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Scaling Up the Circular Economy in Asia: Bridging Policy, Practice, and Investments through the EU Global Gateway

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Scaling Up the Circular Economy in Asia:  Bridging Policy, Practice, and Investments through the EU Global Gateway
Type: Conference
Location: Hyatt Regency B...
Organizer: SWITCH-Asia
7th SWITCH-Asia Annual Meeting

WHEN:  27-29 October 2025     I    TIME:  9:00 - 18:00 (Bangkok Time)    I   VENUE: Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit  I   REGISTER here to join online 

Hybrid meeting (in person meeting will be by invitation only)  

Background:

The 7th SWITCH-Asia Annual Meeting, scheduled for 27–29 October 2025 in Bangkok, brings together policy makers, businesses, development partners, and civil society to accelerate the transition to circular economies in Asia.

Themed “Scaling Up the Circular Economy in Asia:  Bridging Policy, Practice, and Investments through the EU Global Gateway”, the event offers a dynamic platform for participants to reflect on the achievements of the EU SWITCH-Asia programme and explore pathways for transforming pioneering initiatives into large-scale investments, thereby accelerating the growth of the circular economy in the region.

By convening government representatives, EU Delegations, experts, and practitioners, the meeting aims to strengthen partnerships that facilitate access to market and investments towards circular value chains within the region and between the EU and Asia.

 

Key Objectives

  • Showcase the achievements of SWITCH-Asia and highlight scalable business models, local practices, and innovations across supply chains, ultimately paving the way for Global Gateway investments
  • Critically assess circular economy policies and practices across key sectors and value chains and reflect on progress and bottlenecks, and opportunities in the enabling environment
  • Strengthen regional dialogue and public-private partnerships by linking international strategies with local practices, inspire peer learning, and promoting inclusive investment opportunities that scale up circular solutions.

Organisation

The event is structured in four parts:

  • Part I – Annual Conference
  • Part II – EU Internal Meeting
  • Part III – Programme Steering Committee
  • Part IV – SWITCH-Asia Grant Projects Annual Meeting

 

Agenda

DAY 1 - Monday, 27 October

PART I. Annual Conference

9:00 – 12:30

Session 1: Opening – SWITCH-Asia Contribution to the Global Gateway

  • Welcome remarks

Mr Tom CORRIE, Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Thailand

Zinaida FADEEVA, Team Leader, SWITCH-Asia Policy Support Component

Olivier Louis, Head of Sector, Asia-Pacific Investment & Budget Support, DG INTPA

  • Introduction to the SWITCH-Asia programme and its key achievements
  • Scaling Up SWITCH-Asia Initiatives through Global Gateway Circular Investments in Asia – panel discussion

Panelists:

  • Olivier Louis, Head of Sector, Asia-Pacific Investment & Budget Support, DG INTPA
  • Michael Rattinger, Senior Climate Change Specialist, ADB Thailand Resident Mission;
  • Jean-Pierre Marcelli, Director, South-East Asia Office, AFD;
  • Quentin Moreau, Regional Director, GERES

Leveraging SWITCH-Asia Regional Policy Flagships to advance the EU Green Deal and Global Gateway – panel discussion

Panelists

  • Thomas Thomas, Co-convenor ACEBA, Chairman ARAIBA Sdn Bhd and Senior Expert, EU SWITCH-Asia PSC
  • Chris COCKER, Sustainable Tourism, South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO)
  • Valeriya Orlova, Education for Sustainable Development Manager, The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) ;
  • Chandima Suwandani Nisansala Mohottige, Environment Policy & Planning, Ministry of Environment, Government of Sri Lanka

Coffee Break

Session 2: Circular Economy – uniting perspectives for impactful actions

  • Circular Economy – Framework and Strategic Approach
  • Regional reflections

Panelists

  • Latifahaida LATIF, Assistant Director for Analysis and Monitoring on Finance and Socio-Economic Issues, ASEAN Secretariat;
  • Kanat Sultanaliev, Executive Director, Tian Shan Policy Center, American University of Central Asia
  • Michael Bucki, Minister Counsellor for Environment and Agriculture at the EU Delegation to Thailand

12:30 – 13:30

Lunch

13:30 – 17:30

Session 3: Circular Economy – uniting perspectives for impactful actions (cont.)

