Participants 2019

Michel Houdebine

Chief Economist, Ministry of Economy and Finance, France

Michel Houdebine has been Chief Economist of the French treasury since September 2015. He previously occupied various positions at the Directorate General of the French Treasury.

He was Assistant Secretary for Public Policies from 2010 to 2015, and Deputy Assistant Secretary in charge of European affairs from 2008 to 2010.

He is a member of the Conseil d’orientation des retraites, the Conseil d’orientation pour l’emploi and the Conseil économique du développement durable – the advisory councils covering pensions, employment and sustainable development.

He graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique.

Édouard Chrétien

Head of Domestic Economic Policy Unit, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Paris, France

Edouard Chrétien is the Head of the Domestic Economic Policy unit, in the Directorate General of the French Treasury. He previously worked as an economist in the Directorate General of the French Treasury and the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority, and as a researcher in the Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.

He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris-Saclay, and graduated from Ecole Polytechnique, ENSAE Paristech, and Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris.

Torsten Arnswald

Head of the Fiscal Policy Division, Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany

Torsten Arnswald is an economist and senior German federal Government official, currently serving as Head of the Fiscal Policy Division at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Germany.

He has worked at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Berlin, as Head of the Fiscal Policy Division since 2014. Prior to this, he held posts in the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany – serving as Chief Economic Advisor to the President 2010-14 – and at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Berlin, as Economic Advisor in the European Policy Department on EMU, Eurogroup & ECOFIN affairs 2005-10.

Mr Arnswald was previously an Advisor in the Economic Policy Division of the Federal Chancellery from 2003 to 2005.

Before Mr Arnswald took up his post with the Federal Chancellery, he was Economic Analyst of Financial Markets Developments at Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt am Main, from 1998-2003. Mr Arnswald is a native of Karlsruhe, Germany, and a graduate of the University of Heidelberg.

Han Neng Hsiu

Deputy Secretary (Development), Ministry Of Finance, Singapore

Han Neng Hsiu took up his current post in the Ministry of Finance in 2016. He was previously Deputy Secretary (Administration) in the Ministry of Defence from 2013.

Neng Hsiu joined the Singapore Administrative Service in 1998, and has served in a variety of Ministries and agencies. He was Assistant Director (Recruitment and Schemes) in the Ministry of Education from 1998 to 2000; Departmental Manager (National Service Policy) in the Ministry of Defence from 2000 to 2003; Deputy Director (Industry) in the Ministry of Trade and Industry from 2003 to 2006; Director (Special Projects) in the Civil Service College from 2007 to 2008; and Senior Director (Leadership Development) and Senior Director (Rewards and Recognition) in the Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office from 2009 to 2013.

Neng Hsiu graduated with a Master of Engineering from Imperial College, London and obtained a Master of Business Administration from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Robert Woods

Director, International Group, HM Treasury, UK

Robert is currently the Director responsible for EU Analysis and Global Economics at the Treasury.

Prior to this he was on secondment to the Bank of England where he worked on monetary policy and analysis. In his earlier career he was Director and Chief Macroeconomist at the Treasury and before that Head of Fiscal and Macroeconomic Policy.

Throughout his career he has worked on a wide range of fiscal and monetary policy issues, and the implications of regional integration.

Yeth Vinel

Deputy Secretary General, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Cambodia

Vinel Yeth is a budget and public financial management reform (PFMR) leader, working in the General Secretariat of the Steering Committee of PFMR and the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Cambodia.

He received his BA from the National Institute of Management, Cambodia; his postgraduate diploma of Business Administration from Massey University, New Zealand; and his MBA from RMIT University, Australia.

Prior to joining the government in 2008, he supported the work of the Supreme National Economic Council (SNEC) in the study and analysis of governance policy areas. He then spent four years as a Deputy Director in the Budget Department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

He currently serves the General Secretariat of the Steering Committee of Public Financial Management Reform (GSC) as a Deputy Secretary General, and also holds a role as Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Noureddine Bensouda

General Treasurer, Morocco

Mr. Noureddine Bensouda has been the General Treasurer of the Kingdom of Morocco since April 2010. Prior to joining the General Treasury of the Kingdom, Mr Bensouda worked for 12 years as Director General at the General Tax Administration.

From 1993 to 1998, he was the Deputy Director in charge of Central Control and Data Matching at the General Tax Administration, and Professor at the National Administration School in Morocco ENA. Prior to that, he was Chief Research Officer at the Cabinet of the Minister of Finance (from 1986), and head of the Cabinet of the Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance (from 1991).

Between 2005 and 2009, Mr Bensouda was Chairman of the United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters, and a member of the Permanent Scientific Committee of the International Fiscal Association (IFA).

Mr Bensouda holds a PhD in public law from Mohammed V University, Rabat, and a PhD in Public Law from the University of Paris I, Pantheon Sorbonne. He completed his Masters in Public Law and Diploma in Comparative Law in 1993.

Miguel Castro Coelho

Chief Economist, Office of the Portuguese Finance Minister, Portugal

Miguel Castro Coelho is Chief Economist at the Office of the Portuguese Finance Minister. Over the last decade, he has accumulated experience in a variety of policy roles at the heart of government (advisor to HM Treasury, the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, and 10 Downing Street); in government departments (strategy advisor to the Department for Education); and outside government (Institute for Public Policy Research, Institute for Government, LSE Growth Commission).

