2006 Annual Symposium
Luis Humberto Gomez Gallo

Setsu Kobayashi

Perikili Zaharia – Albania
Justice, Supreme Court of Albania

Juan Pablo Cafiero – Argentina
Doctor & UN Development Program Advisor United Nations in Buenos Aires

Lilian Constanza Diedrich – Argentina
Professor, Universidad Catolica de Salta Pedro Saravia 51

Osvaldo Alejandro Grossman – Argentina
Ambassador & Vice-Secretary for Religious Affairs Foreign Affairs Ministry

Juan G. Navarro Floria – Argentina
Progessor, Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina

Eduardo Zimmerman – Argentina
Rector, Universidad de San Andres

Shavarsh Khachatryan – Armenia
Expert in International Law

Robert Balzola – Australia
President, New South Wales Religious Freedom Institute

Robert Balzola

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Robert Balzola is born of Italian parent who migrated to Australia after

World War II. Robert is an only child. Robert's education was through

the Catholic School system, principally the Josephite Order of Nuns

during primary school and subsequently a student in secondary school

with the De La Salle Order (Christian Brothers).

At 17 years, Robert joined the Australian Army and was admitted to the

Royal Military College Duntroon. Following entry, Robert completed his

Bachelor of Economics degree at Macquarie University in 1986. In 1987

Robert commenced study towards the Bachelor of Laws degree at the

University of Technology, Sydney. From 1987 to 1997, Robert worked in

the Information Technology industry, including firms such as IBM, Sony

(Australia) Pty Limited and Telstra Corporation, a subsidiary of Telecom

Australia (as it was then known).

Since October 1998, Robert has been employed as the Chief of Staff of

John Murphy MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Commonwealth Leader of

the Opposition of the Australian Parliament.

Robert was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1995 in the Supreme Court

of New South Wales and has practised as a solicitor (lawyer) in that

jurisdiction. In 2000, Robert completed his Master of Laws also at

Macquarie University.

Between 2002 and 2005, Robert undertook studies at the Australian

Catholic University and completed both the Graduate Diploma in Arts

(Theological Studies) programme (2003) followed by the Master of Arts

(Theology)in 2005.

In 2006, Robert was appointed a sessional lecturer of law at the

University of Notre Dame. Robert is also a member of the University of

Notre Dame Law Board.

Robert is a registered Migration Agent and specialises in migration law

and environmental law. Robert is currently working towards his Doctorate

in Philosophy (PhD) also at the Australian Catholic University, the in

the field of natural law theory as it applies to contemporary human law.

David Bleby – Australia
The Honourable Justice, Supreme Court of South Australia

Carolyn Evans – Australia
Professor, University of Melbourne School of Law

Neville Rochow – Australia
Barrister-at-Law

Rik Torfs – Belgium
Professor

Augusto Cury – Brazil
Doctor of Psychiatry

Dr. Augusto Jorge Cury:

•Psychiatrist, psychotherapist, scientist and writer.

•Postgraduate at the Centre Medical Marmottan- Paris- France.

•Currently one of the most read authors in Brazil.

•His books have been published in over 40 countries and have been adopted by several universities.

•He is the head of the Intelligence Academy, an institute that offers training programs for educators, psychologists and human resource professionals.

•He has lectured in national and international conferences.

•Psychology Researcher: he developed, over a period of 20 years, one of the theories on the workings of the mind and the construction of intelligence published in “Multifocal Intelligence – The analysis of the construction of thoughts and the molding of thinkers.”

•The theory of Multifocal Intelligence has been used in master’s and doctorate theses in several countries in the fields of psychology, educational sciences, sociology and pedagogy among others.

•Thinker and theoretician of Education and Philosophy: he produced a new theory on the logic of thought, the process of interpretation and the process of molding thinkers.

Paulo Sergio Domingues – Brazil
Federal Judge

Adam Kowalik – Brazil
Professor, Catholic University

Un Dary – Cambodia
General Director, Religious Affairs Department

EDUCATION

2003-2006: Master of Business Administration SITC International Institue in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

1997-2002: Bachelor Degree of Archaeology, Faculty Archaeology in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

2000-2001: Diddle Rangking Civil Servant Diploma, Royal school of Administration, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

1996-1998: Diploma in Professional law, Faculty of law and Economic Sciences, Phnom Penh Cambodia

1996: High School Diploma

WORKING EXPERIENCES

1999-2002: An official of the Administration and Personnel Department,Ministry of National Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspection.

