Bill Watson (MA, UC Berkeley) is Director of Access Asia and Chairman of Hwa Shen Associates.

A psychologist with a specialty in intercultural business management, he has more than 30 years’ experience in cross-cultural training, negotiation and strategic alliance formation, much of that time "on the ground" in Asia.

He was the event organiser of the 1997 Asia-Pacific Venture Capital Forum in Taipei, and has lectured in the graduate programme of international business at the University of California on traditional Asian decision theory and contemporary business strategies.

He is an advisor to project investment teams and venture capital fund managers in New Zealand, America and Taiwan. He has been involved in foreign direct investment initiatives in Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore.