<p>Margarita Louis-Dreyfus is a Swiss businesswoman and philanthropist, serving as the chairperson of the Louis Dreyfus Group—one of Europe's oldest and largest merchant companies, specializing in trading commodities such as sugar, coffee, and oilseeds. Born Margarita Olegovna Bogdanova in Saint Petersburg, she spent her early years in Russia before relocating to Switzerland. In 1992, she married Robert Louis-Dreyfus, then CEO of the Louis Dreyfus Group. Following his passing in 2009, she inherited a majority stake in the group and assumed leadership as Chairperson. Today the privately-owned company generates annual revenues of $50 to $60 billion.</p><p>Beyond her business endeavors, Mrs. Louis-Dreyfus is a dedicated philanthropist. Concerned about the challenges facing children's well-being, she founded Human Change, a global advocacy campaign focused on children's mental health. This initiative aims to raise awareness of the harmful effects of social media and digital devices on children's healthy development, emphasizing the urgent need for a supportive environment that prioritizes their mental and emotional health. The campaign was launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2024, bringing together experts from various fields to address these pressing issues.</p>

Margarita Louis-Dreyfus

Bilahari Kausikan is a former Ambassador-at-Large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore. Between 2001 and May 2013, he was first the Second Permanent Secretary and then Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During his career he has served in a variety of appointments, including as Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York and as Ambassador to the Russian Federation. He studied at Raffles Institution, the University of Singapore and Columbia University in New York. Bilahari Kausikan is currently Chairman of the Middle East Institute, an autonomous institute of the National University of Singapore.

Bilahari Kausikan

Former Permanent Secretary, MFA Singapore

Bill Emmott is an independent writer and consultant on international affairs. He was Editor of The Economist, the world’s leading weekly magazine on current affairs and business, from 1993 until 2006, having worked for that publication since 1980. The author of 13 books, on Japan, Asia, Italy and the 20th century, his latest have been “The Fate of the West: The Battle to Save the World’s Most Successful Political Idea”, published in 2017; and “Japan’s Far More Female Future”, which was published first in Japanese by Nikkei in July 2019 and was published in English by Oxford University Press in September 2020. Now he is an Ushioda Fellow at Tokyo College, University of Tokyo as well as a member of UTokyo’s Global Advisory Board; chairman of the board of Trinity College Dublin’s Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute; chairman of the Japan Society of the UK; chairman of the trustees of the International Institute for Strategic Studies; chairman of Trade Advisers Ltd, an Irish consultancy and provider of education and training; and a member of the Comitato Scientifico of the Centro Einaudi in  Turin. He is the co-founder and co-director, with Berel Rodal, of the Global Commission for Post- Pandemic Policy, an independent, non-partisan, high-level group dedicated to making recommendations  about how societies can be made more resilient in the wake of the pandemic-related crises that began in 2020. In 2016 the Japanese government awarded him the “Order of the Rising Sun: Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon” for services to UK-Japan relations.

Bill Emmott

Mr Bernard Charnwut Chan is a Deputy to the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China. He was a Member of the Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the HKSAR) (from 2004 to 2009, and from 2012 to 2022), the Convenor of its Non-Official Members (from 2017 to 2022), and a Member of the Legislative Council (Insurance Functional Constituency) of the HKSAR (from 1998 to 2008). A graduate of Pomona College in California, Mr Chan is the Chairman and President of Asia Financial Holdings Limited, and the Chairman of Asia Insurance Company Limited. He is the Chairman of the Hong Kong-Thailand Business Council, and an advisor to Bangkok Bank (China) Company Limited. He sits on the boards of several local and overseas companies in financial services, and is a Director of Bumrungrad Hospital Public Company in Thailand. He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 2002, and a Commander (3rd Class) of the Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand in 2004. In 2006, he was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star by the HKSAR Government, and in 2020 he received Hong Kong’s highest honor, the Grand Bauhinia Medal. He has been conferred honorary degrees from Lingnan University, City University, Open University, and Savannah College of Art and Design.

Bernard C. Chan

Christer Kjos serves as the CEO of Canica AG, a large privately owned investment company based in Norway and Switzerland. In his role as CEO and as a member of the family, he has successfully transformed Canica into a modern family investment firm, prioritising responsible leadership and sustainable investments. With his natural leadership and strong values, Christer actively contributes to shaping and executing the firm’s global strategy. Christer serves as a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Asia Leaders Series since 2022, contributing his knowledge, experience and influential network to our progress and development in both Europe and Asia.

Christer Kjos

Mohandas Pai is a Co-Founder and a Partner at Aarin Capital. He is a Co-Founder & Advisor at Exfinity Venture Partners. He serves as an Advisor at OAKS Asset Management. He also serves as Chairman and Board Member at Manipal Education and Medical Group. Until June 2011, he served as a partner at The habit fund. He serves as Advisor at Ideaspring Capital. He was Elevate Innovation Partners a Member of the Board of Directors of Infosys and the Head of Administration, Education and Research, at the National Stock Exchange of India, FinacleSM, Human Resources and the Infosys Leadership Institute. He also served as Investment Committee Member at 3one4 Capital. Over the span of a decade, he has been actively working with the innovation ecosystems of India to help cultivate and grow startups and funds in the country. He holds an LLB from Bangalore University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore. 

Mohandas Pai

Alan Rosling is an entrepreneur and strategic adviser who has had a deep engagement with India over the past thirty-five years. He is co-founder of ECube, an investment manager dedicated to raising standards of environmental social and governance compliance. He cofounded Kiran Energy after leaving the Tata Group, where he was the first non-Indian Executive Director of Tata Sons (the holding company of the Tata Group), charged with internationalization of the company. His earlier career included general management, strategy and banking, and three years as a Special Adviser to the British Prime Minister in the Policy Unit at 10 Downing Street. Educated at Downing College, Cambridge, and Harvard Business School, Alan now lives in Hong Kong but is in India frequently. He was awarded a CBE (an honor for a distinguished contribution to Britain) in 2014.

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