Participants 2020

Tan Ching Yee

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Singapore

Mrs Tan Ching Yee is the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Singapore. She also holds the appointment of Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office (Special Duties). She assumed these posts on 1 May 2016.

She is Chairman of the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, and a Board member of the Changi Airport Group, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the National Research Foundation.

Mrs Tan read Economics at Cambridge University and joined the Singapore Civil Service in 1986, first as a Statistician and then as a Research Economist in the Ministry of Trade and Industry. She obtained her Masters of Science in Management from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, in 1997. She next worked in the Ministry of Education for five years, covering portfolios in higher education and overall education policy, leaving as its Deputy Secretary (Policy).

In July 2002, she became the Chief Executive of the Infocomm Development Authority, Singapore. Concurrently, she also held the post of Deputy Secretary (Infocomm and Media Development) at the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.

She returned to the Ministry of Education as its Second Permanent Secretary in January 2005 and as its Permanent Secretary in April 2007. She was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health from April 2012.

She is married to Eugene, and they have three children.

Armin Steinbach

Head of Fiscal Policy Division, Ministry of Finance, Germany

Armin is head of the Fiscal Policy Division at the German Ministry of Finance. Previously, he headed the Economic Policy Division at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Armin has been a Gwilym Gibbon Fellow at Oxford’s Nuffield College since 2014. He previously held visiting scholar positions at universities of Harvard and Florence and obtained a PhD in law from the University of Munich and a PhD in economics from the University of Erfurt in Germany.

Noureddine Bensouda

General Treasurer of the Kingdom, Morocco

Mr. Noureddine Bensouda is currently the General Treasurer of the kingdom of Morocco since April 2010. Prior to joining the General Treasury of kingdom, Mr. Noureddine Bensouda worked for twelve years as Director General at the General Tax Administration. Since 1993 he has been working as Deputy Director in charge of Central Control and Data Matching at the General Tax Administration and similarly he worked as professor at the National Administration School in Morocco ENA, from 1993 to 1998.

He started his career as The Chief Research Officer at the Cabinet of the Minister of Finance (1986); then he was named the head of the Cabinet of the Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance (1991)

Noureddine Bensouda was appointed as The Chairman of United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (2005 to 2009), and as such, a member of the Permanent Scientific Committee of the International Fiscal Association (IFA).

Mr. Noureddine Bensouda holds his PhD in public law from Mohammed V University, Rabat in 2005 as well as a PhD in Public Law from the University of Paris I, Pantheon Sorbonne in 2001. He got his Master in Public Law and a Diploma in Comparative Law in 1993.

Gil S. Beltran

Undersecretary, Department of Finance, Philippines

Undersecretary GIL S. BELTRAN is the Department of Finance’s Chief Economist. He works on a variety of areas including fiscal policy, human resource and operations management, economic policy and research, and financial inclusion policies and strategies.

He also served as an Alternate Executive Director and advisor to the Executive Director at the World Bank and Chairman of the ASEAN Single Window Steering Committee (ASWSC).

Peter Lim

Director – Fiscal Policy, Ministry of Finance, Singapore

Mr Peter Lim is currently the Director of Fiscal Policy at the Ministry of Finance. Prior to that, he served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies. He was also a Deputy Director at the National Population and Talent Division and a Manager in the Singapore YOG Organising Committee.

Mr Peter Lim has a Double degree in Economics and Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, followed by a Masters in Biomedical Engineering from John Hopkins University and a Masters of Laws from the University of London. He is a Sloan Fellow from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is a CFA Charterholder.

Mohsin Mushtaq Chandna 

Special Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Pakistan

An officer of Pakistan Administrator Service with blend of experience in Government service as well as Development Sector. He has worked for the Government of Pakistan for over thirty two years while he has also worked for USAID in Pakistan for over a year. He holds a degree in Masters of Public Policy from University of Chicago as well as Masters in Business Administration from Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi.

Mr. Mohsin has worked as Economic Minister in Pakistan Embassy Washington DC for over five years where his major responsibility was to liaise with IFIs and US Administration and keep them abreast of Government’s economic policies. He has served as Secretary Planning at the Government of Sindh. He has taught thirty courses of Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and Contemporary Issues in Global Economics, Managerial Economics and Issues in Pakistan Economy to BBA and MBA students at IBA Karachi. He was a regular speaker at Pakistan Club of University of Chicago and also gave lectures at Conventions of Pakistani American Community organized by Pakistan Embassy and Consulates in the US. He is a Bridge player of international repute and earned the rank of Gold Life Master from American Contract Bridge League. He twice won the Annual William Poissant Bridge Trophy held by Northern Virginia Bridge Association.

