Political Impact of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia

Event Details

As governments continue to tackle resurgent waves of COVID-19 whilst managing ongoing vaccine supply issues, join us for a morning briefing on the evolving crisis. Vriens & Partners' Country Directors will provide an update on the latest developments and provide insights on navigating the economic and business impact of COVID-19 during this period of social and economic uncertainty.

*CANCELLATION POLICY: No refunds will be provided for cancellations. Replacements will be accepted.

For any enquires please contact the AmCham Programming and Events Team.

Speakers

Chirag Agarwal

Senior Associate, Singapore at Vriens & Partners

Elaine Collado

Country Director, Philippines of Vriens & Partners

Jeremy Mullins

Country Director, Myanmar of Vriens & Partners

Donna Priadi

Country Director, Indonesia of Vriens & Partners

Samuel Pursch

Director, Vietnam of Vriens & Partners

Isra Sunthornvut

Country Director, Thailand of Vriens & Partners

Nazhif Yusoff

Country Director, Malaysia of Vriens & Partners

Hans Vriens

(Moderator) Managing Partner, Singapore at Vriens & Partners

Chirag Agarwal is a Senior Associate with Vriens & Partners in Singapore.

He was previously a Singaporean diplomat and travelled to various countries in the Middle East, Central Asia and Southeast Asia reporting on political and economic developments in the regions.

Chirag has also worked as a management consultant at KPMG Australia where he advised government departments and agencies on public policy and regulatory issues and evaluated government initiatives. He has worked across several portfolios including economic development, education, and healthcare. For instance, he worked closely with LaunchVic, Victoria’s start-up agency, to develop a guide and toolkit that helps local governments promote start-up activities within their constituencies.

Chirag frequently writes on socio-political issues in Singapore and has published op-eds in various newspapers and magazines including the South China Morning Post, The Straits Times, TODAY, and The Diplomat.

Chirag has a Bachelor of Science (Biomedical Sciences) degree from the National University of Singapore and a Master of Public Policy and Management degree from the University of Melbourne.

Jeremy is Country Director of Vriens & Partners’ Yangon office. He leads and manages advisory services for Clients, providing insight on Myanmar political dynamics and developing government affairs strategies. He has worked in Myanmar for six years as a consultant, journalist and market researcher, including as business editor of The Myanmar Times newspaper and managing director of FMR Research. Previous focuses include the energy, real estate and finance sectors, and he has travelled through much of the country on assignment. This varied experienced in Myanmar has enabled Jeremy to build a strong understanding of local political and business dynamics, while developing a strong network of key contracts.

Donna is Country Director at Vriens & Partners’ Jakarta office, where she leads and manages the firm’s Indonesia-focused advisory work and designs Government Affairs strategies for multinational clients across various sectors.

With over 25 years of experience working in foreign, Indonesian, and stateowned companies, Donna has built an extensive network within the Indonesian government. She possesses a depth and breadth of knowledge on Indonesia’s policy and
regulatory landscape, with a focus on the energy (renewables, power generation & distribution, oil & gas), healthcare and aviation industries.

Before joining Vriens & Partners, Donna was Director of Government and Corporate Affairs at General Electric (GE) Indonesia for close to four years, where she led advocacy efforts and sought alignment between the government’s regulations and policies with GE’s business objectives.

Prior to this, Donna worked for Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE), a subsidiary of the state oil and gas company PT Pertamina and earlier, BP Indonesia. In these roles she covered various positions including Corporate & Government Affairs, Communication & Public Relations, CSR, Commercial & Business
Development, and Engineering.

She currently serves on the Board of Governors for AmCham Indonesia, and has previously served as a Vice Chair of AmCham Indonesia Board of Governor (2017-2020). She has also been a company representative on US-ASEAN Business Council, USINDO, and SwissCham.

She has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) Degree from University of San Francisco, USA, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture Engineering from Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

Samuel Pursch is a Director in Vriens & Partners’ Hanoi office where he manages accounts across sectors with a particular emphasis on tech, healthcare and industry. He also leads the Vietnam’s office public-facing activities, providing briefings on Vietnam’s regulatory and commercial context.

Prior to joining Vriens’ & Partners in 2018, Samuel was co-founder and director of Andaman Research & Advisory, a socio-economic research and political risk advisory firm based in Yangon, Myanmar. Having moved to Myanmar in early 2015, Samuel managed projects for clients including international hydropower and mobile finance investors, The World Bank Group, and a range of international NGOs. Andaman’s work included detailed stakeholder assessments, field research activities, including largescale surveys, and developing policy recommendations for international actors working to address
Myanmar’s myriad development challenges.

While in Myanmar, Samuel co-authored for several World Bank reports, including a Policy Research Paper on Myanmar’s Social Transformation. He was also a contributing author to several subscription based analysis services. Earlier, Samuel was based in London where he worked in political risk for boutique consultancies focused on West Africa and Southeast Asia.

Samuel holds a master’s degree in War Studies: Conflict, Security and Development from King’s College London, and a BA in International Politics from The George Washington University. He was a visiting student at Pembroke College, Oxford University.

Hans is the founder and Managing Partner of Vriens & Partners, the leading government affairs, public policy and political risk analysis firm around Southeast Asia. It is headquartered in Singapore and has more than 90 staff and 30 senior counselors around the region. The firm has offices in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, The Philippines, and Cambodia.

Hans has lived and worked in Asia since 1990. He is a regular commentator on regional issues.

Prior to establishing V&P, Hans was Vice Chairman, Asia at APCO Worldwide. He set up and served as Managing Director of the Indonesia practice for six years. Prior to this he worked as a political economist at the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy in Hong Kong. Earlier he practiced law in the M&A practice at Clifford Chance and was the Asia correspondent for a leading Dutch financial and economic daily. In 1995, he was elected president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong, then the largest in the world.

Hans serves on the Board of Trustees of the Foundation of UWCSEA. He was a founding member of the Europe ASEAN Business Alliance, Chairman of the Foundation Dutch Education at UWCSEA, board member of Eurocham, and founding chairman of DutchCham in SG.

Hans graduated from law school in civil and public law at Groningen University in the Netherlands. During his studies, he was a research assistant in European parliamentary history and public law. In 1982 he took a year off from his studies when he was elected Senatus Rector of the Student Union (VAP).

Hans studied at the Bologna Center of the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University. He also did stints at the Universities of Grenoble in France, and Krakow in Poland.

His family lived in Batavia, Semarang and on Biak off Papua in the Dutch East Indies for several generations until the handover of Papua in 1962. He is married to Katy le Blanc. They have two sons.

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