Vahini Naidu is the Programme Coordinator of the Trade for Development Programme of the South Centre, an intergovernmental organisation of developing countries that helps developing countries to combine their efforts and expertise to promote their common interests in the international arena. She provides policy analysis and advice on trade policies to developing countries and developing country groupings in Geneva as well as to capitals.

Prior to joining the South Centre, she was an international trade negotiator for the Department of Trade and Industry in South Africa covering SADC, Tripartite FTA, AfCFTA and WTO negotiations. She was a diplomat at the South African Permanent Mission to the WTO in Geneva, Switzerland, and Focal Point and Coordinator of the African Group in the WTO.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws and Master of Commerce Degree.

Jane Nalunga is the Executive Director of the SEATINI-Uganda, a Pan African CSO working on trade, fiscal and development related issues for the realisation of sustainable development and improved livelihoods in Uganda, East Africa and the African Region.

Her major areas of interest and expertise are trade, finance and agriculture related issues in general and the multilateral, bilateral and regional trade Agreements in particular. She has more than twenty years of experience in policy research, analysis and advocacy and has authored a number of policy-oriented studies and articles. She has followed closely the WTO, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the investment related negotiations and their implications on the third world countries, on Africa and on Uganda. She has attended various high-level meetings/ workshops related to trade and development; and she has been a member of the Uganda official delegation to the WTO Ministerial Conferences, the EPA and East Africa Community (EAC) regional integration negotiations. She has also actively engaged on issues of financing for development and tax justice at local national and global levels. She has carried out research and presented papers at various conferences 

Since 2021, Vugar Namazov has been with the Unicapital Investment Company OJSC, one of the leading investment company in Azerbaijan. Starting from 2023 Mr. Namazov holds the position of Unicapital IC’s Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Namazov has extensive expertise in finance and financial institutions, IT, trading infrastructure, project management, international relations and public administration. Vugar held various senior positions at the Baku Stock Exchange for over 13 years, including the Chairman of the Executive Board. Before joining the Unicapital IC team, he worked as an advisor to the Chairman of the Board at Agrarian Procurement and Supply OJSC under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In parallel, Vugar Namazov holds the position of researcher at the Eurasian Economy Research Center at Azerbaijan State University of Economics.

In July 2023, Mr. Namazov was appointed as the member of the Observative Board of the National Depository Center of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Mr. Namazov received his bachelor’s degree in Finance from the Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC) in 2005 and a master’s degree in International economic relations from the same university in 2007. In 2021, he studied at the Kellogg Business School’s Organizational Leadership Program. Mr. Namazov holds Professional Project Manager (PMP) certificate from the Project Management Institute (PMI).

Sharleen is dedicated to advancing innovation and strengthening intellectual property rights, with a particular focus on highlighting women's contributions in the field. At the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), she plays a key role in the Patents and Technology Sector, driving the implementation of WIPO’s Intellectual Property and Gender Action Plan (IPGAP). Through this initiative, she works to enhance women's participation in intellectual property, ensuring that female inventors and creators receive the recognition and protection they deserve.

Previously, Sharleen was part of the Advancement Fundraising team at the Climate Reality Project in Washington, D.C. and worked in the Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ECOSOC) division at the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights in Nairobi.

She holds a Master’s degree in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University as a Leadership Advocacy for Women in Africa Fellow Alumna. Her research focused on leveraging intellectual property to safeguard the economic, social, and cultural rights of artisan women in Kenya.

Lyonpo Namgyal Dorji serves as the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Employment (MoICE) in the Royal Government of Bhutan, following his appointment by His Majesty The King on 28 January 2024. He is also a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly of Bhutan, representing the Kabji-Talo constituency in Punakha.

He holds a Master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University, a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Administration from the Royal Institute of Management, and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English from the University of Delhi.

Before entering politics in 2022, he served for over 12 years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he held various diplomatic and policy roles including 4 years of service at the Permanent Mission of Bhutan to the United Nations in New York.

