As part of the celebration, a conference was held in Singapore to examine the progress of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), the opportunities it presented and the legal pitfalls to be avoided. The conference’s keynote address was delivered by the Guest of Honour, H.E. Dr. AKP Mochtan, Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs. Topics discussed ranged from updates on the implementation of ASEAN FTAs, negotiations on Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the current ASEAN economic situation in an integrated ASEAN Community. The conference featured speakers and panellists such as Chris Humphrey, Executive Director of EU-ASEAN Business Council, Benjamin Yap, Senior Partner of PBC Partners & RHTLaw, Philip Teoh, Partner of Azmi & Associates, and Jusuf Wanandi, Co-Founder and Senior Fellow of Centre for Strategic & International Studies. The general consensus was that despite hurdles, the AEC will get there but not in full flourish. Manu Bhaskaran, Founding Director and Chief Executive Officer of Centennial Asia Advisors, asked a relevant question, “Do you want to see it as half empty or half full?” The consensus was that it was better to look at it as half full.  RHTLaw Taylor Wessing Deputy Managing Partner and Chairman of the ASEAN Plus Group Mr. Azman Jaafar said, “There is a strong positive relationship between connectivity and community building for the ASEAN Plus Group. The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community reflects the importance placed on ASEAN’s continued relevance in the global economy. Together, the ASEAN Economic Community needs to seize the opportunities offered by its geographical and comparative advantages whilst meeting the competitive challenges of the global market head-on.” “With the ASEAN Economic Community and other major policy initiatives, we firmly believe that both the public and private sectors are committed to a more integrated ASEAN. We are highly confident in the future for this region, and that now is the ideal time for doing business in Asia.” The ASEAN Plus Group is a group of eight leading regional law firms with offices in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. The ASEAN Plus Group comprises over 750 professionals throughout the region in nine cities.

RHTLaw Taylor Wessing, RHT Holdings and RHT Rajan Menon Foundation hosted a charity movie night for 750 clients and staff. The movie selected for this exclusive screening was the highly anticipated local film 1965 and was held on 31 July 2015 at Shaw Theatres Lido to coincide with Singapore’s Golden Jubilee celebrations. In our bid to turn this into a meaningful event, we partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore (WWF Singapore). Clients and staff were given the option to make a donation to WWF Singapore.  A photo booth area was set up and attendees were encouraged to donate when collecting their photos  In addition, there was a WWF Singapore booth so that all present could gain more information about the causes their donation will support. We would like to thank all our clients and staff for joining us at this event.

RHTLaw Taylor Wessing is pleased to announce the addition of Ms Moira Khaw as a Partner in our Corporate Practice with effect from 27 July 2015. Moira’s tax practice focuses on corporate income tax where her experience covers the following areas of expertise: ·         Tax disputes and controversies ·         Transactional advisory ·         Tax treaties and international taxation Moira is an external lecturer at UniSIM where she teaches international taxation in the Masters in Taxation (MTax) course. She is also a regular course lecturer at Singapore Tax Academy’s Advanced Tax Programme.  She has authored chapters in the published title Revenue and Taxation, Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore and was Singapore Consultant Editor of the Tax Planning and Compliance Manual published by CCH Asia Ltd. She has contributed to journals and professional publications and was Singapore Reporter to Cahiers De Droit Fiscal International.  She was also a member of the International Fiscal Association (Singapore Branch) Committee.

RHTLaw Taylor Wessing is pleased to announce the addition of Mr Peter Koh as a Senior Consultant in our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice with effect from 16 July 2015. Peter has represented clients in arbitral, tribunal and court proceedings in Shipping and Commercial law cases in Singapore, England and British Columbia/Canada. He appeared in the Federal Courts of Canada, Supreme Courts of British Columbia, High Courts of Singapore and assisted London Silks in the Commercial Courts and the Privy Council in London. He was a former pupil of Lord Justice Anthony Evans at then 4 Essex Court, Middle Temple, England.  For many years, he acted for major protection and indemnity clubs and was the Legal Correspondent for Japan P & I and China P & I, ship-owners, shipyards and other marine-related industries. Currently, he is a visiting professor at nine Chinese universities, including China University of Political Science & Law, Xiamen University, Renmin University and Wuhan University. He is also a permanent Visiting Professor at China’s two premier maritime universities:  Dalian Maritime University and Shanghai Maritime University.