Evelyn Liivamägi
Deputy Secretary General for Financial and Tax Policy, Ministry of Finance, Estonia
Evelyn Liivamägi took up her post as Deputy Secretary General for Financial and Tax Policy at Ministry of Finance on 7. March 2022. She has extensive experience working in Estonian Tax and Customs Board, where she served as the Head of Tax Department (2011-2022), Head of Direct Taxes Unit (2004-2011), Internal Auditor (2001-2004). She has Master Degree from Academy Nord (now joined with Tallinn University) in 2000.
Märten Ross
Advisor on International Relations, Ministry of Finance, Estonia
Märten Ross is Adviser on International Relations in the Ministry of Finance from beginning of 2022. He has been Deputy Secretary General for Financial Policy and External Relations in the Ministry of Finance (2013-2021), Adviser at the Bank of Finland (2011-2013) and Deputy Governor and Member of Monetary Policy Committee of Bank of Estonia (2000-2011). He has master’s degree on social sciences from Stockholm University (1993).
Veiko Tali
Deputy Governor, Eesti Pank and Former Secretary General, Ministry of Finance, Estonia
Veiko Tali is serving as Deputy Governor for Bank of Estonia from the beginning of 2021. Before that he was working in the Ministry of Finance for many years: as Secretary General (2011-2020), 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.
Evelin Ahermaa
National Accounts Team Lead, Statistics Estonia, Estonia
Evelin started at Statistics Estonia as the Team Lead of National Accounts in January 2020. The NA unit deals with processes and compilation of indicators relevant to government finance decisions. For example, the compilation of government finance statistics (GFS), GDP and GNI. The unit follows the regular excessive deficit procedure (EDP) through notifications and dialogue visits by European Commission. Evelin involves the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Estonia and the State Shared Service Centre as the main partners into the above-mentioned processes.
She previously had extensive experience in the private sector. Evelin started at the Estonian Institute of Economic Research in 1999 as an economic analyst, continued as a researcher and a project manager, and from 2006 she started working as a head of economic research sector. Her main areas of research and expertise were business tendency surveys (in collaboration with the EC and other Member States), competitiveness, creative economy, taxation and the informal economy.
Evelin has also been busy in the academic field. Her educational background has always been related to economics (Tallinn University of Technology, 2001, MSc) and she has shared her knowledge and expertise with economics students as a lecturer and a research supervisor at Estonian Business School (2008-2011).
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 eleven 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.
Raoul Lättemäe
Head, Fiscal Policy Department, Ministry of Finance, Estonia
Raoul Lättemäe started working in the Ministry of Finance as the Head of the Fiscal Policy Department in 2020. Before joining the Ministry of Finance he had a long career in the Bank of Estonia (1998-2020), where he was working in Monetary Policy Dept, in Financial Stability Dept. and in International and Public Relations Dept. He also has worked as the representative of Bank of Estonia at the Permanent Representation of Estonia to the EU in 2007-2010. Raoul has a Master’s degree on economics from Tartu University (2002) and he is currently finalizing a second Master’s degree in IT (cyber security, TalTech/Tartu University joint curricula).
Kevin Cunnington
Former Director General, Government Digital Service, United Kingdom and Expert Adviser, Global Government Forum
Before leaving government in 2012, Kevin served as the Director General of the International Government Service and Digital Envoy for the UK from August 2019. Prior to that, he was the Director General of the Government Digital Service from August 2016 to July 2019.
Kevin has led a variety of large scale, and global, digital transformation programmes. He spent his early career in programming and IT consultancy. More recently he was the Global Head of Online for Vodafone Group and Business Transformation Group Director General at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Jakob Wegner Friis
Deputy Head of Cabinet for Commissioner for Economy – Paulo Gentiloni, European Commission
Mr. Jakob Wegener FRIIS is Deputy Head of Cabinet for Commissioner Paulo GENTILONI, Commissioner for Economy. He is a former Head of Unit (2012-19) in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), where he was responsible for the policies and coordination of economic surveillance. Previously, he was mission chief for the economic adjustment programme for Cyprus and responsible for the economic and budgetary surveillance of Germany and Austria. Before that, he was heading the Office of the Director General for DG ECFIN (2009-12). He has also served as Member of Cabinet for the European Commission (2007-09), been working in DG ECFIN on the Strategy for Growth and Jobs and the budgetary surveillance under the Stability and Growth pact (2004-07). Before joining the Commission he served as Financial Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of Denmark to the EU (2002-04) as well as Private Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Affairs of Denmark (1999-2002). Mr. FRIIS is a Danish national, born in France and living in Brussels.
Valentina Ion
Director Strategy Public Finance Industry, Microsoft
As Director of Government Public Finance Industry, Valentina is in charge of Microsoft sales and industry solutions strategy for this industry, enabling a strong organization that supports Governments embark on the Digital Transformation journey based on deep understanding of their industry, drivers and the critical line of business processes. She is also in charge of building and developing strategic partnerships with ICT, Advisory, Academia or International Organizations such as OECD, IOTA, WCO etc.
