2023 WAVBC Committee Members

David is the Managing Director and founder of Spinifex International Business Services and throughout his career has acquired a rich base of skills and experience working across a diverse range of industries throughout Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia.

Now semi-retired, David continues to specialise in organisational change management, developing and implementing operational / sales strategies, and mentoring SME business owners. He still enjoys the ‘hands on’ approach and has designed and implemented a wide variety of successful business strategies in many challenging environments.

Having lived and worked in Vietnam, David is passionate about growing two-way trade relationships between West Australian and Vietnamese SME’s. Over the last eighteen years David has travelled extensively around Vietnam visiting a wide range of SME businesses, business organisations and local governments.

David is also an accomplished Singer/ Songwriter and has received Australian and International recognition for his songs about WA’s Pilbara Region and Vietnam. He is also a published author.

David is currently Vice Chairman of the WA Asia Business Council

Suzanne is a governance professional and Director, leading the Board Advisory Service of the Executive Search Firm, Lester Blades in Western Australia.

Suzanne’s career includes diplomatic postings to Vienna, Austria, and Mexico City. Returning to Perth, she spent time in the corporate head office at Wesfarmers become making a career change and moved to Vietnam in the early 2000s.  She was appointed as the inaugural Director of Marketing at RMIT University’s campus in Ho Chi Minh City, which was the first fully foreign owned University in Vietnam established in 2001.  Suzanne was part of the inaugural management team which established campuses in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.  Today the University has more than 8000 students and is a highly regarded international education institution in the region.  During her time in Vietnam, she was a member of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Chaired the Charitable Fundraising Committee.

Returning to Perth in 2007, Suzanne was appointed the WA State Manager of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). She established AICD’s international division during that time, travelling extensively in Southeast Asia and establishing AICD’s presence in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Suzanne is the independent Chair of Stanley College, a private dual sector education provider and sits on the Board of the WA Cancer Council, WA Ballet, and the WA Cricket Foundation.

Trevor is currently the Engineering Manager (WA) at Palaris, a global engineering consulting company who provide their services to the international resources sector.

Trevor has twenty five years of senior engineering management experience across a wide variety of industries that includes the Mining, Oil & Gas and Construction industries in Australia and Southeast Asia.

In recent years, Trevor has established a significant network of industry specific contacts in Vietnam with whom he has established good working relationships in order to supply quality fabricated components for some of Australia’s key regional projects.

Trevor has been the Vice President of the WAVBC for the past 4 years.

Hugh is currently a WA Public servant and has held Senior Project roles across the Health, Education and Community and is currently in a Senior Project role at the newly created Communities.

Hugh and his wife Van started Viet-Coffee in 2009 and Viet -Coffee is now the largest internet retailer for Vietnamese Coffee and tea in Australasia. Over the years Viet-Coffee has established partnerships with key brands that includes VietCoffee Viet Nam, Trung Nguyen, Me Trang, EMC, TNI King Coffee, Meet Moore Coffee, Hatvala, and VietNuts.

When he is not working, Hugh is a keen hobby farmer and owner of two classic cars (El Camino (1964) and a Soarer (1994).

Mark is the Founder / Group Chairman and CEO of TermShield (trading as TermSteel outside of Australia) an international Pest Control and Prevention company. He is also the Joint CEO of TermSteel Global (Singapore).

With over thirty years of international industry experience, Mark also patented and designed the BRW Multi Award winning national service company, Termiwatch – Australia’s first DIY termite detection system.

With a strong international sales management, strategic planning and marketing background Mark has also consulted and implemented successful sales and marketing concepts for many Australasian companies that includes several Fortune 500 companies.

Robert is Chief Executive Officer of Adra Group, a multidiscipline international engineering services company with offices across Australia and Southeast Asia, including Vung Tau, Vietnam. Robert specialises in helping companies who want to fabricate offshore, ensuring the finished product meets not only the relevant Australian Standards but the expectations of the customer.

Robert has lived and worked in Vietnam. As General Manager of Vung Tau based Strategic Marine, a dynamic steel and aluminium fabrication company he successfully completed the mandate to develop the non-shipbuilding division of the business from an idea into a significant revenue producing division that allowed for overall company diversification.

Mai is from Hanoi, Vietnam where she attained a Batchelor of International Business and in 2018, she went to Germany to study and gain a Master of International Business and Economy.

