Kees de Ruiter

Currently, Kees de Ruiter is the Head of Corporate Strategy and External Relations at ICCO. He is responsible for four different CESR units: business development, PMEL (planning, monitoring, evaluation and learning), corporate communication, and strategy & policy development. Kees manages 20 professionals, and the team manages relationships with ICCO's strategic partners (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, private sector/ investors, universities, other NGOs and platforms). Since early 2010, he has been the managing director of the ICCO regional office of South East Asia, and is an agricultural engineer with 25 years of international experience in Asia and Africa. Kees specializes in issues related to social and economic aspects of development, such as geodata, natural resources management, and organizational and institutional development. Kees is highly experienced in working with NGOs and private sector organizations (in sustainable economic development, value chain development, and M4P), as well as working with governmental bodies. As regional director, based in Indonesia, Kees was responsible for the management of the ICCO regional office and programs in the Southeast Asia region, focusing on Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Daily activities included developing and executing regional strategy, managing 70 staff members, and funding relationships with 40 partner organizations (knowledge institutions, private sector firms, NGOs, and government entities) with a program turnover of 6 million euros per year. Earlier, he was based in Vietnam.