Francis Xavier SC is Regional Head of the Disputes Group at Rajah & Tann Singapore. With over 35 years of practice, he specializes in international arbitration, investor-state disputes, and cross-border commercial litigation. He has acted as counsel and arbitrator in numerous proceedings, including ICSID and ICC cases. A Chartered Arbitrator, he advises several Asian governments on arbitration frameworks. He is a former global President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and Past President of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association. He also chairs the AAA-ICDR Asia Advisory Council and serves on key regulatory and editorial boards in Singapore.

George Lim is Chairman of the Singapore International Mediation Centre. He was President of the Law Society of Singapore between 1998-99, and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2010. George has mediated more than 900 disputes, and has extensive experience in mediating cross-cultural, cross-border disputes in Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Maldives, South Korea, Australia, Fiji and Dubai. In particular, he has successfully mediated investor state disputes and claims against governments. George was Singapore’s mediation consultant to UNCITRAL Working Group II, which led to the adoption of the Singapore Convention on Mediation in 2019. He is on ICSID’s panel of conciliators.

Julia Fraser is the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Regional Practice Director, Planet, for the World Bank and is currently Acting Director for World Bank Singapore Office. Based in Singapore, she leads EAP’s programs under the Planet Vertical, which comprises Agriculture & Food, Climate Change, Environment, Social Development, and Water. Ms. Fraser has more than 25 years’ experience in the World Bank, including on energy, transport, private sector participation in infrastructure, public-private partnerships, and climate change finance. Ms. Fraser holds a Master of Business Administration from Vanderbilt University, USA.

Ms Koh Swee Yen is Co-Chair of the IPBA Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Committee and a member of the ICC Court. Her practice focuses on complex, high-value, multi-jurisdictional disputes involving asset recovery, energy, fraud, infrastructure, trade, and technology. She appears regularly before the Singapore Courts and in international arbitrations under major institutional rules, including ICSID, ICC, ICDR, LCIA, SIAC, and UNCITRAL. Admitted to the Roll of Solicitors of England & Wales, she also has rights of audience before the DIFC Courts. She sits as an arbitrator and is on Singapore’s ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, being one of only four designees.

Martina Polasek is a dual Czech and Swedish citizen with a substantial background in investor-State dispute settlement. She joined ICSID in 2001 and was elected Secretary-General in 2024. Prior to joining ICSID, Ms. Polasek worked as an attorney with the law firms of Jeantet & Associés in Paris and White & Case LLP in Prague. Ms. Polasek holds degrees from George Washington University Law School (LL.M), University of Paris V Descartes (D.E.S.S.) and University of Gothenburg (Master of Laws). She is admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia. Ms. Polasek is fluent in Czech, Swedish, French and English.