Asia Regional Integration Center

Cyn-Young Park is Director of Regional Cooperation and Integration in the Economics Research and Regional Cooperation Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). During her progressive career within ADB, she has been a main author and contributor to ADB’s major publications including Asian Development Outlook (ADB’s flagship publication), Asia Capital Markets Monitor, Asia Economic Monitor, Asia Bond Monitor, and ADB Country Diagnostic Study Series. She has also participated in various global and regional forums including the G20 Development Working Group, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), ASEAN+3, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). She has written and lectured extensively about the Asian economy and financial markets. Her work has been published in peer reviewed academic journals including the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Journal of Futures Markets, the Review of Income and Wealth, and the World Economy.

Prior to joining the ADB, she served as Economist (1999-2002) at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), where she contributed to the OECD Economic Outlook. She received her Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Economics from Seoul National University.

Albert F. Park is Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Director General of its Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department. He is chief spokesperson on economic and development trends and leads the production of ADB’s flagship knowledge products and support for regional cooperation fora.

Mr. Park has more than 2 decades of experience as a development economist. A well-known expert on the economy of the People’s Republic of China, he has directed a number of large-scale research projects in the country. He has also served as an international consultant for the World Bank and a member of the steering committee for the Asia-Pacific Research Universities’ Population Ageing Hub. Mr. Park has worked on a broad range of development issues including poverty and inequality, intergenerational mobility, microfinance, migration and labor markets, the future of work, and foreign investment.

Mr. Park is Chair Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Economic Policy at HKUST (on leave). Previously, he served as a founding director of HKUST’s Institute for Emerging Market Studies, professor at the University of Oxford, and associate professor at the University of Michigan. He has also held editorial positions at a number of leading economic journals.

A national of the United States, he received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University and his doctorate in applied economics from Stanford University.

Trudy Witbreuk is currently the State Director, NSW State Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In 2021, Ms Witbreuk served as Charge d’Affaires a.i. at the Australian Embassy in Brussels. Ms Witbreuk was previously First Assistant Secretary, Regional Trade Agreements Division, and was the Chief Negotiator for the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. She also led DFAT’s work on trade advocacy and outreach.

Ms Witbreuk has extensive trade policy experience in DFAT, including serving as Australia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva, and as Counsellor Trade Policy in Washington during negotiation of the Australia US Free Trade Agreement. She has also served in a senior role in the Trade and Agriculture Directorate of the OECD.

Pramila Crivelli is an Economist in the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Her main fields of specialization are applied econometrics in international trade policy, regional trade agreements, trade negotiations, rules or origin, non-tariff measures and geographical indications. At ADB, her portfolio also covers APEC and regional public goods.

Prior to joining ADB in November 2020, she was an Assistant Professor at the Goethe University Frankfurt leading the Chair of International Trade. Her work has been published in academic peer reviewed journals including the Journal of International Economics and the World Economy.

She received her PhD from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She accumulated extensive experience in applied economic policy and technical cooperation serving as an Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, researching at the European University Institute and the World Trade Organization, and carrying out consultancies for various clients in Asia and Africa. She has a strong expertise in delivering capacity building and advisory services to governments, public and private institutions, and trade negotiators in multilateral and regional fora.

H.E. Sim Sokheng is currently the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Commerce. He began his government career at the Ministry of Commerce in mid 1998. He has served at the Ministry of Commerce’s management level since 2003, initially as Deputy Head of Division, then in 2008 as Deputy Director of Department of Intellectual Property, followed by the role as Acting Director of Department of International Cooperation in 2012. In January 2015, he was appointed as Director of the Department of Intellectual Property and became the President of the Secretariat of National Committee for Intellectual Property Rights of Cambodia. In May 2016, he was appointed as Director-General for International Trade, and further appointed as Under-Secretary of State of the Ministry of Commerce in November 2018. Since June 2020, he has been appointed as the Secretary of State.

He has been the chief negotiator for regional and bilateral FTAs. He used to be the SEOM Lead for Cambodia, handling trade related affairs under the framework of ASEAN and ASEAN partners, Member of Inter-Ministerial Committee to update the Cambodia Trade Integration Strategy 2013-2018 and 2019-2023, as well as drafting and amending Laws and regulations respectively.

