Asia Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory (ASIA) Panel Meeting 2021

Ms Indranee Rajah is the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and Education.

She co-chairs the Modern Services Workstream under the Future Economy Council and provides Ministerial oversight of Infrastructure Asia.

She was in practice as a lawyer and Senior Counsel before joining Government. Under her law portfolio from 2012 – 2018, she co-chaired the Committees on Family Justice, the formation of the Singapore International Commercial Court as well as the Committee to Strengthen Singapore as an International Centre for Debt Restructuring. She also helmed the Steering Committee on the strategic direction of Singapore’s third law school at UniSIM.

Under her MOF portfolio, Ms Rajah co-chaired the Working Group on Legal and Accounting Services, a sub-committee of the 2016 Committee on the Future Economy, the recommendations of which are aimed at transforming the legal and accounting industries in Singapore and catalysing the internationalisation of such professional services.

Dr. Andrew Benedek is the Chairman and CEO of Anaergia. He received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from McGill University and a doctorate from the University of Washington. After working as a professor at McMaster University, he founded Zenon which became the global leader in membrane technology for recycling water. After GE acquired Zenon in 2006, Dr. Benedek founded Anaergia, the world’s leading company in producing Renewable Natural Gas and fertilizer from waste.

Dr. Benedek is the recipient of many international awards including the inaugural Lee Kwan Yew Water Prize. Dr. Benedek also received three honorary doctorates and has contributed to boards and committees of many learned societies and governments such as the National Research Council of Canada, the Board of International Water Association as well as Advisory Panels constituted by the Government of Singapore. Noted as a leading authority on global water related issues, he has written over 100 scientific papers on different water and wastewater treatment technologies and lectured extensively as keynote speaker to learned societies around the world.

Prof Cheong Koon Hean is the Chair of the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) and Practice Professor and Chair of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (Singapore University of Technology and Design). She was formerly CEO of Housing and Development Board (HDB) from 2010 to 2020, CEO of Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) from 2004 to 2010 and concurrently Deputy Secretary of Ministry of National Development (MND) from 2001 to 2016. She played key roles in major urban transformations such as Marina Bay and the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco City. She serves on numerous advisory panels and is a Board Trustee of the National University of Singapore, former Deputy President and current Council Member of the International Federation for Housing & Planning, and Chair of the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize’s Nominating Committee. She is a Fellow(Life) and Honorary Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Architects and Institute of Planners and the 5th S.R. Nathan Fellow of the Institute of Policy Studies (NUS).

Prof Cheong has received numerous awards, notably the Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding public service, and is the first Asian to receive both the Urban Land Institute’s Prize for Urban Visionaries and the Lynn S Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award by the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat in 2016.

Guy Harvey-Samuel is an Independent Director of Surbana Jurong Private Limited, Wing Tai Holdings Ltd, Mapletree Industrial Trust Management Ltd, and M1Limited. Mr Harvey-Samuel is also non-executive Chairman of Capella Hotel Group Pte Ltd, Board Member of Clifford Capital Holdings, and Chair of the Advisors to ESGTech Pte Ltd.

Mr Harvey-Samuel joined HSBC Group plc in 1978, retiring in 2017 as Group General Manager, Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Singapore. Prior to this he served as HSBC’s Group General Manager and Head of International, Asia Pacific based in Hong Kong. He was a long-time member of the Asia Executive Committee and, after retiring, was non-executive Chairman of HSBC (Singapore) Ltd. until October 2018. Mr Harvey-Samuel is a Singapore citizen, married with two sons and resides in Singapore, and serves in the community as a Justice of the Peace.

Keiko Honda is Adjunct Professor and Adjunct Senior Research Scholar of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she teaches Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing to graduate students. Keiko also serves as a Board Member of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and AGC (ex Asahi Glass), Adjunct Professor of Hitotsubashi University, and a member of the United Nation’s Investment Management Committee.

Between 2013-19, Keiko was the CEO and EVP of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank Group. MIGA supports cross-border equity investors and lenders by providing coverage against currency inconvertibility and transfer restriction, expropriation, war and civil disturbance, breach of contract, and non-honoring of financial obligations.

Before joining MIGA, Keiko was the first female Senior Partner in Asia at McKinsey & Company, where she advised on corporate finance, strategy and business development for 24 years. She received the Joseph Wharton Social Award from the Wharton New York Club in 2020.

Keiko holds a Bachelor’s degree from Ochanomizu University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where she was selected as a Fulbright Scholar.