His main areas of interest include the drivers of economic growth and income distribution; the impact of globalization and technological change on the labour market; the economics of the welfare state (especially education, health and social security); organisational economics and public service efficiency; fiscal federalism; political economy of policy failure and institutional reform.

Greg Orencsak

Deputy Minister of Finance and Chair of the Ontario Financing Authority, Government of Ontario, Canada

Greg Orencsak became the Deputy Minister of Finance and Chair of the Ontario Financing Authority in June 2018.

He first joined the Ontario Public Service (OPS) in 1999 on an internship as an Economist for the Ministry of Finance. In 2010, he became Associate Deputy Minister of the Office of the Budget and Treasury Board in the Ministry of Finance, where he was responsible for the coordination of the delivery of the annual Ontario budget.

He was appointed Deputy Minister of Government Services in April 2014, and later that year became the Deputy Minister of the Treasury Board Secretariat. Concurrently, he also served as Chair of the Public Service Commission, which ensures the effective management of human resources in the OPS. In 2017, he became Deputy Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development.

Mr Orencsak has also worked in the private sector as a partner in Ernst & Young’s Canadian advisory practice, where he served as the firm’s National Leader for Public Policy and Fiscal Innovation.

Rosa Aldea Busquets

Deputy Director General in the Directorate General of the Budget and Accounting Officer, European Commission

Rosa Aldea Busquets is a Deputy Director General in the European Commission, with responsibilities covering treasury, accounting, financial reporting, budget execution, recovery of debts and the discharge procedure – the process through which the EU budget authority holds the European Commission accountable for the implementation of the EU Budget.

In this discharge procedure, which is increasingly focused on performance management, she plays a key role in improving the reporting of the EU’s value creation and the performance framework for the next MFF.

Veiko Tali

Secretary General, Ministry of Finance, Estonia

Veiko Tali has led Estonia’s Ministry of Finance since 2011. He was previously Deputy Secretary General for Financial and Tax Policies (2008-11); Deputy Secretary General for Financial Policy (2004-08); Head of the Department of Financial Services (Financial Policy) (2000-04); Head of the Department of Ownership Reform and Securities Market (1997-2000); and Head of the Department of Ownership Reform (1993-97).

Mr Tali joined the civil service from the Institute of Economics at the Estonian Academy of Science, where he was a Researcher. He graduated from the State University of Moscow’s Department of Economics in 1983.

Vladimir Tsibanov

Head of the Fiscal Policy and Strategic Planning Department, Ministry of Finance, Russia

Vladimir Tsibanov serves as head of the Fiscal Policy and Strategic Planning Department of the Ministry of Finance. He is responsible for the development of fiscal forecasting and the budget strategy, plus analysis and reporting on current and prospective economic developments.

Before joining the Ministry of Finance, he was a Strategist of Sberbank CIB – a nationally recognised investment banking institution. He also served as Advisor to the First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

Arnauld Bertrand

EY Global Government & Public Sector Advisory Leader

Mr Bertrand leads EY Global Government & Public Sector consulting services, bringing together thousands of professionals around the world. He also serves state modernisation departments, United Nations agencies, the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and international organisations on their development aid programmes and internal performance.

Working on major performance programmes in Europe and abroad, Mr Bertrand has advised top public executives in local and federal administrations on their policies and strategies; transformation programmes and organisational changes; digital strategies design; and public finance management and performance issues.

He earned a postgraduate degree in Political Science from the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris, and a Master’s degrees in International Law & History from the University of Paris, Pantheon Sorbonne.

Veronica Scotti

Group Managing Director, Chairperson Public Sector Solutions, Swiss Re

Veronica Scotti was appointed Chairperson Public Sector Solutions in July 2018, moving from her previous role as President & CEO of Canada & the English Caribbean, based in Toronto.

She joined Swiss Re in London in 1999, following the acquisition of Fox-Pitt Kelton – a boutique investment bank where she worked as Corporate Finance Advisor. After moving to Zurich in 2002, she gained reinsurance experience through roles in strategy, risk management and products. Since 2007 she has held various client-facing positions, including Head of Business Development EMEA and Key Account Manager in Zurich. Prior to joining Swiss Re, she worked in investment banking in the UK, Switzerland and Italy with Banque Paribas, Union Bank of Switzerland and Banco di Napoli.
She holds an MBA from the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan, and a Master’s degree in International Commerce from the Naval University Institute, Naples, Italy.

João Quipipa

Executive Member, Board of UNITEL, Angola

In March 2019, João Boa Francisco Quipipa became an Executive Member of the Board of UNITEL, SA – Angola’s leading telecommunications firm, which is partly owned by the Angolan Government through its holdings in MS Telecom and public oil company Sonangol, EP.

Since 2013, he has held posts as Chairman of the Support Fund for Agrarian Development (FADA); State Secretary at the Treasury; Head of the International Relations Cabinet at the Ministry of Finance; President of the Fiscal Council of SONANGOL, EP; and President of the Fiscal Council of Sovereign Wealth Fund of Angola (FSDEA).

Mr Quipipa was a member of the SADC Review Team for Malawi and Lesotho, under the SADC Macroeconomic Convergence (MEC) Peer Review Mechanism. Previous roles have included Chairman of the Council of Administration at the Institute for Public Sector Enterprises (ISEP); Chief of Finance of Bengo Province, representing the Minister of Finance; Chairman of the Institute for Public Sector Enterprises (ISEP); Director of National Studies and Market Analysis at the State Secretariat of Public Sector Enterprises; and Director of Planning and Studies at the Development Bank of Angola (BDA).