Global Government Finance Summit participants
The Global Government Finance Summit brings together Permanent Secretary-level civil servants from finance ministries around the world. Leading civil servants have attended from the governments of Angola, Bahrain, Botswana, Cambodia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Kuwait, Latvia, New Zealand, Oman, Russia, Singapore, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Biographies
Biographies were correct at the time of their attendance.
Peter Ong Boon Kwee
Head of Civil Service Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary (Special Duties), Prime Minister’s Office, 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 Master’s in Business Administration class from Stanford University, USA in 1993 as Henry Ford II and Arjay Miller Scholar.
Mr Ong was appointed as Head of Civil Service, Permanent Secretary (Special Duties) in the Prime Minister’s Office and Permanent Secretary (National Security and Intelligence Co-ordination) on 1 September 2010. This is in addition to his appointment as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance to which he was appointed on 1 October 2009. On 1 October 2008, he was concurrently appointed as the 2nd Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, while still holding the post of Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade & Industry. In his capacity as Permanent Secretary (Finance), he oversees the Ministry’s central role in managing public finances and ensures the Government’s budgetary objectives and policies are achieved. He relinquished his appointment as Permanent Secretary (National Security and Intelligence Co-ordination) on 1 November 2011.
He currently sits on the Boards of Monetary Authority of Singapore, Directorship & Consultancy Appointments Council, National Research Foundation and Singapore Telecommunications Limited. He is also Chairman of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and Deputy Chairman of the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship and Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship Fund. In addition, he has been conferred the award of Darjah Kebesaran PANGLIMA SETIA MAHKOTA (P.S.M.) (Honorary) (Knight of the Most Distinguished Order Of The Crown).
Mr Ong has been Singapore’s G20 Sherpa and Finance Deputy since 2010.
Mr Ong’s previous appointments were as Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport and 2nd Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence. His previous postings include stints at Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited – a Government investment holding company, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Ministry of Home Affairs.
Mr Ong is married with 2 daughters.
Cornelius Dekop
Secretary for Budget and Development, Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Botswana
Cornelius Dekop is Secretary for Budget and Development, at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Botswana.
Mr Dekop has more than twenty-seven years of experience in economic planning and public policy formulation and development.
He has worked extensively with donors and development partners. Such partners involve non-state actors including the private sector, multilateral and bilateral development institutions.
He has experience and knowledge in managing public finances and budget, and with financing sources which are both domestic and external. In that regard, he has been involved in the transaction and management of multi-million budget projects and programmes. He has expertise in public-private partnership transactions and multilateral/bilateral loan negotiations.
Prior to his current position, Mr Dekop has held various roles at the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, including: Deputy Secretary for Development Programmes (2008-11); Director of Development Programmes (2005-08); Chief Economist (projects) (2002-05); as well as having held various senior planning positions at the department. During his career he has also taken up secondments to both the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Mr Dekop holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Statistics, and a Master’s degree in Development Economics.
Mr Dekop is a Director of Government owned companies and the African Development Bank.
Chamroeun Hel
Secretary-General, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Cambodia
Chamroeun Hel is Secretary-General of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. He also holds the posts of Deputy Secretary-General of the Public Finance Management Reform Steering Committee of Cambodia, and is a Member of the Supreme National Economic Council.
Prior to his appointment as Secretary General of the Ministry in 2015, Mr Hel held posts including Deputy Secretary-General at the Ministry of Economy and Finance; Head of the Legal Counsel Secretariat; Advisor to the Permanent Deputy Prime Minister on the Council for Development of Cambodia and Head of the Working Group for the Codification and Publishing of “the Legal texts relevant to the competence of the Ministry of Economy and Finance”.
Mr Hel comes from a legal background, and as well as extensive lecturing roles, he has held legal consultant posts as well as government posts such as: Director of the Legal Affairs Department and Chief of the Governance Studies and Analyses Division, respectively. Mr Hel holds a degree and two Master’s degrees in Private Law as well as a PhD in Private Law,received from University Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne.
Vinel Yeth
Deputy Secretary-General, Ministry of Economy and Finance and Deputy Secretary-General, Supreme National Economic Council, Cambodia
Mr Yeth was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Economy and Finance in March 2015, and Deputy Secretary-General of the Supreme National Economic Council in April 2015.