She has a diverse background in industry sales strategy and execution, partnerships management, marketing and product management as well a business operation and she holds a Master in Finances and Accounting. With more than 21 years’ experience in ICT and Business transformation Valentina is passionate about business re-engineering and digital transformation for better economy and society.
Mehmet Kerse
Senior Consultant, Digital Finance and Financial Inclusion, CGAP / World Bank Group
Mehmet is a digital finance consultant. He works with CGAP, a think tank housed at the World Bank, on digital financial services regulation and supervision – recently focusing on fintech, digital banking, mobile money, digital currencies, instant payments, and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations for financial inclusion. He has more than 15 years of experience working on financial inclusion, financial regulatory and supervisory issues, and consumer protection.
He has worked with numerous regulators and supervisors primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Arab countries. Mehmet began his career as a bank supervisor in the Banking Regulation and Supervision Authority of Turkey and previously worked on AML projects for the World Bank.
Mehmet has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bilkent University.
Elaine Koh
Deputy Director, Fiscal Policy, Ministry of Finance, Singapore
Elaine is currently Deputy Director at MOF’s Fiscal Policy directorate, where she oversees the fiscal planning and macro fiscal strategy of the Singapore government, and shapes the whole-of-government strategic planning and policy agenda to meet Singapore’s near- and longer-term priorities.
Elaine has over a decade of experience in the Singapore Public Service. Prior to MOF, she served at the Ministry of Education, handling general education policies in the areas of low progress students, compulsory education, and the national scoring and posting exercise. Elaine also served at the Ministry of Manpower, where she drove policies in retirement adequacy and the social security system, as well as active labour market interventions to strengthen the resilience of displaced workers.
Elaine has a Bachelor of Science degree from Imperial College London, and a Master’s in Education from Harvard University.
John Koh
Director, Organisational Performance and Transformation, Ministry of Finance; 2nd Director Fiscal Policy, Ministry of Finance, Singapore
John currently heads the Grants Governance Office (GGO) in MOF. As the Programme Director of GGO, John coordinates initiatives to strengthen capabilities in grants administration across the public sector. John is also the Director of the Organisational Performance & Transformation (OPT) Directorate in MOF. The OPT was newly set up in April 2022 to conceptualise, develop, and implement plans to position MOF for the future and coordinate functions along the strategy-to-performance value chain. John is also concurrently appointed as 2Director (Fiscal Policy), where he leads MOF’s strategic planning.
John has 16 years of experience in the Singapore Public Service. He started his career as a Family Policy Officer with the then-Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports in 2006 and joined MOF in 2008. His postings included MOF-Fiscal Policy, MOF-Social Programmes, MOF-Land and Infrastructure Programmes and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.
John graduated with a Bachelor of Economics from the Stanford University.
John McCarthy
Chief Economist, Government of Ireland, Ireland
John McCarthy is an Assistant Secretary General and as Chief Economist has responsibility for the Economic Division .
He was previously a senior economist in the Department heading up the macro economic analysis unit. He is the deputy member of the Economic and Financial Committee and the chair of the Economic Policy Committee (EPC) output gap working group.
He is a member of the National Statistics Board and an adviser to the National Competitiveness Council. He is the Irish member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Economic Policy Committee. Prior to joining the Department, he was a senior economist in the Central Bank.
Mihai Calin Precup
Cabinet Secretary of State, Ministry of Finance, Romania
Mr. Mihai Precup, with experience as a banker, was appointed Secretary of State at the Ministry of Finance. Former lecturer at the Sorbonne, worked for 6 years at the EIB and specializes in capital markets and monetary policy. Prime Minister, Mr. Nicolae Ciucă has appointed Mihai-Călin Precup as Secretary of State at the Ministry of Finance.
Mr. Precup was a lecturer at the Sorbonne University, worked for 6 years at the European Investment Bank (EIB), as well as at BNP Paribas.
Prior to his appointment, Mr. Precup was Chief Operating Officer of the investment consulting firm Progressio Capital Partners.
Mr. Precup has experience as a banker in the fields of investment and development, especially because of the six years at the EIB. He was also a lecturer for five years, until 2018, at the University of the Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris, where he taught courses on private funds, speculative bubbles, banking and financial crises, the Eurozone crisis and the ECB’s monetary policy.
He has a PhD from the Sorbonne University in capital investment. Mihai holds a BA in Finance at the Academy of Economic Studies and a Master as well as a PhD in Private Equity at University of Panthéon-Sorbonne Paris. He was working as an investment banker for some of the most prestigious institutions in France and globally. For several years, he served as the advisor to the Vice-President of a key European financial institution, focusing on Southeast Europe (Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, and FYROM). In this capacity, he has supported deals more than $10B to support infrastructure development and other key projects. He has extensive ties to the financial and business world at the EU-level and beyond and is passionate about Romania’s long-term development.
