Participants

The Global Government Summit welcomes public sector leaders from the world’s governments.

Leo YIP

Head, Civil Service, PS (PMO, PMO (STRATEGY) AND NSIC), Singapore

Leo Yip joined the Singapore public service in 1982 as a police officer. He holds degrees from Cambridge University, Warwick University and Harvard University.

In 2000 he was appointed Principal Private Secretary to Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew till 2002 when he joined the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) as Deputy Secretary. He served concurrently as Chief Executive of Singapore Workforce Development Agency from 2003.

Mr Yip was appointed Permanent Secretary of MOM in July 2005. He was concurrently appointed Deputy Chairman of the EDB in 2008 and became full-time Chairman from 2009 to 2014.

Mr Yip was appointed Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in December 2014 and was concurrently appointed as Permanent Secretary (PMO and NSIC) in 2016. Mr Yip relinquished his MHA appointment on 1 September 2017 to become Head, Civil Service and PS (PMO, PMO (Strategy) and NSIC).

Sir Alex Chisholm

Chief Operating Officer, Civil Service and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office, United Kingdom

Sir Alex Chisholm became Civil Service Chief Operating Officer and Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary in April 2020. Prior to that, he was Permanent Secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy between 2016 and 2020. He is also a trustee and Deputy Chair at the international charity Breadline Africa.

Previously he was Permanent Secretary for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), having previously served as Chief Executive of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Chairperson and Commissioner of Ireland’s communications regulatory agency, ComReg, Chair of the Economic Regulators Network in Ireland and has held senior executive positions in the media, technology and e-commerce industries, with Pearson plc, Financial Times Group, eCountries Inc and Ecceleration Ltd.

Joyce Dimech

Permanent Secretary, Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government, Malta

Ms Joyce Dimech joined the Public Service in 1986, holding various positions within various Ministries and the Office of the Prime Minister ever since. She held several positions within different sections of the Ministry for Gozo, including Education, Care for the Elderly, and EU Affairs.

In 2004 she was appointed Director Customer Services, ably leading this major public service directorate in Gozo with a wide ranging portfolio that included Health. In March 2013 she was appointed Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Gozo and in April 2014 she was appointed Permanent Secretary (Strategy & Implementation) within the Office of the Prime Minister. In July 2020, Ms. Dimech was appointed Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government. In November 2020 she was also appointed Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for Research, Innovation and the Co-Ordination of Post Covid-19 Strategy. In April 2022 Ms. Dimech was re-appointed Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government and in September 2023 she was also entrusted with the temporary responsibility for the Ministry for Home Affairs, Security, Reforms, and Equality.

Ms Dimech received her Bachelor of Arts and Diploma in Management from the University of Malta.

Katia Daude

Country Manager, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, International Finance Corporation

Katia Daude Gonçalves is the Country Manager for Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets and a member of the World Bank Group (WBG). She is based in the WBG’s Singapore offices. She works closely with regional investment and advisory teams to help drive cross‐border investments and capital mobilization between Singapore‐based companies and financial institutions in emerging markets and developing economies around the world, while playing a critical role in building IFC’s nascent presence and portfolios in Malaysia and Brunei. A Mozambican/Portuguese national, Ms. Daude Gonçalves joined IFC in 2009 and previously served as IFC’s Resident Representative for Mozambique. She began her career at Banco Internacional de Mozambique Investimento, the country’s first fully fledged investment bank. She also a master’s degree in Development Finance from the University of Manchester.

Darin Duch

Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Civil Service, Cambodia

Dr. Darin DUCH was born in Cambodia. He received his Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Law at the Royal University of Law and Economics, Cambodia. He also holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and Political Economy from the London School of Economics (LSE), plus three additional Master’s degrees in Economics, MBA, and LL.M from the U.S. He has both a Ph.D. in Economics and a Juris Doctor from the Florida State University.

Dr. DUCH was previously a Director General of General Department of General Affairs, Ministry of Civil Service. He served as a Cambodian head of focal point in the ASEAN Conference on Civil Service matters (ACCSM) and was actively in charge of international cooperation. Currently, he is an Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Civil Service in charge of international relation.

