About Us

Senior Project Director, Foreign Direct Investment
Investissement Québec International

André-Philippe actively supports international investors and entrepreneurs in investment assessment and return optimization for their global expansion through Quebec. Invest Quebec International is the economic development agency of the province and acts as a single-window point of services for investor inquiries.

Prior to joining Invest Quebec International, André-Philippe held executive positions with Tenet Fintech Group, a holding company supporting China based SMEs in accessing credit facilities and with the Canada China Business Council, Canada’s leading bilateral business facilitator between the two countries.

Partner
Dentons Canada S.E.N.C.R.L

Ali is a corporate lawyer licensed in Quebec and New York and a partner at Dentons, where he acts as the national head of the Battery & Energy Storage Group. Ali’s practice focuses on corporate law, M&A, industrial project development and infrastructure. Ali acts as a legal, business, and strategic advisor to his Canadian and international clients and regularly advises them in their international expansion projects around the globe. With a passion for international relations and business as well as geopolitics, Ali has delivered various conferences on Canada-Asia-Pacific business relations and legal matters and currently chairs Dentons’ Canada-Asia Speaker Series.

Partner
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin S.E.N.C.R.L., s.r.l.

Ponora Ang is a lawyer and the National Co-Leader of the Asia-Pacific Group of Fasken. Ponora is well known to companies in the Asia-Pacific region for his legal and strategic advice regarding implementation of projects in Canada. He is regularly asked to represent the interests of manufacturers and sellers in various industries.

Ponora has also taught business law at the faculty of law of the Université de Montréal. Ponora was also recognized in the prestigious repertoy Lexpert Rising Star 2021 / Top 40 Under 40 in Canada for his legal expertise. He was notably awarded with the Medal of the National Assembly of Quebec. Ponora sits on numerous boards of directors relating to Asia.

Patent technical advisor
ROBIC

Mélanie has worked for over 18 years in the aerospace industry around the world (France, Canada and Japan). From 2016 to 2020, she worked at Mitsubishi Aircraft in Nagoya, Japan. Upon her return to Montreal in 2020, she joins the ROBIC team for a new facet of her career, in the field of protection and commercialization of intellectual property rights and other intangible assets in Canada.

In this role, she meets with local entrepreneurs and industrialists to assist them in protecting their intellectual property, but also with correspondents from around the world (including Japan) to help them transpose their intellectual property in Canada.

In addition to a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering (France, 2002), Mélanie also holds an MBA (Master of Business Administration) from HEC Montreal in 2016. Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) since 2020.

President & CEO
AGY-ENDO Corporation

CEO of AGY-Endo Corporation and EAM Advanced Materials. He has been working for more than 10 years in the fields of animal feed chemicals and advanced materials. Dr. Endo is best known for his background in nanotechnology. He has been a member of Prima Québec’s Board of Directors for Advanced Materials.

In his career, Dr. Endo has held various scientific and management positions, including with the Government of Quebec. At the university and graduate level, he has been involved in research and teaching. He has more than 40 publications and scientific conferences to his credit. He also led the Quebec initiative on the impacts of nanotechnologies (Ne3LS Network) for 5 years.

Dr. Endo has been involved in international trade and business development for over 10 years where he distributes the products of major corporations including Sumitomo Chemicals, Itochu Corporation, GSI Creos Corporation and Mitsui chemicals. He has also organized more than 18 economic missions to Asia (Japan, South Korea) in nanotechnology and environment. He has also organized more than 10 international conferences and is the initiator of 6 collaborative agreements between Canada and Japan. Dr. Endo was also awarded the 2009 International Collaboration Award by the Association for Nanotechnology Research (NTRA), the Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE) and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST), South Korea.

Business Dev./Special Projects
YKK Canada Inc.

With over 30 years of experience in business development, finance and management, Eric is currently providing support to the direction of YKK Canada in the areas of strategic planning and new market development. He has presented at numerous conferences and has developed a large business network both in the private and government sectors in the Canadian, American, and European markets.

President / CLAGA Productions
Director of Operations / ASIASIE

23 years in Japan and one year in South Korea, Christine has been Director of Communications for large companies, such as Renault Asia Pacific and Takefuji. CEO of CLAGA Productions since 2007, she has coordinated many filming projects as well as large-scale events, and served as a business development Consultant for the Japanese market, thanks to her extensive network. Fluent in Japanese, she also leads the operations of major Asian festivals such as YATAI and is the instigator of the Salon du Japon.

Christine also founded the NADIA NPO, a post-tsunami reconstruction support organization in Tohoku.

Expert Advisor – Export and Internationalization – Japan/South-Korea

Investissement Québec International

For the past 15 years, Joanie has established her management expertise for creative industries. She’s a passionate and reliable manager known for her skills in business strategy, marketing, public relation, operation and finance in both local and international markets. She evolved for 10 years with the company Les 7 Doigts, a production and exportation enterprise of cultural, entertainment and multimedia show, where she worked as Vice-President Strategy & Business Development.

In December 2020, she joined Investissement Québec International (IQI) as an Specialized advisor for the creative industry. In this role, she covered the Asia-Pacific and Oceania territory. In November 2021, she took a new role covering as an Expert advisor for Japan and South Korean markets.

She holds a Master degree of Management (MM) of Cultural Enterprises from HEC Montréal and she is also a National Circus School of Montreal graduate.

President
iK3M Inc.

Originally from the Saguenay region, Mr. Michaud is an engineer by training from the École Polytechnique de Montréal in electrical engineering with a specialization in automation-robotics as well as a minor in Management in East Asian Studies. Mr. Michaud lived in Japan for 15 years, where he worked mainly in automation and embedded software development for the automotive industry. After obtaining his MBA in Knowledge Management, he moved into the field of Product LifeCycle Management: managing intelligent 3D digital models for clients such as Honda, Subaru, Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors and Hyundai Kia Motors.

He returned to Quebec in 2012 to pursue his career in consulting, particularly in business transformation in the construction sector, in the fields of BIM – Building Information Modeling, and BLM – Building LifeCycle Management. Japan has always been a great source of motivation and curiosity, among others by its cultural refinement, its business practices based on trust and the constant concern to give the best of ourselves.

Executive Vice-President
VELAN Inc.

Laurent has been working in the Energy sector for over 20 years, specialising in Export and International Trade. He occupied various management positions in large industrial groups, mainly manufacturing companies. In his roles, he has been posted in France, Scotland, Brazil, United Arab Emirates and Canada. That was frequently combined with active participation into professional associations, with a strong Asian focus.

Since October 2020, Laurent joined Velan Inc. Headquarters in Montreal, QC, as a General Manager for the Projects Business Unit. In addition to graduating from the Institute of Political Studies, Laurent holds an MBA