A look At Trump’s Business Associates Across Asia

by Daily Mail Online

President Donald Trump has temporarily put his sons in charge of his company, but the Trump Organization still does business abroad. That has prompted questions about whether that might influence Trump’s official decisions.

A look at some of his business partners and contacts in Asia, where he is winding down a five-nation trip:

In this March 2, 2017 photo, Filipino Jose E.B. Antonio, chats before the start of a forum at the Manila Polo Club in the financial district of Makati, Philippines. Trump’s partner in a Philippines venture, Jose E.B. Antonio, was named a “special envoy” to the U.S. by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Oct. 28, less than two weeks before the November 2016 U.S. election. Antonio is chairman of Century Properties Group Inc., which partnered with Trump for the branding of the posh Trump Tower in Manila’s Makati business district. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

PHILIPPINES

Trump’s partner in a Philippines venture, Jose E.B. Antonio, was named a “special envoy” to the U.S. by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Oct. 28, less than two weeks before the November 2016 U.S. election. Antonio is chairman of Century Properties Group Inc., which partnered with Trump for the branding of the posh Trump Tower in Manila’s Makati business district.

The $150 million, 57-story tower was quietly turned over to unit owners earlier this year. The muted opening contrasted with the project’s high-profile 2012 groundbreaking rites, when Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric posed for cameras in Manila, smiling and holding shovels.

Antonio rose from modest beginnings but has been listed along with his son Robbie Antonio by Forbes magazine as the Philippines’ 28th-richest family, with a combined net worth of over $400 million in 2017. Paris Hilton, Versace and Armani are among Antonio’s other rich and famous business partners. The businessman has said he has known Trump for many years and his son Robbie is described on his company’s website as “a good friend of the Trump family.”

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CHINA

Trump has met plenty of Chinese entrepreneurs, but his biggest friends in China in financial terms are state-owned banks and companies. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s No. 1 commercial lender by assets, is among the biggest tenants of Trump Tower in Manhattan. Its lease ends in 2019, which has prompted questions about how a sitting American president’s family company will negotiate new terms with a bank controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

Trump’s partners in Trump World Golf Club Dubai in the Persian Gulf awarded a $32 million contract to China State Construction Engineering Corp. to build the project in a deal reported in September by McClatchy. That prompted questions about whether the Trump Organization was honoring its pledge not to do business with foreign governments.

In the private sector, Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, the world’s biggest online commerce company by total sales, was among the stream of Chinese business leaders who visited Trump Tower in Manhattan to meet the president following his election.

The Kushner Cos., the family company of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, cut short a sales campaign in China after a Chinese businesswoman, Ding Ying, was linked to an effort to attract investors in exchange for U.S. visas that advertised ties to the “Trump Family.”

Anbang Insurance Group Ltd., one of China’s biggest insurers, discussed possibly investing in a Manhattan skyscraper owned by Kushner Cos. Those talks ended in March without a deal.

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JAPAN

Masayoshi Son, Japan’s richest man and the chief executive and founder of Softbank Group Corp., was quick to visit Trump after the 2016 election and to promise $50 billion for investments in U.S. startups that he said would create 50,000 jobs. After the meeting in Trump Tower, the then-president-elect praised Son as a “great man of industry.”

Son, 60, said he had visited Trump to “celebrate his new job,” adding, “Because he said he would do a lot of deregulation, I said, ‘This is great, the U.S. will become great again.'”

A Japanese of Korean ancestry who graduated from the University of California, Son has won both criticism and accolades as a daring investor who has gathered partners in diverse technology sectors from around the world, and has been likened by some to billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

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INDONESIA

Billionaire Hary Tanoesoedibjo founded his own political party and had ambitions to run for Indonesian president in 2019, but now says he’ll support current President Joko Widodo. His company is building two resorts in Indonesia – one in Bali and the other in West Java – that Trump’s business is involved with through management and licensing deals.

Usually known as Tanoe, the 52-year-old tycoon is the founder of the media and real estate conglomerate MNC. He has been dogged by a criminal investigation this year into accusations that he sent threatening text messages to a deputy attorney general who was investigating a tax case involving an MNC company.

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MALAYSIA

Malaysian property developer Tiah Joo Kim, whose father is one of the Southeast Asian country’s wealthiest businessmen, licensed the Trump brand for a hotel and condominium tower in Vancouver, Canada, before Trump’s political ascent. Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric attended the opening in March for the gleaming, 69-story building, where a one-bedroom apartment at 699 square feet (65 square meters) starts at around $1 million.

