UK-ASEAN Business Forum 2024

Mr. Malaithong Kommasith, born on 27th May 1971, currently serves as the Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic since 20th June 2022. He possesses an extensive educational background, including attendance at the Ph.D. Preparation Program at WASEDA University, Tokyo, Japan in 2007-2008, completion of the Humphrey Fellowship Program with a focus on urban planning, negotiation, entrepreneurship, and project management at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA, obtaining a Master's in Development Administration at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, and achieving a Bachelor of Architecture from the National University of Laos, Vientiane, Laos.

Mr. Kommasith's professional journey is marked by various significant roles:

- Since 23rd June 2022: Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Lao PDR
- March 2021 to 19th June 2022: President of the State Audit Organization
- April 2020 to March 2021: Vice Governor of Champasak Province
- September 2016 to April 2020: Vice Minister, Head of Economic Advisory Team, and Secretary to the Prime Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office
- April 2012 to September 2016: Director General of the Department of Planning and Cooperation at the Ministry of Science and Technology
- July 2011 to April 2012: Deputy Chief of Cabinet at the Ministry of Science and Technology
- August 2008 to July 2011: Secretary to the Prime Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office
- April 2005 to August 2008: Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business Management, National University of Laos
- January 2002 to April 2004: Professional in the Department of Housing and Urban Planning at the Ministry of Telecommunication, Transportation, Post and Construction
- July 1998 to January 2002: Officer in the Department of Asia, Pacific, and Africa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- April to July 1996: Lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture, National University of Laos

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Heather Wheeler was initially appointed PM’s Trade Envoy to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in October 2020 and re-appointed in March 2023 as PM’s Trade Envoy to Cambodia & Laos.

She previously served at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government as Minister for Housing and Homelessness between January 2018 and July 19 and then at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as Minister for the Asia Pacific Region until February 2020. Heather was elected as Conservative MP for South Derbyshire in 2010, after serving as Leader of South Derbyshire Council for 3 years. She was re-elected in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Heather was born in 1959 and attended a local comprehensive school. She worked as a qualified Insurance Broker at Lloyds of London between 1977 and 1987, studying for exams by day release and evenings to become an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute (ACII) in 1984.

Political Career:

Heather served as a Local Councillor in Wandsworth between1982-1986 and then in South Derbyshire between 1992-2011. She became Leader of the Council in 2007 and was elected MP in 2010.

Heather spent her early Parliamentary years serving on the Standards & Privileges and Communities & Local Government Select Committees. In 2014, Heather became PPS to the Attorney General and then to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport Department in 2015.

In 2016 she was made a Government Whip for the Department for International Trade. As a committed Brexiteer, she was delighted to be working to promote business growth and exporting in post-Brexit Britain.

Heather Wheeler moved her government Ministerial role in January 2018 when she became Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry for Housing, Communities & Local Government with special responsibility for Housing and Homelessness, a challenging role, central to Government policy.

In July 2019 she was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for the Asia Pacific region until February 2020. During this time, she visited Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, Thailand, Tuvalu and Vietnam.

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The Rt Hon Greg Hands was appointed Minister of State for Trade Policy in the Department for Business and Trade on 13 November 2023. He was also appointed Minister for London on 13 November 2023.

He was previously Minister without Portfolio at the Cabinet Office between 7 February 2023 and 13 November 2023. He was also Minister of State at the Department for International Trade between 9 October 2022 and 7 February 2023, and a Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy between 16 September 2021 and 7 September 2022.

He was also Minister of State for Trade Policy in the Department for International Trade (DIT) from 13 February 2020 to 15 September 2021 and Minister of State in the Department for International Trade from 2016 to 2018. He was elected the Conservative MP for Hammersmith and Fulham in 2005, and for Chelsea and Fulham in 2010.

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Sarah Tiffin was appointed UK Ambassador to the Association of South East Asian Nations in April 2023.

Sarah previously served as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Dublin, and before that as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Warsaw. In London, she was Head of the East Africa, Great Lakes and Somalia Department. She joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) in 1988. Her career includes postings to New Delhi and Paris, work at the EU’s representation to the EU, and 2 secondments to the Irish Government. Much of her career focuses on EU policy, but her work has also spanned many other areas including strategic policy planning, human rights policy, development and human resources.

Sarah has an MA in French and Russian from Pembroke College, Cambridge. She is married to Pádraig, an Irish diplomat, and they have 3 children. While pursuing their dual careers, Sarah has undertaken many forms of flexible working (job-sharing, part-time, remote working, project work). She is a strong advocate for ensuring that the workplace culture is family-friendly and supports flexible working, as a necessary underpinning for diversity and inclusion.

