Patricia R. Francis is a global leader in international trade, investment and development, with more than three decades of experience working across government, the private sector and international organisations to strengthen competitiveness, connectivity and economic development. 

She is currently a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center’s Caribbean Initiative. Her current work focuses on strengthening Caribbean maritime, ports and trade connectivity. Earlier this year, she helped launch the US-Caribbean Maritime & Ports Forum 2026, bringing together policymakers, port and shipping leaders, financial institutions and regional experts to address maritime infrastructure, investment, technology and resilience. She has also supported regional analysis of the impact of Hurricane Melissa on Caribbean trade and supply chains. 

Patricia is also Chair of the Government of Jamaica’s Trade Facilitation Working Group overseeing implementation of WTO TFA Measures. She is also consulting with the World Bank to provide expert advisory support in the preparation of the Caribbean Regional Connectivity and Logistics Program (Caribbean RE-Connect), an initiative focused on strengthen connectivity, logistics, competitiveness and resilience across the Caribbean. 

Previously, Patricia served as Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), the joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, and prior to that was President of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), leading Jamaica’s efforts to promote trade, investment and international business. 

Her international experience also includes heading the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment and serving as Special Adviser to the Executive Director of UN Women. 

Patricia brings a distinctive perspective on how trade, infrastructure, logistics, digitalisation and connectivity can strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of small and trade-dependent economies in an increasingly interconnected global economy.

Mr. Antony Derjacques was appointed Seychelles Minister for Transport on 3rd November 2020.

The following falls under his portfolio: The Department of Land Transport, the Department of Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine, Air Seychelles. Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority, Seychelles Maritime Safety Authority, Seychelles Lands Transport Authority, Seychelles Ports Authority, Seychelles Public Transport Corporation and Vehicle Testing Station.

He is a Lawyer and been in practice for 30 years. He was trained in British Universities.

Ms. Sirimanne has extensive experience in development policy, research and technical cooperation gained from international organizations, national governments, think tanks and universities. Prior to UNCTAD, she served as the Director of the ICT and Disaster Risk Reduction Division of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), where she spearheaded major regional cooperation programmes such as the Asia-Pacific Information Superhighway initiative, and Regional Drought Monitoring Mechanism.

During her tenure with ESCAP, Ms. Sirimanne also headed the trade facilitation programme, and led the macroeconomic policy work and ESCAP’s flagship publication, Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific. Prior to that, Ms. Sirimanne was with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), where she led the economic policy team and the Economic Report on Africa, the flagship publication of ECA. She has also worked for the Canadian Ministry of Finance and the World Bank. Ms. Sirimanne holds a PhD in Economics.

Owen Holder is currently the Barbados Comptroller of Customs.

He has worked a Programme Officer with UNCTAD where he was stationed in Jamaica with responsibilities for managing activities related to ASYCUDA World, the Electronic Single Window and the Port Community System. He lead a team to implement ASYCUDA World in St. Helena and was Project Manager for the implementation of ASYCUDA World in Barbados.

He received a Master degree in Business Administration form the University of Surrey and a double Master degree from the University of Canberra in International Customs Law and Administration and Master in International Revenue Administration.

Mr. Holder was a certified lecture at University of Canberra where he completed CCLEC/University of Canberra lectures for the Diploma in Customs Management Studies through the region.

Stanley Trief is currently the Manager of the Vanuatu electronic Single Window (VeSW) Project. The VeSW Project is funded by the Enhance Integrated Framework (EIF) and the Australian Government with support from the Vanuatu Government. Using ASYCUDA World as the system’s platform, the VeSW Project commenced in 2019.

Prior to managing the VeSW Project, Stanley was the Manager of Vanuatu’s ASYCUDA World Project from 2016 – 2018. The Project was to upgrade the Customs system in Vanuatu from ASYCUDA++, which Vanuatu was using since 1999, to the latest version of ASYCUDA.

Stanley is a customs manager by profession, managing the Customs Border Control and Enforcement unit of Vanuatu Customs from 2011 to 2015. He is also a qualified Computer Science graduate and was managing the Information, Communication and Telecommunication unit of Vanuatu since 2004 prior to moving to Customs operations.

In the Pacific region, Stanley has conducted multiple Customs modernization assessments in Pacific Island countries since 2006 to 2019, before the borders closed due to the pandemic.

Stanley holds a Bachelor of Science from the New Zealand University of Waikato and a Master of International Customs Law and Administration from the Australian University of Canberra. He is passionate about implementing reform and modernization initiatives in both Customs and in the areas trade of facilitation.

Özlem Soysanli is a Senior Technical Officer at the World Customs Organization (WCO) in Brussels, Belgium.

She joined the WCO Compliance and Facilitation Directorate in August 2018. She previously worked in various capacities in the Turkish Customs Administration for over 22 years, mainly in the area of Customs legislation. She also worked as the Customs Counsellor at the Turkish Embassy in Brussels from 2014 to 2018 with the responsibility of representing the Turkish Customs at the WCO as well as at Belgium Customs.

Within the Procedures and Facilitation Sub-Directorate, she is primarily in charge of the Permanent Technical Committee (PTC), the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), the National Trade Facilitation Committees (NCTFs), the WCO Mercator Programme and the WCO Economic Competitiveness Package (ECP). She is also part of the Disruptive Technologies and Smart Customs Projects teams.