Day 1 – Session A3: Innovative Finance and Inclusive Initiatives in Green Finance Development
Susan Olsen, Principal Investment Specialist, ADB
Susan Olsen lead’s ADB’s Private Sector Financial Institutions (PSFI) Unit for Southeast Asia, based in Bangkok, Thailand and is former ADB PSFI Unit Head for South Asia based out of New Delhi India. In those roles Susan leads the origination and structuring of ADB’s innovative Climate and Inclusive Finance capital markets/debt, equity, and blended finance structures with private sector financial institutions. Prior to joining ADB, Susan was Lead Specialist for the InterAmerican Development Bank’s flagship Inclusive Business department, based in Washington DC. She has held prior roles as Investment Specialist with AIG-GE Capital Latin American Infrastructure Fund and Regional Manager, Latin America with the Export Development Corporation (EDC). Susan holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, as well as Masters Degrees from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (Canada) and the College of Europe (Belgium). She is certified by the Canadian Securities Institute,
Carlota Gómez Tapia, Climate Mitigation & Net Zero Coordinator, Asia Pacific United Nations Environment Programme - Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI)
Carlota serves as the Climate Mitigation & Net Zero Coordinator for the APAC Region at UNEP FI, focusing on climate engagement and capacity building with banks, regulators, and stakeholders in sustainable finance. In 2024, she facilitated 70 engagements and trained over 4,000 participants in collaboration with local partners, ensuring sessions adhered to best practices while being practical and locally relevant. Prior to UNEP FI, Carlota worked at Accenture in London as a sustainability strategy consultant, supporting European financial institutions in developing and implementing climate and sustainability strategies. She has worked in climate risk management, ESG data, green finance products, target setting, and operationalizing of climate targets across the organisation. Alongside her client work, she supported on the financial services sessions at COP25 and COP 27. She is one of the co-authors of the UNEP FI climate mitigation journey publication and a Climate Fresk facilitator, conducting climate science workshops. She holds a BSc in International Management and Modern Languages from the University of Bath.
Chowdhury Liakat Ali, Director, Sustainable Finance Department, Bangladesh Bank
Chowdhury Liakat Ali is a seasoned central banker currently serving in the Sustainable Finance Department of Bangladesh Bank. Since joining the bank in 1999, he has contributed significantly to various key departments, including Banking Regulation and Policy, Banking Inspection, and Financial Integrity. His expertise has played a pivotal role in policy formulation and supervision within the banking sector, earning him the Bangladesh Bank Employee Recognition Award in 2015. Mr. Chowdhury was instrumental in developing key sustainable finance frameworks, including the Green Bond Policy (2022), ESRM Guideline (2022), and 2023 Sustainability and Climate-Related Financial Disclosure Guidelines. Academically, he holds a bachelor's and master's in Accounting from the University of Chittagong and an MBA from Bangladesh University of Professionals. He is also a Certified Expert in Risk Management from Frankfurt School and BIBM. As a certified trainer, he regularly contributes to training and seminars on supervision, credit risk, financial analysis, and sustainable finance.
Ritesh Thakkar, Senior Advisor and Head of Asia Pacific, Convergence Blended Finance
Ritesh Thakkar has 20 years of experience in financial services, development finance, management consulting and advancing public-private partnerships in the Asia and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region. In his role at Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), he worked extensively with governments, central banks, private sector and multi-lateral development banks towards advancing SDGs and Green finance policy development to foster enabling ecosystems towards a net-zero transition. Ritesh was part of the core team for the Asia Asset Management practice at McKinsey & Co. He has served clients across variety of key topics including Market entry, Growth strategy, Digital and Distribution strategy. He has also worked with ING Investment Management and ICICI Prudential Asset Management building Institutional Partnerships with Central Banks, Pension Funds, SWFs, Life Insurance Companies and Banks in the Asia region to deliver tailored ESG integrated Investment management solutions and was a founder of an NGO in India which provided a platform to the youth to serve the under privileged section of the society. Ritesh holds a Masters of Business Administration from Asian Institute of Management and completed a Sustainable Finance course from University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
Sh. Palash Srivastava, Managing Director, India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited
Shri Palash Srivastava is a distinguished leader in infrastructure financing with nearly three decades of expertise in public-private partnerships (PPPs), structured finance and capacity building. Throughout his career, he has been instrumental in project appraisal, long-term financing and structured investments for large-scale infrastructure projects in roads, ports, airports, railways, urban transport, water supply and solid waste management. His expertise spans emerging sectors such as aerospace, space, agri storage, industrial parks, Special Economic Zones (SEZs), IT infrastructure, real estate, healthcare and tourism. At IIFCL, he has been instrumental in advancing long-term project financing, facilitating private sector participation through structured lending and ensuring the successful execution of critical infrastructure projects.
He has played a key role in shaping national infrastructure policies, contributing to the National PPP Capacity Building Programme, Working Group for Financing Urbanization-12th Five Year Plan, Rakesh Mohan Committee for Transport and Kelkar Committee on Revision and Revitalization of PPP Model of Infrastructure Development.
He played a key role in formulating environment rating standards for infrastructure projects to facilitate green financing, which was launched at COP 21. He has also pioneered structured financial solutions and managed syndication for large-scale infrastructure development.
Prior to joining IIFCL, he held key leadership positions in organisations including IIFCL Projects Limited (IPL), IDFC Group, CRISIL, Feedback Ventures, IL&FS and Aditya Birla Group. Beyond his corporate roles, he has also served on the boards of multiple infrastructure development companies.
He holds an MBA from RA Poddar Institute of Management, Mumbai and a degree in Civil Engineering from Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur.
Sophear Bith, Head, Department FI & Multinational Business, Business Division, Foreign Trade Bank of Cambodia
With 13 years+ of banking experience in Corporate Lending, FX sales, FI sales, Multinational Business relationship handling, and Sustainable Finance management, my experience has enabled a seamless blend of a traditional banking model with an ESG-oriented priority. The corporate know-how in driving a portfolio growth, having a long-term market insight, and cementing a well-established client network has made the advancement of ESG integration possible, translating into sectors of financing including renewable energy, energy efficient, green building, and other businesses transitioning toward a low carbon, environmentally sound operation.
I have actively engaged with diverse stakeholders including Ministry of Environment (MoE), ADB, GGGI, & GCF, participating in the consultation of the Cambodian Sustainable Finance Roadmap, Green Value Chain, and leading bank’s product developments, process improvement, and capacity building.
A few recent positive outcomes from FTB’s persistent strive in leading the Cambodian financial system in ESG goal has been the bank achieving more than 10% of the lending portfolios in sustainable projects, FTB being nominated by MoE as the first private institution to apply for a Direct Access Entity (DAE) with GCF, and FTB being successfully selected by ADB among the only 3 FIs in Cambodia to participate in Climate Bank Accelerator Program.