Rod provides finance and strategy leadership to the Westpac international division that includes Asia, Europe and the Americas based in Singapore. He has a career in financial services spanning over 35 years. Rod will speak on “International Mega Trends: Opportunities and Challenges for Business” covering the major themes of rapid urbanisation, climate change and resource scarcity, the shift in global economic power, demographic and social change and technological breakthroughs & disruption.
Ram is a chartered accountant from India and also a Fulbright Scholar. He was only the third Indian to be awarded the prestigious Fulbright-CII Fellowship that took him to Carnegie Mellon University, USA, for management studies.
He has spent most of his working life in India with diverse organisations such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hindustan Photo Films, Unilever Group and the Murugappa Group. Prior to joining FMF, he had an earlier stint in Fiji working with the Carpenters Group between 2004 and 2006. In 2006, upon completing twenty-five years in what he calls “the corporate sector rat-race”, Ram took a three-year sabbatical to work with an NGO in rural India. There he worked on imparting business skills to micro-entrepreneurs from low-income communities. He returned to corporate life with FMF in 2009 and says it is only because of the work-life balance that Fiji allows, that he returned to the corporate world.
Ram is recognised for his thought-leadership and his views are regularly sought by think tanks, both formally and informally. He is also a very active speaker at industry forums.
Tracey leads a team of specialists across Sustainability Strategy and Non-Financial Reporting; Impact and Outcome Measurement; Climate Change and Energy; and Health, Safety and Environment. She has more than 20 years of experience serving energy, legal, financial, transport, property, manufacturing, infrastructure and government clients. Tracey will speak on “Enabling a Sustainable Future —Mega Trends Impacting Business” with a focus on climate change and resource scarcity.
Holly is one of PwC’s star technology partners based in Sydney. Holly will speak on “Global Technology Changes: Opportunities and Challenges for Fiji” in the overall context of IT including finance and business settings which need to be considered as part of doing business in the future. This is considered relevant and important as it is likely to affect most, if not all, businesses in the future.
Andrew is recognised as Australia’s leading expert on workplace performance. He is a partner of KPMG’s performance clinic (within KPMG Innovate) assisting organisations to enhance productivity, well-being and employee engagement through the high performance of their people. Andrew is the author of a number of bestselling books, writes a popular blog for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, has a regular segment on the ABC News Breakfast and appears regularly on Channel Nine. For over 20 years he has worked with a variety of clients to improve individual and team performance. Andrew will speak on “Matchfit@40”.
Jone Usamate has been serving as Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations since September 2016 in the FijiFirst Government. Prior to that he served as Minister for Health & Medical Services from 17 September 2014 to 16 September 2016 and as Minister for Labour, Industrial Relations & Employment from February 2012 in the Bainimarama Government. Professionally he taught for two years in Lomary Secondary School from 1988 before joining the Fiji National Training Council as a training officer, eventually becoming the director general in 2000. He was the director general of the Training & Productivity Authority of Fiji from 2003 to 2010 and served the Fiji National University as director TVET after the merger between FNU and TPAF.
He has served in numerous capacities including as alternate APO director for Fiji, a Trainer, Consultant and Executive. A great proportion of his career has been focused on HRD, training, management development, business excellence and productivity.
Academically, Mr Usamate holds a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Administration and Economics (USP) and a Masters in Management (SCU). He is an honorary fellow of the Asian Productivity Organisation and also an accredited mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre.
Richard Naidu has degrees in accounting and law from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He was admitted to the Bars of New Zealand in 1989 and Fiji in 1995. A former journalist in Fiji and New Zealand, he worked in major law firms in New Zealand between 1989 and 1995, when he returned to Fiji. Richard advises clients in Fiji and abroad in all major Fiji business sectors, including tourism, energy, finance, media, transport, real property, mining and manufacturing. His areas of practice include competition, finance, foreign investment, media, real property and taxation law. He is also a mediator accredited by the Australian Centre for Dispute Assessment & Resolution.
Richard is an occasional presenter and commentator on legal, media and other public issues in Fiji. He is honorary legal adviser to the Fiji Red Cross Society and a number of other NGOs. He has formerly held offices in the Fiji Law Society and the South Pacific Lawyers Association and is a current officeholder in the International Bar Association.