2002-2004:Deputy Director of Department the Administration and Personnel Department, Ministry of National Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspection.

2005-Now:General Director of Religious Affairs, Ministry of Cults and Religions.

LANGUAGES

English:Very Good Comprehension, Speaking and Writing

French:Good Comprehension, Speaking and Writing

INTEREST:Reading, Sports and Music

Luoth Yin – Cambodia
Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Cults and Religions

John Fitzgerald Young – Canada
Professor, University of Northern British Columbia

Shengcai Wang – China
Senior Staff Member of the Foreign Affairs Department

Yanming Wang – China
Divisional Director of the 4th Department, State Administration for Religious Affairs

Qui Wei – China
Deputy Divisional Director of the Policy Research of the 4th Department

Nestor Monsempo Mbokeli – Congo, Democratic Republic of
Secretary General, Ministry of Planning, Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo

Lisbet Christoffersen – Denmark
Professor

Samuel Arias Arzeno – Dominican Republic
Judge of the Second Chamber Civil and Commercial

Soraya Fergani – France
Visiting Student Scholar

Giorgi Alasania – Georgia
Leading Specialist, Legal Affairs Committee, Parliament of Georgia

Education:

Since 2005 up to now:

Post-graduate student of Faculty of Law of

Ivane Javakhishvili State University of Tbilisi

1999-2004

;

Graduated with Honours the full course of the Faculty of Law of Ivane Javakhishvili State University of Tbilisi having specialized in the field of Jurisprudence and was awarded the qualification of Lawyer

2002:

Winner of Imitated Judicial Process (Criminal law), the Faculty of Law of Ivane Javakhishvili State University of Tbilisi

1988-1999:

No. 1 Experimental secondary school of Tbilisi

Training courses attended:

UN Development and EU Project,Enhancement of sufficiency and transparency of activity of parliament of Georgia” Training course, topic,Techniques of process of legislation”.

GEPLAC EuropeAid project (up to now): The EU Intergatiion Process and it's Partners;Post-communist transition and the building of Institutions of the Market Economy in Georgia

Khatuna Tsintsadze – Georgia
Executive Director

Educational data:

- In 1998 I received BA Degree in Journalism at Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

- In 2002 I received MA Degree in Journalism at Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

- Since 2005 I work at my PhD thesis at Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

Work experience:

- In 2000-2002 I worked as a Journalist for a daily newspaper at the Political Department.

- In 2004 I was invited as a Local Expert for the European Commission TACIS project: “Policy Support and Urgent Capacity Building for the Ministry of Justice of Georgia”.

- In 2003-2005 I worked as Civil and Political Rights Programme Coordinator at the non-governmental organisation The Union “Century 21”.

- Since 2005 I hold the Executive Director’s position at The Union “Century 21”.

David Kirkham – Germany
Associate Dean, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

Jemima Oware – Ghana
Chief State Attorney, The Registrar General's Department

Armando Jorge de la Tore – Guatemala
Dean, Graduate Division of Social Sciences Universidad Francisco Marroquin

Nacido en Nueva York, de padres cubanos. Hizo su escuela primaria y secundaria en La Habana, en el Colegio de los Hermanos De La Salle.

Estudió tres años en la Escuela de Periodismo, simultáneamente con los estudios de Derecho en la Universidad de La Habana.

Ingresó en la Compañía de Jesús e hizo los estudios de Lenguas Clásicas, Filosofía y Teología propios de esa Institución, en diversos centros y universidades europeas (Comillas, España; Francfort, Alemania; Saint Martin d´Ablois, Francia).

Además, continuó con sus estudios por dos años en la Universidad de Münich, Alemania para un doctorado en Filosofía.

En Roma, Italia, fue Prefecto de Estudios por dos años del Seminario Pio Latinoamericano.

