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David Kelly (Executive Director of British Chamber of Commerce)

David Kelly

Executive Director of British Chamber of Commerce

David Kelly is the Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore, responsible for the strategy, growth and profile of the Chamber to support businesses and connect opportunities with the UK and across ASEAN. A Chartered Marketer, David joined the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore in 2019. David has lived in Singapore since 2015.

Prior to his role at the Chamber, David worked at the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) where he spearheaded the development and execution of a completely reinvigorated global marketing strategy along with an Asia Pacific regional expansion plan which fortified the Institute and supported rapid growth between 2012-2019, seeing the Institute double in size from 11,000 members to 23,000 with membership in Asia Pacific increasing from 19% to 40% of global subscribers. Alongside his role at the IMarEST, he was also the Chair of the UK’s Marine Industries Leadership Council (MILC) Image Working Group from 2014 – 2016 and was involved in a number of industry reports covering skills, education & training and automation in the shipping industry.

Before the IMarEST, David led and delivered the global marketing programmes for the International Wine & Spirit Competition Group of brands in the UK, America and Asia after marketing B2B and B2C solutions, both online and offline, in the financial services industry.

Born in Manchester, UK, David is passionate about mentoring and supporting others and is a mentor at Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Singapore) for Business and Marketing students and a committee member on the Singapore Institute of Technology’s Marine Programmes' Industry Advisory Committee (IAC).

Kara Owen (High Commissioner to Singapore at British High Commission)

Kara Owen

High Commissioner to Singapore at British High Commission

Ms Owen has been the British High Commissioner to Singapore since June 2019. Prior to that, she was Director for the Americas at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and has served as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassies in Paris and Hanoi. She has been awarded a CVO (Commander of the Victoria Order) and CMG (Companion of St Michael and St George) by HM The Queen for services to diplomacy.

Ms Owen graduated from the University of Sheffield with a BA in History, holds a MSc from LSE in Diplomacy and International Strategy and a MSc from Cranfield University in International Human Resource Management. Alongside her diplomatic work, she has focused on diversity and inclusion and organisational development.

Kenneth Lim (Assistant Chief Executive (Industry) at Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore)

Kenneth Lim

Assistant Chief Executive (Industry) at Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

Kenneth is the Assistant Chief Executive (Industry) of Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) since 1 Jan 2021. Kenneth has built up a strong network of maritime Singapore industry players including the digitalisation and HR innovators of shipping companies and the start-ups community. He currently is overseeing Maritime Strategy and Policy, International Maritime Centre, Business Capability Development as well as Innovation, Technology, and Talent Development.

Kenneth was seconded from Government Technology Agency (GovTech) in 2017 as Chief Technology Officer. In GovTech, he was the Cluster Director tasked with harnessing info-communications technology and related engineering for public sector transformation covering 10 public agencies’ CIO teams.

Kenneth has over 25 years of technology-related experience, starting his career as a programmer in PSA, and becoming Vice President Technology Development, Trade & Logistics in CrimsonLogic and Senior Vice President in Energy Market Company before joining the public sector in 2011. His professional experience covers sectors in the Sea Port, Logistics IT and Energy industries.

Kenneth has also previously contributed his professional knowledge at various forums, including:
• Head of Singapore delegation to United Nation for Trade Facilitation
• Council member of Singapore IT Federation (SITF)
• Rule Change Panel Member of the wholesale Electricity Market
• Advisory Council member to e-Commerce and e-Fulfilment
• Steering Committee member of Pan Asia E-Commerce Alliance

Kenneth has been awarded the “Supply Chain Asia– Visionary of the Year” in 2019 and is a frequent speaker in many conferences and events advocating digitalisation.

Rashpal Singh Bhatti (Vice President Maritime & Supply Chain Excellence at BHP)

Rashpal Singh Bhatti

Vice President Maritime & Supply Chain Excellence at BHP

Rashpal was appointed Vice President, Maritime & Supply Chain Excellence at BHP in August 2015. BHP is a leading global resources company whose purpose is to create long term shareholder value through the discovery, acquisition, development and marketing of natural resources essential to world growth and development.

In his capacity as Vice President Maritime and Supply Chain Excellence, Rashpal is accountable for BHP’s supply chain requirements which in aggregate make them one of the largest bulk charterers in the world.

Rashpal joined BHP in 2002 and has held various senior positions across Marketing, Technology and Procurement and has been based in Europe, the US, India and most recently Singapore.

He graduated with an honours degree in Accountancy and Finance in London and acquired his core skillset of commodities supply chain and trading at Schlumberger and Enron.

Rashpal is the chairman on the RightShip Board and is a key proponent of raising performance and safety standards in the bulk marine industry.

He is also a Director at the Maritime Decarbonisation Centre, Singapore, where BHP is one of the founding members.

Haymon Sinapius (Investment Manager (Asia) at Innoport)

Haymon Sinapius

Investment Manager (Asia) at Innoport

Haymon is the Investment Manager (Asia) for Innoport, the corporate VC arm of ship owner and ship management company Bernhard Schulte. He sources, selects and invests in early-stage startups in the maritime, port and logistics sectors, driving Bernhard Schulte’s digital transformation journey. Haymon started his career at Bernhard Schulte in 2007, concentrating on change management and new business opportunities. From 2011-2018 he built up two companies in East Africa and supported a family office managing its clients’ illiquid asset portfolio. He also is a mentor in Techstars as well as one of Germany's most successful tech-startup networks. Working in and with startups for a decade in various cultures – both from an entrepreneurial and an investment perspective – gives him the skillset to identify great founding teams as well as to understand and support them. Haymon studied Philosophy and Economics at the London School of Economics and holds an MBA from Cass Business School.

Tom Bonehill (Managing Director of Norstar Shipping (Asia) Pte Ltd)

Tom Bonehill

Managing Director of Norstar Shipping (Asia) Pte Ltd

Tom is Co-Owner of the Norstar Group of Companies. Norstar is a privately owned fully integrated ship owning, chartering and management Group with offices in Singapore, USA, Myanmar and Japan. A British Citizen, Tom has lived in Asia for the last 28 years with postings in Jakarta, Hong Kong and Singapore where he has resided for the last 24 years.

Tom’s early career in shipping started as a shipbroker holding positions in Clarkson’s Hong Kong and Island Shipbrokers in Singapore before setting up Norstar Shipping (Asia ) Pte Ltd in 2005. Tom stopped broking in 2007 to focus on Norstar’s ship owning investments and vessel management. Tom led Norstar's expansion in Singapore with the establishment of Norstar Ship Management to manage its vessel’s in-house, along with 3rd party management for other strategic partners.

Tom co-leads the Norstar Group with his brother Chris Bonehill in the US. Tom has also spearheaded Norstar’s expansion in Myanmar over the last 11 years where Norstar has a significant presence. A seasoned professional Tom has gone through several shipping cycles and has an extensive network across the industry. Tom has been working closely with the Mission to Seafarers in the UK to raise awareness of the plight of seafarers during the Covid-19 pandemic and is presently on the organising committee for an inaugural Adventure Race in Japan in 2022-2023.