Dr. James Zhan is senior director of investment and enterprise, and chief advisor to the Secretary-General, UNCTAD. He is also editor-in-chief of UN Transnational Corporations journal and World Investment Report.

He chairs the Governing Board of UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges, with 130 stock exchanges worldwide as partners. He initiated and co-chairs the Global Alliance of Special Economic Zones, and the Family Business for Sustainable Development. He is the founding chair of the World Investment for Development Alliance. He is also chief strategic advisor for the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, and member of the Advisory Council for International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

He has provided policy advice to numerous governments (including heads of states and ministers), parliaments and global summits (including G20). He led the formulation of a global framework for a new generation of investment policies used in over 130 countries and regional groupings. He also established and leads the World Investment Forum.

He has held several advisory positions in academic institutions, including Cambridge University, Columbia University, Cornell University and Oxford University, as well as professor and PhD supervisor. He was member of the Global Agenda Council of World Economic Forum. He has extensive publications on investment, trade and technology related economic and legal issues. He has been a resource person for several global mainstream media, including Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Economist.

Dr. Ajay Mathur is the Director General of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

The ISA is a treaty –based inter-governmental organization with 116 member countries, which aims to make solar energy the energy-of-choice in its member countries. Dr. Mathur has spearheaded the implementation of solar energy projects and capacity building projects in many developing countries, and of the publication of annual progress reports on solar technology, markets and investments. Recently, the ISA has embarked on the creation of a Solar Facility to mitigate the risks associated with solar investments in African Countries, and launched a programme to identify and strengthen solar startups in that continent.

Prior to joining ISA, Dr. Mathur was Director General of the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and a member of the Prime Minister of India’s Council on Climate Change. He was co-chair of the global Energy Transitions Commission and the Clean Cooling Initiatives of the One Planet Summit. He earlier headed the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency and was responsible for its foundational programmes, which mainstreamed energy efficiency through initiatives such as the Star Labeling program for appliances, the Energy Conservation Building Code, and the Perform, Achieve & Trade program for energy-intensive industries. He was a leading climate change negotiator and was the Indian spokesperson at the Paris climate negotiations. He served as the interim Director of the Green Climate Fund during its foundational period.

Dr Mathur was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He was appointed a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Merite by the President of France in recognition of his outstanding commitment to preserving the environment and coping with energy- related challenges.

Dr Mathur received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the (then) University of Roorkee and a Master’s and PhD degrees from the University of Illinois. He has also received the Distinguished Alumnus Awards from both his alma maters.

As President and CEO of Invest Atlanta, Dr. Eloisa Klementich is transforming economic development in the city of Atlanta through strategic initiatives to increase equity and prosperity for all Atlantans. She leads a nationally recognized economic development agency accredited by the International Economic Development Council and has shaped the Invest Atlanta organization around equity to ensure all Invest Atlanta programs focus on this fundamental outcome. Since being named CEO of Invest Atlanta in 2016, the agency has had many notable accomplishments under Eloisa’s leadership. She commissioned Atlanta’s first economic development strategy driven by economic mobility, fostered an internal culture at Invest Atlanta focused on equity, and led the integration of Atlanta’s workforce development agency and Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative programs into Invest Atlanta to create a more comprehensive economic development solution for the city.

Eloisa is a certified economic developer and notable economic development expert. She has spent the last two decades solving complex challenges at the city, state, and national levels. Before coming to Invest Atlanta, Eloisa served as special assistant for economic development at the U.S. Economic Development Administration in the Office of the Secretary. She served as California’s assistant deputy secretary for economic development and commerce and has held various roles with city governments, including a consultant for Mexico’s President Vicente Fox, working on best practices for addressing constituent issues and requests.

Eloisa holds a bachelor’s degree from Pitzer College, as well as master’s degrees in urban planning and Latin American affairs from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MBA from el Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey. She received her doctorate degree in public administration from the University of LaVerne and is currently an adjunct professor of business administration at the University of Maryland.

Mr. Gunther Beger is the Managing Director of the Directorate of SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation at UNIDO.

