Executive Committee & Secretariat
The Executive Committee (EXCO) of UAESBC comprises the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and EXCO members.
PRESIDENT : Dr Brian Shegar
CEO & Founder, ME Asia Consultancy Pte Ltd
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Dr Brian Shegar’s forty-year career covers leadership international banking experience with focus on South East and South Asia, Asia Pacific and Middle East as CEO of Midland Bank, NedBank and Emirates NBD. Upon his retirement from Emirates NBD in 2018, Dr Shegar established ME-Asia Consultancy Pte Ltd and is the Founding President of the UAE Singapore Business Council. He is a Member of the Global Advisory Board of CASS Business School and the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Gulf Economics, Trade and Finance. Dr Shegar holds a BSc, Hons (Banking and International Finance) and an MSc (Finance) from the CASS Business School of City, University of London. He was awarded a Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Western Australia Business School. He has also presented papers and spoken at numerous seminars and conferences.
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President’s message:
I am indeed honoured to be elected Founder President of the UAE Singapore Business Council which is a momentous development in the Singapore business community encompassing companies from UAE in Singapore and Singaporean companies involved in the UAE. It would serve as a platform for such companies to network and participate in activities that would promote stronger business linkages and profile of the UAE Singapore nexus.
VICE-PRESIDENT : Mr How Chung Peng
- Chair, UAESBC Quarterly Talks Sub-Committee
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Mr How Chung Peng is Director & Chief of Staff at GlobalFoundries (Singapore) served in various leadership roles at Chartered Semiconductor and most recently at GlobalFoundries, over the last 25 years in the semiconductor industry.
His broad experience encompasses process & equipment engineering, yield engineering, technology transfers, project management, and leading several key transformation efforts. He is currently the Chief of Staff to the SVP & GM of GlobalFoundries, Singapore.
How is passionate about coaching and mentoring, through which he shares his experience to inspire the next generation of aspiring engineers and leaders in the industry.
SECRETARY : Mr Ananth Ramachandran
First Abu Dhabi Bank (Singapore)
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Ananth Ramachandran (Ananth) is a Singapore based senior Asian banker, having been in the industry for 28 years covering both developed and emerging markets. Ananth is Country CEO – Singapore at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), where he heads up the South-East Asia business for FAB. Previously he was Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking (CIB), Asia for Westpac Banking Corporation (Westpac). Prior to this, he has been in meaningful roles with first-rate institutions such as Standard Chartered, JPMorgan and BNP Paribas.
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His experience spans a range of sub-sectors of the banking industry: institutional banking (coverage, debt products, portfolio management, risk/credit management, transaction banking, trade finance), financial market products (hedging and liability management), capital markets (both debt and equity), structured financing (securitization, commodities, structured trade, asset financing), investment banking (advisory, capital management).
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Ananth completed his MBA in 1993 from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. Ananth is a CFA Charter holder, a qualified Cost Accountant and a Company Secretary. He grew up in Calcutta and did his undergraduate studies in St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta.
TREASURER : Mr Venkataramani Srivathsan
- Chair, UAESBC CSR Sub-Committee
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Mr Venkataramani Srivathsan (“Sri”) joined Olam International in 1994 and has more than 25 years of experience in the commodities industry. He has held various positions in the Olam group, including country head, Ghana; country head, Nigeria; and regional head, West and Central Africa. Currently, he is the managing director and CEO for Africa and the Middle East, with oversight responsibility for the fertiliser business.
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Mr Srivathsan belongs to the 12-member executive committee that is Olam’s top policymaking body and is a member of its human resource and crisis committees. He is also the vice-chairman of the Singapore Business Federation, a member of the NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies executive committee as well as on the advisory board of the Pan African University Lagos (Lagos Business School).
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With over 20 years of pan-African experience, Mr Srivathsan has presented many papers on small holder farmer in the Pan African forums. He has also been part of the advisory committees for the ministry of agriculture and the ministry of trade and industry in Nigeria. He is also the Chairman of Organising Committee of the Bi-Annual African Singapore Business Forum organised by Enterprise Singapore. Under his leadership, Olam Nigeria won several international and national awards. He was awarded a prestigious World Business for Peace Award in 2010.
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Fahed Al Nuaimi
- Chair, UAESBC Business Missions Sub-Committee
With more than 15 years of experience inside ADNOC, working across the value chain, including trading, corporate affairs and shipping, Fahed is the inaugural director of ADNOC’s first international trading office outside Abu Dhabi.
