Category: Invited guests

Architect and Urban Planner, Klaus Müller GMBH, Germany. He is a practitioner and researcher on the issues of urban sustainability and mega-urbanization. He has worked intensively on urbanization challenges within the Middle East and North Africa region, China, and Europe, and has actively participated in a variety of international conferences, competitions, and workshops on the topic. He also took part in regional leadership programs, including the U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative in Washington, DC and Young Arab Leaders in Kuala Lumpur. He graduated from the Technical University of Berlin, Tongji University, Shanghai, and the Ecole Nationale d’architecture, Rabat.

Special advisor Middle-East (based in Beirut and Riyadh), International Crisis Group since 2014. He held several positions in the International Crisis Group such as Special advisor Middle-East (based in Cairo and Damascus) (2013), Director, Egypt/Syria/Lebanon/Iraq/Gulf (based in Cairo and Damascus) (2012) and Director, Egypt/Syria/Lebanon (based in Cairo and Damascus) (2011-2012). He was Advisor to joint United Nations/Arab League special envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in 2013. He worked as an expert on a committee for the prevention of conflict at Chirac Foundation (Paris). From 2002 to 2006, he was reporting in and on Iraq for Le Monde Diplomatique. He graduated from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris).

CEO and co-founder of MapTech Logistics Limited, a company that uses the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to solve business problems by developing and deploying GIS based applications. He also founded EVOLV.Africa, a non-profit that empowers youth with entrepreneurship and leadership skills through seminars, conferences, and workshops. He has worked as logistics and supply chain analyst for Clean Team Ghana. He is founding curator of TEDxKNUST, has been named a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, and was recently named as one of 30 under 30 emerging Ghanaians to watch by Future of Ghana Magazine. He holds an master’s of business administration in logistics & supply chain management from KNUST-Kumasi.

Senior Fellow and Adviser to the Board of Geopolitical Information Service AG. His experience spans financial services, geopolitical risk analysis and scenarios, cross cultural Management and conflict resolution and mediation, and financial diplomacy. He worked in Japan, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and Turkey.

Senior Advisor, Schlumberger, after serving as President of Schlumberger Business Consulting, an independent business unit of Schlumberger that he founded in 2004. An engineer by training, he joined Schlumberger in 1986 as a field engineer and spent the first years of his career working in Europe and Africa for major Oil and Gas companies. After 6 years spent with ICME, the leading strategy consultancy in Switzerland, he was made a partner by AT-Kearney in 1996. Following the acquisition of AT-Kearney by EDS, he was appointed CEO for EDS France. He rejoined Schlumberger in 2002. He graduated from Ecole polytechnique and completed the INSEAD MBA program and a Finance program at IMD.

Secretary-General of the Fondation Dr Henri Dubois-Ferrière Dinu Lipatti and board member of several charity foundations in Geneva. In charge of administration, accounting and human resources for several companies in various industries. Member of the board of the WPC Foundation since 2013.

Head of Corporate Development, Airbus Group. Responsible for supporting Group strategic development and portfolio review in strong coordination with operational Divisions. In former functions she previously led the Airbus Group Internal Audit with a specific focus on major programme review and risk management. She used to work in Airbus Group Inc in Washington DC as head of integration, strategy and planning with a strong focus on the North American Defense and Security market and also supported the Defense and Security Division in strategic and business development matters. She also worked for Airbus group Merger and Acquisition department.

Partner in the Geneva private client practice of Froriep, one of Switzerland’s main law firms with offices in Geneva, Zurich, Zug, Lausanne, London and Madrid. He has been with Froriep since 2005 and became a partner in 2015. During 2010 and 2011, Olivier was seconded to a prominent London law firm and then spent several months in the London office of Froriep. He combines expertise and experience in advising international high-net-worth individuals on estate and tax planning, asset protection, relocation and philanthropy. He is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and a committee member of STEP Geneva. He graduated from the University of Geneva.

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of TotalEnergies SE. Patrick Pouyanné joined the company TotalEnergies (ex-Total) in January 1997, with positions in Angola and Qatar in 1999. He held several senior responsibilities within the company (in Exploration & Production, Refining & Chemicals, the Executive Committee) until he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO in December, 2015. Previously, Patrick Pouyanné held various positions in the French Industry Ministry and in ministerial offices (1989-1996), including Environment and Industry Technical Advisor to the Prime minister (1993-1995) and Chief of Staff to the Information Technology and Space Minister (1995-1996). He is also member of the Board of several organizations such as Capgemini and Institut Polytechnique of Paris, and President of the Association française des entreprises pour l’environnement (French association of enterprises for the environment). He is a Graduate of École polytechnique and Chief Engineer of the French Corps des mines. He is a Knight of the Legion of Honor.

