Bangkok University Opens the 1st BU-ASEAN BUSINESS FORUM
Bangkok University organized the 1st BU-ASEAN BUSINESS FORUM under the theme "Future ASEAN Business Leaders: Driving Sustainable Success Through Creativity" through collaboration between the School of Business Administration, School of Accounting, School of Economics and Investment, and Graduate School. This forum aims to inspire and encourage new generation business leaders to use creativity and technology in creating business innovation, leading to sustainable growth and creating benefits for society.
The event began with a special lecture titled "Reimagining ASEAN: How Creative Leaders Build Sustainable Success" by K. Vatsun Thirapatarapong, Country Manager of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Thailand. He stated: "Executives in this era or new graduates are facing global changes. If we only look within a single country, the possibilities for seeing new opportunities will be limited in scope. But when we expand our perspective to the ASEAN regional level, opportunities will increase significantly. In the future, ASEAN will become one of the regions with the fourth-largest economy in the world. This represents both opportunities and new challenges that must be faced in ways different from before. Therefore, Creative Leadership in this era needs to see hidden opportunities. Once we see them, we must dare to take action. And most importantly, we must have unwavering confidence in what we are doing."
This was followed by a panel discussion on "Future ASEAN Business Leaders: Driving Sustainable Success Through Creativity" with distinguished panelists from various sectors, led by K. Purat Osathanugrah, President of Bangkok University, Partner Arc 9 and CEO Zipcode; K. Charoen Phosamritlert, Chief Executive Officer of KPMG Thailand; and K. Ratchawit Chanrunganan, BU scholarship student from the School of Business Administration. The session was moderated by K. Zcongklod Bangyikhan, Executive Editor and Founder of The Cloud online magazine. The discussion covered several important topics including the meaning of sustainability and creativity in the ASEAN business context, changes in the regional business landscape, the role of creativity and innovation in driving business, the importance of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), and preparation for future ASEAN business leaders.
K. Purat Osathanugrah, President of Bangkok University, Partner Arc 9 and CEO Zipcode, said: "Leaders with Creative Leadership must be able to think of new concepts, build upon new things, and dare to step out of traditional thinking frameworks that can change this world, in alignment with sustainability principles and ESG dimensions. At Bangkok University, we serve as a bridge connecting students with industry leaders through Project Based Learning that intensively simulates real-world business situations. Students will learn through numerous challenging projects. However, the success of ASEAN business leaders depends on several important components, including a strong foundation of skill sets, creativity that can lead to creating sustainable businesses, and most importantly, passion or the inner fire that will drive us to truly create change in this world."
K. Charoen Phosamritlert, Chief Executive Officer of KPMG Thailand, shared his perspective: "When talking about sustainability in the current context, which is considered a mega trend in the business sector that currently doesn't aim for maximum profit or how to achieve the lowest cost, but rather how to make businesses grow sustainably for the organization, society, and environment. As Creative Leadership at the ASEAN level, what needs to be done is studying the impacts that occur, knowing how to adapt strategies, opening opportunities to the ASEAN level with a population of over 700 million people - that is the opportunity for leaders, especially Creative Leadership. This aligns with the rapidly changing business landscape in the ASEAN region. What worked well in the past may not be the answer for the future. Leaders must therefore adapt and learn continuously."
Concluding with K. Ratchawit Chanrunganan, BU scholarship student from the School of Business Administration, who expressed thoughts from a new generation perspective: "Sustainability is what we are all doing - growing together with this world sustainably by using creativity as a blend, bringing knowledge learned in the classroom and knowledge gained from self-discovery, using creativity to open new perspectives in learning. I believe everything is a learning opportunity that can be unlearned and re-learned. When we have this perspective, we will become leaders who not only create success for ourselves but create sustainable success for everyone."
The 1st BU-ASEAN BUSINESS FORUM reflects Bangkok University's vision of being a core driver in developing new-era ASEAN business leaders who are creative and aim for sustainability, through education that combines theory with real experience, to prepare for challenges in the 21st century.
