Mr. Thomas Abe - EAPIRF Chairperson
Commissioner and CEO, Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC), Papua New Guinea

Mr. Abe has served in the Papua New Guinea (PNG) public service for about 27 years. He was initially a career diplomat for 14 years with Department of Foreign Affairs of PNG specializing in trade, investment and commercial matters. Mr. Abe has served as Managing Director of Papua New Guinea’s Investment Promotion Authority and was a member of the Privatization Commission. In 2002, Mr. Abe was appointed as the Interim General Manager to establish ICCC following the passing of its legislation in the same year. His job included setting up of statutory procedures and processes and recruitment of technical staff.

In March 2004, with the appointment of two part time associate commissioners, Mr. Abe was appointed first full time acting Commissioner and CEO of ICCC. In February 2005, Mr. Abe was confirmed as the first full time Commissioner and CEO of ICCC for a term of 5 years. Mr. Abe was elected the first Chairman of the newly established East Asia and Pacific Infrastructure Regulatory Forum in Singapore in October 2005.

Mr. Abe holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with major in Economics and International relations from the University of Papua New Guinea.

H. E. Dr. Ty Norin - EAPIRF Deputy Chairperson
Chairman, Electricity Authority of Cambodia

Dr. Ty Norin is the Chairman of the Electricity Authority of Cambodia. He started working in the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy of the Kingdom of Cambodia in 1986 and in 1987 was transferred to work in Electricité du Cambodge (EDC), the national electricity supplier. In EDC Dr. Norin was promoted rose through the ranks to become Deputy Managing Director of EDC.

In 2001 Dr. Ty Norin was selected by the Royal Government of Cambodia and was nominated to be the first Chairman of the Electricity Authority of Cambodia.

Dr. Norin is a graduate (Master of Electrical Engineering) from the Institute of Technology Mendeleyev of Moscow, Russia in 1986 and a graduate (Doctor of Business Administration) from Southern California University, United State in 1997.

Mr. Irzal Djamal
Chairman, Jakarta Water Supply Regulatory Body

Mr. Djamal worked with the Jakarta Provincial Government for 34 years as a civil servant, holding various positions as staff, Deputy Head of the Jakarta Provincial Planning Board, Assistant for Development, and Head of the Jakarta Busway Transportation. He also held a position as member of the Board of Commissioner of the Jakarta Owned Water Supply Enterprise (2002-2005).

After his retirement in 2007 he was appointed as Chairman of the Jakarta Water Supply Regulatory Body for three year term (2008-2011). As the current Chairman, he is responsible to monitor and oversee the implementation of the 25 year water supply concession agreement between the Jakarta Owned Water Supply Enterprise and the two concessionaires (PT Palyja from France and PT Aetra Air Jakarta, a local firm).

Mr. Djamal graduated from the Bandung Institute of Technology with a degree in Civil Engineering in 1973.

Mr. Joe Dimasi
Commissioner, Australia Competition & Consumer Commission

Joe Dimasi was appointed a Commissioner of the ACCC in November 2008 for a period of five years. Prior to his appointment, Joe Dimasi was the Executive General Manager of the Regulatory Affairs Division of the ACCC. Mr Dimasi has had responsibility for establishing the Regulatory Affairs Division of the ACCC and has been head of the Division since its inception. Before that, he was an Assistant Commissioner of the Industry Commission (now the Productivity Commission).

Mr Dimasi has also worked as a senior economist in a number of organisations. He holds a Bachelor and Masters degree in Economics.

Mr. Peter Smith
Senior Adviser, Transmission, Electricity Commission of New Zealand

Peter is a senior adviser in the transmission workstream of the Electricity Commission. His particular focus has been on transmission pricing and improving regulation of transmission. Prior to joining the Commission, Peter worked as a consultant for Ernst and Young, Cap Gemini and Saha International, respectively, providing advice on market reform and other regulatory matters. He has worked for a large utility in Australia, holding senior positions in the energy trading and retail areas. His career also includes roles in purchasing and hedging jet fuel for an airline and trading gasoline for an energy company. He started his career with the Ministry of Energy working as a policy analyst in the field of petroleum regulation.

Mr. Rauf A. Tan
Commissioner of Philippine’s Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC)

Mr. Tan is the Commissioner of Philippine’s Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). He has more than 25 years of extensive experience in the electric power industry in the fields of finance, marketing, management, utility economics, financial systems, public relations, privatization, and energy regulation.

As an energy regulator, he is mainly responsible in the ERC’s general functions relating to tariffs and rates, wholesale electricity spot market, open access and retail competition and strategic planning. He actively contributed to the promulgation and is now the forefront in the execution of the performance-based regulation (PBR) of the transmission and distribution utilities in the Philippines.

He has more than fifteen (15) years of experience with the National Power Corporation (NPC), which include treasurership, controllership, internal audit, information systems, marketing, utility economics and public relations. Prior to his retirement in June of 1999, he held two key management positions. He was the corporation’s Controller and later promoted to head the newly created Marketing Group. Mr. Tan was actively involved as member of several Committees set up for the restructuring of the electric power industry and the privatization of the NPC and was invited to speak in several local and international fora on restructuring and privatization.

As a consultant, he was involved in the Privatization of the Electric Power Distribution System of the City of Olongapo and has successfully privatized the Power Distribution System of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. He was the Financial Analyst of the international consortium of CMS Cameron Mckenna, Rothschild and Power Planning Associates, that drew up the Investment Management Contracts for the National Electrification Administration which aims to attract private sector risk capital into electric cooperatives.

Commissioner Tan is a Certified Public Accountant and obtained his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and Accountancy from the University of The Philippines, Diliman in 1982.