The Chicago Asia Pacific Group (CAP) of the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (GSB) will host the Motorola GSB Asia Conference Saturday, September 29, at the school’s Gleacher Center in downtown Chicago. Prominent executives, academics, and senior government officials will address business development and growth opportunities in Asia.

At a time when many U.S. industries are downsizing their current employees and potential recruits, the Asian business conference is opening up the door to global markets for graduate students of business.

“[The goals for the conference are] one, to promote an awareness and understanding of recent Asia-Pacific regional business issues, and two, to create a networking opportunity for GSB students, alumni, faculty, recruiters, professionals from the public and private sector, and the media,”said Hsueh Huah Leow, coordinator of the conference.

Leow does not expect the aims of the conference to shift in any way in light of recent economic difficulties, but the CAP Group did have to replace some speakers and panelists due to cancellations caused by the events of September 11.

The conference’s keynote speaker is Henry Lee, who is responsible for business development at Motorola’s Global Software Group. Other speakers include Lyric Hughes, founder and chief executive officer of Chinaonline, and David Hale, global chief economist of the Zurich Financial Group.

The conference will start at 8:00 a.m. and will feature panels throughout the day on topics ranging from global marketing to Asian corporate strategies. Luigi Zingales, the Robert C. McCormack Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at Chicago’s GSB, will moderate a corporate finance panel. The conference will conclude at 4:00 p.m. with a career fair for the MBA students seeking employment in the Asian-Pacific region.

Shannon Ryan, the public relations coordinator for the CAP Group, is expecting 30 GSB alumni, ranging from senior vice presidents to recent graduates; 150 GSB students; and 20 MBA students from surrounding schools, including Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management to attend. “We are hoping to showcase two things at the conference: a positive atmosphere that jobs are out there, especially in Asia, and the excellent talent at GSB,” Ryan said. “I feel confident that the conference will be a success. We have already sold out.”

The CAP group is hosting the Asia Conference for the first time in an attempt to draw attention to the vast business potential in the Asia Pacific region. “We hope the incoming class will carry on this tradition, and that we can, in the future, forge links with our GSB campus in Singapore to truly integrate our GSB students,” Leow said.