Dr. Chheang Vannarith

Director

Dr. Chheang Vannarith has accumulated over a decade of work experience as a track-two think tanker and geopolitical and geo-economic analyst with a focus on Southeast Asia. In 2013, he was honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and as a Southeast Asian Young Leader by the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in 2016. Currently, he holds the position of President at the Asian Vision Institute (AVI), leading projects on geopolitical risk analysis, governance innovation, inclusive digital economy, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition to his role at AVI, he serves as an advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and as Chair of the Advisory Council of the National Assembly of Cambodia.

From 2009 to 2013, he was the Executive Director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP), after which he served as a lecturer of Asia Pacific Studies at the University of Leeds (UK) from 2013 to 2016. He also worked as a Southeast Asia Consultant at the Nippon Foundation (Tokyo) from 2016 to 2018. His academic achievements are impressive, having earned his PhD in Asia Pacific Studies from APU in 2009.

Dr. Chheang's skill set is diverse and includes geopolitical and political economic analysis with a focus on Southeast Asia, knowledge communication and government relations, and organization and team building. His educational background is equally impressive, having earned a PhD in Asia Pacific Studies from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Oita, Japan in 2009, a Graduate Certificate in Leadership from the East-West Center, Honolulu, USA in 2009, an MA in International Relations from the International University of Japan, Niigata, Japan in 2016, and a BA in International Relations from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam in 2002.

In his recent work experiences, as the President of Asian Vision Institute (AVI), he has been developing and managing projects on geopolitical risk analysis, sustainable development, and inclusive digital economy, and also overseeing the operations of the institute. He also played a crucial role in drafting aide memoire and speeches/remarks for the leaders of the National Assembly of Cambodia as the Chair of the Advisory Council in 2019. In the same year, as an Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, he provided policy analysis and inputs and drafted speeches/remarks for the chief diplomat. From September 2018 to January 2019, he was an Associate Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, where he worked on a research project concerning the Geopolitics of the Mekong Region.