Después dejó la Orden y regresó a los Estados Unidos, donde enseñó en Princenton, New Jersey y en Hampton, Virginia, principalmente Sociología y Filosofía.

Llegó a Guatemala a fines de 1976 y trabajó por algún tiempo en la Universidad Rafael Landívar donde fue Director de Investigación Científica y desde ese mismo año en la Universidad Francisco Marroquín, como Director de la Escuela Superior de Ciencias Sociales (post-grado), cargo en el que continúa.

Ha escrito y dado conferencias en numerosos países de Europa y América sobre temas filosóficos, sociales y educacionales, y ha obtenido varios galardones académicos internacionales.

Se ha especializado en los últimos años en el estudio económico del Derecho y en el análisis económico de las opciones públicas (public choices). Además, en Religiones Comparadas.

En el año 2002 la Universidad Francisco Marroquín le concedió un Doctorado Honoris Causa en Filosofía. Y en 2004, el Premio Robert Nozick por excelencia académica.

Volda Ann Lawrence – Guyana
Parliamentarian Administrator, People's National Congress Reform

Lira Goswami – India
Senior Church Counsel, Associated Law Advisors

Lira Goswami, Partner – Associated Law Advisers

Lira Goswami has a degree of law from Delhi University, with a Masters degree from Columbia University, New York. She is a founder partner of Associated Law Advisers, a law firm with offices in Delhi and Mumbai.

With over 20 years of experience in international transactional work, Lira Goswami regularly advises multinational clients, banks and other entities doing business in India on various issues including mergers and acquisitions, corporate and securities laws, regulatory environment, private banking, trusts etc. She also has a long association with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and has provided legal assistance to the Church and its affiliate entities in India.

Lira Goswami is regular speaker on legal, trade and investment issues and has written articles on diverse subjects including Foreign Exchange Regulations; Law and Morality - Reflections on the Bearer Bonds case; Legal Obligation and Civil Disobedience etc. She is on the Board of several companies including the subsidiaries of Kellogg and Mars in India.

Lira Goswami also has a keen interest in art, films and theatre.

Tahir Mahmood – India
Professor & Doctor, Amity University Institute of Advanced Legal Studies

Eiichiro Takahata – Japan
Professor, Nihon University

Nashat Mohammad Abd AIRahman Akhras – Jordan
His Honor Judge Dr. Court of First Instance

Ibrahim Khalil Dabbour – Jordan
Priest Doctor

Jamal H.D. Haroon – Jordan
His Honor Judge Dr.

Karim Pharaon – Jordan
Justice, Supreme Court of Justice

Abdul Hamid Ahmad Al Sa'ad Salameh – Jordan
Judge, Court of Appeals

Young Jae Suh – Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
Doctor and Senior Partner, Lee International and Law Group

Manapbekovich Murataliev – Kyrgyzstan
Leading Specialist of the State Agency on religious Affairs

Mukimzhan Murzakulov – Kyrgyzstan

Liga Biksiniece – Latvia
Head of Discrimination Prevention Department

Carl Ingram – Marshall Islands
Chief Justice of the High Court

Sabino Oliveros Angeles – Mexico
Coordinador de Asesores del Subsecretario de Poblacion

Eduardo Gerardo Rodriguez Garnica – Mexico
Subdirector de Enlace de la Direccion

Norma Patricia Maldonado – Mexico
Lic. en Derecho y Ciencias Sociales, Legal Department of the Direction of Religious Associations

Raul Gonzalez Schmal – Mexico
Master in Law, Universidad Iberoamericana

Diana Barrera Vasquez – Mexico
Subdriectora de Atencion a Asociaciones

Sukhbaatar Shirchin – Mongolia
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs of Mongolia

Tore Lindholm – Norway
Associate Professor, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights

Ruben Candia Amarilla – Paraguay
Attorney General, Ministerio Publico

Edagr Eligio Villalba Riquelme – Paraguay
Defensor del Pueblo Adjunto, Defensoria del Pueblo

Walter Alban – Peru
Abogado, Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru

Juan Bautista Bardelli – Peru
Magistrate, Tribunal Constitucional of Peru

Guillermo Garci Montufar – Peru
Professor, Universidad de Lima

Manuel Sanchez-Palacios – Peru
Justice, Supreme Court, President Civil Chanber

Juan Carlos Valderrama – Peru
President, Institute of Ecclesiastical Law

nina Vitalievna Volodina – Russia
Professor, Institute of Internal Affairs

Aleksander Gavrilovich Zaluzhniy – Russia
Co-Chairman, Council on Independent Expert Analyses

Years of Education

1977 – Higher Military and Political Institute of Engineers and Communication Troops in Donetsk City, Military and Political Speciality of Communication Troops;

1994 – Post-Graduate Course of the Institute of Philosophical Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Speciality on “History and Theory of Religions”;

1998 – State University of Vladimir, Speciality on “Jurisprudence”;

2002 – Short-Term Training at the Russian Academy for the State Service affiliated to the President of the Russian Federation, Training Program in Principles of State Policy in the Field of Freedom of Conscience and Religion.

Periods of Professional Experience

1973-2000 – Military Service, awarded of six medals;

2000-2002 – Chief Deputy of the Department for Registration of Religious Associations of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. Directly organized supervision over the conformity of the activity of religious associations to the provisions of their Charters and other relative issues;

2002-onwards – Principal Research Officer of the Research Institute of Law and Order affiliated to the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation. Key work relates to the scientific analysis of the issues of relations between state and religious associations, legal issues of ethnic relations, expertise in the state-religion-ethnic relations incl. judicial expert opinion on the issues of counteraction to extremist behavior.

Achievements

1994 – Ph.D Thesis on “Problems of War and Peace in Modern Theology Doctrines of Protestantism”. The basis of the Ph.D encompassed the research findings from several regions of Ukraine, Grodno Region of Byelorussia and Vilnius City.

2005 – LL.D Thesis on “Legal Control and Prosecutor’s Supervision over Relations between State and Religious Associations (Concept. Legislation. Securing of Law Order.)”. Theses of a practical value resulted from the above research were used by:

The State Council of the Russian Federation (Council’s Presidium, Counteracting to Religious Extremism Task Force);

The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation (drafting of the Federal Law on “The Principles of State National Policy of the Russian Federation” and amending the Federal Law on “The Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations”);

The Institute of Law and Order affiliated to the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation;

The Board of Experts for the State Expertise in Religion Issues affiliated to the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation;

The Governor’s Administration of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Region of Yugra;

The Prosecutorial Bodies of the Russian Federation.

Extra Activity

Co-Chairman of Independent Expert Advice Commission of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Established in December, 2005 this Commission is the Russian unique research team capable to conduct integrated and high fidelity analysis in ethnics, religion, social psychology and psycho-linguistics to enable state bodies, scientific institutions, social and other associations, citizens, courts efficiently deal with civil cases related to violations of ethic and cultural rights and freedom of conscience, as also with investigations and consideration of criminal cases by public prosecutors and courts related to stirring up ethnic, religious and social hostility, etc;

Expert of the State Duma Committee on Ethnic, Social Associations and Religious Organizations Affairs;

Secretary of The Board of Experts for State Expertise in Religion Issues affiliated to the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation;

Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Ethnic and Religious Conciliation of the Peoples of Russia Assembly.

In 2004 with the kind assistance of the Research Center “Religion in Modern Society” of the Institute of Integrated Social research of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Foundation for Support of Scientists “Scientific Prospective” published own treatise “Legal Issues of Relations Between the State and Religions in Modern Russia”. This treatise highlights a wide range of problems in building-up state and religion relations in the Russian Federation, legislative regulation in the field of securing citizens’ rights to freedom of conscience and religious associations, legal mechanism of implementation of laws to combat extremist activities. Reviews on this work are available in the journal “Law” and in the Supplement to “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” newspaper “NG-Religions”.

Author of 51 scientific publications on the issues of relations between state and religious associations and ethnic and religious conciliation.