ADNOC is one of the world’s leading diversified energy groups, wholly owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, with a network of fully integrated businesses operating across the value chain. The growth of ADNOC’s trading businesses, since launching in Abu Dhabi in 2020 and then Singapore in 2021, has been an important part of the transformation of ADNOC.
Fahed won the ADNOC Logistics & Services Scholarship on graduation from high school in 2007. Following undergraduate studies at the University of Tasmania, Australia (BSc in Nautical Science with ‘Principle’s Roll of Excellence’), he spent six years working on oil and gas tankers, becoming a Chief Marine Officer with several high performance awards and organizational memberships. Fahed then worked at ADNOC’s Petroleum Ports Authority, covering maritime pilotage, port operations, and regulations.
Fahed has represented ADNOC at numerous international forums and, as he continued to seek out new challenges, he was included in 2018 as part of the rigorous 18-month ADNOC Future Leaders (AFL) program. Since then, Fahed has moved to ADNOC’s Sales and Trading directorate providing strategic business support and, as a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), played an integral role in the establishment of ADNOC Global Trading (2020), and ADNOC Global Trading Asia (2021). In November 2022 he was appointed as the inaugural AGT Asia Office Director.
EXCO MEMBER : Ms Asmaa Al Kindi
Borouge Pte Ltd
- Chair, UAESBC Workshops & Seminars Sub-Committee
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Ms Asmaa Alkindi is an engineer at heart and a management consultant by profession, with over thirteen years of experience focusing on people strategies, corporate excellence and digital transformation. Currently, Ms Alkindi is the Vice President for Human capital and Administration at Borouge, a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Austria based Borealis. She leads the HR function in line with the corporate strategies across the region spanning Singapore, China, Japan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Egypt. In her role, Ms Alkindi is accountable for developing and directing the implementation of strategies to determine plans and programs for the most effective utilisation of human resources to meet organisational needs, market competitiveness and financial targets.
Prior to her role with Borouge, Ms Alkindi was the Vice President of Talent Management function at ADNOC Gas Processing during which she leads the overall mission to find, develop and retain talent in support of the organization’s over-all business strategy. She pioneered the establishment of the corporate wide knowledge management framework and innovation management program to support organisation learning and continuous improvement.
Ms Alkindi was born and brought up in Abu Dhabi, UAE and currently lives in Singapore with her family of three kids. Her career was driven by the strong belief that disruptive thinking and change management works in tandem to driving a successful sustainable business.
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Sujit Parhar
Managing Director, Masdar APAC
Sujit Parhar is the Managing Director of Masdar Asia Pacific, where he leads and manages the development of, and asset management for, clean energy investments in the Asia-Pacific region.
Sujit brings a wealth of experience to Masdar, having worked for over 25 years in numerous leadership roles in the utilities and infrastructure space, both in the UAE and abroad. His previous roles include being Director / Senior Advisor at Mubadala Investment Company; Chief Executive Officer, Global Capital & Development Pte Ltd, Singapore; and Chief Executive Officer for National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) in Abu Dhabi.
Sujit also serves as a non-executive director on the boards of several public and private companies in Singapore and Malaysia. He graduated from the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, with a postgraduate certificate in Business Administration from University of Leicester. Chairman of its Enterprise Development Working Group.
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Simon Naga
Simon Naga joined the Singapore office as Managing Director, Inditex Brands, Al-Futtaim Group, in early July 2017. In January 2019, he was appointed Vice President of Al-Futtaim Group, Asia to oversee overall Group operations in Asia. In addition to spearheading the Inditex Brands, he is responsible for the other brands under the Group in Asia. These brands include Marks and Spencer and a host of other well-known retail brands such as Bebe, Ted Baker, Massimo Dutti, Nautica, Reebok, Zara, Mango, Pull&Bear, Lacoste and Royal Sporting House.
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With more than 14 years of working experience in the retail industry, before joining the Al-Futtaim Group, his last vocation was a District Manager with the Azadea Group based in Egypt. He was responsible for leading and managing the country’s business operations as well as ensuring business profitability. He holds the 2014 record of achieving record double-digit revenue-growth for the business portfolio. In his earlier professional years, he gained important extensive retail operations and brand management experience with multi-label lifestyle brands retailer Dubai Group Holding.
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Mr Naga is skilled in business development and holds a Bachelor’s Degree specialising in International Business, Trade and Commerce from Ain Shams University.
EXCO MEMBER : Ms Therese Batshon
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Ms Therese Batshon is Senior Vice President and Area Head (Asia Pacific) for Arab Bank. She is an Arab Bank Veteran having started her careere as a Credit Officer with assignments to different branches including Paris, London, New York, Cyprus, Athens, Spain, Frankfurt ad Sovereign Desk - Bahrain.
