Professor George Benwell AAPBS Annual Meeting 2015, Phuket, Thailand 19-20 November 2015   Professor George Benwell President, AAPBS Dean, Otago Business School, University of Otago, Dunedin, NZ

Chulalongkorn Business School, and WELCOME … yin dee dtôn ráp - to "The Land of Smiles” WELCOME to the 2015 AAPBS Annual Meeting THANK YOU to our conference co‐hosts … Chulalongkorn Business School, and Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration

We are here … NOT JUST TO … celebrate our successes and achievements over the last year BUT TO … also prepare for our new year ahead under our new President - Dean Ruey-Shan Andy Guo, NTU through our Working Groups and changes to our Constitution

AAPBS stands for … partnership and collaboration - amongst members, between business schools, with local businesses and with governments in the Asia‐Pacific region - working together THROUGH our very unique and special “culture” that defines AAPBS - ‘members serving members’

Collaboration, sustainability and inclusivity … This year …   we’ve gained a better understanding of collaboration, sustainability and inclusivity through insightful presentations at our May Academic Conference in Bali BUT opening discussions and raising questions on matters that will take time for AAPBS to take on board and which won’t simply happen overnight - matters that will require careful consideration by Council AND ensuring the continued success of AAPBS, building its profile in Asia-Pacific and globally and encouraging new members

New initiatives… I’m enthusiastic about the new initiatives we’ve started … Working Groups Membership Survey Our New Members Entry Survey AAPBS Asia-Pacific BizSchool Finder BUT we need to … collaborate more and improve our communications, services and benefits to you, our members

HELPING Nepal … I’m proud of being the President of an Association that has “heart” … in April, the earthquake in Nepal killed 1,800 + AAPBS is contributing to the disaster relief to Nepal by sending 500 solar chargers assisting Nepal in re-establishing communications and lowering the risk of communications failures in the event of a future disaster we’re currently working with the government and private agencies to determine their distribution I’m pleased to announce that you will each receive your own solar charger TODAY

If you have any questions, please ask the AAPBS team or Once again … WELCOME to our 2015 Annual Meeting THANK YOU to our conference co‐hosts and their teams PARTICIPATE LEARN, and ENJOY If you have any questions, please ask the AAPBS team or visit our website www.aapbs.org