Leposava Karamarkovic – Serbia
Professor, Belgrade Law School

Born in Belgrade in 1941, Mrs. Leposava Karamarkovic graduated Faculty of Law, Belgrade University with honors in 1963 and received "Student of the Generation" title, awarded always to the best student of the class. She spent her entire professional life in the Serbian judiciary. She passed the Bar exam with honors in 1965, and in at the age of 26 was appointed Judge of the Fifth Municipal Court of Belgrade where she worked for five years. In 1972 she became Judge of the Belgrade District Court where she again spent five years of her career. In 1977 she became appointed Deputy Public Defender for the Republic of Serbia. She finished her Master studies at Belgrade Faculty of Law and was awarded the LL.M degree for the Thesis "Joint and Several Liability of the Debtors" in 1984. Mrs. Karamarkovic was an Associate of the Belgrade Faculty of Law, where she held preparation courses for the Bar Exam, and was also the President of the Ministry of Justice Commission for the Bar Exam. She wrote numerous legal articles, actively participated on dozens of legal conferences, was an active member of many working groups for drafting different laws, and published the book "Discussions in the Area of Contract Law". In 1992 she became a Judge of the Supreme Court of Serbia. She was one of the founding members of the Judge Association of Serbia (JAS), where as an active member of the board, during Milosevic's regime she advocated for independence of judiciary and the rule of law. Because of these activities, in July 2000 she was removed from her office, together with a few other colleagues, also activists of JAS. After the fall of Milosevic, she was appointed President of the Supreme Court of Serbia. In that capacity, among general duties, she supported the establishment of the Judicial Training Center, and lobbied for the adoption of the necessary legislation and its implementation in order to set the framework for the independence and reform of the Serbian judiciary. With a goal to improve the efficiency of courts, in 2002 she introduced the idea of alternative dispute resolution in the Serbian judiciary by initiating and organizing the "Settlement Week" Pilot Project. In 2002 she received the award "Reformer of the Year" from the American Bar Association, Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA/CEELI). She resigned from office in March 2003. She lives in Belgrade, where she has written her Doctoral Thesis "Settlement and Mediation", defended in October 2003 on private Law Faculty, University Union, where she was elected for professor of Obligation Law in March 2004. She also teaches Family Law, Inheritance Law and ADR at the same Law School.

Majda Kriskapa – Serbia
Advisor in the Supreme Court of Serbia

Jose Maria Contreras – Spain
Director, "Pluralismo y Convivencia" Foundation

Juan Ramon Ferreiro Galguera – Spain
Subdirector General de Asuntos Religiosos del Ministerio de Justicia

Javier Martinez-Torron – Spain
Professor, Catedratico de Universidad, Universidad Compultense

Richard Kasungu – Tanzania
Commissioner, Presidential Parstatal Sector Reform

Muhammed Sevki Aydin – Türkiye
The Vice President of Religious Affairs

Talip Kucukcan – Türkiye
Associate Professor of Sociology

Talip Kucukcan received an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and a Ph.D. in Ethnic Relations from the University of Warwick. Dr. Kucukcan works on diasporic communities, hybrid identities, citizenship and representation of Turkish and other Muslim minorities in the European public spheres and religion and politics in modern Turkey. He was a Research Fellow at the Center for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick, 1997-1998. Currently he works as an Associate Professor of Sociology at ISAM in Istanbul, Turkey. Prof. Kucukcan authored Politics of Ethnicity, Identity and Religion: Turkish-Muslims in Britain (Ashgate: 1999).

His selected publications include ‘State, Islam and Religious Liberty in Modern Turkey: Reconfiguration of Religion in the Public Sphere’, Brigham Young University Law Review, Volume 2003, No: 2, pp. 475-507; ‘Modes of Belonging: Articulation of Turkish Youth in Diaspora’ in Ayse Lahur Kirtunc, A. Silku, K. W. Rose and M. Erdem (eds.), Selves at Home, Selves in Exile, Proceedings of the Seventh Cultural Symposium, Ege University American Studies Association, ASAT, Publication of The Faulty of Letters, Izmir, pp. 39-48; ‘Articulating identity and belonging: Turkish students’ perception of cultural and religious differences’ Zeitschrift für Turkeistudien, June, No. 1., pp. 125-136; ‘Ethnicity, Identity and Strategies of Conflict Resolution in a British School: Turkish Pupils in a Comprehensive Public School’, Education et Société Plurilingues, No: 6, Juin, pp. 55-66

