Brief Bio of the Panelists

Research Prof. Andreas Wibowo

Dr. Wibowo is a research professor and senior lecturer in construction management at the Department of Civil Engineering of Parahyangan Catholic University, Indonesia. He previously served as the Head of the Secretariat for the Agency for Promoting Water Supply Systems and as a principal researcher at the Agency for Research and Development, Ministry of Public Works and Housing, Indonesia. His specialty areas include public-private partnerships (PPP) in infrastructure development, financial engineering, risk modeling, simulation and analysis, and construction economics. Dr. Wibowo obtained his Habilitation degree (a German postdoctoral qualification leading to a professorship) from Bauhaus Universitaet Weimar (2016), a doctoral degree from Technische Universitaet Berlin (2005), and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Institute of Technology Bandung (1995, 1998), all in civil engineering. In addition to his academic activities, he is actively involved in consultancy projects, particularly PPP projects in Indonesia. He also serves as a research advisor at the Indonesia Infrastructure Guarantee Fund Institute. Dr. Wibowo has received several renowned scholarships and awards, including the Alexander von Humboldt re-invitation postdoctoral fellowship (2018), the Emerald Literati Award (2016), the Georg Forster Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers (2011-2014), the DAAD Long-term Doctoral Scholarship (2001-2005) and Re-invitation Scholarship (2009), the Australia-Indonesia Governance Research Partnership (2007), and the URGE World Bank Scholarship (1996-1998).

Associate Prof. Yongjian Ke

Dr. Yongjian Ke is an Associate Professor of Project Management in the School of Built Environment at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia. His research addresses various challenges in delivering infrastructure projects, focusing on risk allocation, contracting behaviours, social acceptance, and social sustainability. Dr. Ke is particularly interested in sustainable infrastructure development and public-private partnerships (PPP), exploring their potential to foster new investment and collaboration opportunities between Australia and China. He has made significant contributions to the field of PPPs, being recognized as one of the most influential and cited authors in this area. With over 140 publications and more than 7,200 citations, Dr. Ke’s work has been widely recognized, earning him a place among the world’s top 2% scientists. He has received funding from various academic and industry organizations, including the Australia-China Relations Institute, the Project Governance Control Symposium, and the Project Management Institute. Dr. Ke serves as a Department Editor for the Project Management Journal, a Guest Professor at Chang’an University in China, and a member of Standards Australia Committees (MB012 – Project, Programme and Portfolio Management). Dr. Ke holds a PhD in Management Science and Engineering and a Bachelor of Engineering from Tsinghua University in China.

Eng. Nissanka Wijeratne

Eng. Nissanka N Wijeratne, B.Sc(Eng) Sri Lanka. M.Sc(Construction Management) Loughborough, M.I.C.E, C.Eng has held several appointments during his career spanning 55 years. This includes 8 years as Secretary to the Cabinet Ministries of Housing & Construction and Foreign Employment Promotion & Welfare from 2007 to 2015. In addition, as Chairman of Institute of Construction Training & Development (now CIDA), Ceylon Fishery Harbours Corporation and Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau for a total of 5 years. He also served as Project Director of Southern Expressway under the Ministry of Highways during 2004 – 2007. Apart from above he has also served the Sri Lanka Army Engineers as a Commissioned Officer in different capacities and retired as a Colonel in 1997. Since 2015 to date, he is functioning as the Secretary General/ CEO of the Chamber of Construction Industry of Sri Lanka, which is positioned as the apex representative body of all involved in the construction sector by a statute. Further, he had been engaged as a director of Link Engineering Ltd, a leading construction company, for a long period and served in Nigeria for 2 stints with Jos Metropolitan Development Board, Bepco Ltd. and Standard Construction Ltd. spanning 5 years. Other organizations he had served in different capacities are State Engineering Corporation of Sri Lanka, State Graphite Corporation of Sri Lanka, River Valleys Development Board and Highways Department.

Chanaka De Silva PC

Mr. Chanaka de Silva P.C. is considered one of the foremost legal experts in the field of project finance transactions and negotiations in Sri Lanka. He is a Founder Partner of Nithya Partners and heads the project finance and dispute resolution practices of the Firm. For over 35 years, Mr. De Silva has been involved in advising, negotiating, and structuring major infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka, spanning a multitude of sectors such as electricity, telecommunication, petroleum, roadways, ports, and mining. He advised on structuring and implementing the earliest public private partnerships in Sri Lanka and was the Senior Legal Consultant to the Bureau of Infrastructure Investment and its predecessor, the Secretariat for Infrastructure Development and Investment. He was also the legal advisor in most major privatizations of state entities by the Government of Sri Lanka. Mr. De Silva advised the Government of Sri Lanka and government agencies on transactions involving infrastructure development, project finance, restructuring and corporatisation and continues advising the Government, the private sector, and lending institutions on such transactions up to date. Mr. De Silva has been consecutively ranked as a leading individual in the field of Projects and Energy and Dispute Resolution by the Legal 500 Asia Pacific, since 2010 and was inducted to the Hall of Fame of the Legal 500 in 2020. He is ranked in Band 1 by Chambers & Partners and is endorsed as an Elite Practitioner by AsiaLaw, in the field of Dispute Resolution. He is also listed as Highly Regarded by IFLR 1000 in the fields of Banking, Energy, Infrastructure and Project Finance. Expert Guides published by Euromoney lists Mr. De Silva as one of the world’s leading practitioners in Project Finance. He is a Visiting Lecturer in Commercial Law at the Sri Lanka Law College and at the Master of Laws program of the University of Colombo. He is a Member of the Law Commission of Sri Lanka.