ACEF 2025 Speakers

Bio

Mr. Jeong is a Senior Regional Cooperation Specialist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with expertise in economic policy, finance, and regional cooperation and integration (RCI). He currently leads ADB’s initiative on critical minerals to manufacturing value chains, facilitating policy dialogue and regional strategies to enhance cross-border supply chains for the clean energy transition. His work involves processing technical assistance, designing policy-based lending frameworks, and collaborating with governments, IFIs, and private sector partners. Prior to ADB, Mr. Jeong served as Lead Director of the Planning and Finance Division at Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, where he oversaw macroeconomic policy and budget planning. At ADB’s Southeast Asia Regional Department, he worked as an Economist supporting economic analysis, CPS development, and major publications like the Asian Development Outlook. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Birmingham and degrees in Policy Studies and Business Administration from Seoul National University

Bio

Kyle Datta is Executive Director, Pacific Region for the Energy & Infrastructure team at Teneo.leading engagements on the energy transition in renewables, green molecules, hydrogen, next generation grid, advanced fuels, and sustainability. Kyle Datta’s long and distinguished career in the energy sector includes Managing Partner of Booz Allen & Hamilton’s Asia Energy Practice and U.S. Utilities Practice, Principal at Roland Berger, Managing Director of Rocky Mountain Institute, CEO of U.S. Biodiesel Group, and founder and General Partner of the Pierre Omidyar’s Ulupono Initiative investment firm.

Bio

Lin Lanlan, Deputy Director General at the Department of Standards and Norms of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China, holding the professional title of Researcher.She has served as Deputy Director of the Department of Rural and Urban Construction and Director of the Department of Standards and Norms. During her tenure, she facilitated the issuance of the Opinions on Promoting Green Development in Urban and Rural Construction by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council; spearheaded the drafting of the Work Plan for Accelerating Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction in the Construction Sector, which was submitted for approval and subsequently disseminated by the General Office of the State Council; collaborated with the National Development and Reform Commission to finalize and issue the Implementation Plan for Carbon Peaking in Urban and Rural Development; oversaw the ministry-provincial joint initiative to develop the master planning and design for the Boao Zero-Carbon Demonstration Zone in Hainan, achieving 18 engineering construction and renovation targets across 8 major categories; and achieved notable accomplishments in institutional innovation, integration of technical measures, and policy-standard leadership.

Bio

Lavan is the Executive Director of Infrastructure Asia, a project facilitation office established by the Singapore Government (set up by Enterprise Singapore and the Monetary Authority of Singapore) to support Asia’s social and economic growth through sustainable infrastructure development. In this role, Lavan works closely with both the private and public sectors in Singapore and the broader region. His focus is on project origination and development to enable more sustainable infrastructure.Lavan has been actively involved in various initiatives on infrastructure financing, including spending over a year at Clifford Capital, a specialist in structured finance solutions. He has also held various leadership positions at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, where he focused on financial market development.

Bio

Lazeena Rahman is a Senior Climate Finance Specialist and Energy Transition Mechanism Deputy Team Leader (Climate Finance and Private Sector) for the Asian Development Bank (ADB), based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Prior to assuming this role in 2022, Lazeena was as an Investment Specialist with ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department (PSOD) (2011-2016), as well as an Investment Officer for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Blended Finance and East Asia Pacific Infrastructure teams (2016-2022). Across her roles at ADB and IFC, Lazeena has led and supported the structuring of commercial debt, equity and concessional finance with a strong transaction focus on the energy sector (geothermal, gas, solar, wind, storage) alongside work in the logistics, forestry, water supply and wastewater sectors. Lazeena holds a Joint Masters in Business Administration and Public Policy from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Harvard College.

Bio

Mr. Lei Zhang has 28 years of professional experience in preparation and administration of infrastructure projects, particularly in the energy sector. He joined ADB as energy specialist in 2010. He has worked for around 5 years each in South Asia Energy Division and Central and West Asia Energy Division including over 3 years outpost at ADB’s Pakistan Resident Mission. In April 2020, he joined East Asia Sustainable Infrastructure Division as Unit Head of Project Administration. From 30 June 2023, under the new operating model, he joined the Energy Sector Office as Unit Head of Project Administration for portfolio management of all energy projects financed by ADB.