Arriving in Perth in 2022 Mai is currently studying for a Master’s in Management Information Systems at Edith Cowan University.

Throughout her studies Mai has worked for a number of Hanoi based International Logistics companies that includes NYK Group (Airfreight Coordinator) and AIT Worldwide (Logistics Coordinator) and is currently working at Perth Airport as a Logistics Coordinator.

With a good knowledge of International Business and Logistics plus good English communication skills Mai is looking forward to learning about the West Australian economy and helping to connect WA SMEs with similar Vietnamese companies.

Van is a director of Viet-Coffee which they started together in 2009. Having decades of coffee experience from her time working in the family café in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam they have together driven the business to become the largest internet retailer for Vietnamese Coffee and Tea in Australasia.

In Vietnam, Van is a media personality where she has appeared in a number of TV documentaries shown on National Television across Vietnam.

Van helped establish the WA Vietnam Community Group (WAVCG) and her drive and enthusiasm has contributed to the ongoing success of the regular WAVCG Perth Cultural Events.

Edmund is the Managing Director of Antry Pty Ltd which he established in Perth in 1992. He has owned and operated businesses in the Timber and Architectural Metal Industries in the United Arab Emirates, Doha and the USA and he has received international recognition for his commitment to customer service.

In Perth, Antry Pty Ltd is a quality manufacturer of furniture and specialises in commercial furniture fit outs. Over the years Antry Pty Ltd has won over thirty five WA, National and International awards for exceptional designs and workmanship. It must be noted, amongst the WA awards is a prestigious Western Australian Industry and Export Award.

Edmund has established long standing relationships with a number of businesses in Vietnam that now support his Perth business. Those relationships include suppliers of quality Steel and Aluminium Components, Furniture Manufacturers and Window and Door Manufacturers.

Over the last thirty years Graeme has successfully established and managed a number of successful small businesses in Australia across a variety of industries that has included Construction, Arts, IT Services, Agricultural and Industrial equipment and building supplies.

Graeme’s current business portfolio includes the import and distribution of stainless steel cable and hardware, Website Design, Internet Marketing, and he is a reseller of secure file sharing & workflow automation software.

Graeme represented the WAVBC at the 2019 Ba Ria Vung Tau Trade Fair in Vung Tau, Southern Vietnam.

Mark has been the General Manager at Metrowest Constructions Pty Ltd for over ten years and has more than thirty years of experience working in the Construction Industry managing the design, construction, and operation of numerous buildings in Australia and the Middle East.

Having lived and worked in Dubai, Mark has access to a global network that supplies key materials and services to not only the Construction Industry but many other industries.

In recent years, Mark has focussed on identifying key suppliers of Construction products in Vietnam and continues to work closely with Vietnamese manufacturers so as to ensure their products meet Australian quality standards and are cost competitive.

Walter is the Managing Director of Metquip, a WA based supplier of machinery in the metal recycling sector and also the owner of Decomm Rentals, a service provider in the offshore decommissioning industry.

With over thirty years of sales and marketing experience in the global Oil & Gas industry, Walter has established over the years an extensive international network of people who supply and maintain specialised equipment for Offshore and Onshore Oil & Gas operations.

Walter first arrived in South Asia in 2004, working in Singapore and later moving to Vietnam where he managed several Oil & Gas companies based in Ho Chi Minh City & Vung Tau.

Now living in Perth, Walter has retained his business relationship with Vietnam via business interest in a large workshop facility in Vung Tau.

Walter was Treasurer between 2017 to 2023.

Duc is a very experienced Vietnamese businessman who now resides with his family in Perth and still maintains a number of key roles on various industry bodies in Vietnam that includes Vice Chairman of Vietnam – Japan Takahashi Association and HCMC Clear Agricultural Products Association in Vietnam.

He has over twenty years of experience in importing chemicals, glassware, and equipment for Vietnam hospitals and the laboratories and is also a co-founder of Vina Biological Seafood JSC and Tien Phong Science Technology JSC for chemical and biological testing.

In 2022, Duc established A2Z immigration and Education Consultancy.

Peter has forty years of international experience in providing Instrumentation, Commissioning and Marine Engineering services. He has worked across a diverse number of industries that includes Heavy Industrial Construction, Mining, Marine & Offshore and Oil & Gas.

