David Yong Aims To Build A Gateway For Talent To Flow Both Ways

Singaporean entrepreneur David Yong has his sights firmly set on South Korea as he aims to build a gateway for talent to flow both ways.

- Asaph Low

David Yong may be seen as a young timbre scion but his ambitions go far beyond that. Since taking over the reins of his family’s teak business from his father, he has developed its presence across the southeast asian region — even investing in South Korean entertainment under the business portfolio organisation, evergreen assets management.

K-pop is the latest business venture for Evergreen Assets Management. How are you positioning your business portfolio to ensure it has a competitive edge in the fast-paced landscape of K-pop?

K-pop most definitely is fast-paced and competitive but the strong edge that Evergreen has is our strong connections and infrastructure throughout Southeast Asia (SEA). We have been doing business in the region since the 1990s and share a strong presence alongside local partners in Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia. It is also a strong market that Korean content companies are fixated on and they are always looking for the right partners. As the CEO of Evergreen and taking the lead for this new entertainment business venture, it helps that I understand the Korean content industry — and being an artiste myself, I do have strong networks in South Korea which gives us an advantage in the market.

What are your ambitions and how do you measure the success of your venture in the years to come?

I aim for Evergreen to be the bridge between South Korean content and SEA. I also want artistes in the region to have more chances to explore opportunities in South Korea’s well-developed entertainment scene. Both regions will benefit greatly between cross-border exchanges and I hope for greater development of the arts and culture across SEA in the years to come.