The Team

Country Offices

Ernest Z. Bower
President & CEO, Headquarters
Ernie is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on business, trade and investment in Southeast Asia. 

Prior to forming BowerGroupAsia, Ernie created and built BrooksBowerAsia which was a well-known and highly successful consulting firm. 

In November 2009, Ernie was named Senior Advisor and Director for the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC.  He also founded and leads the new CSIS Pacific Partners Initiative, which is the only Washington-based think tank program focusing specifically on Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island Countries. 

Ernie served for a decade as President of the US-ASEAN Business Council, the top private business group comprised of America's leading companies in Southeast Asia.  Over twenty years, he helped to establish and build the Council from the ground level, working with government and private sector leaders from the United States and Southeast Asia. 

Ernie is widely recognized as one of the strongest proponents for close ties between the United States and Asia, having engineered key private sector initiatives such as the US Singapore Free Trade Agreement Coalition, the US-APEC Business Coalition and numerous campaigns resulting in significant expansion of commerce.  In recognition of his work, the King of Malaysia has awarded him the Darjah Panglima Jasa Negara (PJN), pronouncing him holder of the title Datuk in Malaysia.  President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also awarded him the rank of Lakan, or Commander, for his service to the Philippines.  Ernie is currently the United States Chair of the Advisory Council on Competitiveness for the Vietnamese Prime Minister; serves on the Boards of the Special Olympics Asia, the Institute for Religion & Public Policy and the United States-New Zealand Business Council; and is on the Board of Advisors of the United States-Indonesia Society.

Ernie earned a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University and studied Mandarin Chinese at Middlebury College’s renowned Sunderland School of Foreign Language.


Alexian Wines
Chief Operating Officer, Headquarters
Prior to joining BowerGroupAsia (BGA), Ali worked for five years with Ernie Bower as his Chief of Staff at BrooksBowerAsia, and before that she had an impressive eight-year run at the White House, serving in a range of prestigious positions under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

As a member of the elite Executive Secretariat at the National Security Council (NSC) at the White House, Ali was central to the coordination and implementation of the President’s agenda.  Ali accompanied presidents on numerous trips abroad gaining unique insights into the creation and execution of American foreign policy.

Prior to joining the National Security Council, Ali worked for the White House Counsel’s Office, where she was on the frontline of interactions between the executive and legislative branches.  Ali’s ability to work across the political aisle, understanding of the inner workings of the many agencies and the Congress, unmatched networks and discipline and poise under pressure together comprise a perfect skill set for her role as Chief Operating Officer.


Ali studied American Government at the University of Virginia before coming to Washington.


John Hellmann
Senior Director, Headquarters
John is an experienced Southeast Asia business advisor and researcher. Prior to joining BGA, John served as regional director for BrooksBowerAsia, where he headed the research office in Washington, DC. In his four years with BBA, John focused on the countries of mainland Southeast Asia, while also evaluating developments in ASEAN and APEC.

John travelled the region extensively in his previous role, meeting with clients, business leaders and government officials across ASEAN markets.

John also has experience working in development and the NGO sector in countries as diverse as Thailand, Costa Rica and Pakistan. In Pakistan, John focused on rural education, work that brought him to far flung areas of that volatile and diverse country. In Costa Rica, John teamed up with the environmental organization PRETOMA to focus on wildlife preservation, in particular efforts to protect the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtle. In Thailand, John focused more broadly on understanding the effects of globalization on developing economies. From this platform, John travelled throughout the Kingdom and gained an understanding of the rural-urban, North-South dynamics that continue to animate much of Thai political behavior. John puts this on-the-ground experience to good use at BGA.

John holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island.


Murray Hiebert
Senior Advisor, Headquarters
Murray is a top Southeast Asia expert and serves as a senior advisor to BGA. He has over two and a half decades of experience living in and working on Asia. His networks in business, media and government circles are mature and wide-ranging.

