Callam Fletcher is the Founder and Chairman of the Europe Asia Company AG, the Swiss company behind the flagship Asia Leaders Series® forum. Headquartered in the City of Zurich, Callam created the Series to provide Asia’s most respected leaders with a neutral platform to openly address influential executives and business owners in Europe. Today the forum stands among the few truly impartial initiatives of its kind. Prior to this, Callam had studied Software Engineering in Edinburgh and Entrepreneurship at Babson College in Boston. He founded and built an IT company in the Czech Republic in 2008. He is of Scottish origin, although he spent much of his youth in Normandy, France, where his family relocated during his childhood.

Callam Fletcher

Irina joined the Asia Leaders Series in 2022 as Head of Operations, before being becoming Chief of Staff in June 2024. Irina completed her degree in Business and Events Management in Edinburgh and spent the following 6 years involved in the industry. During the Covid-19 pandemic she branched out and co-founded a recruitment firm that became a success. She eventually stepped aside from the firm and relocated to Switzerland.

Irina Dinoci

Mr. Bhaskaran is a Partner of the Centennial Group, a strategic advisory firm headquartered in Washington, DC. As Founding CEO of its Singapore subsidiary Centennial Asia Advisors, he coordinates the Asian business of the Group which provides independent economic research on Asian political and macroeconomic trends for investment institutions, government agencies, multilateral institutions and companies with interests in Asia, leveraging off 40 years of studying Asia. Mr. Bhaskaran is also Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies in Singapore where his main interests are in analyzing macroeconomic policy frameworks in Singapore. Prior to Centennial, Mr. Bhaskaran held senior positions at Société Générale’s Asian investment banking division where he supervised Asian economic and investment strategy analysis and was a member of the Executive Committee, in charge of Asian equity research. In 12 years with the firm, Mr. Bhaskaran helped to establish its business presence in Southeast Asia and in South Asia, while also helping to develop the firm’s highly-rated equity and economic research. Prior to that, Mr. Bhaskaran worked for the Singapore government, supervising a team that prepared strategic political and economic assessments of Asia for senior Singapore government officials. Mr. Bhaskaran holds a range of other positions. In terms of public service, he served as Chairman of a high-level government committee reviewing the regulation of moneylenders in Singapore in 2014–2015. He is also Member of the Competition Appeals Board, Singapore. In addition, he is a Member of the Regional Advisory Board for Asia of the International Monetary Fund; Council Member, Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA); Vice-President, Economics Society of Singapore; and an advisor to the Asia Foundation. Mr. Bhaskaran also serves on the boards of several companies whose businesses span the ASEAN region including CIMB Investment Bank (a subsidiary of CIMB Bank, Malaysia’s second largest bank and which operates across ASEAN), Japfa Ltd (listed in Singapore) and Luminor Capital. Mr. Bhaskaran was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge University where he earned an MA (Cantab) and at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he obtained a Masters in Public Administration. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Manu Bhaskaran

Sitao Xu is the Chief Economist at Deloitte China, leading its economic and industry research. He previously served as Chief Representative of China and EIU Forecasting Director at the Economist Group from 2004 to 2014. His extensive career includes roles as Economist at MMS International (1995), Regional Treasury Economist at Standard Chartered (1996), Chief Economist for Asia at Societe Generale (2000-2002), and Head of Economics at ICBC (Asia) (2003). Sitao frequently writes for major publications and appears on financial TV networks. He holds degrees from Peking University, the University of Connecticut, and Boston College, and has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University. He is also a guest professor at Tsinghua University and has served on several corporate boards.

Sitao Xu

Michel de Rijk is a business leader with over two decades of experience in digital advertising, venture building, and technology-driven transformation. Originally from the Netherlands, he has lived and worked in Asia for the past 16+ years.

He is the founder and CEO of 19Volt, a Singapore-based venture builder creating high-growth ventures in fintech, AI and industrial platforms. Michel is also the co-founder of Kredit Hero, an AI-powered marketplace that connects small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with lenders across Southeast Asia, addressing critical gaps in SME financing.

Previously, Michel served as the APAC CEO for S4 Capital, driving significant business growth and integration efforts across the region. Before this, he was the Global Chief Growth Officer for WPP/GroupM’s Performance Media Group, leading global expansion initiatives, and served as the APAC CEO for Xaxis, where he advanced programmatic advertising solutions in diverse markets.

Michel holds several board positions, offering strategic oversight to organisations in various industries. He is also actively involved in philanthropic efforts, including working with Team Daya to build schools in underserved communities. Based in Singapore, Michel focuses on scaling ventures and fostering innovation across Asia and beyond.

Executive Team

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