05 August - Session 1

Ms Puan Maimunah Jaffar, Lead of Technology & Innovation, Iskandar Regional Development Authority

Maimunah Jaffar promotes and practices sustainability and innovation in delivering her daily works in Iskandar Malaysia. She qualified as an architect in the USA in 1988 before returning home to work as an urban designer in one of the prestigious companies in Kuala Lumpur. In 2007 she joined Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), where she is the Director responsible for the Technology and Innovation workstream.  She developed the Iskandar Malaysia Comprehensive Development Plan in 2005, and Smart City Iskandar Malaysia Framework in 2012. She is the driver to ensure stakeholders’ alignment to Iskandar Malaysia vision towards Sustainable Metropolis of International Standing. She leads the Smart City team in IRDA and is the Chief Smart City Officer for Johor Bahru in the ASEAN Smart City Network program alliances. She is a member of the Futuristic Iskandar Malaysia.

Mr. Datuk Zainal bin Haji Abu, Mayor, Historical Melaka City Council

Datuk Zainal started his career with Yayasan Melaka in 1989. In his 9 years with the organisation, he was promoted thrice, from a Special Project Officer to a Civil Engineer to an Acting Manager in 2000. He was then appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kumpulan Melaka Berhad for 6 years. In 2007, Datuk Zainal brought his leadership skills to the Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Melaka (PKNM) as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He became the Mayor of the Melaka Historic City Council (MBMB) twice, in 2011-2014 and since 2020 to the present, and is leading the path for Melaka to become a sustainable and smart city through an efficient and responsive municipal government. Regrettably, Datuk Haji Abu, was unable to attend the session on the day and the presentation was delivered by Zuhaila Ahmad Zubel.

Zuhaila Ahmad Zubel, Director of Town Planning, Historical Melaka City Council

Zuhaila Ahmad Zubel graduated from Malaysia University of Technology in 2006. She started her first professional Town Planner practice at ZMD Planning Consult for 3 years. In February 2009 she served as a Town Planner at Melaka Historic City Council (MBMB) and in 2020 she was appointed as a Director of Town Planning Department. With an outstanding achievement and her excellence in Town Planning, she was rewarded the professional tittle as Registered Town Planner in early 2021.

Ms Phan Pham Thanh Trang, Head of R&D and Community Infrastructure Management Centre, Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh City

Ms Phan Trang is the Head of R&D and Community of Infrastructure Management Centre (IMC) of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). She graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Open University of HCMC in 2008, then earned an MBA from the University of Finance - Marketing in 2014. In 2009, Ms Trang joined the Steering Center of the Urban Flood Control Program (SCFC) of HCMC as an officer and was then promoted to the position of Deputy Head and then Head of Community Relationships of the centre. When IMC was established in 2019, Ms Trang was assigned as the first Head of R&D and Community of the centre, in charge of several related projects, including the Development of Geographical Information System for Drainage Network project (GIS project) of Global Future Cities Programme funded by UKFCDO in HCMC. Ms Trang is also a key member joining the Flood Control and Wastewater Treatment Programme of HCMC during the 2020-2045 period.

Mr Le Hoan, Deputy Director, Management Centre for Public Transport, Department of Transport, Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh City

Mr Le Hoan is the Deputy Director of Management Centre of Public Transport (MCPT) of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). He graduated as a Transport Engineer (2004) and then earned a Master degree in Transport Management (2011) from the University of Transport and Communication (UTC) of HCMC. After graduation, Mr Hoan joined MCPT in 2005 as a Planning and Investment Officer then was promoted as the Head of Planning Division in 2010, in charge of all bus-related activities of the city, including operation, strategy and marketing, R&D, working directly with transport operators and domestic and international partners. Since 2020, Mr Hoan has been acting as MCPT Deputy Director, managing a number of investment and development strategy projects for public transport in HCMC, including the Development of Smart Ticketing System for Public Transport Network project (STS project) of Global Future Cities Programme funded by UKFCDO in HCMC. Besides, since 2018 Mr Hoan has been following a Law study program at the University of Law of HCMC.