Murray is also a senior fellow and deputy director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC.

Prior to joining BGA, Murray served for five years as senior director for Southeast Asia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from where he worked with leading American companies, the United States government and Southeast Asian counterparts to develop trade and investment opportunities between the U.S. and Asia. 

Murray joined the U.S. Chamber in 2006 from the Wall Street Journal's China bureau where he covered trade, intellectual property rights, and China's accession to the World Trade Organization. Prior to his posting to Beijing, Hiebert worked for the Wall Street Journal Asia and the Far Eastern Economic Review in Washington, reporting on U.S.-Asia relations. 

From 1995-99, he was based in Kuala Lumpur for the Far Eastern Economic Review. He covered the Asian financial crisis and also reported on developments in Singapore. In the early 1990s, Murray was based in Hanoi for the Review, reporting on Vietnam's economic reforms. He wrote two books on Vietnam, Chasing the Tigers and Vietnam Notebook. Murray joined the Review's Bangkok bureau in 1986, covering political and economic developments in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.


 


Farrah Meisel
Research Director, Headquarters
Farrah is one of BGA’s Research Directors who specializes in Thailand, Malaysia and mainland Southeast Asia. An intuitive and experienced researcher with direct experience living and working in Thailand, Farrah has worked in a variety of capacities in the private, public and non-profit sectors in Japan and Thailand, and with Asian subsidiaries in the United States.

In Japan, Farrah worked for the regional government teaching English at a high school and developing the departmental curriculum. She later returned to the United States to support the operations team at a Japanese publishing company where she built relationships with Asian vendors and successfully reduced the company’s overall costs.

In Thailand, Farrah served six months at a grassroots civil society organization working at the intersection of international development and human rights. She co-coordinated an international advocacy campaign with multiple rights-based nongovernment organizations.

In addition to her work, as part of her master’s thesis, Farrah consulted for the U.S. Agency for International Development to complete an extensive review of the role of development in civil-military operations during the U.S.-Vietnam War. The report was later published in InterAgency Journal.

Farrah received a Master of Public Policy degree from George Washington University and her bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College.


Elise Patterson
Research Director, Headquarters
Elise brings her detailed knowledge of Asia Pacific foreign policy and international security to bear in her work as one of BowerGroupAsia’s Research Directors. A native of Sydney, Australia, Elise is an experienced researcher who has held leadership roles in the private, public and non-profit sectors.

Before joining BGA, Elise served as an international security scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, DC. Elise has written and researched on numerous topics related to international security, terrorism and foreign policy. At the beginning of 2011, Elise served as a Washington Marriage and Religion Fellow in Washington, DC, where she also wrote a social science synthesis paper on demographic trends in developed countries.

In addition, Elise was a volunteer writer for the successful 2010 congressional election campaign of Mike Fitzpatrick from Langhorne, Pennsylvania. She supported the team through managing and researching health care policy, terrorism, national security and social issues.

Before coming to the United States, Elise served as the Asia Pacific Researcher at the Australian Institute of International Affairs. Prior to that, she acted as the World Youth Alliance Australian Committee member in Sydney, New York and Manila. As the Australian Committee member, she represented the organization at the United Nations 52nd Commission on the Status of Women and the 41st Commission on Population and Development.

Elise holds a Master’s degree in International Relations, specializing in international security and Asia Pacific foreign policy from the University of Sydney. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Macquarie University.


Lauren Anderson
Executive Assistant, Headquarters
Lauren works as an Executive Assistant managing schedules, travel and administrative, legal and financial functions.  Prior to joining BGA, Lauren was a legal assistant for the United States Navy’s JAG Corp in the Admiralty & Maritime Law Division.