In 2000, she was promoted to Area Head - International Branches Department (Credit) in charge of Singapore, Australia and the UK and subsequently took over as the Deputy Head of Credit Facilities Division - International Department and became the Chairman of the Department's Credit Committee.
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In 2006, she was assigned officially as the Deputy Area Executive for Asia Pacific, and took the role of Business Development Head for the Bank's Business in Asia Pacific. In 2013, she became the Area Head - Asia Pacific, responsible for Arab Bank's business and operations in the region. In 2017 to 2019 she owned and managed the setting up of the bank's Shanghai branch which now reports directly to the Singapore office.
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Throughout her career, Ms Batshon participated in different projects for Arab Bank including building credit policies and procedures, consolidating of the Bank's business Europe through a subsidiary and the liquidation of the Bank's operations in Athens.
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She is a Member of the Board of Directors of Arab Bank Australia Ltd and represents Arab Bank as a member of the Association of Banks in Singapore.
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EXCO MEMBER : Mr Arun Kumar
Country Head & Senior Executive Officer - DBS (DIFC Branch)
Arun is a career banker with over 24 years of experience across multinational banks. In his current role as Country Head & Senior Executive Officer for DBS Dubai, he is responsible for the
Bank’s overall business in the GCC/ Middle East region.
Prior to DBS, he worked with HSBC in the Origination & Client Coverage business in the UAE and India. He brings several years of client coverage & deal structuring experience in the GCC region across a diverse client segment, from government owned/ related companies & family-owned conglomerates to banks and sovereign wealth funds across the region.
He holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology New Delhi and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.
EXCO MEMBER : Dr Samintharaj Kumar
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Dr Samintharaj Kumar is the Chief Executive Officer of Nuffield Holdings. He has a unique set of skills and expertise in both Dentistry and Medicine. He graduated in Dentistry (Singapore) in 2001, and an Medicine (London) in 2006. Postgraduate training in England, included multiple medical and surgical rotations. He holds medical and dental fellowships from both the Royal College of Surgeons of England and The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He completed his MBA (Bayes Business School, London) in 2013.
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Dr Kumar's expertise extends beyond traditional dental services, with his training and experience in Non-Surgical Aesthetic Rejuvenation and Anti-Aging Medicine, which overlap significantly with Dentistry. He offers the full spectrum of Dental Implantology, Cosmetic Dentistry, and Oral Rehabilitation. He accepts referrals for complex dental rehabilitation, including Dental Implant Placement, Sinus Lift Surgery, Complex Bone Augmentation, Periodontal/Gum Plastic Surgery, Zygomatic Dental Implants, Holistic Dentistry, Ceramic Implants and Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
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His reputation for handling complex cases with a surgical focus and aesthetic finesse has made him a popular choice for patients with complex medical conditions. Dr Kumar is particularly skilled at putting nervous patients at ease, restoring their confidence, and offering comprehensive care for their needs.
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Dr Kumar has received multiple prizes, awards and honours, including the David B. Scott Research Fellowship Award, Drummond and Frank Scott Prize for overall performance in preclinical medicine, awards from the British Association of Plastic Surgeons, British Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons, The Royal College of Physicians, and The Wellcome Trust, among others.
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Wilson Vaz
Director, Emirates National Oil Company (Singapore) Pte Ltd, ENOC
Wilson Vaz is Senior Director of International Supply and Trading for Emirates National Oil Company (Singapore) Private Limited. He is a member of the company’s executive management team and also a Board Member of the Company.
With more than 30 years’ global trading and risk management experience, Wilson is responsible for overall financial and strategic management of the company. This includes running all facets of the business from overseeing the full operations which includes trading, marketing, operations, finance and risk control.
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EXCO MEMBER : Ms Vanessa Leung
Ms Vanessa Leung has over 25 years’ experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining Emirates NBD Bank, she spent 22 years in Standard Chartered Bank across multiple functions. Ms Leung is currently CEO of Emirates NBD Bank’s Singapore Branch where she is responsible for overall strategic direction and operations of the Singapore branch and the bank’s representative offices in China and Indonesia.
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Atul Temurnikar
Global Schools Foundation (GSF)
Mr Atul Temurnikar is the founding Chairman of Global Schools Foundation (GSF), a Singapore-based not-for-profit entity which has two schools under its aegis – Global Indian International School (GIIS) and One World International School (OWIS). The foundation has 22 campuses across South East Asia, East Asia and Middle East (through presence in 7 countries) to provide high quality international education for students from kindergarten to High school.
