Daniel Bellefleur is a Senior Policy Advisor for the American Association for the Indo-Pacific (AAIP), a regional business association that works to strengthen business and investment across the region. Before joining AAIP, Daniel was a Foreign Service Officer at USAID focused on private sector partnerships and economic growth initiatives. Daniel served in Uzbekistan, the U.S., Belarus, and Indonesia. With almost 15 years' experience living and working in Southeast Asia, including opening a representative office for a market entry consultancy in Jakarta, working as a Policy Advisor at AmCham Indonesia, and serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand, Daniel is steeped in the nexus of Asian and U.S. trade and business connectivity.

Mr. Bellefleur has a Master in International Public Affairs and certificate in Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a Bachelor in Finance from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Steven Okun, founder and CEO of APAC Advisors, a Senior Advisor to McLarty Associates, and the Senior Advisor for SE Asia to the Global Private Capital Association, is a regional leader in corporate public affairs, ESG, sustainability, and stakeholder engagement.

A leader in the region’s American business community, he served five terms as Chair of the AmChams of Asia Pacific, three terms as Chair of AmCham Singapore, and now as Head of External Affairs for the American Association of the Indo-Pacific.

He has lived and worked in Singapore since 2003.

He spent the first twelve years of his career in Washington, D.C., including serving in the Administration of President Bill Clinton, receiving the Secretary of Transportation's Award for Special Service Commendation.

Since 2017, APAC Advisors has provided a range of services to clients in the financial services sector, with a focus on sustainability.

As KKR’s first Director of Asia Public Affairs from 2011-2017, his responsibilities encompassed government affairs, communications, stakeholder engagement, and ESG.

Steve created and led UPS Asia’s public affairs practice from 2003 until 2010, building a team based in five markets across the region, having been the U.S. lead for their international aviation negotiating team in Washington, D.C., from 1999-2003.

Steve frequently appears in the media to provide U.S. government, business, and political analysis for CNBC, Al Jazeera, and Channel NewsAsia. He provides the weekly International News Review for MONEY FM (Singapore) and contributes commentary to The Straits Times, The Business Times, Eco-Business, Nikkei Asia, and CNA.

He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

John K. Veroneau is a senior counsel in Covington & Burling LLP’s Washington, DC office and is highly ranked by Chambers USA and Chambers Global for his client work on a wide range of international trade, security and investment matters.  Mr. Veroneau held Senate-confirmed positions under President Bush as Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) and USTR General Counsel, and under President Clinton as an Assistant Secretary of Defense.  He served as Legislative Director to U.S. Senator Bill Cohen, Legislative Director to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Susan Collins.  Mr. Veroneau provides regular trade analysis to the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Bloomberg TV.  He earned his B.A. from the University of Maine and his J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law.  He and his wife Carol Svoboda have two sons.

Khalil Manaf Hegarty is an expert in trade policy focusing on Southeast Asia and specializing in trade and sustainability. He has extensive experience and networks across Indonesia and Malaysia.

Khalil has more than 15 years of experience consulting for businesses and governments in Southeast Asia and East Asia, focusing on the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

He has worked as an advisor on trade policy and certification to the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. He provides ongoing policy advice to governments and the private sector in Southeast Asia, covering agriculture, manufactured goods, services, and investment.

He has managed trade policy research and advocacy programs for a broad range of companies and industry bodies in the Indo-Pacific region. These include social and economic impact assessments for major agricultural and industrial developments, conformity assessments for certification systems, and broad stakeholder consultation processes. He has represented civil society organizations at multilateral meetings, including the UNFCCC, FAO, and UNCSD.

His opinion pieces have been published across Southeast Asia in the Jakarta Post, The Star (KL), and Bangkok Post, and he is regularly quoted in media in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Khalil was a director at ITS Global and Article Three, two of Australia’s leading trade policy advisories. Prior to that, he was a journalist and editor at News Ltd and a researcher at Monash University.

Catherine joined Citi in September 2013 as head of Government Affairs for Asia Pacific. Catherine  works closely with senior management, business heads, and Citi Country Officers on policy and  regulatory issues impacting the firm by engaging with policymakers and industry groups. Catherine also coordinates and manages the Citi Government Affairs representatives in the region. 

Prior to joining Citi, Catherine worked at State Street Bank and Trust as Head of Regulatory,  Industry and Government Affairs, Asia Pacific. Before that Catherine was a diplomat at the  Australian Embassy Beijing, a research fellow in the Faculty of Law and Politics at Keio University  Japan and a policy advisor in the Australian Departments of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Foreign  Affairs and Trade on political, strategic and trade issues.  

Catherine has played an active role in various industry associations, including the U.S. National  Centre for APEC (Board Member), US-ASEAN Business Council (Financial Services Committee and  Chairman Council), Asian Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (Public Policy  Committee Member and former Alternate Board Member), the American Chamber of Commerce in 

Hong Kong (former Financial Services Committee Head and former Board Member), Asia Pacific  Council of American Chambers (Member of Chairman’s Circle) and the Asia Business Trade  Association (Member). Catherine has also been active in the APEC Business Advisory Council, Advisory Group on APEC Financial System Capacity Building and the APEC Asia Pacific Financial  Forum and the World Economic Forum Digital ASEAN Initiative.  

