On 8 December 2025, the CAMentrepreneurs Asia – Taiwan Q4 Forum, hosted by CAMentrepreneurs, the University of Cambridge’s global alumni entrepreneurs community, took place on the 57th floor of Taipei 101. The forum was co-hosted by The Icons (APAC Office) and The Executive Centre (TEC), Taipei 101, and co-organised with the support of the Cambridge Society of Taiwan, the Oxford Society of Taiwan, the Taiwan Investor Relations Institute (TIRI) and the British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei.

With the theme “From Governance to Trust Capital”, the forum brought together practitioners and thought leaders spanning business ethics, investor relations, and leadership reputation management—to examine the deeper link between governance, trust, and sustainable corporate value from multiple perspectives.

The forum was moderated by Professor Ali Ying-Che Hsieh , President of the Cambridge Society of Taiwan and Professor at the Institute of Technology Management, National Tsing Hua University. In his opening remarks, he noted that the challenge facing businesses today is no longer simply whether compliance frameworks are in place, but whether the outside world remains willing to believe in them—even when systems exist.

“If governance remains confined to internal procedures, it cannot answer market scepticism. Trust only accumulates when governance becomes behaviour that can be seen, understood, and repeatedly verified. That is when trust becomes the true source of long-term value.”

As a co-host, Vildon Foo, General Manager of The Executive Centre, Taipei, emphasised that real leadership must be accountable—towards the environment, society, and the wider communities in which businesses operate—and that this belief is embedded in TEC’s everyday choices:

“From partnering with ESG-aligned buildings such as Taipei 101, to adopting sustainable materials and energy-efficient solutions, and forming partnerships with organisations that share our values—such as The Icons, a media platform with global perspective—today’s focus on ESG leadership carries a clear message. ESG is not merely a framework or a box-ticking exercise; it is a way of thinking, and a set of choices we make every day through leadership and decision-making.”

Yang Pai-Chuan, Chief Ethics Officer at Sinyi: How Business Ethics Builds the Foundations of Trust

As Chief Ethics Officer within the Sinyi Group, Yang Pai-Chuan guided the discussion towards a less visible—but often most decisive—layer of governance: how intangible forces shape organisational behaviour over time. He observed that what truly drives decisions and actions in a company is not always what is written in policies, but what people instinctively do when rules are unclear.

In his view, executive authority manages the visible world—strategy, resource allocation, and performance outcomes—while ethical governance focuses on the internal judgement systems that cannot be easily quantified, yet operate continuously. These invisible forces determine how people navigate ambiguity, how trade-offs are made in grey areas, and whether an organisation can hold the line on trust under pressure.

“Most companies do not lose trust because of one dramatic mistake, but through gradual drift in everyday operations. Each time standards are lowered for short-term gains, or communication is sacrificed for efficiency, choices may appear reasonable in isolation. Over time, they erode the organisation’s core value base. When this drift goes unnoticed, even the most robust systems struggle to prevent trust from leaking away.”

Yang stressed that business ethics is not a restrictive framework designed to limit action. Instead, it is a thinking system that helps organisations remain consistent in complex reality. The aim is not perfection, but clarity: enabling people to recognise which behaviours damage relationships and which choices build trust. When such judgement becomes practised repeatedly and internalised as culture, trust no longer needs to be loudly promoted—it settles, naturally, into the organisation as its deepest and most difficult-to-replicate form of intangible capital.

Jonny Zong-Lin Guo, Chair of TIRI: How Investors Decide Whether a Company Merits Long-Term Trust

Speaking from the frontline of capital markets, Jonny Zong-Lin Guo , Chair of the Taiwan Investor Relations Institute (TIRI), reminded the audience that investors do not assess companies in isolation. They face an abundance of choices competing for trust simultaneously. In an environment of extreme information density, the market does not have the capacity to fully digest every company’s internal narrative. As a result, organisations must proactively establish a language of trust that can be interpreted quickly.

