Sharanjit Leyl is an experienced broadcaster with nearly 20 years presenting on international news channels. She anchors Newsday and Asia Business Report from the BBC's Singapore studio but has also anchored several BBC programmes in London, filed reports for radio on the BBC World Service and written for BBC news online. She regularly anchors live on location for on breaking stories in the region such as Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, and the search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Singaporean by birth, Sharanjit has presented and produced documentaries on BBC World News including 'Singapore at 50', documenting one of the 20th century's greatest success stories -- the transformation of her home from developing to first world. Noteworthy interviews include the Prime Ministers of Thailand, Pakistan and New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, Presidents the Philippines, the World Bank and the IMF, and chief executives from companies ranging from Microsoft to Walmart. She's now such a familiar face of business for viewers in Asia that she is regularly invited to moderate high level debates for the United Nations, the World Bank, the IMF, the ADB and other NGOs. At the Asian TV Awards last year, she was highly commended as best anchor.
Charles is a Singaporean who has made New Zealand his home away from home for the last ten years.
He travels to New Zealand several times a year to enjoy the great outdoor lifestyle that the beautiful land of the long white clouds offers and partakes of the food that he grows from his own two-and-a-half-acre herb and vegetables garden in Matakana, north of Auckland.
Charles has spent more than 20 years in the financial industry working for JP Morgan Chase bank and DBS Vickers securities in various capacities ranging from corporate financial analyst, corporate banker, investment banker, director of equity research and institutional stockbroker. He is currently a private investor and advisor to a family office on portfolio asset allocation.
A graduate of the University of Auckland and the London School of Economics, Charles is a Singaporean member of the KEA World Class New Zealander fraternity.
Ami is a Business Graduate with Fonterra Co-Operative Group Ltd. who has just made the move to Singapore for 6 months to get a view of an HR business partnering with a New Zealand company on a global scale.
Ami graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Psychology & Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management. She is always looking for new ways to challenge how companies engage their workforce and develop their people leaders to not only drive value for their organisation, but to add value to the lives of their employees. In the future, Ami would like to look into high-tech solutions for talent development and HR coaching, and how we can modernise HR practices to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
Mr. Nicholas Lee is General Manager for Personal Health, Philips ASEAN Pacific. He is responsible for the overall strategy, direction and management of the Personal Health business in 14 countries across the region.
Before moving to Singapore for his current role in June 2018, Nicholas was Vice President and Business Leader for Espresso. In this role, he was responsible for the global Espresso business, successfully driving sales and profitability growth. Nicholas re-positioned Saeco as a premium brand, significantly improved quality via lean program implementation and introduced cutting-edge new product innovations such as Saeco Xelsis and Philips LatteGo. He also drove communication and activation programs globally to build a market leadership position for the brand.
Nicholas has extensive global experience in marketing, sales, finance and general management and joined Philips in July 2009 via the acquisition of Saeco International Group. Nicholas has since held various senior leadership roles at Philips including that of Global Marketing Leader for the Domestic Appliances Business Group, spearheading the global launch of key health technology innovations such as the Airfryer, focused on the healthy living and illness prevention propositions.
Prior to joining Philips, he held various sales and marketing positions at global home appliances companies, including De’Longhi and Kenwood.
Nicholas holds a Master’s Degree in German, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business and an Executive MBA from the SDA Bocconi University, Italy. He was a scholarship recipient at Tübingen University, Germany and a graduate of INSEAD Business School’s Finance for Executive program.
I hold a Master of Management (University of Auckland), specialising in business modeling and systems thinking. I attended Stanford University Executive Bootcamp for NZ CEOs (2014); SAP and Stanford design School intensive design thinking program in January 2015; I attended 2016 USA Consumer Insights at Stanford University and SAP (2016) and I am a member of the Maori agribusiness group NUKU group and I attended the Executive Queenstown Agribusiness Summit 2013 and 2015 - the course is taught by a Harvard University Professor, and their head of agribusiness.
I build and invest in NZ companies for growth with optional exit strategies. I lead capital raising for companies focused on growth. I have built a portfolio of investments in high value science based companies producing high margins all focused on foreign earnings from International markets. I provide consultancy services in planning, deployment and understanding high growth sectors and how to enter international markets. I am involved in a number of dynamic Maori companies in New Zealand.
Shakilla Shahjihan is the Senior Director Asia Pacific,Government Affairs, based in Singapore. She leads a team that partners with Abbott’s business leaders to strategically manage and shape policies across the nutrition, pharmaceuticals, devices and diagnostics businesses. She leads external stakeholder engagement to drive key business priorities.
Prior to joining Abbott, Shakilla was Monsanto’s Corporate Affairs Lead for Asia Pacific where she led a capable team across the region to gain acceptance for use of technology in Agriculture. Before this, Shakilla was leading Monsanto Thailand’s business as the Country Lead for 2 years, based in Thailand. She joined Monsanto in 2008 as Regional Marketing Manager, based in Singapore.
Shakila's experience in the health care industry included her role as Regional Government Affairs Manager for South East Asia in Boston Scientific; and various positions in sales, marketing and corporate affairs in Merck Sharp & Dohme.
Shakilla currently co-chairs the Government Affairs Committee of APACMED (Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association) and is an active member of the Management Committee of APIYCNA (Asia Pacific Infant and Young Children Nutrition Association).
Within Abbott, Shakilla chairs the Women Leaders of Abbott in Singapore.
Shakilla holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the National University of Singapore. Additionally, she completed her Executive MBA at the National University of Singapore in 2011.
Shakilla enjoys discovering new places, arts and yoga.
Kellie is the Head of HR for BP's main supply, trading, corporate and functional business activities in Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore this includes the oil, gas, chemicals, carbon and finance trading business for the Eastern Hemisphere, covering the Middle East, Australia, NZ, India and Asia. Together with her husband she has been based in Singapore for the past 2 years after an 8-year period in the United Kingdom. Originally from Auckland, New Zealand Kellie holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Management & Employment Relations and a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management and Business Ethics from the University of Auckland.
Kellie areas of expertise include business partnering, cultural transformation, organisational design and executive coaching with a strong generalist HR foundation. As a Kiwi she is always after a new challenge that enables businesses and leaders to deliver high performing organisations with inclusive cultures where contribution is recognised, and individuals succeed.