Besides the government working hours, he has taught Intellectual Property Law from mid 2009 to 2016 at the Royal University of Law ad Economics, the Pannasastra University of Cambodia, and has lectured Trade Negotiation Course at the Department of International Studies of the Royal University of Phnom Penh in 2020.

He holds a Master of Laws from Kyushu University, Japan, a Master of Business Administration from the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, a Bachelor of Laws from the Royal University of Law and Economics, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the National University of Management, Phnom Penh.

Pramila Crivelli is an Economist in the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Her main fields of specialization are applied econometrics in international trade policy, regional trade agreements, trade negotiations, rules or origin, non-tariff measures and geographical indications. At ADB, her portfolio also covers APEC and regional public goods.

Prior to joining ADB in November 2020, she was an Assistant Professor at the Goethe University Frankfurt leading the Chair of International Trade. Her work has been published in academic peer reviewed journals including the Journal of International Economics and the World Economy.

She received her PhD from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She accumulated extensive experience in applied economic policy and technical cooperation serving as an Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, researching at the European University Institute and the World Trade Organization, and carrying out consultancies for various clients in Asia and Africa. She has a strong expertise in delivering capacity building and advisory services to governments, public and private institutions, and trade negotiators in multilateral and regional fora.

Jamie Thompson is currently a Principal Policy Analyst in the New Zealand Customs Service Trade Policy team. His current role is as a negotiator for the Customs related chapters in New Zealand Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Most recently, he has been lead negotiator for the Rules of Origin (RoO) chapter in the New Zealand / United Kingdom FTA, and the RoO and Customs Procedures chapters in the RCEP agreement and the upgrade of the [People’s Republic of] China/New Zealand FTA. During his 18 year career in Customs, Jamie has undertaken a range of different roles including project managing the introduction of automated passenger processing into New Zealand airports, co-development and facilitation of a leadership development programme for Pacific Islands customs agencies and, as Manager of the National Training Unit, sponsoring the introduction of e-learning into the Customs’ training framework. In addition, Jamie has been seconded to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to provide thought leadership and draft New Zealand’s first ever National Maritime Security Strategy, and to Massey University to establish and implement the joint venture Customs/Massey University security studies programme.

Jamie has a Masters in Security Studies from Massey University and a Bachelor in Arts from Victoria University (majoring in Political Science, Philosophy and History) and is a graduate of the Advanced Command and Staff Course (Joint) from the New Zealand Defence Force Command and Staff College. Jamie is also a World Customs Organisation accredited diagnostic assessor.

Tham Siew Yean is Visiting Senior Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and Professor Emeritus, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She was formerly Director and Professor of International Trade at Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Her research interests cover trade in goods and services as well as foreign direct investment (FDI). She has a PhD in Economics from University of Rochester, USA.

Jong Woo Kang is Principal Economist at the Economic Research and Cooperation Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He is a seasoned economist with extensive knowledge and experiences on policy and strategic issues. He was senior advisor to the managing director general of ADB and senior economist at Strategy and Policy Department at ADB. He leads the annual publication of Asian Economic Integration Report. Areas of his research interest include regional integration, inclusive growth, macroeconomic and international trade policies, and aid effectiveness. He has published research articles in academic journals such as Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Applied Economics, and Journal of World Trade, and wrote numerous blogs and opinion articles on global macroeconomy and international trade and finance. Before joining ADB, he was director at Ministry of Finance and Economy of the Republic of Korea. He had got his BA in economics and MA in public administration from Seoul National University, and PhD in economics from University of Washington.

Witada Anukoonwattaka, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Trade Policy and Facilitation Section of the Trade and Investment Division in United Nations ESCAP. She has been leading the ESCAP-OECD initiative on Asia-Pacific digital trade regulatory analysis, and being an important driver of various knowledge products and tools of ESCAP supporting evidence-based policymaking for digital and sustainable regional integration, including RIVA (Regional Integration and Value Chain Analyzer), RDTII (Regional Digital Trade Integration Index), and DigiSRII (Digital and Sustainable Regional Integration Index). Her research focuses on AsiaPacific trade and investment policies, global value chains, regional integration, digital trade policies, and interfaces between those and SDGs. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Melbourne, Australia. Email: anukoonwattaka@un.org.