Ambassador, UK Mission to ASEAN:

The Ambassador’s role is to represent the UK to an international organisation, engaging with the countries or organisations that belong to or observe that body. The Ambassador is also responsible for the direction and work of the Mission.

Mr. Oudet Souvannavong is the President of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LNCCI) and the Chairman of the ASEAN Business and Advisory Council for the year 2024. Born on the 4th of February 1957 in Thakhek, Khammouane, Laos, Mr. Souvannavong is married with two children.

Educationally, he holds a Diploma of Education in Maths and Physics from the National University of the Lao PDR (1977-1981) and a Post Graduate Certificate of Forest Industry Management from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SUAS), Sweden (1997).

In the public and social sphere, Mr. Souvannavong has been the President of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 2016 and a Founding Member of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC) since its establishment in 2002. He has also served as the ASEAN-BAC Chairman in 2004, 2016, and 2024.

His business interests span trading, capital investment, and hospitality in the Food & Beverage sector. In the realm of trading, he holds the position of Managing Director of Societe Commerciale Lao Ltd (SCL), a joint venture company involved in importing climate and water management technologies, solutions, and equipment. He is also the Director of V&A Trading, another joint venture company engaged in the import and distribution of consumer products.

In the field of capital investment, Mr. Souvannavong is the Managing Director of OSD Holding Sole Ltd, a company that holds shares in Muhibbah Engineering Laos Ltd (MEL), with investment projects in infrastructure construction and engineering, rooftop solar energy, and other areas. Additionally, he serves as the Executive Director of Lao Petroleum and Liquid Hub Co., Ltd (LPLH), with an investment project in the construction and operation of tank farms.

Within the realm of Hospitality and Food & Beverages, Mr. Souvannavong holds various positions, including Managing Director of Le Charme Vientiane Hotel Ltd, Director of Fuji Japanese Restaurant Laos Ltd, Partner and Director of Villa Opera Italian Restaurant Ltd, and Partner and Director of Bamboo House Mekong Korean Restaurant Ltd.

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Lord Vaizey was appointed to the UK House of Lords in September 2020, where he sits as a Conservative Peer and is a member of the Communications and Digital Committee.

Ed was the Member of Parliament for Wantage between 2005 and 2019. He served as the UK Government Culture and Digital Minister from 2010-16 and is the longest-serving Minister in that role. He was appointed a privy councillor in 2016. Lord Vaizey served as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos between 2017 and 2019.

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Freya Thomas Monk is Senior Managing Director, Vocational qualifications & training at Pearson plc. She is responsible for a £140M business delivering apprenticeships, vocational learning, and qualifications in the UK and internationally, working closely with universities, colleges, and schools, and with government and employers, to drive skills to serve our economy. Freya joined Pearson in 2004 and previously led the fast growth of the digital English Assessment business. She is passionate about the importance of education in helping individuals reach their goals in life.

Before Pearson Freya held roles as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company and led web development in the dot.com era. She holds an MA from Oxford University and an MBA from INSEAD (Paris).

Freya serves as Chair of Governors of a primary school and sits on the boards of Pearson Education Limited and the UK-ASEAN Business Council (an FCDO-sponsored trade body). She lives in London with her husband and three children.

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Stuart Tait was appointed Head of Commercial Banking UK in December 2021 and is responsible for HSBC’s relationships with 900,000 large, medium and small business clients.

He is a General Manager at HSBC Group, one of the world‘s largest banking and financial services organisations with assets of nearly US$3 trillion.

Prior to his current role, Stuart was Regional Head of Commercial Banking for Asia Pacific, the leading international wholesale bank in the region and one of the Group‘s fastest-growing franchises.

Stuart has worked in financial services for over 30 years. He joined HSBC in 1984 as an International Manager and has held various positions in Commercial Banking, Global Banking and Markets, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Human Resources and Risk. Previous assignments with HSBC have been based in various Asia markets, the Middle East, the US, Canada and in the Group‘s Head Office.

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Charis Yeap is the SE Asia Regional Lead for Green Finance and Carbon Pricing Mechanisms with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), based out of the British High Commission in Singapore. She was previously the Economic Development Adviser at the British High Commission Kuala Lumpur delivering programmes and advising on policies regarding low carbon economy and regulatory diplomacy. Before that, she worked in research on innovation economics and transparency, as well as in charitable organisations in Malaysia and the UK.

