About Us

Mr.Biondo is an American citizen with business experience in many countries and locations throughout Asia. His career includes over 30 years experience in the hotel management industry, including 28 years with Shangri-La International Hotels and Resorts. A permanent resident of Mongolia since 2014, he has remained in Ulaanbaatar throughout the COVID crisis. He currently has interests across multiple business sectors including hospitality, corporate and education. Mr. Biondo was the General Manager of the Shangri-La Hotel Ulaanbaatar from 2014 to 2018. He has also previously held a position on the AmCham Mongolia Board of Directors, and served as board Vice-Chairman for one year. His current positions include: Chairman, Board of Directors, International School of Ulaanbaatar; Advisor/Consultant, Juulchin World Tours; CEO /Director, Edelweiss Art Hotel and Board of Directors, INED member, Central Express - CU Mongolia.

Craig Wright MIMI CAE is the Managing Director of the Starchase Group Mongolia, a role he has held since joining the company in October 2020. Starchase Group Mongolia consists of three companies – Starchase Motorsports Mongolia LLC, Starchase Automotive LLC and Enerel International. Starchase Group Mongolia acts as exclusive importer/distributers for Porsche, Jaguar & Land Rover passenger vehicle brands, as well as for BASF Glasurit automotive paints and refinishing products. The company is part of the wider Singapore based Wearnes-Starchase Group, a leading Pan-Asian distributer of premium and luxury automobiles spanning 9 countries, 18 brands and over 40 locations. Prior to joining Starchase, Craig was the Head of Sales and Marketing for Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen and Skoda in the United Arab Emirates. Craig has also lived and worked in the Kingdom of Bahrain with Porsche, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia consulting with automotive importers on business turnaround projects and the United Kingdom with BMW/Mercedes Benz/Mazda/SAAB/Cadillac/Corvette/SEAT/Mitsubishi/Suzuki/Citroen/Toyota, in an automotive career lasting just over 20 years so far. Craig is from the U.K and enjoys motorsports and rugby union. He has played rugby for a number of teams both in the UK and overseas, and also acted as a race track driver instructor at the Bahrain International Racing Circuit during his time living in the Kingdom. Craig is also a member of the Institute of the Motor Industry (MIMI) and a Certificated Automotive Engineer (CAE)

Onchinsuren Dendevsambuu (or Onch) is a businesswoman, philanthropist, and one of the most recognised persons in the professional services industry. She is the founder and managing partner of her firm Onch Audit. Under her leadership, the firm became a full-service professional services firm providing audit, tax and advisory services. Onch Audit capitalised on its strong market presence and reputation in Mongolia by joining Deloitte Network in January 2012. From February 2022, the firm rebranded as Onch & Company and continues to deliver its services. Onch & Company is the largest independent professional services firm in Mongolia. Onch is an active supporter of increasing the number of women to leadership roles, youth development and engagement. She has been a guest speaker at Zorig Foundation’s Women Leadership Program for several consecutive years. She could be found delivering inspirational talks to youth and women in the Distinguished Speaker Series. She and her firm support technological literacy and accessibility in marginalized communities across Mongolia, with laptop donations made to rural schools, rural family health centers, and organizations fighting domestic violence. As a professional who established her own practice at a relatively young age, Onch makes it her duty to empower young professionals and emerging leaders. The Global Mobility Program initiated by Deloitte is a true testament of such efforts and already allowed the talented young professionals from the local firm gain international experience through joining the professional services teams in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom. As an alumnus of the Asia 21 Young Leaders Program, she also mentored young leaders and start-ups in Asia. She undertook the important role of mentoring young Mongolian professionals within the framework of the YPG Mongolia mentorship program. Beyond her success in her chosen career field and in social activism, she has been a leader in strengthening business networks in Mongolia. In 2015, she co-founded Ulaanbaatar Chamber of Commerce (UBCC) and continues to devote her time as the CEO (2017-2019) and the Board member. Onch served as a director for American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) from 2015 to 2018 and a member of Women Corporate Directors, Mongolia chapter since it opened in 2015.