Lord Robert Mair is Head of the Centre on Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) at Cambridge University and Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering. After working in industry for 27 years, in 1998 he was appointed Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at Cambridge and Head of Civil Engineering. He was Master of Jesus College 2001-11. He is one of the founding Directors of the Geotechnical Consulting Group, an international consulting company based in London, and has extensive experience of design and construction for a wide variety of civil engineering projects in many countries, including Singapore, particularly those involving underground construction.

He was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers 2017-18. He is Chairman of the Department of Transport’s Science Advisory Council, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society and the US National Academy of Engineering. He was appointed an independent crossbencher in the House of Lords in 2015 and until recently was a member of its Select Committee on Science and Technology.

As Chairman of Guggenheim Investments and Global Chief Investment Officer, Mr. Minerd guides the Firm’s investment strategies and leads its research on global macroeconomics. Prior to joining Guggenheim Partners, Mr. Minerd was a managing director at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse.

Mr. Minerd recently completed a second term as a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Investor Advisory Committee on Financial Markets. He is a member of the International Monetary Fund’s External Advisory Group, the Asia Sustainable Infrastructure Advisory Panel, the Board of Overseers at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the board of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

Mr. Minerd received a B.S. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and completed graduate work at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Lei Zhang founded Envision Group in 2007. With the mission “to Solve the Challenges for a Sustainable Future”, Envision is committed to creating a world of beautiful energy. As one of the world's leading greentech company, Envision designs, sells and operates smart wind turbines through Envision Energy, AIoT-powered batteries through Envision AESC and the world’s largest AIoT operating system through Envision Digital. It also owns a leading Formula E team, Envision Virgin Racing. Envision is an innovation powerhouse, leveraging a global network of R&D and engineering centers covering the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Lei Zhang was named as one of the “Top 10 Sino-U.S. Innovators of the Year” by Forbes China. Under his leadership, Envision was named as one of “China’s 50 Business Pioneers -- Defining the Future” in 2016 by Fortune China, and was featured on the cover of the magazine. In June 2019, Envision ranked in the top 10 of MIT Technology Review's “50 Smartest Companies” list.

Lei Zhang graduated from the London School of Economics.

Thomas BAUDLOT is the Chief Executive Officer Energy Solutions APAC and Country Head of ENGIE South East Asia, part of the ENGIE Group, a global reference in low-carbon energy and services. Thomas oversees all business activities across Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, leading a team of over 2,000 employees to help customers meet their energy needs and implement their transition towards carbon-neutrality.

Prior to this appointment, Thomas was Chief of Finance, Strategy and New Business at ENGIE South East Asia. Under Thomas’ leadership, the company grew rapidly, organically and saw it through successful acquisitions. In South East Asia, Thomas brought innovations and new business models which elevated the company’s end to end value proposition for low carbon energy solutions. He also played a key role in establishing ENGIE as a strategic partner for corporates and cities eager to embark on their sustainable transformation.

Thomas joined ENGIE in 2006 and has been involved in critical projects such as the merger of the energy services activities of the SUEZ and GDF Groups, the component companies of ENGIE’s predecessor entity GDF SUEZ Group. In March 2015, he relocated from ENGIE Group France to Asia.

In June 2021, Thomas was appointed as the President of the French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore and is a member of its Board of Directors.

Henri joined the Global Infrastructure Hub in July 2020 as Chief Content Officer and leads the strategy and delivery of content initiatives and research, tools and products for the Hub.

Prior to joining the GI Hub, Henri was the Resilience Finance lead and acting COO for the Global Resilient Cities Network - an initiative across 100 cities pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation. He had previously been leading Aecom infrastructure advisory practice in Asia, advising on asset valuations and sale/acquisitions for Macquarie in North America and consulting on transport projects across Europe and APAC for Systra.

Henri holds an MSc of Civil Engineering from ENTPE (France) and an MSc of Science from New York University (USA).

Frederic Carron is an experienced leader with a clear vision for energy future based on renewables.

Frederic wants to see more new, sustainable global energy systems being developed in the world. And by helping to accelerate the transition towards renewable energy in Asia and the Middle East, Frederic is trying to do his share to make the world a better place. He is an experienced energy sector executive who has spent majority of his career with Wärtsilä, currently holding the position of Vice President, Wärtsilä Energy for the Middle East and Asia region.

