PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit 2022 calls for responsible innovation and adaptive reinvention

• Sustainability advocates and diversity champions lead thought-provoking conversations on inclusivity and smart solutions
• PropertyGuru Group’s enterprise solutions, PropertyGuru for Business, launches at ARES

PropertyGuru Group (NYSE: PGRU), Southeast Asia’s leading property technology company, has returned its thought leadership platform, the PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit (ARES), to the physical stage, drawing the most brilliant minds from around the world.

Following the sucessful virtual summit editions in 2020 and 2021, the 2022 edition of PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit, supported by the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) and PropertyGuru for Business, is themed ‘Adaptive Reinvention.’ The day-long programme focused on the way forward for the real estate and tech sectors as they emerge from the pandemic era and continue reckoning with climate realities.

ARES 2022 took place 8 December 2022, marking 15 years since the foundation of PropertyGuru Group. The 2022 edition of the Summit also coincided with the launch of its enterprise brand, ProeprtyGuru for Business.

Hari V. Krishnan, chief executive officer and managing director of PropertyGuru Group, said, “Today, PropertyGuru completes fifteen years of operations, and we mark it with the launch of our enterprise solutions brand ‘PropertyGuru For Business’, that aims to guide enterprise clients such as property developers, agencies, banks, valuers, city planners and policymakers.  It is our ambition to bring transparency within the real estate journey and create a trust platform for home seekers and our business partners. By harnessing the integrated power of our proprietary data, technology and people, we hope to empower our business partners and customers to make better informed decisions.

Jeremy Williams, managing director for marketplaces at PropertyGuru Group, said: “For the eighth year, the PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit has gathered the brightest minds from around the world the world. Over these eight years, our goal for PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit has remained constant: to educate, innovate and inspire—sharing ideas, inspiring innovation, and developing practical solutions that can help improve our built environments. 

The 8th PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit was thematically divided into four segments: Restart/Rebound; Revive/Reboot; Rethink/Reset; and Reimagine/Reinvent.

The programme opened with a call to action on urban change from Stephen Oehme, the managing director of Quantum Thailand Ltd and a former board member of Burj Khalifa Dubai. The first segment of the programme also included a keynote on sustainability by Erastus Njuke Ndugire, programme manager for the City Investment Facility at the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat) and a keynote on the state of Asia’s current macroeconomy by Syetarn Hansakul, Asia Analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The second segment of the summit included a keynote on financing instruments and climate investments in property businesses by Kim-See Lim, regional director of East Asia and the Pacific at the International Finance Corporation (IFC)/The World Bank Group, as well as a keynote on humanitarian tech by Illac Diaz, founder of Liter of Light Foundation and winner of PropertyGuru’s Visionary of the Year award in 2020. Tech entrepreneur Dustin Jefferson Onghangseng also presented a showcase of comprehensive air sensor uHoo, winner of the 2021 PropertyGuru Tech Innovation Award.

The third segment, opened with a discussion on data-driven sustainable affordable housing solutions panel (co-presented by REHDA Institute) featuring Dr. Nai Jia Lee, head of real estate intelligence at PropertyGuru Group, and Ryan Ip, CFA, MRICS, research director and head of land and housing at Our Hong Kong Foundation, with moderator Tan Sri Datuk Eddy Chen Lok Loi, trustee of REHDA Institute and group managing director of MKH Berhad. International broadcaster Manisha Tank led the following discussion that focused on smart post-Covid development strategies, with panellists Josh Chye, partner and head of tax at HLB Mann Judd and board member and treasurer of the Property Funds Association of Australia; Stephen Pimbley, founding partner and director of SPARK Architects; Winston Lee, director of special projects at PropertyGuru Group; and Ir. Dr. Zulhkiple A. Bakar, managing director of Perunding ZAB Sdn Bhd.

The third segment continued with the Design keynote, delivered by Marshall Blecher, founding partner of MAST, the Copenhagen-based architecture studio working with water to create innovative, open and sustainable spaces. Another panel discussion, moderated by Variety media analyst and correspondent Heidi Chung, featured leading voices pushing for a sustainability-first mindset among developers, investors and consumers in Asia: Dr. Kessara Thanyalakpark, managing director of Sena Development Public Company Limited; Kristin Thorsteins, regional head of partnership growth, APAC West, IWG; Rachanee Chanawatr, Asia-Pacific principal of the International Financial Corporation/World Bank Group; Stephen Oehme; and Thien Duong, general director for Vietnam at GroupGSA.

The segment closed with a discussion among powerful women leaders: Coco Liu, chief regional officer of APAC, HLB; Jean Jacquelyn de Castro, CEO of ESCA Incorporated; Loemongga Haoemasan, president director of Asiana Group; and Shyn Yee Ho-Strangas, managing director of data and software solutions at PropertyGuru Group.

ARES 2022’s final segment gathered some of today’s most influential content creators and personalities to discuss the effects of new media on property seekers.

The final segment was also an opportunity to present several honours to outstanding game-changers and innovators. PropertyGuru Tech Innovation Award, a benchmark of excellence for startups and SMEs with game-changing products and innovations in proptech, was presented to Rebricks, an Indonesian company that transforms rejected waste into useful building materials. Jules Kay, general manager of PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards & Events, had engaged Novita Tan and Ovy Sabrina, founders of Rebricks, in a fireside chat about the journey of trash to eco-friendly bricks.

Manav Kamboj, chief technology officer of PropertyGuru Group, was on hand to present the Developer’s Choice award to the winner of PropertyGuru Hackathon 2022: Selling Sunsets, a market insights and campaign tool. Kamboj also delivered the highly anticipated Guru Keynote.

The 2022 Visionary of the Year award was presented to Colin Chee, founder of popular web series Never Too Small, whose unique, distinctive storytelling skills and passion for small-footprint residential architecture and design have inspired a global movement. Chee,also presented a case study on repurposed structures.

For more information, visit AsiaRealEstateSummit.com or email [email protected].