Felix Busch joined in September 2019 the Millennium Hilton Seoul the General Manager. The Millennium Hilton Seoul is an iconic hotel in Seoul and is the home to many international and foreign travelers. Felix’s key objective is establishing this Hotel’s name in the tourism market by combining Millennium Hilton Seoul’s rich heritage with Hilton’s extraordinarily successful systems and programs.
Felix has played a significant leadership role in Hilton for 17 years, having worked at Hilton properties in Europe, the UK and Australia, and most recently, Japan; beginning his career in hospitality 25 years ago.
Prior to Seoul, Felix was the General Manager of the 460-room Hilton Nagoya, Japan. There, he was responsible for the timely and well-executed completion of the masterplan Renovation for rooms in 2016, heart of the house revamp in 2017, and the food & beverage masterplan and renovation of the lobby and reception area in 2018, in time for the 30th anniversary of the hotel.
Prior to his time in Japan, Felix was Hotel Manager at the Hilton Sydney, where he made outstanding contributions to the property in terms of customer loyalty and service, as well as the management and implementation of the successful refurbishment of the hotel’s guest rooms and Executive Lounge.
Over his long career, Felix has held various operations and food & beverage roles at Hilton-branded properties across the UK, Scotland and Germany. Before joining Hilton, his early career was spent training at several German hotel properties.
Felix has upheld his respect for the people in the community. While the past year with Covid-19 has been tough on the overall industry, he has successfully led his team members with resilience and perseverance, showing true leadership and support during these unprecedented times. Millennium Hilton Seoul displayed industry leading business results targeting domestic travelers and local guests with innovative promotions, unique products and brand campaigns under Felix’s management.
Being a proactive member of the community Felix has been a long time member of SKAL in numerous countries. During his time in Nagoya, Japan Felix was the Chair of the Business Programs Committee for the American Chamber of Commerce Chubu Chapter, Japan (the only international chamber in Nagoya) for 3 years before moving to Seoul. To raise money for charity Felix also coordinated and participated in a Bicycle ride from Tokyo to Nagoya in May 2017.
Felix is married to Alexandra Busch and has two daughters Ciara and Niamh. Living in Sydney for nearly 5 years, Felix is a permanent resident of Australia. Alexandra is from Sydney NSW Australia, and their daughters Ciara was born in London and Niamh in Sydney.
AUSTCHAM VISION:
AustCham is a key gate for Australian business into Korea. This is not only linked to intellectual business relationship but must also include agriculture and Australian farmed food items. Being the General manager in a 5* hotel in Seoul I am able to feature and show case Australian produce to Korean and International consumers.
Beyond the obvious “supporting the Australian economy” I believe that advocacy is key for the further image and reputation building of Australia in Korea. Being in an international hotel and part of an international community in Seoul I am 100% committed to drive awareness and subsequently business to Australian companies in Korea and to Korean and domestic companies in Australia.
My wife Alexandra took over the presidency of ANZA in Korea and I am confident that my wife and I combined have the opportunity to reach a wider range of individuals and companies and further deepen the relationship between Korea and Australia.
Beside the commercial and advocacy avenues, I am committed to share the Australian vison in social and charitable events.
I believe that my network and experience can serve as a valuable asset to AustCham in fulfilling “our” shared vision to promote the Australian culture and commerce here in Korea with the ultimate goal to reinforce the strong ties between the two countries.
I am leading the international section of the JLL Korea Advisory team, responsible for managing a wide range of real estate valuation and strategic consultancy and sales assignments for international and local clients in the Korean market. My work covers a wide range of property types for institutional investors, corporates occupiers and embassies. I have ten years of real estate and construction experience, with over five years within Korea, and the remainder in Sydney and London. I am a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors –RICS (Valuation Surveyor), hold a Graduate Diploma of Property Development from University Technology Sydney, and a Bachelor of Construction Management from Western Sydney University.
AUSTCHAM VISION:
I wish to further strengthen Australia-Korea business relations particularly pertaining to but not limited to the real estate and construction industries through business contacts, sharing of market knowledge and developing new investment concepts. I believe my sound extensive professional experience in Korea and Australia, real estate market knowledge can help compliment this and assist in strengthening these relationships.