He has also, since 2013, held the post of Deputy Secretary-General of the General Secretariat Steering Committee of Public Financial Management Reform.
Prior to this he was Deputy Director of the Budget Department at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (2011-15), and from 2008-11 he was Assistant to HE Dr Aun Pom Monrioth. He was also a Member of the Section for the Study and Analysis of Governance Policy, at the Supreme National Economic Council. Mr Yeth has degrees in Business and Administration and Business Management, and an MBA from RMIT University, Australia.
Meas Soksensan
Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Deputy Secretary-General of the Public Financial Management Reform General Secretariat, Cambodia
Mr Meas Soksensan is Deputy Secretary-General of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Deputy Secretary-General of the Public Financial Management Reform General Secretariat of Cambodia.
Prior to this, he served as Assistant to the Minister of Economy and Finance (2013-14); Director of the International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (2001-13); First Secretary at the Royal Embassy of Cambodia to France (2007-11).
Mr Soksensan has also held posts including: Deputy Director of the Protocol Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; posts teaching Business at Private and Public University (since 2001); Bureau Chief of Privileges and Immunities, Protocol Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Official at the Legal and Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; and Official at the Francophone Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Mr Soksensan holds a degree in Economic Sciences and Management as well as a Master’s in Economic Science from the Lyon 2 University, France.
Sami Yläoutinen
Director-General, Economic Policy Coordination, Ministry of Finance, Finland
Sami Yläoutinen works in the Ministry of Finance of Finland as Director-General in charge of economic policy coordination.
He spent three years (2011-14) with the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF in Washington DC. During this time he advised several countries in Europe and Africa on various aspects of public financial management reforms. Before joining the Fund, he was Director of the Stability Unit in the Finnish Ministry of Finance, responsible for analysis and forecasting of public finances. Previously he was employed by the Bank of Finland.
Mr Yläoutinen holds a Doctor of Science in Economics from the Finnish Post Graduate Programme in Economics. He has published studies on various aspects of budget institutions. His doctoral dissertation studied fiscal frameworks in Central and Eastern European countries.
Torsten Arnswald
Head of the Fiscal Policy Division, Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany
Torsten Arnswald is an economist and senior German Federal Government official, currently serving as Head of the Fiscal Policy Division at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Germany.
He has worked at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Berlin, as Head of the Fiscal Policy Division, since 2014. Prior to this he has held posts in the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, as Chief Economic Advisor to the President, 2010-14; and also at the Federal Ministry of Finance, Berlin, as Economic Advisor in the European Policy Department on EMU, Eurogroup & ECOFIN affairs 2005-10.
Mr Arnswald was previously an Advisor in the Economic Policy Division of the Federal Chancellery, Berlin from 2003 to 2005.
Before Mr Arnswald took up his post with the Federal Chancellery, he was Economic Analyst of Financial Markets Developments at Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt am Main, from 1998-2003.
Mr Arnswald is a native of Karlsruhe, Germany and a graduate of the University of Heidelberg.
Harry Soeratin
Senior Advisor, Secretariat General of the Ministry of Finance, Indonesia
Dr Soeratin is Senior Advisor of Human Resource to the Secretariat General of the Ministry of Finance in Indonesia. He is also currently Acting Chief of the Indonesia Investment Agency.
His experience includes the transfer of assets worth more than 18 trillion Rupiah from the Government Investment Center to PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (SOEs) in 2015; he was Chief of the Project Management Office of the Bureaucratic Reform Program at the Ministry of Finance from 2014-15; Secretary of the Institutional Reforms and Transformation Centre, Ministry of Finance from 2010-13; he was Chief of the Project for the Fit and Proper test BOD SOE 2005-08; prior to this he was Secretary of Restructuring State Enterprises of SOEs in IBRA.
Dr Soeratin has a Bachelor of Accountancy, and has a PhD in Management from the Department of Management and Business, Padjadjaran University, Indonesia.
Saleh A. Al-Sarawi
Assistant Undersecretary of Public Budget Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Kuwait
Mr Al-Sarawi in his role is in charge of managing and directing the overall activities of the Public Budget Directorate (Affair), with the ultimate objective of accurately and efficiently managing the government budget preparation, approval and follow up.