In Academia, Dr. DUCH has extensive teaching experiences both in the U.S. and Cambodia.

Cindy Khoo

Deputy Secretary, Strategy Group, Singapore Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore

She started her career in the Singapore Public Service in the Ministry of Trade and Industry as a trade officer. Since then she has handled multiple portfolios in the Ministry of Health, Prime Minister’s Office – Public Service Division and Ministry of Education. She first joined Strategy Group in 2019 and oversaw functions such as Strategic Planning; Futures; and Organisational Development, before taking on the Deputy Secretary role in Sep 2021.

Prior to joining the Singapore Public Service, she worked in SembCorp Logistics in Shanghai. She holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering and an A.B. in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Joon-Seong LEE

Senior Managing Director – Data & AI SEA Lead, Accenture

Joon-Seong is Senior Managing Director who leads Accenture Applied Intelligence (Data, Analytics & AI) for the Southeast Asia region. Based in Singapore, he has more than 25 years of consulting experience with local and regional clients across industries in the space of big data, analytics & artificial intelligence. Joon-Seong is also a member of Accenture’s SEA Executive Committee and Accenture’s Global Leadership Council.

As leader for Accenture Applied Intelligence in SEA, Joon-Seong leads a large and diverse team of data scientists, data & AI engineers and data & AI strategists in helping clients achieve better performance using big data, machine learning & artificial intelligence. Over the years, Joon-Seong has assisted clients across industries, especially in Banking, Insurance & Asset Management in developing strategy, building big data & analytics platforms, and applying data science/machine learning/AI innovations in achieving tangible business outcomes.

Joon-Seong’s views on AI, Big Data & Analytics are often sought after by industries. He has published articles, spoken at conferences in the region and contributed thought-leadership in this space. Joon-Seong is also Vice President of Singapore Computer Society AI & Robotics Chapter, and among the authors of AI Ethics & Governance Body of Knowledge (AI E&G BoK) sponsored by Singapore Computer Society and Infocomm Media Development Authority. He is also a member of Singapore Computer Society’s AI Ethics and Governance Evaluation Board.

Joon-Seong received his Executive MBA from INSEAD.

Aileen Lourdes A. Lizada

Commissioner, Civil Service Commission, Philippines

Atty. Aileen Lourdes A. Lizada served the Office of the Ombudsman in Mindanao for 12 years as an anti-graft lawyer before her transfer to the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) as a Board Member.

Assuming higher responsibilities as a board member of the LTFRB, she is known as a staunch advocate of the rights of the commuting public and of anti-corruption initiatives in the agency through hands-on leadership. Atty. Lizada played a vital role in developing and executing key policies such as the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program and the monopoly in transport network vehicle service industry, to name a few.

In December 5, 2018, she joined the Civil Service Commission as Commissioner. As Commissioner, Atty. Lizada spearheaded several initiatives centered at protecting and promoting the welfare of the government workforce, including the formulation and implementation of a number of key policies during the pandemic. Since she assumed office, Comm. Lizada has actively advocated for the timely amendments to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) law, including a better retirement pay in the public sector; the institutionalization of the Human Resource Management Office in the Local Government Units (LGU); and promoting the welfare of the Job Order (JO) and Contract of Service Workers (COS) in the public sector in various fora, including in Congress.

Besides being known for her dedication to public service, Atty. Lizada is also known for her dedication to serving the church. Sometime in mid-2000, she was conferred a Papal Award, the Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice, for her distinguished service to the Catholic Church.

Joseph Leong

Permanent Secretary (Communications and Information) at Ministry of Communications and Information, Permanent Secretary (Cybersecurity) at Prime Minister’s Office, Permanent Secretary (Smart Nation and Digital Government Group)

Mr Leong joined the Singapore Armed Forces in 1990 and served in the Republic of Singapore Navy for 24 years. RADM (NS) Leong held several senior positions before taking on his current appointments, including Fleet Commander, Director Military Intelligence and Chief C4I and Director, Security & Intelligence Division.