Frederic has a passion for sharing knowledge about the value of flexible power generation and believes in demonstrating studies that provide proof-points for how countries can best shift towards a 100% renewable energy future.

Frederic is an electrical engineer and he holds an MBA degree from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Isabel is the Regional Industry Director, Infrastructure and Natural Resources, Asia and Pacific, based in Singapore. For seven years prior to her current role, Isabel was the Regional Manager for PPP Transaction Advisory Services, initially for South Asia based in Delhi, and subsequently in Singapore as her mandate expanded to cover all Asia Pacific for the last four years. Isabel spent four years in IFC’s Subnational Finance unit where she worked in deal origination, structuring and supervision of debt and structured finance products in more than six countries in LAC. Before joining IFC, Isabel held various positions in World Bank operations in the urban sector in the Middle East and North Africa region, the water sector in Latin America, and the transport, power and urban sector in South Asia. Before joining the World Bank in 2001, Isabel worked in emerging markets and Western Europe for WS Atkins in the UK as Senior Management Consultant; working on infrastructure finance in Thailand, Argentina, Barbados, Qatar, the UK, and Europe.

Isabel, a civil engineer by training, holds an MBA and a PhD from the University of Birmingham (UK).

Business professional with more than 26yrs of International Business Experience with diverse roles handling various functions in General Management, Corporate Strategy, Sales & Project Management.

Current Position:

Executive Vice President & Managing Director of Power Business, Asia with responsibility for the regional profit and loss (P&L) center in Asia/India covering Services to Lumpsum Turnkey for Conventional Generation, Renewables (Solar, Wind, BESS), Transmission and Distributed Energy.

Previous Positions:

• Head of Distribution System Business Unit South East Asia, Siemens
• Head of Future Grid Business Segment ASEAN Pacific, Siemens
• President Mindsphere World Association for ASEAN Pacific
• Head of Corporate Strategy & Business Excellence for Siemens South East Asia
• Segment CEO & Global Head of EHouse & Module business, Dresser Rand a Siemens Business
• Global Head of Business Solution Line for Oil & Gas Business, Siemens Oil & Gas
• Regional Sales Head for Oil & Gas Solutions covering APAC region, Siemens Oil & Gas
• Project Manager handling various Industrial & infrastructure projects

David is part of the Southeast Asia Energy Department and is leading ADBs work on the Energy Transition Mechanism, an approach to accelerate the transition from coal power to clean electricity generation. David has engaged across a range of countries and energy system technologies to support ADB’s investments in the energy sector. Previously at the UN Economic Commission for Europe David's focus was on the role of fossil fuels in sustainable energy systems and at the International Energy Agency (IEA) was lead author for Energy Technology Perspectives publication. He also led the IEA’s work on electricity system technologies such as Smart Grids.

Over the course of his career David has worked in the energy and climate fields for over 20 years, with focus areas of finance, technology, policy, and analysis in both private and public sectors. In these roles he developed markets, deployed clean energy technologies and has advised various governments at the local and national levels on energy policy.

Peter is a civil and structural engineer who has become a recognised world leader in major bridges, advanced composite technology and sustainable development in cities and regions.

He joined Arup in 2004 to create and lead their planning and integrated urbanism team.

In July 2008 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering at Bristol University, where he is a visiting Professor in Sustainable Systems Engineering.

In 2009 he was awarded the Sir Frank Whittle medal of the Royal Academy of Engineering for a lifetime contribution to the well-being of the nation through environmental innovation.

In 2008 he was named by the Guardian Newspaper as one of 50 people that could ‘save the planet’.

He was cited by Time magazine in 2008 as one of 30 global eco-heroes and has been one of CNN’s Principle Voices.

In 2011 he was awarded the CBE in the New Year’s Honours List for services to Civil Engineering and the Environment. In 2011 he founded The Ecological Sequestration Trust and in 2016 the operating company Resilience Brokers.

Mr. Hem’s career spans across private sector, the United Nations system, multilateral development bank, and government. As Secretary of State, he looks after development financing, coordination and management of ODA (both strategy and operation), public debt management and supports key policy agenda. He coordinates a number of inter-ministerial mechanisms that tackle major infrastructures and urbanization challenges facing Cambodia. He is also a member of the Supreme National Economic Council, and incumbent Chair of the Country Coordinating Committee for the Global Fund program to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Cambodia.

Mr. Hem obtained his Mid-Career Master of Public Administration (Mason Fellow) from Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2014 and Master of Arts in International Development from International University of Japan in 2002. He received his undergraduate diploma of Bachelor of Business Administration from then National Institute of Management (Cambodia) in 1999.