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Mr Temurnikar heads the executive management of GSF and oversees its worldwide operations. He is a strong advocate of high-quality yet moderate and affordable education that transcends socio-economic boundaries. He has also been advocate of new emerging education frontiers and his significant efforts in the education sector.
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Thakore P R
Mr Thakore is the CEO of IFFCO Singapore Pte Ltd and has been with the IFFCO Group in various capacities since 2007. He is responsible for global procurement, trading, risk management and supply chain management for IFFCO’s Oils & Fats business. Prior to joining IFFCO, he was Senior Vice President (Marketing) with Pan Century Edible Oils Sdn. Bhd, Malaysia. He has over 30 years’ experience in the Edible Oils Industry and has been actively associated with various industries and trade bodies.
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Mr Thakore hold an MBA from National University of Singapore, a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from University of Calcutta and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Charles Galloway
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Charles Galloway is the Regional Chief Executive Officer for the Asia Pacific region of dnata, a leading global ground and cargo handling services for major international airlines across six continents. Charles oversees operations at 13 airports in four countries, including Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia, managing 4,800 aviation professionals.
Charles has over 20 years of experience in the global aviation, travel and logistics industries. He has been with dnata for over three years, previously leading the commercial development of dnata’s international airport operations division globally. He has also been a board director of dnata USA since 2020.
Prior to joining dnata, Charles held various senior leadership roles at Swissport International and Thomson Airways in both Switzerland and the UK.
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Robert Dompeling
Group Chief Executive Officer, PEC Ltd
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Robert Dompeling is the Group Chief Executive Officer of PEC Ltd (PEC or the Group), a Public Company Limited by Shares and listed on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) since August 2009. He also sits on the board, having served in both capacities since joining PEC in July 2007. His responsibilities include managing the Group’s operational, commercial and financial divisions, as well as shaping its business development and expansion.
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Mr Dompeling honed his skills as a petroleum engineer at the Royal Dutch Shell Group in the Netherlands. From July 1984, he served in various positions that saw him posted to countries such as the United Kingdom and Oman. Between 1988 to 2007, he held various key management roles at the Dutch-based Royal Vopak group, overseeing the growth and development of its Singapore business.
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Mr Dompeling earned his master’s in naval architecture at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
EXCO MEMBER : Ms Grace Chia
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Eitan Konstantino
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Eitan has made significant contributions to the field of MedTech, with more than two decades in R&D defined by numerous career highs and breakthrough inventions.
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He is best known for inventing and developing stents, angioplasty balloons and vascular devices acquired or distributed by top-tier multinationals, including Medtronic, Teleflex, Philips, J&J Cordis, and Boston Scientific. His products are commercially available in majority US hospitals and have generated cumulative revenue approaching $1B globally.
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Eitan founded and led multiple medical device companies in US and Asia from concept through sales, to international M&A, IPO and licensing transactions. He holds over 150 US and international patents and patent applications. He served as Co-Chairman of ASTM/FDA task force for endovascular standards and was recognized by the White House, Office of President Obama as a medical device expert.
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Eitan holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. While at Technion he won the Rothschild Creativity Award and Schwartz Outstanding Achievement Award.
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Teo Say Hong
Surbana Jurong Private Limited
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Mr TEO Say Hong is Group Chief Officer (Integration, Mergers & Acquisitions), responsible for planning and executing Surbana Jurong’s M&A strategy, a key growth driver for the group, and ensuring the successful integration of acquired brands and businesses.
Mr Teo was a key member of the pioneering team who executed the merger of Surbana and\ Jurong Consultants in 2015 as well as the acquisition of SMEC in 2016. The Group has since grown from two to eight global brands through acquisitions, expanding its portfolio of expertise
across the built environment value chain. Mr Teo played an integral role in managing the acquisition of B+H and SAA in 2018 and creating Surbana Jurong’s Global Architecture Council the following year. Mr Teo was responsible for creating the SJ Collaboration Hub, a space designed to facilitate collaboration and learning for staff and partners of Surbana Jurong. In his current role, Mr Teo leads internal initiatives to support the Group’s continuous transformation and special projects aimed at delivering enhanced value to clients.
Mr Teo started his career in Housing Development Board in 1998. He attained a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Hons) from National University of Singapore, after completing his studies on an HDB scholarship.