Jackson Cox is Founder and CEO of Woodmont International, a private firm that was established in 2005 to provide public affairs and government relations consulting services to companies and investors in Mongolia and throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Cox was elected Chairman of the Asia Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce in March 2015. APCAC was established in 1968 and is the association of 30 American Chambers of Commerce in the Asia Pacific region. APCAC’s collective membership represents over 15,000 companies, 50,000 overseas American workers, and annual trade and investment of over US$500 billion. Mr. Cox is also the Founder and Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mongolia – the official affiliate office of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Mongolia. Prior to founding Woodmont International, Mr. Cox worked in the international political sector where he managed projects in Mongolia and Cambodia for the International Republican Institute. Mr. Cox is from Johnson City, Tennessee and a graduate of Belmont University in Nashville. He served as the East Tennessee campaign chairman for Bill Frist’s successful campaign for United States Senate in 1994 and as the Political Director of Frist’s re-election in 2000. Mr. Cox served as advisor to Senator Frist in the U.S. Senate in Washington, D.C. between the two campaigns.

Adiya Oyungerel is the Executive Director for the American Chamber of Commerce in Mongolia. Adiya Oyungerel previously served as the Director of Policy and Advocacy of AmCham for two years, and was responsible for designing, building, and implementing the advocacy efforts of AmCham's policy initiatives. Adiya has extensive work experience in the private sector from his time with Oyu Tolgoi, and his employment with the government and a number of development agencies, including the EBRD, UN and SDC. Adiya holds an MBA from the University of Sheffield in the UK with a major in FDI promotion. Adiya currently sits on Mongolia’s Investment Protection Council, initiated under the auspices of the Prime Minister, as one of the council's three private sector representatives.

Magnai Ganzorig has co-founded Amcham Mongolia with Jackson Cox and served as its first Vice Chairman. His secondary education was in Moscow, Russia. He graduated Indiana University, USA with Business IT major. During college he worked 2 summers at Capital Bank and after graduation he assisted his father at MT Group. He started working as a pump attendant at gas stations and later worked as IT engineer at MT Storage Depot. Later, he worked as various executive position at MT Group, such as head of IT department and director of subsidiary companies. He is working as CEO of the parent company Magnai Trade LLC since 2012. He held position of Chairman of Mongolian National Oil and Gas Association in 2015-2018.

Barhas Tsolmon has over nine years of experience in corporate finance, marketing and senior management at various leading companies. He started his career at Golomt Bank, where he worked as a Branch Manager and Corporate Banking Manager. After this, he joined Tavan Bogd Group, where he held the position of Head of Marketing and General Manager of its subsidiaries. In addition, after competing in and winning the prestigious business reality TV show Apprentice Mongolia, he was awarded the position of Chief Executive Officer of Ard Holdings International LLC. He also served as the Chief Marketing Officer of Ard Financial Group. Now, he holds the position of CEO of Ard Securities Brokerage, where he intends to Build the Investor Nation. Barhas holds a bachelor’s degree in business and economics and also acquired an MBA from Virginia International University.

Specializations: Business expansion and growth, Branding, Marketing, Public Relations, Commercial VRF (Multi-zone system), chilled water and ventilation systems, Heating and Cooling System Designing, Heat Load Calculation Core Competencies: 18 years of experience in private sector leadership, contracting/engineering business, business expansion and growth, brand development Languages: English, Chinese (Mandarin), Russian, French (beginner), Mongolian

Erdenedalai Odkhuu is one of the founding partners of Melville Erdenedalai LLP. Erdenedalai provides strategic legal advice, practicing mainly in the evolving and highly-demanding sectors of mining, telecommunications, energy and renewable energy, infrastructure, petroleum, and finance. He advises clients on negotiation, competition and regulatory, mergers and acquisitions, financing and security, restructuring, licensing and compliance, with particular emphasis on issues that may arise in Mongolia. Before starting M&E, Erdenedalai was the Mongolian Partner of Hogan Lovells Mongolia LLP, a subsidiary of global law firm Hogan Lovells for 5 years. Before joining Hogan Lovells, Erdenedalai worked as a vice-president of legal and compliance of the TenGer Financial Group, a financial holding company in Mongolia.

Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and he holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from the National University of Mongolia School of Economics Study and a master’s degree in finance from the Australian National University. He has previously worked as a specialist at the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance, economist at the IMF Resident Representative’s office, investment officer at the Asian Development Bank, deputy director at UB Capital LLC, department director at the Ulaanbaatar City Bank, director of the Development Financing and Debt Management Department of the Ministry of Finance and has been the CEO of MIK HFC LLC since 2017.