Bertrand Jabouley heads S&P Global Ratings’ Sustainable Finance team in the Asia-Pacific region. In this role, he ensures the quality, consistency, and timeliness of assignments on ESG performance assessment and sustainable instruments and frameworks analysis, while maintaining an active dialogue with the company’s stakeholders on sustainability-related topics.

He was previously a senior credit analyst for Heavy industries, Energy & Mining and Transportation in Southeast Asia, and for Business Services and Building Materials in Europe. Before, Bertrand was in HSBC’s financing advisory team in Paris.

Bertrand holds an MBA from the Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand) and is a graduate from the ESCP Europe business school (France) and Lancaster University (U.K.). He is also a CFA Charterholder and a Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate holder.

Takuya (Taku) Kamata is World Bank Director for Singapore. The focus of the World Bank Singapore Office is to strengthen partnerships with counterparts in Singapore and to bring innovations to the East Asia and Pacific Region, particularly in the areas of infrastructure and urban development.

Mr. Kamata has broad experience in infrastructure and in country management and corporate assignments at the World Bank, as well as in strategic consulting and financial markets.

Prior to assuming his role as Director, Mr. Kamata served as Practice Manager for the Water Global Practice in the World Bank’s South Asia Region, and Country Manager for Uzbekistan and Nepal. Mr. Kamata also led water and urban operations in the Africa and East Asia and Pacific regions. He supported strategy implementation for the Managing Directors and the President of the World Bank. Outside of the World Bank, he has also worked at McKinsey and Company and the Bank of Tokyo.

Mr. Kamata has an MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and an undergraduate degree from Waseda University. He is a teacher for a Japanese martial art, Kendo (Japanese Swordsmanship), and has a level six ranking from All Japan Kendo Federation – an official high-raking teacher title.

Arun is an entrepreneur, investor and technologist focused on Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, AR/VR , IT software and infrastructure for enterprise, data analytics, cloud platform, open source technologies, healthcare and infrastructure for sustainable energy.

He has over 26 years of experience as a product centric founder, General Manager and CEO at startups and Fortune 500 companies in the US, Europe and Asia.

Arun has a diverse background in building enterprise focused startups, and has extensive operational experience in expanding companies in Asia and the emerging markets with a strong understanding of local laws, cultural and market demands, His experience in investing in disruptive startups, coupled with strong financial industry experience from trading to debt financing and equity research has also made him a well recognized and respected quant.

Being a mentor to entrepreneurs building technology-based businesses is Arun’s greatest passion. He is driven by the desire to make a positive impact through helping the entrepreneurs building and scaling businesses focused on new energy sources, achieving petroleum independence, building sustainable medical ecosystems, and promoting pragmatic approaches to environmentalism.

Additionally, he has taken a special interest in micro-finance as a poverty alleviation tool, because of his fervent dedication to social entrepreneurship. He is a supporter of many micro-finance organizations in India, Africa and the Middle East, and is actively building software companies to help them manage and grow in these regions.

Nishant Kumar joined GuarantCo’s Singapore office in November 2016 as Executive Director and was Regional Director for South Asia since January 2019 where he led origination and execution of transactions in the region. In June 2020, Nishant became Managing Director of Asia.

Prior to GuarantCo, Nishant worked across functions in Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Finance, Investment Banking and in Renewable Energy Private Equity where he led origination and execution of infrastructure, natural resources, agriculture, food & beverages, consumer transactions and investments across Asia-Pacific. Nishant started his financial services career in Hong Kong and subsequently moved to Singapore where he has been living since 2010.

Nishant has an MBA from University of Hong Kong & London Business School programme and a Bachelor of Technology in Mining Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, BHU (Varanasi), India.

Farchad Kaviani has been appointed Managing Director of Municipal Water for SUEZ in Southeast Asia since 2018. He leads the Design & Build, investment projects and O&M for SUEZ’s municipal market within the region, overseeing offices and facilities in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Farchad was previously Managing Director of Ozonia Asia and has more than 26 years of extensive business and international experience for SUEZ group. He has spent the past 15 years working in Asia, including, China, Korea and Japan. He has successfully spearheaded growth and transformation in key management positions in waste and water sectors.

Farchad earned his master’s degree in microbiology from the University of Paul Sabatier Toulouse, in France and completed by a Commercial business degree in IPC Toulouse.