Līga Kļaviņa

Deputy State Secretary for Financial Policy, Ministry of Finance, Latvia

Līga Kļaviņa is a Deputy State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance of Latvia for financial markets and fiscal policy.

Līga joint to the Ministry of Finance almost 15 years ago and have experience in bank restructuring, financial sector development policy as well as international economic and financial issues.

She is a Board member from Latvia in the Nordic Investment Bank and member of the Supervisory Board in Latvia`s financial development institution ALTUM which implements state support programmes for energy efficiency.

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.

Markus Sovala

Director General, Economic Policy Coordination, Finland

Dr. Markus Sovala is Director General, Economic Policy Coordination, Ministry of Finance, a role which he took up in September 2019 and is involved in coordinating economic policy along with matters related to the budgetary stability control instruments. He is actively involved in monitoring the sustainability of public finances, fight against COVID19 epidemic and Government ownership policy planning.

Previously Dr Sovala was Leader of Change at Uusimaa Regional Council and before that held a number of senior roles in the Ministry of Finance including as Head of Economics Department and Deputy Budget Director, and a 2-year role as a Senior Advisor to the Executive Director at the World Bank.

Pablo de Ramón Laca

Director General – Treasury and Financial Policy, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Spain

Pablo was appointed Director General of the Treasury and Financial Policy in February 2020. His work involves, among other tasks, Spain’s financial sector regulation; devising and executing the Kingdom of Spain’s funding programme; the promotion of the Spanish debt in Spain and in roadshows abroad; the coordination of the capital markets presence of the different public-sector issuers; the supervision of the Treasury’s cash position; and the inspection and control of capital movements for the purposes of the fight against money laundering and terrorism finance. He is also Chairman of the EFC’s Subcommittee on European Sovereign Debt Management (ESDM) since August 2019, as well as a member of several committees related with his different policy areas.

Before his promotion to Director General, Pablo was Head of Funding and Debt Management at the Spanish Treasury since November 2013, a team he joined in September 2008. Before joining the Spanish Treasury, he worked as an economist in the Bank of England’s Financial Crisis Management Department. Pablo is a member of the High Corps of State Economists and Trade Experts, and he holds a BA (Hons) degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford, and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Harry Tsavdaris

WW Community Lead for Tax and Revenue, Microsoft

Dr Harry Tsavdaris is an Electrical and Computer Engineer with PhD in Decision Support Systems.

Currently is a National Technology Officer in Microsoft Greece Cyprus and Malta. He is also leading the Worldwide Community in Microsoft for Tax and Revenue.

Prior to Microsoft, worked as the Secretary General for Information Systems in the Greek Ministry of Finance responsible for the operation, support and implementation of all IT Systems in Ministry of Finance and most of the core systems of the Greek Government, definition of the IT Strategy of the Ministry of Finance and of the IT Strategy of the Greek Government.

He has extensive experience in the whole spectrum of government IT systems (central government, education, justice, public IT investment plans and project portfolio management), government data centers consolidation, transformation and operation and government interoperability frameworks.

David Henderson

Chief Geospatial Officer, Ordnance Survey

As a member of the Ordnance Survey executive team, David leads the continuous development of Ordnance Survey’s geospatial strategy. Focussing on the longer term progression of Ordnance Survey’s core strategic strengths, technical capabilities and geospatial assets, David’s team works to ensure Ordnance Survey remains at the forefront of the global geospatial industry.

A geospatial professional and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, David joined Ordnance Survey in 2003 and has fulfilled a variety of technical and leadership roles. David has led the UK’s delegation to the UN’s Committee of Experts on Global Geographic Information Management (UNGGIM) since 2016 and is a Vice-Chair of the UNGGIM Europe Regional Group.

Mike Froman 

Vice Chairman and President, Strategic Growth, Mastercard

Mike Froman serves as vice chairman and president, Strategic Growth for Mastercard. In that role he is responsible for growing strategic partnerships, scaling new business opportunities, and advancing the company’s efforts to partner with governments and other institutions to address major societal and economic issues. He and his team drive financial inclusion and inclusive growth efforts and work to develop new businesses key to the company’s strategic growth.

Mike oversees the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and is a member of the company’s management committee. Prior to joining Mastercard, Mike was affiliated with the Council on Foreign Relations and continues to serve as a distinguished fellow. In September, 2018, Mike joined the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Company.

From 2013 to 2017, Mike served as the U.S. Trade Representative, President Barack Obama’s principal advisor and negotiator on international trade and investment issues. During his tenure, Mike worked to open foreign markets for U.S. goods and services, reach landmark trade agreements and enforce the rights of American workers, farmers and firms. From 2009-2013, he served at the White House as assistant to the President and deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs.

Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Mike held several executive positions at Citigroup, including CEO of its international insurance business, COO of its $50 billion alternative investments business and head of its infrastructure investment business. He helped shape the company’s strategy in China, India, Brazil and other emerging markets. Earlier in his career, during the Clinton Administration, he worked at the White House and the Treasury Department. Mike received a bachelor’s degree in public and international affairs from Princeton University, a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, and a law degree from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Tony Gardner

Former US Ambassador to the European Union

Tony is a Managing Partner with Brookfield’s Private Equity group; a Senior Adviser at the Brunswick Group, a communications and strategic consulting firm; a Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin, an international law firm; a board member of Iberdrola, a leading global utility, and a member of the investment committee of Qualitas Equity Partners, a fund of funds. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the American Ditchley Foundation, a member of the advisory boards of the Centre for European Reform, the European Policy Centre, the American European Community Association and a non-resident Fellow at the German Marshall Fund.

He served as US Ambassador to the European Union (2014-2017). In that capacity, he played a key role in the negotiations of a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement and of Privacy Shield, the legal framework enabling flows of personal data from Europe to the United States. He was instrumental in bringing about a change in US privacy legislation that gives European citizens greater rights to protect their privacy interests before US federal courts.

Before serving in Brussels, Tony worked at Palamon Capital Partners, a private equity firm and GE Capital, both in London. During 1994-1995 he served as Director of European Affairs at the National Security Council; in that capacity he focused on EU issues and was closely involved in the negotiation of the New Transatlantic Agenda. He has also worked at the Directorate-General for Competition Policy of the European Commission and at the Treuhandanstalt in Berlin.

He is the author of “Stars with Stripes: The Essential Partnership between the European Union and the United States,” Palgrave MacMillan (2020) and “A New Era in US-EU Relations?” Avebury Press (1997). Tony appears regularly on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Bloomberg, BBC, Euronews and Fox Business News as a commentator on transatlantic issues. He has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times and Foreign Affairs.

Tony is a graduate of Harvard College (B.A.), Oxford University (MPhil), Columbia Law School (J.D.) and London Business School (MSc in Finance).

Tony Gardner has lived in Europe for 29 years and is a dual US and Italian national. He is married to a Spaniard.

Grant Johnstone

VP Enterprise Development, Mastercard
(Government Centre of Excellence – Global Head of Digital Country Plans and Partnerships)

Grant leads a global team focussed on designing digital country level solutions for public sector participants. Grant and his team engage directly with government departments and commercial entities to determine requirements, develop new digital ecosystems, optimise existing programmes by implementing best practices utilising MasterCard’s network, expertise and technology. Grant liaises directly with Public Sector ministries, numerous market intermediaries including; consultants, NGO’s, Government owned companies, third party contractors and other preferred suppliers and stakeholders.

Grant is an internationally experienced executive with; strong business performance history, strategic change management deployment, and cross cultural people leadership. Grant has worked across the mining, freight, IT, financial services, travel and banking sectors for over 25 years. Grant has started and developed a number of commercial payments products and business entities for market leading payments and banking organisations. Grant has successfully lead and deployed a multi country purchasing card programme for a large multinational company and worked across the various tiers of Public Sector.

His experience extends across the Europe, United Kingdom, South and Southern Africa, the Asia Pacific markets as well as the Australia and New Zealand sub region. He has also owned and run a number of his own small businesses.

Jennifer Duncan

Vice President – Government Innovation (Global), Mastercard 

Jennifer has spent most of her career in government affairs and communications. She joined Mastercard in 2014 and in her current role focuses on addressing societal problems facing governments, the wider public sector and the citizens they serve – putting policy into practice. In 2020 she was named as the payments industry’s Emerging Female Leader.

She is currently leading Mastercard’s work with governments around the world to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. Jennifer is a passionate believer in public private partnerships and has been involved in a wide range of policy issues including contactless transport, social welfare, digital procurement, financial inclusion, security and sustainability.

Jennifer is a member of the UK Government’s ‘Inclusive Economy Partnership Financial Inclusion Steering Group’ and she led a govt/industry initiative to reduce a card fraud for the UK Home Office (2016-2018).

She is an advocate for financial inclusion and is Non-Executive Director of ‘Fair for You’, an ethical alternative lender focused on alleviating poverty. Jennifer chaired Project Inclusion on behalf of the ‘Emerging Payments Association’ playing a leading role in launching the world’s first inclusion specific transactional banking comparison tool and accreditation service (2019). She also supported the creation and work of The Independent Financial Inclusion Commission in the UK (2014-2017).

Before joining Mastercard Jennifer worked for Tesco, holding a variety of roles across Tesco Bank and the wider Retail Group. Prior to this, Jennifer was a member of the public affairs team at DLA Piper.

