BFM PODCAST: How Do We Cure An Infodemic?

Tan Sri Dr Sulaiman Mahbob

Board of directors
ISIS Malaysia

Sulaiman is chairman of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA). He was the former director-general of the Economic Planning Unit and has held posts in the Finance Ministry and Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry. He is also a board member of ISIS Malaysia and CEO of the National Recovery Council (MPN).

Akiko Kato

Author

Kato currently organises the Japan Future Leaders School, a summer school in Fukuoka, focusing on educating the future generation of leaders from not just Japan, but all Asia. She is also chair of AFS Intercultural Programme, an exchange programme for high school students.

Dr Geetha Govindasamy

Senior lecturer
Universiti Malaya

Geetha is the deputy head of the department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya and teaches, researches and publishes on inter-Korean issues and East Asian international relations.

Tan Sri Dr Sulaiman Mahbob

Board of directors
ISIS Malaysia

Sulaiman is chairman of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA). He was the former director-general of the Economic Planning Unit and has held posts in the Finance Ministry and Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry. He is also a board member of ISIS Malaysia and CEO of the National Recovery Council (MPN).

Alizan Mahadi

Senior director (research)
Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia

Alizan is currently completing his PhD at Keio University on understanding the influence of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address interlinkages across SDGs. His research area includes governance of and for sustainable development and global environmental governance. He was the lead author for the national readiness study to implement the SDGs for the Economic Planning Unit. His other areas of research include institutions for sustainable development and sustainable consumption and production.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

Former prime minister of Malaysia

Dr Mahathir’s first term as prime minister ran from 1981 to 2003. During his first tenure, he opened up the country and developed Malaysia into a prosperous and dynamic economy in Southeast Asia. Among his many legacies are the home-grown automotive industry and the Look East Policy. He served as prime minister again from 2018 to 2020.

HE Takahashi Katsuhiko

Ambassador
Embassy of Japan in Malaysia

Prior to his appointment as ambassador to Malaysia, Katsuhiko was attached with Japan’s embassies in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and served at the permanent mission to the United Nations. He was also director-general, Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Thomas Daniel

Senior fellow
Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia

Thomas’ interests lie in the security/strategic challenges and impacts of major power dynamics on Asean and its member states, the South China Sea dispute, and Malaysia’s national security and foreign policies. He also looks at the policy implications of refugees, asylum seekers and other displaced people in Malaysia, and the government’s refugee policy of “not having a policy”.

Dr Dai Mochinaga

Associate Professor

Mochinaga is an associate professor at the Department of Systems Engineering and Science at Shibaura Institute of Technology. He focuses on global cybersecurity, technology policy and regulatory issues. As a consultant for the Japanese government, he has contributed to cybersecurity policy development, including technology development, critical infrastructure protection and technical standards.

Dr Aude Bernard

Senior lecturer
Queensland Centre for Population Research
University of Queensland

Dr Bernard is a demographer at the University of Queensland. She works on internal migration in partnership with international organisations and government departments on a range of theoretical, methodological, and applied issues. Her contributions to formal demography include developing measurement and estimation techniques that facilitate large-scale international comparisons of migration levels, patterns and selectivity. She is currently chief investigator on two Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects and a Linkage Project in partnership with the University of Melbourne, University of New England, Shanghai University, Australian Bureau of Statistics and Treasury’s Centre for Population. She serves as associate editor of the Journal of Population Research and will co-chair the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Lifetime Migration from 2023 to 2025.

Mahadhir Aziz

CEO
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)

Prior to his appointment to MDEC, Mahadhir was co-founder and CEO of Futurise, an agency under the Finance Ministry mandated to drive the National Regulatory Sandbox. In 2020, Mahadhir was handpicked to be part of the founding team of the National Economic Implementation and Strategic Coordination Agency (Laksana) under the Finance Ministry. Mahadhir has a proven track record of over 20 years in various industries including financial services, energy, information technology and media, serving established global and local organisations such as Deloitte Consulting, Kodak, Petronas and AmInvestment Bank.

Mazmalek Mohamad

Personal data protection commissioner
Communications and multimedia ministry

Mazmalek is actively involved in international organisations, such as the International Telecommunication Union and Asia-Pacific Telecommunity. He was the former director of the Malaysian Emergency Response Services 999 (MERS 999) and worked on the enactment of the Protection of Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA 2010) and rural development of ICT and related matters. He was a negotiator in the Malaysia-Australia FTA, Trans-Pacific Partnership on telecommunications and e-commerce and Malaysia-European Union FTA.

Ambika Sangaran

Co-founder
Mereka

Ambika is co-founder and chief operating officer of Mereka, an education technology start-up. She joined the Biji-biji Group in 2014. She was the ex-CEO of Biji-biji Ethical Fashion, which won the United Kingdom’s common objective leadership award in 2019. As the head of sustainability, Ambika developed and implemented multiple award-winning campaigns and was an East-West Centre’s 2020 Changing Faces Women, 2018 YSEALI professional fellow and Malaysian Public Service Department scholar.

Prof Evelyn S. Devadason

Faculty of Business and Economics
Universiti Malaya

Devadason’s previous positions include Centre for Latin American Studies head and Faculty of Economics and Administration deputy dean (research and development). She received her Ph.D. (Economics) from Universiti Malaya in 2006 and M.Soc.Sci. (Economics) from the National University of Singapore in 1992. Her research focuses on international trade and regional integration and her research work has seen print in international journals such as World Development, The Pacific Review and Journal of Contemporary Asia. She currently serves as an editor in chief to the Institutions and Economies (Universiti Malaya) journal, associate editor to the International Journal of Social Economics (Emerald) and member to the editorial boards of the Journal of Contemporary Asia (Taylor & Francis) and the International Journal of Rural Management (SAGE).

Dr Lee Hwok Aun

Senior fellow
ISEAS Yusof Ishak

Dr Lee was previously a senior lecturer in development studies at the Universiti Malaya and authored Affirmative Action in Malaysia and South Africa: Preference for Parity (Routledge, 2021) and has written various ISEAS perspective and trends articles on Malaysia’s affirmative action, inequality, education and labour.

Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department

Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed is the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for the economic portfolio. He was appointed in March 2020, and has since been overseeing the nation’s overall medium and long-term socioeconomic development planning.

Born in 1950, Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed holds a first-class honours degree in economics from the University of Melbourne as well as a master’s degree in economic development from Boston University. He was first elected as a Member of Parliament in 1995. He has since held a number of senior positions in the Malaysian government, including Minister of International Trade and Industry, Second Finance Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Agro-industry, Minister of Higher Education, Minister of Entrepreneur Development, Deputy Finance Minister, and Executive Director at the National Economic Action Council.

Lakshmi Lavanya Rama Iyer

Head of Policy and Climate Change
WWF Malaysia

Shazana Agha

Head of research
Women’s Aid Organisation

Sharifah Shazana Agha is currently Head of Research at Women’s Aid Organisation, a Malaysian non-profit organisation working to improve gender equality and end violence and discrimination against women.

In the last 10 years, she has actively been a part of various research and advocacy initiatives advancing gender equality and children’s rights in Malaysia. In particular, she has contributed towards several projects focused on increasing and retaining the participation of women in the labour force and at decision-making levels.

Currently, she is a co-principal researcher for a research study focused on strengthening paid and unpaid care work policies in Malaysia in the context of endemicity. Shazana graduated from Monash University and holds a Master of Arts from University of Malaya in the area of Gender Studies.

Nadia Jalil

Regional head, group economics & market analysis
CIMB

Intan Nadia Jalil is the Regional Head, Group Economics and Market Analysis for CIMB Bank Berhad. Her previous appointments include CEO of PNB Research Institute, associate director of economics at the Malaysian Aviation Commission and deputy director of research at Khazanah Research Institute. Nadia has 17 years’ experience in macroeconomics research, and in developing comprehensive economic development policies, strategies, and plans in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, including a term as Malaysian economist for the World Bank. Nadia holds an MSc in Regional and Urban Planning Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and graduated from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom with a BA in Economics.

Emeritus Prof Tan Sri Dr Zakri Abdul Hamid

Fifth Holder of the Tun Hussein Onn Chair in International Studies
ISIS Malaysia

Zakri is the chairman of Atri Advisory, a consultancy company advising governments, regional bodies and international organisations on science, technology and innovation for sustainable development, the governance of biodiversity, and science diplomacy. He is currently pro-chancellor of Multimedia University and Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris respectively. He is a senior fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia as well as holding fellowships with The World Academy of Sciences in Trieste, Italy, the Islamic World Academy of Science in Amman, Jordan and the World Academy of Art and Science in California. He is also vice-chair, Governing Council of the UN Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries based in Gebze, Turkey, member of the Presidential Council of the New York Academy of Sciences, and member of the Governing Board, Science and Technology for Society Forum in Kyoto.

Dr Amanina Abdur Rahman

Economist
World Bank Malaysia

Amanina is an economist in Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank. She works in social protection, skills and jobs, labour markets and migration, focusing on Malaysia. Prior to joining the World Bank, she completed a PhD in Applied Economics at Monash University Malaysia. Amanina was also a visiting researcher at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Fabian Bigar

CEO
Strategic Change Management Office (MyDIGITAL)
Economic Planning Unit

Fabian was appointed chief executive officer for the Strategic Change Management Office on 19 April 2021 and mandated to drive change management and ensure the successful delivery of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint. Fabian received his BSc. from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA and his Masters in Public Policy from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo.

Izan Satrina

Senior director
Think City

Izan was the founder and former CEO of Cendana, Malaysia’s Cultural Economy Development Agency dedicated to building a sustainable cultural economy. Under her, Cendana delivered RM37 million in economic impact within two years of its inception. An accountant by training, Izan has dedicated most of her career to the arts, from managing Enfiniti Vision Media to establishing the My Performing Arts Agency (MyPAA). Guided by her unwavering belief that the arts and cultural sector can do more to contribute to the economy with a proper ecosystem, Izan now heads Think City’s partnerships and creative sector division.

Junady Nawawi

Group CEO
MyCreative Ventures

Junady has more than two decades of experience covering an array of corporate disciplines, having previously held posts at entities, such as BIMB Holdings Bhd, Rothschild Malaysia, UEM Group, Renong Berhad, Aseambankers Malaysia (now known as Maybank Investment Bank) and PWC. Prior being appointed as the CEO of MyCreative Ventures, he served as senior director of strategic planning at Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju) of the Prime Minister’s Department, where among his key responsibilities was the development of proposals to the Malaysian government for strategic interventions towards developing a long-term road map for Bumiputera economic and socio-economic participation.

Eddin Khoo

Senior fellow
Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia

Eddin is the founder of PUSAKA, which aims to preserve the oral transmission and research the cultural and religious politics and aspects of ritual in traditional theatre. He is the co-author of The Spirit of Wood and Rukunegara: A Brief History. He was the former chairman of a reform committee looking into national and vernacular education. Eddin is a graduate of University of Newcastle Upon Tyne and University of London.

Mahuran Saro Sariki

Vice-president
TalentCorp

Assoc Prof Dr Lydia Foong

Dean
SEGi University & Colleges

Foong has been involved in early child care and education and tertiary education for over 30 years, locally and in the United Kingdom. She is currently the dean of the Faculty of Education, Languages, Psychology & Music at SEGi University & Colleges, is the secretary of the Professional Development Board of Early Childhood Care & Education Council Malaysia and an executive committee member of the National Association for Childcare and Education Malaysia.

Lee Min Hui

Analyst
Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia

Min Hui is an analyst with ISIS Malaysia whose research interests centre around gender equality policy with a particular focus on creating gender-sensitive systems and policies ftoward a more inclusive Malaysia. She is also on the Secretariat of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Urban Poverty and B40 community, working closely with parliamentarians to analyse issues related to low-cost public housing. Previously, Min was a former external affairs analyst at the World Bank. She holds an MA in Public Policy from King’s College London.

Assoc Prof Dr Yanti Rosli

Lecturer
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

Yanti has taught human anatomy and histology for 28 years, and had just completed research on climate change impact on early childhood education, sponsored by Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood. She is also a research member in a recently completed a UNICEF-sponsored, Malaysia-centric research grant on climate change and impacts of environmental degradation on children’s health and wellbeing.

Ili Nadiah

Co-founder
Klima Action Malaysia

Ili Nadiah is the co-founder and programme director of KAMY, a climate justice and feminist organisation to strengthen the ecosystem of climate justice and climate governance in Malaysia through research and lobbying, and civil society empowerment for a just and peaceful transition.She is also a consultant working in climate policy and risk and business and human rights.

Ahmad Afandi

Senior analyst
Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia

Afandi holds an MA in Sustainable Development Management from Sunway University. His interest lies in sustainable development, biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation and natural resources management. He had worked as an environmental consultant where he led several projects on strategic planning, policy preparation, land use planning and technical studies. He also served as a resource person for the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on Sustainable Development Goals (APPGM-SDG).

