| Exciting days in
South East Asia - ups and downs. |
My first assignment in Asia was to restructure a
problem project in Indonesia back in 1986.
I joined ADB in 1986 as a financial analyst after working
for The Mitsui Bank, Limited in Tokyo for about 10 years. My first job there was to
restructure a palm oil project in northern Sumatra (Indonesia). In middle of 1980's
palm oil price was quite depressed because of the US propaganda saying that palm oil is
bad for your health because of high cholesterol.
I was in charge of lots of project related to
agro-industry in the region. Tree crop processing, forestry projects, fishery
project, paper mills, etc. I learned all the aspects of project finances, from
planning to implementation -- even restructuring as well.
I travelled through-out Asia while I was with ADB. I was one of the very few who
visited Burma after August 1988. One TV station from Japan came to interview me to
find out what was going on in that country.
In this three years, I experienced 5 coup attempts in the Philippines.
Fortunately I left the country slightly before the most serious coup attempt in September
1989.
I came to Singapore in 1989
I came to Singapore in 1989 and started a merchant bank
subsidiary of a Japanese commercial bank from scratch. This company started as a
tiny company - it grew throughout 1990's and became tiny again after restructuring.
A circle of life!!
What have I been
doing here?
Please "click my
company" button in the left column to find out what I have been doing in
Singapore. |
