Tan Sri Dr. Sulaiman Mahbob was once a career civil servant in the Malaysian Government and his last designation was the Director­‐General of Economic Planning Unit (EPU 2006 – 2009) of the Prime Minister’s Dept. During his service, he had also served in the Ministry of Finance (Economics and Budget Divisions) and the Ministry of Domestic Trade & Consumer Affairs. Currently, Sulaiman serves as a member of the Board of Directors Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) and Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN). He was also a Member of the Competition Appeal Tribunal between 2014 and 2017. Sulaiman had also been the Chairman of Malaysia Investment Development Authority (2010 – 2012) and was a board member of Perbadanan Insurance Deposit Malaysia (PIDM) and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for several years. He is also an Adjunct Professor at University of Malaya (INPUMA) and University Tun Razak (UNIRAZAK) where he teaches Economics and Public Policy. Dr. Sulaiman studied economics at University of Malaya and then at the University of London, and finished his PhD at Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA. He was the President of Malaysian Economic Association throughout 2015 ­‐ 2018. Dr. Sulaiman frequently contributes articles on Economic Policy, Public Finance and Development to the local press, in particular New Straits Times (NST). He has also given lectures abroad on Malaysian Economy and Public Policy, specifically in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan and Sudan.

He has served as a Board member of the Malaysian Productivity Corporation, Malaysian Industrial Development Authority and Bank Negara Malaysia. He was also a Member of the National Economic Consultative Council (MAPEN I and II), the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission and a member of the Advisory Board of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. He was appointed as Co-Chair of PEMUDAH the “Special Task Force to Facilitate Business” together with the Chief Secretary of Malaysia from 2007 to 2013. In 2013, he was appointed as member of the Economic Council of the Prime Minister’s office. He is currently the Chairman of Royal Selangor International Sdn. Bhd. and GS1 Malaysia Berhad. He is a director of TAHPS Group Berhad, and RAM Holdings Berhad. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences and the Malaysian Institute of Management. Tan Sri was previously the President of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (“FMM”).

Dato’ Dr M Shanmughalingam is Managing Director, Trilogic Sdn Bhd. He helped list six companies on Main Board, Bursa Malaysia. Ex-Director, Delloyd Ventures Bhd, Mamee Double Decker (M) Bhd, PBA Holdings Bhd, listed on Main Board, CIMB (L) Limited, CIMB Discount House Bhd, CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd, Hextar Holdings Bhd, EON, MIDF Aberdeen Asset Management Sdn Bhd, Executive Committee, MIMB, (subsidiary, MIDF, assoc. Barclays Bank Group, UK), PTD Alumni Association, Board, VIOBA Foundation, Selectors Board, Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University. Managing Director, Sri Inderajaya Sdn Bhd (1992 – 96), General Manager, PETRONAS (1979 – 91), Dep. Secretary (Economic) the Treasury, Ministry of Finance (1962 – 78). Fellow, Economic Development Institute, World Bank. On invitation by Harvard University, helped design new Executive Program for Leaders in Development: Managing Economic and Political Reform developed jointly by Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Institute for International Development, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass, USA. Honours (Economics), University Malaya, Masters, Harvard and DPhil, Oxford universities. At Harvard, he graduated first with eight A’s and was admitted to Ph.D. programme without formal application. Chapter on Malaysia, Laswell, (Yale) Lerner (MIT) and Montgomery (Harvard) ed. Values and Development: Appraising Asian Experience, MIT Press. Quoted in TIME Magazine cover story on Tun Dr Mahathir, Dec 9 1996. Stories and poems in 37 national and international anthologies and broadcasts. Producers from Australia and New Zealand offered to make movies of his short stories. Published with three Nobel prize-winners. Latest publication Marriage and Mutton Curry, Malaysian bestseller and audiobook by Storytel Europe.

Tan Sri Dato’ A. Ghani Othman is currently the Chairman of Sime Darby Plantation Berhad. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation. Tan Sri A. Ghani holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics (Honours) from the La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia and a Master’s degree in Political Economy from the University of Queensland, Australia. He began his career in 1974 as a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, University of Malaya and later served as the Dean for the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya from 1980 to 1984.Tan Sri A. Ghani was appointed as a Member of the Senate in December 1984 and subsequently elected as a Member of Parliament for Ledang in August 1986. He was later appointed the Deputy Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Post, and thereafter became the Deputy Minister of Finance in 1990. In December 1993, he was appointed the Minister of Youth and Sports and served in that capacity until March 1995. Tan Sri A. Ghani has served as the Chief Minister of Johor from March 1995 to May 2013. He was also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Johor Corporation, Sime Darby Berhad and Sime Darby Property Berhad.