Prof Aries A. Arugay

Department of Political Science
University of The Philippines Diliman
The Philippines

Arugay is editor-in-chief of Asian Politics & Policy, an academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell and member of the board of trustees of the Foundation for the National Interest, Inc, a new independent think-tank based in Manila. His research interests are comparative democratisation, civil-military relations, electoral politics and foreign policy. In 2020, the National Academy of Science and Technology of the Philippines awarded him as an outstanding young scientist (political science) for his “contributions to research in political science and in particular for the study of democratisation processes, security sector reform, and strategic studies in the Philippines and Asia”.

Dr Ling Hui Tan

Group head and lead economist, regional surveillance
Asean Macroeconomic Research Office

Farlina Said

Senior analyst, ISIS Malaysia

Farlina’s work and comments have appeared in the local and international media, such as New Straits Times and South China Morning Post. She was involved in crafting various dialogues and forums on cybersecurity, radicalisation and Malaysia-Korea relations. She was also a part of SEARCCT’s Experts on Violent Extremism and Community Engagement (EVOKE) Council (2018-2019).

Edmund Cheong Peck Huang

Chief strategy & transformation officer
Social Security Organisation (Perkeso)

Edmund Cheong Peck Huang is currently the Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer of the Social Security Organization (PERKESO) of Malaysia. Prior to this he was the Deputy CEO of the PERKESO Tun Razak Rehabilitation Centre. He was also instrumental to the implementation of PERKESO’s ICT Core Systems. Edmund is also given the responsibility to be PERKESO’s Project Lead for drafting the National Blueprint for Social Wellbeing alongside with experts from the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), Bank Negara (Malaysian Central Bank) and other social security agencies. The National Blueprint for Social Wellbeing is an initiative of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office in coordinating and improving social protection for all Malaysians. He is currently a technical committee member of the Malaysian Social Protection Council (MySPC).

Dr Rachel Gong

Deputy director of research
Khazanah Research Institute

Dr Gong’s ongoing research focuses on digital policy, including digital inclusion, the digital economy, and digital governance. She leads the team that produced KRI’s book on digital policy issues, #NetworkedNation: Navigating Challenges, Realising Opportunities of Digital Transformation.

Prof Emeritus Datuk Norma Mansor

Director
Social Wellbeing Research Centre,
Universiti Malaya

Professor Norma is the director of the Social Wellbeing Research Centre (SWRC) at the Faculty of Economics and Administration, Universiti Malaya. She is also a professor at the Department of Administrative Studies and Politics at the faculty, where she served as dean from 2004-2009. She was also a Ragnar Nurkse visiting professor at Talinn University of Technology, Estonia, in 2015. Her research interests cover public and social policy, governance and social protection.

Lee Hwok Aun

Senior fellow
ISEAS Yusof Ishak

Dr Lee was previously a senior lecturer in development studies at the Universiti Malaya and authored Affirmative Action in Malaysia and South Africa: Preference for Parity (Routledge, 2021) and has written various ISEAS perspective and trends articles on Malaysia’s affirmative action, inequality, education and labour.

Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi

Herizal Hazri

Chief Executive
Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia

As chief executive of the country’s premier think-tank, Herizal determines the institute’s strategic direction. This includes designing ISIS Malaysia’s research and engagement programmes, building its research and policy development capabilities, and managing relationships with the government, private sector, civil society organisations, diplomatic community and other think-tanks. Herizal also leads the institute’s Track-Two diplomacy through the Asean Institutes of Strategic and International Studies (Asean-ISIS), Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.

Prof Dr Norbert Lammert

Chairman
Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. V., Germany

Dr Lammert was appointed the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung chairman in January 2018. As an active participant of German politics for nearly four decades, he helped to shape important offices. He served as president of the German Bundestag for 12 years. In the governments of Helmut Kohl, he served as parliamentary state secretary in the Ministries of Education and Science, Economic Affairs and Transport. In 2003, Lammert was awarded a lectureship for political science at the Ruhr University Bochum, which appointed him honorary professor in 2008. His numerous publications deal with social, economic and cultural policy issues.

Dr Frederick Kliem

Research Fellow and Lecturer, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS)
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Dr Kliem is with the Centre for Multilateralism Studies at RSIS and his main research interests are regional integration and multilateralism, and the geopolitics of Asia and Europe. Among his research projects are the study of Asean and EU institutions, inter-regionalism and comparative regionalism, and European Indo-Pacific engagement. His latest book is Great power competition and order building in the Indo-Pacific: towards a new Indo-Pacific equilibrium and his new edited volume on Asean, The Elgar companion to Asean, is forthcoming in late 2022.

Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob

Prime Minister of Malaysia

Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the ninth Malaysian prime minister, was appointed to the post on 21 August 2021. Ismail was named as deputy prime minister in July 2021 and had served as opposition leader. He is the Bera MP, which he has represented since 2004. He was the former minister of defence; youth and sports; domestic trade, cooperatives and consumerism; and, rural and regional development.

Dr Rahul Mishra

Director
Centre for Asean Regionalism Universiti Malaya (CARUM), Malaysia

Dr Mishra specialises in politico-security affairs of the Southeast and East Asian region, Asean-EU regionalism, comparative regionalism and the role of major and middle powers in the Indo-Pacific, especially in the context of the China-US competition. He is a columnist with Deutsche Welle, Germany and has appeared in The Japan Times, CNA, New Straits Times, The Jakarta Post, Financial Times, The Indian Express, Sunday Guardian, Deccan Herald, The Star (Malaysia, Kenya), ASPI, RUSI and Lowy Institute. His latest publications include Asia and Europe in the 21st century: new anxieties, new opportunities, and India’s Eastward Engagement from Antiquity to Act East Policy. He is also the coordinator of the European Studies programme at Asia-Europe Institute, Universiti Malaya.

H.E. Stuart Calman

New Zealand Ambassador to Asean

Calman has been part of the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry since 2013, where he has held leadership roles in the Pacific and development group, including overseeing global development, scholarships and as a special adviser. He has extensive experience in climate change and development issues. His previous postings included Canberra and as deputy head of mission in Beijing.

Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah

Foreign Minister
Malaysia

Saifuddin is the Indera Mahkota MP and has served as communications and multimedia minister and deputy higher education minister. Saifuddin is an advocate of new politics, youth empowerment and social entrepreneurship. He actively promotes basketball and debate and is the founder of the Women’s National Basketball League and co-founder of the Malaysian universities’ royal debate. During his first tenure as foreign minister (2018-2020), he authored the Foreign Policy Framework of the New Malaysia, which served as Malaysia’s key foreign policy priorities. He has published eight books, the latest of which is New politics 2.0: multiracial and moderate Malaysian democracy (2017).

Dr Nguyen Nam Duong

Assoc Prof of Political Science
Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam

Nguyen is associate professor of political science at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) and deputy director-general of the DAV East Sea (South China Sea) Institute. He served as counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations (New York) from 2016 to 2019. His research interests include international relations in the Indo-Pacific, security and maritime issues in Southeast Asia, and foreign policy of Vietnam.

H.E. Ambassador Dr Justin Lee

Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia

Lee is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was most recently first assistant secretary of the multilateral policy division. He has served as head of mission in Bangladesh, and deputy head of mission in Jakarta and Port Moresby. Lee holds a PhD in development studies and a BA (hons) in jurisprudence from Adelaide University and a graduate diploma in foreign affairs and trade from Monash University.

Assoc Prof Simon Tay

Chairman
Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA)

Tay is a public intellectual and adviser to major corporations and policymakers. He is currently an associate professor at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law; senior consultant with WongPartnership, a leading regional law firm; and ambassador for Singapore. He had served on boards of leading global companies, including MUFG Bank of Japan, Toyota Japan and Deutsche Boerse (Asia), and was a corporate adviser to Temasek Holdings. He was chairman of the National Environment Agency and a nominated MP.

H.E. Ambassador Ouyang Yujing

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Malaysia

Ouyang arrived in Malaysia in December 2020. He previously served as director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee (2017-2020), deputy director-general and subsequently director-general of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs (2009-2017). Ouyang has held various positions in the Department of Treaty and Law, including as counsellor.

Assoc Prof Dr Hoang Anh Tuan

Chair, Asean-ISIS Network;
Vice-President, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam

Dr Hoang was the former director-general of the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies and has published dozens of articles in foreign and Vietnamese journals on Vietnam’s foreign policy, politics and security in Southeast Asia, and American and China’s policies towards the East and Southeast Asia. He is the author/co-author of several books on the same subjects. He was also the former ambassador to Indonesia and served as minister counsellor at the Embassy of Vietnam in Washington DC, and non-resident ambassador to Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.

Dr Yose Rizal Damuri

Executive Director
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Indonesia

Dr Yose’s research activities focus on international trade, regional integration and the globalisation of value chain. He is active in many networks of research institutes in East Asia, such as in Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), ERIA Research Institutes Network (ERIA-RIN) and Think 20, the think-tank network of G20 countries. He is now serving as co-chair of the Indonesia National Committee of Pacific Economic Cooperation (INPEC) and member of the governing board of Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (ERIA).

Prof Justin Yifu Lin

Dean, Institute of New Structural Economics
Peking University, People’s Republic of China

Lin is dean of Institute of New Structural Economics and Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development, and professor and honorary dean of National School of Development at Peking University. He was a former senior vice-president and chief economist at the World Bank. He is the author of more than 20 books, including Justin Yifu Lin on China’s economy; Beating the odds: jump-starting developing countries; Going beyond aid: development cooperation for structural transformation; Against the consensus: reflections on the Great Recession; and Demystifying the Chinese economy.

Assoc Prof Asei Ito

Institute of Social Science
University of Tokyo, Japan

Ito is one of the editors of The Asian Economy: Contemporary Issues and Challenges (Routledge, 2020). His research covers the Chinese industrial development, China’s outward FDI activities and innovation in Asia. Related works to this talk include Japan’s economic pragmatism: cooperating and competing with China, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Strategic Japan 2021 programme discussion paper, and China’s belt and road initiative and Japan’s response: from non-participation to conditional engagement, East Asia, 36 (2019): 115-128.

Prof Jane Golley

College of Asia & the Pacific
Australian National University (ANU)

Golley is an economist in the Arndt-Corden Department of Economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy at ANU. Her inter-disciplinary research focuses on the Chinese economy, including the economic geography of China’s industrial development, the economic impacts of demographic change and more recently, China’s growing geoeconomic capabilities and the impact of its bilateral political relations on patterns of trade. She is currently an executive member of the Australia China Business Council and an advisory board member for the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Sangmin Nam

Director, Environment and Development Division
United Nations ESCAP, Thailand

Dr Nam was appointed director, UNESCAP Environment and Development Division, in April. Prior to the current assignment, he served as deputy head, UNESCAP East and North-East Asia office and environmental affairs officer at the UNESCAP headquarters and ENEA office. He was a former lecturer at Hanyang University in Seoul and has served as an expert member of the presidential commission on sustainable development and northeast Asian cooperation initiative of the Republic of Korea. He is a founding member of Green Korea United, a leading environmental civil society group.

Dr Chhinh Nyda

Lecturer, Department of Economic Development
Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Dr Nyda teaches statistics, quantitative research methods, applied research, geographical information systems and research methodology in Royal University of Phnom Penh. His current research projects include education, environment and disaster risk management, climate change, agroecology, and market research. In the area of climate change, the research is related to drought early warning systems in Cambodia, climate vulnerability assessment, agricultural techniques for drought resilience and the role of social entrepreneurship for drought resilience communities.

Polly Hemming

Adviser
The Australia Institute

Hemming is an adviser in the climate and energy programme at The Australia Institute. She has more than a decade’s experience working in policy, marketing and academic publishing roles for both not-for-profit and government sectors. Her current work focuses on the involvement of the fossil fuel industry in carbon markets and the subsequent social licence and claims these markets afford the industry. A recent area of research is the impact of Australia’s Indo-Pacific carbon offsetting scheme and global carbon markets on the Indo-Pacific region.

Tom Moody

Regional Director Southeast Asia, Climate and Energy
British High Commission, Singapore

Moody oversees the UK government’s climate change and clean energy strategy in the Asean region, and mobilisation of regional policy, development programming and commercial work to deliver it. This includes directing the UK’s unique network of climate change and policy attachés across Southeast Asia, who carry out policy advisory and engagement to raise ambition across the region. His career included overseeing the £50 million portfolio of prosperity fund programmes of technical assistance in the South Africa region, UK Overseas Territories, and domestic policy on education, justice and police accountability.

H.E. Ambassador Michalis Rokas

Head
European Union Delegation to Malaysia

Rokas has 26 years’ experience in the field of foreign affairs, having joined the European Commission External Relations Directorate General in 1994. His previous postings include chargé d’affaires a.i. and head of EU Delegation to New Zealand, first secretary of the European Commission’s Office in Hong Kong and Macau and head of the China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Mongolia division at the European External Action Service.

