INTHEBLACK July 2025 - Magazine - Page 32
MEMBER PROFILE
“It was an opportunity you couldn’t refuse in terms of being part of history and
setting up a new Coca-Cola business in a new country. It wasn’t just about bringing
the product to Myanmar, but having the chance to lead people through the change
and make improvements to the business. That was a huge highlight of my career.”
Chung was among
the first set of boat
people who arrived
in Australia back in
the 1970s.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Chung’s first big career break came in 1996
after graduating from university and landing
a job with Coca-Cola in its Brisbane office.
Initially performing basic tasks such
as collecting and offsetting cheques,
handling accounts receivable and chasing
outstanding accounts, he never gave up
on his goal of rising through the ranks
to “become someone”.
“I always wanted to live and work overseas,
and particularly in Vietnam, given my roots
there. The opportunity arrived in 2007 when
Coca-Cola called and asked if I was
interested in taking up a CFO role for
the company in Vietnam. Of course,
I jumped at the opportunity — a dream
come true, finally.”
Almost 20 years later, as Chung
ponders his career highlights, one task
stands out for its complexity and novelty:
helping to navigate the reopening of
Coca-Cola’s bottling plant in Myanmar
after a 60-year hiatus.
Chung, who spent more than two decades
with the iconic beverage brand, says
a rare combination of banking, political
and logistical challenges had to be overcome
before bottling could resume in the
South-East Asian country in 2013.
Myanmar at the time had been subject
to strict United States-imposed sanctions.
“At the time there were only three
countries left in the world where Coca-Cola
was not officially sold — North Korea, Cuba
and Myanmar,” Chung says. “So, it was
an opportunity you couldn’t refuse in terms
of being part of history and setting up
a new Coca-Cola business in a new country.
It wasn’t just about bringing the product
to Myanmar, but having the chance
to lead people through the change and make
improvements to the business. That was
a huge highlight of my career.”
MORE THAN A SAFE BET
Now based in Ho Chi Minh City at
SPX Express, Chung’s résumé features
a range of finance and leadership roles across
32 INTHEBLACK July 2025
the accounting, private equity, fast-moving
consumer goods and e-commerce sectors.
This success justifies the confidence Chung
had as a teenager that accounting would
be a “safe bet” for a long-term career.
“During high school I always had
an interest in accounting,” he says. “I had
the view that with anything we do in the
world in business, or even in our personal
lives, you’re always going to need finance
and accounting.”
That is certainly true of his current role
at SPX Express, as the Singaporeheadquartered company continues to expand
and take on e-commerce rivals such as
Temu and TikTok Shop and their logistics
providers. Chung is confident that a focus
on a strong finance and data-driven
division will allow the Vietnamese arm
of the company to thrive and grow
in the e-commerce market.
“There are 100 million people in the
country with just as many smartphone sims,
but not everybody is buying from e-commerce
platforms,” Chung explains. “So, we see a lot
of potential here in Vietnam and especially
in rural areas, where smartphones and buying
online is not common at the moment.”
SHARING “GREY HAIR EXPERIENCE”
Courtesy of his long stint at Coca-Cola
and experience at international private equity
firm TPG, Chung has brought considerable
cross-functional business knowledge to
SPX Express since joining just over three
years ago.
As Chung puts it, he can pass on valuable
“grey hair experience” thanks to his past roles.
“At Coca-Cola I was on the bottling side,
so it was all about distribution, and here
at Shopee it’s about distribution as well
as delivery to the door, so I have been able
to share some of my experiences.”
More than anything, he believes his
background in improving businesses adds
value. “Throughout my career, it’s always been
about how to build change, understanding
what’s going on through the numbers, and
working out what we can do differently