Mr Leong is currently the Chairman of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) Board.

Mr Leong was previously Permanent Secretary for Defence Development at the Ministry of Defence and concurrently Second Permanent Secretary for Communications and Information. He was Chairman of Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), Defence Science Organisation National Laboratories (DSO-NL) and his past board appointments include Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd, Housing and Development Board (HDB) and the Civil Service College.

Mr Leong graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) in Engineering from the University of Cambridge, a Master of Arts from the University of Cambridge as well as a Master of Business Administration from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also a Fulbrighter and Eisenhower Fellow.

Mr Leong is married to Linda and they have been blessed with four children.

Franz Manderson

Deputy Govenor and Head of the Civil Service, Cayman Islands

Mr. Franz Manderson was appointed Deputy Governor and Head of the Civil Service in February 2012 by His Excellency the Governor in consultation with the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Governor, Mr. Manderson served as Chief Immigration Officer and also Chief Officer in the Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs.

Mr. Manderson is an Attorney at Law and a graduate of Liverpool University.

As Deputy Governor, Mr. Manderson is responsible for the management and performance of the Civil Service, which has a budget of over $900m and 4,600 Staff. He is a member of Cabinet and is the first official member of Parliament.

In 2018, Mr. Manderson was awarded an MBE by her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Lord Gus O’Donnell

Former Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, United Kingdom

Gus O’Donnell served Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron as Cabinet Secretary and Head of Civil Service from 2005 to 2011. He stood down from this position at the end of 2011 and was appointed to the House of Lords in January 2012. He played a leading role in the preparations for the 2010 election, which eventually resulted in the formation of the UK’s first coalition government since the Second World War. He was awarded the CB, KCB and GCB for his services to government.

Prior to his role as Cabinet Secretary, Lord O’Donnell served as Permanent Secretary of the UK Treasury from 2002 -2005 and as Press Secretary to Prime Minister John Major from 1990-1994 .

From 1997-98, he was the UK Executive Director on the boards of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Lord O’Donnell spent most of his career with HM Treasury. In 1999 he was appointed Managing Director of Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance and was responsible for fiscal policy, international development, and European Union Economic and Monetary Union. During this period, he oversaw the production of the ‘five tests’ analysis for whether the UK should join the Euro.

He studied Economics at Warwick University and then Nuffield College, Oxford, before lecturing in political economy at the University of Glasgow. He has honorary doctorates from Warwick and Glasgow Universities.

Dr Folasade Omolara Yemi-Esan

Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Nigeria

Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan attended the prestigious University of Ibadan, Nigeria, where she graduated as best Bachelor of Dental Surgery student in 1987.

She also holds a Certificate in Health Planning and Management, and Masters Degree in Public and International Administration both with distinctions from the Universities of Ilorin and Lagos respectively. She started her career at the Federal Ministry of Health and rose to become a Director and served in different positions, including: Coordinator of Oral Health in Schools Programme, Liaison Officer West Africa Health Organisation (WAHO) and Director, Health Planning Research and Statistics.

Dr. Yemi-Esan, rose to the position of Federal Permanent Secretary in 2012 serving first as Permanent Secretary, Service Policy and Strategy Office in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and thereafter in the Federal Ministry of Information, Federal Ministry of Education and Career Management Office (OHCSF).

Before her appointment as Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Yemi-Esan was Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, where she was appointed as Director on the Boards of the Nigeria LNG and Bonny Gas Transport Ltd.

Under the leadership of Dr. Yemi-Esan, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has recorded a number of remarkable and unprecedented strides which are a precursor to the implementation of the flagship Enterprise Content Management Solution aimed at digitizing records and automating processes in the Nigerian Public Service.

Peter Ong Boon Kwee

Chairman of Enterprise Singapore, Senior Economic Advisor, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore

Mr Peter Ong Boon Kwee was born in Singapore. He was awarded the Colombo Plan Scholarship to pursue his Bachelor of Economics at the University of Adelaide, Australia and graduated with first class honours. He graduated top of his Masters in Business Administration class at Stanford University, USA, in 1993, and is a Henry Ford II and Arjay Miller Scholar.