Dr Maria Thaemar C. Tana

Asst Prof, Department of Political Science
University of The Philippines Diliman

Dr Tana’s research focuses on Japanese foreign policy, Philippine external relations, human security and peacebuilding. She obtained her PhD at the National University of Singapore in 2019.

Dell Higgie

Former Ambassador for Disarmament
New Zealand

Higgie was a career diplomat and international law specialist with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) until her retirement in 2021. She has served as international trade law adviser (responsible for all WTO litigation) and New Zealand’s first ambassador for counter-terrorism and director of MFAT’s international security and disarmament division. In the 12 years before her retirement, she was New Zealand’s global ambassador for disarmament. During this time, she was president of the Conference on Disarmament in 2015 and served as chair of the missile technology control regime. She remains as an ambassador-at-large for MFAT and chair of the Geneva-based Voluntary Trust Fund for the Arms Trade Treaty.

Dr Tong Zhao

Senior Fellow
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, People’s Republic of China

Dr Tong is based in Beijing, where he conducts research on strategic security issues, such as nuclear weapons policy, deterrence, arms control, non-proliferation, missile defence, hypersonic weapons, and China’s security and foreign policy. He is an associate editor of the journal Science & Global Security and is a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials. Tong also serves on the board of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) and on the advisory board of the Missile Dialogue Initiative. He is the author of Tides of change: China’s nuclear ballistic missile submarines and strategic stability and Narrowing the US-China gap on missile defence: how to help forestall a nuclear arms race.

Dr Manpreet Sethi

Distinguished Fellow
Centre for Air Power Studies, India

Dr Manpreet has worked on nuclear energy, strategy, arms control and disarmament. She is author and editor of eight books and more than 120 papers. She lectures regularly at National Defence College and other establishments of Indian armed forces, police, foreign services and universities. She is a regular participant at policy conferences, Track Two initiatives and the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). She sits on the board of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) and is co-chair of Women in Nuclear – India.

Andhika Yudha Prawira

Lecturer, Department of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics
Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

Andhika is a PhD candidate on nuclear engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), South Korea. His research interests include nuclear security, nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear energy modelling. His research in nuclear security includes the potential security impact and proliferation resistance of small and modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced nuclear technology. He is also acting as president of the Institute of Nuclear Material Management (INMM) KAIST student chapter and a former summer fellow at Nuclear Non-proliferation Education and Research Centre (NEREC) KAIST.

Melissa Conley Tyler

Programme Lead
Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue (AP4D), Australia

Tyler brings decades of experience in Australian foreign policy to her role as programme lead of the newly established AP4D. For 13 years she served as national executive director of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA). Under her leadership, the AIIA was recognised for three years running as the top think-tank in Southeast Asia/Pacific. In 2017, she co-authored Think Tank Diplomacy, the first book-length discussion of the role of policy institutes in the international sphere.

Dr Sarah Teo

Asst Prof, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS)
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Teo’s research interests include multilateral security and defence cooperation in Asean and the Asia-Pacific, middle powers in the Asia-Pacific, as well as IR theory. She is the co-author of Security strategies of middle powers in the Asia Pacific (Melbourne University Publishing, 2018) and co-editor of Minilateralism in the Indo-Pacific: the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism, and Asean (Routledge, 2020). Her articles have also been published in peer-reviewed journals, including International Theory, The Pacific Review, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, and Australian Journal of International Affairs.

Dr Dino Patti Djalal

Founder
Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia

Dr Dino is a former deputy foreign minister, Indonesian ambassador to the US and served as the presidential spokesman for president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from 2004 to 2010. Dino recently founded the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), which has become the largest foreign policy group in the country. He also founded the Congress of Indonesian Diaspora in 2012.

Dr Kogila Balakrishnan

Director, Client and Business Development (International) at WMG
University of Warwick

Dr Kogila Balakrishnan is the director for client and business development (international) at WMG, University of Warwick. Kogila is a consultant and adviser with cross-sector experience in technology offsets, defence and security industrial strategy and collaboration. She is an adjunct professor at the Malaysian Defence University and a fellow at the Institute for International & Strategic Studies (ISIS) Malaysia.

Izzah Khairina Ibrahim

Analyst, ISIS Malaysia

Izzah is interested in topics such as the internal and external regional dynamics of Southeast Asia, nuclear politics, and the role of intelligence in security. She interned with ISIS Malaysia in 2015.

Dr Robert Hercock

Chief research scientist, BT

Dr Hercock has more than 20 years’ experience in leading security research projects in the UK and was theme leader for cybersecurity in the UK MOD Information Fusion Defence Technology Centre. His research interests include cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and complex adaptive systems. He has written on AI and security concepts and frequently provides expert advice to the government on defence, cybersecurity and AI issues. In 2020, he was appointed fellow at the Oxford Changing Character of Warfare Centre, Pembroke College.

Satoru Kumagai

Director
Economic Geography Studies Group
Institute of Development Economics (IDE-JETRO)

Satoru Kumagai is the director of economic geography studies group in IDE-JETRO and the lead programmer for its geographical simulation model. He researches on issues around international trade and economic development in East Asia, focusing on the Malaysian economy and middle-income trap. He was a former visiting research fellow at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) and works as a specialist to evaluate transport infrastructure development projects for the Asian Development Bank and World Bank.

Dr William Choong

Senior fellow
Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme
ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute
Singapore

Choong is senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore and managing editor of Fulcrum, the institute’s commentary website focused on Southeast Asia and its wider environment. He was Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) from 2013 to 2020. Prior to joining IISS, Choong was a senior writer at The Straits Times, where he focused on defence, diplomacy and US policy in Asia.

HE Kasit Piromya

Former foreign minister;
Senior fellow, Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Chulalongkorn University
Thailand

Kasit was Thailand’s former foreign minister from 2008 to 2011. A former diplomat with a 37-year career, he is now actively involved with civil society organisations, focusing on the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers as well as religious beliefs in a democratic context.

Tan Sri Rastam Mohd Isa

Former secretary-general, Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
Former chairman & chief executive, ISIS Malaysia

Rastam is former secretary-general of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Malaysia. He has served as high commissioner to Pakistan, ambassador to Bosnia Herzegovina and to the Republic of Indonesia, and permanent representative to the United Nations in New York. He has also served as chairman and chief executive of the Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia.

Tan Sri Munir Majid

Chairman
Asean Business Advisory Council
Malaysia

Munir is currently chairman of the Asean Business Advisory Council, Malaysia, of CARI Asean Research and Advocacy, as well as president of the Asean Business Club. He also sits on the ISIS board and the honorary council of advisers for EUROCHAM Malaysia, and is board chairman of the Institute for Capital Market Research Malaysia (ICMR). He is an active advocate of deeper Asean economic integration. He is an honorary fellow of LSE and visiting senior fellow at the Centre of International Affairs, Diplomacy and Strategy.

Dr Yuko Harayama

Executive director
RIKEN

Dr Yuko Harayama is executive director for international affairs, promotion of early career researchers and diversity at RIKEN, Japan’s largest research organisation for basic and applied science. Prior to joining RIKEN, she spent five years at the Cabinet Office of Japan as an Executive Member of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI). In this capacity, she represented Japan in different international science and technology meetings, including the G7 Science and Technology Ministers’ meeting. She is a Legion D’Honneur recipient (Chevalier) and was awarded honorary doctorate from the University of Neuchâtel.

Dr Rachel Gong

Senior research associate
Khazanah Research Institute

Dr Rachel Gong is a senior research associate at Khazanah Research Institute (KRI). Her ongoing research focuses on digital policy, including digital inclusion, the digital economy, and digital governance. She leads the team that produced KRI’s book on digital policy issues, “#NetworkedNation: Navigating Challenges, Realising Opportunities of Digital Transformation”. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and received her PhD in sociology from Stanford University.

Dr Prashanth Parameswaran

Dr Prashanth Parameswaran
Fellow
Wilson Center

Dr Prashanth Parameswaran is a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, based in Washington, DC, and a senior columnist at The Diplomat, one of Asia’s leading current affairs magazines. He has conducted grant-based field research on Southeast Asian politics and security issues across 11 countries in Southeast Asia, consulted for companies and governments, and taught courses affiliated with the US Department of Defence and the Department of State.

Elbridge Colby

Elbridge Colby
Co-founder and principal
The Marathon Initiative

Colby is co-founder and principal of The Marathon Initiative, a policy initiative focused on developing strategies to prepare the United States for an era of sustained power competition. He is the author of The Strategy of Denial: American Defence in an Age of Great Power Conflict, which The Wall Street Journal selected as one of the top 10 books of 2021. He was the former director of the defence programme at the Centre for a New American Security (CNAS) and served as deputy assistant secretary of defence. Colby led the development and rollout of the 2018 National Defence Strategy (NDS), which shifted focus to the challenges to US military superiority and interests posed by China and Russia. He was the Robert M. Gates senior fellow at the CNAS; principal analyst and division lead for global strategic affairs at CNA; and worked on strategic forces, arms control, WMD and intelligence reform matters.

Smita Kuriakose

Senior economist, The World Bank

Smita is based in the Malaysia  inclusive growth and sustainable finance  hub where she leads the programme on private sector development, innovation and entrepreneurship. Her expertise is in science, technology and innovation policy, skills development, business environment and competitiveness. She has led regional flagships publications in Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and Pacific and Africa on innovation and entrepreneurship issues and multi-sectoral operations of both development policy and investment policy instruments. Smita has also led policy dialogues on innovation and entrepreneurship in China, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Datuk  Fadzli  Abdul  Wahit   

Datuk  Fadzli  Abdul  Wahit   
Chief strategy officer
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)  

 Fadzli  has more than 30  years’ experience advising government and semi-government clients in Malaysia on policy development, economic and feasibility study, strategy planning and advisory, corporate restructuring and corporatisation  and privatisation  of public utilities industries. He  was a former partner/executive director at KPMG  Malaysia and  has  led  projects related to IT, project management, strategy and  business process and human resources.

Jacob Kurtzer

Director and Senior Fellow
Humanitarian Agenda

Kurtzer is director and senior fellow with the Humanitarian Agenda, an initiative that leverages the expertise of the Center for Strategic & International Studies to explore humanitarian challenges. Previously, he served as head of public and congressional affairs for the Washington Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, representing the ICRC to a broad spectrum of audiences in the United States and Canada.

Jerald Joseph

Commissioner
National Human Rights Commission Malaysia (SUHAKAM)

Joseph has been a human rights defender and trainer consultant at both local and international levels. He served as a member of various human rights organisations, including the Commonwealth Foundation, Asian South Pacific Bureau for Adult Education, Asia-Pacific NGO Steering Committee of World Conference against Racism. He is presently a board member and adviser of the Anti-racism and Non-Discrimination Programme of Pusat Komunikasi Masyarakat, and was appointed as a Commissioner of SUHAKAM in June 2016 for the term 2016-2019.

Harris Zainul

Senior analyst, ISIS Malaysia

Harris’ primary research areas include policy responses to mis- and dis-information; the consequences of mis- and dis-information on democracy and society; and Southeast Asian and Malaysian politics, human rights, and democratisation. His other research areas include China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Asean-Korea relations, and the geopolitics of the Mekong River.

Dr Hoo Chiew-Ping

Senior lecturer, School of History, Politics and Strategic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Dr Hoo is senior lecturer in the Strategic Studies and International Relations Programme at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Her main research interests include Korean Peninsula issues, international relations theory, and relations between Southeast Asia and the two Koreas. Hoo was editor of The New Southern Policy: Catalyst for Deepening Asean-ROK Relations (ISIS Malaysia, 2020) and co-editor of a forthcoming volume on North Korea-Southeast Asia relations.

Dr Roy Anthony Rogers

Dr Rogers is senior lecturer with the Department of International and Strategic Studies, Universiti Malaya. He has also taught at the Malaysian Armed Forces Staff College and the Malaysian Defence Armed Forces College. His area of specialisation includes political science, international relations and history (China and Central Asia). His research interests are government and politics of the Central Asian republics and human rights conditions in Xinjiang.

Aaron Denison Deivasagayam

PhD candidate, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University

Aaron served as an international programme officer at the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur between June 2019 and June 2021. He has also worked as a social research officer at the Centre for Asean Regionalism Universiti Malaya and Asia-Europe Institute, UM. His research interests are in Korean studies, inter-Korean relations, regionalism in the European Union, Asean and the Pacific Islands, and Malaysian and Japanese politics.

Dato’ Steven Wong

MASK Network member

Wong is former deputy chief executive and board member of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia. He is now an independent researcher and consultant on human security and political economic matters, as well as a mental health practitioner in training.