Guo noted that investor relations has never been about persuasion. It is about reducing uncertainty. Investors are not only asking whether a company is performing well today, but how it will respond when conditions shift, pressure rises, and difficult decisions must be made. The question is whether the company’s behavioural patterns are predictable—and whether its decision logic and values remain consistent.

“Governance assessments, ESG metrics, transparent disclosure, and timely communication form a language the market can read. They enable investors to identify, amid complexity, which companies demonstrate stable decision-making logic and a consistent value orientation. When a company shows continuity over time across these dimensions, trust accumulates—not as a short-term emotional reaction, but as a durable asset.”

He added that mature governance is not about pursuing zero risk, but about ensuring risk is visible, understood, and managed. When a company is willing to acknowledge uncertainty and explain the reasoning behind its decisions and guiding principles, the market often finds it easier—not harder—to build trust. Ultimately, that trust shows up in valuation, liquidity, and how far capital is willing to travel with the enterprise.

Harry Hsu, CEO of The Icons: In the AI Era, the Market Ultimately Assesses the Leader Behind the System

Harry Hsu, CEO of The Icons, brought the conversation to a contemporary reality that modern organisations cannot avoid: as governance frameworks and information become more transparent, the market often ends up assessing not the system itself, but the leader behind it.

He argued that in the AI era—where information is generated and amplified at speed—public understanding forms faster than ever, and trust judgements become more concentrated. Whether leaders are willing to take responsibility openly, articulate values clearly, and maintain consistency in critical moments can have a direct and disproportionate impact on corporate reputation.

“Leadership reputation is not a cosmetic add-on outside governance. It is governance leverage—amplified. When internal values and external narrative connect coherently through the leader, trust can be built far more quickly. But when leaders choose to remain hidden or ambiguous, even strong systems cannot fully compensate for market anxiety.”

Hsu added that when leaders consistently demonstrate stable judgement and decision logic over time, their reputation can accumulate into a form of trust capital that is transferable and scalable. This trust capital affects not only investors and markets, but also employees, partners and the wider stakeholder ecosystem—becoming a critical intangible resource during transformation, fundraising, and cross-border expansion.

“This is where The Icons has focused for the long term. We are not here to ‘manufacture image’ for leaders or companies. We help translate values and judgement that already exist internally—but are not yet visible to the world—into public narratives the market can understand, trust, and remember. In the AI era, the advantage is not in speaking faster. It is in being understood correctly. When understanding is established, trust follows—and becomes the most resilient form of long-term capital.”

About CAMentrepreneurs: A Cambridge-Rooted, Globally-Oriented Network of Thought and Leadership

CAMentrepreneurs, supported by the University of Cambridge and founded by prominent alumni entrepreneur Richard Lucas, is a global alumni community active across Europe, Asia and North America. Centred around Cambridge and Oxford alumni in each city, it connects founders and business leaders from technology, finance, manufacturing, sustainability, media, and innovation. Through public forums, closed-door exchanges, international collaborations and cross-city linkages, CAMentrepreneurs has developed into a network rooted in Cambridge values and driven by global perspective.

Richard Lucas has noted that, unlike communities built primarily on resource exchange or short-term deal-making, CAMentrepreneurs places emphasis on how ideas shape action, and how organisations build governance structures worthy of trust as they grow. Through cross-industry and cross-cultural dialogue, it aims to deepen exchange among leaders—so that innovation becomes not only a race of speed and scale, but also a discipline of values, choices, and long-term impact.

“For us, CAMentrepreneurs has never been solely about business or achievement. It is about how people, in a fast-changing world, still choose honesty, responsibility, and mutual trust. We are building a space where leaders from different cultures and generations can speak openly and learn from each other. Here, people do not need to prove how successful they are first. They are willing to ask what kind of value they want to leave behind in the world.”

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The post CAMentrepreneurs Taipei 101 ESG Forum: Governance Sets the Ceiling for Trust Capital first appeared on The Icons.

The launch was co-hosted by the Cambridge University Taiwan Alumni Association, Oxford University Taiwan Alumni Association, the British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, and the UK-based international media outlet《The Icons》. Ruth Bradley-Jones, Representative of the British Office Taipei, also attended to extend her support.

