Balancing Supply Chains and Procurement Long Term Sustainability Goals and Short Term Cost Pressure

Nelson Chow stands at the forefront of business transformation in Asia as both the President of the Institute for Supply Management – Hong Kong Branch (ISM-HK) and the leading Partner at Argon & Co. With over twenty years of experience, his expertise spans operational excellence, margin enhancement, supply chain risk management, sustainability and digital transformation across both multinational and local organizations. He has served 50+ clients worldwide and managed 100+ strategic projects across sectors including Automotive, FMCG, Food & Beverages, Luxury & Fashion, Private Equity, Retail & E-commerce, Power & Utilities, Life Sciences, Transport & Logistic, Trading and Industrial.

Nelson is passionate about nurturing the next generation of business and digital talents, highlighted by his roles as a Professor of Practice at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and an Advisor at The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Nelson is currently a Doctoral Candidate at the Business School Lausanne. He has enriched his academic credentials with Executive programs from prestigious institutions including The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Stanford, and Cambridge.

A sought-after speaker, Nelson recently spoke and moderated the 8th SSCL China Convention and Exhibition, Asian Logistics, Maritime and Aviation Conference 2024 (ALMAC), ESG Xchange 2024, Suzhou American Chamber Manufacturing Conference, 2nd Annual ASEAN Procurement Innovation Summit, Digital Procurement Transformation 2024, Luxury Symposium 2024 and more. He, representing ISM-HK, will be co-organizing the Supply Chain, Procurement and Logistics Theatre with ReThink HK 2025.

Simeon Cheng is the Group Director – Sustainability of Vitasoy International Holdings Limited. He is a sustainability professional with 30 years of experience leading the development of sustainability strategies and overseeing implementation in consultancy and corporate environments.
Before joining Vitasoy, he served in environmental and sustainability leadership roles at the MTR Corporation and CLP Holdings Limited. He has also served in many external roles including being a board member on GRI’s Global Sustainability Standards Board between 2015/2016.
Simeon holds a Fellowship in Chemical Engineering with the Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK, a Fellowship with the Hong Kong Institute of Environmental Impact Assessment, a member of HKIQEP, and holds degrees in business administration and law.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

• Acceleration of clean energy.
• Circular economy of much reduced waste to landfill.

With two decades of experience in market development across the Asia Pacific region, Neha has been working on promoting the market uptake of sustainably sourced commodities and advancing nature-based solutions (NbS). Her work has focused on managing deforestation risk in key sectors and enhancing responsible sourcing across multiple countries in value chains like timber, fibre, and rubber, among others.

At Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Neha is the Head of Market Development for the Asia Pacific region representing the organisation in strategic market engagements and partnerships. She drives a comprehensive range of value-chain-related programs that build FSC as a trusted forest solution and market tool in the region.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

I will aim to demonstrate how FSC continues to effectively strengthen the business case for responsible sourcing, linking downstream demand to upstream production and supply. I will discuss how businesses can meet stakeholder expectations and address the growing demand for sustainability while remaining competitive in the market, while also effectively restoring, enhancing, and protecting biodiversity through forest certification.

Through this session, I also hope to provide an overview of our work with key value chains, including rubber, tropical timber, textiles, and packaging, in the context of the fast-paced Asia-Pacific markets.