Asia accounts for 60% of the world's population, with growing demands from a rising number of upper and middle-class. The increasing need for power generation to fuel industries and homes, higher living standards in Asia and mobility of investments is influencing trade and economies around the world. Join us for breakfast with speaker Kenneth S. Courtis discusses some of the major impacts of Asia's rise in the global economy and the role that central banks and financial institutions will play.

Kenneth S. Courtis was formerly Managing Director of Goldman Sachs and Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs Asia, where he advised on large corporate transactions, government financing programs, privatizations and investments. Mr. Courtis is currently Chairman of Starfort Investment Holdings, a firm involved in financial advisory, funds management, private equity and commodities trading.

Widely sought-after by corporations and investors for his knowledge of how global market forces, finance, politics and corporate strategy interact, Kenneth Courtis advises clients in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as Europe, North and South America.

He has lived and worked in Asia for three decades and worked closely with central banks, ministries of finance and heads of government. He has been called upon to advise heads of government of countries in Europe, Middle East, Asia and North America, including four U.S. presidents. He received an undergraduate degree from Glendon College in Toronto and a Masters of Arts in international relations from Sussex University in the U.K. He earned an MBA at INSEAD (the European Institute of Business Administration) where he received the Heath Prize, and a Doctorat d'Etat with honours and highest distinction from l'Institut d'etudes politiques, Paris.