Political Impact of COVID-19 in Southeast Asia

Event Details

As governments continue to tackle fresh outbreaks of COVID-19 infections whilst managing ongoing vaccine supply and rollout 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.

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

Speakers

Frederick Jon Chen

Senior Analyst, 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

Isra Sunthornvut

Country Director, Thailand of Vriens & Partners

Nguyen Minh Tuan

Associate, Vietnam at Vriens & Partners

Hans Vriens

(Moderator) Managing Partner, Singapore at Vriens & Partners

Nazhif Yusoff

Country Director, Malaysia of Vriens & Partners

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).

Tuan is an Associate at Vriens & Partners’ Hanoi office where he supports clients’ policy research, analysis, and strategic planning needs. He joined the firm in 2019, bringing 10 years of multi-industry experience in the public and private sector. With a background in education consultancy, retail management, and academic research, he brings a broad range of experiences and cross-sector understanding to the firm’s work. Tuan spent his earlier working years in public institutions, teaching at higher education institution. He also worked for the Vietnam Government’s National Foreign Language Program 2020 within the Ministry of Education and Training to support capacity building program to improve foreign language ability in the country. Tuan completed his BSc in Economics and Finance and MSc in Development Economics, both from University of York (UK). He also holds a Master in Public Administration from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

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.

AmCham Member

Employees in member company and part of the membership roster

Member PriceComplimentary

Member Company

Employees in member company but not in the membership roster

Public PriceComplimentary

Non-Member

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