Bio

Len is a Principal Energy Specialist. He worked in ADB’s South Asia Regional Department from 2009-2020 where he processed and implemented ADB loans, grants and technical assistance and has experience of covering India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan as well as on regional energy projects. With regard to rural energy related support, Len led a team that processed the $618 million Bangladesh Power Sector Enhancement and Efficiency Improvement Project that had a key component supporting rural electricity distribution infrastructure creation and technical assistance support on energy-based livelihoods. He has also led the team for the approval of the first results-based lending program in the power sector in SARD in the state of Maharashtra to support energy access for agricultural customers using HVDS.

Prior to ADB, Len was a senior manager with one of the Big 4 consulting firms where he worked on due diligence for private sector investments, regulatory capacity building and projects with ADB, World Bank and DFID. Len has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Delhi University and a post graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad.

Bio

Mr. Roose is a tenured faculty member of the Hawaiʻi Natural Energy Institute (HNEI), University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he formed and has led for over a decade HNEI’s GridSTART (Grid System Technologies Advanced Research Team), a team of professionals focused on energy transition enabling policy and regulation, advanced grid architectures, grid modernization technologies, and novel methods to achieve reliable grid integration of RE resources, power system optimization and energy resilience goals.He served in numerous leadership roles at the Hawaiian Electric Company for 19 years prior including management of renewable energy planning and integration, generation resource planning and competitive procurement, negotiation and administration of all power purchase agreements for the utility, transmission and distribution system planning, smart grid planning and projects, system relaying and protection, and fuel purchase and supply to all utility generating plants. He is a licensed attorney, formerly in private law practice in Hawaiʻi and served as Associate General Counsel at Hawaiian Electric. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a J.D. from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Bio

Lew Andrew R. Tria is a professor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Instituteof the University of the Philippines Diliman. He is a research and extension fellow at the UP National Center for Transportation Studies. He obtained his Ph.D. in ElectricalEngineering from the University of New South Wales, Australia and his MS and BS inElectrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of the Philippines Diliman. Healso holds an MS Innovation and Business degree from the Asian Institute ofManagement. His research interests include power electronics, electric motor design,and energy systems such as solar photovoltaics and electric vehicles. He co-foundedCHRG EV Technologies Inc., a startup that supports the local EV industry in thePhilippines.

Bio

Li Qionghui, Special Chief Expert of CERS，Former Director of renewable energy research department of State Grid Energy Research Institute(SGERI). She is also a Master of Electrical Engineering, Senior Engineer and National registered consulting engineer. She has been engaged in the energy and electric power development strategic and planning, supply and demand forecasts, China renewable energy development strategic and planning, China DG development and utilization , as well as renewable energy policy research. She was honored with National Energy Administration Outstanding Achievement Award for Soft Science Study, China Electric Power Science and Technology Award, and State Grid Science and Technology Progress Award many times.

Bio

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Bio

Li Zhong, female, is deputy director general and researcher of the Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission. She has long been engaged in research in the fields of regional economy, ecological civilization and green development, and in recent years has conducted pioneering research on the mechanism for realizing the value of ecological products. She has participated in the preliminary research and drafting of documents in the fields of ecological civilization construction, green development and the mechanism of realizing the value of ecological products. She has presided over and participated in more than 100 research topics, and has been awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Scientific and Technological Progress Award of Shandong Province, and the Outstanding Achievement Award of the China Academy of Macroeconomics, among other awards. She has published more than 50 articles in Economics Dynamics, Macroeconomic Research, Macroeconomic Management and other journals. She is the author of Exploring China's Green Economy, The Rise of the Third Growth Pole: A Study on the Development Strategy of Tianjin Binhai New Area, and A Study on the Realization of the Value of Ecological Products.