Fika: Networking for Dummies 2.0 Expanding Your Network

Ms. Catherine Ocariz
Managing Director
SQFT Global Properties

Born and raised in 3 different countries, has had 3 different professions and held key positions in 3 different international organizations, Catherine proves to be a multi-hyphenated woman that will surely pique one’s interest.

She is a consultant in various training firms handling corporate training corporate training accounts across different fields. With her multicultural background, Catherine was certified to be an Advanced Cultural Intelligence Certified Facilitator with the Cultural Intelligence Center in Kuala Lumpur in 2015, one of only around 70 certified globally who are out on a mission to educate the world with this capability to function effectively in a variety of cultural contexts including national, ethnic, organizational, generational and many others.

Driven by nature, passionate and versatile, Catherine has had a wide experience professionally in business strategy development across different fields in her years with multinationals Citibank and Accenture. She has also gained a strong background in sales and marketing locally with various professional training firms and with the country’s top real estate developer, AyalaLand Inc.

From 2012, Catherine has been gaining traction in the Real Estate Industry in the Philippines as she tries to revolutionize the old ways of dealing with local realty using her extensive marketing background and networks. She is a licensed Real Estate Broker establishing her own brokerage firm Guanxi Real Estate then moving on to become Philippine’s Managing Director for SQFT Global Properties, the exclusive affiliate of Singapore Christie’s International Real Estate.

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Mr. Lars Wittig
Country Manager Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam,
Cambodia, S. Korea
VP Sales ASEAN, Taiwan, S. Korea
Regus & Spaces by IWG

As Country Manager for the Philippines, Lars has managed an expansion from 4 to nearly 30 business centres since year 2012, including the first business locations outside Metro Manila with centres in Cebu, Davao, and Clark.

Lars first moved to the Philippines in 1992, where he has worked for the Coca-Cola Co. as Marketing Director, Dole Packaged Foods as Marketing Manager Asia, and EAC Philip Morris distribution. Throughout the Philippines, Lars has first-hand experience driving business in over 100 cities and municipalities with focus on business development, sales, marketing and distribution.

In the recently released annual report for 2018 by IWG Plc., Philippines was highlighted as one of 4 markets globally with the most significant mature revenue and profit growth. Regus was awarded best Employer Brand in the Philippines in 2018. In 2017, Regus Philippines was also among the most awarded markets globally within IWG Plc. Lars was awarded Asia CEO Expatriate Executive of the Year 2014. Within IWG Plc., Lars was awarded Best Performer / CEO of the year in APAC for his results in 2013.

Lars serves as Director on the Board of the European Chamber of Commerce Philippines (ECCP) and is active with most foreign chambers as well as the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), Makati Business Club, and several NGOs.

Lars is regularly cited in business newspapers and trade magazines, along with his frequent appearances as speaker in various fora, as well as on TV, incl. Bloomberg, CNN, Fox5, ANC, etc.

Regus & SPACES by IWG is the largest provider in the world of Flexible Workspace as a Service with 2,500,000 members in over 3300 locations in 120 counties.