Wael F. Al Mutawa
Director of Financial Planning & Pursuance Department, Ministry of Finance, Kuwait
Mr Al Mutawa in his role is in charge of managing and directing the overall activities of the Financial Planning & Pursuance Department, he is responsible for all financial planning, consolidations of all government revenue and expenditures as well as monitoring the execution of the approved budget.
Taşkın Temiz
Acting Deputy Undersecretary, Turkish Treasury
Mr Taşkın Temiz joined the Turkish Treasury in 1998 after working as a financial analyst in a private company.
Subsequent to his service in annual financing programs for public corporations, corporate governance issues and restructuring projects, he was promoted to the Department Head in 2007 at DG for State Owned Enterprises. Then he moved to DG for Public Finance as the Department Head in charge of monitoring, analyzing and reporting total public sector fiscal balances.
Between 2012 and 2015, he worked as Director-General responsible for government debt, cash and risk management.
Since November 2015, He has been working as Acting Deputy Undersecretary of Turkish Treasury. Mr Temiz served as a member of Tax Council, TOBB Capital Market Council and the National Lottery Privatisation Committee.
He is currently a board member of MKK (Central Securities Depository) and TIGEM (an agricultural state owned company) and Steering Committee Member of the OECD Working Party on Debt Management.
Mr Temiz received his BA degree from Bogazici University, Istanbul and his MPA degree from Cornell University, NY.
Maxim Oreshkin
Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation
Maxim Oreshkin is Deputy Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation. Prior to his current role, Mr Oreshkin was Head of the Long-Term Strategic Planning Department at the Ministry of Finance, from 2013-15. From 2012-13 he was Chief Economist for Russia, Turkey and CEE at VTB Capital.
Between 2006 and 2012 Mr Oreshkin served as Head of Research at Rosbank, Société Générale group and then Head of Research on Russia and CIS at Crédit Agricole CIB.
He started his career in 2002 at the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, where he was head of the Macroeconomic and Banking System Analysis section (Balance of Payments Department).
Mr Oreshkin has a Master’s in Economics from the Higher School of Economics.
Mikhail Pryadilnikov
Deputy Director, Analytic Center for the Russian Government, Russia
Mikhail Pryadilnikov received his higher education in the United States in economics and philosophy, and his PhD training in government and political science from Harvard University. Mikhail was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, and a visiting lecturer at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Mikhail is currently serving as the deputy director for the Analytic Center for the Russian Government where he is responsible for budget effectiveness and strategic management. He previously served as the director of the Department for Strategic Planning, Government Programs and Investment Projects at the Ministry of Economic Development.
Prior to joining the federal government, he worked for the Moscow city government as the Head of Economic policy and Development. He also currently teaches public policy and public management graduate courses at the Russian Academy for Public Administration.
Prior to joining public office, Mikhail worked for ten years for the World Bank in Washington DC where he was a consultant with the Middle East and North Africa unit focusing on anti-corruption and civil service reforms in Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen and West Bank & Gaza.
James Bowler CB
Director-General for Tax and Welfare at HM Treasury, United Kingdom
James is the Director General for Tax and Welfare at HM Treasury. The role oversees personal and business tax policy development and implementation in the Treasury and its relationship with HM Revenue and Customs. It also overseas welfare reform and the department’s relationship with the Department of Work and Pensions. James overseas the preparation of the UK’s annual Budget and Autumn Statement, and subsequent legislation, and strategic planning in the Treasury. He reports to the Permanent Secretary.
James was appointed DG in April 2015, prior to this he was the Director for Strategy, Planning and Budget (SPB) at HM Treasury which also coordinated Whitehall’s analytical work that set out the case for the UK in the Scotland Referendum.
James’s previous roles also included time at No.10 working as Principal Private Secretary to both Gordon Brown and David Cameron. James previously spent 16 years at the Treasury in various roles, most notably as Principal Private Secretary to Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling during their respective tenures as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
James was appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the 2012 New Year Honours.
Walter Aires
Director of National Treasury, Angola
Walter Aires is the Director of the National Treasury, Ministry of Finance, Angola.
He took up his current position in 2013, having held senior roles within the Debt Management Unit and the Department of Public Debt of the National Treasury Directorate in the Ministry of Finance.
In 2004 Mr Aires integrated a delegation that travelled to Portugal to implement the COSEC Financial Agreement, as well as to engage in a technical discussion between the Ministry of Finance and the Portuguese Banking Sector in regards to Debt Regularization.
In 2005, Mr Aires integrated a delegation that travelled to China, to implement the Principal Financial Agreement with China’s Exim Bank.
João Quipipa
Head of International Relations Cabinet, Ministry of Finance, Angola
João Quipipa is Head of the International Relations Cabinet at the Ministry of Finance of Angola. In September 2014, he was appointed President of the Fiscal Council of Sovereign Wealth Fund of Angola (FSDEA).
He was previously a Member of the SADC Review Team for Malawi and Lesotho, under the SADC Macroeconomic Convergence (MEC) Peer Review Mechanism. Quipipa also coordinated the Implementation of a Loan Agreement related to the Project PAGEF with the AfDB.
Previous roles have included: President of the Fiscal Council of Sonangol-E.P.; President of the Council of Administration of Institute for Public Sector Enterprises (ISEP); Chief of Finance, Ministry of Finance, Bengo Province; Chairman of Institute for Public Sector Enterprises (ISEP); Director of National Studies and Market Analysis, State Secretariat of Public Sector Enterprises; and Director of Planning and Studies, Development Bank of Angola (BDA).
Rana Faqihi
Assistant Undersecretary for Public Revenue Development, Ministry of Finance, Bahrain
Rana E. Faqihi is the Assistant Undersecretary for Public Revenue Development at the Ministry of Finance (MOF) of the Kingdom of Bahrain. She oversees Government financial policies with regard to enhancing non-oil revenues and the diversification of income sources away from oil. She also contributes to a wide range of financial topics such as the preparation of the State Budget, Government subsidies restructuring, Government services pricing, as well as other responsibilities relating to strategic planning within the Ministry of Finance.
Faqihi began her career as a Superintendent of International Economic Affairs at the Central Bank of Bahrain in 2003. She joined the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) in October 2005 as an Officer at the Projects Department before being appointed as Director of the Projects Department. Since joining, she worked extensively on the development of the Economic Vision 2030 and the formulation of the National Economic Strategy 2009-14. She also managed strategic planning in coordination with other ministries and public entities, along with the implementation of various reform projects across different areas, such as access to capital through the re-orientation of the Bahrain Development Bank and the financial sector development.
In 2009, Faqihi was delegated to the Ministry of Finance to develop a new methodology for budget preparation that builds on linking the fiscal policy with the national priorities and as well as other policy areas in relation to financial and economic affairs.
Faqihi holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree in International Business Management from the United Kingdom.
Ian Ball
Chairman, CIPFA International
Ian Ball is Chairman of CIPFA International, a Board member of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and chairman of its Working Group.
He was Chief Executive Officer of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) between 2002 and 2013. He had previously served as a member of IFAC’s Nominating Committee and as Chairman of its Public Sector Committee (PSC). As Chairman of the PSC he initiated and led the development of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (1995-2000).
Prior to assuming the role of CEO at IFAC, he was Principal of Public Sector Performance (NZ) Ltd. and Professor of Accounting and Public Policy at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. From 1987 through 1994, he was with the New Zealand Treasury, first as Director of Financial Management Policy and then as Central Financial Controller. In these roles he was responsible for developing and implementing the New Zealand Government’s landmark financial management reforms. He has been a member of the New Zealand Accounting Standards Review Board and the Standards Advisory Council of the International Accounting Standards Board. He has also served on the OECD’s Senior Budget Officials Working Party.
Ball is a Fellow and Life Member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, where he served as a member of the Council and of the Executive Board, and a Fellow of CPA Australia. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. He has degrees in accounting from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and a PhD from the University of Birmingham, England.
Martti Hetemäki
Permanent State Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Finland
Martti Hetemäki is Permanent State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance of Finland. He took up his current post in 2013 for a 7-year term. He took up his current position after a long and distinguished career in the Ministry, including ten years as a Permanent State Under-Secretary. He chaired the Sub-Committee on Statistics of the European Union’s Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) in 2003-13 and served as a Director of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).