Mihai was nominated in Forbes 30 under 30 as a rising leader in the financial-banking sector.
João Boa Francisco Quipipa
Economist and Government Advisor, Angola
João Boa F. Quipipa, born on March 21, 1975, has been the Executive Director (CFO) of the Angolan telecommunications operator UNITEL, S.A.
Since August 2020, he has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors (PCA) of USPM – Unitel Serviços de Pagamentos Móveis (SU), SA, a non-bank financial institution (100% owned by UNITEL, SA) which since 23 August 2021 made mobile money available to the Angolan market.
He is also, under a suspended contract (for the exercise of functions in the private sector), a Public Servant for 25 years, Career Adviser to the Staff of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Angola.
Until December 2017, he was the President of the Support Fund for Agrarian Development (FADA), a Non-Banking Financial Institution, established in December 2016, after a restructuring process.
He was the Coordinator of the FADA Restructuring and Management Committee, November 2013-December 2016.
He performed the role of Secretary of State for the Treasury, April-September 2016.
He held the position of Director of the Office of Studies and International Relations (GERI) of the Ministry of Finance, May 2013-March 2016.
He was the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Sovereign Fund of Angola (FSDEA), September 2014-February 2018.
He was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sonangol-E.P., December 2013-September 2014.
Previously, he was a member of the SADC Review Team for Malawi and Lesotho under the SADC Macroeconomic Convergence Peer Review Mechanism (MEC), November 2014-March 2015.
He was also the Coordinator of the Implementation of a Loan Agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) related to the State Financial Management Support Project (PAGEF), 2014-2018.
Previous roles included:
• Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Public Sector Companies (ISEP);
• Provincial Delegate of Finance, Ministry of Finance, Province of Bengo;
• President of the Institute of Public Sector Companies (ISEP);
• Acting Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy;
• Director of National Studies and Market Analysis, State Secretariat for Public Sector Companies; and
• Director of Planning and Studies at the Angola Development Bank (BDA);
• Technician at the Support Center for the Implementation of the Capital Market and Stock Exchange in Angola;
• Senior Technician at the National Budget Directorate.
Until 2007 he taught Microeconomics at the Faculdade de Economia of the Universidade Lusíada de Angola and at the Núcleo de Economia do Huambo of the Faculdade de Economia of the Universidade Agostinho Neto. He also taught the Investment Analysis Course at the Lusíada de Angola and Agostinho Neto Universities.
Raúl Enrique Rigo
Secretary of the National General Treasury, Ministry of the Economy, Argentina
He has a degree in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires and a Master’s Degree in Government and Public Management in Latin America from the Barcelona School of Management of the University of Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
He has more than twenty years of experience in different areas of the national public sector in the areas of administration, budget and public finance. He served as Undersecretary of the National Budget from 2002 to 2017. He has also been an advisor on budget matters at provincial and legislative levels.
He is the founder and General Director of the Center for Fiscal and Budgetary Studies of the School of Economics and Business of the National University of San Martín.
He is the author of research and dissemination articles on Government Financial Administration in Argentina and in the region.
Dr Markus Sovala
Director General, Tilastokeskus – Statistics Finland and Vice President, Board of Directors, Finland
Dr. Markus Sovala is Director General of Statistics Finland from March 2021. His 5-year-term extends until 2026.
Previously he has held several senior civil servant positions in the Ministry of Finance, including Economic Policy Coordinator, Director General of the Economics Department as well as Deputy Budget Head. He has also acted as a Prime Minister’s Economic Policy Advisor and Finland’s representative at World Bank.
Dr. Sovala is also Vice President of the Board of Directors of DigiFinland Ltd and has led several Government ICT projects at a strategic level. Between 2016-2021, he led a project aiming at establishing a semi-autonomous region around the City of Helsinki.
Mr. Sovala is a Doctor in Economics (University of Helsinki) and his expertise covers various fields and levels of government including statistics, ICT, Data and Information Policy, budgeting, economic policy and forecasting, development, international relations, monetary union, industrial and structural policies, entrepreneurship, health, social services, public administration reforms, social security, labor market, and incentives.
Dr. Sovala is a seasoned manager and has strong leadership skills. He has a high motivation to serve society and the international community. He values honesty, high professional standards, and strong moral values. He believes strongly in openness, transparency, and trust – delegation of responsibility works.
Wenqi Chan
Senior Associate, Fiscal Policy, Ministry of Finance, Singapore
Wenqi is currently part of MOF’s Fiscal Policy directorate, which focuses on strategic planning and budgetary policies. Wenqi oversees social programmes, driving key spending strategies for education and employment.
Wenqi has experience in both the private and public sector. Wenqi spent her early career in financial institutions’ audit and accounting policy advisory. Prior to MOF, Wenqi was a banking supervisor in the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Wenqi graduated with Bachelor of Accountancy and Business degrees from the Singapore Management University.