Kautilya Economic Conclave (coming Soon)

His Excellency Abdullah Hameed is Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Maldives and a veteran diplomat with over three decades of public service. He previously served as Ambassador of the Maldives to Saudi Arabia and as Permanent Representative to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. His career spans diplomacy, foreign policy, international relations and institutional development.

Abhijeet Singh is Associate Professor of Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics and Global Co-Chair of the Education Sector at J-PAL. His research focuses on education systems and public service delivery, with extensive work evaluating education policies in India through field experiments. His interests include education technology, public-sector management, school access and inclusive education policy.

Albert F. Park is Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank and Director General of its Economic Research and Development Impact Department. He is a leading development economist specialising in China and emerging Asia. His research spans poverty and inequality, migration, labour markets, microfinance, foreign investment and the future of work.

Alicia García Herrero is Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis CIB and Senior Fellow at Bruegel. She is also Adjunct Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and advises the Spanish government on economic affairs. Her expertise centres on Asian economies, China, international finance, economic policy and geopolitical developments affecting global markets.

Amartya Lahiri is Royal Bank Professor of Economics at the University of British Columbia. He previously held positions at UCLA and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and served as Director of CAFRAL, a policy think tank promoted by the Reserve Bank of India. His research focuses on macroeconomics, international economics, development, financial crises and inequality.

Amélie de Montchalin is First President of the Cour des comptes of France and President of the UN Board of Auditors. She previously served as France’s Minister for Ecological Transition, Minister for Public Transformation and European Affairs. An economist by training, her expertise spans public finance, economic policy, climate finance, European affairs and public-sector reform.

Dr. Alan Bollard is Chair of New Zealand’s Tertiary Education Commission and Governor of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia. He previously served as Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Secretary to the Treasury and Executive Director of APEC. His expertise spans monetary policy, economic governance, Asia-Pacific economic relations and public policy.

Dr. Vera Songwe is Chair and Founder of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility and a leading economist specialising in development finance and global economic policy. She has served as Senior Advisor to the Bank for International Settlements and held senior roles across international institutions. Her work focuses on climate finance, financial stability, sustainability and economic transformation.

Dr. Yerlik Karazhan is CEO of the Central Asia Climate Foundation (CACF), the Project Office for Central Asia on Climate Change and Green Energy. He works on climate transition, green energy, policy and international partnerships across Central Asia. He is also a member of the High-Level Empowered Board on Green Transition established by the Observer Research Foundation.

Rajiv Gauba is a former Cabinet Secretary, Government of India. Belonging to 1982 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), he brings extensive experience in governance and administrative reforms, and conceptualization and implementation of transformative national initiatives.

Throughout his career in civil service, he has played a pivotal role in policy formulation and execution, driving impactful reforms across a wide range of sectors. His contributions in ensuring effective implementation of flagship programs and strategic priorities are widely acknowledged.

He has held several senior leadership positions, including Cabinet Secretary, Union Home Secretary, Secretary in the Ministry of Urban Development, and Chief Secretary of Jharkhand.

Shri N.K. Singh, President, Institute of Economic Growth is a prominent Indian economist, academician, and policymaker. He is currently Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission, a body established under the Indian Constitution to oversee revenue sharing and other federal fiscal policy matters. Prior to this position, he presided as Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Review Committee (FRBM), responsible for setting targets for the government to reduce fiscal deficits. He also served as a member of the Upper House of the Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, from 2008 to 2014, during which time he contributed to several prominent Parliamentary Standing Committees including the Public Accounts Committee, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Human Resource Development.

Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran is the 18th Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India. Previously, he worked as an economist, author, teacher and consultant, with extensive experience in macroeconomic and financial markets research at international financial institutions in Switzerland and Singapore. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a management diploma from IIM Ahmedabad.

Winston Fritsch is Emeritus Trustee at CEBRI, Brazil’s leading public policy think tank. A Brazilian economist and former Secretary of Economic Policy at Brazil’s Ministry of Finance, he has also served as Dean at PUC-Rio and held senior financial-sector positions. His current work focuses on climate finance, macroeconomics, sustainable investment and innovative financing for developing economies.

Wolfgang Münchau is Director and Co-Founder of Eurointelligence, providing analysis on the euro area for investors and policymakers. He is a columnist for UnHerd and previously served as Associate Editor and columnist at the Financial Times. A prominent European economic commentator, his work focuses on European economic policy, monetary affairs and the political economy of Europe.

Yang Yao is Professor and Dean of the Di-shui-hu Advanced Finance Institute at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Visiting Professor at Peking University. He previously served as Dean of Peking University’s National School of Development. His research focuses on political economy, economic transition, development in China and political philosophy.