Dato Loo, Chief Executive Officer of Invest Penang. Ms. Dato Loo Lee Lian has held the position as CEO of Invest Penang since March 2010. As the principal investment promotion agency and a wholly owned company of the state of Penang, Invest Penang is the point of contact for investors, providing facilitation support to foreign and local businesses as well as policy advocacy. Ms Loo has more than 25 years of industry background in the various sectors of the manufacturing industry. She has led companies in strategic planning, project management, operations, business development, supply chain management, customer strategies and international business migration. She also speaks in corporate conferences and community seminars focusing on job diversity, women empowerment and youth education programs.
Ken Poonoosamy, Chief Executive Officer of Economic Development Board. Mr. Poonoosamy has a solid academic and professional background with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of investment promotion and has implemented targeted promotional campaigns to access emerging markets with a view to spurring FDI inflows in the ICT/BPO, real estate, financial services, biotechnology, logistics, seafood, manufacturing and the Freeport sectors. He is also a much-solicited adviser and speaker at international conferences on Africa‐related investments, good governance for IPAs, ease‐of‐doing‐business practices, shipping, seafood and logistics, amongst others. Moreover, he currently serves on the boards of several important government bodies. Mr. Poonoosamy also served in the Mauritius Freeport after having been in employment at Deloitte and Touche.
Sabine Dall’Omo, Chief Executive Officer of Siemens East and Southern Africa. Of German descent, Sabine Dall’Omo has worked at Siemens for over 25 years and is a permanent South African resident. Sabine did her vocational training at Siemens Germany from 1986-1989. Progressing up the ranks, she took on various responsibilities, including Commercial Officer in Germany, Financial Analyst in California, and Commercial Manager in Germany and China. In May 2004, Sabine moved to South Africa as Head of Performance Controlling for Siemens Southern Africa. From September 2008 to January 2012, she became CFO for Siemens Africa’s Healthcare Sector and served as a member on the board of Siemens (Pty) Ltd, Impilo (Pty) Ltd and Siemens Medical Services Diagnostics (Pty) Ltd. In February 2012 Sabine became the CFO of Siemens (Pty) Ltd, and she is currently the CEO.
Aaditya Mattoo is Chief Economist of the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank. He specializes in development, trade and international cooperation, and provides policy advice to governments. He is also Co-Director of the World Development Report 2020 on Global Value Chains. Prior to this he was the Research Manager, Trade and Integration, at the World Bank. Before he joined the Bank, Mr. Mattoo was Economic Counsellor at the World Trade Organization and taught economics at the University of Sussex and Churchill College, Cambridge University. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cambridge, and an M.Phil in Economics from the University of Oxford. He has published on development, trade, trade in services, and international trade agreements in academic and other journals and his work has been cited in the Economist, Financial Times, New York Times, and Time Magazine.
Christine Zhenwei Qiang is the Practice Manager of the Investment Climate Unit at the World Bank. Her teams advise client governments in over 100 countries on catalyzing private investment and competition through legal, policy, regulatory and institutional reforms. She oversees the Global Investment Competitiveness Report series. She has published journal articles, book chapters and reports on private sector development, economic growth, FDI, productivity and infrastructure development. Prior to joining the Investment Climate Department in 2011, she was Lead Economist at the Policy Division of the ICT Department of the World Bank Group. She has a PhD in Economics from Johns Hopkins University.
Yan Liu is an Economist in the Investment Climate Unit at the World Bank. She works on foreign direct investment, global value chains, firm productivity and innovation, and structural transformation. Prior to joining the World Bank, she worked part-time as an economist at the International Monetary Fund China office during 2015-2016. She holds a doctorate in economics from Peking University.
Victor Steenbergen is Economist in the Investment Climate Unit at the World Bank. He is a development economist with experience in quantitative policy research and analysis, particularly related to foreign direct investment, tax policy, global value chains and employment. Prior to joining the World Bank, Victor also provided longer-term technical assistance to the governments of Malawi, Mexico, Nigeria, and Rwanda. He holds a master’s degree in public administration and development economics from the London School of Economics.
