Brian Mtonya

The World Bank

Brian Mtonya is a Senior Economist in the Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice of the World Bank based in the Vietnam Country Office in Hanoi.  He joined the World Bank in 2009 and has wide experience working on trade, business environment and financial sector issues in over 15 countries. Brian has pre-Bank experience as a trade negotiator working on regional and WTO negotiations. Brian also worked at the World Bank Institute in Washington DC on trade related issues as a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow under the Fulbright Program.

Michael Trueblood

USAID/Vietnam

Michael Trueblood is the Director of the Economic Growth and Governance Office for USAID/Vietnam. He joined USAID in 2009 and has worked for the U.S. Government for nearly 26 years. Prior to joining USAID/Vietnam in October 2015, Michael worked for USAID in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Asian Republics, and Pakistan. Michael spent much of his career at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service where he worked on policy issues and conducted economic research on trade issues in developing countries as well as global food security issues and transition issues for Russian and Ukrainian agriculture. Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business from Westmont College and a graduate degree in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota.

Ron Ashkin

USAID/Vietnam

Ron Ashkin is an international development economist specializing in sustainable private sector development in emerging markets. Ron has professional experience in more than 60 countries around the globe, with expertise in market systems development, enterprise development, strategy, competitiveness, and international trade and investment. He currently serves as Project Director on USAID’s Linkages for Small and Medium Enterprises (LinkSME) Project in Vietnam.

Over the course of his career, Ron has created private sector and industrial development strategies for sovereign governments, managed networks of enterprise assistance centers serving thousands of private firms, implemented local supplier development programs, trained and mentored large teams of national and international consultants, authored widely-used consulting tools, processes and training materials, researched evolving development methodologies in action to advise on future program design, published numerous articles and presentations, and led performance improvement, restructuring, privatization, and analytical efforts. He has a corporate background in export development. Clients served include the European Union, Swiss Development Cooperation, UKAID, USAID, and the World Bank as well as governments and major private firms. Ron holds degrees from Harvard University and The Wharton School.

Dau Anh Tuan

Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Dau Anh Tuan is the Director General of the Legal Department of VCCI –  the largest national association in Vietnam. Mr. Tuan has been playing an significant role in advocating for the interest of private sector business and foreign enterprises in Vietnam. One of his primary responsibilities is to liaise between the business community and the Vietnamese government and National Assembly on issues related to business and public policy laws, international trade and to the development of the private sector and foreign investment in Vietnam. Tuan has been actively involved in the making and the implementation of the Enterprise Law and the Investment Law, among many other key business laws which are related to business and investment.

Tuan is one of the pioneers in promoting provincial economic governance through the introduction and promotion of Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) – a powerful policy advocacy tool which have been widely used by ministries, local government, and business associations in advocating for reforms at provincial levels in Vietnam. Now he is the Director of Vietnam PCI Program, the first program in Vietnam directly funded by USAID.

Mr. Dau is also an author of various local publications and articles on subjects such as economic governance, provincial governance, economic law and corporate governance. He holds a M.A in Law from Hanoi National University and selected as a 2013 Eisenhower Fellow.

Mrinalini Venkatachalam

WEConnect International

With experience spanning over a decade, Mrinalini has worked to bridge the gap between unmet social needs and service providers, giving large corporates, government agencies, community organizations and social enterprises the platform to create measurable social impact. She speaks regularly at schools, community events, corporates and conferences about the role that gender equality plays in achieving a more sustainable world for everyone. She currently leads engagement across South East Asia and Australia for WEConnect International, a global network that identifies, educates, registers, and certifies women’s business enterprises based outside of the U.S. that are at least 51% owned, as well as managed and controlled by one or more women, and then connects them with multinational corporate buyers.

Alexandra Sasha Stinchfield

Arizona State University’s Vietnam/SE Asia Programs

Sasha Stinchfield is an Associate Managing Director and Chief of Staff for Arizona State University’s Vietnam/SE Asia Programs where she directs project management, planning, and implementation of key strategic and organizational initiatives. A primary focus is in the development of new projects and programs that support ASU’s vision for growth in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Previously, Sasha was with the ASU International Development Office where she served as portfolio development manager, leading the strategic development of new business, global project management, processes innovation and relationship management. She has extensive experience cultivating and consulting on major global funded initiatives, such as with the United States Agency for International Development, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and other donor organizations. In addition, she has led the project management of global project in Brazil focused on production of decision support system products to inform integrated water resource management with respect to drought vulnerability and adaptation strategies for climate variability and change. Sasha holds an executive master’s degree in sustainability leadership and a bachelor’s degree in global studies from ASU.

Huynh Thu Huong

Human Resources Business Vietnam

Huong is the Founder and CEO of Human Resources Business VietnamHuong’s other major roles:

• Senior Advisor – Strategy and Development, Gras Savoye Willis Vietnam, a Willis Towers Watson company

• Corporate Advisor of KMS Technology

• Vietnam’s Representative of eCornell of Cornell University, working in partnership with Genashtim Innovative Learning pte ltd.

