The European Chamber cordially invites you to an insight session on Geopolitical Issues Dominating 2025 on 12^th November. The session will be presented by Alfons Westgeest, Board Member for Global Development at Kellen, and Simon Buckby, Managing Director of Government and Public Affairs at Sandpiper.

2025 has been marked by deeply interconnected geopolitical tensions reshaping global business landscapes and the broader world order. Shifting great-power dynamics—particularly around the Trump administration’s renewed tariff threats to China and the rest of the world—have sparked diplomatic upheaval. This has clashed with economic pressures: inflation surges have strained corporate plans. Tech, too, is a battleground: the AI race between the US, China, and the EU is redefining industrial leadership, while unfettered social media—weaponized through algorithm-driven disinformation—has amplified cross-border tensions. Against this backdrop, understanding how business leaders navigate and assess national responses to these crises has never been more critical.

Sandpiper — a global policy management consultancy group — surveyed a very substantial sample of thousands of business executives around the world how they feel about the geopolitical issues that have dominated 2025, from diplomatic upheavals and tariffs to the rapid surges in inflation, AI and unfettered social media.

How are these executives coping? How do they think various countries are responding? The study allows for deep dives into segmented data — for instance, understanding what German manufacturing leaders think about how China is responding to Trump.

*This event will be conducted in English with no translation services and is off the record.

*This is a hybrid event with limited on-site seating available to be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis.

Tentative Agenda:

15:00-15:30 Registration

15:30-15:35 Welcome Remarks

15:35-16:15 Presentation on Research Findings

• Alfons Westgeest, Board Member for Global Development, Kellen (in person)
• Simon Buckby, Managing Director, Government and Public Affairs, Sandpiper (online)

16:15-17:00 Discussion & Q&A

Advisory Council Policy

Members of the Advisory Council may receive complimentary admission to Chamber seminars and conferences up to two attendees per event. Additional participants will be charged at the member rate.

Advisory Council members will still be charged the standard member rate for participation in training courses and special events, such as gala balls, government appreciation dinners, exclusive tours or admission to corporate social events/tournaments.

For further information contact Luyang Syvänen lsyvanen@europeanchamber.com.cn

Terms & Conditions

Events have limited seating so to ensure your attendance we encourage advance online registration and payment. We cannot guarantee entry to anyone not registered in advance and walk-ins on the event day is not allowed. A confirmation email with instructions on how to join the webinar will be sent to registrants who have paid.

- Members can pay via wechat QR code once registered.

- Non-members will receive an email with a payment code shortly.

Fapiao will be mailed to you within 5-10 working days after the event. 

Cancellation Policy

If you cannot attend the event for which you have registered, please cancel your registration no later than one business day prior to the event. If you fail to notify us of your cancellation in a timely fashion, you will be charged for event costs.

To cancel you can: 1) email cdu@europeanchamber.com.cn, or 2) cancel online if you registered for the event through the website.

Disclaimer

Please notice that European Union Chamber of Commerce in China might take photographs from the event and post these on its public web-page (or social media platforms) in order to create awareness of these events. By attending this event you consent to European Union Chamber of Commerce in China taking and using such photographs as described above.

Speakers

Mr. Alfons Westgeest

Board Member for Global Development, Kellen Europe

Mr. Alfons Westgeest

Board Member for Global Development, Kellen Europe

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Alfons Westgeest is Kellen Europe's Board member for global development. ‎He supervises Kellen’s Beijing office, which serves ‎international associations in Asia. Founder and Managing Partner of Ernst & Young's association management practice in 1988-2004, he continued heading Kellen Europe from 2004 – 2022. Alfons is co-moderator of ‎the European Government Relations Roundtable, a network of Vice-Presidents of multinationals.

From 2015-2025 he is teaching international lobbying at the Brussels Diplomatic Academy of the ‎University of Brussels VUB‎.

Alfons is a former Board member of the American Society of Association Executives ‎and ASAE Fellow. He received the 2011 ‘Outstanding Contribution to EU Public ‎Affairs award. ‎A graduate of Leyden University in the Netherlands, he holds a Master degree in ‎Commercial and European law.

Mr. Simon Buckby

Managing Director, Government and Public Affairs, Sandpiper

Mr. Simon Buckby

Managing Director, Government and Public Affairs, Sandpiper

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After a career in the media, as a correspondent in the Financial Times and as an on-screen TV reporter for the BBC, Simon worked closely with Tony Blair when he was Prime Minister: co-ordinating major business leader on the toxic issue of Britain’s relations with the European Union.

This gave him a deep understanding of the complex interactions between the media, politics and business, which he put to use in 2005 by founding, then leading, and selling in 2017 a communications consultancy in London, which specialised in managing reputations and policy engagements for clients in the UK and across Europe. After the sale, he worked in Hong Kong for three years, advising global leaders on high stakes issues through the local security law, the advent of the national protests, and the first US trade war with China.

For the past three years he has been living in Dubai while working in Riyadh; advising government ministers and leaders of the Public Investment Fund on strategy, policy and communications as Saudi Arabia goes through a rapid modernisation.

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