‘It all started from Hong Kong’: two of Southeast Asia’s richest men on early success and the belt and road plan’s future
- The Thai and Indonesian business titans discuss how the city played an essential role on their way to the top – and will do so today for investments related to Xi Jinping’s ambitious global trade strategy
Two of Southeast Asia’s most prominent members of the Chinese diaspora, businessmen Dhanin Chearavanont and Mochtar Riady, took the stage at the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council’s Belt and Road Summit on Wednesday to reminisce about being early investors on the mainland.
He described getting his start in banking after being born into a working-class family in East Java, and how he went on to acquire Hong Kong’s iconic Lippo Centre in the late 1990s.
I thought for all products there were limits, but there’s one thing with no constraints – that’s money
“I thought for all products there were limits, but there’s one thing with no constraints – that’s money. So I wanted to work for a bank,” Riady said.
He was doing just that in Hong Kong when he heard that the city’s famous Bond Building was going to be sold, and sought some expert advice. “I called up [influential entrepreneur] Li Ka-shing – he often said I should invest in Hong Kong. So then I did invest in Hong Kong, and I bought the Lippo Tower.”
The building was renamed after Riady’s company in 1998.
From there, Riady said, he was able to make investments in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, the United States and Australia.