Speakers
Professor Dhanjay Jhurry was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius (UoM) in March 2017. He is championing the vision of a research-engaged and entrepreneurial university working in close partnership with the public and private sectors as well as with the community to foster innovation. He is putting a lot of emphasis on organizing research at the University around the SDGs and is leading various initiatives to develop human, intellectual, business and social capital through an inclusive and openness approach. Under his leadership over the past 4 years, the University of Mauritius has championed the concept of international education diplomacy and built strong partnerships with Universities worldwide.
He held previously (2012 to 2017) the post of National Research Chair in Biomaterials and Drug Delivery under the Mauritius Research Council, while heading the Centre for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research (CBBR), a centre attached to the University of Mauritius which he founded.
Prof Jhurry studied at Bordeaux University (France) and received his PhD in Polymer Chemistry in 1992. After spending three years as Research Chemist at Flamel Technologies Company in Lyon, France working on biomedical polymers, he joined the Dept. of Chemistry at the University of Mauritius as Lecturer and was appointed Professor in 2005.
Prof Jhurry worked on sucrose-based polymers for his PhD, a research funded by sugar company Beghin-Say. His mainstream research in polymer science, biomaterials and tissue engineering, nanotechnology/nanomedicine and drug delivery has led to over 75 papers in scholarly journals, with an h-index of 20.
He has received various national and international awards and recognition including the first Best Mauritian Scientist Award in 2011, the ‘Grand Officer of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean’ and the ‘Commander of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean’ insignia by the Rep. of Mauritius in 2019 and 2012 respectively as well as the ‘Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques’ insignia by the Rep. of France in 2007.
Prof Jhurry is an elected member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) since July 2017 and a member of the Scientific Council of the Francophone Association of Universities (AUF) since September 2019. He is a Board member of the Regional Multidisciplinary Centre of Excellence (Mauritius) since January 2020. He was appointed Chair of the ACU SDG Network in January 2020. He is also a member of Ashinaga’s Kenjin-Tatsujin International Advisory Council (Ashinaga Africa Initiative) and he was Vice-President of the COMESA Innovation Council from 2013 to 2015.
H.E. Salman Al Farisi has been appointed as Secretary General of the Indian Ocean Rim Secretariat in Mauritius on 5 January 2022 for a term of 3 years. Prior to his appointment, H.E. served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia to the Republic of South Africa, Kingdom of Eswatini, Republic of Botswana and Kingdom of Lesotho from 2018 to 2022.
A remarkable career as diplomat and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia in 1990. He holds a Doctoral in Policy Studies from the University of Gadjah Mada, Indonesia and a Master Degree in International Relations from Tufts University, USA.
H.E. Al Farisi handle Economic diplomacy, bilateral cooperation on fisheries, science and technology, defense cooperation agreement, joint trade commission. Coordinate humanitarian assistance with NGOs, promote multilateral cooperation on political, security, economic and social development, human rights, global trade, governance, climate change and other environment issues and manage technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC) for Asia-Pacific region.
Mrs Minakshi Dabee-Hauzaree is the Director for Regional Co-operation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade. She has an Honours degree in Economics and a Masters in Finance.
She joined the Government Service in 1993 as Economist at the then Ministry of Economic Planning and Development. The formulation, implementation and monitoring of projects were her main duties. Her experience as a member of the drafting team for the National Development Plan and the Long Term Perspective Study- vision 2020 was an excellent opportunity to interact with officials from International Institutions like the IMF, World Bank, European Union, ADB, UNDP and UNICEF.
After seven years as Economist, she joined the Regional Co-operation Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Analyst in the year 2000. She climbed the ladders to occupy successively the positions of Senior Analyst (2004), Principal Analyst (2011), Deputy Director (2019) and Director (2021).
As Director, she is responsible for advising Government on all matters relating to regional co-operation. All the projects and activities of IORA, IOC, SADC and COMESA fall under the mandate of her Department which participates actively in the meetings of these Regional blocs in a spectrum of economic, social and political areas.
Mrs Dabee has travelled extensively. She has led the Mauritius delegation to Senior Officials and Council of Ministers meeting of the Regional Blocs.
