Dan Nicholls, Managing Director of Destination Strategies, is a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) specialist and published author, with more than two decades of experience working in more than twenty countries across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. As a Senior Investment Promotion Consultant with the World Bank Group, he managed and implemented multiple projects globally, including FDI sector prioritization, strategy development, investor outreach, institutional reform, due diligence and capacity-building projects in Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Beyond the World Bank Group, he has recently provided consultancy services for national and regional clients in Indonesia, Lao PDR, Pakistan, Republic of Congo, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the UK and Vietnam.
Much of Dan’s work over the past decade has been in ASEAN’s largest economy, Indonesia. He led investment-focused workstreams in Indonesia for more than a decade - initially for the EU-Indonesia Trade Cooperation Facility (2013-2016). As part of this project, he was based in Indonesia for two years as Key Expert for Investment, where established and led the EU Desk team at the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). The EU Desk promotes and facilitates European FDI into Indonesia, working with BKPM’s own officers, delivering on-the-job capacity building. During Dan's tenure at BKPM from 2014-2016, more than 170 European businesses were assisted by the EU Desk, and US$760 million in European investment commitments were made by EU Desk client companies.
More recently, Dan led the Investment Planning and Policymaking workstream under the ARISE+ Indonesia Trade Support Facility (2019-2024). He worked with key Indonesian Government entities, including the National Development Planning Ministry (BAPPENAS), the Ministry of Investment/BKPM and the Ministry of Trade. The role combined leading and delivering technical inputs, alongside managing the work of experts and contracted organisations
Dan is an experienced event faciltitator, having been moderator and master of ceremonies for business summits and fora that have included the President of Mongolia (2018), the Prime Minister of Bhutan (2026), as well as many ministers and CEOs from Asian countries. Dan has also facilitated various fora globally on key aspects of investment policy, such as market access and foreign labour regulations.
Dan has also worked for the economic development advisory firm OCO Global, the investment promotion agencies of Uzbekistan, The Gambia, Latvia, Liverpool, Cardiff and Birmingham, as well as international organisations like the Islamic Development Bank, the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). He has also worked with the Government of Abu Dhabi, as well as the global communications consultancies Hill & Knowlton (a WPP company) and Grayling.
Dan’s first book, Foreign Direct Investment: Smart Approaches to Differentiation and Engagement, was published by Routledge in the UK and the USA in 2012, while he has also been a contributing writer and awards judge for publications such as the Financial Times’ fDi Intelligence.
Dan has previously been a Fellow of the Institute of Place Management (F.I.P.M.) at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK.