Minister Thoriq held the portfolio of protecting natural environment and its resources, managing climate change, coordinating the sustainable development goals, provision of the energy, water, sewerage and waste management services in the Maldives.
Minister Thoriq also oversaw and provided policy direction to the affiliated agencies under the Ministry – the Environmental Protection Agency, the Utility Regulatory Authority, the Maldives Meteorological Service, and the Biosphere Reserve Office.
Prior to his appointment as the Minister of Environment and Energy, he has served both in the private and public sector for more than 17 years in the field of building services, engineering design, and management of construction projects as well as mechanical and electrical building maintenance services.
Minister Thoriq holds a BEng (Hons) in Building Services Engineering from the Loughborough University of Technology (UK), an MSc in Building Science from National University of Singapore, and an MBA from Preston University (USA).
Mr. Thoriq Ibrahim served as the Minister of Environment and Energy from 19 Nov 2013 to 17 Nov 2018.
Ahmed Ihab Abdelahad Gamaleldin is Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Arab Republic of Egypt to the United Nations Office at Geneva. He has a long professional career in multilateral and bilateral diplomacy. He recently served as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Human Rights and International Humanitarian and Social Affairs. Previously, he was ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the Kingdom of Morocco, deputy assistant minister of foreign affairs for environment and sustainable development, director for the department for Human Rights and International Social and Humanitarian Affairs, member of the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign affairs, the World Bank in Wahington DC, member of the Egyptian Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York and in Geneva, and deputy permanent representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva.
Dr. Gamaleldin was elected as vice chair of the bureau of the international preparatory process of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and co-chaired the international negotiations on its final document. He represented Egypt in a number of international summits, conferences and meetings in the United Nations in the Economic, Social, Environmental, Humanitarian, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law fields. He holds a PHD and MA in International Economics and International Relations from Johns Hopkins University, and an MBA and a BA in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo.
Okechukwu Ihejirika serves as the Acting Chief Operating Officer, Caribbean Office at the African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank). With over 20 years of banking experience, he specializes in trade finance.
Before joining Afreximbank in 2015, he held senior positions in Nigerian banks, including Head of Trade Finance at Union Bank of Nigeria. He holds an MBA in International Business from the American Intercontinental University and a Bachelor's in Actuarial Science and Insurance from the Imo State University.
Additionally, he is certified in International Trade and Finance from the Institute of Financial Services London and holds the Certified Documentary Credit Specialist designation. Okechukwu serves on the ICC Taskforce on Guarantees and the digitization working group of the ICC.
He is a founding member of the African Council of BAFT, chairing its membership committee for the African Council and contributing to the global membership committee.
Abdel Ilah Bousseta is currently the Director of Postal Operations Directorate at the Universal Postal Union (UPU) International Bureau.
A graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Postes et Télécommunications (ENSPTT) in Paris, Mr. Bousseta spent 13 years in various senior roles dedicated to the development of postal activities in Morocco.
During his tenure with Poste Maroc, he highly contributed to several major projects, including the establishment of the international express subsidiary EMS Chronopost International Maroc in 2001, the creation of the AMANA parcels brand, and the introduction of hybrid mail services.
From November 2005 to April 2015, he served as Director of Development Cooperation at the UPU International Bureau. In this capacity, he introduced a new regional approach that promoted the efficient and targeted implementation of technical assistance projects. His responsibilities covered key areas such as financial inclusion, resource mobilization, sustainable development, and disaster risk management. A core component of his strategy was to strengthen South–South cooperation, fostering mutual assistance and the exchange of best practices among countries. Throughout his tenure, he consistently sought to deliver appropriate support where it was most needed.
Since April 2015, Mr. Bousseta has been heading the Postal Operations Directorate at the UPU International Bureau. This directorate oversees all operational aspects of international postal service , including supply chain management, customs clearance, postal products, and quality of service.
He highly contributed to the creation of a Quality of Service Fund to support global projects related to postal operations and supply chain performance, as well as to the implementation of the Electronic Advance Data (EAD) project and the optimization of POC working methods.
Vladimir Ilichev was appointed as Deputy Minister in 2020. Within the Ministry, Mr. Ilichev focuses on developing foreign economic activity based on multilateral and bilateral cooperation.
In 2012-2020, Mr. Ilichev headed the Department for Internal Market Protection of the Eurasian Economic Commission. In 2011-2012, he acted as a Director of Department for Foreign Commerce Protective Measures of the Secretariat of the Customs Union Commission.
In his previous roles, he contributed to national trade and development as the Director of Trade Policy and Law Centre LLC (2006-2010), Director of the Department of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation (2004-2006), etc.
In 1998, Mr. Ilichev graduated from the Moscow State Open University, and in 2015 from the Kutafin Moscow State Law University.
Emeline Siale Ilolahia is the Executive Director of Pacific Islands Association of Non-Government Organisations (PIANGO) Fiji, Tonga, and Pacific region.
Siale is a Tongan civil society leader, women’s advocate and activist. As Executive Director of PIANGO, she represents the interests of Pacific civil society in a range of regional and international fora. In her previous role as Executive Director of the Civil Society Forum of Tonga, Siale was instrumental in bringing together and supporting coalitions working on issues as diverse as ethical leadership, women’s access to finance, women’s leadership and political participation.
Siale was awarded an inaugural Jose Edgardo Campos Collaborative Leadership Award in Washington DC in 2016 in recognition of her contributions to local leadership efforts in Tonga.
Ambassador Julia Imene-Chanduru currently serves as the Acting Deputy Executive Director in the Department of Multilateral Relations at the Ministry of International Relations and Trade of the Republic of Namibia.
She previously served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Namibia to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, and to the Swiss Confederation, a position she held from January 2021 to August 2025. Prior to that, she was the Deputy Permanent Representative of Namibia to the United Nations in New York from 2018 to 2020.
Her diplomatic assignments include service at the Embassy of the Republic of Namibia in Washington, D.C. (2007–2011).
Ambassador Imene-Chanduru joined the Namibian Foreign Service in 2004. Over the course of her career, she has accumulated over two decades of experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, public policy, international relations, and negotiations. She has previously headed the Divisions for the Americas, North Africa and the Middle East and has also provided executive and administrative support to the Minister and to the Executive Director of the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation.
Ambassador Imene-Chanduru holds a Master of Science in International Public Policy from Queen Mary University of London, a Master’s in International Service from the American University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Namibia. She has also completed professional training in Conflict Resolution, Negotiation and Mediation (DIRCO), Doing Diplomacy in the Age of Global Governance (Vienna School of International Studies), and Mastering Negotiations: Building Bridges Across Boundaries (Harvard University), among others.
A dedicated public servant, Ambassador Imene-Chanduru is passionate about the environment, as well as issues affecting women and girls. She is an avid reader and is married with two daughters.
Rouben Indjikian is an adjunct professor teaching energy, commodities, trade finance, digital economy and international economics at Webster Geneva Campus. He organizes events at Webster and is a frequent speaker at international conferences on commodities, energy, trade finance and other topics. Indjikian had a distinguished career of nearly 30 years at UNCTAD where, as an economist and manager, he was in charge of analysis, policy advice and technical assistance in the areas of international trade, finance, e-commerce and commodities. At UNCTAD he drafted many reports, organized conferences, and initiated the Information Economy Report and Global Commodities Forum. He is also the author of a monograph based on his PhD thesis, book chapters and articles in prestigious academic and business journals. His PhD is from the USSR Academy of Sciences Institute of World Economy and International Relations, the leading think tank of the time.