Jennifer is ‘Girls4Tech’ champion and has a First in Politics and International Relations from the ‘University of Aberdeen’.

Nicola Villa

Senior Vice President, Strategic Growth, Mastercard

Nicola is a Mastercard senior executive focused at the intersection between Digital Ecosystems, Inclusive Economic Growth and Public Services. A corporate entrepreneur at heart, Nicola brings together Foresight, Innovation, Strategy & Execution. Nicola runs Mastercard’s Global Center of Excellence for Government Engagement. He is also a member of Mastercard’s Senior Management Team in Europe and runs all Government Engagements in the region.

Prior to that, Nicola worked as Vice President and Executive Partner at IBM’s Global Business Services unit. In his role, Nicola collaborated with leading government agencies to develop Digital Platform programs. Strongly focused on urban innovation, he co-developed with leading clients innovative programs and solutions in the Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Big Data spaces. He also led the Internet of Things business in Europe, across all industries.

Prior to joining IBM, Nicola worked for Cisco Systems for almost 20 years where he led e-Commerce programs in the 90’s, he incubated the global digital consulting unit, he set up Cisco’s first steps in the Smart Cities market and helped created a 1.2B$ business in that space. Nicola also worked as member of Cisco China’s Board for as well as led the company’s Data & Analytics services group at global level. In his final role at Cisco he partnered with the Chairman & CEO to develop multi-year digital partnership programs with the French, UK, German and Italian Prime Ministers.

Nicola is an Executive Member of the Board at the World Economic Forum’s Future of Urbanization initiative, a cofounder with the City of Barcelona of The City Protocol Society and of Metropolis’ “Partnership for Urban Innovation” commission. He is also a Member of the Board of Advisors at CIMCON Lighting.

Nicola holds an Industrial Economics degree from Universita’ Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, as well as BA from Brighton University in the UK (Erasmus program).

Mark MacDonald

Global Public Finance Management Leader, EY

Mark is EY Global Public Finance Management Leader. In this role, he leads the development of new public financial management services that can be rolled out around the world.

He combines this role with two positions in the EY organization in Canada – National Public Finance Leader and Ontario Public Sector Leader.

Mark is an experienced leader of public sector reform, having worked with dozens of governments worldwide and in every major policy sector including health, human services, justice and security, finance and treasury, transportation, agriculture, trade and economic development, education and government services.

Mark’s primary experience is advising senior officials on designing and implementing whole-of-government and organizational programs to help improve performance, secure better operating results, and significantly improve customer service.

Mark has a PhD in public policy from Carleton University. He also has a master’s degree in political studies and a bachelor’s degree in toxicology from the University of Guelph.

Guðmundur Árnason

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Iceland

Guðmundur Árnason is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Iceland, since June 2009. Previously, he was Administrative Coordinator for the Prime Minister of Iceland from January 2009 to May 2009, and before that Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science from September 2002 to January 2009.

Previous roles:
Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister´s Office from January 1996 until September 2002, with a two year leave of absence.
Senior Adviser at the Nordic Development Fund, Helsinki, August 1998 to July 2000.
Head of Division in the Prime Minister´s Office from January 1992 to December 1995.
Special assignments for the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister´s Office in 1991.

Guðmundur has an MA in International Relations from Sussex University, England, and a BA in Political Studies from Stirling University, Scotland. He completed his University Entrance Exam at Hamrahlid College, Reykjavik in 1984 and attended Liceo Classico, Lovere in Italy.

Guðmundur is married with two children.

Adrian Mosneag

Counsellor, Ministry of Public Finance, Romania

Mr. Adrian Mosneag is a counsellor within the ECOFIN, Financial Assistance and International Financial Relations General Directorate, in the Romanian Ministry of Public Finances. He has previously served as advisor to the Secretary of State in the Romanian Ministry of Finance, responsible for European Affairs matters between 2017-2020. In the period leading up to the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council and during it, he was part of the Ministry’s communication team in ECOFIN domain.

He has a BSc in political sciences at the National School of Political Science and Administrative Studies and has shaped his career in European affairs.
His previous experiences also include adviser for the Romanian minister for European integration during the last two years of pre-accession to the European Union, adviser for the Romanian Minister of Transport and parliamentary assistant within the Romanian Parliament.

Peter has worked for Ordnance Survey for over 4 years and has over 20 years’ experience in the technology industry where he has held senior positions in both global corporations as well as fast growing international technology start-up companies. Peter, who has been based in the Middle East region for the last 14 years, has developed and delivered international business strategies to support business objectives and growth for several technology firms. Peter holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA) and has studied at Harvard, Stockholm School of Business and Vienna School of Economics.