Charis holds an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Hult International Business School.

She is also currently pursuing a PhD in Economics at the Asia-Europe Institute, Universiti Malaya, on the topic of Industry 4.0 proliferation.

Amanda Murphy was appointed Head of Commercial Banking, South & Southeast Asia Pacific, with effect from December 2021, and is a member of the Global Commercial Banking Executive Committee.

Based in Singapore, Amanda leads the Commercial Banking businesses in some of the most exciting markets in the Asia Pacific region including Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Amanda initially joined HSBC in 1994 and became an International Manager in 1998. Her career has spanned numerous frontline, risk and leadership roles across Europe, the Middle East, North America and Asia-Pacific. Most recently, Amanda led the Commercial Bank in the UK from April 2017 and was responsible for HSBC’s relationships with over 900,000 small, medium and large business customers and a team of approximately 4,700 people.

She has a law degree from Queen’s University, Belfast, an MBA from Warwick University, and is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB). In 2021, Amanda was featured in the HERoes Top 100 Women Executive List for the fifth consecutive year.

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Satvinder Singh is the Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Economic Community for 2021-2024. He will support the Secretary-General of ASEAN by providing leadership in the implementation of the AEC Blueprint 2025 and will lead the AEC Department of the ASEAN Secretariat. He will also provide strategic advice to advance ASEAN’s economic integration agenda.

Before assuming this role, he was the Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Trade Connectivity & Business Services at Enterprise Singapore, where he was instrumental in strengthening Singapore’s role as Asia’s trading hub, supporting the growth of 15,000 professionals, managers, executives and technicians jobs.

With over 27 years of experience, he has held a variety of local, regional and global management positions across the region. At Enterprise Singapore, Mr Singh oversaw four divisions and drove digitalisation efforts in Singapore amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr. Singh holds a Bachelor degree in social sciences from the National University of Singapore and attended the Harvard’s Business School Advanced Management Programme in 2017.

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David is Mott MacDonald’s Managing Director for Asia. He has significant infrastructure consultancy experience working primarily across the power generation/ energy spectrum. This encompasses project and advisory work in energy infrastructure and energy environment services where he has been at the forefront of energy transition across Asia including contributions to some of the region's first and largest solar, onshore and offshore wind, hydropower and energy storage system projects. David’s project experience extends globally on behalf of multilateral agencies, national governments, developers, banks, regulatory agencies and financial organisations.

Based in Singapore, David leads and delivers Mott MacDonald’s Asia business, which is active in all of Mott MacDonald’s infrastructure business sectors in Energy, Transport, Water, Buildings, and Environment and Society. He is also a member of the Mott MacDonald Group Shareholders’ Committee and the Group Risk Committee. Through his senior leadership role in the company and as a veteran in spearheading project delivery, David is committed to influencing and contributing to both projects and a vision that helps shape the low carbon future and deliver greater social outcomes.

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Helen Brand is chief executive of ACCA, the global body for professional accountants, a post she has held since 2008.

Helen has built her career within professional bodies and has considerable experience and knowledge of the 178 markets in which ACCA currently operates. She was a founding member of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and played a role in its successor organisations. She participates in a number of university advisory boards.

Helen is a member of the UK government’s Professional and Business Services Council, and she was appointed to the UK DBT’s Trade Advisory Group on Professional Advisory Services in August 2020. In 2022, under India’s leadership, she joined the B20 Task Force on the future of Work, Skills and Mobility and in June 2023 she joined the Board of the UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC).

One of the few women to lead a global professional body, Helen is a regular media commentator on the role ethics and the delivery of public value play in business and society. In 2011, ACCA became the first international professional body to publish an integrated report on its performance and Helen remains a strong advocate for the power of wider corporate reporting. She has also driven ACCA’s pioneering work in supporting the development of the profession across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Helen holds a BA in Politics from the University of Exeter. She was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in June 2011 for services to accountancy and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Exeter in December 2017.

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Richard Graham is MP for Gloucester, and the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to the ASEAN EC, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Richard is Chairman of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and a member of the Joint Committee for National Security Strategy. He also chairs the All Party Parliamentary Groups for Indonesia, China and Marine Energy and is an elected member of the board of the Conservative Party.

Richard was previously an airline manager, a diplomat and an investment manager. He has worked in ten countries, speaks eight languages and is the founder and Chairman of the Gloucester History Trust which runs the Gloucester History Festival.