Dr Danial Mohd Yusof

Associate professor, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia

Dr Danial is associate professor at the Department of Political Science, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, IIUM. He is chief editor of Intellectual Discourse Journal of IIUM, and an editorial board member of Jurnal Parlimen Malaysia and Al-Shajarah Journal. He is also principal researcher for the Extremism Analytical Research Unit and project leader of the award-winning flagship project on peacebuilding and civilisational development or 2LEAD4PEACE. The project focuses on creating platform, bridging the gap and capacity building for PCVE (preventing and countering violent extremism) stakeholders. Danial is also Malaysian coordinator for collaborative research between IIUM and the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, University of Maryland.

Dr Ko Young Kyung

Senior research fellow, Institute of Social Sciences, Seoul National University

Dr Ko is currently a senior research fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, Seoul National University and adjunct senior lecturer, Sunway University Business School in Malaysia. She is the author of Asean Super App War and Future Growth Market Asean, which are the first Korean books to analyse tech firms and business environment and market trends with many business cases in Asean. She has conducted research on directors’ remuneration, corporate reforms and mutual fund performance in Malaysia and has extended her research work across the whole area of emerging and frontier markets.

Dr Zokhri Idris

Director, External Relations, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs

Dr Zokhri has held some academic positions in international relations (IR) research and teaching, serving as the deputy dean of student affairs at Management and Science University. His area of research focuses on the changing nature of diplomacy and sovereignty of developing nations, especially Malaysia. This led to the establishment of Eirene Research to explore leadership and diplomacy in IR. He co-founded ARUS, an avenue to nurture talents and empowerment for Malaysian youth. He is now the director of external relations at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, Malaysia (IDEAS).

Dr Kim Hyung Jong

Associate professor, Department of International Relations, Yonsei University Wonju Campus

Dr Kim is an associate professor in the Department of International Relations at Yonsei University Wonju Campus. Before joining Yonsei University, he served as an assistant professor in the Department of International Relations at Changwon National University and as a senior lecturer in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Universiti Malaya. His research areas include Asean and East Asian regionalism. He has authored a number of journal articles and presented papers at domestic and international conferences on regionalism and normative matters in international relations.

Dr Peter Ngeow Chow Bing

Director, Institute of China Studies, Universiti Malaya

Dr Ngeow is director of the Institute of China Studies at Universiti Malaya. He is the editor of Researching China in Southeast Asia (Routledge, 2019) and Southeast Asia and China: Exercises in Mutual Socialisation (World Scientific, 2017, together with Lowell Dittmer). Ngeow has also written more than 40 articles in scholarly journals and book chapters and published short pieces in South China Morning Post, East Asia Forum and Channel News Asia.

Dr Lee Jaehyon

Senior fellow and director, External Relations Department, Asan Institute for Policy Studies

Dr Lee is a senior fellow and director of the External Relations Department at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. He is also a member of advisory groups for the Foreign Ministry and for the Presidential Committee on New Southern Policy. Lee focuses on Southeast Asian politics and international relations, East Asian regional cooperation, and non-traditional and human security issues. His recent publications include South Korea and The South China Sea (2016), A South Korean Perspective on the Potential Contributions and Limitations of the ADMM-Plus (2016), and What Asia Wants from the US: Voices from the Region (2018).

Dr Nurliana Kamaruddin

Deputy executive director (academic), Asia-Europe Institute, Universiti Malaya

Dr Nurliana is deputy executive director (academic) at the Asia-Europe Institute, Universiti Malaya. Her area of research includes international politics and development with a focus on Asean and East Asian relations. She was a recipient of the Korea Foundation Asean fellowship (2013-2015), Posco TJ Park Foundation Asia fellowship (2009-2011) and Ewha global partnership programme scholarship (2006-2009). She is the co-editor of Asean Post-50: Emerging Issues and Challenges (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).

Tan Sri Dr Jemilah Mahmood

Professor and director, Sunway Centre for Planetary Health in Malaysia

Dr Jemilah is a medical professional with more than 20 years’ experience managing crises in health, disasters and conflict settings. She is currently professor and director of the newly established Sunway Centre for Planetary Health. She is also the pro-chancellor of Herriot-Watt University Malaysia. She served as special adviser to the prime minister on public health from April 2020-September 2021. She was also a member of the government’s Economic Action Council and sits on the Malaysian Climate Action Council and Consultative Council for Foreign Policy.

Tan Sri Dr Munir Majid

Chairman, Asean Business Advisory Council Malaysia

Dr Munir is currently the chairman of Asean Business Advisory Council, Malaysia, CARI Asean Research and Advocacy, and president of the Asean Business Club. He also sits on the board of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia, is board chairman of the Institute for Capital Market Research Malaysia (ICMR) and is on the honorary council of advisers for EUROCHAM Malaysia. He is an active advocate of deeper Asean economic integration.

H.E. Lee Chi Beom

Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Malaysia

Ambassador Lee was a former environment minister (2006-2007). He has held various senior appointments in the field of environment, including secretary-general of the Korean Federation for Environment Movement, head of Korea Institute for Social and Environmental Policy, and president of Korea Environment and Resources Corporation. Prior to the posting as ambassador to Malaysia in 2019, Lee was chairman of the Northeast Asia Peace Economic Association of Korea.

Yanitha Meena

Meena is a researcher at the Foreign Policy and Security Studies programme. Her research interests include political psychology, comparative regionalism, South Asian, Southeast Asian and European studies and domestic affairs, such as social welfare and gender-responsive policymaking. Meena is now a doctoral candidate at UM, focused on non-Western international relations.

Tashny Sukumaran

Tashny is a senior analyst at the Foreign Policy and Security Studies programme. Her research interests include domestic politics, labour migration, gender parity and equality, and the regional role and position of international human rights mechanisms. She is the founder of 50-50 Malaysia, a tool to connect policymakers, journalists and members of the public with female experts in, on or from Malaysia.

Sangetha Jayakumar

National vice women chief
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)

Sangetha is passionate about levelling the playing field for women and lifting the gender and race barriers in Malaysian politics. She founded Lead Up Malaysia, a social enterprise with the objective of upskilling and motivating B40 women and girls. She is the vice-chief of PKR Wanita.

Prof Ana María Salazar

Area director
Social Innovation Area
University Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid

Salazar brings an extensive professional experience in government and international organisations. She began her career as a lawyer, a director-general of tourism and chief executive of the school of tourism of Spain’s Ministry of Economy. Her career continued as a law professor at Rey Juan Carlos University. In 2013, she moved to New York to serve as senior adviser to UN Women. A year later, she became the director of the Foundation Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid. Salazar has directed numerous development projects on capacity building, gender policies, governance, and economic empowerment of women. At present, Salazar is the general coordinator of the Spanish cooperation in Egypt, focusing on access to justice and the democratic transition of the country.

Prof James Salzman

Salzman is the Donald Bren distinguished professor of environmental law with joint appointments at the UCLA School of Law and at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara. In 12 books and more than 100 articles and book chapters, he has addressed topics, such as drinking water, trade and environment conflicts, ownership engineering, and creating markets for ecosystem services. Before entering academia, he worked in Paris in the environment directorate of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and in London, as the European environmental manager for Johnson Wax.

Datuk Nicole Wong

Youth chairman, Malaysian Chinese Association

Wong is a politician serving as the national youth chairman and Federal Territory state liaison committee at MCA. She is the first female MCA Youth chair in its 63-year history. Wong joined MCA in 2001. She started her political career as acting director of the youth bureau of MCA women’s wing from 2008 to 2013 while working as personal assistant to a former deputy minister. When MCA youth’s wing was first opened to females in 2013, Wong was elected as vice-chairman. In the same year, she ran in the Seputeh parliamentary seat in GE13. In November 2018, she made history as the first female MCA Youth chief. Wong sits as a board member and director of the Human Resources Development Corporation.

Assoc Prof Dr Zainal Abidin Sanusi

Director, Sejahtera Centre, International Islamic University Malaysia

Zainal is the director of Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity, International Islamic University Malaysia, while serving as an associate professor at the Department of Political Science, Kuliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Science. His area of academic specialisation is international political economy and he has a strong interest in education for sustainable development. He has participated in several international workshops and conferences on the subject as both speaker and discussant. His current research interests are sustainability science, education for sustainable development and public policy analysis.

Dr Subatra Jayaraj

Primary care physician, Klinik Rakyat PJ

Subatra is a doctor with experience in anaesthesia and intensive care. Her MA in International Development Studies focused on barriers to maternal and child healthcare access in migrant populations. At present, she runs a primary care women’s clinic focusing on sexual and reproductive health in Petaling Jaya. She has worked at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific based in Bangkok, where she focused on the 20-year review of the ICPD programme of action. She was the vice-resident of AWAM (2018-2020) and cureently the President of the Reproductive Rights Advocacy Alliance Malaysia.

Dr Apurva Sanghi

Lead economist, The World Bank

Apurva is the lead economist for the Russian Federation, based in Moscow. Apurva led the economic growth cluster of the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Department when he was based in Washington. His comment pieces have appeared in Financial Times; The Economist; Project Syndicate, and popular blogs, such as the World Bank’s and Brookings. Apurva is also a lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on Extreme Events and was the team leader for the joint World Bank–UN flagship project on the economics of disasters.

Tengku Nur Qistina

Senior researcher, ISIS Malaysia

Tengku Qistina focuses on women and gender issues. She writes on domestic violence, women’s policies and women’s empowerment and is inspired by her voluntary work in Kelantan, where she develops programmes for her family’s foundation. Her social work has also exposed her to the vast rural-urban divide and women’s role and vulnerability. She has written extensively on the subject in her New Straits Times column since 2016. She is also founder of the Network of Women in Foreign Affairs and Security (WISEA) in Malaysia.

Dr Deborah Elms

Founder and executive director, Asian Trade Centre

Qyira Yusri

Co-founder and education director, UNDI18

Qyira is the co-founder and education director of #Undi18, a grassroots movement spearheaded by a group of young people who lobbied successfully the government to amend Article 119(1) of the constitution to reduce the minimum voting age in Malaysia from 21 to 18. Qyira is a fellow at the Institut Für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) and a democracy discourse fellow at the De La Salle University. She was recently listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 for her work in social impact. With #Undi18, she leads the voter education initiatives by creating workshop modules and content to ensure that by GE15, Malaysian youth are prepared to vote. Some of the programmes and initiatives include Parlimen Digital, Seeds for Democracy and Youth Defence Summit

Intan Nadia Jalil

Regional head, Group Economics and Market Analysis, CIMB

Intan is the regional head, Group Economics and Market Analysis, CIMB Bank. She was previously the CEO of PNB Research Institute, associate director of economics at the Malaysian Aviation Commission and deputy director of research at Khazanah Research Institute. Nadia has 17 years’ experience in macroeconomics research and in developing comprehensive economic development policies, strategies, and plans in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Jasmine Irisha

Climate Consultant
UNICEF

Prof Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria

Senior fellow, ISIS Malaysia

Denison holds a PhD in sociology from Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom and was a Chevening scholar. He is the head of the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on Sustainable Development Goals (APPGM-SDG). He is also a member of the Shared Prosperity Action Council, National Unity Advisory Council, National Science Council, EPU poverty circle and SDG national steering council.

Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim

Batang Lupar MP; APPGM-SDG chairman

Rohani is the MP for the Batang Lupar constituency in Sarawak, representing the United Traditional Bumiputera Party (PBB). In 2013, she served as women, family and community development minister, and has also served as deputy agriculture and agro-based industry minister and deputy domestic trade, cooperatives and consumerism minister. As MP, she is known for her friendly personality in the Batang Lupar area. She was elected chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group of Malaysia on Sustainable Development Goals (APPGM-SDG) in August 2020 and is a member of the Special Independent Committee on Emergency 2021.

Calvin Cheng

Senior analyst, ISIS Malaysia

Cheng is a senior analyst in the Institute of Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia. His primary research interests include economic growth and development, international trade and social assistance. Some of his recent work focused on the unequal labour market impacts of the Covid-19 crisis in Malaysia and the economic responses to the pandemic. He has also covered topics, such as the impacts of the US-China trade conflict on the region and the design of cash-transfer programmes like Malaysia’s BSH/BR1M. His work has appeared in international and domestic publications and he is regularly featured in various media outlets.

Saraya Mia

Broadcast journalist, Astro Awani

Saraya writes and reads news for Astro Awani’s Awani Tonight. She covers current affairs and is passionate about the environment and wildlife, women, children, youth empowerment and education. Saraya reaches the youth through educational and entertainment content created on TikTok and Instagram, as she is a believer in youth power to push for change.

Maria Chin Abdullah

Petaling Jaya MP; APPGM-SDG vice-chairman

Maria has worked for women’s rights for more than 30 years and played a key role in lobbying for the Domestic Violence Act 1994 and laws related to violence against women. As the former executive director of Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower), she worked with marginalised communities, such as low-income women and indigenous communities. A strong advocate for electoral and institutional reforms, she led the Bersih 4 and Bersih 5 rallies for free and fair elections. Just before Bersih 5 in 2016, the former Bersih 2.0 chairman was detained without trial under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 for 11 days in solitary confinement. In 2018, Maria won the Petaling Jaya seat. As an MP, she continues to advocate for a life of dignity for all Malaysians.