Mr Ong was appointed Chairman of Enterprise Singapore following the announcement of the merger of International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and SPRING Singapore. As Chairman of Enterprise Singapore, Mr Ong drives efforts to grow stronger Singapore enterprises by supporting them to build new capabilities and internationalise.

In January 2018, Mr Ong was also appointed Senior Economic Advisor at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, where he provides strategic advice on economic strategies and policies as well as champion efforts to enable robust enterprise growth.

Mr Ong retired from the Administrative Service on 1 September 2017. Prior to his retirement, Mr Ong was Head of Civil Service, a position he held since 2010. In 2016, he was also concurrently appointed as Permanent Secretary – Strategy, at the Prime Minister’s Office, where he oversaw the PMO Strategy Group to support the Prime Minister and his Cabinet in establishing priorities and strengthening strategic alignment across government.

Mr Ong also previously held the positions of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; the National Security Intelligence Co-ordination Secretariat; Ministry of Trade and Industry; Ministry of Transport; and Ministry of Defence. Other previous postings include stints at Temasek Holdings – a Government investment holding company; the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology; and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Mr Ong currently sits on the Boards of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship. He was conferred the (Honorary) Knight of the Most Distinguished Order Of The Crown by The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Malaysia XIV on 2 June 2012, an award which carries the title “Tan Sri”. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the President of Singapore in 2010.

Taimar Peterkop

Secretary of State, Government Office, Estonia

Mr. Taimar Peterkop was appointed Secretary of State in December 2018. Secretary of State is the Head of the Government Office (central government institution to support the Government and the Prime Minister in policy making and implementation).

Prior to being appointed Secretary of State, Taimar was Director General of the Estonian Information System Authority (government agency responsible for core e-government systems and cyber security of Estonia). Before that, he was the Deputy Secretary General for Legal and Administrative Affairs of the Ministry of Defence.

During the period 2000–2001, Peterkop worked as a lawyer at the Government Office and from 2001–2008, at the Ministry of Defence, the first four years of which was spent in the Legal Department as Head of the Office of International Law, and the last three years as Head of the Operations and Crisis Management Department. During the period 2008–2010, Peterkop served as Defence Counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Taimar Peterkop is a graduate of the University of Tartu School of Law and the United States Army War College, and holds a Master’s level degree in Strategic Management.

Her Excellency Dr. Shaikha Rana bint Isa Al Khalifa

Director General, Institute of Public Administration, Bahrain

H.E Dr. Shaikha Rana bint Isa bin Duaij Al Khalifa is the Director General of the Institute of Public Administration and a Member of the Supreme Council for Women in the kingdom of Bahrain.

Dr. Shaikha Rana has a rich professional career, as she began her career in the academic field at the Center for International Strategic Studies in Washington in 1998, followed by her return to the Kingdom of Bahrain, H.E worked in the office of the President of the University of Bahrain and then in the College of Law during the years 2004 and 2007, then moving to the diplomatic field to achieve a long and accomplished record, which she began by working in the office of His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs during the period from 2007 to 2010, to then occupy the position of Acting Director of the Department of Information, Studies and Research in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the period 2010 and 2011.

She was later appointed as the Assistant Undersecretary for Arab and Afro-Asian Affairs and Organizations during the period from 2011 to 2017, to later be appointed the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2017, and to gain Arab precedence as the first woman in the Arab world to hold the position of Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the year 2021, Dr. Shaikha Rana was appointed as the Secretary General of the Higher Education Council and Vice chairman of the board of trustee of Higher Education Council to continue her career in the academic field.

H.E was honored with the Medal of Competence, First Class, from His Majesty the King of the kingdom of Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, in addition she earned Prince Salman bin Hamad Medal for Medical Merit from His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of the Country.

