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Nathalie Gras
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Ambassador Malott Becomes Consultant

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 23, 2003 – Manatt Jones Global Strategies, LLC announced today that Former U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia John R. Malott joined the international consulting Firm as Managing Director, Asia-Pacific. Ambassador Malott has experience in diplomacy, Asian economics and business affairs.

“Ambassador Malott has broad international experience, a wide range of political and diplomatic contacts at home and in Asia,” said Charles T. Manatt, founder of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP and Co-Chairman of ManattJones. “These attributes complement the consulting Firm’s ongoing global diversification efforts and provide an opportunity to reach out to Asian businesses and markets.”

In his Foreign Service career, Malott was one of the first U.S. diplomats to specialize in Asian economics. Even within the U.S. State Department, it was rare to find an economic specialist among the political and national security experts. He said this broad perspective has since become something of value to the Department.

Ambassador Malott most recently acted as ambassador-at-large to the World Affairs Council of Orange County, a nonprofit organization with 750 members, after serving as its president until 2002. He was one of the first American diplomats to specialize in Asian and Japanese economic affairs.

During his 31-year Foreign Service career he served as ambassador to Malaysia, deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asian Affairs, and consul general in Osaka, Japan. He also held positions as director and deputy director of the State Department’s Office of Japanese Affairs and as American consul in Kobe, Japan and Bombay, India. He was also a desk officer for China and India and senior advisor to the Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs.

“I was attracted by the Firm’s outstanding reputation to support clients around the world,” said Ambassador Malott. “The opportunity to work with Manatt Jones’ global consulting business is tailor-made for my areas of interest and the Firm’s desire to establish an Asia-Pacific practice.”


Ambassador Malott’s earliest assignments included service as a civilian advisor in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War. There he went from village to village working as a civilian liaison to promote development “in the middle of a very bad security situation.”

He was also an economic and commercial officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. After leaving public service in 1999, Ambassador Malott moved to California, where he served as an advisor to the US-ASEAN Business Council, the California-Asia Business Council, the Asia Pacific Media Center at UCLA, and the Asia Society’s Southern California Center. He is also a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Malott said that the strength of retired diplomats in the private sector is that they possess real-world experience and have many contacts still working in high places overseas. The cultural, business, government or marketing guidance is not just out of a book, but seasoned with interaction at all levels of the society with which they offer assistance.

The two mega trends in Asian culture are definitely coming back. A lot of people are turned off from Asia following the 1997 economic downturn. “But now, everybody is becoming quite aware that most Asian economies are reversing, and coming back much faster than the rest of the world. It’s humming,” he said. “The second trend is the rise of China, and most of our focus is on China’s market. The flip side is that other (Asian countries) economies are having to adjust to China’s rise as their number one competitor.”

Currently he is consulting with U.S. healthcare companies that are looking to make their way into Japan. They require expert assistance in dealing with the Japanese government-driven system.

“John has been involved in public service most of his life, establishing friendships, diplomatic ties and business relationships around the globe, particularly in Asia,” said ManattJones Co-Chair James R. Jones. “His knowledge and contact base will advance to the interests of the Firm’s clients.”

In addition to earning degrees at Northwestern University and the National War College, Ambassador Malott graduated with distinction from the Foreign Service Institute’s economic studies program. He is fluent in Japanese and Vietnamese languages and has knowledge of French and Malay languages.

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP provides legal and consulting services to domestic and international clients from offices in Los Angeles, Orange County, Palo Alto and Sacramento, Calif.; New York City and Albany, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.; and Mexico City. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Manatt Jones Global Strategies, LLC, develops and implements strategies to expand clients’ businesses and facilitate their effective competition in global markets. For more information, visit www.manatt.com and www.manattjones.com.