Governor of the National Bank of Romania since 1990. He is Member of the Romanian Academy since 2006. He served as Prime Minister (1999-2000). He held the position of Secretary in charge of economic and monetary issues with the Romanian Embassy in Washington, D.C. (1990). He has been Director of the Institute of World Economy since 1997. He also served as Governor for Romania in the IMF’s Board of Governors and as Vice-President of the Inter Ministerial Committee for the Transition to the Euro. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Academy of Economics in Bucharest.

Former Ambassador of the State of Qatar to France (2013-2016). Previously, he served as Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations in New York (2011-2013). He was Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Belgium (2007-2011), Counsellor at the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Brussels (2004-2007) and he worked at the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Washington (2000-2004). He also worked at the Permanent Delegation of the State of Qatar in New York (1998-2000). He started his career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1997. He graduated in international relations from the American University, Washington.

Professor, Academy Member and Director of International Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS), Director of Center of Regional Security, CASS, Member of National Committee of Chinese Political Consultant Conference (since 2002), President of China Association of Asia-Pacific Studies. He is also Honorable Chairman of China Committee of PECC, Vice president of China-ROK Friendship Association, Board member of ERIA. He was Director of Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (1993-2007). He served as a member of East Asia Vision Group (2000-2001, EAVG II, 2012-2013). Latest Publication: Between the Ideal and Reality-Thinking of East Asian cooperation (Chinese, 2015).

Member of Parliament of the French National Assembly since her election in June 2022 and she seats in the Foreign Affairs Commission. She is the representative of the first electoral district of her native island of Mayotte, a French overseas territory located in the Eastern African Mozambique Channel. Estelle is part of the Center-Right political group “Libertés, Indépendants, Outre-mer et Territoires”. Her civic engagement as the head of the citizens movement in Mayotte and her election followed her 20-year career as a TV journalist and communication and international affairs consultant. Among various international companies and institutions, Estelle worked for the World Bank as well as the African Development Bank as a consultant and as a journalist for France 2, TV5 Monde, Al Jazeera English and LCI. She created a conference called The Leaders’ Seminar which gathered 60 Western, Arab and African leaders in Marrakech in 2014, Abidjan in 2016, Kigali in 2017. She is a member of the Africa Leadership Network, an alumna of the Young Leaders program of the French-American Foundation (2011-2012) and the German Marshall Fund’s Atlantic Dialogues Young Leaders program (2013). Born in 1978, Estelle graduated with a degree in journalism studies in Tours, France, before studying international relations and political studies at Quebec University of Montreal, Canada.

Doctor of Laws, lawyer, Founder and Partner in the law firm Wilhelm & Büchel Rechtsanwälte since 1992. He also serves as Hon Treasurer of STEP, Vaduz Centre. He was admitted to the Liechtenstein Bar in 1990. He holds a Ph.D. from Innsbruck University (Austria).

Chairman of The Sasakawa Peace Foundation since 2015. Former Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) (2007-2011). He began his career in 1973 in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in Tokyo and has served in a number of high-ranking positions in METI, including Director-General of the Multilateral Trade System Department. He served as both Deputy Director and Director for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) of the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Upon return from the IEA, he became Global Associate for Energy Security and Sustainability at the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan and Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo. He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Tokyo and a MBA from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.

Director, Strategic Programme Leader, Food Security and Nutrition in FAO. Between 2008 and 2015 he was Director of the Agricultural Development Economics Division of FAO. He also served as Secretary of the Committee on World Food Security (2007-2015). Before joining FAO in 1989, he was Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign. He holds a degree in Economics from the Economics University of Athens, Greece, a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia, USA and a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences since 1998. In 1999, he was appointed Secretary Prelate of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. In 2001, His Holiness John Paul II consecrated him titular Bishop of Vescovìo. He was also decorated as Cavaliere di gran croce of the Italian Republic in 1999, official of honour of the Légion d’Honneur by the Republic of France in 2000, Grão Mestre da Ordem de Rio Branco by the Republic of Brazil in 2004, official of the Republic of Austria in 2004, and knight of the Republic of Chile in 2006.

French Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein since 2014. Former diplomatic counsellor of the French government (2012-2014). He also served as Ambassador to Hungary (2007-2012), Director of Cabinet of the Deputy minister of Cooperation, Development and Francophony (2005-2007), Ambassador to Uganda (1998-2000). From 1988 to 1990, he was Director of Development at Canal+ TV. He held the position of Counsellor at the Ministry of Industry (1986-1988). He started his career as Secretary in the Political section of the French Embassy in Moscow. He graduated from the Institut d’études politiques. He is an Alumnus of the Ecole nationale d’administration, France.

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Cantonal Bank of Geneva. He is also member of the Board of Directors of Nestlé, Swatch Group and SwissRe. He represented Switzerland as Governor of the IMF, Washington. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel (2006-2009). At the end of March 2007, he was designated Switzerland’s representative in the Financial Stability Forum. He joined the Swiss National Bank in 1979, where he was, among others, Vice-Chairman and then Chairman of the Governing Board. He holds a doctorate in economics from the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales (Graduate Institute of International Studies), Geneva.

Executive Secretary of the IEC Affiliate Country Programme, a free programme that comprises 83 developing countries – half of all countries that participate in the IEC. She is also the IEC liaison Officer for Developing Countries and the point of contact for ITU-D, UNIDO, UN-SE4ALL Practitioner Network and WTO TBT Committee. She coordinates the launch of IEC Africa Regional Centre (IEC-AFRC), inaugurated in Nairobi, Kenya, November 2015. Prior to joining the IEC Affiliate Country Programme Secretariat in 2003, she worked in the Technical Department of the IEC Central Office. She holds a Diploma from the Zurich Interpreters’ School (DOZ) – Zurich University, in English, French, German and Spanish.

Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of Shanghai Development Research Foundation (SDRF) which is a non-profit institution with the purpose of promoting research on the issues of development. Outside Expert for International Finance and Economy at the Ministry of Finance. Mr. Qiao was enrolled into Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1985. After graduation, he entered Harvard Institute for International Development and did research work. In 1995, he returned to China as Chief Representative and Managing Director of New York Life until May, 2003. Then he entered Shanghai Development Research Foundation, as responsible for the daily work, a position he still holds today. Prior to studying in the United States, he conducted research at the Institute of World Economy, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, as an Assistant Director. He is the author of Great Changes in Global Finance (2021) and China’s Integration into Global Financial System and its Impact on the Rest of the World (2019).

Seasoned Executive operating in Eastern Europe since the early ’90 (Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine & Romania). Dual competence in Industrial & FMCG. Internationally, he re-branded a major Industrial Group operating globally and for a FMCG Group launched a product that can be found in most markets. He si currently Board Member of Posta Romana and active member of different Think Tanks.He is graduated from Stanford University.

EFG Bank, Geneva. He began his career at Bank Brussels Lambert (BBL), in Brussels and Singapore, and afterwards pursued his career at BNP Paribas Fortis and Dexia Group, where he was CEO of Dexia Switzerland, before joining Geneva Cantonal Bank (BCGE) as Head of Private Banking and Member of the Executive Board. He also served as Head of Private Banking Romandie at BSI before joining EFG Bank as, successively, Head of Private Banking Geneva and Vice Chairman of EFG Asset Management and Head of the Independent Asset Managers. He holds Management, Finance and Tax Master’s degrees from the Universities of Brussels (Solvay Business School) and Leuven (UCL-Business and Administration Business School IAG).

Senior Minister and special Adviser to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. He is the former Mayor of Addis Ababa. He currently serves as Chair of the board of several leading public organizations and international advisory boards. Dr Arkebe was recognized by the New African as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans of 2016 for his work on industrialization and industrial policies, both theoretical and practical. He holds a PhD in development studies from SOAS, University of London, and is research associate at the Centre of African Studies in the University of London. His published works include the path-breaking Made in Africa (Oxford University Press, 2015), How Nations Learn (Oxford University Press, 2019), and China-Africa and an Economic Transformation (Oxford University Press, 2019).

President of Okamoto Associates. He is a Senior Research Fellow at MIT/CIS. He was a career diplomat in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1968-1991). His overseas postings were at Paris, Cairo and Washington. He was a Special Advisor to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto (1996-1998) and he was again a Special Advisor to Prime Minister Jun-ichiro Koizumi (2001-2004), also serving as the Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Foreign Relations. He is a visiting professor of international relations at Ritsumeikan University as well as Tohoku University. He has written many books on Japanese diplomacy and is a regular contributor to major newspapers and magazines.