Aiza Azreen Ahmad

Chief digital business officer, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation

Aiza brings more than 20 years’ experience and expertise to strengthen MDEC’s resolve to lead Malaysia’s digital economy forward. She oversees and steers the digital adoption ecosystem in e-commerce, business digital adoption, data ecosystem development and digital infrastructure. Aiza also leads external innovation opportunities to expand commercial strategies and build corporate business and innovations for MDEC.

Dr Lurong Chen

Senior economist, Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia

Chen holds a PhD in international economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. His research interests include international trade and development, digital economy and Asian regionalism. He advises governments, international organisations, and the private sector on development issues related to digitalisation and regional integration.

Dr Juita Mohamad

Dr Juita Mohamad
Indo Pacific Fellow
Perth USAsia Centre

Ms Azleyna Ariffin

Principal assistant director
Cyber Integration Legal Division, National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA)

Azleyna’s division is responsible for developing and implementing strategic plans to enhance Malaysia’s cyber laws to address current and emerging threats, and to enhance the capacity and capability of cybercrime enforcement.  Azleyna was a former deputy director at the Network Security Management Department, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). She is currently chairman of the Malaysia Working Group on Information Security Management Systems WG/G/5-1, organised as a mirror committee to the international ISO/IEC JTC1 SC27 WG1 committee. 

Ms Jennifer Stockwell

National Cyber Security Principal
Telstra Australia

Stockwell leads Telstra’s national cyber security team, covering cyber policy, strategic intelligence, critical infrastructure regulation, agency engagement and nationally significant cyber initiatives. Before joining Telstra, she was director of cybercrime intelligence in the Australian Cyber Security Centre. Leveraging on her deep understanding of cyber attacker motivations and capabilities, she helps senior executives apply a national security lens to their risk programmes and advises the government on maximising industry capabilities to keep the nation cyber safe. She is a board director of the Australian Women in Security Network and a member of RMIT’s industry advisory board on cyber.

Mr Rajiv Shah

Fellow
International Cyber Policy Centre
Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Rajiv has worked in the cyber, intelligence and security business for more than 20 years, over which time he has seen the internet evolve from an academic curiosity to today’s hyperconnected world. He now leads his own consulting business, MDR Security, providing advisory services to government and businesses to grow capacity and capability through building partnerships. Rajiv’s experience spans a broad range of business and technical domains, with roles in business analysis, technical architecture, programme delivery, operational management, strategy, business transformation, client relationship management and more. He is based in Canberra, Australia.

Mr Edwin Yapp

Freelance journalist;
Consultant, Tech Research Asia;
Owner, InSight Editorial Services

Yapp first cut his teeth as a cellular radio frequency optimisation engineer in one of Malaysia’s largest telcos 25 years ago. After more than five years, he became a tech reporter at The Star In.Tech, where he won several awards for best online technology reporting. Yapp left to start his own editorial consultancy 15 years ago and five years ago, became a freelance executive consultant at Tech Research Asia, based in Australia. He is also a freelance journalist for international publications, such as IDG, Computer Weekly, Forbes Asia and Digital News Asia.

Dr Tobias Feakin

Cyber affairs and Critical technologies
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
Australia

Feakin is Australia’s inaugural ambassador for cyber affairs and critical technology. He commenced as ambassador for cyber affairs in January 2017, before having the mandate expanded to reflect the central role that technology issues have in geopolitics. He leads Australia’s international engagement to advance and protect national security, foreign policy, economic and trade, and development interests in cyberspace and critical technology. Feakin was a member of the independent panel of experts that produced the 2016 cyber security strategy. Following that, he led the creation of the international cyber engagement strategy.

Tehmina Kaoosji

Independent broadcast journalist and gender activist

Tehmina has more than eight years of live breaking news and current affairs programming experience. Most recently, she has anchored Money Matters, TV3 Malaysia’s flagship financial talk show. She was with Bernama from 2014-2020, anchoring and producing special projects and annual highlights like the national budget and election coverage. She also anchored and produced Tea with Tehmina, Bernama Today and The Nation, focusing on topics of national and regional current affairs. Tehmina is a Thomson Reuters Foundation fellow and TedX Malaysia alumni. She is a versatile and experienced moderator of high-level debates and conferences on a wide range of subjects ranging from business to economy, technology, politics, women’s rights, sustainable development and media freedom.

Dr Helmy Haja Mydin

CEO, Social & Economic Research Initiative

Helmy is a consultant respiratory physician who heads the Lung Centre at Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Previously, as an associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, he co-founded Asthma Malaysia and is actively involved in national tobacco control policy work. One of 20 recipients worldwide of the Young Physician Leader award in 2015, Helmy is also the CEO of the Social & Economic Research Initiative (SERI), a think-tank that looks into the rising inequality from the intersection of technology and society.

Azrul Mohd Khalib

Chief executive, Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy

Azrul worked as a health development programme specialist for more than 19 years on issues related to social welfare, public health, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, gender-based violence and humanitarian assistance. He has served at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS); International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); Unicef and Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC). He is a writer and was a columnist at the Malay Mail and China Press. Azrul is currently a board member of the Centre to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4) based in Malaysia.

Dr Khor Swee Kheng

Visiting fellow, ISIS Malaysia

Khor is a physician with international experience in the public, private, non-profit and think-tank sectors. Currently, he specialises in health systems and policies and global health, holding fellowships at Chatham House, the United Nations University (UNU-IIGH) and ISIS Malaysia. Previously, he held senior practitioner roles in clinical medicine, refugee and disaster relief, clinical research, and pharma anti-corruption. He holds postgraduate degrees in internal medicine, public health and public policy.

Datuk Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman

Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya

Adeeba is the dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya and an adjunct associate professor at Yale University, US. Her research effort focuses on the intersection of HIV and substance use for which she has played several leading national, regional and international roles. She is a member of the World Health Organisation panel on health science and technology policy, president-elect of the International AIDS Society and a member of the UNAIDS panel on HIV. She played a key role in the establishment and remains actively involved in a regional HIV research network initiative – TREAT Asia. She was the recipient of the Tun Mahathir Science and Merdeka awards and the first recipient of the Australian Advance Global Award in the category of alumni in 2012.

Datuk Dr Anis Yusal Yusoff

Datuk Dr Anis Yusal Yusoff is principal fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA). He is currently on secondment as deputy director general of the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC) at the prime minister’s department.

He has served as director general of the National Integrity and Good Governance Department (JITN), and president and chief executive officer of the Malaysian Institute of Integrity (INTEGRITI).

Before joining KITA, Datuk Dr Anis had also spent more than ten years at the UNDP as well as at the United Nations Volunteers headquarters in Bonn, Germany from 1994-2005. He was a member of the election reform committee, and the investigation committee on governance, procurement and financial procedures.

Mr Brad Glosserman

Brad GLOSSERMAN is Deputy Director of and Visiting Professor at the Center for Rule-making Strategies, Tama University. He is also a Senior Adviser (nonresident) at Pacific Forum, in Honolulu Hi, where he served for 13 years (2004-2017) as executive director. Brad is author of Peak Japan: The End of Grand Ambitions (Georgetown University Press, 2019; a Korean edition was released in 2020 by Korean Copyright Center) and co-author (with Scott Snyder) of The Japan-South Korea Identity Clash (Columbia University Press 2015). He is the editor, with Tae-hyo Kim, of The Future of U.S.-Korea-Japan Relations: Balancing Values and Interests (CSIS, 2004). He was for 10 years a member of the editorial board of The Japan Times and continues to serve as a contributing editor. He writes a weekly column on foreign policy and international affairs for the paper. He has a JD from the George Washington University National Law Center, an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a BA from Reed College.

Dr Kei Koga

Koga is assistant professor at the Public Policy and Global Affairs Programme, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His current research focuses on Indo-Pacific security, including the transformation of US-bilateral security networks and Asean-led institutions.

He has published on topics that include East Asian security, US and Japanese foreign policies, the US-Japan alliance, and Asean. His recent publication includes a book Reinventing Regional Security Institutions in Asia and Africa (Routledge, 2017).

His current book project is Managing Great Power Politics: Asean, Institutional Strategy, and South China Sea.

Dr Nguyen Hung Son

Nguyen is vice-president of the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) and director-general of the East Sea (South China Sea) Institute. Prior to his current designation, Nguyen was deputy director-general of the Institute for Strategic Studies at the DAV. His research focused on major powers relations, regional security governance, maritime security and Vietnam’s foreign policy.

Nguyen also served as minister counsellor of the Vietnam Embassy in Ottawa, Canada (2015-2018) and second secretary of the Vietnam Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden (2004-2006).

He also served at the Asean department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during which period he extensively participated in regional summits, and had hands-on experience on many regional processes and issues involving Asean.

Mr Julio S Amador III

Amador is interim president of the Foundation for the National Interest, a new Philippine think-tank that focuses on strategic and security issues.

He is also the founder of the Philippine Strategic Forum, a website dedicated to strategic and international issues from a Philippine perspective. Amador was a civil servant for more than a decade and worked on foreign affairs and national security issues.

His most recent publication is the co-authored monograph titled Reviewing Philippine-US Bilateral Defence Relations: The Legal, Military, and Diplomacy Perspectives. He is an active participant in Track 1.5 and Track 2 diplomatic processes on regional security issues.

Professor Dewi Fortuna Anwar

Dewi is a member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI), research professor at the Centre for Political Studies-Indonesian Institute of Sciences (P2P-LIPI) and chairman of the board of directors of The Habibie Centre. She served as deputy secretary to the vice-president of Indonesia from 2010-2017.

She was a distinguished visiting professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2017-2018, and at SAIS, Johns Hopkins University in 2007.

She has written widely on Indonesia’s foreign policy, and Asean regional political and security issues. Dewi sits on a number of national and international advisory boards, including the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in 2010-2020.

Ms Hayley Channer

Channer is the senior policy fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre. Based in Canberra, she produces analysis on foreign and defence policy in the Indo-Pacific, engages with key Australian government agencies, and builds and sustains the centre’s domestic and international network. 

She is a 2021-22 Fulbright scholar and visiting fellow with the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University. She has led a diverse career across politics, government, think-tanks and the not-for-profit sector.

Mr Harry Mourtos

IT Specialist
DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)

Mourtos is an IT specialist (INFOSEC) with the DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Previously, he was with the National Cybersecurity Assessments and Technical Services (NCATS) team. He now serves as an adviser to the executive assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA.

Dr Khor Swee Kheng

Visiting Fellow
Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia;
Associate Fellow, Chatham House
The United Kingdom

Khor Swee Kheng is a Malaysian physician with international experience in the public, private, non-profit and think-tank sectors. Currently, he specialises in health systems and policies and global health, holding fellowships at Chatham House, the United Nations University (UNU-IIGH) and ISIS Malaysia. Previously, he held progressively senior practitioner roles in clinical medicine, refugee and disaster relief, clinical research, and pharma anti-corruption. In these roles, he was based in Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai, Shanghai and Paris, covering more than 90 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He holds postgraduate degrees in internal medicine (Royal College of Physicians), public health (Berkeley) and public policy (Oxford), and is published in international media, think-tanks and academic journals.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Director-General
World Health Organisation (WHO)
Geneva

Tedros was elected director-general of the World Health Organisation in May 2017. He was the first director-general elected from among multiple candidates by the World Health Assembly and was the first person from the African region to head the world’s leading public health agency. Tedros has held many leadership positions in global health, including as chair of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; chair of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, and co-chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Board.

Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak

Professor and Director
Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) Thailand
Thailand

Thitinan is professor and director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University. He has authored a range of articles, books, chapters and more than 1,000 op-eds in international and local media. Thitinan regularly provides briefings to investors, business conferences, diplomatic missions, and corporate boards on the domestic politics and geopolitics of Thailand and ASEAN. In March 2018, he was appointed ASEAN@50 fellow and in May 2019, he was selected as Australia-ASEAN fellow at Sydney’s Lowy Institute. Thitinan has held visiting positions at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Stanford University, Yangon University and University of Tubingen in Germany.

Major General Qian Lihua

Vice Chair
Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) China
People’s Republic of China

Born in December 1952, Qian Lihua joined the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in February 1969. He has served in various roles, including soldier, cadet, interpreter, staff officer, deputy director-general, director-general of bureau, deputy chief and chief of the Foreign Affairs Office. He was promoted to major general in 2004. Having graduated from the Beijing Foreign Studies University, Defence Language Institute (UK), University of Birmingham (UK), and PLA National Defence University, he is currently vice-chair of the Chinese CSCAP national committee and vice-president of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.