She lectured the BSc Political Science students of the University of Mauritius on a Module on Regional Co-operation in 2005
Dr. M.V. Ramana Murthy is Doctorate from IIT, Chennai and Masters in Planning. Specialized in Coastal Zone Management, Coastal Hazards (Tsunami, Strom Surge and Urban Floods), Maine Pollution, Flood Warning System, Desalination and Offshore Wind. Having 28 years of experience in Coastal Research and Ocean Technology, he has successfully demonstrated many societal oriented projects such as Establishment of Desalination Plants in UT Lakshadweep, Coastal protection and Beach Restoration at Pondicherry and Kadalur Periyakuppam, Urban Flood Warning System (I Flows) for Mumbai and Chennai, Monitoring Health of Coastal Waters as part of SDG 14. Recent projects include preparation of DPR for Kalpsar Dam with Govt of Gujarat to create a largest fresh water reservoir and Integrated Ocean Management initiative for development of framework for Blue Economy to be implemented by govt of India. Recent assignment include Director for Deep Ocean Mission to be implemented by Ministry of Earth Sciences and Development of Marine Spatial Plans for ecologically sensitive area of Lakshadweep islands for holistic development and Pondicherry, an urban city along south east coast of India. The other areas of work include development of ICZM and Shoreline Management plans, Feasibility studies for Offshore Wind, technical services to central/state governments and industry with more 100+ projects. 80 publications. He is AICTE – INAE Distinguished Visiting Professor under (DVP) Scheme and member of many technical and policy formulation committees. Recent international collaboration include - India Pacific Ocean Initiative (IPOI) for Marine Ecology Pillar with Australia, Coastal Protection with Vietnam, Sea level Change and Marine Litter with JAMSTEC and Establishment of Coastal Research Facility at Fiji. Recipient of Ocean Technology award of 2021.
Sunil JEETAH is a Senior Biologist graduated from India and presently serving as Head of Division in the Marine Resources Division of the Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping. Mr. Jeetah has a working experience of some 35 years and has worked in the fields of Aquaculture, Trade and Marine Resources.
Rear Admiral Md Khurshed Alam (retd), Secretary ,Maritime Affairs Unit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh
Mr. Md Khurshed Alam, (Born 1953) Secretary, Maritime Affairs Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh has a dynamic and long career. He performed the duties regarding the “Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal” in the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in, Germany and the “Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration between Bangladesh and India” under Annex VII to UNCLOS in the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague respectively. He was also the head of the Bangladesh Continental Shelf technical team entrusted with the preparation, documentation, carrying out seismic survey of the Bay of Bengal and submission of Bangladesh’s claim on extended continental shelf to the 21 member UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.
He has also been actively involved in drafting international rules and regulations on the exploitation of polymetalic nodules, ferro manganese crust and polymetalic sulphides in the International Seabed Authority in Kingston, Jamaica as the first elected President of the Assembly and Council of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in 2016 and 2020 from Bangladesh. He has also been performing the duties as the National Focal Point for the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and representing Bangladesh in the diplomatic conference of Bio-diversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) in the UN. Under his leadership Bangladesh was elected for as Chair of the IORA for the period of 2021-2023. He held important positions such as the Chairman of the Mongla Port Authority, Syndicate Member of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University. He is currently teaching as the adjunct faculty member of the Department of Oceanography of the Dhaka University & Eastern University, Dhaka.
While studying engineering, he joined the Navy and was commissioned in 1973 and retired as Rear Admiral in 2008 prior joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He commanded all types of ships and held important positions in the Navy. He also served a tenure as the Defense Adviser in the Bangladesh High Commission, Malaysia in 1991. He received “Master’s degree” on Oceanography from the National Oceanographic Centre, UK and “M Phil degree” from the Madras University with a first class. He obtained “Specialization degree in the Telecommunication Course” from the Italian Navy receiving first class. On completion of his graduation and Law of the Sea Course from the Royal Naval Staff College, Greenwich, UK, he was awarded with a “Commendation letter” for meritorious works. He also received the Indian Presidents Gold Medal from the Indian Naval Academy in 1974.