Hetemäki’s career includes several board memberships. He is the Chairman of the Finnish National Fund Sitra and Vice-Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Authority. Other board activities cover areas such as security and defence, technology, health and social economy.
Hetemäki holds a PhD in economics, Licent iate degree in economics and statistics from University of Helsinki as well as a Bachelor of science in economics from the University of Hull.
Helmut Herres
Head of General Issues of Fiscal Policy, Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany
Helmut Herres was born in 1958. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Cologne University and a State degree in Law from the state of North Rhine Westphalia.
He started his professional career in the Ministry of Economics in 1989. In the first half of the 1990s he worked in several units – regional, industrial, general economic policy divisions – which at that time were dealing with legal, economic, social and political implications and challenges of the German re-unification process. During these years he also spent eight months as an economic counsellor at the German permanent representation to the OECD. In 1996 he became Head of Division “European and International Monetary Policy” within the Ministry of Economics. In this function he joined the Monetary Committee of the EU (as the alternate German member) at a time when important decisions on institutions, starting date and membership of the third stage of the EMU were prepared by the committee.
Herres joined the Ministry of Finance in 1998 becoming Head of Division “European and International Economic Policy”. In this position he was responsible for formulating – in coordination with the Ministry of Economics – the German views in the Economic Policy Committee of the EU, in relevant committees of the OECD (EPC, WP1, WP3) and in many other international (G7/8, IMF) and bilateral bodies and meetings.
In 2003 he was appointed Head of Division “Fiscal Policy”. The main responsibility of this unit is the development of concepts, policy recommendations and instruments to deal with the fiscal implications of economic, social and demographic trends, e. g. globalisation or ageing. One of the most important outcomes of his work in this area is the reform of the constitutional fiscal rules in Germany, the introduction of the so called “Debt Brake”. In June 2012 he became Head of Division “ECOFIN–Council, Euro Group, Economic and Financial Committee of the EU”. The core business of this unit is the coordination of German views and positions regarding those bodies’ responsibilities and agenda, including the Minister’s and his Deputy’s preparation for their participation in the monthly meetings.
Herres moved back to the Fiscal Policy Department in May 2013 to become Head of Directorate for “Economic Policy and Specific Sectors of the Economy”. This directorate’s tasks cover a wide range of issues; from general economic policy analysis, assessments and recommendations regarding important questions in the national and international economic policy debate to specific decisions, instruments and institutions in various fields of policy which are relevant for future economic and fiscal developments.
In August 2014 he was appointed Head of Directorate “General Issues of Fiscal Policy”. The directorate’s main responsibilities cover both, analytical and conceptual work on public finances, tax policy and financial stability, including the cooperation with scientific councils and research institutes as well as public reporting on relevant developments in these fields (e.g. tax revenue estimates, Stability Programs, Monthly Reports and many more).
Guðmundur Árnason
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Iceland.
He took up this role in 2009, and has previously held the posts of Government Coordinator in the Prime Minister’s Office; Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture; and posts in the Prime Minister’s Office as Director and Deputy Permanent Secretary.
Árnason was previously Senior Adviser to the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) in Helsinki – a multilateral provider of soft loans to governments in countries classified as least developed in Africa, Asia and South America. NDF is owned and financed by the five Nordic countries. Other government posts include: Head of Division at the Prime Minister´s Office, first as secretary to the then incoming Government´s Commission for Past Claims, then a permanent appointment as a Head of Division.
Árnason has an MA in International Relations from Sussex University, and a Bachelor of Arts, Political Studies, from the University of Stirling. He also studied at the University of Iceland.
Dini Kusumawati
Strategic Planning Advisor of Secretariat General, Ministry of Finance, Indonesia
Dini Kusumawati is Strategic Planning Advisor to the Secretariat General, Ministry of Finance of Indonesia. From 1999 until 2013, Dini held posts in the Human Resources Bureau of the Secretariat, and was Researcher for the Econit Advisory Group from 2007 to 2009.