Mr Koh is responsible for driving the strategic direction and growth of the Singapore and Southeast Asia markets.

He has deep knowledge of the energy and water sectors with extensive experience in managing infrastructure-related businesses and a strong financial background. He has held various senior appointments in Sembcorp, including group chief financial officer, chief transformation officer, as well as the head of finance and chief risk officer of its Utilities business. Mr Koh was previously chief financial officer of Power Seraya.

Mr Koh holds a first class honours degree in Accountancy from the National University of Singapore and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, USA.

Prior to this appointment, Juan Tiang was Coordinating Group Director for the Environment and Infrastructure Solutions Group of International Enterprise (IE) Singapore for six years. He assisted Singapore-based companies from the environment and infrastructure solutions industries with their ventures into strategic high growth markets such as China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Middle East. His focus sectors include water and waste management, and renewables and conventional energy. He also champions the export of urban solutions to markets currently undergoing high urbanisation development.

Mr Lim Chze Cheen is the Director of the ASEAN Connectivity Division under the Office of the Secretary-General at the ASEAN Secretariat. He coordinates the development of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025 and its preceding document.

 Prior to assuming this position, he was Assistant Director of the Strategic Planning and Coordination Division, which managed the overall reporting of progress of ASEAN Community as well as the development of ASEAN cooperation programmes and projects. He earlier served as Assistant Director handling ASEAN Economic Community coordination, particularly the development and monitoring of the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2015, and Senior Officer handling Trade in Services.

Before joining the ASEAN Secretariat in 2005, Mr Lim was a Senior Research Officer at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), specialising in macroeconomics and industrial studies.

Dato Lim Jock Hoi was the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Brunei Darussalam since 2006.

During his tenure, he served as Brunei Darussalam’s Senior Official for the ASEAN Economic Community Pillar (SEOM), APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) and the ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting). He was a member of the High Level Task Force on ASEAN Economic Integration (HLTF-EI) since 2001, serving as the HLTF-EI Chair in 2017. He was Brunei Darussalam’s Chief Negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), as well as for the P4, precursor to the TPP negotiations. Previously, he was also the Co-Chair during the negotiations for the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA), and also served as Brunei Darussalam’s Chief Negotiator for the Brunei Darussalam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (BJEPA).

From June 2011-2017, he was the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). He was also on the External Advisory Board for the ASEAN 2030 Study being undertaken by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

He entered the Government Service as an education officer in 1977 and served as principal of a Secondary School from 1981 – 1985. From February 2001 – July 2005, he was appointed as Director-General, International Relations and Trade Development, Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources. In September 2005, he was appointed as Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

He graduated from the City of London Polytechnic in B.Sc (Hons) Economics in 1976 and received his Post Graduate Certificate of Education in 1977.

He was awarded The Most Honourable Order of Seri Paduka Mahkota Brunei, second Class (D.P.M.B) in 2007. He is married with two sons.

Lim Cheng Khai is the Executive Director, Financial Markets Department with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which aims to promote a vibrant financial market in Singapore, with a focus on development the capital market, asset management and insurance sectors, and infrastructure and sustainable financing capabilities and solutions.

Prior to the current appointment, he was involved in the regulation and supervision of banks, insurers and capital markets intermediaries in various roles in MAS. From 2014 to 2020, he led the Capital Markets Intermediaries Department II that is in charge of licensing, regulating and supervising fund managers and the individual representatives who are authorised to carry out these regulated activities. In addition, the department is responsible for formulating and reviewing policies relating to the fund management sector, and harnessing the use of technology and data analytics to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of conduct supervision in MAS.

Cheng Khai was also a member of the Accounting Standards Council from 2018 to 2020. Cheng Khai has participated in several international workgroups in his career with MAS, including FSB and FATF peer reviews, FSB SCSI’s Compensation Monitoring Contact Group, and IOSCO’s Fintech Network Steering Group.

Cindy Lim is the Chief Executive Officer of Keppel Infrastructure.

In her 20 years with Keppel, Ms Lim has held various leadership positions. She was the Director of Group Corporate Development (GCD) of Keppel Corporation Limited and concurrently the Managing Director of Keppel Urban Solutions (KUS), an end-to-end integrated master developer of liveable, smart and sustainable precincts and townships in the Asia-Pacific region. As the Director of GCD, she focused on harnessing collaboration and synergies across the Business units and functions within the Keppel Group. As the Managing Director of KUS, she led the unit to capture business opportunities, tapping on the mega trends of rapid urbanisation and the increasing global focus on sustainability.