Lauren is a graduate of George Mason University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and minor in Criminology.  During her time as an undergraduate she studied abroad at Oxford University.  She was also a volunteer at Fairfax’s Opportunities Alternatives & Resources and is excited about the public service and culture of volunteering that is part of BGA’s commitment to think and act both globally and locally.  Lauren remains active as alumni of both the National Honor Fraternity, Phi Sigma Pi and the National Criminal Justice Honor Society of Alpha Phi Sigma.


Andrew Shearer
Managing Director, Australia
Andrew Shearer is one of Australia’s top foreign policy analysts and advisors. In addition to leading BGA’s Australia business, he serves as Director of Studies and Senior Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, Australia’s leading foreign policy think tank.

Andrew has outstanding insight and networks that bridge the political spectrum and cut across government ministries. He is a highly respected commentator on foreign affairs, defense policy and Asia-Pacific security in the Australian and international electronic media, and his opinion pieces have been widely published.

Andrew was the National Security Advisor to former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Senior Strategic Advisor to the former Australian Defense Minister. He was involved at the highest level in the Australian government’s decision-making on major defense acquisitions, intelligence matters and military operations, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor and the Solomon Islands.

Andrew also has senior diplomatic experience, serving for more than three years as Minister Counsellor for political affairs at the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC, and as director of the sections responsible for Japan and for transnational issues in Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He also has experience as an intelligence analyst.

Andrew earned Bachelor’s degrees in both Art and Law from the University of Melbourne and a Master’s degree in Philosophy in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, both with honors. He was awarded a Chevening Scholarship by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.


David Van
Senior Advisor, Cambodia
David Van is one of Cambodia’s most experienced and savvy business and policy advisors. Well reputed among the international financial institutions and development community for many years, David is also a leader in the fast developing Cambodian private sector. With three decades of experience with international firms and the development sector in Asia, David is a treasure to the BGA team as it identifies new opportunities for companies in Cambodia.

David is truly multicultural, fitting in well in Phnom Penh. He holds dual French and Cambodian citizenship, as well as permanent residence in Singapore. He is fluent in English, Cambodian, French and Chinese.

David has worked closely with the United Nations, World Bank and Asian Development Bank, among other multilateral and bilateral development agencies in Cambodia and mainland Southeast Asia. He also has extensive experience working with multinational corporations across sectors from infrastructure to health care and consumer products and industrial and information technology. He worked with companies such as General Electric, Intraco, Inchcape and Elders IXL in senior management roles throughout Southeast Asia, but with a particular focus on mainland countries.

In the course of his development work, he has worked with a wide range of Cambodian ministries and maintains unparalleled networks in Cambodia and Southeast Asia.

David plays an active role in Cambodian communities and civil society. He is senior advisor to the Federation of Associations of Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia, a member of the board for the Society of Human Resources Management and Productivity, a member of the board of Synergy Capital Cambodia, a partner of AsiaWideFranchise, a regional franchise development Firm, and a member of CAMPRONET – the Cambodian Professionals Network.

David earned his bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the Paris Académie de Versailles and Certificate in Information Technology at Société de Gestion Informatique in Paris.


Douglas Ramage
Managing Director, Indonesia
Doug is well known as a leading international expert on Indonesian affairs. His experience and networks in Indonesia are remarkable and stretch from Jakarta to remote provinces around the country. He maintains outstanding ties to Indonesia policy makers, business leaders, civil society and the media in addition to the diplomatic corps.

Doug spent the last 25 years deeply engaged with Indonesia working as a development professional and a political analyst. He is fluent in Indonesian. He has held leadership positions in international development organizations and has recognized expertise in Indonesian affairs, governance, political reform and economic development.

Before coming to BGA to lead our Indonesia business, Doug worked as the senior governance advisor to both The World Bank and the Australian government development assistance program in Indonesia.

From 1996 to 2008, Doug was The Asia Foundation's Country Representative in Jakarta, responsible for the Foundation’s activities in Indonesia, Malaysia and East Timor. Doug also conducted research at the East-West Center and taught at the University of Hawaii. He spent two years (1991-93) as Fulbright Scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta and was Research Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore in 1989.

