13th Milken Institute Asia Summit, Singapore
Garhwal Post Bureau
SINGAPORE, 10 Oct: Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL, Senior Fellow of the Milken Institute, was in Singapore from 6 to 9 October for the 13th Milken Institute Asia Summit. The Summit brought together more than 1,500 global leaders under the theme, ‘Leading with Intelligence’.
Lord Bilimoria spoke at the India Roundtable on India’s rising role in Asia and the global economy. He also hosted and chaired the Summit’s Philanthropy Roundtable, which brought together some of Asia’s most prominent philanthropists and was widely regarded as one of the most outcome-driven sessions of the Summit.
Alongside the Summit, Lord Bilimoria co-hosted a dinner for the US-India Business Council at the Raffles Hotel with Ambassador Atul Keshap, President of the US-India Business Council at the US Chamber of Commerce, and Dr Shilpak Ambule, High Commissioner of India to Singapore. Senior business leaders from across the region attended.
Lord Bilimoria met Nikesh Mehta, British High Commissioner to Singapore, for a one-on-one meeting. The High Commissioner later hosted Lord Bilimoria and a group of special guests on a VIP tour of the Formula 1 pit lane and track ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix. He then welcomed them to his Grand Prix reception at Eden Hall, his official residence. Guests included Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve and F1 presenter Ruth Buscombe, and the evening drew strong high-level engagement.
On 9 October, Lord Bilimoria was received at the Istana by the President of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam. The two have known each other for more than two decades. The meeting followed the high-level lunch Lord Bilimoria hosted for the President in the UK Parliament in June.
Lord Bilimoria also met Martin Kent, Britain’s Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific. They discussed how to take the UK–Singapore relationship beyond trade and services into a broader strategic partnership. On the sidelines of the Summit, he met Badr Jafar, the UAE’s Special Envoy for Business and Philanthropy, who holds ministerial rank. He also met Anindya Bakrie of Indonesia’s Bakrie Group and other senior business leaders.
Lord Bilimoria said: “Once again, I have been so impressed by Singapore. It is an amazingly successful country and economy, and a model of social cohesion and dynamism that the world can learn from. The Milken Institute Asia Summit shows what is possible when capital, policy and philanthropy come together with real purpose. There is so much potential for the UK and Singapore to build an even closer relationship, and I am confident it will go from strength to strength.”
