A distinguished diplomat, Neelam has been the Indian Ambassador to Denmark and Ivory Coast with concurrent accreditation to several West African countries. She has also served in Indian embassies in Washington D.C., Bangkok and Rome. Her last assignment was as Consul General in New York.

Liaising with the U.S. congress on strategic issues in Washington DC was among her most challenging assignments. During her tenure in the Ministry of External Affairs, she was Joint Secretary for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Maldives. At different times she has been on the desk for South East Asia and the Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa and Bhutan. Ambassador Deo has a Master’s degree from the Delhi School of Economics. She is currently on the board of Breakthrough (a human rights organization), Oxfam India and Morgan Stanley Mutual Fund. She writes for several mainstream publications, and is an occasional commentator for mainstream television news channels.

In 2011 Ambassador Deo co-founded Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations and continues in the position of Director.

Courtney Fingar is the editor of fDi Magazine, overseeing all elements of editorial content for the specialist bimonthly publication and its online portal, www.fDiIntelligence.com. As a journalist, she interviews political and business leaders about economic and investment issues, and contributes features and in-depth special reports to the magazine, such as a series of widely acclaimed investment guides based on her on-the-ground reporting from Iraq in 2009, 2010 and 2011. She also has extensive public speaking experience, having chaired conferences, moderated panels and made presentations to large audiences. She is a regular panellist at key international events, and has appeared on television and radio in dozens of countries as a commentator on international investment.

Before joining fDi in 2004, she served as the editor of Trade & Forfaiting Review, a London-based magazine focusing on trade finance. She worked previously in Washington, DC, first as a writer for an environmental news service and later as an editor for Global Business magazine, which reported on international trade and investment for a US executive audience.Ms Fingar has a BA in journalism from the University of Alabama in the United States and an MSc in International and European Politics, with a special focus on political economy and trade issues, from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

fDi Magazine is the flagship publication for fDi Intelligence, the Financial Times’ dedicated unit specialising in greenfield crossborder investment, and is read by senior-level executives at multinational corporations responsible for global expansion decisions.