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Chua Jin Kiat
ST Engineering
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Chua Jin Kiat is Executive Vice President, International Defence Business, of ST Engineering, a global technology, defence and engineering group with a diverse portfolio of businesses across the aerospace, smart city, defence and public security segments. He joined the company in July 2022 and drives the growth of international defence business within the Defence and Public Security cluster.
Jin Kiat started his career with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) as a recipient of the SAF Overseas Scholarship, and served for 25 years, attaining the rank of Brigadier-General (BG). He is an infantry officer and has commanded a Light Infantry Battalion and a Motorised Combined Arms Brigade. He served as Assistant Chief of General Staff (Training), Deputy Commander Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), and was also Commander 9th Singapore Division and concurrently Chief Infantry Officer. Prior to his retirement from SAF, he was Commandant of the SAFTI Military Institute, where he oversaw Leadership development and training for the SAF and drove the learning transformation for the Next Generation SAF.
Jin Kiat was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) (Military) in 2017, and continues to serve as a Reservist in the Singapore Army.
Jin Kiat graduated from Cambridge University in 2002 with a Masters in Engineering (Honours). He holds a Masters in Public Management from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.
EXCO MEMBER : Mr Pankaj Nagrath (Adhoc Representative)
Managing Director, Senior Business Advisor,Global South Asia & Middle East (GSAM),
Pankaj Nagrath leads the India Gateway business for Bank of Singapore (BOS) for catering to the offshore wealth management needs of onshore India clients. Prior to moving into his current role in 2020, Pankaj worked in investment advisory and business strategy roles with BOS, including as the Head of UHNW Advisory Solutions platform, focused on adding value to the largest and the most sophisticated family office and private clients of the bank across all geographies. He joined BOS in 2016 from Barclays Wealth in Singapore, where he was an Investment Advisor and Head of Discretionary Portfolio Management (DPM) Sales for Asia for around 2 years.
Prior to joining Barclays, Pankaj was responsible for raising and managing aggregate AUM of over USD 2 billion across strategies, as the CEO and Head-Investments for Nippon Life India Asset Management (Singapore) – the offshore asset management arm of one of India’s leading asset managers. Over his more than 8 years with the firm, he set up a global investment platform; structured, raised capital for and managed two absolute return hedge funds involving equity, credit, FX and commodity markets; and also structured and managed a number of long only and structured investment funds.
Pankaj was previously a senior trader with India’s largest and most active corporate treasury at Reliance Group (India’s largest business conglomerate), where he traded various markets over his 5-year stint, including Indian FX and Rates and global macro markets (G10 FX/G3 Rates). Prior to that, Pankaj worked as an analyst and Head of Equity Research with leading Indian buy-side institutions, and as Head of Investor Relations for the Reliance Group.
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EXCO MEMBER : Mr Rashed Al Fajeer (Adhoc Representative)
Country Manager, Singapore & Brunei, Emirates Airlines
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EXCO MEMBER : Ms Su-Ann Lee (Adhoc Representative)
General Manager, Malaysia & Singapore, Etihad Airways
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Honorary Auditors
Mr Alagappan Perianan
CEO, ACME Corporate Services
Mr Steve Wiesner
Partner, Singapore MedTech Accelerator
Honorary Legal Advisor
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EXCO MEMBER : Mr Abdul Jabbar
Rajah & Tann Singapore
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Mr Abdul Jabbar is the head of Rajah & Tann Singapore’s corporate and transactional practice and a member of the firm’s executive committee. Jabbar has more than 25 years of extensive experience in areas such as mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and banking and finance. He is listed as a leading practitioner in Who's Who Legal – M&A and Governance (2017–2022) and Who’s Who Legal – Management Labour and Employment (2011–2022). He has also been recommended in The Legal 500 (Corporate and M&A) and recognised as a leading practitioner in Legal Week’s Private Client Global Elite. Jabbar advises companies on corporate governance, compliance and regulatory matters and serves as company secretary to numerous boards in Singapore.
Secretariat
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Ms Huda Aljunied
Director
Huda Aljunied is currently the Director of the UAE Singapore Business Council (UAESBC). As the Secretariat Lead for the Council, Huda is responsible for all aspects of running the Council including events planning and management, business development, public and stakeholder relations, regulatory compliance, media & publicity, finance & budget, manpower, training, etc.
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Prior to joining UAESBC, she was leading the events team for the Middle East Institute of National University of Singapore from 2012 to 2018 and was key for the success of many local and international academic conferences, talks, film screenings, exhibitions and events featuring Middle East experts and dignitaries.
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Huda holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Print Media and an M.A. in Media Studies from Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom.