Since its inception in 1983, as the Canada-Singapore Business Association, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore has grown into one of Singapore’s most recognized international business associations. It is currently embarking on an exciting growth phase, providing more value to its members as a result of Asia’s ascendancy in global markets and Canada’s increased commercial engagement with Singapore and its neighbors.
Following the resounding success of its 40th Annual General Meeting, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce proudly announces the new Executive Committee for the term 2024-2025. This distinguished panel of leaders embodies a wealth of experience and a shared commitment to advancing Canadian business interests on the global stage.
President: Caroline Berube, Managing Director of HJM Asia Law
Caroline Berube, a Canadian trained lawyer from McGill University, admitted to practice in New York and Singapore, has been working in Asia (Singapore, Bangkok and Guangzhou) since 1998. She represents SMEs, PE firms, banks in cross border/M&A transactions, and intellectual property rights/technology transfers matters in technology, manufacturing, agriculture and entertainment industries.
Beside being the Managing Partner of HJM Asia Law since 2007, Caroline has an established reputation in the international business community as an entrepreneur of 5 start-ups (consulting, trading, tech platform, manufacturing and services). In 2016, she formed Prosocec Asia, an innovative company providing company incorporation, accounting, and compliance services for SMEs on an automated platform as a one stop shop.
In 2015, Caroline was named a Young Global Leader under 40 by the World Economic Forum and was appointed in May 2023 on the Advisory Group of the WEF, YGL.Past president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore and current chairman, Caroline works with different Canadian stakeholders in the region. Caroline is a board member of a Canadian listed company in Toronto in the mobility industry and board member of the Taiwan and China entities of a Swiss watch company.
Vicepresident: Kamram Azim, COO, Wealth Management Asia & Deputy Chief Executive, Singapore Branch,Royal Bank of Canada
Kamran Azim is Chief Operating Officer, WM Asia & Deputy Chief Executive, Singapore Branch at RBC Wealth Management.
Based in Singapore, Kam is responsible for setting and executing the strategic direction of the business and leading business management and Front Office support functions ensuring the best possible client experience. Kam’s teams are based in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Kam joined RBC Wealth Management in January 2017 and was originally based in Singapore but subsequently moved to London in summer 2018 and back to Toronto in April 2020 where he was promoted to be an Executive Officer of RBC. He has worked for RBC since 2008 and began his career at RBC Capital Markets where he supported the Energy Sales & Trading desk. He then moved on to hold a variety of roles at RBC as part of the Capital Markets Global Credit team and in Canadian Private Banking.
Kam has been a member of the RBC Diversity Leadership Council’s in Canada and the UK and was most recently on the board of Career Edge, an organization which helps launch careers through paid internships in Canada.
Kam obtained an Honours BA in Economics from the University of Toronto and is also a member of the CFA Institute. Kam and his wife Tania and their daughter enjoy traveling the world and believe that the best way to integrate into a new culture is through its cuisine.
Secretary: Gustavo Galvis, Regionall Vicepresident Asia Pacific, Export Development Canada
Gustavo Galvis joined Export Development Canada (EDC) in 2005 and has more than 20 years of experience in international business development and financial services, including project and corporate finance, and mergers and acquisitions. In July 2019 Mr. Galvis was appointed EDC’s Regional Vice-President, Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore, and currently leads EDC’s business development activities in South & Southeast Asia and is also the Branch Manager for EDC’s standalone office in Singapore.
Prior to his current appointment, from 2005 to 2013 Gustavo worked with EDC’s Structure & Project Finance team (SPF), where he led multiple transactions in the infrastructure, energy, mining and telecom sectors in various markets. After holding several positions in the SPF team, in 2013 Gustavo joined EDC’s Global Business Development team as Chief Representative for the Andean, Central America and Caribbean regions, where he led the successful opening of EDC’s Bogota office and raised the region’s profile for Canada and EDC.
Prior to joining EDC, Gustavo worked in investment banking firms in New York and Colombia, as well as with the World Bank where he advised governments in the structuring and financing of infrastructure projects. Gustavo holds an MBA degree from the University of Toronto, a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota, Colombia, and has attended executive education programs at Columbia University in New York City.
Treasurer: Amira Berrada, Investment Manager, International Finance Corporation
Amira is an Investment Manager at IFC’s Asset Management Company in Singapore, where she leads sector agnostic growth equity investments in Asia for institutional investors. She has 14 years of experience and was previously with Citi Private Equity in New York and Export Development Canada in Montreal.
She speaks 4 languages, is originally from Montreal and lived in New York, Hong Kong, France, India and Singapore.
Amira has an MBA from Columbia Business School and the University of Hong Kong as well as a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University.
Ex-Officio Members
Integral to the Executive Committee are two ex-officio members who play crucial roles in enhancing diplomatic and trade relations:
H.E. Jean-Dominique Ieraci: Canadian High Commissioner to Singapore and Honorary Chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore
Mr. Jean-Dominique Ieraci has been Canada’s High Commissioner to the Republic of Singapore since August 2021.
Before his transfer to Singapore, Mr. Ieraci was Deputy Head of Mission at the Canadian embassy in Mexico from 2016-2021.
Prior to this, Mr. Ieraci was Director General, Trade Sectors at Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (now Global Affairs Canada-GAC), where he was responsible for the support to the internationalisation of Canadian firms in 22 main sectors of the economy, ranging from Information technology to Canada’s International Education Strategy.
In previous assignments, Mr. Ieraci was Minister-Counsellor, Economic and Commercial Affairs, at the Canadian Embassy in Paris from 2008-2013, where he managed programs supporting Canadian exports, investment, technology exchanges and innovation, as well as global relations - most notably G20, and issues including climate change during the financial crisis of 2008.
It is Mr. Ieraci’s second tour in Singapore, where he managed the trade and economic programs from 2005-2008. He was also posted to South Korea and Syria, from where he additionally managed the offices in Jordan and Cyprus. In his rotations in Canada, Mr. Ieraci held various positions within the Ministry in corporate sectors and operations, including the Media Relations Office, Human Resources and Client Services.
Mr. Ieraci graduated in industrial engineering from the École Polytechnique de Montréal. He is married and has 3 children.
Brenda Wills, Senior Trade Commissioner, High Commission of Canada to Singapore
Prior to taking on the role of Senior Trade Commissioner in Singapore in August 2021, Ms. Wills was Chief of Staff to Canada’s Chief Trade Commissioner and Assistant Deputy Minister for International Business Development at Global Affairs Canada (GAC) in Ottawa.
Ms. Wills’ assignments abroad include serving as Counsellor (Trade Policy) at the Embassy of Canada to Mexico, Senior Trade Commissioner in Colombia, Trade Commissioner in Chile, and as Second Secretary (Trade Policy) in Washington, D.C.
Previously at GAC in Ottawa, Ms. Wills has worked in the Mexico Division, on trade negotiations with the European Union and the European Free Trade Association, and on the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations as Deputy Director for communications and stakeholder engagement.
Ms. Wills is Red River Métis from Manitoba. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree in International Business and Marketing from the University of Manitoba, and a Master of Science in Sustainable Development from the University of Sussex. She speaks English, French and Spanish.
Directors
The Executive Committee also comprises ten Directors elected at large, each bringing unique perspectives and specialized knowledge to enhance the Chamber's initiatives. These Directors represent a diverse cross-section of industries and regions across Canada, Singapore and beyond ensuring broad representation and comprehensive strategic oversight.
Born in Dauphin Manitoba, Marlene has a Master's Degree from Western University and has spent her working years in Asia.
A former President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (1995-96), Marlene has over 20 years of experience in sports marketing, special events and public relations in Asia. An entrepreneur, she started and sold her Hong Kong/China based agency (formerly called PRISM) to become President of Marketing Solutions, Octagon Asia, a global sports marketing and events company based in New York. Marlene’s company worked on organising and promoting many events and activities in sport, tourism, consumer products and services.
Marlene has promoted Canadian products and services, tourism promotions, and trade visits, and organised Canadian Prime Minister and Ministerial visits. Her Canadian projects include a range of activity from 'Manitoba Premier Visit' to 'Newfoundland Fish Mission' to ''Greater Toronto Mayor Visit'' to ''Team Canada'' to the overall organisation of ''Celebrate Canada'' in Hong Kong which was a month long promotion of some 50 business, social, networking and image building events ranging from taking Miss Canada to the local skating rink to installing a hand crafted BC totem pole with all the proper and official native rites in a public park in Hong Kong.
Marlene continues to contribute to Canada as Past President (7years), Chairman and as a current Director of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (since 2006) and is a Founding Member of the Canada-ASEAN Business Council, helping to coordinate all Chambers in the region. In acknowledgement of her contribution to Canada-Asia relations, Marlene received the Governor General Award from His Excellency, the Right Honourable David Johnston, during his State Visit to Singapore in early 2011.
Marlene’s passion is walking. She travels across the world to complete walks with friends.
Rohan Belliappa is Managing Director, Southeast Asia of the Trade and Invest British Columbia office in Singapore.
He has also served as Regional Representative for CN and Broadcast Journalist and Presenter for ESPN in Asia. For CanCham, Rohan has served as President and Chair from 2016-2020 and as Executive Director from 2011-2015. He holds a Honors Business Administration degree from the Ivey Business School at Western University and is from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
David has wide career experience in government, international business development, operations, venture capital and fund management, with over thirty
years spent in Asia.
He served as a senior diplomat for Canada in Korea (as Consul and Senior Trade Commissioner), Japan (as Senior Trade Commissioner) and Singapore (as Economic Counselor and Sr. Trade Commmissioner), as Deputy Director Asia Divisions Regional Affairs, as Chair of the Interdepartmental APEC Committee to coordinate Canada’sparticipation in APEC, as Canada’s representative to the APEC Budget and Administration Committee and as Canadian Deputy Chair of the APEC Economic Committee. He was responsible for organizing three Prime Ministerial APEC summits, in Seattle, Bogor and Osaka. He has extensive experience in trade negotiations, including serving as Canadian Chair to the Trilateral Committee on Forest Products with Japan and the U.S.
He holds and has held senior management and Board positions in a number of hi-tech, investment and fund management companies, including: Zecotek Photonics Ltd, a listed Canadian photonics company where he served as Executive Director and COO; as COO on the founding management team of MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd, a Singapore based natural product drug discovery company; as partner in Upstream Ventures, a Singapore-based family fund, and as Senior Vice President (ICT) and Board member of Transpac Capital, one of Asia’s oldest VC’s with USD1Billion under management, where he qualified as licensed financial advisor under MAS.
He presently serves as President and CEO of Greentech Asia Pte Ltd, a consulting
company specializing in market entry to Asian markets, witha focus on hitech SME's; as President and CEO of Inuktun Asia Pte Ltd, the exclusive distributor for ASEAN, Korea and Taiwan of Inuktun Services Ltd industrial robot and camera systems, and as non-Executive Director of XentiQ Partners, a Singapore-based medical device design and development company. He is presently Director on Upstream Ventures, under the new ownership of McLean Watson Capital.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Dr Allan Weston joins CIS in 2022 and has over 25 years of experience in prestigious schools in Australia, the US and South East Asia. Prior to his appointment at CIS, Allan served as Head of Greenfield International School in Dubai, a member of the highly regarded Taaleem group.
Allan also served for eight years as CEO and Executive Head at the prestigious Taipei European School, a group of schools that offered the IB diploma, French, German, and British sections, and a strong Chinese language and culture programme. Allan believes that schools must provide an optimal learning environment for the young people in a school’s care. He shares, “a balanced education is one that does not simply focus on the academics, but also the social, pastoral, creative and physical development of each and every child.”
He holds a EdD in Education from Portland State University and a Masters in Education from Deakin University.
Nagesh Devata, SVP GTM APAC at Payoneer. With over 20 years in the financial services space, Nagesh’s experience includes extensive business development in Canada, the U.S. and Middle East/Africa. At Payoneer, he’s responsible for all aspects of Payoneer’s Enterprise and SMB business and expansion across Southeast Asia, South Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and ANZ.
Prior to joining Payoneer in 2020, Nagesh oversaw PayPal’s Southeast Asia business and International Cross Border Channel portfolio. With Mastercard, he led the Asia Pacific Acceptance, Acquiring and Strategic Merchant business.
In both past roles, he was actively involved in the transformation of digital payments and commerce. Being passionate about SMBs, he pushed for financial inclusion to build partnerships with global merchants, fintechs, banks and digital wallets.
With the nick names such as Compass and Energizer bunny, HuijinKong’s strong sense of direction, courage to call out the elephants in the room and relentless energy has enabled her to counsel CEOs, Owners, and founders from 30s to 60s.She has pioneered LinHart Group’s group leadership programs that have made deep learning and leadership development scalable, as evidenced by LinHart’s program for a few hundred MBAs. She has also had to work hard to better influence leaders in USA, China, India, and Southeast Asia, digging deeply into herself to connect with them as human beings and gain the necessary insights to challenge and support them. Being able to overcome her handicap incompassion, empathy and emotional awareness gives her the conviction that everyone can get better in influence and leadership. Her passion for inspiring Chinese business leaders also propelled her to lead the expansion of LinHart's leadership program to China and Hong Kong. She holds an M.B.A. with Highest Distinction(Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School, and a B.Sc. in Economics, summa cum laude from the Wharton School of Business.
Tim is the Chief Revenue Officer for Solace - a Canadian technology company based in Ottawa. He is responsible for global client engagement, direct sales, partners and success across the Solace footprint around the world. Solace work with some of the world’s biggest banks, retailers, manufacturers, telcos and start-ups to help them transform themselves and customer experiences to real time businesses.
A New Zealander, Tim has lived in Asia since 1996 — in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo , Sydney and Singapore.
Prior to joining Solace in 2014, Tim worked at IBM for over 25 years and was most recently General Manager, Enterprise, for IBM Australia/New Zealand. He has led pan-Asian, global and industry organisations in Telecommunications, Media, Retail, Banking, SME and start-ups during times of significant structural transformation.
Tim has travelled extensively and worked with clients, business partners and industry bodies from around the world on their most important strategic opportunities and pressing challenges. He has a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Tim has three sons who live all over the world so life is never dull!
Pavel is the CEO of Bluzelle, a decentralized database that solves the security, integrity, reliability issues facing data management. Pavel often speaks on panels and conferences about where digital media, finance and technology are heading. Pavel also is a contributing writer to Fast Company, Venture Beat, Forbes and The Huffington Post.
Pavel was the co-founder of Storypanda, a digital book platform that empowered kids to read, create and share books. Storypanda published critically acclaimed titles by the world's best independant authors and media brands. Storypanda had licensing deals with DreamWorks, Warner Bros, CBC, MGA, Peanuts and many more. Storypanda's mandate was turning kids from content consumers to content creators.
Through Storypanda, Pavel became a part of 500 Startups, the world's leading early-stage startup accelerator and VC. Based in Silicon Valley, 500 Startups now has a presence in all major regions of the globe and is repsonisble for investing into and inspiring the next wave of entrepreneurs.
Prior to Storypanda, Pavel was in GM and CFO roles for video game studios, including leading multplayer independant developer, Threewave Software and Disney Interactive Studios. At Threewave, Pavel was involved in the production of AAA titles from EA, Activision and Atari. At Disney, Pavel was the Financial Manager for seven studios, overseeing budgets of $150M.
Pavel is a former NCAA Academic-Athlete Honour Student, having competed on the UCLA Track & Field team. Pavel also is the Level Chartered Financial Analyst and graduate of Simon Fraser University.
Todd Handcock is Global Chief Commercial Officer and President Asia Pacific at Collinson, a global leader in the provision of airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement solutions. He is also a Global Board Member at Collinson. Collinson’s business includes the world’s original and leading airport lounge and experiences program, PriorityPass.
In his roles, Todd is responsible for major Global accounts and driving Global commercial direction and best practice; as well as delivering the company’s strategy across the Asia Pacific region.
He also holds Board seats in Collinson’s joint venture in China with Joyful Journey and its Global joint venture with WithU.
Todd has over 30 years of experience, with leadership roles across sales, marketing and operations. He has supported clients in diverse industries including banking, insurance, consumer, retail, travel and hospitality; and has a deep understanding and appreciation for the complex challenges faced by businesses in today’s rapidly evolving international landscape.
Prior to joining Collinson, Todd was President Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific for Kognitiv Corporation, and before that held senior leadership roles with Cott, Descartes, Tag, and BT Global Services. be ncded
As a seed investor, Todd has taken an interest in a number of start-ups across varying industries and enjoys providing advisory support to them where possible.
Todd is a past Chairman, immediate past Head of the Governors’ Council, and a current Governor of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
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As the Canadian Chamber of Commerce embarks on this new chapter under the stewardship of Ms. Caroline Berube and her dedicated Executive Committee, it reaffirms its dedication to serving as a steadfast advocate and resource for Canadian businesses across all sectors ensuring they thrive in a competitive global marketplace.
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