Outside of his official responsibilities, he enjoys reading, long hikes, and spending quality time with his family and three children.

Sohail Naqvi is Director, Freshwater Programme and Lead of Sustainability & Stewardship, WWF-Pakistan.

An engineer by profession, he brings over 17 years of expertise in water and environmental management. He is also a member of the ZDHC Wastewater Council and the AWS Global Technical Committee.

Bareha Abbas Naqvi is currently working as a Research Analyst with the Oxford Policy Management Institute to help address policy challenges in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. She is a graduate from the Lahore University of Management Sciences and pursued an undergraduate degree in Political Science.

Bareha is passionate about the UN 2030 Agenda and her role in helping actualize the many facets of the Sustainable Development Goals. Owing to her lived experience as a woman hailing from the developing South, her passion for the actualization of SDG Goal 4 centered around reducing gender inequity is more than just an aim. She ascribes to the feminist intersectional school of thought and believes that Education is key to upward mobility, both economic and social. Naqvi is excited about moderating the session on Gender Inequality at the UNCTAD Youth Forum 2021 as an ode to her time as a youth leader at the UNCTAD Youth Conference 2018. She can be found indulging in conversations over a cup of chai in her spare time, staying true to her Karachi roots. 

Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir is an Indonesian diplomat and the current Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, in office since 21 October 2024.

Nasir was previously the Indonesian Ambassador to the United Nations and the International Seabed Authority in New York, from 2021 to 2024, and the Indonesian Ambassador to the French Republic, Principality of Andorra, Principality of Monaco, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) from 2019 to 2021.

From 2014 to 2019, he served as Spokesperson for Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Between 2008 and 2012, he held the position of Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations in New York, where he was responsible for economics and development issues in the General Assembly’s Second Committee (Economic and Financial) and the Economic and Social Council, negotiating for the “Group of 77” developing countries and China on a number of resolutions.  From 2010 to 2011, he served as Advisor on economic issues and least developed countries to the President of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly.

Among other positions within the Government of Indonesia, Mr. Nasir was Deputy Director for Agriculture and Commodities at the Directorate General of Multilateral Affairs, from 2005 to 2008.

Mr. Nasir earned a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Indonesia; a Master of Business Administration from Leicester University in the United Kingdom; and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Buckingham, also in the United Kingdom.

Iman Nasr is Undersecretary and Head of Central Department of World Trade Organization Affairs, Trade Agreements Sector, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Egypt.

Working for over 20 years at the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Egypt, Iman has participated in the formulation of Egypt's negotiating position in bilateral, regional and multilateral trade negotiations. She has been involved in designing trade-related capacity building with Egypt's international development partners including UNCTAD and the World Bank.

Iman leads the Central Department for WTO Affairs responsible for the formulation of the Egyptian negotiating position in the WTO, since the launch of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) in 2001, and following the implementation of Egypt's rights and obligations in the WTO.

She is also the Deputy Chairperson of Egypt's National Trade Facilitation Committee and the Head of its Technical Secretariat. A central area of her work is to ensure the formulation of Egyptian Trade Policy in a manner that achieves the appropriate balance between Egypt's development objectives and its commitments and obligations under the different WTO Agreements.

Ines Nastali is Senior Maritime Data Expert at S&P Global Market Intelligence, where she works on updating the global fleet registries and the IMO ship numbering and company team. She connects S&P's extensive ships database to the industry and media by publishing data analysis on fraudulent flags and tonnage overviews of different ship registries.

Since joining in 2018, she focuses on utilizing S&P Global's dredging, port, and maritime data, crafting interactive and print visualizations to highlight fleet data, port developments, shipbuilding trends, and casualty incidents.

Previously, Ines joined IHS Markit as the editor of Dredging and Ports Construction magazine. She then became editor of Ports & Harbors, the membership publication of the International Association of Ports and Harbors. She has also edited science titles for the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in London.

Her maritime journalism career started in 2015 at The Marine Professional, the membership publication of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science, and Technology.