Tan Sri Effendi is currently the Chairman of Enspire Ventures, an investment holding company involved in food production, higher education, property development, construction and media. Tan Sri Effendi was the Federal Minister of Agriculture Malaysia (1999-2004) during which time he initiated the modernization and commercialization of agriculture. His last post in Cabinet was the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Economic Planning Unit (EPU) (2006-2008). Effendi also served as a state assemblyman (ADUN) in Sarawak for nine years (between 1991 to 1999). He was a member of Federal Parliament from 1999 to 2004 and later a Senator in the Upper House of Parliament (2006 to 2011). He retired from politics in 2011. Tan Sri Effendi was most recently the Executive Chairman of Encorp Berhad, a property development company he founded in 1995 and listed on the main board of the KLSE in February 2003, which he recently divested. In media Tan Sri Effendi had collaborated with Bloomberg L.P and was Chairman of Bloomberg TV Malaysia (2014 – 2016). He also founded ntv7 in 1998, the private free-to-air TV channel that he has since divested. Tan Sri Effendi was Executive Chairman of Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), which he led for 15 years (1981-1995). He was the Chairman of Bank Utama (now part of RHB Banking Group) between 1990 and 1995 during which time he led its turnaround into one of the major banks in Malaysia then. Tan Sri Effendi attended the prestigious Malay College Kuala Kangsar from 1961 to 1967. Effendi holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree majoring in Development Administration from the University of Tasmania. He was also conferred an Honorary Degree of the Doctor of Law from the same university in October 2000. He was made Adjunct Professor under the Faculty of Business at the University of Tasmania in November 2008. In September 2013, Swinburne University appointed Effendi as Adjunct Professor within the Faculty of Business and Design in recognition of his well-established success in Business and Property Development. In October 2017, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Malaysian National University) awarded him Honorary Doctorate Degree (Public and Corporate Leadership) in appreciation for his services to the development of education in the region, particularly in the area of public and corporate leadership.

Dr Muhammed Abdul Khalid was the Economic Adviser to the former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Prior to the appointment, led the Council of Eminent Persons’ (CEP) secretariat. The Council was set up three days after the 2018 general election to advise the new Malaysian government on economic and financial issues. He has served as consultant for the World Bank, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. He had also served as a Director of Research at Khazanah Research Institute, Head of Economics at the Securities Commission Malaysia and a senior analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies. He was also a Senior Technical Advisor at the UNDP Malaysia. Dr Muhammed obtained his PhD from the Institut d’études Politiques de Paris, France, and holds a Master’s degree in Economics from University of Malaya and a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Dato’ Dr. Jessie Tang, Founder and CEO of East West One Group (EWOG), ventured into the agriculture industry in Sabah, Malaysia in the early 2000s. Under her leadership, the group’s business has also expanded into the agriculture and mining industries in Indonesia. Having begun her career as a medical doctor, she is a strong proponent and advocate of holistic wellness and lifestyle. Dato’ Dr. Jessie founded a private holistic wellness center that specializes in multidisciplinary diagnostics, and is also in partnership with an Australian-based medical research company. Dato’ Dr. Jessie was conferred the honorary title of Dato’ by the Sultan of Kedah in 2013. She is currently a member of the National Unity Advisory Council which advises the government on matters related to national unity and national reconciliation. She serves on the Board of Trustees for the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), as well as the Board of Directors for the Kingsley Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific (KSI). Dato’ Dr. Jessie also serves on numerous boards including the Women’s Institute of Management (WIM) Malaysia as Deputy Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Trustees. Additionally, she is a Council Member of the Malaysian Estate Owners’ Association (MEOA). As a highly experienced industry leader, Dato’ Dr. Jessie is often featured in media publications nationally and regionally. In 2018, she was acknowledged with the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award (APEA) for the Agriculture Industry in Malaysia category; the Brand Laureate Inspiring Brand ICON Leadership Award 2018 and the Brand Laureate Brand Founder Legacy Award 2018-2019 by the Asia Pacific Brand Foundation (APBF). She is also a recipient of the ASEAN Woman Business Leader of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award for 2020 by the Kingsley Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific (KSI). On the international level, Dato’ Dr. Jessie serves on the Board of Directors of the Nation- Building Institute International, a prominent think-tank based in Bangkok. She is also the Deputy Chairman of the International Society of Wellness, also based in Bangkok, which is an initiative to promote collaborative efforts in advancing and ensuring the wellbeing of the global community. As a long-time practitioner of martial arts, she is a Patron of the Kobe Osaka International Karate Association.