Until March 2022, he served as Executive Director for Germany at the World Bank Group. From 2013-2021, Mr. Beger served as Director General in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany. From 1991-2013, he held several leadership positions in the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. From 1995-2000 was Head of Division for Agriculture at the German Embassy in Moscow, Russia. Mr. Beger holds a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics.

Andreas has been active in FDI for over 25 years. He works with governments to implement investment promotion strategies and attract new investment. He also assists companies in selecting the best locations for their operations and securing favorable conditions for their investments worldwide. Andreas’ areas of expertise include location analysis, site selection, investment incentives, location benchmarking and investment attraction and promotion.

Andreas started his career in 1996, joining KPMG’s International Trade & Investment Services group in Washington and later KPMG’s Business Incentives Group. In 2003, he moved to Frankfurt to build a location advisory group for KPMG in Europe while continuing to coordinate their global FDI advisory activities.

In 2009, Andreas founded Terrain, a consulting firm providing services to an international list of IPAs and companies from the automotive, food, chemicals and other industries to select locations for new facilities. Following the sale of Terrain to Conway Data Inc., Andreas ran the company as a stand-alone division until 2016.

In 2017, Andreas founded Location Decisions, a location consulting firm, and FDI Center, an advisory firm that assists governments worldwide with strategy, performance and capability building. He holds a master’s and bachelor’s degree and speaks English, German, Spanish, Italian and French.

Mr. Swapan Mehra is an Environmental Finance, Climate Policy expert and has deep expertise in developing nature solutions for Carbon Neutrality with over sixteen years of experience in developing Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation projects. He is the founder and CEO of IORA Ecological Solutions, (IORA), one of India’s leading Environmental Advisory firms that enables Climate Action through integrated Nature-based Solutions. Swapan holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and a Master’s in Business Administration from IIFM Bhopal. He is a World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leader (2020), a Donella Meadows Fellow at the Balaton Group, a LEAD India Fellow, and a FICCI Young Business Leader.

Under his leadership IORA has contributed towards the development of some of India’s pivotal policy documents, including the Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy (LT-LEDS), National REDD+ Strategy, NDC Goal 5 Roadmap, and the “devolution formula” for India’s 14th and 15th Finance Commissions. Swapan is a member of the Green Credit Program technical committee for the Government of India, WEF’s 1t.org India steering committee and the Expert Advisory Group of the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative.

With extensive experience in trade and investment, Carolina is one of the few international consultants specialising in the complete investor lifetime cycle, which goes beyond promotion, attraction, and facilitation to include how to grow and retain foreign investors to maximise economic growth. As managing director of Cities & Collaboration and lead trainer at fdiCampus, she is a is a well-recognised FDI consultant, trainer and thought leader who combines front-line experience with robust industry insights explained in jargon-free language. Lead author of 1st Aftercare book “Investment Aftercare Explained” she is already working in the second book of the series “Investment Advocacy Explained” expected to be released in 2024. In addition, she recently finished the 1st Aftercare mapping of 30 countries for IADB and convened the first Aftercare Forum in June 2023 to provide a platform to practitioners to exchange best practices, alongside designing and delivering the 1st Latam academic certificate in FDI with the University of Chile.

Emily Sims is a Senior Specialist in the ILO Programme on Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy and manager of the ILO Helpdesk for Business. She has been involved in drafting of the labour component of various business and human rights instruments. She regularly provides technical assistance to a range of industry and multi-stakeholder initiatives, as well as providing guidance to individual companies. Her work also focuses on promotion of sustainable and responsible investment.

Matthew Stephenson is Head of Investment and Services at the World Economic Forum. Previously he worked at the IFC where he led the workstream on outward FDI. He has also worked at the OECD on Africa and on investment and was a diplomat for the United States on economic matters focusing on private sector development in emerging markets and reconstruction. He is a member of the T20, co-chair of the Investment Facilitation Commentary Group that advises the WTO, and part of APEC’s Investment Expert Group. He has a PhD from the Geneva Graduate Institute on Chinese investment policy, a Masters from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Bachelors from the University of Oxford.