I want to promote and grow the Australian business community in a positive manner to the Korean professional network and wider public through engaging in business, taking part in business forums, networking events and further contributing to constructive social events relating to CSR.
Kelly is Director & Branch Representative at IFM Investors Korea, having joined IFM in 2017. Kelly has 20+ years’ experience in the private sector and international development spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe. She has worked in the life insurance, commercial banking, and asset management industry, as well as the UN system.
Prior to joining IFM Investors, Kelly was General Manager at Samsung Life Insurance headquarters where she worked for almost 10 years. Prior to Samsung Life she worked at the United Nations Development Programme in Kenya as well as Shinhan Financial Group’s Investor Relations team.
Kelly holds a BA in Western History (Korea University), an MBA from INSEAD, and is a CFA charterholder since 2004.
AUSTCHAM VISION:
It was a pleasure to serve on the Austcham Board of Directors as Treasurer for the past 2 years alongside a passionate board and executive team, and to witness the extraordinary growth of the organization during this time.
To continue its expansion, the Chamber will require more investment in human resources and IT infrastructure. I would like to continue offering up my expertise to ensure that the Chamber is well resourced to fund this growth and to help sustain its current healthy financial position into the future.
Julia is the first non-Korean specialist in Korean traditional alcohol, or ‘Sool’ and the founder of The Sool Company. With 14 years experience in Korea and almost 10 years in the Korean alcohol industry, Julia is a passionate and committed member of the small business and local Korean startup economy. The Sool Company has been providing Korean alcohol education, consulting and tourism experiences since 2016, and works closely with the artisan Korean traditional alcohol industry. As an Australian, Julia also actively seeks out opportunities to collaborate with both Australian and Korean businesses to improve cultural awareness and enhance progress within the Korean alcohol sector.
AUSTCHAM VISION:
As part of my contribution as board member for the past two years, I have been working to create more support and representation for the small business and start-up sector. One of the ways we achieved this was through launching the Small Business Support Program to help alleviate some of the pressures on SME’s during this unprecedented time. If elected I will continue to focus on these areas, and work to expand AustCham’s network of diverse businesses of all sizes and industries. It is my hope to continue to develop AustCham’s role in supporting its members to not only survive the current times, but to succeed.
I began my position as the inaugural Investment Director for Trade and Investment Queensland in April, 2020. As the Investment Director, I work closely with the Queensland Trade and Investment Commissioner and I am responsible for facilitating investment into Queensland by sourcing investment opportunities and assisting Korean investors navigate through the investment process. Prior to TIQ, I worked at Rothschild & Co in mergers & acquisitions, covering natural resources and infrastructure. I was involved with the sale of a minority stake in Shell’s infrastructure assets of QCLNG gas project, poised to be one of Australia’s biggest infrastructure auctions valued at approximately A$3bn.My family and I migrated to Australia from Korea at a young age and I have lived all over Australia. I grew up in Perth, studied at the University of Melbourne and worked in Melbourne in professional services and in Sydney in investment banking. After 17 years in Australia, I am very excited to be back in Korea, working in a role facilitating the bilateral relationship and I am keen to get involved with the Australian community in Korea during my time here!
AUSTCHAM VISION:
During 2020, a year that was unsettled by a global pandemic, AustCham did a remarkable job at keeping the community engaged with various events on relevant topics relating to Korea and Australia. Through my involvement with key focus sectors for the Queensland Governmentlike hydrogen, critical minerals, and biomedicine, I am keen to support AustCham in their continuing endeavour to actively connect business leaders and educate the community in these focus industries in 2021.
In addition to assisting AustCham with their conventional industry development related initiatives, I would like to further develop the young professionals’ network within the community. There is a clear opportunity to better foster the Australian/Korean young professionals and encourage their involvement in AustCham events. As a community, it is vital to invest in developing the next generation of leaders and AustCham is well placed to support young professionals by leveraging its high caliber member network. Furthermore, AustCham establishing a solid young professionals’ network will provide an opportunity for young professionals to cross educate each other culturally and share experiences to support each other as they navigate through their careers. Targetting this under-represented segment of the Australian/Korean community will also allow AustCham to expand its footprint to explore new ways of meaningfully engaging with members.