Prior to these, Ms Lim was the Executive Director of Infrastructure Services in Keppel Infrastructure, where she stewarded the business by driving plants efficiency and reliability, health, safety & environment (HSE) performance and developing procurement strategies. She has diverse experience in operation and process excellence as well as people and organisation management.

Ms Lim holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical & Production) (Second Upper Honours) from Nanyang Technological University and an Executive MBA from the Singapore Management University.

An experienced Chief Risk Officer with 24 years of experience in Financial Services across multiple geographies within Asia Pacific, with domain specialization in wholesale credit & enterprise risks. Proven stakeholder management skills, extensive regulatory engagement experiences across sites.

An opinion maker on sustainability and climate risk across ASEAN markets. Co-chair of working group that drafted the regulations on Environmental Risk Management for banks and industry guidelines on Responsible Financing. Chairs risk management efforts within the Green Finance Industry Taskforce (GFIT) that published an Industry Handbook and is leading country’s capacity building efforts. Member of Industry Advisory Panel to ASEAN regulators, including chairing the workgroup on Transition Standards.

Active sponsor of Innovation, Fintechs & new technologies, as well as transformation. Gautam has also championed the use of new technology and has been closely associated with the Innovation eco-system in Singapore as a thought leader, judge, mentor and advisor to many Fintechs.

Manish Pant is the Zone President for East Asia and Japan at Schneider Electric based in Singapore. He is responsible for the commercial operations across 14 markets including South-East Asia, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan driving business performance and transformation.

Manish has been with Schneider Electric for over 23 years and has worked in both operations and strategic roles. Prior to East Asia Zone, he was Executive Vice-President, Global Home and Distribution Division in Schneider Electric based out of Hong Kong . This Division is focused on bringing innovative solutions to the Residential and Small Business customers from Schneider Electric. He was also responsible for Global Electrical Distribution and leading Schneider Electric E-Commerce journey together with animating the Electrician and Home Builder Channel.

In his other roles Manish served as Managing Director of Luminous , a subsidiary of Schneider Electric in India, post its acquisition ,Country President Thailand . He was General Manager of Schneider Electric JV companies in the Energy Management sector in China being based in Guangzhou and Beijing. Manish started his career in Larsen & Toubro Ltd India, spending six years leading Sales and Marketing.

Eugene joined the Surbana Jurong Group on 1 January 2017 as Senior Director, Group CEO’s office, to spearhead and oversee the Group’s special projects and strategic initiatives, in particular, the Group’s Key Account Management Office, Digital Management Office, and Sustainability and Resiliency Office. He is also a Director on the Boards of Threesixty Cost Management and Threesixty Contract Advisory, for which his knowledge and expertise help to fortify the business thrust of the Group.

He is also appointed as the Managing Director of Surbana Technologies , pushing Surbana Jurong’s Smart Cities agenda. With his combined experience on Contract, Project, Value and Cost Management, Sustainability, Digital and Smart Solutions, Eugene brings to the table a wealth of well-rounded Knowledge for development and asset management for projects and solutions to clients and key accounts alike.

Eugene graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) (1st Class Hons) from the University of Reading in 1999 and a BSc in Technology Management and Computing (1st Class Hons) from the University of Portsmouth in 2002. He also completed a Master of Science (MSc) in Construction Law and Arbitration from the joint NUS and Kings College London programme, an MSc in Sustainable Building Design from the University of Nottingham, and the Senior Management Development Program from Harvard Business School.

Apart from his extensive experience in Quantity Surveying, Eugene injects sustainability value management and green approaches into his work to achieve project efficiency. He is a Green Mark professional and is knowledgeable in the field of sustainable buildings. He is also an Accredited Adjudicator under the Singapore Mediation Centre and a registered Mediator in the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers.

Eugene works on enhancing productivity in Design and Construction and research on Computational BIM, xR and other productivity enhancement topics for the Surbana Jurong Group. His effort has won him several awards for SJ, including RICS Construction Professional of the Year (2019).

Passionate about teaching, Eugene is a lecturer at the Department of Building, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore and has obtained his Advance Certificate in Learning and Performance and Diploma in Adult and Continuing Education from the Institute of Adult Learning.

