Introducing Our Management Team

Richard Andrews was appointed CEO of the Australia Japan Business Co-operation Committee in March 2021 following a career of more than thirty years as an Australian diplomat. During that time he served overseas in Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo (twice), London, and as Ambassador in Dublin (2016-2020).

Richard was a Visiting Fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University from March 2020 to September 2021, focusing on the potential for building trade in renewable energy, notably low-carbon hydrogen, between Australia and the region.

Richard has a long-standing interest in Japan and Australia-Japan relations, having first started learning Japanese at the age of 11. He was an exchange student in Kobe for a year in 1982, and majored in Japanese for his BA (Hons) at the University of Sydney. As Executive Director of DFAT’s Economic Analytical Unit in 2008, Richard directed and co-authored a major published report on the bilateral commercial relationship.

Cristina Merino Ishizuka is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Melbourne Representative of the Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Committee (AJBCC), a non-profit organisation dedicated to fostering and expanding business opportunities between Australia and Japan. In this role, which commenced in February 2025, she leads the development and execution of strategic programs and events, cultivates member relationships, and builds strategic alliances to strengthen Australia-Japan relations.

Ms Merino brings extensive experience in program development, client and stakeholder management to her position. Prior to joining the AJBCC in March 2024, she worked at STH Japan where she led the commercial and customer experience teams responsible for the end-to-end delivery of official travel and hospitality programs for some of the biggest sporting events in the world, including Rugby World Cup 2019 and 2023, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix and the Australian Open.

Ms. Merino’s expertise in Australia-Japan relations was developed through her Japan-based roles at the Australian Olympic Committee Advisory Team (2019-2021); the Australia-Japan Youth Dialogue (2018-2019); the Australian and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ANZCCJ) (2015-2017); Australia Business Asia (2015-2016); Meat & Livestock Australia (2012-2015), and the Australian Embassy Tokyo (2010-2012).

Ms. Merino is a Monbukagakusho Scholarship recipient, holds a Master of Intercultural Communication from Kyushu University and a degree in International Business from Queensland University of Technology. She is fluent in English, Japanese, and Spanish.