Dr Xu Longdi

Associate Research Fellow
China Institute of International Studies (CIIS)
People’s Republic of China

Xu Longdi has been with the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) since 2009. He is an associate research fellow who specialises in international relations theory, international security, and EU politics and foreign policy. He received his PhD in international relations from the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2009, MA in international relations from East China Normal University in 2006, and BA from Nanjing International Studies University in 1999.

Ambassador Igor Driesmans

European Union Ambassador to ASEAN
Jakarta

Driesmans has served as the EU ambassador to Asean since 2019. He was previously a member of the cabinet of Federica Mogherini, high representative of the union for foreign affairs and security policy/vice‐president of the European Commission. His responsibilities included Asia-Pacific, cultural diplomacy, transport and fisheries. He previously served as principal assistant to the COO of the European External Action Service (2014), desk officer for Asean (2013‐2014), and deputy head of the political, economic, trade and information section of the EU Delegation to South Africa (2009‐2013). Driesmans has been an official of the EU since 2003.

Mr Stephan Pierre Sakalian

Head of Delegation in Myanmar
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Before his appointment as ICRC resident representative in Myanmar in August 2018, Sakalian was based at the ICRC headquarters in Geneva. Between September 2015 and June 2018, he held the position of operations coordinator for the Americas, with a special focus on activities in the United States, Mexico, Central America, Haiti and Cuba and later, regional director for the Americas in charge of operations and humanitarian diplomacy in the Western Hemisphere. Prior to Geneva, he headed the ICRC project on armed violence in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, headed the sub-delegation in Nyala, Sudan and acted as adviser for multilateral affairs in Asia-Pacific based in Malaysia.

Mr Herman Joseph S Kraft

Professor, Department of Political Science
University of the Philippines-Diliman;
Fellow, Asia Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation (APPFI)
The Philippines

Kraft is a professor of political science at the University of the Philippines at Diliman, Quezon City. He has been working on issues that involve Asean, regional security in Southeast Asia, security sector reform, and intra-state conflict in the Philippines. His latest publications include Great Power Dynamics and the Waning of Asean Centrality in Regional Security (2017); Philippine Foreign Policy in a Changed Strategic Environment: The Duterte Administration and China (2018); Asean and the Protection of Migrant Rights (2019); and Korea’s New Southern Policy, Asean, and the Philippines: Middle Power Dynamics in Southeast Asia (2020).

Ambassador Rizal Sukma

Senior Research Fellow
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Indonesia

Rizal is a senior research fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Indonesia. Previously, he was Indonesia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ireland and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), London, from 2016 to 2020. He joined CSIS in 1990 as a researcher and assumed the role of executive director in 2009 until 2015. He has worked extensively on such issues as Southeast Asian security, ASEAN, Indonesia’s defence and foreign policy, military reform, Islam and politics, and domestic political changes in Indonesia. He was the first Indonesian to receive the Nakasone Award in July 2005 and named as one the 100 Global Thinkers in 2009 by Foreign Policy magazine.

Mr Abid Adam

Group Chief Risk & Compliance Officer
Axiata Group Berhad
Malaysia

Abid Adam is the Axiata Group chief risk & compliance officer (GCRCO), responsible for providing strategic direction, implementation, oversight and guidance for cybersecurity, data privacy, enterprise risk management, and compliance/ethics across Southeast Asia. Before joining Axiata, Adam led cybersecurity function and implemented transformational programmes for a large multi-national financial services organisation spanning across Africa, Asia and Latin. Adam also serves at the World Economic Forum Digital Asean initiative and is a member of leading global institutions, such as ISC2 and ISACA, and sits on customer advisory boards and community forums of leading organisations.

Mr Gregory B Poling

Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia;
Director, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative
Centre for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS)
United States of America

Gregory B Poling is a senior fellow for Southeast Asia and director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at CSIS. He oversees research on US foreign policy in Asia-Pacific, with a particular focus on the maritime domain and the countries of Southeast Asia. His research interests include the South China Sea disputes, democratisation in Southeast Asia and Asian multilateralism. Poling’s writings have been featured in Foreign Affairs, The Wall Street Journal, Nikkei Asian Review and Foreign Policy, among others. He is the author or co-author of multiple works, including The Thickening Web of Asian Security Cooperation: Deepening Defence Ties among US Allies and Partners in the Indo-Pacific and Building a More Robust US-Philippines Alliance.

Ms Gwen Robinson

Editor-at-Large, Nikkei Asian Review;
Senior Fellow, Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) Thailand
Thailand

Gwen Robinson is a senior fellow, Institute of Security and International Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, specialising in regional security and economic issues with a focus on Myanmar. She is also editor-at-large at Nikkei Asian Review, a journal of Asian affairs. She was previously a correspondent and editor with Financial Times in Europe, America and Asia (1995-2013), covering Southeast Asia in 2011-14.

Dr Mely Caballero-Anthony

Professor of International Relations;
Head of Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS)
Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Singapore

Mely Caballero-Anthony is professor of international relations and president’s chair for international relations and security studies. She is also head of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. She teaches courses on non-traditional security in Asia and security governance and has served as the secretary-general of the Consortium on Non-Traditional Security Studies in Asia since 2008. Her research interests include regionalism and multilateralism in Asia-Pacific, global governance, human security and non-traditional security, nuclear security and conflict prevention. Her latest books include Negotiating Governance on Non-Traditional Security in Southeast Asia and Beyond, An Introduction to Non-Traditional Security Studies and Asia on the Move: Regional Migration and the Role of Civil Society.

Dr Richard Maude

Executive Director of Policy
Asia Society Australia;
Senior Fellow, Asia Society Policy Institute
Australia

Richard Maude is executive director of policy at Asia Society Australia and senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute. He has more than 30 years’ experience in foreign policy and national security. From 2018 to 2019, Maude was deputy secretary, Indo-Pacific Group, in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australia’s senior official to the East Asia Summit. In 2017, he headed the task force on the preparation of the government’s 2017 foreign policy white paper. Maude was director-general of the Office of National Assessments from May 2013 until November 2016 and has served as the senior adviser on foreign policy and national security issues to former prime minister Julia Gillard.

Dr Asyura Salleh

Co-Founder
Global Awareness & Impact Alliance (GAIA)
Brunei Darussalam

Asyura Salleh is the co-founder of the Global Awareness & Impact Alliance (GAIA). She is also a non-resident Vasey research fellow for the Pacific Forum, and the special adviser on maritime security for the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Affairs (YCAPS). Her policy experience lies in her work for the UNODC global maritime crime programme, Stable Seas and Brunei Prime Minister’s Office. Asyura’s research interest lies in maritime security in the Asia-Pacific, with a focus on transnational maritime crime and maritime governance. She holds a master’s in war studies from King’s College London and earned a doctorate in international relations from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore.

Ambassador Pou Sothirak

Executive Director
Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP)
Cambodia

Sothirak has been the executive director of the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace since June 2013. As of February 2014, he also served as advisor to the government. He was appointed as secretary of state of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from September 2013 to January 2014, ambassador to Japan between 2005 and 2008, served as MP in 1993 and 2003, and minister of industry mines and energy from 1993 to 1998. Sothirak was the visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore from 2009 to 2012. He has written extensively on various issues confronting the development of Cambodia and the region.

Dr David Capie

Director, Centre for Strategic Studies;
Professor, School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations
Victoria University of Wellington
New Zealand

David Capie is professor of international relations and director of the Centre for Strategic Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. His research interests focus on conflict and security issues, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, and New Zealand’s foreign and defence policy. David has held visiting positions at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and at LUIS Guido Carli in Rome. He is currently regional co-chair of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP) and was a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum Experts and Eminent Persons Group from 2012 to 2019.

Dr Shafiah F Muhibat

Head
Department of International Relations
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Indonesia

Shafiah is the head of Department of International Relations, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Indonesia. She was a senior fellow at the maritime security programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) Singapore from January to December 2017. She has done and taken part in extensive research projects on politics and regional security in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific since 2000. She has special interest in issues of regional security in East Asia, maritime security, Indonesia’s foreign policy and regional cooperation. She was the chief editor of The Indonesian Quarterly, an academic journal published by CSIS, from 2013 to 2016.

Mr Nick Bauer

Public Policy Manager
Google
Singapore

Bauer is Google’s head of public policy for Malaysia and South Asia (excluding India). He leads Google’s work with policymakers, government officials and key political stakeholders in those countries. Before starting his current role in October 2017, Bauer spent three years working in Google’s Washington, DC office. He also previously worked on president Barack Obama’s re-election campaign and as a paralegal at a law firm representing political candidates and parties.

Dr Sarena Che Omar

Deputy Director of Research
Khazanah Research Institute (KRI)
Malaysia

Sarena is a deputy director of research at Khazanah Research Institute (KRI). She has a PhD in plant sciences from the University of Oxford. Her PhD used genetic technologies to understand disease control affecting the globally important crop: rice. Due to her interests in agriculture and food security, Sarena is currently conducting policy research at KRI related to food security and agriculture.

Professor Tosh Minohara

Graduate School of Law and Politics
Kobe University
Japan

Tosh Minohara is professor of international relations and security studies at the Graduate School of Law and Politics, Kobe University. He is the founder and chairman of the non-profit organisation, Research Institute of Indo-Pacific Affairs (RIIPA). He currently serves as a senior adviser to the international media consulting firm KREAB. His core academic interests deal with the diplomatic, political and security dimension of US-Japan relations. Minohara is the author and editor of multiple monographs, volumes and articles, including op-eds with the official LDP newspaper, Jiyuminshu, as well as Sankei Shimbun. He is the recipient of the Shimizu Hiroshi Prize (2002) and the Japan Research Award (2019).

Ms Briony Daley Whitworth

Assistant Director
Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology Branch
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Australia

Working for the ambassador for cyber affairs, Whitworth focuses on multilateral cyber policy, particularly Australia’s engagement in UN processes on international law and norms of responsible state behaviour in cyberspace. She served as Australia’s lead negotiator for a protocol to the Budapest convention on cybercrime to provide transborder access to data, and as the cybercrime expert to the UN. Her previous experience at the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department and Department of Home Affairs focused on cybercrime law reform, telecommunications security policy and combatting online child exploitation. Whitworth holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Technology Sydney and a Bachelor of Science from the University of New South Wales.

Dr Wu Shicun

President
National Institute for South China Sea Studies
People’s Republic of China

Wu Shicun is president and senior research fellow of China’s National Institute for South China Sea Studies. He also serves as chairman of board of directors of the China-Southeast Asia Research Centre on the South China Sea, chairman of the advisory board of Institute for China-America Studies, vice-president of the China Institute for Free Trade Ports Studies, deputy director of the Collaborative Innovation Centre of South China Sea Studies, Nanjing University, and adjunct professor of Nanjing University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research interests cover the history and geography of the South China Sea, maritime delimitation, maritime economy, international relations and regional security strategy.

Dr Anna Powles

Senior Lecturer
Centre for Defence and Security Studies
Massey University
New Zealand

Anna Powles is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University. She specialises in geopolitical and security issues in the Pacific region and her current research examines New Zealand foreign and security policy in the Pacific; the Australia-New Zealand alliance in the Pacific; non-state security actors and security cooperation in the Pacific; and foreign interference in the Pacific. Powles is an associate scholar with the MacMillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury, and has previously held visiting fellowships with the East-West Centre in Honolulu.

Dr Jerome Kim

Director General
International Vaccine Institute
Republic of Korea

Jerome Kim, MD, is an international expert on the evaluation and development of vaccines and is the director-general of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver safe, effective and affordable vaccines for global health. IVI’s oral cholera vaccine is used around the world to prevent this deadly diarrhoeal disease. Its typhoid conjugate vaccine, tech-transferred to SK bioscience and PT Bio Farma, is completing phase III testing. Dr Kim is also an adjunct professor, Department of Medicine, Uniformed Services University and at the Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University. He has authored more than 300 publications.

Dr. Sriprapha Petcharamesree

Dr. Sriprapha Petcharamesree is senior lecturer of the Ph.D. Program in Human Rights and Peace Studies (International) of the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University in Thailand. In October of 2009, she was appointed by the national government to act as the Thai Representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, a role she served in until December of 2012.

In addition to her academic duties, she is currently Co-Chair of the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism advocating for effective regional human rights systems in the ASEAN region.

She holds a degree in Political Science from Thammasat University as well as a D.E.A. in Comparative Politics and a Ph.D. in International Politics with distinction from the University of Paris-X.

