Capital beyond borders: GoGlobal (webinar)

Azlina Bulmer, Interim Director of International, ICAEW
Azlina BULMER recently joined ICAEW as International Director and part of ICAEW Leadership Team. Ms. Bulmer has overall responsibility for ICAEW’s international offices and operations to ensure that ICAEW continues to provide a high-quality service to members, students and stakeholders across the globe.

Most recently, Ms. BULMER was Managing Director and a member of the Board of Directors at the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), the professional body for the automotive sector. During her 12 months leading IMI, she returned the Institute to profit. Previously, Ms. BULMER held the position of Executive Director of Membership & Engagement at the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) with responsibility for CII’s membership activities and engagement programmes in the UK and internationally.

Prior to the CII, Ms. BULMER was the Director of International at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), where she established the RIBA’s first international directorate in 2019 and led on the expansion of the RIBA’s operations and profiling in target markets in Middle East and China.  Ms. BULMER originally joined the RIBA in January 2016 as Head of Operations, Nations & Regions, managing the operations of the RIBA’s 10 UK regions.

Ms. BULMER’s early career included public sector work in economic and community development, which was followed by seven years working at a social investment bank.  She is currently an associate non-executive director on the Board at Harrogate District NHS Foundation Trust and has held several non-executive director roles previously including Chair of Finance & Estate Committee at University College of Osteopathy and Chair of The Works UK.

Michael Fitzgerald, Finance Director, Member of the Executive Directorate, MTR Corporation
Michael FITZGERALD joined the MTR in September 2023 and is responsible for the financial management of the Company’s affairs, including financial planning and control, budgeting, accounting and reporting, and corporate finance. He also leads the treasury and investor relations functions of the Company.

Mr FITZGERALD has extensive corporate finance and investment banking experience. He started his career at KPMG in London in 1995 and worked for Société Générale from 1999 to 2014, holding various posts in London, Hong Kong and Paris. After he left Société Générale, he joined the Orient Overseas (International) Limited (“OOIL”) group as the Group Finance Director and was later appointed as the Deputy Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Compliance Committee of OOIL. He was also a director and a member of the Executive Committee of Orient Overseas Container Line Limited, the main operating company of the OOIL group.

In 2025, Mr FITZGERALD led the signing of MTR Corporation’s landmark HKD30 billion seven‑year syndicated green term loan facility, the largest unsecured international syndicated green term loan (excluding project finance) in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa by a Hong Kong corporation with a tenor of seven years or more. The transaction, backed by 57 banks and more than five times oversubscribed, underscored MTR’s financial credibility and its pivotal role in advancing sustainable infrastructure in Hong Kong.

Mr FITZGERALD is a Fellow of ICAEW.

Professor Zhixuan Wang, Professor and Director, Research Center for Belt and Road Financial and Economic Development, Xiamen National Accounting Institute
Zhixuan WANG is a professor and director of the Research Center for Belt and Road Financial and Economic Development at the Xiamen National Accounting Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in economics. He is a member of the Expert Advisory Panel on Financial Affairs of the Fujian Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau and serves as a Young Editorial Board Member of International Taxation. He was a visiting scholar at the School of Business, University of San Diego.

Professor WANG has led and completed multiple research projects supported at the national and provincial levels, focusing on fiscal and tax systems and international taxation. His work has been published in leading Chinese academic journals, including Taxation Research, Public Finance Research, and International Taxation, as well as in SSCI-indexed journals such as China Economic Review, International Review of Economics & Finance, and International Review of Financial Analysis.

Paul McComb, Executive Director, British Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong
Paul McCOMB is the Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, overseeing the Chamber's management, financial status, and staff. Prior to this role, he served as the Director of UK Exports at the Department for International Trade (DIT), where he developed strategies to achieve £1 trillion in exports by 2030.

Mr McCOMB was instrumental in setting up the DIT post-Brexit in 2016 and spent four years in Hong Kong as Director-General for Trade and Investment. During his time, he organised the GREAT Festival of Innovation in 2018, strengthening UK-Hong Kong ties and promoting innovation in smart cities, FinTech, healthcare, AI, and robotics.

Before focusing on trade, Mr McCOMB was the Principal Private Secretary to the Right Honourable Iain Duncan Smith, helping to implement significant Welfare State reforms. His extensive career in the Department for Work and Pensions included roles such as Director of Working Age Benefit Operations and Deputy Director of Jobcentre Plus.

Mr McCOMB's leadership has consistently supported British exporters in navigating new global trading relationships and adapting to challenges like the global pandemic.

18:25–18:30

Opening remarks

18:30–19:15

Panel discussion

19:15–19:30

Moderated Q&A