I’m currently Chief Representative of Woodside Energy Korea looking after Woodside’s client relationship and new business development for LNG and hydrogen. Prior to starting at Woodside Energy, I had a career with Samsung Heavy Industries. Throughout my career, I have worked on global oil & gas projects across multiple countries including Australia, Indonesia, Nigeria and Mozambique.I have started my undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University and graduated from Ewha Woman’s University with Bachelor of Science in Statistics and Masters of Language (Korean English Bidirectional Interpretation).
AUSTCHAM VISION:
I believe AustCham provides a significant inter-sectoral business networking platform and also the connection with government bodies. As a representative of energy company, I look forward to facilitating energy cooperation opportunities for Korea and Australia and AustCham will play a key role in promoting Woodside’s vision in Korean market for LNG and hydrogen.
Sean has a wealth of experience in Korea and Asia, including three assignments in Korea:
2016-present Schindler Elevator Company in Korea as CEO.
2012 – 2016 Exec Vice President at Samsung Construction and Trading as Division Head of the Global mechanical and electrical business.
2003-2005 President of Siemens Building Technologies (Korea).
Sean’s Asian experience includes President of Vestas Wind Systems Asia Pacific, a large renewable energy company where Sean was based in Singapore from 2009 – 2012. Sean also was Vice president of Siemens Hong Kong 2005-2006 followed by a posting to Siemens Building Technologies HQ in Switzerland from 2008-2009. His education includes an MBA at the Melbourne Business School and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Tasmania. Sean has a long association with Korea business spanning three assignments in Korea over a period of 15 years.
He is interested in urban transport, sustainability, building successful teams, Korean team culture and enjoys Korean food, listening to music and cycling.
AUSTCHAM VISION:
To be recognized as the leader in fostering Australian and Korean Business interests through networking, advocacy, initiatives and activities to promote business relations for the benefit of the members.
Austcham performs an important role in bridging Australian businesspeople with the Korean business community and stakeholders for mutual opportunity and prosperity. When I first arrived in Korea in 2003, Austcham membership allowed me to build networks quickly and develop relationships, which are critical for business success in Korea and this is something the organization needs to continue. Austcham provides valuable learning in how business scan be done in Korea through our DBIK programs. Austcham and the ANZA teams provide meaningful, fun and engaging CSR activities, business awards and networking events for the business community and families throughout the year.
I appreciate the hard work and engagement of the previous directors through these challenging times and look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve on the board.
Andrew is an Associate Director within Macquarie Capital’s Infrastructure and Energy Group (IEG) based in Seoul, South Korea. Since relocating to Seoul in 2017, Andrew’s focus has been on managing Macquarie Capital’s investment in ReClean Holdings (RH), including as Chief Commercial Officer between September 2018 and April 2019 and as Nominee Board Director since January 2020, and recently as Korean country lead for onshore renewable energy development.
Prior to transitioning to the IEG team in Seoul in June 2017, Andrew spent over 10 years in Macquarie Capital’s Industrials coverage group based in Sydney working on a wide range of landmark and significant M&A and strategic initiatives and capital markets transactions across various industries, including retail, food & beverage (F&B), healthcare, engineering & construction (E&C), mining and commercial services, typically involving overseas entities.
Andrew holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours (First Class) and a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Queensland. Andrew also studied at the University of British Columbia (Canada) on exchange during his undergraduate studies.
AUSTCHAM VISION:
It is with pleasure that I seek re-election in the 2021 AustCham Korea Board election process. Since being elected to the Board in 2019, I believe I brought experience and opportunity with much energy to the Executive team that have been successfully delivered for the benefit of AustCham Korea Members, Sponsors and the boarder Australia-Korea business community. However I feel there remains plenty more to do: The Chamber has built substantial momentum in its purpose to advocate for Australian businesses in Korea and business opportunities for Korean Companies in Australia through the success of the various sub-committees, particularly Energy, Resources and Sustainability (ESR) and Financial Services. These committees pivoted successfully during the Pandemic to deliver a multitude of mixed virtual and real discussion on topics important to both Australia and Korea and it is through these Committee forums that I believe the Chamber can continue to build, maintain and grow the strong business networks between the countries. I look forward to being an active and enthusiast participant in the Chamber and the Chamber’s Committees and fostering participation from others.
