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Event Details:
Global Environmental Policy Seminar
Southeast Asia’s Vector | A Critique of the Modern World’s Approach to Sustainable Development
Most of the world's population (including most of Southeast Asia's 700 million) still lives in developing economies, yet most sustainability narratives are still driven by the developed world. This presentation critically examines the elitism inherent in current sustainability discourse and its implications for Southeast Asia's development trajectory.
Drawing from empirical evidence on energy transition capabilities, economic capital formation, and infrastructure development across ASEAN nations, the speaker explores the inherent tensions between rapid modernization and environmental sustainability in emerging economies. Through examining the intersection of governance, technological advancement, and socio-economic realities, the talk proposes a more nuanced approach to sustainability that acknowledges the development imperatives of the Global South.
Biography
Gita Wirjawan is founding partner of Ikhlas Capital and the chairman of Ancora Group, an Indonesian business group with interests in real estate, natural resources, arts and technology, which he founded in 2007.
His public service has included positions as Indonesia's minister of trade (2011–2014), chairman of its Investment Coordinating Board (2009–2011), and chair of a 159-nation WTO ministerial conference in 2012 that focused on easing global trade barriers. He led his country's national badminton association from 2012 to 2016, when Indonesia won 3 gold medals at the World Championships, four titles at the All England Championships, and one gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
As an investment banker, he has held key appointments at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, where he led many mergers, corporate restructuring, corporate financing and strategic sales involving leading companies in Southeast Asia. His various board roles included service as a commissioner of the state-owned oil giant, Pertamina, and an independent board director of Axiata Group Berhad.
Gita hosts the educational podcast "Endgame", focused on the region to promote Southeast Asia's growth and prosperity. He is a visiting scholar with Stanford's Precourt Institute for Energy, researching Southeast Asia's nation-building directionality. Additionally, he is a member of the Angsana Council, a non-profit group dedicated to boosting the region's businesses and economies, and global advisory firm Macro Advisory Partners.