Rio Praaning is Managing Partner of the PA Group, an international advisory firm with offices spanning Beijing, Brussels, Jakarta, Moscow, Prague, Shanghai, The Hague, Tokyo, Warsaw and Washington DC, and Secretary General of the PA International Foundation, a network of former heads of government, ambassadors and senior officials advising on major technology, infrastructure and energy matters. He studied law and political science at the University of Leiden before beginning his career at the East-West Institute in The Hague, later directing the Netherlands Atlantic Commission and serving as political advisor to VVD party leader Frits Bolkestein.

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Over four decades of political and regulatory consulting, he has advised governments, multinational enterprises and international organizations on strategic issues ranging from mergers and acquisitions to the introduction of new technologies. His advisory work helped secure the seats of the OPCW and EUROPOL in The Hague, supported Lithuania's early accession to the EU, and helped avert an EU ban on Indonesian fish exports. He has also advised on major environmental and infrastructure projects for companies including Unilever, IBM, DSM, Rio Tinto and the Port of Rotterdam.

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Alongside his advisory career, he has founded or co-founded a number of philanthropic and academic initiatives, including the Tasik Children's Foundation, the Sultan Qaboos Academic Chair for Quantitative Water Management at Utrecht University, and the PA CSR Academic Chair on Corporate Social Responsibility in Indonesia. He is a published author on international security, food safety and biotechnology policy, and holds honorary memberships with the Netherlands Atlantic Commission and the JASON Foundation.