Niel Thassim is a Managing Partner and the Asia Pacific Head of Brookfield’s Private Funds, based in Singapore. In this role, Mr. Thassim is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with leading investment partners in the region. He is also the CEO of Brookfield Singapore Pte Ltd.

Prior to joining Brookfield, Mr. Thassim served as Managing Director and the Asia Pacific Head of Deutsche Bank’s Real Estate investment management business (RREEF). Previously, he held senior roles within RREEF and Deutsche Bank in Australia, London and Singapore. Prior to this, he held executive positions with Coopers & Lybrand, Bankers Trust, Credit Suisse First Boston and Colonial First State Investments in Australia and the UK.

Mr. Thassim has over 26 years of finance, accounting and real estate investment management experience. He graduated from the University of Sydney, Australia, with a Bachelor of Economics degree, holds a Master of Applied Finance Degree from Macquarie University, Australia, and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia.

He also serves as a Board Member of the National University of Singapore Institute of Real Estate Studies, ANREV and the Singapore chapter of Urban Land Institute.

Lavan is a Deputy Executive Director at Infrastructure Asia. Prior to his appointment, Lavan held various leadership roles at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”). He was most recently based in the MAS New York Representative Office where he was the Chief Representative for four years. Lavan has been actively involved in various initiatives on infrastructure financing and financial market development in the MAS. He spent over a year at Clifford Capital, a specialist provider of structured finance solutions.

Premod Thomas is the CEO and Executive Director of Bayfront Infrastructure Management Pte Ltd a Singapore-based company set up for institutional investors to access Asia Pacific infrastructure debt and for project finance banks to recycle their balance sheets.

Prior to this assignment, he spent several years with Bank of America, Standard Chartered Bank and the Temasek Group focusing on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and new businesses.

In addition to his executive role with Bayfront, Premod holds non-executive directorships in a number of companies including Singapore-listed Mapletree Commercial Trust, Fullerton India Credit Company, MGSA Private Trust and Gemstone Asset Holdings.

He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a Bachelor of Commerce from Loyola College, Madras.

Luca Tonello leads one of Asia’s most respected teams engaged in capital raising and advisory for the infrastructure and energy sectors at SMBC. He oversees a multi-billion dollars Asia focused portfolio with exposure to sustainable energy, power, infrastructure and natural resources. Over the last decade, Mr. Tonello and his team have contributed to the development of critical infrastructure in Asia. For its contribution, the team has received several prestigious industry awards and recognitions, most recently the 2018 Asia Pacific Bank of the Year by Project Finance International and 2018 Asia Pacific Financial Adviser of the Year by IJGlobal.

Besides chairing the Finance Committee of ICCS over the last two years, Mr. Tonello was recently invited to join the alliance board of Infrastructure Asia (IA), a government initiative aimed at developing Singapore as the infrastructure hub in ASEAN. Mr. Tonello is committed to supporting the infrastructure finance industry in Asia as Chairman of the Project Finance Committee of the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA) and as board member of the International Project Finance Association (IPFA). He has contributed to several working groups on infrastructure development and financing promoted by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Asia Development Bank (ADB), the Infrastructure Finance Facilitation Office (IFFO) of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Indonesia Minister of Finance, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the OECD Organization to name a few.

Mr. Tonello graduated in Mechanical Engineering with a major in energy. He spent the early part of his banking career in London where he also graduated from the London Business School with a Master in Finance before moving to Singapore.

Mr Tong Yew Heng is the Chief Executive Officer of NetLink NBN Trust. In this role, he is responsible for the overall leadership and performance of the NetLink NBN Trust Group. The Trust Group designs, builds, owns and operates the passive fibre network infrastructure of Singapore’s Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network.

Mr Tong has more than 20 years of experience from senior management positions in various industries. Prior to his current position at NetLink NBN Trust, Mr Tong was Executive Vice President, Corporate & Market Development at ST Electronics Ltd. He was also the Chief Financial Officer before becoming the Chief Executive Officer of CitySpring Infrastructure Trust during the period 2007 to 2015. Before that, he was with Temasek Holdings for 11 years from 1995 to 2006 where he held various positions. His experience at Temasek Holdings includes stewardship of companies within Temasek’s portfolio, direct investments, investments in private equity funds, mergers and acquisitions, privatisations and divestments.

Mr Tong graduated from Singapore Polytechnic with a Diploma in Electronics and Communication Engineering in 1983, from the University of Strathclyde (United Kingdom) with a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) degree in 1988, and holds a Master of Business Administration from the Nanyang Technological University. He also attended the Programme for Executive Development at the International Institute of Management Development (Switzerland) in 2000, and is a member of the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants.

