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Conference Presentation, Panel

Fireside Chat with Sir An0drew Witty | Part 2 Fast Forward: A Glimpse Into Asia-Pacific's Future

Milken InstituteSir An0drew Witty, Haslinda Amin, Michael Milken, Raphael Arndt, Jeffrey Jaensubhakij, Hiromichi Mizuno, Mark Tucker, Doug Appel, Michael Sterling, Curtis Chin
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  • GSK anticipates operating a minimum of 12 daily events and establishing a third global headquarters in March of the following year to serve the time zone east of Istanbul.
  • The company plans to decentralize decision-making to Singapore, ensuring all decisions feasible within that time zone are executed locally without reference to London.
  • GSK intends to liberalize intellectual property rights in the poorest 60 countries and apply a graduated pricing model where the poorest nations face the lowest IP and price constraints.
  • A long-term strategy involves waiving IP rights in the poorest 60 countries and donating 20% of profits in African territories to local healthcare infrastructure builds to train 150,000 workers for 150 million people by 2020.
  • GSK expects to expand its African workforce by 25% over the last three years, with half of the leadership cadre and general managers in Africa being women.
  • The corporation aims to evolve its business model to ensure access to innovation for the 6 billion people outside America and northern Europe, asserting that unaffordable or inaccessible innovations do not constitute true innovation.
  • GSK plans to publish all clinical trials regardless of outcome, remove commissions paid to doctors for speaking engagements to mitigate conflict of interest risks, and alter sales force compensation structures.
  • Future business models require a shift away from traditional innovation metrics toward technologies that are affordable and accessible to broader populations to ensure survival.
  • GSK predicts significant advances in brain science and vaccine technologies, including options for COPD, over the next 30 to 50 years, with a focus on discoveries outside normal chemistry.
  • Global growth is expected to halve based on a recent McKinsey report, driven by slowing population and productivity growth in the U.S. and Europe.
  • China's economic model is transitioning from an export and infrastructure-driven powerhouse to one focused on internal demand, though this path involves volatility and potential mistakes.
  • Investors anticipate a global savings glut will fund growth in economies capable of demonstrating internal demand models, with specific optimism for India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
  • Australia's direct exposure to Asia currently represents only 20% of its portfolio, a figure GIC believes should be significantly higher despite regulatory hurdles in major Asian economies regarding rule of law and currency convertibility.
  • GIC expects Japan's transition to unlocking individual savings will be difficult due to psychological barriers and low tax consciousness, despite recent government governance initiatives.
  • The sequencing of whole genomes for newborns is expected to become routine, setting medical pathways for individuals 20 to 50 years in advance.
  • Massive investment in robotics in China is projected to cause major employment disintermediation, though O2O services may counterbalance job losses.
  • China's dependency ratio is expected to mirror Japan's 2:1 ratio within 20 years, potentially adapting faster due to the one-child policy, necessitating significant investment in education and social security.
  • The fourth industrial revolution is expected to undercut costs in traditional industries, disintermediating employment while generating new income sources through technology.
  • Regulatory issues in Asian economies, including transparency and legal frameworks, remain significant barriers to investment, requiring policymakers to open up to global capital pools.
  • GIC expects private equity to refocus on growth opportunities and early-stage technology ventures rather than large buyouts requiring leverage and rising asset values.
  • GSC anticipates a volatile transition period where China's slowdown could scare capital away from the rest of Asia, though the region's demographics remain fundamentally strong.
  • The UK's post-Brexit reality will require companies to live with a new, uncertain environment, with negotiation expected to be bumpy and political disaffection driving the vote.
  • Future societal generations will demand greater ambition and vision from leadership, moving beyond operational efficiency to strategic purpose.
  • GSK expects Africa to be a material contributor to global prosperity over the next two or three generations, driven by infrastructure and healthcare development.
  • The industry faces criticism regarding high value structures but maintains that high value is necessary to support the risks taken in its approaches.
  • Geopolitical risks include the potential for a rapid rise in the US dollar to hurt Asian economies, alongside uncertainties surrounding US elections and wealth disparity.