Speaker Profiles Dr Ulrich A Sante Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Singapore Dr Ulrich Sante joined the German Foreign Service in 1989. Before his appointment as the German Ambassador to Singapore, Dr Sante was the Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to NATO in Brussels. He has served, among others, at the German Embassies in Madrid, Washington D.C., Vilnius, and Asuncion as well as the German EU Representation in Brussels. Dr Sante also previously headed the German Federal Foreign Office (FFO) s Division of Common Security and Defence Policy. Dr Sante studied law at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg and Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn. He is married to Christina Sante. They have four children. Dr Claus Trenner President, Singaporean-German of Industry and Commerce Dr Claus Trenner was born in 1971. He is admitted as a lawyer in Germany since 2000 and England since 2002. He studied law at the Universities of Passau and Munich, wrote his PhD thesis at the professorship of Prof. Dr. Hausmann in the field of international procedural law and received his Master of Laws degree from the National University of Singapore. After having worked in the project finance department of a German bank in Singapore and in the banking department of Clifford Chance in Frankfurt, he joined a German law firm in Singapore in 2003, before becoming a partner in Luther s Singapore office in 2008. Claus covers the whole range of corporate and commercial legal activities in Asia. He focuses on M&A, the set-up of regional joint ventures and structuring crossborder transactions including financing and security documentation, advising lenders as well as borrowers. He is member of the Board of several European companies in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Mr Sunny Verghese Co-Founder & Group CEO Olam International Limited Sunny George Verghese is the Co-founder & Group CEO of Olam International Limited and is responsible for strategic planning, business development and overall management of the Olam group of companies worldwide. Headquartered in Singapore and listed on the SGX-ST, Olam currently ranks among the top 30 largest primary listed companies in Singapore in terms of market capitalisation. In 2016, Fortune magazine recognised Olam at #23 in its Change the World list. In 28 years, Sunny and his team have built this business to S$26.3 billion in Sales Revenues for FY2017. Today, Olam operates in 66 countries, delivering various agricultural raw materials and food ingredients across 18 platforms to more than 22,000 customers worldwide and employs around 72,000 people.
Sunny is currently the Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Chairman of the Board of the Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI), Singapore, Chairman of JOil (S) Pte Ltd and serves on the Board of Trustees of Singapore Management University. Sunny served on the Board of International Enterprise Singapore from 2002 to 2013 and was its Chairman from 2008 to 2013. Sunny also served as Chairman of CitySpring Infrastructure Management Pte Ltd from 2006 to 2010 and was on the Board of Trustees of National University of Singapore from 2009 to 2013. He also served as Commissioner of the Business & Sustainable Development Commission (BSDC). Sunny was awarded the Best Chief Executive for large cap companies in the Singapore Corporate Awards (SCA) in 2011 and was named Outstanding Chief Executive for 2006 in the Singapore Business Awards (SBA) and Singapore s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008. He was also conferred The Public Service Medal by the Government of Singapore in August 2010. Sunny holds a post graduate management degree from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) and has also completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) from the Harvard Business School. Prof Dr Joachim Wuermeling Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank Prof Dr Joachim Wuermeling took office as a member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank on November 1, 2016. He is responsible for the Directorates General Banking and Financial Supervision, Risk Control and Information Technology. Prior to taking on his current position, Dr Wuermeling, who has a PhD in Law, held a variety of executive-level posts in the financial and insurance industries as well as in politics. From 2011 until his departure for the Bundesbank, Dr Wuermeling was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Sparda-Banken in Frankfurt am Main. Prior to that, he was a member of the Executive Board of the German Insurance Association for around three years. From 2005 to 2008, Dr Wuermeling was State Secretary for European affairs at the Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology, where he was also responsible for coordinating European policy matters. Prior to this, he was a member of the European Parliament (CSU) from 1999 to 2005. Mr Tim Hill, Moderator Research Director Eco-Business Research Tim is the Research Director for Eco-Business, managing strategy studies and whitepapers on sustainability issues in the Asia region. He has worked as a writer, marketer and researcher in Asia since 1992 with organisations such as the Economist Intelligence Unit and Ipsos Business Consulting. During this time, he has consulted for public and
