experience by working for a number of Multi National and Fortune 500 companies. Not only is he a well-respected thought leader in his area of expertise, he is also a much sought after Strategy Consultant & Start up Mentor
Suphin Mechuchep
Chairperson (Thailand)
Chairperson, JLL
Suphin Mechuchep
Suphin Mechuchep is Managing Director of JLL, the largest international property services firm in Thailand with 1,600 employees and a portfolio of over five million square metres managed. She has extensive real estate expertise, especially in capital markets, consultancy and asset management. With almost 30 years of experience, she is also one of the country’s most respected real estate professionals. In 2018, she was named to Influential Brands’ Top CEO list and also obtained a Quality Business Person of the Year Award in the real estate industry category by the Foundation of Science and Technology Council of Thailand.
Bill Barnett
Chairperson (Greater Niseko)
Founder and Managing Director of Asia-based C9 Hotelworks
Bill Barnett
Bill Barnett is a globally recognized hospitality, tourism and real estate advisor. He is the Founder and Managing Director of Asia-based C9 Hotelworks. In addition to being a leading consultant, he is a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences.
With over 30 years’ experience in the Asia Pacific region, he has an extensive background in hotel operations, development and asset management. His past employment highlights include Senior Corporate roles at international hotel chains and publically listed companies. Bill is considered to be one of the foremost industry experts in the hotel residences sector.
To date Bill is the author of four books on travel, property and hospitality under the titles of Slave to the Bean, Collective Swag, It Might Get Weird and Last Call.
Kristin Thorsteins
Chairperson (Singapore)
Head of Partnerships – SEA, IWG PLC
Kristin Thorsteins
Kristin has over 15 years of experience hotel & real estate development and advisory in Europe and Asia. A decade ago, fate brought her to Singapore, where her assignment was to lead development and asset management in APAC for Club Med and Partner with Portman Investment Pte Ltd. She is now Head of Partnerships – SEA, IWG PLC, the largest operator of flexible office space globally. Kristin is a recognized industry leader and a regular panelist & speaker at hotel & real estate investment conferences, a member of the Urban Land Institute - Hotel Development Council & Women's Leadership Initiative.