Mona Haddad is the Global Director for Trade, Investment, and Competitiveness at the World Bank. Ms. Haddad, a Lebanese national, joined the Bank in 1992 as a Young Professional and has since held various positions across the World Bank Group. In her more recent assignments, she was Manager of the global Trade unit and Manager of the Trade and Competitiveness unit in the East Asia Region at the World Bank, and Director of the Country Economics department at the International Finance Corporation. She is currently overseeing the World Bank’s programs on trade, investment climate, and private sector development.

Courtney Fingar is editor-in-chief of Investment Monitor, a digital publication focused on foreign direct investment which launched in September 2020 and is part of the media division of GlobalData plc.

Ms Fingar previously spent 15 years with the Financial Times where she was editor-in-chief of fDi Magazine as well as a contributing writer for the FT newspaper. She previously as the editor of Trade & Forfaiting Review, a London-based magazine focusing on trade finance and worked as a journalist in Washington, DC.

She has covered business stories in all major regions of the world and has been on assignment to more than 80 countries in her career. In addition to her editorial experience, Ms Fingar is a popular panellist and moderator at international economic gatherings and has appeared on television and radio in dozens of countries as a commentator on international investment. She has twice been called to give evidence to the UK Parliament as part of inquiries on inward investment.

Ms Fingar has a BA in journalism from the University of Alabama in the United States and an MSc in International and European Politics, with a special focus on political economy and trade issues, from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Roslyn Ng’eno is the Senior Investment Expert at the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, leading the efforts towards the development, negotiation and implementation of the Protocol on Investment, that has seen the delivery and adoption of the Protocol. Ms. Ng’eno provides technical assistance and strategic guidance to Member States on the formulation and execution of the continental investment protocol.

Ms. Ng’eno has served in various capacities within both intergovernmental organizations and governmental bodies with particular focus on investment regulatory reforms and facilitation strategies. Her expertise lies in the development of National and Regional Investment policies, as well as the negotiation of Bilateral Investment treaties and formulation of regional Investment Treaty Models.

Previously, she held the position of Policy Manager at the Kenya Investment Authority, where she coordinated the work on policy advocacy and investor facilitation. She led the development of the Kenya Investment Policy, and her contributions extend to the negotiation of reform oriented regional and continental model Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), including those of the East African Community (EAC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the African Union’s Pan African Investment Code (PAIC).

Roslyn Ng’eno has written and made presentations nationally, regionally and internationally on international investment agreements and investment policies.

Debjani Ghosh is the President of the nasscom since April 2018. A veteran of the technology industry, she is the first women at the helm of the organization’s three-decade history. Driven by a strong belief in the need for human-centric technology that enhances lives and livelihood, Debjani is a vocal advocate for the ethical and responsible use of technology. Under her leadership, nasscom actively works with the industry to ensure responsible practices and build trust as a core competitive advantage for the tech industry in India.

Under her guidance, NASSCOM has prioritized the development of a Responsible AI Resource Kit, in partnership with leading industry stakeholders, to promote the adoption of responsible tech solutions. Back in 2019, nasscom under her leadership coined the term “Techade” to define a decade where technology will play a transformative role to create a sustainable, equitable and safe future, powered by human-centric innovation.

Debjani also believes that by the end of this Techade the Tech Industry in India will be established as the world’s leading technology ecosystem and the “I” in innovation will stand for India, fuelled by India’s young talent, the growing confidence in our capabilities to solve for the world and our proven success in building open and interoperable tech ecosystems like the Digital Public Infrastructure, to deliver at scale services grounds up.

Debjani is also a vocal advocate for building a truly inclusive technology sector where talent and meritocracy thrives above all. In January 2018, Debjani was felicitated by the President of India under the auspices of the ‘First Ladies’ program, which honors exceptional women pioneers in their respective fields. In 2020, she has been honored by Vogue as the Tech Leader of the year 2020. Recognizing her contribution in the field of technology, Debjani was also facilitated in ‘40 over 40 – World’s Most Inspiring Women’ list by Fe:maleOneZero (F10) Magazine in 2022. With multiple feathers in her cap, before joining nasscom, she was the first woman to lead Intel India and the Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT), she was also a member of the executive council at nasscom. She believes that learning never stops, and a trainable mindset is the biggest strength one can have. Debjani holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, and an MBA degree in marketing from S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai, India.