Associate Professor Dr. Piti Srisangnam Director, ASEAN Studies Center, Chulalongkorn University Assistant Professor of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University

2019 Royal Thai Government Scholarships Association Award: Rising Star 2021 Dongfang Scholars. Peking University. [People’s Republic of] China.

Dr. Piti Srisangnam holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from the University of Melbourne (Australia), and an M.A. degree in International Economics and Finance from Chulalongkorn University (Thailand). He has been teaching International Economics and Microeconomics for bachelor and master degree students at Chulalongkorn University since 2002.

He has been Deputy Director for Academic Affairs of the Centre for European Studies from 2010 to 2012 and Deputy Director for Academic Affairs of the ASEAN Studies Center in 2012, both at Chulalongkorn University, before he became Director of the Center in 2013.

Rupa Chanda is currently the Director of Trade, Investment and Innovation at UNESCAP., Bangkok She is on leave from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore where she has been a Professor of Economics for over 25 years. She has earlier worked as an Economist at the IMF and also briefly served as Head, UNESCAP Subregional Office for South and South-West Asia in New Delhi. Prof. Chanda received her PhD in Economics from Columbia University and her Bachelor’s from Harvard University. She taught Macroeconomics and International Trade at IIM Bangalore and has received teaching awards. Her research interests include the WTO, trade in services, regional integration and migration. She has undertaken research and professional assignments for international and Indian organizations and has published extensively in the form of books, journal articles, book chapters, and reports. She is active professionally as a research guide, reviewer, and has been a member of several government and industry expert committees in India. She was member of the WHO’s Review Committee on the functioning of the International Health Regulations (2015–16) and the WHO’s Expert Advisory Group, International Recruitment of Health Personnel (2019–20).

Hideyasu Tamura has been serving as Senior Director for Economic Partnership & Regional Integration at the Trade Policy Bureau of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) since July 2018. He leads METI’s international policy operations especially those related to Asia Pacific region, including FTA negotiations (e.g., Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), [People’s Republic of] China-Japan-Korea Trilateral FTA, and Japan-United States Trade Agreement) and planning/coordination for regional cooperation frameworks such as East Asia Summit (EAS).

Joining the Ministry in 2000, Mr. Tamura has mainly taken charge of various international policy areas, including climate change negotiation (Principal Deputy Director at Environmental Policy Division), establishment of Global Forum on Excess Capacity on Steel (Principal Deputy Director at Metal Industries Division) and trade negotiations (several divisions at Trade Policy Bureau). Also, he served as Special Advisor to the Minister for Asia and Chief Representative for AEM-METI Economic and Industrial Cooperation (AMEICC) Secretariat at the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) office in Bangkok, Thailand (2009–2012).

After engaging in various international economic policy affairs, Mr. Tamura has engaged in Fukushima Reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, as Director for Planning and Coordination at Fukushima Reconstruction Promotion Group attached to Minister’s Secretariat (2016–2018).

Mr. Tamura is a graduate of the Economics Department at the University of Tokyo (2000). He also studied in the United States, earning a Master of Arts in Law & Diplomacy (MALD) degree at Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University (2006).

Carrie Suen is the Senior Advisor at Ant Group, where she is responsible to drive our global policy objectives and though leadership of Ant’s international key businesses to bring more inclusive, green and sustainable changes to the ecosystem.

Carrie is a seasoned lawyer and has experience in wide range of subject matters ranging from fintech regulatory, corporate governance, M&A, equity offerings to listed companies’ compliance. Since joining Ant in 2014, Carrie has been at the forefront of the global digital payment and regulatory development, where she accumulated practical insight of the market pain points. Carrie has been involved in regular direct communications and dialogues with regulators/government and international organizations such as the WEF, to help shape the policy landscape globally. Under her leadership, Ant’s International Legal team grew fourfold from 2017-2020, supporting over 100 markets/regions.

Carrie is currently a member of the sub-committees of the Singapore Fintech Association, to drive a more friendly environment for the Cyber Risk and Regtech ecosystem in Singapore and the region. She is also a member of the advisory board of the Emerging Payments Association Asia which strives to be the industry voice of the financial and Fintech players on emerging trends and issues in Asia Pacific region.