After studying economics at Padjadjaran University and the University of Indonesia, Dini completed a doctorate in economics from Padjadaran Univerisity in 2004. She is currently head of the Board of Trustees of the Revolving Fund Management Institution and a Lecturer at Bina Nusantara University.
Līga Kļaviņa
Deputy State Secretary on Financial Policy Issues, Ministry of Finance, Latvia
Līga Kļaviņa is currently Deputy State Secretary on Financial Policy Issues, at the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Latvia.
Prior to this, Kļaviņa held various senior posts at the Ministry of Finance, including: Director, Financial Market Policy Department; Deputy Director, Financial Market Policy Department; Deputy Director, Legal Acts Department; and Legal Counsel / Deputy Director, Law Department.
Kļaviņa is also currently Chairwomen of the Council for the JSC Single Development Institution; Alternate to the Board Member of the Republic of Latvia for the Nordic Investment Bank; and Economic and Financial Committee Member of the Republic of Latvia. She was previously a council member of the JSC Mortgage and Land Bank.
Kļaviņa studied at the Policy Academy of Latvia, and has a Master’s in Social Science in law, from the University of Latvia. She is currently taking an additional Master’s in Finance at the School of Banking.
Gabriel Makhlouf
Secretary and Chief Executive, The Treasury, New Zealand
Gabriel Makhlouf is Secretary to the New Zealand Treasury (NZ’s economics and finance ministry) and its Chief Executive. He is the Government’s chief economic and financial adviser and leads the Treasury’s work to raise living standards for New Zealanders.
The Treasury’s responsibilities include overall economic policy and the Government’s fiscal strategy. It prepares the Government’s annual budget and concentrates its policy work on areas that have a significant impact on the economy. The Treasury also monitors the performance of the Government’s commercial interests, has responsibility for managing New Zealand’s sovereign debt and has oversight of the quality of New Zealand’s regulatory system.
As Treasury Secretary, Gabriel has overseen the development of the Treasury’s Living Standards Framework (a multi-dimensional analysis tool that involves – among other things – considering the sustainability of policy settings), the publication of its long-term fiscal statement (which looks at the sustainability of government finances over a 40 year horizon) and the release of its first Investment Statement (a report card on the government’s balance sheet). He has also overseen the inclusion of a new principle of responsible fiscal management in New Zealand’s Public Finance Act: that governments should have regard to fiscal policy’s impacts on present and future generations.
Prior to becoming Secretary, Gabriel was the Treasury’s Deputy Chief Executive. His previous career was in the UK civil service where his responsibilities ranged from policy development on domestic and international tax and welfare policy issues through to large-scale, customer-focused, operational delivery. He served as Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was Chair of the world’s main tax rule-making body – the Committee on Fiscal Affairs – at the OECD in Paris between 2000-04 and was also responsible for the UK’s Government Banking Service.
Gabriel has a Bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Exeter and a Master’s degree in industrial relations from the University of Bath. He is an alumnus of INSEAD’s Advanced Management Programme and is married with one adult son.
Iain Rennie
State Services Commissioner and Head of State Services, New Zealand
Iain Rennie took up the position of State Services Commissioner on 1 July 2008, and was reappointed to serve a second term in the role on 1 July 2013.
The State Services Commissioner is a statutory appointment, made by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
In his role as the State Services Commissioner and as Head of State Services, Iain’s role is to provide leadership and oversight of the State Services with the objectives of creating a culture of excellence and efficiency, stewardship, and maintaining high standards of integrity and conduct. In discharging this responsibility Iain appoints Public Service Chief Executives and manages their performance, and under the State Sector Amendment Act 2013, has greater responsibility for developing senior leadership and management capability, including appointments to key positions within the Public Service. He also holds a responsibility for driving State sector reform as head of the Executive Board – made up of the Chief Executives of State Services Commission (SSC), Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) and Treasury.
In his time as Commissioner, Iain has seen the creation of Better Public Services, the Performance Improvement Framework, the State Sector and Public Finance Reform Legislation, and is currently spearheading changes to the way leaders are developed within the public sector. These changes and programmes are contributing significantly to improve efficiency and encouraging better delivery and results for New Zealanders.