Mr Tong is married and has four children.

Ms. Tsering has held management and leadership positions with the United Nations and has over 30 years of experience in national government and intergovernmental organizations including the World Bank. She has been actively involved in intergovernmental negotiations as a key negotiator for least developed countries and contributed to the establishment of the Least Developed Countries Fund and the Least Developed Countries Expert Group. She also has experience in the management of complex development projects.

She comes to UN Environment Programme (UNEP) from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat where she served as Director of the Finance, Technology and Capacity-Building Programme. In that position, she supported international cooperation on mobilization of finance, technology development and transfer and capacity building to enable countries to take enhanced action on climate change. Prior to that position, she was the Deputy Regional Director of UNEP in Asia and the Pacific.

Mr. Kelvin Wong is a Managing Director and Global Head for Power and Utilities in DBS Bank Ltd.

He has over 21 years of professional experience including 18 years of experience in corporate and project finance in Asia. His professional experience as an energy regulator, business consultant and corporate financier (including project finance / M&A and equity fund raisings) offers unique insights to the energy and infrastructure sectors in the Asia-Pacific region.

Prior to his role in DBS Bank, Kelvin held senior appointments at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Standard Chartered Bank, KPMG Corporate Finance Pte Ltd and the Energy Market Authority of Singapore. During his years of involvement in the energy and infrastructure sector, he has advised and arranged financings (including sustainability linked financings and carbon credits) for the renewable energy / power, oil & gas, and telecommunication sectors in Asia Pacific,.

Dr Robert Yap is the Executive Chairman of YCH Group, Singapore’s leading end-to-end supply chain management company with operations spanning across Asia Pacific. Over the last four decades, Robert has played a pivotal role in the logistics and supply chain management field.

Robert is the Founder and Chairman of leading information technology and supply chain solutions company, Y3 Technologies; Chairman of corporate venture fund, Supply Chain Angels; Founder and Chairman of Supply Chain City® –Asia’s premier supply chain nerve centre for supply chain excellence; and Emeritus Chairman of Supply Chain Asia –a regional community of more than 45,000 Industry professionals.

Recognised for his visionary leadership, Robert contributes as an advisor on numerous local and international platforms. He is the President of the Singapore National Employers Federation, as well as the Singapore Chair of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council and Malaysia-Singapore Business Council, respectively. He also contributes to the Future Economy Council, the Payments Council, the National Wages Council, the National Jobs Council,and the Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council (SJCC) as well as the Joint Implementation Committee overseeing the Government-to-Government project in Chongqing.

A strong believer in knowledge sharing and upskilling the workforce to be future-ready, he sits on the Singapore Computer Society Honorary Advisory Council and École hôtelière de Lausanne Singapore Advisory Board.

For his contribution, he was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2017. Prior, Robert was also named ‘Businessman of the Year’ at the prestigious Singapore Business Awards in 2016, and was conferred the NUS Business School Eminent Business (Senior) Alumni Award in 2014 and the Lifetime Achievement Award (Logistics) by the World Chinese Economic Forum in 2013. He is also the recipient of the prominent Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2007, as well as the overall winner of the year for Singapore, where he went on the represent the nation at theannual Ernest and Young Entrepreneur of the Year™ (WEOY) award.

Robert has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D), honoris causa, in Business Administration from the Wisconsin International University. He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Owner President Management (OPM 21) program. From 2009 to 2012, he was also appointed as Honorary Adjunct Professor by the College of Business, City University of Hong Kong.

Ir. Awang Haji Amer Hishamuddin Zakaria was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Development in August 2018. Prior to his current appointment, he was Director-General of Public Works Department and Director of Department of Housing Development. He has extensive experience in infrastructure planning and development in roads, drainage, sewerage and water supply in the Public Works Department.

Ir. Awang Haji Amer graduated from The City University, London’s Civil Engineering Programme with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and a Master of Science in Hydrology for Environmental Management from Imperial College, London.

Ir. Awang Haji Amer serves as the Chairman of the Board of Architects, Professional Engineers and Quantity Surveyors and serves on a few statutory boards including the Competition Commission of Brunei Darussalam. He holds charteredship with the Institution of Civil Engineers, United Kingdom and is an active member of Pertubuhan Ukur, Jurutera dan Arkitek, Negara Brunei Darussalam (PUJA).