Peter Church

Since my childhood, I have had a fascination for Asia and all it has to offer. I have no idea why but it has shaped my adult life and career. I did find out that I am not the only one in my family who has had this interest. When I was studying for my Master of Laws in England, I discovered one of my Scottish forebears established a trading company in Jakarta (then Batavia) in the late 1700s. And I only learnt recently that my grandfather, who was a geologist, went to Burma to look at mines for BHP well before World War II. So perhaps Asia is deep in my DNA. The long and the short of it is that I have spent the last 40 years living and working in Asia – as a student, lawyer, corporate adviser, author and interviewer – and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) by the Australian Government in 1994 for my services to Australian business relations with Asia. My passion for Asia has led to three books: A Short History of South-East Asia, which has recently gone into its 5th edition; Added Value – The Life Stories of South East Asian Business Leaders; and my most recent book Added Value – The Life Stories of Indian Business Leaders. Recently, CNBC India aired a program produced out of the Mumbai book launch of the Indian Added Value. The program celebrated the lives of the distinguished business leaders covered in the book, a number of whom were present at the Mumbai lunch and interviewed by me. I am a cofounder and Chairman of AFG Venture Group (www.afgventuregroup.com) and Special Counsel to the Australian and regional law firm of Blake Dawson (www.blakedawson.com).