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Professor Rajesh Chandra is the Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of the South Pacific (USP). He took up his position in July 2008 prior to which he as the Foundation Vice- Chancellor of the University of Fiji. Prior to his UniFiji appointment, he had occupied many senior positions at the USP, including Acting as Vice-Chancellor between 2003 to 2005; Deputy Vice-Chancellor; Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic); Director of Planning and Development and Professor and Head of Geography. He has held visiting appointments at the Australian National University, University of Canterbury, McGill University and the East- West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. He obtained his PhD from the University of British Columbia, Canada on a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship.

Professor Chandra is credited for getting USP back on track after its financial difficulties of 2005 to 2008, and for a determined series of reforms and re-engineering to transform USP from a good to excellent University. There has been unprecedented student enrolment growth—standing at about 30,000, operating surpluses, capital development, and lift in the University’s reputation and engagement both within countries, but regionally and internationally.

He has led USP’s ICT development since 1986 and is passionately committed to the development and utilization of ICTs. Professor Chandra is the Chairman of the Council of Regional Organizations of the Pacific (CROP) ICT Working Group as well as the Chairman of the CROP Human Resources Development Working Group. Professor Chandra was the Chairman of the predecessor body of the Fiji Higher Education Commission, as well as a foundation member of the Fiji Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Board. He has published widely and made numerous keynote presentations. Professor Chandra is a former member of the Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and current Board Director of Transparency International Fiji, and Chairman of the Board of Sugar Research Institute of Fiji.

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Mr John Feakes began his new term as Australian high Commissioner to Fiji in November 2017.

Mr Feakes is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and recently served as a High Commissioner to Kenya.
He has served in Lebanon, Jordan, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and the United States. In Canberra Mr Feakes held a range of positions including Assistant Secretary, Policy Planning Branch and Assistant Secretary, Strategic Affairs Branch.
Mr Feakes holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree from the University of New South Wales.

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Mr. Shaheen Ali has more than 18 years of experience and knowledge in the field of trade policy, trade negotiations, industry development, economic management, functioning of state owned enterprises, consumer protection and competition laws and development policies for growth of micro, small and medium businesses. Mr. Ali has high-level strategic and policy planning skills, a deep knowledge of the Fijian and international economies and key macro and industry based policies. He is also the Chief negotiator for all trade negotiations that Fiji is party to, including trade and market access agreements that Fiji has concluded in the last decade. Mr. Ali has a Master in Foreign Affairs and Trade, from Monash University. And his experience has enabled him to develop strategic partnerships with both public and private sector and communicate effectively with all stakeholders.

As the Permanent Secretary since 2011 for Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, he has put in place strategies to position Fiji as a vibrant, dynamic and internationally competitive economy that serves as the regional hub.

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Bambang Susantono is the Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He assumed the position in July 2015. Mr. Susantono is responsible for management of ADB’s “ustainable Development and Climate Change Department, Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, and Department of External Relations. Prior to this, Mr. Susantono was the Vice-Minister of Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation and Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development. He has extensive experience providing policy advice to government, private sector organizations and international institutions. He chaired several research institutes and taught in universities. He was also Commissioner for airline, port, telecommunications and media companies. Mr. “usantono holds a PhD in Infrastructure Planning and Master’s degrees in Transportation Engineering, and City and Regional Planning from the University of California Berkeley. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Bandung Institute of Technology.

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Yasuyuki Sawada is Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He is the chief spokesperson for ADB on economic and development trends, and serves as Director General of the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, which publishes ADB’s flagship knowledge products. Prior to assuming his current post, Mr. Sawada was a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate “chool of Economics. A Japanese national, Mr. Sawada has over 20 years of experience as an economist, researcher, and academic. He has worked at the ADB Institute in Tokyo and served as consultant for various projects at the World Bank Group. A leading figure in development economics and applied microeconometrics, he has also served as a visiting professor at Stanford University’s Stanford Center for International Development and adjunct professor of economics at Korea University. Mr. Sawada has conducted many field studies in developing countries and has a deep insight about development issues. His research has contributed to the works of various development institutions including the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Crawford School of Public Policy’s Australia– Japan Research Center at the Australian National University, and the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics. He has published and reviewed numerous books, reports, and journal articles, particularly on the topics of economics, disaster resilience and recovery, foreign aid, and poverty dynamics.