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Mr. Donosepoetro is responsible for overseeing Standard Chartered Bank business operations across Indonesia, Australia, Brunei and the Philippines. Prior to this role, he was the Vice Chairman for ASEAN responsible for driving the execution of the Bank’s ASEAN strategy and governance oversight over Standard Chartered’s footprints that span across all 10 ASEAN countries. Between 2016 to 2019, he held the role of CEO for Standard Chartered Bank Indonesia marking the first Indonesian to hold this post in the Bank’s 160 years of operations in the country.

In a global career spanning 26 years with Standard Chartered, Mr. Donosepoetro has held diverse roles across businesses and functions in 7 countries – Indonesia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Chile and the Falkland Islands. Mr. Donosepoetro has also held the roles as the Bank’s Regional Head of Audit for Asia, CEO for Standard Chartered in the Falkland Islands and CEO in Brunei Darussalam.

In addition to his current role, Mr. Donosepoetro is a Board member and Chairman of the Audit Committee for Standard Chartered Nepal Ltd and a Member of Standard Chartered Group Sustainable Finance Management Team. He was also appointed as Deputy Co-Chair in the B20 Finance and Infrastructure Task Force during Indonesia’s G20 presidency. He is also the Bank’s representative for the World Economic Forum’s ASEAN Regional Action Group.

He is currently the Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce Indonesia, and he sits on a number of international Boards including the digital venture Nexus Company Ltd Singapore and the UK-ASEAN Business Council. He also serves as the Advisor for the British International Investment and Co-Chair of the Green Investment Principles for ASEAN Chapter.

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Cathryn Law is the Director of the Bilateral Trade Relations Directorate at the Department for Business and Trade. Bilateral Trade Relations (BTR) is a key part of the Department's Economic Security and Trade Relations Group, responsible for delivering and protecting market access for UK businesses outside live Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.

Cathryn joined DBT in October 2016 as Deputy Director of the EU Trade Policy Team. Before that, she was in BIS as Head of International Science and Innovation – including setting up and overseeing the Newton Fund.

Her other trade experiences include 5 years in UKTI heading the China desk and then Asia more widely, 6 months in the High Commission in Kuala Lumpur covering the oil and gas sector and 2 years in DFID heading up the Trade and Development Policy Team.

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Kobsak Duangdee has been appointed as Secretary General of the Thai Bankers Association (TBA) since 1 January 2015. He has more than 33 years of banking experience with local and international banks, over 20 years of which are as Country Head and Branch Manager of an international bank, with responsibility for oversight of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. He was also a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of a leading Thai bank and a securities company in Thailand.

In his previous role as the bank’s Head of International Banking, the Bank covered the global market, with a focus on ASEAN, where he built and maintained a strong network of business connections. Mr. Kobsak also played an active role in the business community in Thailand. He was a member of several committees of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. He was a board member of the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce and had served as the President for three consecutive terms.

In his role as Secretary General of TBA, he has participated in several committees and working groups set up by the Government and by the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry, and Banking (JSCCIB).

In addition, he has also represented Thailand in several business councils, including advisory councils.

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Ian was appointed CEO of the UK-ASEAN Business Council in September 2020. Before taking up this position, he had held a variety of roles across government including British Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Deputy Principal Private Secretary to Rt Hons Alistair Darling, Alan Johnson and Patricia Hewitt and Director of Business Development with the MWW Group in New York working in public relations. Before this, he spent 4.5 years in New York as head of Invest UK’s Regional Inward Investment Team (the British Government’s agency responsible for attracting inward investment from the United States to the UK).

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Martin Kent was appointed His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for Asia Pacific in September 2023. He joined from an interim posting as the Minister and Deputy Head of Mission in the British Embassy in Tokyo.

Martin previously served as a Director within the Department for Business and Trade, before which he was HM Deputy Trade Commissioner to Africa, based in the British Embassy in Cairo.

Martin joined the Civil Service in 2015 as the Deputy Director for Global Operations at UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

He started his career at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in London and worked mainly overseas with multinational companies, including extended periods in Australia and Singapore.

Martin graduated from St John’s College, Cambridge University, and is from Colchester in Essex.

The HM Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for Asia Pacific oversees all Department for Business and Trade (DBT) work in North-East Asia, South-East Asia and Australasia including growing the overall bilateral trade and investment relationship improving market access for British companies, including small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) developing finance and trade policy.

The HMTC also works closely with the wider diplomatic network and UK-based colleagues to coordinate His Majesty’s Government (HMG) activity on our wider prosperity agenda.