In an interview with The Associated Press just before the hotel’s opening earlier this year, Joo Kim said he found Trump’s statements about Muslims, Mexicans and women “extremely stressful.” ”I did a lot of soul-searching because people were attacking me for it,” he said.

Joo Kim, 37, is the son of tycoon Tony Tiah Thee Kian, a staunch Christian who built his fortune in stockbroking in the 1990s before expanding into real estate. Groomed to inherit the family business, Joo Kim last year was appointed CEO of its property arm TA Global. He also runs the Canadian-based Holborn Group. Raised in Kuala Lumpur, he studied at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and earned a master’s degree in international business at Macquarie University in Sydney.

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Associated Press writers Elaine Kurtenbach in Tokyo, Teresa Cerojano in Manila, Philippines, Joe McDonald in Beijing, Stephen Wright in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.

FILE – In this Jan. 9, 2017 photo, then President-elect Donald Trump stands with Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma as they walk to speak with reporters after a meeting at Trump Tower in New York. Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, the world’s biggest online commerce company by total sales, was among the stream of Chinese business leaders who visited Trump Tower in Manhattan to meet the president following his election. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE – In this Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016, file photo, then President-elect Donald Trump, left, accompanied by Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, speaks to members of the media at Trump Tower in New York. Japan’s richest man Son was quick to visit Trump after the 2016 election and to promise $50 billion for investments in U.S. startups that he said would create 50,000 jobs. After the meeting in Trump Tower, then-President-elect Trump praised Son as a “great man of industry.” (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE – In this Jan. 14, 2017, file photo, Media Nusantara Citra (MNC) Group President and CEO Hary Tanoesoedibjo gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in Jakarta, Indonesia. Billionaire Hary Tanoesoedibjo founded his own political party and had ambitions to run for Indonesian president in 2019, but now says he’ll support current President Joko Widodo. His company is building two resorts in Indonesia – one in Bali and the other in West Java – that Trump’s business is involved with through management and licensing deals. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim, File)
FILE – In this June 19, 2013, file photo, Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as he poses with Tiah Joo Kim, left, CEO and president of Holborn Group, upon arrival to announce the building of Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver in downtown Vancouver, Canada. Malaysian property developer Joo Kim Tiah, whose father is one of the Southeast Asian country’s wealthiest businessmen, licensed the Trump brand for a hotel and condominium tower in Vancouver, Canada. Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric attended the opening in March for the gleaming, 69-story building, where a one-bedroom apartment, at 699 square feet, starts at around $1 million. (Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Century Properties Teams Up With Indonesia’s Bakrie

by Dorris Dumlao-Abadilla, Philippine Daily Inquirer

Century Properties Group (CPG) has teamed up with Indonesian conglomerate Bakrie to develop three master-planned estates in the Philippines—a Media City, a Sports City, and a Technology Corridor—in a bid to strengthen the tourism and media technology sectors of both the Philippines and Indonesia.

The agreement sets the stage for a mutual sharing of resources, from allocating capital investments to the exchange of expertise and skills to embark on these projects.

Revolution Precrafted Properties Ltd., a real estate technology startup founded by its chief executive officer Robbie Antonio —son of CPG chair and founder Jose Antonio—forged the cooperation between CPG and Bakrie Global to conceptualize and support the Media City, Sports City as well as the Tech Corridor, a statement said.

The memorandum of understanding among the parties was signed on April 28 on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit.

Century, Bakrie Tie Up For Media City

by SunStar

CENTURY Properties Group, Inc. chairman and CEO Jose E.B. Antonio, Revolution Precrafted Properties founder and CEO Robbie Antonio, Bakrie Global Ventura CEO Anindya Novyan Bakrie, and Bakrie Global Ventura director and Viva Media Baru president and CEO Anindra Ardiansyah Bakrie signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the sidelines of the 2017 Asean Summit to develop and strengthen the tourism and media technology sectors of both the Philippines and Indonesia.

The agreement sets the stage for a mutual sharing of resources, from allocating capital investments to the exchange of expertise and skills to establish a Media City, a Sports City, and a Technology Corridor in the Philippines. 