He has managed and operated calibration facilities in three countries, and established the first NATA accredited test facility in Indonesia during the early 90’s and established a calibration facility in Vietnam in 2003 accredited to VISLAS, ILAC (International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation) and APLAC (Asia Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation)

Peter has been a global traveller throughout his career having lived and worked in Houston Texas, The Hague, Dubai, Singapore, Vietnam, Iran, Angola, China, New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Australia.

Following several business trips to Vietnam in 2002 with other Australian business owners in response to requests to provide Australian and Internationally recognised skills and competency training a joint venture was established to provide Hazardous Area training to Vietnamese based Oil and Gas operators.

In 2004, he established Aust-Indo Vietnam (AIV) in Vung Tau, Southern Vietnam who started out providing a variety of key calibration services to the local onshore and offshore industry. The business soon grew and moved to a purpose-built facility including a two story office and dedicated laboratories for Electrical, Temperature and Pressure calibration on a 3000m² site at the Dong Xuyen Industrial Zone in Vung Tau.

AIV continue to provide ongoing services to heavy industry, manufacturers and an ever-expanding list of import and export companies that require compliance support services, calibration, testing and verification of their products.

Minh is currently an Assistant Project Manager working in the WA Construction industry and holds a Bachelor of Applied Science majoring in Construction Management.

Born in Melbourne, and now living in Perth, Minh has joined the WAVBC to learn more about Vietnams growing economy and help West Australian SMEs to establish sustainable supply chains with Vietnamese companies.

Kyle Springer has over ten years of experience with a focus on Southeast Asia, international
relations, and public policy. His career has been focussed on building closer
cooperation between Australia and its economic and strategic partners in Southeast Asia, in
particular Vietnam.
He has provided analysis and commentary about the role Vietnam plays in the Indo-Pacific
region and has been featured as an expert on Sky News and in publications such as The
Australian Financial Review, The Diplomat, The ASPI Strategist, and Australian Outlook.
Kyle joined EY in May 2022 to take a role with Partnerships for Infrastructure (P4I), an
Australian government initiative focussed on delivering quality infrastructure in Southeast
Asia. Previously, Kyle was a Policy Fellow and established the Southeast Asia programs at
the Perth USAsia Centre at the University of Western Australia (2014-2022)
Kyle was also a researcher for the Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia studies at the
Washington, DC-based think tank CSIS (2013-2014).

Michael is currently the Economic Development Manager at the City of Cockburn; his expertise and experience encompasses building on Government to Government strategic relationships and economic exchange opportunities within a global context. His international experience includes over twenty five years within the Corporate Banking and Financial Services sector in the Southeast Asian region, across multiple business sectors. 

Michael has led a number of successful delegations to China, Indonesia and Singapore securing significant economic exchange agreements with international governments in both China and Indonesia and developing strategic relationships and networks for local businesses.

Michael holds a Master of International Business and has lectured in International Negotiation at Edith Cowan University. He has further qualifications in business, marketing, and training within the RTO sector.

Michael is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management.

Ms Lien is a Senior Legal Advisor with the Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VP Bank) in Hanoi and has held similar senior roles for Japanese, American and Australian institutions based in Vietnam.

Having studied in Brisbane, Ms Lien is well versed with Australian business culture and has a very good understanding of Foreign Investment legal services. Fluent in English, Ms Lien has in recent years been an active member of several Hanoi based International business networking groups that includes Vietnam Private Entrepreneurs Association, Hanoi Young Business Association and Business Network International.

Ms Lien is very familiar with Western Australia and became the WAVBC Hanoi Ambassador in May 2022 and has since provided much valuable assistance and guidance to members who have been looking to conduct business in Vietnam.

Binh has a business transformation consulting business to help SMEs world-wide deploy new technologies to enhance their competitive advantages such as website, Customer Relationship Management system and an array of technical application specilised for SMEs.

He is also a social entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Survival Skills Vietnam – a social enterprise with the mission to reduce preventable deaths and injuries in Vietnam via first aid training to international standards. Since 2014, the social enterprise has helped more than 90.000 Vietnamese people access first aid education who then save thounsands lives every year.

In 2014, he founded SiGen to commercialize the invention of anti-mosquito manholes in urban stormwater drainage systems. The solution has been gaining more and more support from local authorities, academia, and local people thanks to its effectiveness in preventing odors, fast drainage, and eliminating mosquitoes’ growth and development environment. SiGen started to successfully deploy the solution in many localities across the Vietnam since 2019.