Professor Ali Hsieh, President of the Cambridge University Taiwan Alumni Association, Professor at the Institute of Technology Management at National Tsing Hua University, and Chief Sustainability Officer of the College of Technology Management, shared that the establishment of CAMentrepreneurs Taiwan is more than just an alumni initiative—it is a living embodiment of the Cambridge spirit.

“Cambridge education doesn’t just teach people how to think,” he noted, “it also encourages us to cross boundaries, engage with real-world issues, and respond meaningfully to society.”

“One of the core values of CAMentrepreneurs,” he continued, “is not only about where we come from, but about how we choose to engage with the world around us.” He emphasized that the alumni association will continue supporting these types of international linkage efforts—whether in Taipei, Cambridge, London, or beyond—allowing knowledge to extend beyond academia and enabling cities and communities to learn from one another.

Harry Hsu, Secretary-General of the Cambridge University Taiwan Alumni Association, Asia Regional Representative and Taiwan Chapter Founder of CAMentrepreneurs, as well as CEO of The Icons, remarked that in an era when Asia is rapidly evolving—and entrepreneurship and technology are shaping the future—any form of deep, cross-disciplinary dialogue holds the potential to foster new win-win possibilities between Europe and Asia. The long-term global expansion of CAMentrepreneurs, he noted, is rooted in that very ambition and goodwill.

“As innovation moves from isolated markets toward cross-regional collaboration,” Hsu explained, “the interaction between Europe and Asia is no longer just about capital or talent. CAMentrepreneurs offers a platform where people can openly exchange perspectives and positions—and that’s where true cooperation begins.”

CAMentrepreneurs Founder Richard Lucas: Everything Comes Back to Human Connection—Lighting the Way for Each Other

“This isn’t a community that belongs only to Cambridge,” said Richard Lucas, founder of CAMentrepreneurs, in a pre-recorded video message to attendees in Taipei. Though he was not present in person, his words resonated clearly. Founded in 2016, CAMentrepreneurs was never meant to be an elite circle, but rather a movement to make innovation and entrepreneurship accessible to more people.

“We’re not here to put a few business stars on stage. We want every participant to feel they are part of this community,” he said. “Often, the people in the audience have just as much experience, perspective, and drive as the speakers. Our goal is to focus on the conversations between everyone—and the co-creation and possibilities that emerge afterward.”

CAMentrepreneurs has since established chapters in Cambridge, Oxford, London, Paris, New York, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Sydney, and Berlin, and continues to collaborate with alumni associations from institutions such as The London School of Economics, London Business School, and Harvard University, as well as with communities like Google for Startups and ChatGPT. “We are a global network,” Lucas said, “but each chapter reflects its own context—growing into something that’s uniquely theirs.”

He believes entrepreneurship is inherently cross-cultural, and that real value comes from cities learning from one another and sharing resources. “When entrepreneurs from different countries talk to each other—not just to investors—the network becomes far more dynamic and full of possibility,” he explained. “What we’re doing is turning simple gatherings into deeper forms of cross-city and cross-cultural connection.”

Lucas closed with a warm challenge: “Don’t just talk to people you already know. Go up to someone new and ask why they came. That might be the beginning of the future you’ll create with CAMentrepreneurs.”

Samuel Yang, Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei: If We Still Believe in the Future, We Must Invest in People and Values

As one of the co-organizers of the CAMentrepreneurs Taiwan Chapter Launch, Samuel Yang, Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei and CEO of TutorABC Group, was also invited to deliver a keynote speech.

“The world moves too fast. It’s easy to get caught up in the noise of the present—but what truly matters is where you choose to stand.”

With this statement, Yang not only addressed global trends but also methodically unpacked how entrepreneurs, educators, and leaders should navigate the complexities of the current era.

As a Cambridge alumnus himself, he distilled his insights into four core keywords: Education, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Leadership:

“These are not just buzzwords—they are pillars of action. If you’ve given up on the future, you can ignore them. But if you’re still willing to invest in the future, these four must remain non-negotiable.”

