RICS APAC Chair Newsletter - August

RICS has joined the Materials and Embodied Carbon Leaders’ Alliance in the quest to reduce embodied carbon in Australian construction. MECLA is an important alliance of over 120 companies, professional bodies, industry associations and not for profit organisation who have come together to help reduce embodied carbon. MECLA is funded by the NSW Government and other members such as Arup, Bluescope, the Property Council of Australia, Lendlease, NABERS and the Green Building Council of Australia.

• The rise of ESG standards, and public awareness of sustainability suggest that a new approach is needed. On 6 July, over 400 members and candidates’ enrolment to attend Webinar, presented by HK member - Mr Vincent Pang, MRICS- How Does ESG Deliver Sustainable returns on your Property Portfolio.
  
• We arranged four-member networking events in the region In June and July - RICS MatRICS Hong Kong organized a site tour to Two Taikoo Place Showsuite on 12th July with around 40 attendees to hear the Ms Francis Lo MRICS shared the creative transformation of Taikoo Place and highlight the ESG and brand-new development.
  
• In NSW Australia, we are forming a MatRICS committee of members to promote the profession to the next generation and support newer members. The first MatRICS event was held at WT Partnership on the 28th June while the second event took place on 19th July. The Australia Queensland MEG held a curry night for members on the 21st July providing an opportunity to bringing members together to network and discuss future member engagement ideas.
  
• RICS held a member in-person event in Singapore (stay informed) - Workplace of the Future with C&W Team on the 22nd This provided an opportunity to hear from experts about the future of the workplace as well as a networking environment.
  
• After the successful event in Malaysia, where over 100 people registered for the Webinar on mitigating cost escalation for construction and infrastructure projects by RICS, wherein insights from consultant contractor and asset owner perspective were provided by the experts. We are happy to share that another successful session was also held in Australia on 27th July on Mitigating Cost Escalation for Construction and Infrastructure Projects. Experts provided insights from a consultant, contractor and asset owner perspective.
  
• Amongst other events held by RICS, most prominent ones have been Arbitrating EPC and Construction Contracts held on 29th June in Singapore with registrations over 100, International Building Operation Standard IBOS and its implementation held on 5th July in ANZ and Online Webinar: Beyond COVID - The Outlook for the Japanese Office Market held in Japan on 20th July. Over 50 registered for this event to hear from local experts about the future of the Japan Office Market.
  
• The inaugural ANZ Commercial Management Conference was held online on 29 and 30 June.  With over 130 registrations from across Australia & New Zealand, the expert panellists delved into a range of critical issues impacting on the delivery of construction projects and shared insights on how they are managing to mitigate the risks to deliver successful projects.