• Advisor of Shidler Business MBA HR MBA Programs for Vietnam, University of Hawaii at Manoe, USA.

• General Director and Legal Representative of Towers Watson Vietnam• International Judge – Myanmar Employer Awards 2017-2018.

Frank Weiand

USAID/Vietnam’s Linkages for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Project

Frank Weiand moved to Vietnam in 2016 to setup a new company for Supply Chain Service International ( SCSI) a SC service and Quality Management service provider based in USA, belonging to the world leading Trigo Group. From 2016 untill August 2018 he was the General Director of SCSI Vietnam Co.Ltd.

He joined AmCham Vietnam in 2016 as a member and became the Co-Chair of the manufacturing committee in 2017 till present.

Since joining AmCham Frank is part of the supplier day organization committee.

Frank spend most of his professional career within the automotive business, working for BMW in Germany. He spend 11 Years in Thailand as Purchasing Director BMW SE Asia. Beside that he was a supporter of the Thai Ministry of Industry (TAI) and to the local SME’s providing support in international purchasing standards and requirements of global OEM’s to their supplier.

He is a business consultant to various companies such as Gerson Lehman, BCG, McKinsey.

In 2017 Frank was engaged in a 3 month project with Vinfast, the first Vietnam car manufacturer start-up to setup the purchasing organization and the definition of the local content.

Just recently in September 2018 he joined KPMG and the USAID/Vietnam’s Linkages for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises project, a five-year USAID-funded project that will be implemented by IESC and KPMG between September 5, 2018 and September 4, 2023. The main objectives are to enhance Vietnamese small and medium enterprises capacity to participate in global value chains in five sectors; and to strengthen the Vietnamese enterprise and foreign firm business framework.

Frank is a graduate from the FH Nuremberg/Germany with a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering with certificates as technical car expert and in forensic analytics.

Nestor Scherbey

Global Alliance For Trade Facilitation

Nestor Scherbey founded Customs, Trade & Risk Management Services, Ltd. after a career as a licensed U.S. Customs Broker, pioneer in application of the U.S. Foreign Trade Zones program to the automotive industry with VW and, as Director, Global Trade Operations for the Amway Corporation. In the course of his career, Nestor was responsible for launches of new markets through U.S. export and destination market import and logistics operations in 46 countries in Asia, Europe, South and Central America and, the Caribbean. Due to the need to overcome challenges with tariff and non-tariff trade barriers for hundreds of products in many countries, his global technical and operational experience is unique. In the course of his career, Nestor successfully resolved more than one hundred customs audits, investigations and significant penalty cases. He has also advised U.S. Customs and the customs services of other countries in matters concerning regulatory reform, implementation of the GATT 1994 Customs Valuation Agreement, WTO trade facilitation and on Rules of Origin of Free Trade Agreements.

As a result of hands on experience in developing new and emerging markets, Nestor has unique experience and skills involving resolution of extraordinary offshore issues, managing challenges involving customs issues, transfer pricing, foreign trade practices and barriers, operational crisis and risk management, management of foreign audits and investigations and, international logistics.  Implementation of global trade technology solutions, particularly for export and import trade development and compliance is a specialty.

Nestor has served with the Customs Committee of the Foreign Chambers of Commerce of Thailand and leads the Customs and Trade Facilitation Working Group led by AmCham Vietnam in developing the Vietnam Trade Facilitation Alliance, a Customs-Business Partnership public consultations program that advises the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Industry & Trade with modernization and trade facilitation.

Greg Ohan

BW Industrial Development

Greg joined the Property Industry in 2004. Starting his career in Sydney, Australia where Greg helped lead multinational real estate firm CBRE in Australia and Hong Kong, In 2011, Greg was recruited to join CBRE Vietnam setting up Vietnam’s first dedicated ‘Industrial & Logistics Services’ Real Estate team under CBRE to this day remaining one of the best performing agency teams under his formation. Focused on representing occupiers entering the Vietnam market and assisting developers to market Vietnam’s Industrial and Business Parks and attract occupiers, Greg joined JLL Vietnam driving the business to become a local leading service provider before being recently recruited by one of Vietnam’s most exciting new joint venture’s “BW Industrial Development”. As Deputy CEO of BW Industrial Development, a joint-venture between Vietnam’s largest private equity investor, US based Warburg Pincus and Vietnam’s largest industrial and infrastructure developer Becamex IDC, Greg is responsible for the acquisition, construction and marketing of over 2 million sq.m of industrial & logistics real estate establishing ‘BW Industrial Development’ the Number 1 institutional For-Rent Industrial & Logistics Real Estate Developer in Vietnam. Since 2014, Greg has been an elected board member and National Director for AUSCHAM (the Australian Chamber of Commerce) for the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City chapters in Vietnam. Greg is also regularly requested to support various charities across Vietnam and internationally as an award-winning Auctioneer for various institutions and government organisations including the British Royal family.