Dr. Shaikha Rana received many prestigious Arab and international awards and honors, including: the “Star of Italy” medal granted by the President of the Italian Republic in 2023, an honorary doctorate from the University of Peace – United Nation in 2022, and the 2022 Arab Women’s Award in Social Leadership from the London Arab Foundation, in addition the Arab Women Award for Social Responsibility in the Era of Transformation, Developmental Inclusiveness and Digital Diplomacy by the Arab Council for Social Responsibility “ACSR” (2021).

H.E Dr. Shaikha Rana earned her PhD in International Law from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.

TAN Gee Keow

Permanent Secretary, Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore

Ms Tan Gee Keow is the Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office.

Prior to this, Ms Tan was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. She has also served as Deputy Secretary of Strategy Group in the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Deputy Secretary (Policy) at the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources. In her public service career, she has also been in various government agencies such as the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Defence, the Central Singapore Community Development Council, Public Service Commission Secretariat, and the Ministry of Finance.

Ms Tan graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. She obtained her Master of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and a Master of Science in Management at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Ms Tan is also Chairman of the Civil Service College (CSC).

Federico Silvio Toniato

Deputy Secretary General, Senate of the Republic of Italy

Federico Silvio Toniato has been Deputy Secretary General of the Senate of the Republic since 12 November 2014. In this capacity, he is responsible for the overall coordination of administrative support to plenary sittings, standing and special committees, Senate and joint committees of inquiry, research, budget, privilege and immunity, quality of regulatory documents. He also coordinates the working groups on: public policy analysis and evaluation; European affairs; regional affairs. In the framework of the Senate international outreach programme, he is in charge of staff collaboration programmes with other Parliaments. He also chaired the IPEX Board meetings in the year of the Italian presidency.

He was in born in Camposampiero, near Padua, on 22 July 1975. In 1998, he obtained his summa-cum-laude degree in law from “La Sapienza” University in Rome. Following the publication of his dissertation, he was a research assistant in Fundamentals of Private Law (Prof. Nicolò Lipari, attorney-at-law) and Civil Law 1 and 2 (Prof. Cesare Massimo Bianca, attorney-at-law).

As parliamentary officer in the Senate of the Republic since 2000, his first responsibility was HR recruitment and training. Later, he was appointed clerk to the Anti-Mafia Joint Committee. Within the Sittings Service, he was acting Head of Government Oversight (as of 2005) and later Head of the Secretariat to the Plenary (as of 2008). He was also a member of staff selection boards (2001-2011) and clerk to the Disciplinary Board (2002-2005).

He was Deputy Secretary General to the Office of the President of the Council of Ministers from 1 December 2011 to 26 April 2013.

Author of several scientific publications on civil and constitutional law and member of the editorial board of the review “Rassegna Parlamentare”, he took part as a speaker in several meetings, seminars and advanced training initiatives. He taught at Rome 3 University and LUISS “Guido Carli” University.

He was awarded a Gold Medal of the National Federation of the Knights of Labour’s “Collegio d’eccellenza Lamaro Pozzani” (1998) and the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer award (1998).

Amartugs Tsenddavaa (subject to approval)

Permanent Member, Civil Service Council, Mongolia

Mrs. Amartugs Tsenddavaa commenced as The permanent member of the Civil Service Council of Mongolia in January 2022.

She has more than 25 years of work experience in civil service. She holds a Bachelor of Labour economics and management, and Master’s degree in business administration from National University of Mongolia, and Master’s degree in Public administration from Flinders University, Australia.

Mrs. Amartugs has started her career from expert to director of the department in Central employment regulation agency and in Ministry of Labour and Social Protection. And she has joined the Civil Service Council as a director of Public Administration and a head of the Secretariat in 2020.

Based on her knowledge and experience in broad areas of employment, labour and public sector pay policy and legislation, labour migration and labour statistics and career guidance, human resources and public administration; and as a permanent member approved from the Parliament, she holds main responsibility for the management and operation of policy and coordination on civil servants’ training, research and human resource management information system development in the Civil service Council of Mongolia.

Amartugs also focuses on academic and research, study in the areas of monitoring and evaluation of policy and policy analysis, handbooks on data and statistics.