Finance & Infrastructure

Timothy Adams is currently President and CEO of the Institute of International Finance (IIF). As the Institute’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Adams is responsible for developing and executing the Institute’s programs under the guidance of the Board of Directors. Prior to joining the IIF, Mr. Adams served as Managing Director of The Lindsey Group, an economic advisory firm based in Washington, DC. Previously, he served as Under Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Treasury. As Under Secretary, Mr. Adams was the Administration’s point person on international financial issues, including exchange rate policy, G-7 meetings, and IMF and World Bank issues. He regularly interacted with counterparts in key emerging markets including China, India, and Brazil and traveled extensively throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Prior to assuming his post as Under Secretary, Mr. Adams had served as Chief of Staff to both Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and Treasury Secretary John Snow. Mr. Adams also served in the White House under the first President Bush at the Office of Policy Development. In 1993, Mr. Adams co-founded the G-7 Group, a Washington-based advisory firm. He later headed their Washington operation as Managing Director. Mr. Adams serves on various boards and committees, including the Center for Global Development, the Center for Financial Inclusion Advisory Council, and St. Paul’s Foundation. Mr. Adams holds a B.S. in Finance, a Masters in Public Administration, and an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Kentucky.

Sujoy is a business leader with over three decades of extensive experience in emerging markets investing and project finance, covering infrastructure, industrials and services sectors. During his career, he has worked on projects covering over 50 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean. He joined NIIF as the MD & CEO in 2016 and is currently based in Mumbai. Prior to joining NIIF, he spent over 25 years at International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment and financing arm of the World Bank Group. During his tenure at IFC, he has held several leadership positions, with his last position being Director and Global Co-Head, Infrastructure and Natural Resources, based in Washington DC, managing a USD 14 billion portfolio. Prior to this position, he also served as the Chief Investment Officer and Head of IFC’s African Latin American and Caribbean Fund, based in Washington DC, where he managed and led a USD 1 billion regional growth fund to selectively co-invest with IFC. From 2006-2010, Sujoy led IFC’s Mumbai office and was responsible for managing its growth and building a strong team of 40 investment professionals as an important part of IFC’s goals for localization of its business. He started his career as a Management Associate with Citibank in Chennai in 1991 as part of the Credit Cards business within the Consumer Banking Group. Sujoy holds a Bachelor’s in Commerce from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, India and is an MBA in Finance from Rice University, Houston, Texas.

John W.H. Denton AO is the Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). He is a global business leader and international advisor on policy and a legal expert on international trade and investment. He is also a Board member of the United Nations Global Compact and Co-Chair of the Financing Growth and Infrastructure Task Force for Argentina B20 2019, as well as a founding member of the Business 20 (B20), the Australia–China CEO Roundtable and UNHCR in Australia. Mr Denton serves on the Board of leading global infrastructure group IFM Investors. Mr Denton is also the Chair of the Asia Pacific advisory Board of Veracity, a global advisory group based in NYC and Chair of the Moeller Institute advisory board at Cambridge University. He co-led the Australian Government’s 2012 White Paper on “Australia in the Asian Century” and previously chaired the APEC Finance and Economics Working Group. A former diplomat, Mr Denton served for two decades as Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Australia’s leading independent law firm. In 2015, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the business community, the arts and the rights of refugees, including as a founder of Human Rights Watch (Australia) and Teach for Australia. Mr Denton is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and the University of Melbourne.

Robert S. Kapito is President and a Director of BlackRock, a premier provider of global investment management, risk management, and advisory services. Mr. Kapito is a member of BlackRock’s Global Executive Committee and Chairman of the Global Operating Committee. He is responsible for day-to-day oversight of BlackRock’s key operating units, including Investment Strategies, Client Businesses, Technology & Operations, and Risk & Quantitative Analysis. Mr. Kapito is also a Director of iShares Inc. Mr. Kapito serves as a member of the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors and the Global Leadership Council at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. He is President of the Board of Directors for Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund. Mr. Kapito is a former Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and former Chairman of the UJA-Federation of New York. He is the recipient of the 2009 Joseph Wharton Leadership Award, the Marine CorpsLaw Enforcement Foundation’s 2010 Semper Fidelis Award and is a frequent public speaker on best practices in investment management. Mr. Kapito earned a BS degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979, and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1983.

Lubna S. Olayan is Chair of the Executive Committee and Deputy Chair of Olayan Financing Company (OFC), the holding company for The Olayan Group’s trading, real estate, investment, consumer and industrial related operations in the Gulf region. She also chairs the board of Olayan Saudi Holding Company (OSHCO), an OFC affiliate through which consumer and industrial related operations are conducted. In 2004, Ms. Olayan became the first woman to join the board of a Saudi publicly listed company when she was elected to the board of Alawwal Bank, and she went on to serve as its Deputy Chair. Following the merger in 2019 of Alawwal with SABB, the Saudi affiliate of HSBC, she became Chair of the newly merged entity. In 2020, Ms. Olayan took on the role of Chair of the B20 Trade & Investment Taskforce, during Saudi Arabia’s Presidency of the G20. She served on the board of Maaden, the largest multi-commodity mining and metals company in the Middle East between 2016-2020 and on the board of the King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) from 2008 to 2020. Ms. Olayan has been a member of the board of Schlumberger since 2011 and is a member of several international advisory boards, including those of Akbank, Allianz SE, McKinsey & Co and Bank of America. She also serves as a trustee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Asia Business Council. In addition to serving as President of the Suliman S. Olayan Foundation, Ms. Olayan chairs Alfanar, a UK based charity that is one of the first venture philanthropy organizations in the Arab world.

Mr. Zhang Xiaolun, born in August 1964, MBA, Bachelor of electric power engineering, and professor of engineering. Now he serves as Chairman of China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH). He is also Chairman of China-Ukraine Bilateral Entrepreneurship Council and Vice president of China Chamber of International Commerce. He used to be General Manager of Dongfang Electric Corporation of China. In 2018, he took the chair of President of China National Machinery Industry Corporation (SINOMACH).