6th annual Sustainability Week Asia

Who spoke in 2026?

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  Sihasak Phuangketkeow

  Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand

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  Sihasak Phuangketkeow

  Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand

  Sihasak Phuangketkeow is one of Thailand’s most distinguished career diplomats, with over four decades of experience. He was appointed minister of foreign affairs of Thailand in September 2025. He previously served as vice minister, permanent secretary and ambassador to France and Japan. He was also permanent representative to the UN in Geneva and president of the UN Human Rights Council. A key architect of ASEAN institutions, he later held advisory and academic roles after retiring in 2018. He holds degrees from Chulalongkorn University and Johns Hopkins University, and remains actively engaged in public service.

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  Lara Boro

  Group chief executive, The Economist Group

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  Lara Boro

  Group chief executive, The Economist Group

  Lara Boro became chief executive of The Economist Group in 2019, joining from Informa, where she served as chief executive of Informa Intelligence. She has a wealth of experience in business-to-consumer and business-to-business information markets, and has held senior positions at Ascential (formerly EMAP), CPA Global and the Financial Times.

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  Christine Engstrom

  Director general, Sectors Department 3, Asian Development Bank

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  Christine Engstrom

  Director general, Sectors Department 3, Asian Development Bank

  Christine Engstrom has served as director-general of Sectors Department 3 of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) since July 2025. She leads the offices for finance, human and social development, and public sector management and governance. Ms Engstrom was previously the senior director of ADB’s financial sector office (2023–25), leading ADB’s sovereign operations to develop financial sectors across developing member countries. Prior to this, she was director of the private sector financial institutions division for approximately ten years, managing a team supporting financial institutions through loans, equity, guarantees and technical assistance. Before she joined ADB, Ms Engstrom worked at Fannie Mae, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the International Finance Corporation in Washington, DC. She has an MBA from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in international affairs from the University of Virginia.

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  Melinda Good

  Division Director for Thailand and Myanmar, World Bank

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  Melinda Good

  Division Director for Thailand and Myanmar, World Bank

  Melinda Good is the World Bank division director for Thailand and Myanmar, based in Bangkok. Prior to this role, she was the country director for the World Bank in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she oversaw the country programme, working with international partners to support the Afghan people. Before her tenure in Afghanistan, Ms Good was the operations manager in Islamabad, Pakistan, overseeing a portfolio of IDA and IBRD lending and guarantees. She has also worked in the World Bank’s Washington, DC, and Indonesia offices, with the Asian Development Bank in Manila, and with the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Washington, DC. Ms Good began her career as a lawyer in private practice in New York and Singapore, working on project finance and equity transactions in Asia.

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  Takeharu Yamanaka

  Mayor, Yokohama

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  Takeharu Yamanaka

  Mayor, Yokohama

  Takeharu Yamanaka became the 33rd mayor of Yokohama, Japan’s second-largest city and home to 3.77m residents, in 2021. Prior to entering politics, he served as professor and dean of the Graduate School of Data Science at Yokohama City University after research experience at the US National Institutes of Health and other institutions. Mayor Yamanaka now actively works to leverage data-driven processes in policy decision-making and drive Yokohama’s green transformation into a carbon-neutral society. He leads efforts to make Yokohama a preferred destination for growing families and young professionals, older citizens and the next generation, as well as for dynamic businesses and investment.

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  Christopher Ganis

  Chief investment officer, Indonesia Investment Authority

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  Christopher Ganis

  Chief investment officer, Indonesia Investment Authority

  Christopher Ganis is chief investment officer of the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA). He has a wealth of experience in finance with deep expertise in private credit and equity across South-east Asia. Prior to his appointment as CIO, Mr Ganis oversaw the hybrid capital solutions division at INA as managing director of investment. Before joining INA, he spent seven years at BlackRock, where he led private credit investments in South-east Asia, with a focus on Indonesia. Earlier in his career, Mr Ganis was a partner at Asia Summit Capital, an Indonesia-focused private equity and credit fund, and vice-president at Indies Capital, where he led private credit deals across multiple sectors in Indonesia. He has also worked at Salomon Smith Barney and later held several senior positions at Citi’s corporate and investment bank, including in Asia credit trading and mergers & acquisitions. Mr Ganis holds an MBA with honours from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he received the prestigious Citi Markets & Banking Fellowship, and a bachelor of science in business administration, summa cum laude, from Ohio State University.

