Deepening Linkages between South Asia and Southeast Asia

Martin Raiser is the World Bank’s Vice President for the South Asia Region, where he  manages Bank relations with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and oversees a portfolio of projects, technical assistance and financial resources worth almost US$55 billion.

Prior to this role, Mr Raiser served as the WB’s Country Director for China and Mongolia, and Director for Korea. Mr Raiser has also held positions as the Country Director for Brazil, Türkiye, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova as well as Country Manager in Uzbekistan. 

Iqbal Singh Sevea is the fifth director of the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore (NUS).  He is also a visiting associate professor with the Department of History at NUS.

His core research focuses on South Asian politics, social and political thought, and governance. Before joining ISAS, he was an associate professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel. He is the current Vice-President of the American Institute of Pakistan Studies and has also served on the committee of the American Institute of Indian Studies.

Amitendu Palit is Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead (Trade and Economics) at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. He is an economist specializing in international trade and investment policies, FTAs, supply chains, connectivity, cross-border data flows and the Indian economy. He sits on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Trade and Investment.  Earlier, he worked for several years in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and in the Ministries of Industry and Civil Supplies. 

Rupa Chanda is currently the Director of Trade, Investment and Innovation at UNESCAP, Bangkok. Earlier, she was the Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore for over 25 years. She has also worked as an Economist at the IMF and served as the Head, UNESCAP Subregional Office for South and South-West Asia in New Delhi. Professor Chanda received her PhD in Economics from Columbia University and her Bachelors’ Degree from Harvard University. Her research interests include the WTO, trade in services, regional integration, and migration.

Swarnim Waglé is the Chief Economic Advisor at the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific (RBAP) in New York. He leads work on strategy, policy and partnerships covering 36 countries. Between 2014 and 2018, Dr. Waglé served the National Planning Commission (NPC) in the Government of Nepal for three years, first as Member and then as Vice-Chair. He has worked as an international development professional for more than 20 years, including as Senior Economist at The World Bank in Washington, DC and UNDP offices in Hanoi, Colombo and New York.

Dr. Waglé is Chairman of the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS), a South Asian policy think tank. He sits on the Senate of Kathmandu University and advises several non-profit organizations.

Cecile Fruman is Director, Regional Integration and Engagement in the South Asia Region. She is responsible for fostering collaborative activities amongst SAR countries and managing partnerships and engagements with SAR and global development partners.  Previously, Cecile was Senior Manager for Financial Intermediary Funds and Partner Relations in the Development Finance Vice-Presidency.

Nora Carina Dihel is a Senior Economist in the Macroeconomics and Fiscal Management Global Practice of the World Bank.  She has previously worked in the Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice focusing on trade issues in Eastern and Southern Africa. Prior to joining the World Bank in 2008, Nora worked in the Chief Economist Unit of the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission and the OECD Trade Directorate. She has published on the economic impact of services reforms, regional integration and South-South linkages. Her most recent trade publication, the Unexplored Potential of Trade in Services in Africa, was launched in June 2016 in Addis Ababa. Nora has a Doctorate Degree in Economics from the Helmut Schmidt University, Germany.