The history of EASTWEST PR has mirrored the development of Asia as a regional economic power, starting in Singapore and then opening in China and India as these markets liberalized and moved to international markets. Coverage of the new agency. The agency was founded on a need for professional services in Asia. In 1994 the Founder, I travelled to Asia as the marketing manager for a Siemens company in the music technology industry; the market was growing with a proliferation of magazines but an absence of media relations agencies in the region. In 1995 the offices of EASTWEST Communications as I moved to Singapore. The logo incorporated the ‘Tung’ meaning ‘to go through or to communicate.’         The original EAST WEST logo In 1997 EASTWEST Public Relations PTE LTD was registered. This signified the professionalization of the agency.  The logo was revised to reflect this, and green adopted to signify  a fresh start. However, the financial currency crisis which started in July 1997 and lasted through to 1999 severely curtailed growth. An alliance with Brodeur was fruitful, until they also felt the impact of the dotcom bubble. The salvation was the far effects of the dotcom boom of 1997–2002. During this time business was robust, but the Founder also saw an opportunity to start an dotcom, go-events.com, for which I raised financing. When the bubble burst in 2002 it was accompanied by the 9/11 attacks; the combined effects on the essentially B2B American clients of EASTWEST was devastating. EASTWEST Logo of 1997                   In 2001 China gained accession to the WTO. On November 16, 2002 SARS broke out in Asia, which meant that business was brought virtually to a halt. This lasted until 2004 when the WHO officially declared that China was free of further cases. In 2004 the founder travelled to China to study Mandarin and to investigate the possibility of setting up an office in Beijing. Prior to doing so they built an internet based platform called, Connect, which houses a media contacts, clippings, blog, wiki and other toolsets for making the Agency ‘knowledge driven and geography independent.’ In 2004 the logo was revised again, with a san serif font and the lower radical of the ‘Tung’ in place but as a design element. This was to show creativity but also to remove the impression held by many that EASTWEST was a Chinese company. EASTWEST Logo of 2004             In 2006 January, I moved from Singapore to China and registered the wholly owned foreign entity, EASTWEST Public Relations Beijing pte ltd. This was funded out of reserves, and costs kept to a minimum. Early clients included B2B and also UK education. In 2008 I initiated the British Business Awards China and in doing so met, and later invested in Eggplant Digital. This enables the company to offer content and technology to clients. To reflect the increasingly digital nature of the service offering, the logo enjoyed it’s latest incarnation in January 2010. The word ‘digital’ was converted to binary code, and then embedded as part of the company name. The Agency had a vision to provide ‘PR without journalists’ as a strategy to embrace the impact of social media and the rapid disintegration of B2B traditional media. Jim's attempt at graphic design to go digital As the technology boom receded by 2014, consolidation and growth by market leaders caused the tech industry to come to more closely resemble other traditional U.S. sectors, and this impacted the source of new clients who were venture funded and spending money on public relations. In Asia, China and India were growing but domestic companies were still not spending freely on consulting services, preferring advertising and events. It was obvious that we had to be integrated into a global network, which we did via alliances, but also we thought it would be good to have our own presence. In 2013 one of our senior staff returned to the UK and attempted to start the offices there. He was not successful in generating sales, and after 9 months we ended the approach. 2010 EASTWEST LOGO Simultaneously, we were approached by a long term India associate who wanted to start EASTWEST in India. On the 9th July 2014, EAST WEST PR India Private Limited was registered, as a 100% owned subsidiary of EASTWEST Public Relations (Singapore) Pte Ltd. This initiative has proven successful, achieving break even in 12 months, after a modest investment funded out of cash flow.  

EASTWEST PR Logo         It is hard to believe that it was June 1995 when I first stepped onto Singapore soil to open the offices of EASTWEST, and that on this anniversary I would be able to announce opening an Indian operation, EAST WEST Public Relations Pvt Ltd.  

Jim James and Sanjay Bose handshake on opening EASTWEST India office

The year just seems incredible, with all the excitement and challenges of starting Morgan cars in China this year, I  end the year with opening the offices of EASTWEST in India. When I went to Singapore on the 2nd Oct to have the latest scan on my jaw and have the implants fitted, I took the opportunity to meet Sanjay Bose and finalise details of expanding EASTWEST into India.

Sanjay and I have know one another for many years and when he approached me about starting EASTWEST in India it seemed like an opportune approach. It would be fair to say that this would not be an MBA move as I am already stretched for time, but sometimes we have to seize opportunities and just find a way to make them work. I always remember the line from a ski poster I used to have on my bedroom wall as a child;

'We only accomplish in proportion to what we attempt.'

Sanjay is such an experienced, professional and charismatic person that it was impossible not to take the risk on this venture.

And so with a simple agreement between us we determined to start a new lease of life for this 18 Year Old agency EASTWEST. India!

------------------------------The Release------------------------------

SINGAPORE, 01 November 2013 — EASTWEST Public Relations, a leading independent agency promoting clients in Asia since 1995 from its operating branches in Singapore and China and a liaison office in the UK, today announces its expansion into India. The move enhances EASTWEST PR’s reach and capability to deliver successful pan-Asian PR programs for its international clients which include AB SCIEX, Anaplan, Avnet, IEEE, and Morgan Advanced Materials, to name a few.

EASTWEST PR appoints Sanjay Bose as Regional Associate Director who will be responsible for growing the agency’s client portfolio and manage relationships in India, one of Asia’s largest markets by population and by economy. Bose is based out of Bangalore, the capital city of India’s state of Karnataka and dubbed as “Silicon Valley of India” due to the considerable size of its information technology exports.

Watch video message of Agency founder Jim James and Sanjay Bose.

 ”Growing EASTWEST into a regional agency has always been my vision when I first put up the firm in Singapore in 1995. I’m delighted to appoint a long-time friend and business partner, Sanjay Bose, to head up our India business,” said Jim James, founder and chairman of EASTWEST PR. “Sanjay is a seasoned PR adviser with a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with the team and to add value to our clients,” James added.

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My challenge as an entrepreneur is to manage the expectations of so many stakeholders, and of course to manage the cash flow within the growing number of legal entities for which I am responsible. The move to have the finance team of EASTWEST be officed independently from the consultants in Beijing has proven to be a good one, as Sunny is now able to plan to finances for Singapore, London, Beijing and Bangalore for our weekly finance meeting.

Lee & Lee are preparing the finances for Morgan Cars in Hong Kong and China in the form of a dashboard as I have created for EASTWEST, the implementation of the Rockefeller Habits core practice of 'Priorities, Data, rhythm' proving to be a solid working practice.

Eggplant has now completed the WOFE registration and once the capital has been paid in Alex and I have spoken of rebranding for 2014 and then seeking out partners for Eggplant in Europe and America.

Meanwhile the priority of caring for Amity and Halo prevails - I have to find Halo's dinosaur costume so have to resume this post later...