private sector organisations in areas such as growth strategies, market sizing, expansion in emerging markets, channel strategies, commercial due diligence and impact assessments. He has authored research papers and articles on topics such as the cooling crisis, flood controls, managing the energy mix and the ASEAN Economic Community. His opinion pieces and articles have been published in The Business Times and the Straits Times as well as other regional newspapers. He is also a regular speaker and conference moderator for industry and client events. Prior to this, Tim saw active service in the Middle East as an officer in the British Army and has campaign medals for service with the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus and coalition forces in Operation Desert Storm. He has an MBA from Henley Business School and is a registered consultant with the Institute of Management Consultants Singapore. In his spare time, he enjoys racing and cruising his sailboat around Southeast Asia's islands with his family and cleaning plastic debris from beaches and reefs. Prof Dr Joachim Nagel Executive Board Member of KfW Doctor Joachim Nagel, born in 1966, holds both a Masters degree and a PhD in Economics from the University of Karlsruhe. His career in the banking sector started in 1999 at Deutsche Bundesbank, where he served as Head of the President s Office at the former Land Central Bank of Bremen, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt until 2003. Afterwards he was appointed Head of the Market Analysis and Reporting Section, in 2004 Head of the Market Analysis and Portfolios Division and in 2008 Head of the Markets Department at Deutsche Bundesbank. From 2010 to 2016, Dr. Nagel was a member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Bundesbank. He was appointed General Manager of KfW in November 2016. Since November 2017 he is member of the Executive Board of KfW with responsibility for the bank s international operations. He is Chairman of Supervisory Board of KfW IPEX-Bank, First Deputy Chairman of Supervisory Board of DEG - Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbh, and Member of Supervisory Board of Deutsche Börse Group. Mr Werner Steinmüller Chief Executive Officer Asia Pacific and Member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank AG From 2004 to 2016 Werner Steinmüller was Head of Global Transaction Banking. In this role he was responsible for leading Deutsche Bank s global efforts in trade finance, cash management, institutional cash and securities services and had additional co-responsibilities for the commercial banking business in Germany.
From 2003 to 2004 he was Chief Operating Officer for the Bank s Global Transaction Banking, from 1998 to 2003 he was Head of the Global Banking Division Europe, and from 1996 to 1998 he was Co-Head of Corporate Finance Germany. Werner Steinmüller joined Deutsche Bank from Citibank in 1991 and was responsible for the origination of investment banking products and for the execution of ECM transactions. He served as Head of Corporate Relationship Management for Continental Europe and prior to this he was Co-Head of the Investment Banking Division for Germany. From 2015 to May 2018 Werner Steinmueller was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Postbank AG. Werner Steinmüller studied at the University of Darmstadt and holds a master s degree in mechanical engineering and business administration. Mr Ralf Schmidt, Moderator General Manager Asia, HSH Nordbank AG Singapore Branch, HamburgAmbassador, Chairman SGC Banking Committee Chairman Born 1969 in Hamburg, Germany, Ralf Schmidt started a two years traineeship at Vereins- und Westbank (today part of UniCredit), Hamburg, in 1989. After his post-graduate studies of business economics Ralf Schmidt joint Hamburgische Landesbank, Hamburg (today HSH Nordbank) in 1997. In 2000 he set up Singapore Branch and thereafter the Shipping Asia team for the bank. With 12 years experience on the Shipping relationship side and thereafter as Chief Risk Officer Asia Ralf Schmidt took over the responsibility for the Asian offices of HSH Nordbank as General Manager Asia beginning 2012. Since October 2016 Ralf Schmidt is as Hamburg Ambassador the honorary representative of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg in Singapore. His main activities to foster cooperation between Singapore and Hamburg are in the fields maritime industry, aviation industry, smart city and education. Since April 2017 Ralf Schmidt is the Chairman of the Banking Committee of the Singapore-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Ms Ritu Arora CEO and CIO Asia and a Member of Global Investment Management Board of Allianz Investment Management (AIM) Ritu Arora joined AIM in 2017 with more than 20 years of leadership and investment experience. She is the CEO and CIO Asia and a member of AlM Investment Management Board. AIM invests premiums earned by Allianz insurance companies worldwide. AIM Asia hub