Ms Victoria Delbridge, Head of Cities that Work Initiative, International Growth Centre

Victoria Delbridge is the Head of the International Growth Centre’s Cities that Work initiative. She is working with Paul Collier, Ed Glaeser, Astrid Haas and Tony Venables, to develop a network of economists, urban planning practitioners and policymakers to translate economic research into clear urban policy guidance. Victoria holds an MSc in Economics for Development from the University of Oxford, and a BSc in Environmental and Geographical Science and Economics from the University of Cape Town. Prior to her Masters at Oxford, Victoria was an economist at the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism in South Africa. Her current research areas include urban land use planning, public infrastructure and service provision, urban employment, municipal finance and city-level data strategies.

Ms Karineh Grigorian, Commercial Manager, HM Treasury Infrastructure and Projects Authority

Karineh has been with IPA’s International Team (previously known as Infrastructure UK at HM Treasury) since January 2014. In her role as a Commercial Specialist, she is involved with a number of International technical advisory projects including working with overseas governments to train and provide infrastructure capacity building, as well as providing infrastructure policy advice to HM Treasury. Her current work involves providing advisory support to the FCDO Prosperity Fund’s Global Infrastructure Programme, which draws on the HM Treasury’s Green Book “5 Case Model” for Project Preparation and Appraisal.  Karineh is an APMG accredited Better Business Cases Reviewer and Practitioner. Karineh’s previous roles have been with a number of major UK PPP projects, as well as Secondment at the National Audit Office’s PPP unit. Her roles include the London Underground’s PPP ‘Contract Reviews Team’ and the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) Strategy & Regulation unit.  Together with her work in the private sector consulting, Karineh has experience of public policy, commercial strategy and economic regulatory issues in PPPs and infrastructure projects. Karineh is an IPA certified ‘Subject Matter Expert’ on PPPs as well as a ‘High Risk’ Assurance Reviewer for Government’s GMPP major projects portfolio.

Mr Richard Lane, International Delivery Lead, Centre for Digital Built Britain

Richard is the Delivery Lead for the International workstream at the Centre for Digital Built Britain, sharing the UK’s strategic approach for the national introduction of BIM, its experience and lessons learned with governments around the world. He was Programme Manager of the European Union BIM Task Group, a public sector network from over 20 nations which was co-funded by the European Commission to develop a common framework for the introduction of BIM by the European public sector.  With over 30 years of experience in information technology, education & learning, change management and project & programme management, he led the development of the UK BIM Task Group training strategy & solution and supported the implementation of BIM in a number of UK government departments including the Ministry of Defence and Department for Education. Richard is a Fellow of the Learning & Performance Institute.

Mr Ryan Christopher Sequeira, Senior Urban Mobility Expert, UN-Habitat’s Urban Lab

Ryan Christopher Sequeira is overseeing the 18 mobility projects of the Global Future Cities Programme. He advises projects under the UN Cities Investment Facility, an upstream project development endeavour to prepare bankable, SDG-compliant projects for pitching at the Investor Fair of the 11th World Urban Forum and serves as an expert reviewer for the transportation projects of the ASEAN Sustainable Urbanisation Strategy. Before he joined UN-Habitat, Ryan worked on 59 rail and road transit nodes, 2.3 million square meters of allied Transit-Oriented Development, and 250 kilometres] of Complete Streets for the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation, and National Institute of Urban Affairs. Most recently, he worked on the infrastructure rejuvenation of 13 wastewater districts for the New York State Water Resources Institute as an Infrastructure Project Management & Finance Fellow at Cornell Institute of Public Affairs. His latest publication, on the Politics of Infrastructural Aesthetics of the Delhi BRT, was published in the International Development Planning Review and he is currently co-authoring a SIDA funded normative study on Integrated Capital Investment Planning.