Suggestions
Melissa Brandner
Bridging Europe and Southeast Asia | Expert in trade promotion and market entry strategies
Melissa Brandner is a professional with extensive experience in consulting European companies, particularly those from Germany and France, on their entry and expansion into ASEAN markets.2 She currently holds the position of Vice President FDI Euro-Asia Group at UOB (United Overseas Bank).2
Career Highlights
Prior to her current role at UOB, Melissa worked for approximately five years at the Singaporean-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, also known as AHK (Auslandshandelskammer).1 Her last day at this organization was in mid-April 2024, marking a significant milestone in her career.14
Expertise and Focus
Melissa specializes in:
- Consulting European companies, with a particular emphasis on German and French businesses
- Assisting companies in entering ASEAN markets
- Helping businesses diversify into new markets within the region2
Personal and Professional Journey
Melissa's career path has taken her to Singapore, a move she hadn't anticipated during her studies.5 She has not only built her professional life in Singapore but has also established personal roots there, having gotten married in the country.5
Recent Activities
As of May 27, 2024, Melissa shared insights about her recent travel experience with Singapore Airlines (SIA) on a flight from Munich to Singapore, demonstrating her continued engagement with both European and Singaporean business environments.3
Melissa Brandner's LinkedIn profile (username: melissa-brandner-58776717a) serves as a platform for her to share professional updates and insights related to her work in facilitating business connections between Europe and ASEAN countries.
Highlights
#ASEAN Conference - Reimagining ASEAN for a Sustainable Tomorrow 💭🌿🌅
With an exciting line-up, such as DPM Gan Kim Yong and Chief Minister of Johor Onn Hafiz Ghazi, the conference was unsurprisingly packed.
My personal highlight was to meet our CEO and Deputy Chairman Mr Wee Ee Cheong. He shared how he likes travelling to #Germany 🇩🇪 and we talked about how there's so many opportunities for European companies in #ASEAN. As part of the new #Europe desk, it's part of my job to drive engagements with European companies and support their expansion with their banking 💵 and a beyond banking approach, like by providing connectivity 🔗
It was great to meet 🤝 some of the European companies again that had followed the invitation. We will build on this and hope to see many more European companies with a keen interest in ASEAN in 2025.
Let me share some of my take-aways.
DPM spoke about the importance of economic integration 🧩 The current ASEAN Economic Community AEC plan is until 2025, but how about beyond 2025? The vision is a journey ✈️ The intra ASEAN collaboration will be key. Important steps have been taken, like the ATIGA for goods movement 🚚🛳️ Furthermore the upcoming Johor - Singapore 🇸🇬 Special Economic Zone #SEZ is highly anricipated. It will benefit businesses greatly and will be supercharged 🔋 with the upcoming RTS 🚝 I was impressed when the Chief Minister shared how much Johor achieved in recent years. As one outstanding example, the crime rates went down since 2019 by 46% 📉⤵️ through increased CCTV. Safety🔐 is a main criteria for many businesses when expanding. UOB signed a MOU ✍️ with Invest Johor to promote the new SEZ.
Paired with economic agreements with Batam and Bintan in #Indonesia, this will build a #growth 🌱📈 triangle for the region.
ASEAN collaboration has to be forward-looking. Two recurring hot topics of the day were Green Economy (with a focus on #sustainability 🌱, renewable #energy ⚡, especially regional grid) and #Digital Economy 📱 UOB can be a facilitator 💸 for both, e. g. with green financing as well as regionally integrated payment systems by multilateralising current bilateral systems.
The words by #EU Ambassador to Singapore Iwona Piorko, stood out to me, when asked what steps 👣 can be taken to further the relationship between the #EU and ASEAN beyond 2025. She underlined ASEAN is a strategic partner to the EU 🤝 the highest partnership label. Currently there are 2 Free Trade Agreements #FTAs between the EU with Singapore and Vietnam. Going forward the EU is looking for further bilateral FTAs with the hope for one regional FTA in the future, with a focus on green economy 🌿♻️ and digital economy 💱💻
Another MOU was signed ✒️ between the event partners to organise delegations 👥✈️ for Singapore-registered companies to other ASEAN countries. Mr Wee: "We remain committed to serving as an effective gateway for companies expanding into the region." ⛩️🗺️
#OneBankForASEAN #RightByYou
𝗔𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 🆕
I'm excited to share that my next career step has led me to join a company very closely intertwined with Singapore's history 🇸🇬 United Overseas Bank UOB 🏦 I have resumed a position as Vice President, working for the #Euro #Asia Group of UOB's Foreign Direct Investment Advisory team 🌎🪙 The FDI Advisory serves as a 1️⃣-stop shop dedicated to helping companies set up regional operations in Asia in addition to UOB's full suite of financial solutions, e. g. by providing connectivity 🔗 to government authorities, service providers and strategic partners, such as associations and chambers. On that note I'm particularly happy to keep in touch with the German chambers abroad, the #AHKs, in the region 🫶🏼
At UOB I'm now taking care of European companies 🇪🇺 looking to enter #Southeastasia, especially the ASEAN-5, as well as the companies that are already in the region and looking to #diversify into other countries. I see huge potential for European companies, and due to my background of course especially German companies 🇩🇪 here in the region.
Thanks to the team and my superiors Chao Yong Sai and Sam Cheong for the very warm welcome 🙏🏼 And special thanks to my buddy Chiharu I., appreciate your patience!
It has been very timely for me as there's exciting topics ahead, such as the Johor Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ) 🛤️🇸🇬🇲🇾 or the #decarbonisation of #supply chains and #greentransition 🌿 Also the flagship event by SBF supported by UOB, the annual ASEAN Conference is just around the corner!
Deeply grateful to be given the opportunity to supercharge the Europe FDI for the world's best bank for SMEs (Euromoney 2024)!
I'm looking forward to leveraging my experiences to add value to companies' #internationalization journey to ASEAN, to make an impact 💪🏼 and with this contribute to the FDI Advisory's mission to help build a better future for the people in ASEAN and do Right By You! 🚀
Has anything I mentioned piqued your interest? Let me know and let's have a chat over coffee ☕
#UOB #RightByYou #FDI #career #learningcurve