  • Circular Economy practices in different sectors – critical assessment of practices in agri-food, construction, textile, and tourism
  • Reporting back
  • Celebrating Leadership - Circular Economy and SCP Inspirational Practices  – fireside chat

Panellists

  • Jirarot Pojanavaraphan, Managing Director, SC GRAND
  • Alisara Sivayathorn, CEO, Sivatel Bangkok Hotel
  • Enkhtsatsral Namkhaijantsan, Project Manager SOGE, People in Need Mongolia
  • Usha Maskey Manandhar ,Advisor - Policy, Governance and GESI Integration, MinErgy - BEEN Nepal

Session 4: Policies Advancing Circular Economy

  • Circular economy strategies and frameworks

Zinaida FADEEVA, Team Leader, SWITCH-Asia PSC

Deep dive on policies for circular economy – lessons from technical advisories (focus on EPR, GPP)

Panellists

  • Sanjay Kumar, Senior GPP expert, SWITCH-Asia PSC
  • Thomas Lindhqvist, Senior Lecturer at The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University;
  • Martin Schneekloth, Sector Counsellor, Embassy of Denmark to Thailand

Coffee Break

Session 5: Climate and Materials Nexus

  • Materials Matter in Tackling Climate Change Challenges

Ranga Pallawala, Climate Expert, SWITCH-Asia PSC

  • Leveraging climate ambitions through SCP and Circular Economy

Panellists

  • Sanjay Vashist, Director of Climate Action Network South Asia
  • Dilovarsho Dustzoda, Advisor to Executive Director, CAREC
  • Vinay Singh, Climate Change Expert, SWITCH-Asia PSC
  • Juhi Bansal, NDC and LT-LEDS Specialist and Regional Coordinator for Asia and the Pacific, UN Climate Change

General Discussion

Closure of Day 1

18:00

Welcome Reception and Networking

Day 2 - Tuesday, 28 October

9:00 – 12:30

Annual Conference Recap of Day 1

Session 6: Celebrating Leadership - Circular Economy and SCP Inspirational Practices 

  • Circular Economy practices by start-ups - fireside chat

Panellists

  • Naps Techaphangam, Founder and CEO, norn norn
  • Aaron Bouchane, Country Director, People in Need Cambodia and Laos
  • Ingrid van Ginkel, Managing Director, Husk Ventures
  • ADI R. Nugroho, CEO & Co-founder of MYCL
  • Session 7: Circular Economy Policy and Practices Linkages

Panel: From Circular Economy Policies to Practices and Practices to Policies

  • Wensi NAKI, Aid Coordinator Multilateral, Graduation National Coordinating Committee Secretariat, Government of Vanuatu (TBC)
  • Assylkhan Aitzhanov, Managing director of Strategy and Analytics , International Green Technologies & Investments Center (IGTIC)
  • Siddarth Lulla, Partner, Circular Economy, Climate Solutions, Green Finance, Intellecap
  • Mei Feng, Programme Manager, EU Delegation to China
  • Maria Cristina A. FRANCISCO, Chief, Environmental Education and Information Division, Environmental Management Bureau-Department of Environment and Natural Resources Philippines

Coffee Break

Session 8: Sector deep dives

Facilitating uptake of Circular Economy Practices Across Key Sectors with focus on construction, agri-food, plastics, textile and leather – Parallel Breakouts Sessions

- Agri-food: Ballroom

- Textiles and Leather: Regency I

- Construction: Regency II

- Plastics: Regency IV 

12:30 – 13:30

Lunch

13:30 – 16:30

Session 8: Sector Deep Dives (cont.)

Reporting back from parallel sessions

Session 9: Partnerships and Engagements

Panellists:

  • Hannes McNulty, Manager, Green Industry Platform, GGKP
  • Neha Das, Head, Global Operations, Asia & Oceania at UN Global Compact
  • Deo Gabinete, Regional Manager for the NDC Partnership Support Unit
  • Emmanuel Moyart, Team Leader, Trade Private Sector Development Facility

Session 10: Reflections and Closing

PART II. EU Internal Meeting

17:00 – 18:00

Internal Meeting of DG INTPA and EU Delegations

BACK-TO-BACK EVENTS

17:00 – 18:30

Circular Economy Business practices

Learning by Sharing: Towards Circular Economy Business Actions

Wednesday, 29 October

PARTS III & IV. SWITCH-Asia Programme Steering Committee & Grant Projects Meeting

08:30-11:00

 

SWITCH-Asia Programme Steering Committee

Starts at 8:45

SWITCH-Asia Grant Projects Annual Meeting

Starts at 8:30

11:00-12:00

Joint Session with Feedback from the Grant Projects Meeting to the Programme Steering Committee

12:00-14:00

Lunch

 

(Tentative) Internal Meeting of DG INTPA and EU Delegations

BACK-TO-BACK EVENTS

13:00-17:00

Sustainable/Green Public Procurement Expert Meeting

13:15-17:00

ACEBA Thailand Launch and Workshop:  Circular Economy -   a responsible business and innovation opportunity for Thai businesses