The Foundation welcomes five
new honorary advisers from Asia


The Asia New Zealand Foundation has named five prominent and highly respected individuals as new Asia-based honorary advisers. The new advisers are Dr Pavida Pananond and Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak from Thailand, Ms Heekyung Jo Min from South Korea, Hon Rafidah Aziz from Malaysia, and Mr Guillermo M. Luz from the Philippines.

(from left) New Zealand Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand Ben King, new Asia New Zealand Foundation honorary advisers Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak and Dr Pavida Pananond, and Foundation executive director Simon Draper

“We welcome our five new honorary advisers from Asia. They bring with them a wealth of expertise and experience that the Foundation can draw from in our various engagements especially in their respective countries,” says Asia New Zealand Foundation executive director Simon Draper.

Honorary advisers are individuals who hold key positions in business, academia, community or other sectors that are relevant to the Foundation’s mandate of ‘equipping New Zealanders to thrive in the Asian century’.

As the preeminent non-profit institution in New Zealand dealing with Asian issues, the appointment of respected, thoughtful leaders in their fields with close relationship with New Zealand as honorary advisers is an important value add to the Foundation and its work.

“I look forward to the Foundation engaging with the newly appointed honorary Asia advisers and drawing on their wisdom in helping the Foundation achieve its mandate,” says Mr Draper.

Honorary adviser appointments are open ended and they are made by the New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Bios of new honorary advisers

Thailand

Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak is the director of the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) and is an Associate Professor of International Political Economy at the Faculty of Political Science at the Chulalongkorn University.

He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and PhD from the London School of Economics.

Dr Pavida Pananond is an Associate Professor of International Business at the Thammasat Business School at the Thammasat University. She is a researcher in various business areas including emerging multinationals, competitiveness of Thai business, and foreign direct investments to and from Thailand.

Dr Pavida received her Bachelor of Accountancy from the Chulalongkorn University, MBA from McGill University in Canada, and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.

South Korea

Ms Heekyung Jo Min is the executive vice president and executive director of CSV Management of CJ Corporation in South Korea. She has vast experience in the financial sector and has worked in New York, Tokyo and London for various companies.  She was previously the director general of the Business Opportunity Bureau at the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) in Incheon, South Korea, in which role she was responsible for promoting South Korea to the world.

She holds an MBA in Finance and Accounting from Columbia University, and a BA in Music from Seoul National University.

Malaysia

Hon. Rafidah Aziz serves as the non-executive independent chairman of AirAsia X. She is a member of the Malaysian Parliament and was country’s longest-serving Minister of International Trade and Industry, having served in that capacity from 1987 to 2008.

Previously, she was Minister of Public Enterprises from 1980 to 1987 and Deputy Minister of Finance from 1977 to 1980. In 1976, she was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Public Enterprises. She has also lectured at the Faculty of Economics and Administration at the University of Malaya.

Philippines

Mr Guillermo M. Luz is the private sector co-chairman of the Philippine National Competitiveness Council (NCC) – a public-private sector body tasked to develop a strategy for the long-term competitiveness of the Philippines through policy reforms, project implementation, institution-building, and performance monitoring. He is an associate director of the Ayala Corporation, one of the biggest business conglomerates in the country with interests in real estate, banking, telecommunications, water infrastructure, electronics manufacturing, business process outsourcing, and automotive dealership.

He was executive director (from 1987-2006) of the Makati Business Club, one of the most influential business associations in the country engaged in advocacy, information services, publishing, and investment promotion. Mr Luz graduated with a BA Social Sciences degree from Ateneo de Manila University.

ENDS