CPG and Indonesia’s Bakrie Team up On 3 Themed Estates

by Dorris Dumlao-Abadilla, Philippine Daily Inquirer

Clockwise from left: Revolution Precrafted Properties Founder and CEO Robbie Antonio, Century Properties Group Chairman and CEO Jose E.B. Antonio, Bakrie Global Ventura CEO Anindya Novyan Bakrie, and Bakrie Global Ventura Director and Viva Media Baru President and CEO Anindra Ardiansyah Bakrie at the MOU signing in Manila on April 28.

Century Properties Group (CPG) has teamed up with Indonesian conglomerate Bakrie to develop three master-planned estates in the Philippines – a Media City, a Sports City, and a Technology Corridor – in a bid to strengthen the tourism and media technology sectors of both the Philippines and Indonesia.

The agreement sets the stage for a mutual sharing of resources, from allocating capital investments to the exchange of expertise and skills to embark on these projects.

A third company, Revolution Precrafted Properties Ltd. – a real estate technology startup founded by its chief executive officer Robbie Antonio, son of CPG chair and founder Jose Antonio – also takes part in the cooperation between CPG and Bakrie Global to conceptualize and support the Media City, Sports City as well as the Tech Corridor, the statement said.

As part of the agreement, CPG will seek to provide the land for the three themed master-planned projects.

The memorandum of understanding among the parties was signed on April 28 at the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit. This partnership is seen setting the stage for future collaborations within the ASEAN countries.

Media City is envisioned as a mixed-use development that will host a state-of-the-art multi-media content development center. It is also planned to have residential, retail and other commercial components.

Sports City is planned to offer multiple sports complexes in the country for use by the general public.

The Technology Corridor is envisioned as the Philippines’ own version of California’s Silicon Valley. It is planned to enhance bilateral technology transfers between the two countries, as well as serve as a hub for the country’s tech-centric brain pool.

For Revolution, the deal includes supplying designer homes, hotel villas, and amenity space to Bakrie Global’s property affiliates in Indonesia. There are 3,000 hectares of land, owned and developed by the Bakrie Group, totaling $1.1 billion for the residential and villa component alone.

The partnership is seen to allow Revolution to diversify into producing highly functional and customizable spaces. As part of the signed agreement, Revolution will look to supply five mega studios and five hectares of office spaces and storage facilities to Bakrie Global’s Mediapolis studio project in Jakarta, which shall represent Indonesia’s strong commitment in Creative Industries and advanced broadcasting technologies.

Bakrie Global, for its part, agreed to lend the expertise and resources of its telecommunications, media and technology arm Visi Media Asia, Indonesia’s fastest growing integrated media company, to be involved in the aspects of broadcasting, programming and content creation in Media City for distribution in the Philippines and Indonesia.

“I am very pleased to have this framework of collaborationwith Bakrie Global of Indonesia to develop the Philippines’ first-ever Media City, Sports City, and Technological Corridor. This kind of synergy will help build the Philippines’ competitive edge as a tourism and hospitality destination with modern media and tech capabilities, as well as open a host of opportunities for business and employment,” CPG chair and chief executive officer Jose E.B. Antonio said.

“I am extremely proud to start this partnership with Century Properties Group and Revolution Precrafted, two very innovative companies from the Philippines that share the same vision with Bakrie Group in promoting industries through the creation of relevant developments that address the demands of the times. We look forward to advancing these goals while contributing to the nation-building of our respective countries,” said Bakrie Global Ventura CEO Anindya Novyan Bakrie.

Bakrie Global Ventura is a professional private equity arm of Indonesia’s Bakrie family focusing investment in digital age businesses.

“In its thrust to grow and expand its business from custom precrafted designer homes to creating meaningful public spaces, Revolution Precrafted is fortunate to bring these three companies together to forge this multi-faceted synergy and cooperation for real estate, technology, sports and media. We look forward to this collaboration with one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates and the Philippines’ most innovative property company,” said Robbie Antonio, CEO of Revolution Precrafted Properties Limited.

Revolution delivers high-design structures such as modular homes, prefabricated stations and buildings, as well as pop-up retail and fitness centers designed by 53 of the world’s best designers, brands and Pritzker prize architects. It recently, raised seed funding from the world’s most prolific venture capital firm, 500 Startups at $256 million valuation.

 

Shares in Century Properties rally after Trump’s US presidential win

by CHRISEE DELA PAZ, Rappler

The local property developer bucks regional bloodbath on Wednesday, November 9, with analysts believing the surge is because of Trump’s presidential victory

MANILA, Philippines – Century Properties Group Incorporated surged on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Wednesday, November 9, after its business partner Donald Trump won the United States presidential election.