Mr. Sawada holds a Ph.D. in Economics and a Master’s degree in International Development Policy at Stanford University. He received Master’s degrees in International Relations at the University of Tokyo and in Economics at Osaka University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Economics at Keio University.

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Cyn-Young Park is Director of the Regional Cooperation and Integration Division in the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). She manages a team of economists to examine policy issues and develop strategies related to regional cooperation and integration (RCI). During her career with ADB, she has been main author and contributor to ADB flagship publications, including the Asian Development Outlook, as well as the Asia Capital Markets Monitor, Asia Economic Monitor, Asia Bond Monitor, and ADB Country Diagnostic Study Series. She has also participated in various global and regional forums, including the G20 Development Working Group, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), ASEAN+3, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and Asia-Europe Meeting. She has written and lectured extensively about the Asian economy and financial markets. Prior to joining ADB, she served as Economist (1999–2002) at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). She received her Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University, and bachelor degree from Seoul National University.

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Caleb Jarvis became the Trade & Investment Commissioner for Pacific Trade Invest in 2008. He is an Executive of the Australia Papua New Guinea Business Council, Australia Pacific Islands Business Council and the Australia Fiji Business Council. He has an extensive background in international trade, investment facilitation, impact investing, tourism, marketing, property and the creative arts. Creating good jobs in the Pacific remains his key priority.

In 2003 he joined the Australian Trade Commission where he managed a team of Export Advisers in NSW and the ACT. He was posted overseas as the Acting Trade Commissioner Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean for Australia in 2007. Mr Jarvis resided in PNG managing the City Pharmacy Group of companies from 1996 until 2001. During this period the company underwent a process of substantial growth and was listed on the PNG stock exchange. As a child Mr Jarvis resided in Port Moresby for several years.

Mr Jarvis was born in Sydney in 1971 and was educated at The Scots College. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Economics and Philosophy) from the University of NSW. He lives in Sydney with his wife and three children. His Pacific credentials are rounded off with a keen passion for rugby and the ocean.

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Robert Jauncey is the Asian Development Bank’s Regional Director for the South Pacific, based in Fiji. He took up this position in February 2014. Rob leads ADB efforts to scale up engagement with the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu. He has overseen ADB’s re-engagement with Fiji, and mobilized approximately $600 million in ADB resources and co-financing for new investments, including the first grant for the Pacific from the Green Climate Fund. Prior to joining ADB, Rob worked for the World Bank from 2000 to 2013. From 2009 to 2013 he led efforts to mobilize new commitments of over $500 million to the South Pacific; this was more than total previous World Bank to these countries, and included the first World Bank projects ever in Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Tuvalu. Rob also worked as an adviser to the Managing Director, and in the Western Balkans. Rob began his development career working for the Australian Government overseas aid program from 1990 to 2000. He has a Bachelor degree from the Australian National University, and a Masters in Financial Economics from the University of London.

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Ms. Emele Duituturaga is the Executive Director of the Pacific Islands Association of Non- Governmental Organisations (PIANGO) since 2009. She is a strong advocate for strengthening civil society engagement and partnerships. She has been instrumental in PIANGO’s positioning as a regional and global civil society development actor. PIANGO is the regional umbrella body for NGO umbrella NGOs with a presence in 24 Pacific Island countries and territories.

Prior to joining PIANGO Emele was a Research Associate at Fiji’s University of the “outh Pacific; Fiji Government’s CEO for the Ministry of Women, Social Welfare, Poverty Alleviation and Housing from; UNFPA’s Pacific Regional Adolescent Health Programme Manager; Asia Development Bank’s NGO Specialist on Population and Family Planning in PNG; and she was Head of the Pacific Women’s Bureau at the SPC headquarters in Noumea. She has worked in the Pacific region as a development specialist over 2 decades after a decade of working in New Zealand in central and local government.

