 Co-Chair
Daneal Blicblau, LNG Director – Vietnam, AES Vietnam
Daneal joined AES in 2021 and is based in the Ho Chi Minh City office. He is responsible for all aspects of LNG supply for the 2,250 MW Son My 2 power plant under development in Binh Thuan Province. Together with the team, he is developing opportunities in renewable energy with a focus on offshore wind, solar and battery energy storage with Fluence Energy Inc.
Active internationally in the energy industry since 2006, prior to joining AES Daneal held senior roles including:
- ENGIE – where he led M&A origination across APAC;
- Reliance Industries Limited – where he was the VP for business development for the supply & trading business; and
- Royal Dutch Shell – roles across trading, M&A, strategy, business development, management and finance.
Daneal holds both a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Monash University, and is also a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA).
Outside of work, Daneal enjoys spending time with his young family and keeping fit. |
 Co-Chair
Pham Ba Linh, Managing Partner and Head of Energy, Project Finance and Infrastructure of Lexcomm Vietnam LLC
Pham Ba Linh is the Managing Partner of Lexcomm Vietnam LLC and Head of Energy, Project Finance and Infrastructure. He is accorded distinct market recognition by clients and peers as a seasoned and technically skilled top-rated transactional lawyer with more than 20 years of practice, focusing primarily on energy and natural resources, liquefied natural gas (LNG), projects and infrastructure, public-private partnerships (PPP), project finance, leveraged and acquisition finance, debt and equity capital markets, derivatives and structured products.
Ba Linh regularly advises international energy companies on a broad variety of multibillion-dollar landmark energy and infrastructure projects in Vietnam and Australia, having previously based in Hanoi, HCMC and Melbourne. He has acted for international banks, joint lead arrangers, multilateral lending agencies (MLAs), export credit agencies (ECAs), sponsors, infrastructure and energy funds, private equity firms, institutional investors and major works contractors.
He has received the accolade of being distinctively named one of the very top few “Leading Individuals” energy and project finance lawyers in Vietnam by the prestigious Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2019-2023 for his technical legal excellence and outstanding commercial expertise. He has won some of the most prestigious international law awards, including Asialaw Regional Awards 2019 for “Outstanding Practitioner: Vietnam” and “IFLR Asia Best Lawyers” in 2020, 2021 and 2022 as one of the best lawyers in Asia Pacific.
Client testimonials include “practice head Pham Ba Linh is widely regarded in Vietnam as a market-leading energy and project finance lawyer with an in-depth understanding of best market practices”, “a top choice for strategic oil and gas, LNG and power projects in Vietnam”, “often sought after for his expertise in upstream oil and gas, pipelines and LNG matters”, “a go-to lawyer for Vietnam energy advice – he understands the industry and what is going on in the market”, “acting for both the sponsor and lender on matters such as project finance, asset finance, leveraged and acquisition finance, and corporate finance”, “has a wealth of experience in advising an array of clients across a broad spectrum of upstream, midstream, power, petrochemicals, and mining exploration projects”, “very high level of service, market insight and genuine industry expertise – the advice is always to the point”, “deeply understand Vietnamese laws and international practice”, “he thoroughly understands clients’ business needs and provides practical advice”, “responsive and always willing to go the extra mile”. |
 Vice Chair
Nguyen Huu Hoai, Partner, Russin and Vecchi
Hoai has over 20 years of experience practicing law.
He joined Russin & Vecchi in 2005. Previously, he worked for an international auditing company and for a foreign multinational company as the company secretary and on its inhouse team.
His expertise includes corporate and M&A with particular emphasis on infrastructure and taxation.
He has worked on M&A transactions and on several cross-border transactions involving project finance, energy, and infrastructure. |
 Board Liasion
James Meffen, Senior Director of Finance, AES Vietnam
James is a seasoned finance professional with extensive experience in the power and infrastructure sector spanning four continents and more than $5 billion in financings. Currently, he is the CFO of Son My LNG Terminal a joint venture company of AES and PetroVietnam Gas and the Senior Director of Finance for AES Vietnam. He is well-versed in the opportunities and challenges of the energy sector in Vietnam and the region, and has a keen interest in promoting sustainable and innovative solutions. James also currently serves as the co-chair of the Amcham Energy Committee, where he contributes his insights and expertise to the policy dialogue and advocacy efforts including the Direct PPA program and the development of the LNG sector.
James has lived in Vietnam since 2021 with his wife and four children. Prior to Vietnam, James lead the treasury for AES businesses in Europe and Asia. |
