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Executive Chair, Asean Development Pty Ltd
Emeritus Chair, AusPECC
Founding Member, Newcrest Indonesian Advisory Council (NIAC)
Independent Non-Executive Director, Nantien Institute
Senior Executive Adviser, Gao Feng Consulting, China
Senior Adviser/Guest Lecturer, Tanri Abeng University, Indonesia
Member, DFAT/IA-CEPA  Indonesia Review Group

50 years ‘hands-on’ experience as a Strategy Consultant/Trusted Adviser in SE Asia & Australia working at the highest levels of Business & Government & including 30 years as founding regional head of US strategy & national security firm SRI International & then as Lead Partner/first elected APAC Chair of Booz Allen Hamilton  

Summary

  • After a Masters in Quantum Chemistry at Oxford I won a Thouron Scholarship to Wharton where I Graduated 2nd in the 1972 MBA class of 412 MBA’s & joined the prestigious World Bank Young Professionals Program. I was granted an LoA to lead SE Asia’s first reverse take-over[1] of an ailing SES/KLSE listed group. This high profile rescue increased value by 400+% in a year & the LoA was extended to allow me to advise regional VC/PE/Family groups, SoE’s & MNC’s on similar restructurings around the region.

  • In 1984 I joined SRI International to establish, & lead, their regional operations. Over the next 10 years I built a world-class team, led many complex, & often politically sensitive, rescues of high profile SoE’s (eg Bank Bumiputra & Thai Airways) & became a trusted adviser to regional leaders on the restructuring of SoE’s & Government Agencies. This trust led to, often sensitive, requests to ‘intermediate’ both between Governments[2] & with MNC’s, including eg Jack Welch at GE[3] where I helped create, & sat on, their first APAC Advisory Council.

  • In 1994 I was recruited by NYSE listed Consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton as Lead Partner & was elected first APAC Chair. I built a strong pan-regional team & a positioning as ‘Trusted Advisers’ at the highest levels of Business & Government, including key Defence & National Security agencies.  Early successes included the creation of Indonesia’s first Ministry of State Owned Enterprise(MSoE) & then supporting the new Minister, Tanri Abeng, to wrest control of 270 SoE’s from 17 Ministries & to design/lead multi-year transformations to enhance both national infrastructures & public services while increasing their value by over US$250+Bn.

  • In 2000 I led the relocation of the Booz Allen APAC RHQ to Sydney & on September 11, 2001 was at our Global Partner Meeting in NYC. The death of our colleagues in the Pentagon attack & the Firm’s close links with key USG Agencies led to the creation of strategic response teams to support these Clients. I was tasked to lead the Firm’s initiatives in APAC and the 56 OIC Nations. To do this I helped create new pan-regional NGOs including The World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) where I was  a founding member of its International Advisory Panel, wrote the Chapter on the APAC region for its ‘launch’ book & spoke at many WIEF events.

  • Post 9/11 Booz Allen prioritized US Defense/National Security & in 2004 moved Strategy Consulting into a separate subsidiary, Booz & Co. which in 2013 was sold to PwC. As Senior Executive Adviser to the new Strategy& unit I supported the integration process & managed VIP client relationships until my retirement in 2018.

  • I remain active as an INED/Adviser to Government & Private leaders, mentor to former colleagues & clients - & informal mediator during tensions involving Australia & the region.

[1] An extension of my 1971 internship on the Reverse Takeover of Kay Corporation by Ralli International
[2] In 1994 I was part of an SRI/IAP-led mission to Hanoi where I worked directly with the PM & Cabinet
[3] I worked directly with Jack Welch on the FA18 program & to create GE’s first Regional Advisory Council

Career History

Listed Company Board/Advisory Council Experience

  • 2014-2022:  (ASX listed) Newcrest Mining – Indonesian Advisory Council
  • 2004-2006: (Bursa Malaysia listed) Southern Bank Bhd, (Malaysia) , INED, M&A – special committee negotiating the sale of the Bank in 2006 for RM18Bn
  • 2001-2005: (ASX listed) IAG – Asian Management Advisory Council (AMAC)
  • 1993-2000: (NYSE listed) General Electric (GE) – designed & served on GE’s first Asian Advisory Board,
  • 1993-1995:  (ASX listed) Computer Power Group – INED, Audit Committee
  • 1987-1994:  (NASDAQ listed) AB Volvo Cars  – Founding member, East Asian Advisory Board
  • 1973-1975:  (KLSE/SGX listed) General Lumber Holdings  – Executive Director/Joint CEO

Education/Advanced Study Programs

  • Aspen Institute, Aspen, Colorado (1995 & 1996) – Advanced Leadership Training
  • Kiel Institute for the World Economy, FRG (1990 & 1992)
    Trade & Development Strategies for LDCs  – (Anne Kruger & Deepak Lal)
  • Wharton Graduate School,  MBA (1970-1972)
    (Beta Gamma Sigma/Thouron Fellow; 2nd in a class of 412 MBAs)
  • Magdalen College, Oxford – MA (Chemistry/Quantum Chemistry) – University, State, RAF & Pfizer Scholarships; College Demyship; Jex Blake & Turbutt Prizes
    • Publications: “ESR Spectra from Free Radicals in Solution”, Chemical Comms (Com 372/1970); “Czochralski Growth of Single Crystals” (IRD – 1966)

Selected Other Past Unlisted Company plus NGO/Advisory Board Experience/Roles