oversees investments in 11 countries with an AUM of 30 Bn Euros. Ritu is also a director on the boards of Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance and HCL Infosystems. In her previous roles, Ritu has been the founder member and CIO of two Insurance JVs in India: Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company and Metlife India from 2004 to 2016. She was also responsible for investments of HSBC insurance businesses in China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. A Post Graduate in Management from S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, she completed ICWAI (Institute of Cost and Works Accountants) and a University Gold medalist in Bachelor of Commerce (Hons). She has a passion for mentoring and coaching and is a certified Executive Coach. Dr Irene Lee Managing Director, Dilco Solar Pte Ltd Dr Irene S M Lee is an entrepreneur in the renewable energy/solar business and is the Managing Director of Dilco Solar Pte Ltd, a clean energy solution provider and developer of solar projects in the region. The company is an integrator with expertise in providing a onestop and comprehensive solution that includes project financing, design, installation and maintenance services. Currently, the company is working on solar projects in Singapore, Solomon Islands, Indonesia and Vietnam. Dr Lee obtained her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Architecture degrees at the National University of Singapore, Masters of Architecture in Urban Design at Cornell University and Doctorate at Harvard University where she majored in environmental management and technology. Subsequently, she was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at the United Nations University in Tokyo, a postdoctoral fellowship at the Tokyo Medical University, and a third postdoctoral scholarship at Kassel University in Germany to undertake research in the areas of eco-cities, environmental technology and sustainability. Dr Lee was also a scientist at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and was the Director for International Development at Centrotherm, a German market leader in the solar industry as well as their Managing Director in Singapore, Taiwan and the Executive Director in China. She has worked in the environmental and renewable energy industry and has project experience in Europe, USA, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. She has been invited to lecture at universities in Germany, Japan, Singapore and the US, and sits on several Advisory Boards across industries. She is also the founder of LittleSun Pte Ltd, a solar lamp that is a social enterprise.
Mrs Ursula Radeke-Pietsch Finance Director, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Ursula is currently Vice President Finance (Finance Director) at Siemens Gamesa Renewables Energy. Prior to the merger with Gamesa, Ursula worked for Siemens AG as Global Head of Capital Markets. Ursula began her professional career in Siemens AG in Munich in the Corporate Sales Department before moving to the Corporate Finance Department in 1989 as Consultant Structured Finance. In 1999 she moved into a management role in Siemens Financial Services, Munich as Head of Credit Portfolio Management. In 2004 she moved to the Audit Department of Siemens AG before joining Siemens Treasury in 2005. In 2009 she was appointed as Global Head of Capital Markets for Siemens AG in Munich. Ursula holds two State Examinations in Business Administration, Mathematics and Informatics from the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich. Since 2010 she is a Representative of Siemens AG in the American Chamber of Commerce and since 2012, she is a Steering Committee Member of the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA), London and a member of FIDAR. In addition, 2015 Ursula was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Hello Fresh SE with an active role in the Audit Committee. Dr Tim Philippi, Programme Moderator Executive Director and Board Member, Singaporean German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (SGC) Dr Tim Philippi is Executive Director and Board member of the Singaporean-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Concurrently he is the Singapore Representative of Germany Trade in Invest (GTAI). He moved to Singapore in 2004 as Delegate of German Industry and Commerce to establish the SGC. Dr Philippi previously was assigned to Asia from 1998 to 2001 as Director for Marketing, Economics and Communication at the Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KGCCI/AHK Korea). In between his activities abroad, he was Director at the German Association of Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) in Berlin. Dr Philippi started his professional career at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the Stuttgart Region (IHK) in 1992, where he held various positions. He was Private Secretary to the Executive Director of the Chamber in Stuttgart, Executive Director of the Association of Junior Chambers in the State of Baden Württemberg (JCI) and Senior Manager for Regional Development. He graduated from the University of Stuttgart and has a Doctorate in Science. The organizers retain the right to make amendments to this document (as of 9 Oct 2018).