Shares in the property company, which holds the license to develop Trump Tower in Manila, settled at 72 centavos after gaining 12 centavos or 20% in Wednesday’s trading.

Century Properties bucked the regional bloodbath, with analysts believing the surge was because of Trump’s presidential victory.

This developed as the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged to 2.58% or 188.76 points to close at 7,119.04, and property shares slid by 3.47% or 112.43 points to 3,131.34. (READ: From Paris Hilton to Donald Trump, Century Properties’ celebrity ties)

“This is more of a psychological buy. As you know, they are the local partner of Trump Organization for Trump Tower Manila,” Harry Liu, chief of brokerage firm Summit Securities Incorporated, said in a phone interview.

COL Financial head of research April Lee Tan echoed Liu’s remarks. She said Trump’s victory could be the reason for the surge in Century Properties’ shares, amid a regional bloodbath.

Donald Trump Jr, the US president-elect’s son, visited the country in 2014 to help Century Properties break ground on the $150-million Trump TowerTM Manila, a 56-storey residential building in the sprawling business district of Makati City.

“I’ve always loved the Philippines. I think it’s just a special place, and Manila is one of Asia’s most spectacular cities. I know that this project will be second to none,” Donald Trump, chairman and president of the Trump Organization, was quoted in the official website of Trump Tower Philippines as saying.

Robbie Antonio, the head of the company’s business development, was introduced to Ivanka Trump, who had him meet her father, who then agreed to license his trade and family name to Century.

As of May 2016, Century Properties said masonry activities for Trump Tower were in “full swing up to the topmost floor (57th level) while plumbing and electrical roughing-in have reached the 40th floor.” It is set to be opened within the year.

CEO named as special envoy to the US

Other than the Trump victory, Liu said investors could be thinking that “Jose Antonio being the new special envoy to the US will be beneficial for the company.”

President Rodrigo Duterte last October 28 named Century Properties chairman and CEO Antonio as special envoy to the US.

“His mission is to enhance business ties and strengthen the economic affairs between the two countries,” Century Properties told the local bourse in a disclosure.

Antonio also served as the country’s special envoy for trade and economics to China in 2005.

The chief of Century Properties graduated cum laude from San Beda College in Manila in 1966 and from Harvard University’s Owner/President Management Program in 2003. – Rappler.com

The man of substance

by Robbie Antonio, Philippine Daily Inquirer

The younger Antonio with his father, former Ambassador Jose E.B. Antonio, who also serves as chairman of Century Properties.

I have been referred to as “Asia’s youngest real estate tycoon” and by Forbes Asia as the “liaison to the stars” as we, at Century Properties, have brought global fashion houses, Hollywood A-listers, prominent architects, and the most iconic real estate brands to the Philippines for exclusive luxury projects that are now changing Manila’s skyline.

It was in 2011 when I headed Century Properties’ International Brand Collaborations, and started to conceptualize, negotiate, source, and launch projects in Manila with lifestyle game-changers. These included the Trump Organization for Trump Tower at Century City; Paris Hilton for the Paris Beach Club at Azure Urban Resort Residences; and The Milano Residences in partnership with Versace and in collaboration with MissoniHome. We’ve also had collaborations with Yoo, the interior design company founded by John Hitchcox; and Philippe Starck, one of the most celebrated and revered living designers today. Our latest project is Century Spire, a residential office tower whose architecture is by Daniel Libeskind, with amenity interiors designed by Armani/Casa.

Over the years, I have learned that passion for innovation and excellence should always go hand in hand with market understanding and experience. We have to learn from the lessons of history, and innovate towards the aspirations of our target market. We may have come up with products that one would normally consider tough to sell but we’ve also successfully tapped into the aspiration of many Filipinos—which is to have a higher quality of life.

Apart from catering to the needs of the market, it would also be crucial to offer the best value among the products in your own category. Adding value to a real estate property will attract the very discerning property market. The market will always respond positively to lifestyle innovations that make sense. For a few more dollars, one can own property that is above par not only in terms of money value but also quality of life.

I have also learned that timing is everything. You have to know when to introduce specific products to specific markets. Developers who have experienced more than four economic cycles like ours will develop the sense of launching the right product to the right market at the right time.

Donald Trump Jr., executive vice president for Trump Organization, with Robbie Antonio of Century Properties. NELSON MATAWARAN