His publications include Indonesia as a Normal Country: Implications for Australia, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, May 2008; “A Reformed Indonesia?.” Australian Financial Review, October 12, 2007; “Indonesia in 2006: Democracy First, Good Governance Later,” in Southeast Asian Affairs 2007 (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2007); “Democracy: The New Order’s Ironic Legacy,” in Indonesia in the Soeharto Years (Eds: John McGlynn, et al.; KITLV Press, Leiden, Second edition, 2007); and Politics in Indonesia: Democracy, Islam and the Ideology of Tolerance (Routledge, London, 1995 and 1997).

Doug studied at the University of Maryland, the Australian National University, and received his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. He serves as Chair of the Trade and Investment Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia, as well as serving on the Boards of the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation (Fulbright Commission), the Lontar Foundation and the United States Cultural Center (@America) in Indonesia.


Silvana Paath
Senior Analyst, Indonesia
Silvana Paath is BGA Indonesia’s senior analyst, providing a broad range of support and expertise across business and regulatory sectors.  Silvana brings extensive experience to her role in BGA’s Indonesia business, having worked for the past decade at a Jakarta-based  business advisory firm, as a journalist for Indonesia’s most popular on-line news portal Detik.com, and as a lecturer at the University of Indonesia’s prestigious International Relations Department.

Silvana is skilled in devising Indonesia country strategies for corporate clients, managing and navigating the regulatory environment, and creating effective approaches for corporate communications and outreach. She is experienced in all aspects of new generation corporate social responsibility and holds a professional certification in assessing corporate sustainability performance.

Business and investment sectors in which Silvana has expertise and experience include information and telecommunications, energy (oil, gas, mining, electricity, and alternative energy), dairy and agriculture, food and nutrition (food safety and infant health), infrastructure and transportation, and fast-moving consumer goods.

Silvana also provides analysis of Indonesian trade, investment climate and economic policies at both the national and local levels.  Her wide-ranging and dynamic network of contacts extend from the key regulatory levels of national and local government agencies to industry and professional associations, chambers of commerce as well as to nongovernmental organizations, media and university networks.  Silvana holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Indonesia.


Nicky Yuventius
Research Analyst, Indonesia
Nicky supports the BGA Indonesia team as a research analyst. He monitors the development of policies and regulations across a wide range of business and policy sectors, conducts political economy analysis and assists the development of public affairs strategies. 
 
Prior to joining BGA, Nicky helped establish and lead the Center for Good Governance in the province of Yogyakarta where he supported provincial government bodies in their bureaucratic reform efforts. While at the center, Nicky helped draft and enact regional regulations. In addition, he was in charge of managing research projects in human rights, regional economic development human resources management and decentralization. 
 
Passionate about social issues in Indonesia, Nicky has helped organize successful human rights and health campaigns across the country. He has developed strong networks both at the national and regional level through his continued grass root activities. Nicky maintains strong ties to key actors in civil society and the media. 
 
Nicky has an Associate in Arts Degree in Linguistics from Foothill College in California and holds an Honors Degree in Philosophy from the University of Wollongong in Australia.


Tan Sri Ghazzali bin Khalid
Senior Advisor, Malaysia
Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid is one of Malaysia’s top foreign policy and political advisors bringing over 35 years of experience as an advisor to two prime ministers and a top diplomat to the BowerGroupAsia team. 

Tan Sri Ghazzali was a career diplomat since 1971 and served as the Ambassador of Malaysia to the United States from 1999 to 2006.  Prior to his appointment to Washington, DC, he served as the Deputy Secretary General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

His overseas appointments included postings as High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, and as a senior officer in Hong Kong, Austria, Germany, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations in New York.  His last appointment was as Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2006-2010.  During this last assignment, he was an advisor to the Malaysian negotiating team for the U.S.-Malaysia free trade agreement.