His publications include-Morale and Motivation in the Services, Management in Service Perspectives and Integration of Individuals in the Navy, ASEAN Regional Cooperation, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982, Regional Maritime cooperation under the SAARC, Law of the Sea and its Implications for Bangladesh, Human security and Piracy, Problems in the Ports, Impacts of cyclone and warning system, Delimitation of maritime boundary with India and Myanmar. In 2017, he published another article extensively dealing with the challenges & opportunities of Blue Economy for Bangladesh and Blue Bio-technology. He has also published two books namely-“Bangladesh’s Maritime Challenges in the 21st Century” and “The Boundless Seas, Maritime Developments and its Impacts on Bangladesh” in 2004 and 2020 respectively
He was awarded with the first Bangabandhu Medal for Diplomatic Excellence in 2020 for his contribution to the Settlement of Bangladesh’s Maritime Boundary, Development of Blue Economy and International Maritime Diplomacy.
He is married to Ms. Zabeen Alam and has two sons.
Professor Saroj Kumar Mohanty is serving at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a New Delhi based think-tank, supported by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. He has been working on issues relating to trade and Development.
He was part of the committees to prepare two reports on ‘National Maritime Policy’ for Niti Aayog and ‘Report on Blue Economy of India’ for the PMEAC. He has jointly concluded two monographs on ‘Economic Aspects of Fisheries in the Indian Ocean’ and ‘India's Economic Engagement with LAC: Strategy for Trade and Investment’. He has directed and coordinated a number of cross-country studies relating to bilateral and regional FTAs, Global Value Chain, implications of Mega regionals on excluded countries and food processing industries in Asia. At present, he is leading India’s Focal Pont for the IORA academic group.
Previously, he was taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has published several papers in both national and international journals. He has a number of books to his credit. He has a long association with a number of multilateral organisations including the Asian Development Bank, UN-ESCAP, UNDP, FAO, European Commission, Common Wealth Secretariat, SAARC Secretariat.
Johan Spamer is a PhD researcher at Erasmus University Rotterdam and associated with the International Centre for Frugal Innovation (www.icfi.nl). His research examines the use of the Blue Economy, as a new transformational and sustainable development approach. Contextually, the Blue Economy is primarily linked to ocean-based sectors and actors who are considered as enablers of innovation; pioneering good business and practices; calling for sustainable maritime livelihoods; and proclaiming the responsible use of oceans as natural capital. Prior to setting his sails on a PhD voyage, he lectured at Stellenbosch University South Africa, after some time in the private and public sectors. His professional career includes managerial positions at the IFC (World Bank Group). He holds a Masters in Transport Economics, an MBA and a PGD in Development Finance.
Dr. Azam has obtained a Ph.D. degree in physical oceanography and ocean modelling, with a research area that includes the Bay of Bengal and the eastern Equatorial Indian Ocean. He has keen interest on the coastal research, Climate change and Sea level, Tropical cyclone, Ocean forecasting system, Argo floats, Mooring buoy datasets and other observations, Temperature inversion, Physical- biogeochemical interactions, Blue economy and Bay of Bengal studies.
Susanne Becken is a Professor of Sustainable Tourism at Griffith University in Australia and the Principal Science Investment Advisor (Visitor) in the Department of Conservation, New Zealand. She is also a Vice Chancellor Research Fellow at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom. Susanne is a member of the Air New Zealand Sustainability Advisory Panel, a Fellow of the International Academy of the Study of Tourism and the 2019 UNWTO Ulysses Award winner.
Biologist by trade, Victoria Alis is a Franco-Seychellois now working as a sustainability consultant focused largely on the tourism sector and marine conservation in Seychelles. Having worked closely with tourism accommodations, the local government, local NGOs and cultural stakeholders, Victoria has been involved in national research studies, education & outreach projects and sustainability trainings for tourism accommodations and schools.
Philip Taylor graduated from the University of Surrey in 1989 after reading Hotel Management, further to which he took employment with Hilton International.
After completing an MBA in England in 1994, Philip was recruited by the Rogers Group in Mauritius, and headed the Group’s diversified international development plans. In 2004, Philip left Rogers to set up his own businesses with a focus on investments across the Indian Ocean Islands and Africa.
