Aries Asia Consulting

Rudie FILON, Managing Partner and founder of Aries Asia Consulting PTE Ltd since 2020, is a skilled former EU diplomat with 17 years of local Asia-Pacific working experience.

Postings in Japan, China and Papua New Guinea, provided Rudie with invaluable diplomatic experience with EU Strategic Partners as well as with a lower middle income developing country.

Through assignments at EU Headquarters in Brussels, in addition to a role as Japan desk officer, Rudie became a skilled EU development cooperation project manager with several countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, focusing on project identification, formulation and implementation. 

A Dutch native speaker, Rudie is equally fluent in English and French with a working knowledge of German and notions of Japanese. He holds a BA in Dutch Civil Law from Leiden University.  

Kalle SALMINEN, Associate, is a Finnish serial entrepreneur, stemming from a family with business interests in the construction and real estate sectors where he gained know-how about and developed a passion for new business development.

Kalle is a strong networker with more than a decade of experience in foreign markets, establishing, financing and operating foreign entities in Europe as well as in Asia. He has acted as an Angel Investor for multiple start-ups and companies with growth potential in Europe & Asia.

Kalle studied Psychology in Finland and Chinese language and business at Peking University and the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. Apart from his native Finnish, Kalle is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English.

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>> KES Group Ltd.

Rob VAN NYLEN, Associate, is the CEO/Representative Director of Akoni KK, Tokyo with a representative office in Belgium. Rob has a +25-year track record of customer-centric Business Development and Management Consulting for Global Companies and Public Organisations. This includes prestigious names such as Cartamundi, Centrica Business Solutions, Cartamundi, Tepco Ventures, Umicore Japan, the Belgian Olympic Committee and the Delegation of the European Union to Japan.

Rob, a Belgian national, holds a Master’s degree in Japanese Studies from the Catholic University of Leuven and pursued post-graduate studies on European export strategies to Japan at EHSAL Management School in Brussels. Apart from excellent proficiency in Business Japanese, Rob speaks Dutch, English and French.

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>> Akoni KK

Tjeerd RITMEESTER, Associate, is an independent Senior Consultant Economic Security & Economic Diplomacy which he combines with the role of Councillor in the Municipal Council of the city of Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Tjeerd specialises in economic diplomacy, economic security, and trade promotion. He has worked with i.a. the European Parliament, the Clingendael Institute, and the British advisory firm Oxford Business Group. Tjeerd offers research, advisory services, strategy development, and training to governments, companies, and organisations.

In addition to Europe, he has lived and worked in the emerging markets of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. Tjeerd holds an MA in American Studies from Utrecht University and an MSc in International Relations from Amsterdam University. A native of The Netherlands, he is  fluent in Dutch and English with a working knowledge of French and German.

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