Ghazzali has a degree in Economics from La Trobe University in Australia.


Fiona Cooper-Clarke
Managing Director, New Zealand
Fiona is a New Zealand expert on trade policy and government relations. She has worked with New Zealand’s government and key private sector organizations and maintains superior networks across government, business and civil society.

Fiona draws on 23 years of experience in the private and public sectors. She was previously head of corporate relations at the Bank of New Zealand for two years, responsible for external relations, internal communications and corporate responsibility.

Prior to that she served for a decade in a range of trade policy leadership roles at Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world largest dairy enterprise, New Zealand Dairy Board and the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand.

Before joining the private sector, Fiona served for nine years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade including a trade policy posting to Washington, D.C. While serving at the Embassy in the United States, Fiona represented New Zealand on the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Consultative Subcommittee on Surplus Disposals and was elected to chair that body for a year. She was also seconded to the New Zealand Parliament as private secretary to the Minister of Trade Negotiations, and served as junior foreign policy advisor to the Prime Minister.

Fiona is on the Executive Board of the NZ-US Council and has served on its Advisory Board. She is Senior Policy Advisor for the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) members in New Zealand and also the Australia - New Zealand Leadership Forum.

She earned her bachelor’s of arts degree with honors in Political Science from the University of Canterbury and has studied leadership with INSEAD, the United States Center for Creative Leadership and the Institute of Strategic Leadership in New Zealand.



Victor Andres Manhit
Managing Director, Philippines
Victor Andres C. “Dindo” Manhit is recognized as one of Manila’s most well connected and most savvy advisors on developments in government and business in the Philippines. Dindo has worked with Ernie Bower for over five years, first as a Country Manager for BrooksBowerAsia and now as the Managing Director for BowerGroupAsia (BGA) in the Philippines. Dindo is also the Founder and Managing Director of Philippine Stratbase Consultancy, Inc. and President of its policy think tank, Stratbase Research Institute.

Since 1991, Dindo has been a member of the faculty and a former Chair of the Political Science Department and a Senior Fellow of the La Salle Institute of Governance (LSIG) at the De La Salle University, Manila. He has authored numerous papers on good governance, political and electoral reforms and educational reforms. He specializes in Strategic Public Management, Legislative Research, Political Intelligence, and Governance Reforms.

His research interest and field of specialization had led him to pursue active involvement in legislation, bureaucratic work and civil society advocacy. He had served as Under Secretary for External Affairs and Special Concerns of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports from 1998 to 2001 and Deputy Secretary for Administration and Financial Services of the Philippine Senate from 1996 to 1998. After his government service ended in 2001, he became involved with different consortiums and networks of civil society groups pushing for reforms in the areas of governance, elections, government procurement and constitutional change.

He had extensive experience in policy and legislative research, having been involved in the 8th, the 9th, 10th and the 12th Congress as a Chief of Staff and senior policy research consultant in the following Committees in the Philippine Senate: Education; Agriculture, Economic Affairs, Social Justice and Electoral Reforms, Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Laws, under the Chairmanship of former Senate President Edgardo J. Angara. In the 13th Congress he was the Political Advisor and Policy Consultant to Senators Juan Ponce-Enrile the Joint Congressional Power Commission and Former Senators Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. and Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization, and Congressman Francis Escudero and the Minority Bloc of the House of Representatives.

In addition to Dindo’s many roles and responsibilities in the recent May 2010 elections, he designed and developed Stratbase Electron, an end to end election Management System for President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III’s Campaign.

Dindo earned his Master’s degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History from the University of the Philippines.


Cherry Montemayor-Escanan
Manager, Philippines
Cherry supports the BGA Philippines team as a manager supporting the work of Managing Director Dindo Manhit, but in reality she is more of a chief operating officer. There is no one in Manila that Cherry doesn’t know or can’t access, and there is no information she can’t access.