His involvements over the years have been diverse, with a focus on the region’s hospitality and tourism industry. He currently heads the development of a fast-growing hospitality, travel and tourism technology service company by the name of www.hospitality-plus.travel.
The key focus in recent months has been on monitoring the impact of the digitalization process of the industry and its transformation obligations.
Philip is also the Honorary Consul of Finland in Mauritius.
He is a non-executive director of several companies and he is also a member of the Corporate Governance and Conduct Review Committee of CIM Financial Services Ltd, and Lavastone Ltd. These are listed companies on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius.
Daren Moodely is currently the Project Coordinator of the Sustainable Island Mauritius Project under the aegis of the Mauritius Tourism Authority, financed by the European Union.
Down his professional career, he has worked in the Hotel and Leisure sector before specialising in the Corporate Management world. Daren reached Senior Managerial level as General Manager of Tourist Villages Ltd. and Deputy General Manager of a five-star hotel, Long Beach Resort.
During his time in the hotel sector, he held strategic executive positions such as Sales and Marketing Manager, Training Manager and Food and Beverage Manager in prestigious establishments.
He was also the Research Executive of A.H.R.I.M. for several years, where he was involved in several major breakthroughs in policy making and process build-up. His expertise has brought him to work as consultant with many private and public organisations in fields like Event management strategy; Operational process build up; Lobbying and networking, among others. His current attributions empower him to lead a major paradigm shift in the way of doing business from the private and public sectors’ operators, focusing on best sustainable practices while ensuring welfare of staffs and company’s growth.
He is also a proven entrepreneur being the Director of Food Outlets and in Food production.
Daren holds a Bsc (Hons) Tourism, Recreation and Outdoor Management and a Higher National Diploma in Hotel Management amongst other certifications.
Professor Sachin Chaturvedi works on issues related to development economics with including development finance with focus on building necessary ecosystem like related institutions and infrastructure for eventually achieving SDGs. In this, cooperation modalities like South-South and triangular Cooperation has been his area of specialisation. With various papers and books he has explored areas of cooperation in trade and innovation linkages with special focus on WTO. Professor Chaturvedi is currently Director General at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS). He is also Vice Chairman of Madhya Pradesh State Policy and Planning Commission and School of Good Governance and Policy Analysis and Member, Board of Governors, Reserve Bank of India. His book “The Logic of Sharing – Indian Approach to South-South Cooperation” has been acclaimed internationally as one of the best volumes on international development cooperation. Apart from this he has authored/edited several books, apart from contributing several chapters in the edited volumes and also publishing several research articles in prestigious journals.
Rianasoambolanoro RAKOTOSAONA, (PhD, HDR ); Speciality : Medicinal Chemistry . Head of CNARP (Centre National d’Application de recherches Pharmaceutiques) (since 2019). Teacher Research at ESPA: Ecole Supérieure Polytechnique - University of Antananarivo (Since 2013). Researcher at IMRA (Institut Malgache de Recherches Appliquées) (2013-2019). Principal Investigator of a Clinical Trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CVO+ for the treatment of Covid-19. Scientific review committee of a Clinical Trial phase 2 to evaluate safety and efficacy of artesunate alone or combined with vitamin C for the treatment of Covid-19.
Topics : Research on botanic, ethnobotanic, essential oil profiles, chemical compounds, pharmacological activities of Malagasy plants: development of database on Malagasy plants including 6125 species, 298 EOs profiles, 336 chemical compounds and 14956 ethnobotanic records. Research on endemic medicinal and aromatic plants used traditionally for the treatment of brain disorders and for insecticidal and repellents activities Rianasoambolanoro Rakotosaona - Google Scholar
Dr Drishtysingh Ramdenee has expertise in the energy sector namely as a Canada trained mechanical engineer in thermodynamics and aeroelasticity. Drishty worked on several projects pertaining to renewable energies and thermodynamics and headed the Quebec’s institute of industrial maintenance till mid-2016.
Dr Drishtysingh Ramdenee is the Head of the Services and Emerging sectors Directorate at the Economic Development Board of Mauritius. The Directorate oversees such clusters like seafood, fisheries and aquaculture, port development, ocean activities, ICT, Knowledge, Agro Indsustry, Innovation, Renewable Energy, Creative Industries, Sports Economy, Biotechnology, Deep Ocean Water Applications and other emerging sectors.
