Thomas Brandt

Thomas Brandt has been the DAW representative in Malaysia since 2010. For more than 26 years he has advised companies on a daily basis on market entry and expansion in Southeast Asia, and he lectures on the history of China, the overseas Chinese and the history of Europeans in Asia.

After studying economics in Hamburg, he worked for the HWWA Institute for Economic Promotion and was seconded to Indonesia to the German-Indonesian Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Jakarta, where he headed the market research and PR department and served as deputy managing director. From 2001 to 2020 he led the services business of the German-Malaysian Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Kuala Lumpur as deputy managing director, from 2005 to 2018 as managing director of AHK Malaysia. He supported well over 50 business and official delegation trips and carried out countless major projects, including EU- and ministry-funded projects, expert symposia and workshops on relevant industry sectors — among them mechanical engineering and tooling technology, automation & Industry 4.0, maritime technologies, renewable energies and energy efficiency, as well as the palm oil industry. As a keynote speaker, moderator and motivational speaker he is well known in these industries and beyond the region.

His special interest in Asia is also reflected in his private life. He has written five books: "Geschäfte in Indonesien", "AsiaComic", "Asia in Those Days", "China in Those Days" and "Asien für Profis", and has for years been a further-education trainer in history for the tour guides in Kuala Lumpur. The former Bundesliga player and coach still plays badminton passionately, became "World Chinese Badminton Champion" in China in 2015 and has won international titles in his age group.