Cherry obtained her academic training from De La Salle University and University of the Philippines, earning her an undergraduate degree in Political Science and a Master’s degree in International Studies respectively. In pursuit of higher learning, she received numerous grants from the Hong Kong-America Center in Hong-Kong and the Center for Asia Pacific Exchange at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, Hawaii, USA. She was also a recipient of the Senator Matsunaga Memorial Scholarship Award from the latter. She received a grant from the United States Information Services’ International Visitors Program and was awarded honorary citizenships in the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, and the State of Nebraska.

Prior to her work with BGA, she was devoted as a lecturer in the Departments of International Studies and Political Science at De La Salle University. Concurrently, she was appointed Program Director for the American Studies Program; and eventually became the Vice Chair of the International Studies Department.

Her political advocacies earned her a position in the LDP Party Institute as an Executive Assistant. Her political affiliation paved the way to join FPJ National Secretariat. In the 2004 Election Campaign, she headed the National Political Desk of Fernando Poe Jr. Presidential Campaign. In addition, she joined the consulting company Stratbase immediately after its incorporation in 2004.


Maria Luisa Sta-Cruz Estira
Research Associate, Philippines
Malu leads BGA’s regional research operations in Manila.  In this role, she monitors news sources and tracks themes and threads that are important to BGA’s clients around Southeast Asia, South Asia and Oceania.  Malu oversees the team’s inputs and prepares updates for BGA staff and clients on a daily basis.

Malu earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Sto. Tomas. Immediately after graduation, she joined the operations of Universal Bank.

After her time in the banking industry, Malu joined the consulting firm Stratbase, and supported efforts to successfully manage the campaigns of two Philippine Senators. Along with her role at BGA, she is Stratbase’s Research Manager.


Rupert Hammond-Chambers
Managing Director, Taiwan
Rupert Hammond-Chambers is BowerGroupAsia’s managing director for Taiwan. He is an expert on Taiwanese political and economic issues.  Rupert is also developing a defense and security vertical within BGA.

Since 1994, Rupert has worked at the US-Taiwan Business Council. In 1998, he served as Vice President of the Council and in November 2000, he was elected president of the Council. Prior to 1994, Rupert served as an associate for development at a defense and foreign policy think tank in Washington called the Center for Security Policy. 

Rupert sits on the Advisory Boards of Redwood Partners International, the Sabatier Group and the Pacific Star Fund. Rupert is a member of the board of The Project 2049 Institute. He is also a trustee of Fettes College and is a member of the National Committee on United States-China Relations.

Rupert was born and raised in Scotland before immigrating to the United States in 1987. An avid runner, he is no stranger to the 26.2 miles of running’s existential test, the marathon.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Denison University. 


Dr. Suthad Setboonsarng
Senior Advisor, Thailand
Dr. Suthad is one of Southeast Asia’s top experts in international trade and investment. He has served as a leader in Thailand, ASEAN and in the private sector. His outstanding understanding of business and policy issues is augmented by an unmatched network among Thai and regional leaders.

Prior to joining BowerGroupAsia, he was one of three Thailand Trade Representatives, a ministerial rank appointee, serving as a special representative of the Prime Minister of Thailand in coordinating and executing international trade, investment and other related key issues. Known as one of Thailand’s leading technocrats, he was appointed to his position in May 2009.

Dr. Suthad is an expert on international trade and customs issues, especially the implementation of trade strategies in ASEAN. He was an ASEAN partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers from 2000 to 2008. In that role, he assisted leading global companies and advised the Thai and ASEAN governments and the United Nations in developing their regional trade and investment policies.

Before joining the private sector, Dr. Suthad served for nearly a decade as second in command or Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN. While at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, he pioneered work on the ASEAN Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature (AHTN), which has now been adopted as a common tariff nomenclature system in all member countries. He was also instrumental in establishing the ASEAN Finance Ministers Meeting in 1996 and the creation of the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI), a bilateral swap arrangement which serves an emergency reserve for ASEAN+China+Japan+Korea (or ASEAN+3).