Catherine speaks English, Mandarin and Japanese.

David Katz is Managing Director of Public Affairs for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) Asia Ltd. based in Singapore. David leads the corporate communications, government relations, corporate citizenship and environmental, social and governance (ESG) functions for KKR across markets in the Asia Pacific. David also sits on KKR’s Asia Pacific leadership team. 

Previously he was the Deputy Head of Global Government Relations and Head of Asia Pacific Government Relations for PayPal Inc. and sat on PayPal’s Asia Pacific leadership team. Prior to PayPal Inc., he worked at eBay Inc., where he managed Asia Pacific GR for both eBay Marketplace and PayPal - then owned by eBay Inc. Before joining eBay, David worked at Visa Inc. where he served as their first head of GR for the Asia region. 

David was also Chief of Party of a USAID program in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat in Singapore, where he advanced policy and capacity building. David served in the Executive Office of the President for eight years as a Senior Director at the United States Trade Representative (USTR) with responsibility for Southeast Asia, APEC, China and Taiwan trade policy. Prior to USTR, David was an economic officer in the U.S. diplomatic service, with tours in Taiwan, Mongolia, and Singapore, and he was a special assistant to U.S. Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell. 

David earned an MBA from the University of Edinburgh and his BA from the University of California at Berkeley.

Rebecca Terner Lentchner was most recently the Head of Government & Regulatory Policy for Citadel and Citadel Securities in the Asia Pacific. In this role, she oversaw the firm’s public policy and engagement with regulators, policymakers, academics and trade and business associations across the APAC region.

Prior to joining Citadel, Rebecca was the Head of Government Relations and Public Policy for APAC at BNY Mellon. Previously, she built and managed the Policy and Regulatory Affairs team at Asia Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA), served as a New Directions Returnship Fellow at Goldman Sachs and held policy roles in the U.S. Congress, industry associations and not-for-profit organizations.

Rebecca has served as a Board Governor for the American Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong, Board Member of ASIFMA, Advisory Board Member of Women in Finance Asia, AIMA Regulatory Committee Member, and Public Policy Advisor for Hong Kong Marriage Equality.

Rebecca received her Master’s in Public Policy from the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University.

Barbara is a Managing Director at Rock Creek Global Advisors, an international economic policy advisory firm, where she focuses on international trade and investment policy and negotiations as well as market access and regulatory matters.

Ms. Weisel has more than 25 years of experience advancing international trade and investment initiatives, expanding market access in Asia-Pacific markets, and resolving specific issues faced by businesses in the Asia-Pacific.

Ms. Weisel served most recently as Assistant US Trade Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific. She was the US chief negotiator for the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) from its inception in 2008 through its signing in 2016. She was responsible for developing US positions in coordination with other government agencies, Congress and the US private sector.

In addition to TPP, Ms. Weisel led efforts to expand US market access and promote US economic interests in the Asia Pacific, working with foreign government officials at all levels on intellectual property, digital trade, services, financial services, agriculture, customs, and product standards.

As Deputy Assistant US Trade Representative for Bilateral Asian Affairs (Korea, Southeast Asia, and South Asia), Ms. Weisel served as negotiator of FTAs with Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and Singapore. She also was charged with monitoring and enforcing Asian countries’ compliance with their World Trade Organization commitments and working with US companies to resolve specific issues in these markets.

Earlier, Ms. Weisel served as the official responsible for managing global pharmaceutical regulatory issues and as Director for Japan Affairs.

Before joining USTR, she worked at the State Department from 1984-1994, serving in a variety of positions, including as international economist on Japan, the Persian Gulf, and North Africa.

Ms. Weisel earned two Masters Degrees from Harvard University in 1983 in Public Policy with a focus on international development, and Religious Studies, with a focus on Islamic civilization. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College (Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude).

Ford served the United States over a 33-year career as a U.S. diplomat focused on China, but he has also worked on other leading issues in U.S. foreign policy. He now advises BGA and its clients on China, Hong Kong and Taiwan related strategy issues.

Ford’s final diplomatic assignment was as the U.S. consul general to Hong Kong and Macau, an ambassadorial-level position. Prior to this, Ford was the special envoy for the Six-Party Talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program, for which President Barack Obama accorded him the rank of ambassador.

Earlier, Ford served as the U.S. National Security Council’s China and Taiwan director and was foreign policy advisor to the chief of naval operations at the Pentagon. Ford served three times in China and once each in the Soviet Union and Iraq. He also spent two one-year language training stints in Taiwan.

Ford’s U.S. State Department assignments included serving as the director of the Office of Taiwan Coordination, deputy coordinator for reconstruction and stabilization and deputy director for crisis management in the Operations Center. Ford was a recipient of the State Department’s highest commendation for diplomatic reporting and the U.S. Navy’s Distinguished Public Servant Award. He received State Department Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards and the U.S. Army’s Meritorious Civilian Service Award.

Ford holds a master’s degree from the University of Virginia, where he was a President’s Fellow. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Mary Washington College.