Additional Info

Biography : Tractus Asia is a foreign direct investment advisory firm specializing in advising and assisting companies to make informed decisions about where to locate and how to structure their investments in Asia. Tractus has a professional staff of over 60 individuals located in offices in Shanghai, China; Chennai, India; Jakarta, Indonesia; Yangon, Myanmar; Singapore; Bangkok, Thailand; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Los Angeles, CA.

As Executive Director, Dennis has primary responsibility for the firm’s Strategy and Execution practice, which includes its location strategy and site selection services. Dennis has more than 20 years’ experience in Asia advising and assisting over 100 companies in the development and implementation of their foreign direct investment (FDI) strategies in a wide variety of industrial sectors.

These assignments have included undertaking operational and financial feasibility assessments, location strategy and site location analysis, real estate and investment incentives negotiations and transactions as well as the management of their corporate entity establishment and investment approvals through to operational start-up. His location strategy and site selection experience encompasses Manufacturing, data center and services sectors for American, European and Asian clients spanning Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Mexico.

In addition to his private sector work, he has been an advisor to the investment promotion agencies of the governments of China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand; the Ministry of Finance of the government of Pakistan; the trade promotion agency of the states of Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania as well as The World Bank, MIGA and the ASEAN Secretariat on the development of trade promotion and investment attraction strategies.

Dennis and the senior management of Tractus bring hands-on experience managing service and Manufacturing companies in Asia to their consulting engagements. His practical experience starting-up and managing companies in Asia brings a unique perspective to the location strategy and site selection engagements he manages. This commercial perspective informs his analysis of how the quality of government policies, incentives, labor markets, supplier networks, infrastructure and utilities will impact future operations. Unlike more developed regions of the world, the availability of secondary information in much of Asia is limited at best, often outdated and usually not comparable across countries. This requires that a significant amount of primary research be undertaken even during the preliminary phases of a location strategy or site selection analysis. Developing reliable networks of informed industry sources and proprietary databases of information has been a focus of Dennis’ efforts in developing Tractus’ Strategy & Execution practice. He has also been instrumental at applying objective and quantitative methods in developing Tractus’ site selection methodology, incorporating the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and using Kepner-Tregoe™ decision-making tools to ensure the process is systematic, objective and disciplined.

Personal Note : Dennis hails from Princeton Junction, NJ but has lived and worked in Asia most of his professional career. He has called Bangkok, Thailand his home for the last 33 years. From this home base he has undertaken assignments in almost every country in Asia from Pakistan to the Philippines and Korea to Australia. As an avid observer of world cultures and political and economic affairs, he enjoys being able to visit new places on his professional assignments and learn about how culture influences business operations and management. He is engaged to the former Chongkonluk Mayupun of Chiangmai, Thailand. They maintain residences in Bangkok, Thailand; Paris, France, and; Princeton Junction, New Jersey. Dennis received his BA in geology with a concentration in Southeast Asian Studies from Rutgers University, a certificate in Thai Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a MS in applied economics from The Pennsylvania State University. He was a Fulbright scholar in Thailand and is fully fluent in the Thai language.

Past Clients : Alan & Overy, Allegro Semiconductor, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, Hanesbrands, Kelloggs, Kennametal, Lego, MetLife, Novartis, Nokia Networks, Norton Rose Fulbright, Sensata, ThyssenKrupp Stainless, Wagner Spraytech, Willis, Wescast Industries