Bernardino (Dino) is currently Vice Chairman of International Relations at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Alternate Chair of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council - Indonesia Representative. He is also the President-Director of PT. Pembangkit Energi Mandiri (PEM) as well as PT. Pembiayaan Digital Indonesia (AdaKami). At PEM, he is responsible for navigating the regulatory framework in developing gas-based independent power plant (IPP) projects in both East Java and East Kalimantan. He also establishes and maintains government relations with the relevant agencies and institutions in pursuing power plant projects in Indonesia.

Dino is also the President-Director of AdaKami, a peer-to-peer online platform that helps provide small cash loans to micro-small-medium enterprises to address funding gaps that exist in Indonesia, particularly for the unbanked and underserved communities.

During his tenure at PT. Korpindo Konsultansi, Dino assisted his clients in navigating the various regulations and providing advice and solutions for companies investing and operating in Indonesia. He works closely with government agencies to understand issues and find ways to overcome them within ethical and legal boundaries.

With a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles (USC) and an MBA from Providence College, Rhode Island. Dino is well experienced in strategic management and project implementation which allows him to assess and troubleshoot situations and predicaments while providing clients with appropriate and cost-saving solutions.

Before joining PT. Korpindo Konsultansi and co-establishing ERV Capital Partners, Dino was the Chairman of the National Secretariat for Sub-Regional Cooperation at the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs - Republic of Indonesia. His primary responsibility was to set Indonesia’s direction and initiatives in Sub Regional Cooperation which includes BIMP-EAGA, IMT-GT and AIDA.

Before that, Dino was the Director of Planning for the Humpuss Group, an Indonesian conglomerate with a particular focus on the oil & gas, petrochemicals, and transportation / logistic sectors. He was instrumental in developing financing schemes for various projects which involved a variety of financial and equity institutions such as Morgan Stanley and Morgan Grenfell as well as project financing schemes with among others, the US Exim Bank and HERMES – Germany.

Dino was a former member of the Board of Commissioners at PT. Sarana Sulut Ventura – North Sulawesi, a non-banking financing institution established in all 33 provinces in 1995 by the Department of Finance – Republic of Indonesia to support private sector SMEs that are not being supported by banks and other financial institutions in the region.

Dino’s experience in working for both the public and private sectors in BIMP-EAGA is a unique qualification matched by few in the area of sub-regional cooperation. He advocates business solutions to addressing climate change and is a believer in engaging businesses to empower local communities to sustain long-term growth. He believes that sub-regional and regional cooperation is an important element in integrating local communities into the global economy.

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Richard is Global Head of Infrastructure, Government and Healthcare – a group of sectors that also includes Transport, Construction and Business Services and represents almost 25 per cent of KPMG firms’ global revenues.

He has almost 30 years of experience in policy, governance, strategy and financing, advising both public and private sector clients in the UK and overseas.

Richard began his career as a civil servant at the UK Department for Transport where he held positions in the road, rail and aviation directorates. Between 1996 and 1998 he was Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Transport and the Deputy Prime Minister. He subsequently moved to the Infrastructure Advisory team at Citigroup before joining KPMG in the UK, where he led the UK Infrastructure, Building and Construction sector until 2018. From 2018 until 2021 he was KPMG International’s Global Head of Infrastructure. From 2020 to 2022 he was Global Head of KPMG IMPACT and launched the firm’s Global ESG Strategy.

Richard is motivated by the understanding that the world is facing both a climate and a social emergency. He is committed to doing everything he can to support public and private sector organizations to play their part in averting those disasters and support the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, to enable sustainable quality of life for everyone, everywhere.

Richard has an extensive network of contacts across the infrastructure, transport, utility, and construction markets and the related political, financial and legal communities, in the UK and internationally. His clients include national and local infrastructure and transport authorities, private infrastructure owners and promoters of infrastructure schemes. He has advised on the governance and financing of some of the world’s most complex civil engineering projects.

He has a long-standing reputation for leading clients through complex and politically high-profile transactions and providing strategic, financial and governance advice.

Richard is Chair of the International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure, and KPMG’s representative on the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a member of the Infrastructure Board of the Confederation of British Industry. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He chairs the Advisory Council of The Infrastructure Forum, which is an independent think-tank which brings together organizations with involvement in UK infrastructure from public, private and regulatory perspectives. He is a prolific writer on infrastructure, transport, sustainability, and organizational purpose, and is quoted regularly in the media.

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