Ilhan Yildiz – Türkiye
The President of Higher Committee of Religious Affairs

Wilford Andersen – United States

William Atkin – United States

Elizabeth A. Clark – United States
Associate Director, International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU

John P. Colton – United States

W. Cole Durham, Jr. – United States
Susa Young gates University Professor of Law and Director International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU

Thomas Griffith – United States
Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit

Kevin J. "Seamus" Hasson – United States
Founder and Chairman, The Becket Fund

Paul Hyer – United States

Scott Isaacson – United States

Kurt Krieger – United States

David Moore – United States
Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky College of Law

Daniel Payne – United States
Professor and Orthodox Priest

Brett G. Scharffs – United States

Robert Seiple – United States
President, Council for America's First Freedom

Robert T. Smith – United States
Managing Director, ICLRS at BYU

R. Marshall Tanner – United States

Patrick Thurston – United States

J. Clifford Wallace – United States
Chief Judge Emeritus, U.S. Court of Appeals fro the Ninth Circuit

Kevin Worthen – United States

Michael K. Young – United States

Pablo Daniel Abdala – Uruguay
Representative in National Congress

PABLO ABDALA

He was born the 14 of 1966 July

He is Son of Carlos Eduardo Abdala, who was conventional of the National Party, Edile by Montevideo, Vice-president of the Bank of Social Forecast, Secretary of Labor and Social Security and Ambassador of Uruguay before the Republic of Paraguay, where passed away, in an attack perpetrated by error, in 1976.

Political Activity

Militant of the National Party as of 1982 in occasion of the internal elections of that year, in list 8, identified for that instance with letters BAM Writing Secretary of the in favor publication "Retort", in 1985 and 1986. Secretary of Herrerista Youth (1988). First candidate to the Departmental Meeting of Montevideo by list 112 of the Herrerismo, in the general elections of 1989.

Member of the Nationalistic Departmental Commission of Montevideo in period 1990-1995. Second Candidate to the House of Representatives by list 30 of the National Party in the elections of 1994. Conventional Departmental National and of the National Party in period 1995-1999. Member of the Special Commission designated by the Directory Honorable of the National Party for the analysis of the Article of incorporation, work group that elaborated the project of reform approved by the National Convention the 27 of February of 1999. Conventional elect Departmental National and by List 50 of the National Party, in the internal elections of the 25 of April of 1999. Secretary of the National Convention of the National Party (Periods 1999 and 2000). Second candidate to the House of Representatives by List 400 of the National Party, in the national elections of 1999. Editor of the Weekly "Mother country". Conventional elect Departmental National and by list 71 of the National Party, in the internal elections of the 27 of June of 2004.Tercer candidate to the House of Representatives by list 71 of the National Party, in the national elections of 2004, being elect one.

Educational Activity

Professor of Political Science in the Military school (1996-1998).

Sergio Abreu – Uruguay
Senator, Republic of Uruguay

Thao Hai Nguyen – Viet Nam
Attorney at Law, Baker and McKenzie

Nguyen Hai Thao is fully qualified Vietnamese lawyer and currently practicing with the law firm of Baker & McKenzie. Her areas of practice include corporate work, general commercial matters, intellectual property, banking and financing, mergers and acquisitions, and media and broadcasting. She is also advising a

religious organization in establishing its operation and practice inVietnam.

Ms. Thao is an LL.M. graduate of the University of San

Francisco’s School of Law. Prior to the LL.M., she graduated from the Ho Chi Minh City College of Law (LL.B., summa cum laude, 1999), the School of Foreign Trade (B.S., 1999) and the Ho Chi Minh City College of Social Sciences and Humanities(B.A., with honors, 1998).Before joining the Ho Chi Minh City office of Baker & McKenzie, Ms. Thao worked for an import-export firm as well as the Ho Chi Minh City office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.She is a member of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, and the American Chamber of Commerce Ho Chi Minh City Chapter.She speaks Vietnamese, English and some French.

Bui Quang Nhuong – Viet Nam
Expert, International Cooperation Department Government Committee for Religious Affairs