Dr. Suthad is Vice Chairman, Working Group on Substantive Business Operation (SBO) for Thailand, Advisor to the Committee on International Trade of the Thailand Board of Trade, Advisor to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and Advisor on International Law and Economics Program at Thailand’s prestigious Thammasat University.

Before joining the ASEAN Secretariat, Dr. Suthad was a professor at the Asian Institute of Technology, research fellow at the Thailand Development Research Institute, a lecturer at Thammasat University and conducted postdoctoral work at Yale University.


Ha Nguyen
Managing Director, Vietnam
Ha is a highly respected Vietnamese lawyer, with special expertise in financial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and general business, trade and investment-related issues.

Before joining BowerGroupAsia, Ha managed the Vietnam operations of BrooksBowerAsia for three years. She built and led the Vietnam team and serviced clients in various sectors ranging from energy, IT, telecom, and healthcare to postal services and consumer production.

Ha practiced law in Vietnam in the 1990s, providing legal advice and consulting services to American Fortune 500 clients. She also participated in drafting a number of laws and regulations, including the Foreign Investment Law, the Commercial Law, and regulations on money laundering. She has authored a number of publications on foreign investment and the securities market in Vietnam. Ha is a member of the Hanoi Bar Association and the Inter-Pacific Bar Association and is an honorary member of the Center for International Legal Studies.

Ha has also worked on a range of internationally-funded development projects, including a World Bank effort to improve financial transparency, public participation and grassroots accountability in the budgeting process; an Asia Foundation project on enhancing public participation in the legislative process; and a project on accelerating e-Government co-funded by the Asia Foundation and the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee.

Ha earned a Master’s degree from George Washington University on a full scholarship. She also holds a Master’s degree in International Commercial Law from the University of Nottingham (England), and Bachelor’s degrees in Law and Foreign languages from prestigious Vietnamese universities.


Le Thu Lan
Executive Manager, Vietnam
Lan is a key member of BowerGroupAsia’s dynamic and fast growing Vietnam team. She provides leadership on client accounts and manages special projects for the company, in addition to her research and networking responsibilities. Prior to joining BGA Vietnam, she worked at a number of renowned communications enterprises servicing international clients and focusing on public relations issues.

Lan monitors politics and economic developments, provides analysis and consultation on legal and industry issues, supports clients in stakeholder mapping and network development, and helps develop and implement corporate social responsibility initiatives. In addition to her work at BGA, Lan is passionate about social issues, which has led her to organize fundraising programs and charity trips to support the victims of natural disasters, and to support programs targeting homeless and handicapped people living in Vietnam.

Lan grew up in Hanoi and earned her Bachelor’s degree in International Economics at the highly regarded Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.


Le Kinh Quoc
Account Manager, Vietnam
Quoc has over 15 years experience in Vietnam’s health care sector.  He is an expert in the health sector in Vietnam and advises BGA clients on development in health care, medicine, consumer products and related regulatory areas.    

Quoc started his career as an officer of the Ministry of Public Health (MOH). During his seven years at MOH, Quoc was involved in a number of important projects such as the National Health Support Project and the National Leprosy Control Program.      

In 2001 Quoc entered the private sector where he worked for a number of leading foreign companies specializing in health care.  In 2009 Quoc joined BrooksBowerAsia as an Account Manager in charge of working with clients dealing with public health. Along with the other members of the Vietnam team, he transitioned to BowerGroupAsia in 2011.  

Quoc graduated from the Hanoi Medical University in 1993.  In addition to a bachelor’s degree in Medicine, Quoc also graduated from the Vietnam University of Economics and earned an MBA from the University of Southern California (USC) – a source of considerable rivalry with John Hellmann of BGA, who earned his masters at rival school UCLA.