SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- As consumer technology focused companies continue to find new opportunities in Asia, attendees at the second annual Asian Ventures Conference, produced by Dow Jones VentureWire, will gain in-depth perspective from leading corporate executives, investors and industry experts about what the future holds for start-ups in Asia. In addition, the chief executives from more than 40 entrepreneurial companies active or based in Asia will be presenting their business plans at the event, Dec. 5 and 6, at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose.
Among the featured speakers is Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, the former U.S. Trade Representative and senior international partner at Wilmer Hale, who is best known as the architect and chief negotiator of China's historic WTO agreement. In her keynote speech, Ms. Barshefsky will discuss how the policies of the U.S. and China impact business between the two countries and what those policies mean for new technology companies and their investors.
Keynote speaker Jaspreet Bindra, country manager of MSN India, Microsoft Corporation India, will be interviewed on-stage by VentureWire Contributing Editor Michelle Tsai. Mr. Bindra will discuss efforts to drive consumer use of MSN & Windows Live services in India, bringing new advertisers online and exploring business opportunities in the booming mobile market.
George Zacharias, head of Yahoo! Web services, India, will be on site with a keynote presentation about the growth of the Internet and consumer technology in India.
Attendees also will hear from Texas Pacific Group Partner Sing Wang discussing his experience turning an Internet start-up into a media conglomerate in China in an interview with Dow Jones Financial Information Services Group Editorial Director Kenneth Andersen.
Providing an academic perspective, Xiao Qiang, director of the China Internet Project at the University of California at Berkeley, will speak about how the confluence of communication and information technologies are transforming China politically and socially.
This year, there also are two keynote panel discussions offering executive-level perspectives from already successful companies in China and India. The India executive panel features Sanjeev Bikhchandani, chief executive officer at Naukri.com, Raghav Kher, managing director of Seventymm, and Neeraj Roy, managing director and CEO of Hungama Mobile and moderated by Shan Nair, president of Nair & Company. The China executive panel includes Buddy Ling, chief executive officer of WangYou Media and Ningzhe Tang, chief executive officer of Beijing Lingtu Software and will be moderated by Pacific Epoch General Manager Sage Brennan.
Drawing on Dow Jones' long history of doing business in Asia -- with VentureWire's unmatched coverage of the technology markets -- Asian Ventures will present strategic insight for both investors and entrepreneurs approaching the Asian market.
Attendees also will have the opportunity to participate in two workshops, presented by conference sponsor Nair & Co. The first will outline the key issues facing venture capitalists who want to enter the China and India investment markets. The second will be a roadmap for going global for Chinese start-ups and will be presented in Mandarin.
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr also is a sponsor of the event and will host a workshop for attendees on the topic of preparing for liquidity.
For more information, or to register, go to http://asianventures.dowjones.com/ or call (781) 304-1500.
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About Dow Jones Financial Information Services
Through its Financial Information Services group, Dow Jones produces focused, sector-specific online databases, newsletters and industry events for the private equity, venture capital and diversified markets. Newsletters published include Private Equity Analyst, VentureWire and Daily Bankruptcy Review. In addition, Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ) (www.dowjones.com) publishes the global Wall Street Journal with its international and online editions; Barron's; the Far Eastern Economic Review; Dow Jones Newswires and Indexes; MarketWatch; and Ottaway newspapers. Dow Jones co-owns Factiva with Reuters and SmartMoney with Hearst. Dow Jones also provides news content to CNBC and U.S. radio stations.