BANGLADESH: National workshop on cross-border paperless trade facilitation and emerging technologies

Ms. Soo Hyun Kim is Economic Affairs Officer, Trade Policy and Facilitation Section, Trade, Investment and Innovation Division, United Nations ESCAP. She is currently managing capacity building projects on cross-border paperless trade and trade facilitation in the age of pandemics; and supporting the implementation of the Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific. Previously she worked in the Investment and Enterprise Development Section with research focus on foreign direct investment (FDI) and investment regimes and their impact on sustainable development. She also worked to promote public-private sector dialogue by organizing the Asia-Pacific Business Forum (APBF) and supporting the ESCAP Sustainable Business Network (ESBN). Prior to this, she worked at the United Nations Secretariat in New York; local government (United Kingdom); and higher education institution (United Kingdom). She holds master’s degrees in business administration (specialisation in financial management) from TiasNimbas Business School (Netherlands) and library and information science from Loughborough University (United Kingdom). 

Mr Christian Lembke, as a Technical Attaché under the WCO Compliance and Facilitation Directorate since June 2020, is mainly involved in the area of the WCO Data Model, the online platform RAM-MAP SWIM, Advance Passenger Information as well as the Globally Networked Customs concept.

He has previously worked as a customs officer at Frankfurt am Main Airport (Germany) in the field of risk assessment for air cargo shipments since 2005. He has been involved in a risk assessment project in an EU working group at the international level.

Mr. Steven Capell is a technology architect and runs a boutique consultancy in Canberra Australia that is focused on digital transformation for federal government customers.  He has also been a UN/CEFACT expert for around 20 years and has contributed to the blockchain whitepaper published in 2020 and led the verifiable credentials white paper published in 2022.

Ziyang David Fan is the Head of Digital Trade at the World Economic Forum. Based in San Francisco, his work focuses on how the digital ecosystem, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies (such as 3D printing and blockchain), are rapidly changing international trade. He is an attorney and technologist with 15+ years of experience in the U.S., China, and Southeast Asia.  He has worked in both public and private sectors, including at Airbnb, U.S. Trade and Development Agency, Shearman & Sterling LLP, and the International Monetary Fund. He received his law degree from the George Washington University Law School and his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.  

Ziyang has published and spoken extensively on technology and international trade, including expert testimonies to governments around the world such as the UK Parliament. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, MIT Technology Review, CNBC, etc. He also teaches a graduate-level course on “Tech Policy” at the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley. Ziyang is fluent in English and Chinese.  

Work Experience

• Head of R&D Center, The K Consulting
• International Consultant, ESCAP, IMO, ADB
• Lecturer, Department of Management Information, Hanyang Cyber University
• Guest Researcher, Engineering Laboratory, System Integration Division, Process Engineering Group, US NIST
• General Manager, R&D Center, KL-Net

Company Name: The K Consulting

• Leading for work automation and standardization to support trade and logistics facilitation of global SCM
• Develop and propose international standard to IMO, UN/CEFACT, etc.
• Develop and operate Information service system and IT solution
• Conduct Korean national R&D project and IMO/ESCAP/ADB project

Subject: Cross-Border paperless trade

• Dr. Ahn is working on standardization for trade facilitation with ESCAP and conducting Feasibility studies on the cross-border electronic exchange of trade data.
• In addition, she is working and conducting Korean R&D projects to promote national strategy

Ms. Nancy Chen Junhua is a Senior Product Development Manager at GUUD (International) Pte Ltd. She has 18 years of working experience in product development in the healthcare and trade facilitation domains.

At GUUD, she leads project teams in the development of platforms such as the East African Community (EAC) Single Customs Territory (SCT), which facilitate transit trade of five African countries by linking the five revenue authorities and two port authorities with a single platform.

In addition, Nancy is in charge of development of GUUD data strategy and products that connects all GUUD’s platforms.

Previously, she was an Innovation and Data Lead, leading a team that successfully built and implemented Blockchain and AI based solutions to promote cross border trade efficiency.