SURAKIART SATHIRATHAI
Deputy prime minister, Thailand
The contest to succeed Kofi Annan as the next secretary-general of the United Nations has already begun in earnest. Thailand's deputy prime minister, Surakiart Sathirathai, has already secured the backing of Asean countries, eager to see an Asian in the post for the first time since the 1960s.
But he is relatively anonymous in the rest of the world. A former finance minister, and foreign minister until March this year, Sathirathai was seen as a safe choice, designed not to alienate the UN Security Council members who ultimately make the decision. The Thais have worked hard to raise his profile, using their considerable regional clout to garner support; but the United States, in particular, is said to be ambivalent – preferring someone with heavyweight managerial experience.
Born in 1958, Sathirathai is a Harvard educated lawyer with a background in politics, finance and international economics. A quiet-spoken diplomat, he has made very limited pronouncements on his vision for the UN, beyond affirming the need for enhanced regional cooperation and execution of the organization's mandate. But his opacity as a candidate will not necessarily serve him ill: there is a growing consensus that this is "Asia's turn", and now the region has coalesced behind an uncontroversial figure, the momentum might be unstoppable.
Professor Edward Luck of Colombia University, a veteran UN watcher, warns that there could still be a spanner in the works: "A candidate from Eastern Europe could still emerge. Historically, the frontrunners in this race do not win." However, given Thailand's unwavering support, that statistic may well prove wrong.
Sathirathai himself remains circumspect: "It's only the beginning of a long road."
CHAOYONG WANG
Chairman, China Equity
When Chaoyong Wang became a member of the very first class taught at Beijing's Tsinghua Business School in 1984, the primary text was still Das Kapital.
But Wang already had ample reason by then to be looking for answers beyond the confines of Marxist orthodoxy. The Cultural Revolution banished his parents to labour camps when he was just one year old, leaving Wang to be raised by a peasant family in the remote Hubel province.
A remarkable rise within the education system took him to Beijing, and then on to an MBA scholarship at Rutgers University. He arrived in the United States with only $50 to his name, the maximum amount of hard currency the Chinese government would allow. "It was barely enough for the cab fare from the airport to the Chinese consulate," he recalls.
While he was away, China was changing fast. Success in the US meant Wang returned home in the mid 1990s to lead Morgan Stanley's first investment bank operations there. And the improving economic climate gave Wang the opportunity to start up his own venture capital firm, China Equity, which has gone on to become one of the country's most dynamic investors, managing assets worth over $120 million. Wang himself has participated in overseas financing business for the Chinese government running into billions of dollars.
Still a youthful 39-year-old, he sees China's venture capital investments as far below their potential. In the right regulatory environment, Wang believes his company can become "the Carlyle group of China".
And he doesn't want to stop there: Wang has launched a $40 million takeover of a struggling Americas Cup outfit. The new China Team will contest the world's most prestigious sailing trophy in 2007.
Few would bet against the Chinese in any global race these days.
SANDY PRIETO-ROMUALDEZ
Proprietor, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Alexandra "Sandy" Prieto-Romualdez was once convinced that her true calling lay with the Catholic Church. Born into a wealthy Philippino elite, she agonized over her own privileges and the poverty she witnessed around her. She threw herself into voluntary work both at home and in Africa, while also completing a degree in sociology at Notre Dame in the United States.
But teaching and social work at the Associate Missionaries of the Assumption (and thoughts of a potential future as a nun) were interrupted by the tragic death of her brother, Loiue, in 1994. It left her as the reluctant heir to the family business: the country's largest newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
New conflicts presented themselves: how to reconcile her ethical beliefs with running a vast business enterprise; and the best way to advance the causes closest to her without jeopardizing the editorial independence of the paper. In both cases, Prieto-Romualdez has proved herself one of the most innovative and socially committed public leaders in Asia.
Her biggest battle came in 1998 when critical coverage of President Estrada's corrupt administration led to a six-month boycott by establishment advertisers. The PDI held firm and won out. Its relationship with Gloria Arroyo has been only marginally less frosty, and has likewise cost the paper revenue. But there has been a welter of smaller initiatives too: giving prominence to stories of the marginalized working class, promoting voluntary work and youth readership programmes; and even the introduction of environmentally friendly soy-based ink.
As she candidly admits: "Our mission is to bring about social change and inspire people to action." It helps that circulation has continued to rise as well, of course.
RATAN TATA
Chairman, Tata Industries
For many industrialists in the developing world, the acceleration of economic liberalization since the end of the Cold War has presented far more dangers than opportunities. But when Ratan Tata took over from his legendary uncle, JRD Tata, in 1991, he immediately recognized how his $14 billion conglomerate, employing over 200,000 people, had to adapt to changing economic realities.
A quiet, reserved man, who endured a traumatic war of succession, Rata has surprised everyone with a sustained strategy that has seen Tata Industries slimmed down, increasingly competitive and now aggressively securing foreign acquisitions, from British tea to Singaporean steel and Korean trucks. An unwieldy behemoth is fast developing into India's first global player, generating revenues in excess of $10 billion, with operations in 40 countries.
No wonder, then, that in 2005 Tata has decided to hang on for a few more years yet, recently signalling his intention to continue as chairman until 2012. It wasn't an easy path to the top, despite his family connections: he began his business apprenticeship on the blast furnaces of Tata's vast steel operation, followed by numerous management stints across the company. Nor was business his first calling: he studied architecture at Cornell University in the 1960s, only pursuing a management programme at Harvard some ten years later.
But there are limits to how "modern" Tata Industries is willing – or able – to become. This family of high-minded Parsee entrepreneurs has deep roots in Indian society and traditions. Indeed, the Tatas, in many ways, started India's long industrial revolution, building its first steel mill at the turn of the century. As Tata argues, "How could I get out of steel when 100,000 workers and one million people in Jamshedpur depend on us, in a very poor part of India? This is not the United States."
RATAN TATA
For many industrialists in the developing world, the acceleration of economic liberalization since the end of the cold war has presented far more dangers than opportunities. But when Ratan Tata took over from his legendary uncle, JRD Tata, in 1991, he immediately recognized how his $14 billion conglomerate, employing over 200,000 people, had to adapt to changing economic realities.
A quiet, reserved man, who endured a traumatic war of succession, Rata has surprised everyone with a sustained strategy that has seen Tata Industies slimmed down, increasingly competitive and now aggressively securing foreign acquisitions, from British tea to Singaporean steel and Korean trucks. An unwieldy behemoth is fast developing into India's first global player, generating revenues in excess of $10 billion, with operations in 40 countries.
No wonder, then, that in 2005 Tata has decided to hang on for a few more years yet, recently signalling his intention to continue as chairman until 2012. It wasn't an easy path to the top, despite his family connections: he began his business apprenticeship on the blast furnaces of Tata's vast steel operation, followed by numerous management stints across the company. Business was not his first calling: he studied architecture at Cornell in the 1960s, only pursuing a management programme at Harvard some ten years later.
But there are limits to how "modern" Tata industries is willing, or able, to become. This family of high-minded Parsee entrepreneurs has deep roots in Indian society and traditions. Indeed, the Tatas, in many ways, started India's long industrial revolution, building its first steel mill at the turn of the century. As Tata argues, "How could I get out of steel when 100,000 workers and one million people in Jamshedpur depend on us, in a very poor part of India? This is not the United States.'