Ms. Ivy Kwek

Ms. Ivy Kwek is the Research Director for Research for Social Advancement (REFSA), a progressive, not-for-profit think-tank in Malaysia; and concurrently a Visiting Scholar at the Center of Southeast Asian Studies, National ChengChi University of Taiwan. Prior to this, she was the Special Functions Officer to the Deputy Minister of Defence of Malaysia (2018-2020), during which she was involved in the drafting of the first Malaysian Defence White Paper. She also has experience working in various policy advisory and governmental affairs roles for international organizations and in diplomatic circle, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and in the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

Ivy holds a MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from SOAS, University of London and was an alumna of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Professional Fellows Program by the US Department of State. She is also a co-founder of Projek Pertiwi, a blog dedicated to raising awareness on defence and security issues among Malaysian youth, and have frequently commented and published on current affairs on various international and local media outlets.

Dr Satu Limaye

Dr Satu Limaye is Vice-President of the East West Center (EWC), serving concurrently as Director EWC in Washington and theAsia Matters for America initiative. He is Founding Editor of theAsia Pacific Bulletin. He is also Senior Advisor, Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) and Senior Fellow on Asia History and Policy at the Foreign Policy Institute at Paul H.Nitze School of International Studies (SAIS).

He is a graduate of Georgetown University and received his doctorate from Oxford University (Magdalen College) as a George C. Marshall Scholar. He publishes and speaks widely on Asia-Pacific regional issues and supports various US government, foundation, fellowship and professional organizations. Among his current affiliations are the Korea Economic Institute (KEI) Advisory Council and The Asia Foundation Task Force on US-Southeast Asia Relations.

Ms Kendra Rinas

Ms Kendra Rinas has served as chief of mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Kuala Lumpur from May 2018. She has over 15 years of experience working with refugees and migrants, managing migration initiatives including labour migration, refugee resettlement, health assessments, counter trafficking and anti-smuggling, and partnering with governments and NGOs on promoting well-managed migration.

Rinas previously served as head of IOM’s sub-office in Damak and head of refugee resettlement for South Asia, also based in Nepal.

Prior to joining IOM, she was operations coordinator with the Resettlement Support Center Africa, based in Kenya; country coordinator in N’djamena, Chad; and processing supervisor in Accra, Ghana. Rinas obtained her MS in Organizational Leadership from Quinnipiac University School of Business, and BA in Political Science and Religion from Gustavus Adolphus College, St Peter, Minnesota.

Mr Shahriman Lockman

Shahriman Lockman is a Director in the Chief Executive’s Office of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia. His research interests include Malaysian foreign and defence policies, Southeast Asian maritime security affairs, and Malaysia-China relations, including in the context of the South China Sea. He also manages the institute’s China Engagement Initiative, which promotes Track 2 dialogue between Malaysia and China. Shahriman was a consultant to the Ministry of Defence on Malaysia’s inaugural Defence White Paper (2019), specifically on budgeting and implementation issues. He was also Malaysia’s representative in an academic assessment of common security challenges impacting the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) nations for the period 2020-2031 for the FPDA Policy Group (FPG). Shahriman is a member of the Malaysian chapter of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP). He has a Master of Strategic Affairs from the Australian National University.

Ms Angeline Tan

Ms Angeline Tan is a Researcher in the Foreign Policy and Security Studies programme in ISIS Malaysia. Her research interests include Chinese Foreign Policy, the Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia, Sino-Japanese relations, and the geopolitics of Climate Change. She graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a Masters in International Relations. She completed her Bachelors in International Relations from the War Studies Department in King’s College London.

Datin Seri Sunita Rajakumar

Datin Sunita is a professional independent director and strong advocate of the importance of governance in general and risk management in particular. She founded Climate Governance Malaysia, which is the country chapter of World Economic Forum’s Climate Governance Initiative. She is fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia, promotes gender diversity on boards with the 30% Club, member of the Global Advisory Board of Nottingham University’s School of Business as well as the Advisory Panel of the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia’s Sustainability Centre of Excellence, and workstream lead for government policy for the CEO Action Network, an industry-led initiative to increase sustainability and climate resilience.

Ms Meena Raman

Meena is legal adviser and senior researcher at Third World Network (TWN) and president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM). She served as chair of Friends of the Earth International from 2004 to 2008. At TWN, Meena coordinates the climate change programme and has been actively involved in intergovernmental climate negotiations from Bali to Cancún. She has been monitoring and reporting on these negotiations as well as providing analysis and support to developing country governments and civil society participants. In the past 25 years, she has presented papers in numerous conferences on such issues as environmental and consumer protection, climate change, agriculture and fisheries, and globalisation and trade.

Ms Lakshmi Lavanya Rama Iyer

Lavanya joined WWF-Malaysia in 2013. She represents the organisation at various national and international levels of engagement on climate change, biodiversity and SDGs, and was part of the WWF network leadership team on climate and energy. She is also part of the CSO-SDG Alliance secretariat that supports the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia (APPGM) on SDGs. Previously, she coordinated the preparation of Malaysia’s Second National Communication to the UNFCCC, worked at the UN in Geneva on post-conflict issues, and practiced law in Malaysia. Lavanya is passionate about ensuring that nature’s contributions are properly recognised and valued by society and integrated into development and economic agendas

Mr Jim Loi

Jim Loi is a partner and the chief operating officer at The Asia Group, an advisory firm that supports Fortune 500 corporations with market entry and expansion strategies and complex conflict resolution initiatives in the Indo-Pacific. Previously, Loi served in a range of economic, political, and security-related policy positions at the U.S. Department of State, including as the deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, the director for East Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, and the director for China and Japan with the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Dr Jayant Menon

Dr Menon works on trade and investment issues and economic development in the Asian region. His last post was at Asian Development Bank (ADB) as Lead Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist. He was also at the ADB Institute in Tokyo from 2005 to 2008. He started work as an academic in Australia, spending almost a decade at the Centre of Policy Studies at Monash University at its original campus in Clayton, Melbourne. He has also worked at the University of Melbourne, Victoria University, and American University in Washington, DC. He holds adjunct appointments with the Australian National University, University of Nottingham, UK, and IDEAS, Malaysia. He has authored/edited 15 books, 40 chapters in books and 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Ms Melody Chen

Ms Melody Chen is Assistant Research Fellow at the Department of International Affairs, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. Her research areas include health policy, trade and health, and issues impacting health in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). She is currently a PhD candidate at the Institute of Health Policy and Management, National Taiwan University and holds a Master’s degree from the Department of Public Health, Taipei Medical University. Her most recent project is with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to enhance public participation in APEC health-related programmes. She has also written extensively on the pandemic and health cooperation.

Dr Wen-Chen Shih

Dr Wen-Chen Shih is Professor of Law at the Department of International Business, National Cheng-chi University. Her areas of specialty include international economic and trade law, and international environmental law. Aside from teaching, she also serves as a legal consultant on international trade law and international environmental law issues for Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Forestry Bureau, Council of Agriculture, and Environmental Protection Administration.

Mr Terence Too

Mr. Terence Too Yang-Yau graduated with Master of Science in International Relations from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Arts Majoring in Economics from St. Lawrence University, Canton, New York. He has served with UNICEF as Research Officer and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, both supporting the country office’s programme planning and monitoring processes based on results-based management and human rights based approach principles, as well as directly implementing various programmes in the areas of data and statistical capacity building, and in disaster risk reduction and resilience activities. Prior to this, he has served in WorldFish Centre as a researcher and coordinating editor of Naga, the WorldFish Quarterly, a peer reviewed journal; and at the Socio-economic and Environmental Research Institute, undertaking research on a range of economic and governance issues for the Penang State Government. His research interests include social welfare policies and programmes, labour migration, development policy, and disaster risk reduction and community resilience.

Mr Barney Riley

Barney has a legal background and practiced commercial law for six years before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2001. During his time in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade he has worked on a wide range of issues, from trade negotiations to climate change and international law. Previous appointments include postings to the New Zealand embassies in Tehran and Geneva, and Ambassador to Egypt in 2014-2018 (where he was also non-resident Ambassador to Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia, and New Zealand Representative to Palestine).

Barney is currently a Lead Negotiator in the MFAT’s Trade and Economic Group, responsible for New Zealand’s trade negotiations with China, as well as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). His previous role in Wellington was the Manager of the Trade Law Unit in the Ministry’s Legal Division. The Trade Law Unit provides legal support in trade negotiations, advice about the consistency of New Zealand policy with our international trade law obligations, and leads New Zealand efforts to resolve trade disputes through international dispute settlement processes.

Barney attended the University of Otago in New Zealand where he obtained a Bachelor of Laws with Honours, and completed his Professional Legal Studies in Wellington where he was admitted to the Bar in 1995.

Dr Narongchai Akrasanee

Dr Narongchai, a Thai economist / technocrat, is known for his continuous involvement in the economic development of Thailand in many capacities, and in ASEAN and APEC affairs. He had previously served in the Thai government, including as Advisor to several Thai prime ministers, Minister of Energy, Minister of Commerce, as well as Senator and a member of the National Legislative Assembly. He has worked on ASEAN and APEC affairs all along, being an initiator of AFTA and the APEC Leaders Meeting. He has also served as Chairman of the Thailand Committee for PECC. Dr Narongchai is on the board of several publicly listed companies in Thailand, and was also Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of Thailand. Having graduated with a PhD in Economics from Johns Hopkins University, Dr Narongchai has a keen interest in education and research. He is the founding member of Thailand Development Research Institute and is Chairman of the Khon Kaen University Council.

YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali

Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali is Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI). In his previous portfolio as Minister of Economic Affairs (May 2018-February 2020), Azmin was instrumental in introducing the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030. He oversaw a broad spectrum of agencies including those directly involved in infrastructure, wealth creation and redistribution, private equity ownership and the short as well as mid-term economic planning and implementation of the country’s socio-economic development. During his tenure as Chief Minister of Selangor (2014-2018), he was instrumental in placing Selangor more prominently on the regional map after having maintained the state as the biggest contributor to the national GDP. Azmin is a member of the Economic Action Council (EAC) and is also on the Board of Directors of Khazanah Nasional Berhad. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics and a Master’s degree in Education and Economics from the University of Minnesota.

Ms Shanti Jagannathan

Shanti Jagannathan is Principal Education Specialist in the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department of Asian Development Bank (ADB). She works on ADB education sector policies and strategies, and provides technical advice to ADB’s lending and non-lending education operations in the Asia and Pacific region. Shanti has over 25 years of experience with education sector transformation initiatives and reforms in school education, technical and vocational education, and training and higher education in Asia. She has led policy research studies on skills for greening economies, Asia’s knowledge-based economies, innovation and implications of industry 4.0 on education and training, among others. Shanti has contributed to international cooperation in education at policy and operational levels, and has been on advisory bodies, steering committees and working groups on education development, gender equality, elimination of child labour, democracy and human rights, and scholarships for underprivileged students.

Mr Mohammad Manzur Rahman

Mohammad Manzur Rahman is the founding director for Marketing and Innovation at Aspirasi, a fintech specialising in micro-financing and micro-insurance, a subsidiary of the regional leader Axiata Group. Manzur has spent over a decade in the mobile telecom industry as well as in the government sector, leading design, implementation and deployment of digital financial services, brands and solutions across various countries in Asia. He is also a business graduate from NSU and has attended executive education programmes at London Business School, INSEAD and IMD. Manzur is currently based in Washington, DC.

Ms Sharifah Najwa Syed Abu Bakar

Sharifah Najwa Syed Abu Bakar is Chief Officer of Knowledge Management and Strategy Division, SME Corporation Malaysia, a central coordination agency for SME development under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC). Her current role includes working closely with local and international stakeholders in analysing and formulating SME development policies, as well as coordinating SME development across government ministries, agencies, the private sector and various regional and international platforms, such as ASEAN, APEC, UN, OECD, and OIC, among others. She has extensive experience in various international trade negotiations. She is Lead Negotiator for Malaysia for Economic and Technical Cooperation as well as the SME Working Committee for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). She is also involved in designing various developmental programmes to facilitate internationalisation of SMEs in Malaysia and the region. She has been working in partnership with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in carrying out the Third Country Training Programme (TCTP).

Prof Naoko Iwasaki

Dr Naoko Iwasaki is Professor at the Institute of e-Government in Waseda University, President of International Academy of CIO (IAC), and Deputy Director of APEC e-Government Research Center. Dr Iwasaki’s research areas are CIO, D-Government, ageing society and ICT, and smart digital city. She received her Master of International Relations and PhD of Global ICT from Waseda University. She has been project overseer of APEC project on “Smart Silver Innovation” since 2019, committee member of JANPEC since 2015, committee member on “Government Innovation” of MIC in 2015, and project director on “Silver Business Innovation” of METI in 2015. She served as Deputy Chair of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) on SDGs in 2018 and 2020. She was co-editor of A Decade of World e-Government Rankings (IOS Press, 2015), and received the “Jantima Memorial Award for Women CIO and ICT Leadership” in 2017.