When discussing education, his tone turned particularly resolute: “Education was never just about delivering knowledge—it’s about unlocking human potential.”

He shared his experiences leading TutorABC and reflected on how institutions like Cambridge and Oxford help individuals recalibrate their life direction. He also highlighted the evolving impact of AI: “AI can answer many questions, but the role of education is to teach people how to ask the right ones.”

On the topic of innovation, Yang didn’t focus on cutting-edge tech, but rather on systems and foundation: “Taiwan’s success in semiconductors didn’t fall from the sky—it’s the result of decades of sound policies, talent cultivation, and deep R&D.”

He reminded the audience that innovation isn’t about speed or scale, but about solving real problems: “What truly matters is whether your ideas bring visible, meaningful change to society and the world.”

Ming Wen, CEO of NUWA Reprogramming: We’re Not Just Extending Life, We’re Extending a Life Worth Living

“Longevity isn’t the issue,” said Ming Wen, founder of NUWA Reprogramming and a Cambridge alumna, during her keynote at the event. “The real challenge is how to make those added years meaningful.”

Rather than diving into technical jargon, Wen began her talk with a fundamental question: As human life expectancy continues to rise, what kind of technology do we truly need?

She introduced NUWA Reprogramming’s core focus—cellular reprogramming, one of the most cutting-edge areas in regenerative medicine.

“We’re not trying to make people live longer—we’re trying to help them live more completely.” Her conviction stems from years of research and deep engagement with the global ageing crisis.

Wen noted that the World Health Organization has long flagged ageing societies as one of the most pressing global challenges of the coming decades. With people living longer than ever, she argued that the priority for science and medicine must be to extend healthy years and reduce the duration of illness.

“What we’re doing in cellular reprogramming isn’t just technological progress—it’s a response to the very structure of ageing.”

She explained NUWA’s pioneering work in reversing skin cells into stem cells, and redirecting them into specific functional cells—a breakthrough with promising applications in neurodegenerative diseases, cardiac repair, and immune modulation.

But for Wen, technology alone isn’t enough. She believes health innovation must come with ethical awareness and social responsibility: “Ageing societies don’t just need new drugs and surgeries—they need integrated thinking that combines medicine, design, sociology, and technology.”

NUWA Reprogramming is entering the market not simply because the science is ready, but because regenerative medicine is reaching a turning point: “This is no longer a lab-bound theory. This is the moment where it becomes real, practical, and transformative.”

Wen emphasized that entrepreneurship should not be a mere reaction to market trends, but a response to social shifts.“Our goal has never been to simply extend life,” she concluded.

“It’s to ensure that every chapter of life is one truly worth reliving.”

A Network That Speaks to the World

“Everyone who cares about the future must rethink the role of education,” shared Samuel Yang, Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Taipei and CEO of TutorABC, during the closing of the event. “Education is not merely the transmission of knowledge—it is about cultivating understanding and responsibility between individuals and the world. CAMentrepreneurs can serve as such a platform, where entrepreneurs, practitioners, and thinkers inspire one another to discover new reasons and methods to move forward.”

Ali Hsieh, President of the Cambridge Taiwan Alumni Association, remarked that the launch of CAMentrepreneurs Taiwan is more than just an alumni event—it is a meaningful act of interdisciplinary connection:

“We hope alumni around the world will have more opportunities to integrate their expertise across fields. Beyond co-creating possibilities, it’s about contributing to the challenges of our time. Cambridge’s spirit has never been solely about academic excellence—it’s about responding to the needs of the era.”

Harry Hsu, Secretary General of the Cambridge Taiwan Alumni Association, emphasized the importance of both asking questions and listening to meaningfully participate in the global community:

“We’re not just exporting ideas—we also care deeply about finding resonance within diverse cultures and systems,” he said. “CAMentrepreneurs isn’t about replicating success models. It’s about building an action-oriented network that transcends language and context—one where each individual can join the global conversation, and every local voice can become part of a shared global experience.”

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