Legal and VBF Liaison Committee: VBF Debrief

Samuel Pursch

Director, Vriens & Partners

Samuel Pursch is a Director in Vriens & Partners’ Hanoi office where he advises international blue-chip firms 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. From Andaman’s founding in 2015, Samuel managed projects for clients including international hydropower and mobile finance investors, The World Bank, and a range of international NGOs. Andaman’s work ranged from detailed stakeholder assessments to field research activities, including large-scale surveys, to policy recommendations for international actors working to address Myanmar’s myriad development challenges.

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.

Senior Advisor, Baker McKenzie

Fred has been active in AmCham in Vietnam since it was first established in 1994. He served as a member of the Board of Governors from 1995 – 2003 and was Chairman in 1997.  After a hiatus of four years, he was re-elected to the Board in December 2007.  Before coming to Vietnam in 1991, he served as the Secretary and Member of the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, China.  Fred Burke is a Senior Partner of Baker McKenzie, based in Vietnam.  He has more than 30 years’ experience practicing in the areas of International Trade, Taxation & Customs, Real Estate, Hotels & Resorts, Renewable Energy, Project Finance and Dispute Resolution. Fred currently serves as a member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Administrative Reform in Vietnam.  He served as the Investment & Trade Working Group Chair for the Vietnam Business Forum for over a decade and joined the VBF Member’s Council in 2020.  He has extensive experience working with Vietnam legislators and law drafting committees on the full range of new laws and decrees integrating Vietnam into the global economy.

Yee Chung Seck

Partner, Baker McKenzie

Seck Yee Chung leads the Firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions, IT/C and Healthcare practices in Vietnam. He is highly regarded in his field – Chambers and Asia Pacific Legal 500 rank him as a leading lawyer in the field of Corporate/M&A and TMT.

Chung has worked in Vietnam since 1999 and has been involved in significant cross-border transactions. He delivers sound and pragmatic advice on regulatory and transactional matters, particularly on foreign investment, market access, private and public M&A, securities, competition and anti-corruption, commercial activities, and data use, over a diverse range of sectors, from digital economy, healthcare, and consumer products, to food & beverage, manufacturing, property, and aviation.

He is a member of the Singapore Bar Association and serves as vice president of the Singapore Business Group, Ho Chi Minh City.