Malcolm is a strategy, finance & megaproject expert, who has extensive, hands-on investment and operational experience in Mongolia. He has lived / worked in Mongolia for the past 12 years and has been married to a Mongolian for the past 25 years. Malcolm has spent the past decade building Mongoljin’s merchant banking & strategy consulting business, in Mongolia. Previously, at Oyu Tolgoi (OT), he was responsible for treasury management, technical development of OT’s Fixed Asset Capitalization Model ($7.5 Billion). Malcolm completed his MBA in Strategy & Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University), an MSc in Major Programme Management at the University of Oxford. Presently, he is writing his doctoral thesis (Oxford) on OT and foreign investment in Mongolia.

At Monpolymet Group, as the Chairwoman, she oversees the Group’s various business activities in mining, mineral explorations, rehabilitation, construction and production of building materials with over 1000 employees while focusing on delivering the Group’s business visions through improvements in governance, environmental responsibility, standardization, and business performance. A trilingual financial engineer with World Bank, Central Bank of Mongolia development economics experience that ventured both in public and private sectors. Received cum laude diplomas with double majors in undergrad and graduate studies from George Washington University in Washington, DC, USA and the University of San Francisco, CA, USA in Finance and Economics. Previously as a CEO at Monpolymet, she implemented the company’s MonCement project and successfully commissioned Mongolia’s first technologically advanced and environmentally friendly cement plant that substitutes imports. Her past professional experience includes the World Bank producing macroeconomic reports from 2009-2012 while focusing on improving the public’s understanding of the economic situation and the rationale of the government’s policy reforms, thus helping to forge consensus around the policy reform agenda. She also worked at the Central Bank of Mongolia as an economist.

Javkhlantugs Ganbaatar is the Director of Policy and Advocacy for the American Chamber of Commerce in Mongolia, and is responsible for designing, building, and implementing the advocacy efforts of AmCham’s policy initiatives. He previously worked for three years as Director of Business Development and Project Manager for MERA LLC, and successfully executed projects related to building new plants and manufacturing import-substituting products. Javkhlantugs has extensive work experience in the private sector from previous employment with Oyu Tolgoi and Blue Sky Aviation LLC, and an internship at the House of Representatives (USA) with Congressman Joe Pitts. As an advisor in the Government and External Relations department of Oyu Tolgoi, he advised and managed external engagements with government stakeholders and also led the Policy Advocacy Program. Javkhlantugs holds joint-master’s degrees (MBA and MA in Government) from Regent University in the USA.

A metallurgical engineer by education, Marc began his career at Arcelor in steel plants in France in 1990. In 2002, Marc joined Rio Tinto Group in Cameroon as an Operation Manager in an Aluminum Plant (Alucam). In 2009, he joined Orano Mining to occupy the positions of Plant Director at COMINAK (Underground Mining Site in Niger) then at KATCO (ISR site in Kazakhstan). After that, Marc went back to Niger in 2014 and was in charge of COMINAK’s Operations (Mining & Processing). In 2017, Marc was appointed as Technical and Operational Excellence Director at Orano Mining Head quarters in Paris, dedicated to provide support to all mining sites. In 2019, Marc joined Eramet Comilog in Gabon as Director of the Metallurgical Complex of Moanda and on July 2021, Marc was appointed as the CEO of Badrakh Energy LLC in Mongolia.

Liotta is a letterhead partner of MahoneyLiotta LLP and has 21 years of experience with Mongolia beginning in 2000 as a Peace Corps Volunteer. MahoneyLoitta LLP is an amalgamation of some of the most experienced legal service providers and specialists from Mongolia and abroad. Mr. Liotta was named a leading lawyer for commercial practice in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, as one of the world’s leading mining practitioners in Who’s Who Legal, is ranked Band 1 by Chambers Global(as is the Firm), and is one of only two Mongolia based lawyers listed in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame. He advises on market entry strategies, local partner selection and a diverse range of legal services in the minerals/energy, infrastructure, corporate and financial sectors, and has represented clients in arbitration at the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and in the courts of Mongolia up through the Supreme Court. In addition, he has been at the forefront of numerous legislative initiatives fundamental to investment and doing business in Mongolia. He is a member of the New York Bar Association and received a certificate from the Ministry of Justice as a registered foreign attorney in Mongolia.