Ronald Antonio Butiong oversees and coordinates ADB’s overall regional cooperation and integration (RCI) operations by providing relevant strategic and technical advice. He develops and maintains thematic policies, strategies, operational plans, and directional papers to guide bankwide regional cooperation and integration work and ensures alignment with ADB’s Strategy 2030.

Mr. Butiong has over 25 years of professional experience working on regional cooperation and integration and country programming. He joined ADB in February 2004 as a Programs Specialist - Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) in the former Mekong Department. He progressed to Senior Regional Cooperation Specialist and GMS Unit Head, Southeast Asia Department (SERD) in June 2008, and in February 2010, transferred to the Central and West Asia Department (CWRD) to head the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Unit. He was promoted to IS6 in CWRD in December 2010, and in October 2012, he was transferred to South Asia Department (SARD) to head the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Unit. In April 2016, he was promoted to the position of Director of the Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division (SARC), SARD.

Mr. Butiong was a consultant responsible for various technical assistance projects promoting subregional cooperation in ADB’s developing member countries. He was Assistant Vice President and Head of Investments of the Trust Banking Group of the erstwhile Far East Bank and Trust Company (FEBTC) in the Philippines.

Mr. Butiong holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics from Louisiana State University, United States, and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics from De La Salle University, Philippines in 1985. He also holds a Certificate in FEBTC-Executive Development Program from the Asian Institute of Management, Philippines.

Luong Hoang Thai is currently the Director General of Multilateral Trade Policy Department - Ministry of Industry and Trade. In addition to managing the department, Thai represent Vietnam at ASEAN Senior Economic Officials Meetings (SEOM) and APEC Senior Officials Meetings (SOM). He was also deeply involved in negotiations of ASEAN FTAs, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and the Vietnam-European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

In 1995, he graduated from Foreign Trade University. In 2002, he graduated with a master’s degree of the international business master’s program from Lancaster University, UK.

He is an expert in the field of international trade policy.

Anna Maria Rosario Diaz-Robeniol is currently a Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of ASEAN and the Deputy Secretary-General for the ASEAN Economic Community. Prior to this, she was the Director of the Market Integration Directorate under the ASEAN Economic Community Department of the ASEAN Secretariat and, even prior, the Head of the External Economic Relations Division of the ASEAN Secretariat. Before rejoining the ASEAN Secretariat in 2018, Anna was the Assistant Secretary for Trade Policy and Negotiations at the Department of Trade and Industry, Philippines (2016-2018). During her tenure as Assistant Secretary, Anna was the Philippines’ chief negotiator for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and other trade negotiations involving the Philippines. She was the country’s Senior Economic Officials Meeting (SEOM) lead and chaired the said meeting during the Philippines’ chairmanship of ASEAN in 2017. She likewise coChaired the Joint Committee for the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

All in all, Anna spent almost 15 years as an ASEAN Secretariat officer, during which she facilitated the completion of negotiations and signing of all the ASEAN Free Trade and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements, including the RCEP Agreement signed in 2020. Anna represented the ASEAN Secretariat in various regional and international forums and led the ASEAN Secretariat team in supporting the implementation of ASEAN FTAs.

Anna has vast experience in trade policy and negotiations. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics degree from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and has a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Relations and Development from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. She has a Master’s degree in Public Management, which she obtained as a Lee Kuan Yew Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and the Harvard Kennedy School at the Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Cyn-Young Park is Director of Regional Cooperation and Integration in the Economics Research and Regional Cooperation Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). During her progressive career within ADB, she has been a main author and contributor to ADB’s major publications including Asian Development Outlook (ADB’s flagship publication), Asia Capital Markets Monitor, Asia Economic Monitor, Asia Bond Monitor, and ADB Country Diagnostic Study Series. She has also participated in various global and regional forums including the G20 Development Working Group, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), ASEAN+3, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). She has written and lectured extensively about the Asian economy and financial markets. Her work has been published in peer reviewed academic journals including the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Journal of Futures Markets, the Review of Income and Wealth, and the World Economy.

Prior to joining the ADB, she served as Economist (1999-2002) at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), where she contributed to the OECD Economic Outlook. She received her Ph.D. in Economics from Columbia University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Economics from Seoul National University.