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Yasuyuki Sawada is Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He is the chief spokesperson for ADB on economic and development trends, and serves as Director General of the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department, which publishes ADB’s flagship knowledge products. Prior to assuming his current post, Mr. Sawada was a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate “chool of Economics. A Japanese national, Mr. Sawada has over 20 years of experience as an economist, researcher, and academic. He has worked at the ADB Institute in Tokyo and served as consultant for various projects at the World Bank Group. A leading figure in development economics and applied microeconometrics, he has also served as a visiting professor at Stanford University’s Stanford Center for International Development and adjunct professor of economics at Korea University. Mr. Sawada has conducted many field studies in developing countries and has a deep insight about development issues. His research has contributed to the works of various development institutions including the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, Crawford School of Public Policy’s Australia– Japan Research Center at the Australian National University, and the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics. He has published and reviewed numerous books, reports, and journal articles, particularly on the topics of economics, disaster resilience and recovery, foreign aid, and poverty dynamics.

Mr. Sawada holds a Ph.D. in Economics and a Master’s degree in International Development Policy at Stanford University. He received Master’s degrees in International Relations at the University of Tokyo and in Economics at Osaka University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Economics at Keio University.

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Shishir Priyadarshi is one of the Directors of the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. He heads the Development Division of the WTO, whose mandate is to facilitate work on all trade related developmental issues in the WTO. A significant part of Mr Priyadarshi’s responsibilities extends to taking care of the developmental aspects of the Doha negotiations, especially in so far as they relate to addressing the concerns of developing countries. In particular this also includes the responsibilities relating to the recently launched initiative on Aid for Trade. Having earlier worked for the Government of India for nearly twenty years, Mr Priyadarshi has had a long experience in examining various aspects of the WTO agreements, from a developing country perspective. Mr Priyadarshi has written a number of papers, primarily detailing the concerns that developing countries have on various WTO agreements. He has played a key role in WTO’s efforts aimed at increasing the capacity of developing country trade officials in understanding the WTO Agreements.

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Mr. Roberts manages biennial work programmes and has organized successive Global Reviews of Aid for Trade, the latest of which was held on 11-13 July 2017 and which examined the theme of "“Promoting Trade, Inclusiveness and Connectivity for “ustainable Development". This event, and the accompanying publication, has a strong focus on digital connectivity. Michael starting his career at WTO the Agriculture and Commodities Division in 2001. Between 2003 and 2009, he established and led the Standards and Trade Development Facility. Prior to joining WTO, he worked in the Russian Federation and the UK on agriculture and trade policy issues. Michael is an agricultural and development economist by training and holds degrees from University of Oxford and the University of Kent at Canterbury in the UK.

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Shishir Priyadarshi is one of the Directors of the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. He heads the Development Division of the WTO, whose mandate is to facilitate work on all trade related developmental issues in the WTO. A significant part of Mr Priyadarshi’s responsibilities extends to taking care of the developmental aspects of the Doha negotiations, especially in so far as they relate to addressing the concerns of developing countries. In particular this also includes the responsibilities relating to the recently launched initiative on Aid for Trade. Having earlier worked for the Government of India for nearly twenty years, Mr Priyadarshi has had a long experience in examining various aspects of the WTO agreements, from a developing country perspective. Mr Priyadarshi has written a number of papers, primarily detailing the concerns that developing countries have on various WTO agreements. He has played a key role in WTO’s efforts aimed at increasing the capacity of developing country trade officials in understanding the WTO Agreements.

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Professor Rajesh Chandra is the Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of the South Pacific (USP). He took up his position in July 2008 prior to which he as the Foundation Vice- Chancellor of the University of Fiji. Prior to his UniFiji appointment, he had occupied many senior positions at the USP, including Acting as Vice-Chancellor between 2003 to 2005; Deputy Vice-Chancellor; Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic); Director of Planning and Development and Professor and Head of Geography. He has held visiting appointments at the Australian National University, University of Canterbury, McGill University and the East- West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. He obtained his PhD from the University of British Columbia, Canada on a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship.

