Asia chapter hits growth spurt: TEI officials visit discuss exciting initiatives.

• Author: Levin-Epstein, Michael
• Position: Tax Executives Institute

There's no doubt that Asia has enormous geopolitical influence. And there's also no doubt that the Asia Chapter of TEI is one of the organization's fastest growing, with clear global significance. Tax Executive wants to give readers the flavor of the Asia Chapter, with a recipe that is one part history, one part present, and one part future, with a dash of chapter activities, programs, and initiatives and garnished with the visit by TEI officials in late 2016.

Part I: History

TEI's Asia Chapter was established in Hong Kong in 2004. With rapid membership growth over the past five years, the chapter now has more than 190 members in the Asia-Pacific region.

Geographically, the Asia Chapter is likely the most sprawling, with some members separated by several time zones and as much as a ten-hour flight. Singapore has the most members with almost ninety, followed by Hong Kong with nearly forty. Mainland China is the subregion with the most significant growth, with membership expanding rapidly to over thirty in just three years, mainly in the major commercial hubs of Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. The Asia Chapter also maintains a wide footprint, with tax executives located across the region in Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The founder and first president of the TEI Asia Chapter was William (Bill) Ramirez, who moved to Asia in 2003. Ramirez was also a founding member of the EMEA Chapter in 1998 and served on its first board.

Initial efforts to establish the Asia Chapter when he first arrived in Hong Kong in 2003 were not all smooth sailing. Fate intervened in the form of the SARS epidemic, which led to travel restrictions and the cancellation of most Chapter meetings. It was not a good time to plant the TEI flag. By the end of 2003, the epidemic had subsided and the law firm of Baker & McKenzie held its Annual Asia Tax Meeting. Thirty-three people who attended that meeting with Bill, including Sharon Tan and Terry Yuen, current board members of the Asia Chapter, supported the launch of TEI in Asia.

Many people have helped to make the Asia Chapter what it is today, including Tan, who as senior director of tax operations for Nike is based in Singapore, and Yuen, who is BP's country president for Singapore and Myanmar and the regional head of tax for Asia, based in Singapore. Teaming up with Ramirez to get the Asia Chapter off the ground, they were instrumental in fostering its growth.

Tan had subsequent stints as both Asia Chapter representative for the Asia-Pacific region and regional vice president for EMEA and Asia-Pacific. During this time, she organized the first TEI Asia Chapter U.S. Tax Training Program and the first joint TEI meeting in Dubai for EMEA and Asia TEI members. The U.S. Tax Training Program remains an important event in the Chapters calendar. She continues to devote time and energy to the Asia Chapter, serving as a board member to this day, mentoring younger board members, and inspiring others to take up leadership roles within the Chapter.

Yuen has been involved since those first days, serving on the board and, as the current Chapter treasurer, inspiring others along the way.

In compiling this article, Tax Executive interviewed several past presidents of the chapter.

William (Bill) Ramirez

Bill Ramirez was the founding member and first president of the TEI Asia Chapter in 2004. Ramirez is now a professor at Portland State University and continues to work with TEI as a member of the Oregon Chapter. He has been instrumental in the organization of the last six annual Chapter conferences and is chairman of the Chapter's scholarship committee.

There were several major differences between launching a TEI chapter in Europe and in Asia, according to Ramirez. One of the biggest, he notes, is geography. For example, in Europe, individuals in Geneva, London, Munich, or Paris would have an hour-long flight to reach a meeting in Brussels. In contrast, to attend an Asia Chapter meeting in Singapore, participants would fly for four hours and even more for members from Australia and Japan. Another difference was the lack of common core. In Europe, the European Union led to cooperation and convergence on tax matters, but Asia lacked a comparable organization. In Europe, the Paris-based OECD also fostered cooperation on tax matters. In the Asia Chapter, only two member countries, Australia and Japan, belonged to the OECD at the time. In Europe, there were organizations that had tax committees, the American Chamber of Commerce, the European American Tax Institute, and the International Fiscal Association. Asia had fewer of these types of organizations, which also tended to be smaller and focused only on domestic tax issues.

What strategy did Ramirez use to gain momentum for TEI in Asia? Since the concept of an organization like TEI was unknown in Asia, he approached the Big 4 accounting firms with a "win-win" strategy for joining TEI. Members could get high-quality, affordable education and networking opportunities with peers from all over Asia. Big 4 firms gained the ability to provide service to existing clients but also could showcase their talents to potential clients who were TEI members.

David Sutherland

David Sutherland, chairman of the board at International Care Ministries based in Hong Kong, was Chapter president from 2006 to 2008. He says that competitors and senior-level executives in many professions can be reluctant to talk with each other, but tax professionals are better at networking and sharing experiences. One...