Rebecca Fatima Sta. Maria

She is the former Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Secretariat based in Singapore, where she advised and supported APEC’s 21 diverse member economies.

She spent many years as a top-level civil servant and trade negotiator in Malaysia. As Secretary-General of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, she oversaw the formulation of Malaysia’s positions in major agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. As representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, she chaired the body that drafted ASEAN’s economic community blueprints for 2015 and 2025."