Today we’re going to talk all about a leading hospitality player who began its business as not a property owner but an A&W Root Beer franchise!

Founded by J. Willard and Alice Sheets Marriott close to a century ago in 1927, our guest for today Marriott International got its start quenching people’s thirst during the hot muggy summers in Washington D.C.

The company then moved into serving food and becoming The Hot Shoppes, where it opened the first drive-in restaurant on the East Coast in 1928. The firm had also at one point dabbled in inflight catering as well as cafeteria management at government buildings and major institutions between the 1930s and the 1950s.

But it was only thirty years after its founding in 1957 that the Hot Shoppes Inc. expanded into the lodging business with the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel in Alington, Virginia, and the rest was history.

The Hot Shoppes was renamed Marriott Corporation in 1967, before splitting into Host Marriott Corporation and Marriott International Inc in 1993 as it grew in the hotel business.

More recently in 2016, Marriott International bought over Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide for US$13 billion, bringing in 11 new brands including St. Regis Hotels and Sheraton Hotels, making it the largest hotel chain operator in the world.

In 2025, the region delivered its third straight year of record development performance with nearly 200 deals signed, adding over 28,000 rooms to its development pipeline. That’s a 32 per cent increase over the year, driven by growth markets including India, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Japan.

But what are the key trends supporting the development activity and which is the most important market for the firm?

Meanwhile, the firm is also laser focused on doubling down room signings for its luxury segment brands including JW Marriott and The Ritz-Carlton and Luxury Collection. It is also looking at expanding beyond traditional gateway cities to emerging destinations with rich cultural heritage. But what should we know about the moves, and how will they augment the firm’s top and bottom line numbers?

On this Special episode of Under the Radar, finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Neeraj Govil, Chief Operating Officer, Asia Pacific excluding China (APEC), Marriott International.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This time, finance presenter Chua Tian Tian got up bright and early to head down to global investor Temasek’s corporate headquarters located at The Atrium@Orchard to find out more about the key happenings at Ecosperity Week 2026.

Organised by Temasek, Ecosperity is the firm’s key platform for sustainability and advocacy.

Themed ‘Asia’s Race Towards 2030: Powered by Innovation, Driven by Intent’, the event, which took place earlier this week, brought together leaders across government, business, finance and civil society to explore practical, scalable innovations, policies and partnerships that can help translate the region’s 2030 climate ambitions into real-world impact.

So where does Temasek see capital moving and how is it encouraging long term-investors to put money into the energy transition through a systems approach across renewables, infrastructure and other climate technologies?

How does Temasek see what makes a green project investable and how does it align the interests of innovators, policymakers and investors to get deals done?

And in terms of execution, how can policymakers and the business community come together to structure deals in such a way to de-risk projects while unlocking capital?

Tian Tian posed these questions to Steve Howard, Vice Chairman, Sustainability, Temasek.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Helping companies build resilience, unlock growth opportunities and navigate evolving regulations landscape across issues surrounding carbon, waste and energy – that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Founded in 2013, our guest Evercomm is a Singapore-based engineering and technology company that aims to assist enterprises in optimising resource efficiency, managing climate risk scenarios and meeting international compliance standards to ensure long-term operational and financial sustainability.

This is done through the use of the firm’s advanced planning and simulation tools that provide precision-driven carbon, energy and waste reduction strategies that are customised for different company’s needs and operations.

The company said its strategic partners include CTBC Bank, Mitsubishi Electric as well as Shell Energy. Its solutions are also used in projects involving the Punggol Digital District and the Jurong Port.

But why are such asset performance management solutions provided by Evercomm Singapore critical to enterprises, particularly those in the energy intensive sector?

What are the key opportunities for the firm particularly in Southeast Asia where emerging economies walk the tightrope between industrial growth and net-zero ambitions?

On Under the Radar, finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Ted Chen, Co-founder, CEO and Chief Product Architect, Evercomm.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.