Erdenebileg Lhagvajav is the Director of Communications at the American Chamber of Commerce in Mongolia (AmCham Mongolia). He previously worked as a Senior Expert for European Union funded Trade Related Assistance to Mongolia (TRAM) Project at the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as briefly serving with European - Mongolian Chamber of Commerce. He completed his BSc at the University of Life Science, as well as Master's degree in Business Administration.

Matthew Metz is VP Industrial at MSM and has 13 years of experience in Mongolia moving here in 2008. He graduated university with a BComm in 2003, followed up by Master of Accounting before finally becoming accredited as a CPA. Prior to Moving to Mongolia he worked as a business analyst for an international oil company operating in Cuba. He moved to Mongolia with Major Drilling and spent 10 years with the company from regional controller to finally being General Manager of Mongolia. During this time he not only experienced doing business in Mongolia but also worked in tandem with numerous other countries that Major was operating in throughout Asia Pacific and Southern Africa. He gained extensive experience of doing business in many developing countries, which allows him to provide valuable input on what laws and regulations have work plus regulations that have failed in other areas. As VP Industrial, he overseas many international brands including John Deere, Terex and Ansul. Notably he has been working the last 2 years with AmCham Ag committee to help push western agriculture practices to develop the Mongolian agriculture sector. Born in 1981, Matthew is a Canadian citizen and resides in Mongolia with his wife and three children.

Peter was appointed Deputy Country Director, Rio Tinto Mongolia in May 2021. In this role he is accountable for the implementation of the company’s country strategy in Mongolia, stakeholder partnerships and people development. Peter joined Rio Tinto in January 2018 and has held senior roles across Rio Tinto’s global corporate affairs function, most recently as Chief of Staff to the Group Executive, Corporate Relation. Prior to joining Rio Tinto, Peter spent a decade at FTSE 10 global drinks company, Diageo plc based in the UK, Africa and Latin America, and previously served as a Political Adviser to the UK Deputy Prime Minister, Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP

Mr. Koppa was appointed to Board of TDB as Executive Vice Chairman in 2016 and as Chairman in 2022. He came to Mongolia in 2004 to serve as CEO as part of the management and technical assistance program provided to TDB by the ING Bank. Mr. Koppa served as the Chairman of the Mongolian Mortgage Corporation (MIK) as from 2006 to 2013, and currently the is Board member and the Vice-Chair of Climate change & Sustainable Finance WG of the Business Council of Mongolia. Mongolia represents Mr. Koppa’s twelfth country in his international banking career of over 50 years. He is a graduate in International Relations from the University of Wisconsin. Trade and Development Bank is Mongolia’s oldest bank and the leader in corporate lending, trade finance, payments and foreign exchange business in the country.

Baasantsetseg Baatar is the Finance and Administrative Officer responsible for managing AmCham’s daily activities. Previously, Baasantsetseg worked as the Chief Accountant at Boroo Mining Co. Ltd, one of Mongolia’s largest mining companies. She brings to AmCham vast experiences from business and NGO sectors.

Description

Denzen graduated from the University of Cumbria, subsidiary of Robert Kennedy College with a MPA in Public Health/International Relations and Diplomacy and worked over 10+ years at Herbalife Nutrition Mongolia Rep office/CAML. Prior to this, he has worked at Beijing Dao Fen Group’s subsidiary CMG JV Company, Nomin Communication Co,.Ltd, Nomin Electronics Co.,Ltd, Deni LLC and LCD Technology Research Facility of Mizuho Corporation. Denzen speaks Russian, English and Japanese fluently.

David Reiner, Founding member & CEO of MSM Group LLC, is a U.S citizen with residence in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. He holds degrees in Economics/Politics Science and Law. With over 20 years of success in Mongolian business, Mr. Reiner has experience in everything from start-ups to team management in the local service and distribution sector. Additionally, Mr. Reiner has played a significant role in changing the regulatory climate for business, both domestically and internationally, through his political activism in Mongolia. Mr. Reiner has a law degree from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Science in economics, finance, and political science from the University of Vermont. Prior to his career at MSM, he worked as a Financial Adviser and Associate Lawyer in the USA, Japan, and Mongolia. He speaks English, Japanese, Mongolian, and Spanish. Mr. Reiner currently resides in Ulaanbaatar with his wife and children.