Peter J. Brongers

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Peter J. Brongers (born in Groningen, Netherlands) is a Dutch businessman and entrepreneur who has been active in Southeast Asia since 1995. He is best known as the founder and inaugural chief executive of Kingdom Breweries, Cambodia's first craft brewery, and for senior roles within the Royal Group of Companies. He currently serves as Secretary General of Art for Kep Foundation and is leading development of the S.E.A. Ocean Gallery, a proposed underwater art museum in Kep Province.

Early life and education

Brongers grew up in Groningen in the northern Netherlands. He holds an MBA from IMD Business School (Lausanne), an MSc from the University of Groningen, and degrees in law and Organisational change, and is fluent in seven languages. His first contact with Cambodia came in 1994, when his employer donated steel structures for the first Don Bosco vocational school in Phnom Penh — the first established after the Khmer Rouge era — and a second in Sihanoukville in 1996.

Career

Netherlands and Thailand (1990–2008)

Brongers began his career at Fokker Aircraft, moving to Heidelberg Printing Presses following Fokker's bankruptcy. He arrived in Thailand in 1995 as Managing Director of Euromill Engineering, subsequently joining Thai Scandic Steel and then Topaz Inc as CFO — at the time the last Thai company listed on the American Stock Exchange.

Kingdom Breweries (2009–2011)

In 2009, Brongers founded Kingdom Breweries in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's first boutique craft brewery, backed by Leopard Capital. He converted a former Nestlé plant on the Tonlé Sap riverfront into a microbrewery with a panoramic tasting room. The flagship Clouded Leopard Pilsener launched in September 2010, was featured in Time magazine, and won a Monde Sélection Gold Quality Award in 2011 — Cambodia's first international beer award. In its first year it outsold both Tiger and Heineken by case volume in Phnom Penh. Brongers stepped down as CEO in 2011.

Royal Group of Companies (2012–2018)

Brongers joined the Royal Group as Senior Executive Vice President for Business Development. In 2012 he became Managing Director of BMW Cambodia — the first luxury automotive brand with an official dealership in the country — and concurrently served as Executive Director of KFC Cambodia. Royal Group sold BMW Cambodia in 2018.

As Secretary General of the Art for Kep Foundation, established with the support of Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Education, Brongers oversees artist residency programmes in Kep Province. The foundation's flagship project is the S.E.A. Ocean Gallery (Southeast-Asian Oceanic Gallery of Kep), conceived as Asia's first permanent underwater art museum, combining 3D-printed sculptures designed to function as both artworks and artificial coral reefs, developed in partnership with Marine Conservation Cambodia.

Industry and civic roles

Brongers has served as President of the Dutch-Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, Vice President of the Cambodian Tourism Federation, President and Chairman of the Cambodia Automotive Industry Federation, and is the current head of the Cambodian chapter of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, and founding chairman of the Royal Cambodia Yacht Club. He is a member of Loge Erasmus No. 297 in Bangkok, under the Grand Orient of the Netherlands.

Personal life

Brongers has lived in Cambodia since 2008. He is married to Palida Janthewee. He speaks Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Thai, and Khmer, and his interests include cooking, golf, opera, and Italian cuisine.