Ivan Cardenas serves as a Director of Asian Markets for Allen F. Johnson & Associates (AFJ). Mr. Cardenas brings significant experience in the region in private business consulting and analyzing government trade and agriculture policy. Mr. Cardenas’s diverse international experience combined with his in-depth knowledge of the Japanese and Asian markets provides a valuable perspective that assists AFJ’s clients and partners in understanding these markets and in finding opportunities, identifying challenges, and implementing solutions.

Prior to joining AFJ, Mr. Cardenas served as a Senior Consultant with Promar Consulting in Tokyo, Japan, where he managed more than 50 projects, covering more than 100 countries. His worked required project development, market research and data analysis, local fieldwork and interviews, and project implementation for businesses, associations, and government entities from many countries. In addition to Japan, he worked with agribusiness consulting teams in several countries and regions, including the U.S., EU, Middle East, China, Philippines, and many other countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.

Ivan previously worked for the Spanish Embassy in Japan, the Embassy of Japan in Chile, the General-Consulate of Japan in Miami, and the Enterprise Florida Tokyo Office. His work included researching economic and trade issues including agricultural exports, tariff issues, and FTA analysis. His experience also includes local market research, sales and competitor analysis, identifying investment opportunities; determining the political and economic situation; relationship development, and providing client specific reports on issues and opportunities of interest across a variety of industries. Mr. Cardenas has also organized trade missions, promotional events, online programs and websites, and provided translation and cultural explanations for clients in many markets for a variety of products.

Ivan Cardenas graduated from Nanzan University in Nagoya, Japan and also has a Master in International Development degree from Nagoya University. He was born in Peru, is a citizen of Japan, and is fluent in Japanese, English, Spanish, and is functional in Portuguese.