APCA  Executive Director, James Santagata,  spoke at the 2014 AfterJet Conference held at the Pacifico Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan.

The conference attracted over 390  very energetic and ambitious participants.

By James Santagata
Executive Director, Asia-Pacific Coaching Alliance; Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge

We'll folks, we're already almost half way through February and it's just amazing to consider how fast this year is moving.

There are so many challenges and opportunities within the dynamic Asia-Pacific and greater Asian region that it's hard to keep up!

This becomes more complex and nuanced when we consider that the region is comprised of highly developed, newly developed, developing and newly developing economies, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, obstacles, opportunities and challenges.

For instance, while China is fighting a devastating pollution and environmental problem as the US, Japan, Britain and others have before her, she also has been busy moving forward on other fronts.

For instance, consider that China has now become the world’s third-largest research article producer behind only the European Union bloc & the United States.

In fact, China spent a greater share of global R&D, based on total dollars invested, than that of the United States.

Further, it's hard to imagine that the economies of China & other Asian countries together had more than one-third of the world's total US$1.435-trillion spending on R&D in 2011.

http://www.nature.com/news/china-becomes-world-s-third-largest-producer-of-research-articles-1.14684

As the developing regions of Asia become newly developed, new leadership skills will be critical. We are seeing this with the fantastic success of Korea on the world stage now.

Overcoming leadership challenges through coaching (Korea)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2014/01/331_134702.html

Meanwhile, certain highly developed countries in the Asian region, such as Japan, have become brittle and ossified, making leadership again critical if they are to successfully re-invigorate, rejuvenate and reboot their economy.

Lastly, it should be obvious to all, that better leadership development is critical to the Asian region's long-term growth and we at the Asia-Pacific Coaching Alliance (APCA) have made it our mission to do our part. 

Won't you join us?

By James Santagata
Executive Director, Asia-Pacific Coaching Alliance; Principal Consultant, SiliconEdge