Iain has been in the Public Service since 1986. The bulk of his career has been spent at the Treasury where he was Deputy Secretary to the Treasury for nine years prior to taking up the position of Deputy State Services Commissioner in 2007. Prior to taking up the SSC appointment Iain participated in the strategic leadership of the Treasury – providing advice to the Minister of Finance on microeconomic and macroeconomic policy issues.
Iain has participated in two secondments to the DPMC, as Acting Director for the Policy Advisory Group in 2004, and as an Economic Advisor from 1990 to 1993. He was also seconded to the Office of the Leader of the Opposition as Economic Advisor from 1989 to 1990.
Iain has a BA (Hons) in Economics from Victoria University of Wellington.
H.E. Nasser bin Khamis Al-Jashmi
Undersecretary of Finance, Ministry of Finance, Sultanate of Oman
H.E. Nasser bin Khamis Al-Jashmi was the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil & Gas between 2003 and 2013 before he was appointed as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance in December 2013.
In 1989, H.E. Al-Jashmi was part of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Financial and Economic Affairs and served in a number of roles including Financial Researcher, and Director of the Department of Committees and Councils. In 1997 he was appointed as the Director General of the Budgets and Contracts, before joining the Ministry of Oil & Gas in 2003.
H.E. Al-Jashmi is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the state owned Oman Oil Company and Sohar International Development Company. In addition, he is a member of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council, and Board of Directors of Petroleum Development Oman, State General Reserve Fund, Civil Service Pension Fund, National Center for Statistics & Information, Public Authority for Electricity and Water, Oman Investment Fund and Rafd Fund.
H.E. Al-Jashmi formerly served on the Board of Directors of Oman Tourism Development Company (OMRAN), Central Bank of Oman, Oman Refinery Company, Oman Aviation Services, Pak Oman Investment Company, Oman LNG, Oman Gas Company, Qalhat LNG, Gulf Energy Maritime, Oman Shipping Company and Oman International Bank. He also served as the Chairman of the Joint Management Committees of Oxy Mukhaizna, Oxy Oman – Block 9 and BP Khazzan Makarem Fields. H.E. Al-Jashmi holds a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from The American University in Washington DC, USA.
Lim Soo Hoon
Permanent Secretary (Finance)(Performance), Ministry of Finance, Singapore
Ms Lim Soo Hoon was appointed Permanent Secretary (Finance)(Performance) at the Ministry of Finance on 1 April 2012. She is also the Chairman of the Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) and a Board Director of Changi Airport Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd (CAG).
In her capacity as Permanent Sec retary (Finance)(Performance), she oversees the Ministry’s central role in creating a high performance government through efficient and effective use of resources, and working towards an integrated government through synergies in programmes, processes and systems across the various government agencies.
Ms Lim joined the Administrative Service in 1981 after graduating with a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) degree from the University of Adelaide on a Colombo Plan Scholarship. She also has a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University.
She has served in various portfolios in the Singapore Civil Service including the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the former Ministries of Communications, Labour, and the Registry of Vehicles. She was appointed Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Community Development in 1999 and became Permanent Secretary (Public Service Division) in 2005 before joining the Ministry of Finance in 2012.
Ms Lim is married with 2 sons.
Sir Nicholas MacPherson
Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury, United Kingdom
Nick has been Permanent Secretary to the Treasury since 2005, and has managed the Treasury through the financial and wider economic crisis which began in 2007.
Prior to becoming Permanent Secretary, Nick was Managing Director of the Budget and Public Finance Directorate, where he oversaw the strengthening of the Treasury’s strategic tax policy function.
From 2001 to 2004 Nick headed up the Public Services Directorate, where he managed the 2000 and 2002 Spending Reviews. Previous Treasury posts included Director of Welfare Reform (1998 to 2001), where he led on reforms to the tax and benefit system, and Principal Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1993 to 1997) where he oversaw the transition from the Chancellorship of Kenneth Clarke to that of Gordon Brown. Prior to that Nick worked in a variety of posts, including negotiating the EMU component of the Maastricht Treaty and the UK’s opt out.
Nick is a Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford University, a visiting Professor at Queen Mary, University of London, and chairs the Policy Committee of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics.
Nick joined the Civil Service in 1985 after spells working at the CBI and Peat Marwick Consulting.