Dr Peter Cowhey

Dr Peter Cowhey holds the Qualcomm Endowed Chair in Communications and Technology Policy, and is Dean of the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego. An expert on the future of communications and information technology markets and policy, he specialises in US trade policy, foreign policy, the Internet and international corporate strategy. His two recent books are Digital DNA: Disruption and the Challenges for Global Governance and Transforming Global Information and Communication Markets: The Political Economy of Innovation. In the last year, Cowhey served as Chair of a bipartisan group of experts on technology, foreign policy and US-China relations. Previously, Cowhey was Chief of the International Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the Clinton administration. In 2009, he had a 12-month assignment as Senior Counselor to Ambassador Ron Kirk in the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Cowhey is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr Jayant Menon

Dr Jayant Menon is Visiting Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, following his early retirement from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), where he was Lead Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist. He started work at Monash University on its original campus in Clayton, Melbourne. He has also worked at the University of Melbourne, Victoria University, ADB Institute in Tokyo and American University in Washington, DC. He holds adjunct appointments with the Australian National University, University of Nottingham (United Kingdom) and Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) Malaysia. He has served on the Advisory Boards of Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI) and University of Nottingham, Malaysia. He has authored/edited 15 books, 40 chapters in books and 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Assoc Prof Dr Andrew Kam Jia Yi

Dr Andrew Kam graduated with a first class degree in Economics from National University of Malaysia (UKM) in 2002. He received the prestigious Chevening scholarship in 2006 to pursue his MSc in Economics at University of Warwick. In 2008, he was awarded the Endeavour Postgraduate Scholarship to pursue his PhD in Asian Studies at the Crawford School of Economics and Government, Australian National University. He was also a Fulbright Scholar in University of California, Santa Barbara (2015/2016). He is currently Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), and Associate Professor of Economics at UKM. He has served as a consultant to many national and international organisations – Malaysian Productivity Corporation, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, UNCTAD and UNESCO. He is currently working with the National Economic Recovery Council and helped drafted the COVID-19 National Economic Recovery Plan on Trade and Investment.

Mr Muhundhan Kamarapullai

Muhundhan Kamarapullai (or Muhu) has over 20 years of experience in the domains of digital transformation, entrepreneurship, education, healthcare and organisational capability development. At Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), he is Director of the Business Digital Adoption Division. He leads a team that looks into policies and initiatives to support traditional businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises’ (brick and mortar) move towards digitalisation.

Mr Lu Guangtong

Lu Guangtong is a researcher and engineer of Digital Economy Lab, Department of Information Policy, China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team. He mainly engages in research on the Internet platform, digital service tax and international cooperation in the field of digital economy. He is the lead researcher of the digital service tax research project conducted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, and one of the key authors of the “Blue Book of Industry and Informatization: Annual Report on the Development of Digital Economy” (2018-2019 and 2019-2020). Lu also serves as Secretariat of the Chinese delegation to the G20 Digital Economy Task Force in 2020.

Ms Elina Noor

Elina Noor is Director of Political-Security Affairs and Deputy Director of Asia Society Policy Institute, Washington, DC. A native of Malaysia, Elina’s work focuses on security developments in Southeast Asia, global governance and technology, and preventing/countering violent extremism. Previously, Elina was Associate Professor at the Daniel K Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. Prior to that, she was Director of Foreign Policy and Security Studies at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia. Between 2017 and 2019, Elina was a member of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace. She was educated at Oxford University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Georgetown University.

Dr Heungchong Kim

Dr Kim Heungchong had served the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) for 19 years before he led the institute as President since June 2020. He has been deeply involved in the policymaking process of the Korean government in the fields of economic, trade and diplomatic policies. He was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar in University of California, Berkeley, and has held visiting positions at Ifri (Paris), VUB (Brussels) and Marmara University (Istanbul). He is the President-elect of the European Studies Association of Korea for 2021. Dr Kim’s expertise includes trade policy, European studies and regional integration. He has published more than 70 papers and books, and has actively contributed to various newspapers and TV programmes in Korea and abroad. Before joining KIEP, Dr Kim was an Honorary Member of the High Table in Christ Church, Oxford. Dr Kim read economics at Seoul National University and University of Oxford.

Ambassador Su Ge

Ambassador Su Ge was appointed as the PECC Co-Chair on 27 June 2018. Ambassador Su Ge is a senior diplomat and scholar. He has been President of China Institute of International Studies (CIIS). Ambassador Su received his MA and PhD from Brigham Young University and was a Post-doctorate at Harvard University. He was a Senior Fulbright Fellow at Georgetown, John Hopkins and Washington Universities. Before joining CIIS in 2000, Ambassador Su was a professor at Foreign Affairs College and a doctoral supervisor at Tsinghua University. Since 2003, he has served consecutively as Minister Counselor in Chinese Embassy in the USA, Ambassador to the Republic of Suriname and Ambassador to the Republic of Iceland.

Mr Eugene Wong Weng Soon

Eugene Wong is CEO of Sustainable Finance Institute Asia (SFIA) Limited. He was recently Managing Director, Corporate Finance & Investments of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). His portfolio covered initial public offerings (IPOs), corporate bond and sukuk issuances, collective investment schemes and take-overs. He oversaw the SC’s ASEAN-related initiatives and was Chair of the Deputies of the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) and Co-Chair of the Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG). In addition, he was Co-Chair of the ASEAN Working Committee on Capital Market Development (WC-CMD). Eugene was responsible for accounting related matters at the SC and was a Board Member of the Audit Oversight Board. He served as Advisor to the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board, and was previously a Council Member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) and Chairman of its Ethics Standards Board.

Datin Seri Sunita Rajakumar

Datin Sunita Rajakumar is a professional independent director and strong advocate of the importance of governance in general and risk management in particular. She founded Climate Governance Malaysia, which is the country chapter of the World Economic Forum’s Climate Governance Initiative. She is Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia, promotes gender diversity on boards with the 30% Club, a member of the Global Advisory Board of Nottingham University’s School of Business as well as the Advisory Panel of the UN Global Compact Malaysia’s Sustainability Center of Excellence, and a workstream lead for the CEO Action Network, an industry-led initiative to increase sustainability and climate resilience. Besides, she is Chair of Caring Pharmacy and independent director of Bursa-listed Dutch Lady Milk Industries, MCIS Insurance (a member of the Sanlam group) and Zurich General Insurance, as well as trustee of five charitable foundations.

Dr Richard Cantor

Dr Richard Cantor is Chair of the United States Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (USPECC). Cantor serves as Chief Credit Officer for Moody’s Corporation and Moody’s Investors Service, a position he has held since 2008. From 2009-2019, he also served as Moody’s Corporation’s Chief Risk Officer. Appointed by the US State Department in 2015, Cantor served a three-year term in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC), during which he chaired ABAC’s Financial and Economic Working Group. Prior to joining Moody’s, Cantor held a variety of positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and was an adjunct professor at New York University’s and Columbia University’s business schools. He has also taught Economics at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and The Ohio State University. Cantor obtained his BA in English and Economics from Tufts University, and PhD in Economics from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr Yose Rizal Damuri

Dr Yose Rizal Damuri is one of the Co-Chairs for the Indonesian National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (INCPEC), and Head of the Department of Economics at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). His research activities focus on international trade, regional integration and globalisation of value chain. He is active in several research and advisory networks in Indonesia and East Asia, such as Indonesia Services Dialogue (ISD) and Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT). Yose also teaches International Economics courses at the Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia, his alma mater. He continued his studies at the National Centre for Development Studies, Australian National University and obtained his Master of Economics of Development. He received his PhD in International Economics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies (HEI), Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr Kiki Verico

Dr Kiki Verico is Deputy Director of the Institute for Economic and Social Research – Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI). He is a tenure track lecturer (Assistant Professor) at the Department of Economics, FEB UI. Since 2020, he has served as an industry and international trade advisor to the Finance Minister of the Republic of Indonesia. Kiki obtained his bachelor’s degree in Economics (Monetary) from University of Indonesia in 2000, International Masters in Regional Integration (IMRI) from University of Malaya and Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (double degree) in 2005, and Doctor of Philosophy in International Studies (Regional Economic Integration) from Waseda University in 2013. He is the single author of a book entitled The Future of the ASEAN Economic Integration (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).

Dr Vo Tri Thanh

Dr Vo Tri Thanh is currently Senior Expert (former vice-president till October 2015) of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM). He holds a BSc from the Moscow State University, and a Master’s degree as well as a PhD in Economics from the Australian National University. Dr Vo mainly undertakes research and provides consultation on issues related to trade liberalisation and international economic integration and macroeconomic policies. His other areas of interests include institutional reforms, financial system and economic development.

Mr Felix Weidenkaff

Felix Weidenkaff works at the International Labour Organization (ILO) of the United Nations in Bangkok as Employment Specialist to provide technical advice on employment as part of the ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team for East and South-East Asia and the Pacific (ILO DWT-Bangkok). Previously, Felix served in the Employment Policy Department of the ILO in Geneva, leading research, capacity building and advisory services on evidence-based policymaking, active labour market policies as well as partnerships for youth employment. Prior to joining the ILO in 2012, Felix worked in the Division on Investment and Enterprise of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Felix holds an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Dr Tan Khee Giap

Dr Tan Khee Giap is Associate Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and Chairman of the Singapore National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation. Dr Tan graduated with a PhD from University of East Anglia, Norwich, in 1987. He has consulted extensively with government ministries and statutory boards of Singapore, and served as a consultant to such international agencies as the Asian Development Bank, Asian Development Bank Institute, United Nations Industrial Development Group, World Gold Council, ASEAN Secretariat, Central Policy Unit of Hong Kong, Kerzner International, Las Vegas Sands and Marina Bay Sands. Dr Tan is the lead author of more than 20 books and has published extensively in international refereed journals. His current research interests include econometric forecasting, cost of living and purchasing power index, global liveable cities index, ease of doing business index, and competitiveness analysis sub-national economies of China, India, Indonesia and ASEAN.

Ambassador Sergio Ley-Lopez

Ambassador Sergio Ley-Lopez is Chairman of the Mexico National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation. He has served in various capacities with the Mexican Foreign Service since 1984: Cultural Counselor in Beijing (1984-1990); Deputy Chief of Mission in Singapore (1990-1993); Consul General in Shanghai (1993-1995); Director General for Pacific and Asia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1995-1997); and Ambassador to Indonesia (1997-2001) and China (2001-2007). He is currently Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Business Section in the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology (COMCE). He is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council (ABAC), and Editorial Board Member in the International Affairs Committee for El Universal (a Mexican newspaper based in Mexico City).

Mr Shiro Armstrong

Dr Shiro Armstrong is a Fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy. He is Director of the Australia-Japan Research Centre, Editor of East Asia Forum, and Director of the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research (EABER) in the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. He is also Visiting Associate Professor at Keio University, Research Associate with the Center on Japanese Economy and Business (CJEB) at Columbia Business School, and Visiting Scholar at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI), Japan. He is the Australian representative on the Research Institutes Network (RIN) of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).

Mr Vangelis Vitalis

Vangelis Vitalis is Deputy Secretary of Trade and Economic at the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He is also Chair of the APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) for New Zealand’s host year in 2021 and Chief Negotiator for the free trade agreement with the European Union (EU). Previously, Vangelis was the chief negotiator who concluded the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Before that, he led the conclusion of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and the Malaysia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. Vangelis has also worked as an economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Secretariat, and chaired (in his personal capacity) the OECD Joint Working Party on Trade and Environment (JWPTE) and the OECD Global Forum on the Environment and Climate Change. Prior to taking up his role in 2017, Vangelis served as New Zealand’s Ambassador to the EU and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva.

Dr Richard Record

Dr Richard Record is the Lead Economist for Malaysia in the World Bank Group’s Macroeconomics, Trade and Investment Global Practice. Based in Kuala Lumpur, he manages the Bank’s engagement on economic policy issues in Malaysia, including publication of the flagship Malaysia Economic Monitor and the report on Malaysia’s Digital Economy – A New Driver of Development. Richard has previously worked across a number of countries in the East Asia and Africa regions, managing programs on macroeconomics, trade and private sector development, including assignments based in Lilongwe, Vientiane and Hanoi. He holds bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in economics respectively from the London School of Economics, the School of Oriental and African Studies and the University of Manchester.

Ambassador Don Campbell

Don Campbell serves as International Co-Chair of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and Chairman of the Canadian National Committee for PECC. He is Senior Strategy Advisor with DLA Piper (Canada) LLP. Don has an extensive background in the international arena in both the public and private sector. From 2000-2007, he was Group President at CAE Inc. His distinguished career with Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade includes serving as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and G8 Sherpa (1997-2000), Canadian Ambassador for Japan (1993-1997), Deputy Minister of International Trade (1989-1993) and Canadian Ambassador to Korea (1984-1985). He is Distinguished Fellow of the Asia Pacific Foundation (APF) of Canada, serves on the Global Council of the Asia Society, New York, and is a member of the board of directors of the Japan Society, Canada. He serves on the board of directors of Toyota Canada Inc. as well as private company boards.