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      Christine Engstrom

      Christine Engstrom

      Director General

      Asian Development Bank

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      As Director General of Sectors Department 3 (SD3), Ms. Engstrom oversees the bank’s operations in finance, human and social development, and public sector governance.

      Ms. Engstrom was previously the Director ADB’s Private Sector Financial Institutions Division for approximately ten years managing a team supporting financial institutions through loans, equity, guarantees, and technical assistance throughout Asia for business lines including trade finance, agri-finance, small and medium-sized enterprises, mortgage lending, and leasing. She also started the Women’s Finance Exchange (WFX) platform to support financial institutions’ outreach to women through digital solutions.

      Prior to ADB, Ms. Engstrom worked at Fannie Mae for five years, primarily in the capital markets group. She has also held positions at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the International Finance Corporation in Washington, D.C. in the South Asia group.

      Ms. Engstrom has an MBA from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in international affairs from the University of Virginia. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in Seattle.

      Speaking at SFF 2026

      • 1:15–1:45pmFri 20 NovCatalyst StageHall 3, Singapore EXPOOpen

        Others

        Asia’s Interoperable Green Economy: The Leap from National to Regional

        Catalyst StageHall 3, Singapore EXPOOpen

        About this session

        Sustainability data is no longer just a reporting requirement. As the impacts of climate change become more pronounced, trusted data on ESG performance will increasingly shape who companies buy from, who banks finance, and where capital flows. · But sustainability data remains difficult to generate, difficult to exchange, and difficult to translate into the commercial decisions it ought to inform. SMEs, which make up the overwhelming majority of businesses across Asia, often lack the motivation, time, resources and financial capacity to get started. Those that do face fragmented requirements, limited guidance and repeated requests for similar information from different customers, financiers and regulators. Across Asia, governments, development institutions, and major private-sector fintechs are rising to the challenge. o In Singapore, the public and private sectors are collaborating on common digital infrastructure that underpins nationwide activation of “queen bees” and their supply chains, under the Green 100 movement. o The Philippines is similarly exploring how publicly listed companies can mobilise suppliers for Scope 3 reporting, ahead of their mandatory Scope 3 timelines; o India is examining how inclusive and simplified disclosures can enhance SMEs’ access to green marketplaces globally and strengthen access to green trade financing from banks. A common ambition cuts across these efforts – the shared desire to move from reporting towards reusable economic infrastructure, in which trusted sustainability data is generated once, but put to work repeatedly across compliance, supply chain, procurement, and financing use cases. · This dialogue brings together the SEC Philippines, ADB, and RXIL to explore the steps needed to make this transition real. Who builds the rails? What gets businesses onto them? Where does public infrastructure end and private innovation begin? And can these emerging national approaches ultimately connect to forge a more interoperable green economy across Asia?