Connect with us on
Connect with us on
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Asia Pacific Real Estate Association
sigrid.zialcita@aprea.asia
Dear Esteemed Members,
APREA’s history has been filled with achievements and challenges, moulding us into the industry voice we are today. In that regard, 2020 was no different, even with the dramatic change in the operating environment due to the pandemic. The response from members across the region has been extraordinary, and it has been incredible to see how we navigated the challenges through giving back and forged stronger connections across the region via the APREA platform. Without doubt, last year’s adversity has brought us closer than ever and we thank our members for their unflinching support.
At the same time, 2020 proved to be a transformational year, with APREA embracing real assets and driving the objectives for both real estate and infrastructure. We have been at the forefront of advocating policy solutions to promote growth of the real assets industry, and we are proud to have been part of major discussions with policymakers as they deliberated and passed significant laws, especially on real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts, that will buttress and hasten the securitization trend in our region. The pandemic highlighted the critical role of real estate and infrastructure in fuelling an economic revival and sustaining the long-term urbanization trend in many parts of Asia Pacific. This backdrop presented an opportunity to strengthen our membership especially in our key hubs in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan and Singapore.
Additionally, we took several steps to further improve APREA’s ability to seize these opportunities. As announced during our last Annual General Meeting in June, we have re-organized and expanded our regional and country board of directors to better capitalize on the evolving dynamics of our industry, the varied asset classes and establish a more comprehensive international network.
As COVID-19 and the related changes in business and society have accelerated the need for digital transformation, we quickly pivoted and expanded our digital offerings that provided our members and industry stakeholders numerous virtual touchpoints to collaborate across borders throughout the year. We held 30 livestream events that featured various market leaders across the globe, attended by thousands of industry stakeholders. These webinars addressed a range of topics and pressing issues of the day, covering an array of asset classes, from traditional real estate to niche sectors such as healthcare and data centres and even PropTech. We also had a special Leader’s Dialogue with REITs guru, Mr. Sam Zell, Founder and Chairman of Equity Group Investments.
We also invited industry leaders to share their insights on our Podcast Series: Investing in Asian Real Assets with APREA. Through these initiatives, we kept our members up to date with the latest real estate trends and outlook straight from the horse’s mouth. Full of insightful concepts, our webinars and podcast episodes helped us not only develop ideas and discuss new data points, but also advanced our efforts in promoting real estate and infrastructure as preferred asset classes in the region. Notably, Asia Pacific’s prominence for global real estate investment has risen significantly since 2015.
Through close collaboration with our international network and access to the industry’s foremost thinkers and luminaries, we delivered essential and novel thought leadership content. Through various publications that we have produced this year, we continued to be the region’s fount of knowledge for real estate data and research. We discussed case studies on REITs, industry insights and property markets, among other topics, with a diverse and exceptional group of industry leaders. In October, we released the sixth version of the Indian REITs and InvITs Primer with PwC India. In November, we launched our inaugural handbook on China REITs, which provides an overview of its REIT industry and includes an invaluable discussion of China’s Infrastructure REITs’ regulations, taxation and methods of valuation. Continual training and best practices for REITs and infrastructure investment trusts are being planned for 2021.
We also aim to be in the vanguard as we advance toward a sustainable and transparent investment era. Consequently, we continue our dialogue around environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, relevant policy developments and best practices with our members. Specifically, we have set up committees on regional advocacy and Indian Infrastructure and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), Sustainability and ESG, and Research and Market Intelligence. Additionally, we made headway in our quest to build a data-driven industry through our partnership with leading real estate technology company Propstack last April.
Building for what’s next
2020 marked the 15th anniversary of APREA. It was a year not only to celebrate our success as a leading pan-Asia trade organization, but also to look and chart the course for the future. Together with APREA’s Asia Pacific Board of Directors, led by its Chairman and Co-founder and Group CEO of ARA Asset Management Limited, John Lim, we evaluate our strategy each year and refine our goals and priorities to ensure continual relevance especially in a fast-changing real assets landscape. Having accomplished our strategic objectives in 2019-2020, we have articulated new strategic objectives focused on expanding APREA’s membership by leveraging on the growing securitized real assets sector in Asia Pacific. Our new strategic objectives are aimed at supporting an increasingly global real assets industry.
Our progress this year would not have been possible without the work and commitment of our regional and country Board of Directors, who remained steadfastly dedicated to APREA’s success even under the most challenging moments. Additionally, I am incredibly grateful for the hard work of the APREA team, whose passion and commitment drive our momentum on every front. Putting ‘Members First’ is not just something we say – it is who we are and how we thrive as an organization. We remain committed to creating long-term value for all our members every day by stewarding resources to make real assets the preferred investment class. We are grateful for your support and honoured by the trust and confidence you place in us.
Sincerely,
Sigrid G. Zialcita
Chief Executive Officer
Asia Pacific Real Estate Association