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  Suraphon Buphakosum

  Senior vice-president, sustainability service development, The Stock Exchange of Thailand

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  Suraphon Buphakosum

  Senior vice-president, sustainability service development, The Stock Exchange of Thailand

  Suraphon Buphakosum supports sustainability development for listed companies and stakeholders in the Thai capital market. He contributes to the development of services and infrastructure that help organisations implement ESG practices, and works with businesses to integrate ESG into their strategies. Previously, he conducted economic research and contributed to projects focused on developing investor-relations best practices for the Stock Exchange of Thailand. He holds an MPhil in development studies from the University of Cambridge and an executive MBA from Sasin School of Management, Chulalongkorn University.

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  Pornphrom Vikitsreth

  Chief sustainability officer and advisor to Governor of Bangkok, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration

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  Pornphrom Vikitsreth

  Chief sustainability officer and advisor to Governor of Bangkok, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration

  Pornphrom Vikitsreth is chief sustainability officer of Bangkok and the adviser to the governor of Bangkok. His diverse experience spans multiple sectors, including international affairs, academia and politics. In the international arena, Mr Vikitsreth served as the economy project manager for the UN Environment Programme. Additionally, he is a member of Liberal International’s environment committee. He actively applies his knowledge and skills through his role as a special lecturer on environmental policy at Thammasat University. He graduated from New York University with a master’s degree in energy and environmental policy and a bachelor’s degree in international affairs from King’s College London.

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  Nick Mann

  Rotating group chief executive and chief executive Asia-Pacific, H&H Group

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  Nick Mann

  Rotating group chief executive and chief executive Asia-Pacific, H&H Group

  Nick Mann is chief executive for Australia, New Zealand and Asia at H&H Group, leading the strategy, growth and development of H&H’s brands across these markets. Mr Mann has been instrumental to the growth of Swisse Wellness, now Australia’s top vitamin brand, while securing Great Place to Work certifications in Australia for five consecutive years and leading the expansion of H&H into several new markets across Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. In his position as rotating group chief executive at H&H Group in 2024/25, Mr Mann led H&H to achieve group-wide B Corp certification a year ahead of schedule—the first global health and wellness multinational headquartered in Asia-Pacific to receive this prestigious recognition. He continues to successfully integrate sustainability into business strategy to ensure commercial success while driving positive impact on people, pets, communities and the planet.

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  Manisha Dogra

  Chief corporate affairs officer (Acting), Telenor Asia

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  Manisha Dogra

  Chief corporate affairs officer (Acting), Telenor Asia

  Manisha Dogra is a senior corporate affairs and sustainability professional with extensive strategic and operational experience in Asia. As the head of external relations and sustainability for Telenor Asia, she is part of a diverse regional leadership team based in Singapore. Since joining Telenor in 2009, Ms Dogra has led various roles within sustainability, health and safety, and corporate responsibility across South Asia and Asia-Pacific. Her experience includes setting up the sustainability function in Telenor Myanmar and working on global sustainability projects with UNICEF and Plan International. She has been a member of UN Development Programme’s FairBiz private sector advisory group in her personal capacity, and represents Telenor Group in the Global Network Initiative.

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  Spencer Low

  Head of regional sustainability, Asia-Pacific, Google

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  Spencer Low

  Head of regional sustainability, Asia-Pacific, Google

  Spencer Low is Google’s cross-functional sustainability leader in Asia-Pacific, the regional head of a global team that leads sustainability strategy and programmes. He is an active advocate for leveraging AI and digital technologies to tackle critical sustainability challenges. Previously Mr Low was CSO and chief executive of travel retail at the Singapore-listed aviation services and food solutions company SATS. Prior to that, he held senior management roles within Booking Holdings and Rakuten Group after spending the first decade of his international career at Bain & Company. Mr Low has lived and worked across the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia and India.

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  Mustan Lalani

  Global head of sustainability, SHEIN

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  Mustan Lalani

  Global head of sustainability, SHEIN