Professor Chandra is credited for getting USP back on track after its financial difficulties of 2005 to 2008, and for a determined series of reforms and re-engineering to transform USP from a good to excellent University. There has been unprecedented student enrolment growth—standing at about 30,000, operating surpluses, capital development, and lift in the University’s reputation and engagement both within countries, but regionally and internationally.

He has led USP’s ICT development since 1986 and is passionately committed to the development and utilization of ICTs. Professor Chandra is the Chairman of the Council of Regional Organizations of the Pacific (CROP) ICT Working Group as well as the Chairman of the CROP Human Resources Development Working Group. Professor Chandra was the Chairman of the predecessor body of the Fiji Higher Education Commission, as well as a foundation member of the Fiji Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Board. He has published widely and made numerous keynote presentations. Professor Chandra is a former member of the Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and current Board Director of Transparency International Fiji, and Chairman of the Board of Sugar Research Institute of Fiji.

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Mr. Kumwenda has more than 12 years of experience in economic issues, global trade, investment, industrial and competition policy and other related areas. He has been with the Commonwealth Secretariat Hub and Spokes Programme for the past 4 years, and attached to the Fijian Government as Trade Policy Adviser in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism.

Prior to joining the Commonwealth Secretariats Hub and Spokes Programme, Mr. Kumwenda worked in Zambia in the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry. He was also a key member of the Government Technical Negotiating Team on Trade and Investments. Concurrently, he was also the Head and Chief Executive of the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal Secretariat of the Republic of Zambia. Over the years, he has contributed to the formulation of country economic reports as well as commercial, trade, investments, tourism, industrial and competition and consumer policies.

In addition, he has also provided consultancy services to various organisations notable ones being the COMESA Secretariat under the World Bank supported African Capacity Building Foundation, the Centre for Trade Policy and Development and the Trade Policy Centre in Africa based in Tanzania. He was also a dissertation supervisor and taught Economics and Trade Policy and Development at the University of Zambia as well as Regional Economic Integration and Competition Law at the University of Lusaka.

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A national of Papua New Guinea, Dame Meg Taylor studied at the University of Papua New Guinea, and received her LLB from Melbourne University, Australia and her LL.M from Harvard University, USA.

She began her professional life as Private Secretary to Chief Minister Michael Somare during self-government of Papua New Guinea, and then during his tenure as Prime Minister at the independence of Papua New Guinea. She practiced law with the Office of the Public Solicitor and in the private sector, and served as a member of the Law Reform Commission.

She was Ambassador of Papua New Guinea to the United States, Mexico and Canada in Washington, DC from 1989-1994. In 2002, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Meg Taylor has served on the board of the Bank of Papua New Guinea and on the boards of a number of companies in Papua New Guinea in the natural resources, financial, and agricultural sectors, as well as on the boards of companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. She has also served on the boards of international conservation and research organizations.

She was appointed to the post of Vice President and Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) of the World Bank Group in 1999 following a selection process led by civil society, industry, and academia. Having set up CAO, which is a key part of the governance structure of the World Bank Group, Meg Taylor led the office for 15 years and established a rich body of work. CAO provides independent accountability and recourse for communities impacted by projects supported by the private sector arms of the World Bank Group - the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). Through her leadership, CAO has become internationally recognized for its cutting edge work in addressing corporate-community conflict around the globe, with a model that has been replicated by other multilateral institutions. She concluded her term at CAO in August 2014. In August 2014, Dame Meg was appointed by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders as Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, a political grouping of 16 independent and self- governing states. She is the first woman to hold this post.

Dame Meg is also currently the Pacific Ocean Commissioner, and as such advocates for the secure future of Pacific people based on the sustainable development, management and conservation of the Pacific Ocean and its resources.

Dame Meg has recently been appointed to the High level steering committee on Every Women Every Child by the Secretary General of the United Nations.