OPENING CEREMONY 6 October 2020

Programme Guide

HELD IN ORGANISED BY EVENT PARTNER OPENING CEREMONY 6 October 2020

SICW Opening Ceremony

DATE 6 October 2020 TIME 8.00pm – 8.15pm

Opening Address: Keynote Speaker: The Guest-of-Honour, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Ms Izumi Nakamitsu Minister for Economic Policies and Minister for Finance, Mr Heng Swee Keat, Under-Secretary-General and will deliver the Opening Address at the SICW Opening Ceremony. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs,

SPEAKERS

Mr Heng Swee Keat is Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies and Minister for Finance. He is also a Member of Parliament for East Coast GRC.

As Minister of Finance, Mr Heng oversees the revenue and expenditure policy of Singapore, and the allocation of resources to achieve national security, economic and social objectives.

Mr Heng also chairs the tripartite Future Economy Council which oversees the on-going restruc- turing of our economy, through upgrading of the skills of our workers and the transformation of industry, to create even better careers prospects for our people. He leads a team to oversee Heng Swee Keat the design and implementation of national strategies in areas such as skills and capabilities Deputy Prime Minister; development, innovation and productivity and the internationalisation of our companies. Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies; Minister for Finance, Singapore Mr Heng chairs the National Research Foundation, which sets the direction for Singapore’s re- search, innovation and enterprise strategies. In this role, he brings together the universities and research communities with businesses to create a more vibrant innovation ecosystem. Mr Heng also serves as Adviser to the Multi-Ministry Taskforce on COVID-19 and the National Jobs Council.

Mr Heng served as Minister for Education from 2011 to 2015. He also led the year-long Our Singapore Conversation from 2012 that helped to engage more than 47,000 Singaporeans from all walks of life through dialogues.

As Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Heng launched the Singapore Together Movement in June 2019 to work in close partnership with Singaporeans to design and implement policies and programmes, to create a better future together.

Before entering politics in May 2011, Mr Heng was the Managing Director of the Monetary Au- thority of Singapore. He also served as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and In- dustry, as well as CEO of the then-Trade Development Board. Between 1997 and 2000, he was Principal Private Secretary to then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew. In 2001, Mr Heng was award- ed the Gold Medal in Public Administration, and the Meritorious Service Medal in 2010 for his contribution to Singapore’s public service.

Mr Heng has an MA in Economics from Cambridge University. He also holds a Master in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. OPENING CEREMONY 6 October 2020

SPEAKERS

Izumi Nakamitsu of Japan was appointed as the United Nations Under Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Office for Disarmament Affairs on 29 March 2017. She succeeded Kim Won-soo of the Republic of Korea, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his commitment and dedicated service to the Organisation. Currently Assistant Administrator for Crisis Response Unit, United Nations Development Programme (since 2014), Ms. Nakamitsu has many years of service within and outside the United Nations system, most recently as Special Adviser Ad Interim on Follow up to the Summit on Addressing Large Move- ments of Refugees and Migrants (2016-2017) and in the United Nations Department of Peace- Izumi Nakamitsu keeping Operations as Director, Asia and the Middle East Division (2012-2014) and Director, Under-Secretary-General; High Representative for Division of Policy, Evaluation and Training (2008-2012). Disarmament Affairs, United Nations She was, between 2005 and 2008, Professor of International Relations at Hitotsubashi Univer- sity, , also serving as member of the Foreign Exchange Council to the Japanese Foreign Minister, and as visiting senior advisor on peacebuilding at Japan International Cooperation Agency. She further served as Chef de Cabinet and Director of Planning and Coordination at the Stockholm-based intergovernmental organization, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (1998-2004). She held earlier in her career, number of positions in the United Nations system, both at Headquarters and in the field, including in the United Nations Reform Team of former Secretary-General , and with the Office of the United Na- tions High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in the Office of Assistant High Commissioner for Policy and Operations Sergio Vieira de Mello, and in UNHCR held operations in the former Yugoslavia, Turkey and northern .

Born in 1963, Ms. Nakamitsu holds a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Law from , Tokyo, Japan. She is married and has two daughters.