Dr Drishtysingh also supports the innovation department namely with regards to innovative and technical projects as well as requests falling under the Regulatory Sandbox licence. Drishty Ramdenee is an author of more than 50 scientific publications and co-authored the ‘Advances in Wind Power’ edited by Rupp Cariveau. Drishty has also been three times recipient of the University level entrepreneurship award for the Bas St Laurent region (Canada) and won the national level Force Avenir award for Science and Technology in 2012.
Dr Drishtysingh is presently, the officer in charge of the Mauritius Institute of Biotechnology Limited(MIBL)
Venkatachalam Anbumozhi is the Director of Research Strategy and Innovations at the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Indonesia. His previous positions include Senior Capacity Building Specialist at Asian Development Bank Institute, Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo, and Senior Policy Researcher at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and Assistant Manager in Pacific Consultants International, Tokyo. He has published several books, authored numerous research articles and produced many project reports on resource management policies, low carbon infrastructure design, and private sector participation in Green Growth. Anbumozhi was invited as a member of the, G20 Task Force on Green Financing, APEC Expert Panel on Circular Economy and the ASEAN Eminent person committee on climate-resilient growth. He has taught Resource Efficiency, International cooperation and Development Finance at the University of Tokyo and has speaking engagements at some of the leading international organizations. He obtained his PhD from the University of Tokyo.
Alain is the Chief Executive Officer of The Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) Ltd since 2017. Prior to this, he was the Head of the Retail Banking and Deputy Chief Executive, responsible for the Private, Personal and Business Banking segments and the multi-channel distribution, including the branch network. During his tenure as Head of Retail, he transformed the Retail SBU focusing on delivery of superior customer experience both online and in-branch. He started his career at MCB Ltd in 1995 as Head of Projects and he successfully launched the leasing, factoring and private banking services. He was also responsible for Structured Project finance within the Corporate Banking division prior to his appointment as Head of Retail.
Before joining the Bank, he was Senior Manager at De Chazal Du Mee (representatives of Arthur Andersen in Mauritius) Consulting division, specialising in financial and strategy consulting, advising major corporations in Mauritius and in the region.
He is currently a director of MCB Forward Foundation, subsidiary of MCB Group Ltd. He also was the Chairman of the Mauritius Bankers Association Ltd. on between 2019 and 2021.
Alain holds a BA (Honours) in Economics and an MBA from Cranfield University, UK. He is also an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Bob Paul is the principal of E5 Solutions. A policy to practice consulting founded in late 2019 to address wasted resources and climate change by identifying opportunities to support the development of regional circular economy systems. He brings 30 years of knowledge in public policy and program experience from his past work with the government of British Columbia. Bob has worked in the Ministries of Energy, Environment and Agriculture. As a consultant now, he is collaborating with like-minded professionals globally to find practical circular economy solutions that create jobs and technology investments. He is an expert in extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy and program design, and implementation, including addressing regulatory compliance issues. His current clients include the Canadian beer producers to help them with their recycling business strategy and Tesla Motors on their design of a producer responsibility plan for end-of-life vehicle batteries. He lives in British Columbia, Canada.
Simron J. Singh is a Professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Singh conducts Socio-metabolic Research (SMR) on small islands. As an industrial ecologist, he tracks material and energy flows through island systems: what and how much resources are locally produced, imported, transformed, used, stocked, and discarded. His research investigates systemic risks associated with the circulation, integrity, and availability of critical resources in a socio-ecological system, termed as “metabolic risk”. Singh aims to inform science and policy ways in which small islands can achieve resource security, meet social and economic goals while building resilience to impacts of climate change. Singh is the founder and co-ordinator of the Metabolism of Islands (MoI) research program; founding Chair of the science board of Island-Industrial Ecology section of the International Society for Industrial Ecology (ISIE); and leads the working group Metabolic Risk on Islands in Risk-KAN.
Professor von Blottnitz is based in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and defines his research and teaching interests by the multiple challenges of sustainable development in developing country settings. He leads research in energy and industrial systems analysis.
For more detail: http://www.epse.uct.ac.za/epse/staff/harro-von-blottnitz