Pramila A. Crivelli is an economist at the Economic Research and Development Impact Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). She also currently works on a short-term assignment in ADB’s Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division of the Central and West Asia Department. Her main fields of specialization include applied econometrics, international trade policy, negotiations, and implementation of regional trade agreements, particularly in the areas of market access and rules of origin. At ADB, her current work also covers digital trade policy, aid for trade, LDC graduation, and digital services. Before joining ADB in November 2020, Dr. Crivelli was an assistant professor at the Goethe University Frankfurt, where she led 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. With strong expertise in applied economic policy and technical cooperation, she has served as an economic affairs officer at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, a researcher at the European University Institute, and the World Trade Organization. Dr. Crivelli has extensive experience in delivering capacity-building and advisory services to governments, public and private institutions, and trade negotiators in multilateral and regional fora. She has also carried out consultancies for various clients in Asia and Africa. She received her PhD in economics from the University of Geneva.

Stefano Inama is a senior trade lawyer and Chief of Technical Assistance in the Division for Africa, LDCs and Special Programmes of UNCTAD. He has more than 30 years of experience in designing, managing, and delivering research and capacity building programs in Asia—Pacific, Africa, and Latin America, with a focus on legal, regulatory and institutional trade and customs issues, including tariff reform, trade law, regional trade agreements, tariff preferences and rules of origin governing market access. He holds masters and LLM degrees from the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium. He is the author of one of the most comprehensive analytical books on rules of origin (Rules of Origin in International Trade, Cambridge University Press 2009) and has co-authored ASEAN Rules of Origin: A Way Forward and The Foundations of the ASEAN Economic Community, Cambridge University Press 2015.

Maes F. Alconcel is an international trade expert, with almost 19 years of experience in promoting and facilitating the participation of MSMEs in international trade, focusing on the Asia-Pacific/ASEAN region. She began her career as an international trade negotiator for the Philippines, and subsequently embarked as the head of the FTAs and International Relations Department of the Singapore Business Federation. Maes holds two Master’s degrees (in Public Administration from the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and in International Trade from the IE University in Madrid, Spain) and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences (Economics and Political Science) from the University of the Philippines.

Atsushi Tanaka is a Deputy Director of the Office of Rules of Origin, Customs and Tariff Bureau, Ministry of Finance of Japan. His career spans more than 20 years in the Customs administration of Japan, involved in various fields of Customs work, including international Customs cooperation and negotiation of trade agreements. He is a World Customs Organization (WCO)-recognized expert on rules of origin, and was posted to the WCO Secretariat in Brussels for 4 years from 2010 to 2014 as a Technical Attaché in the Origin Sub-Directorate where he led the drafting of the WCO Guidelines on Certification and Verification of Origin. Since returning to his home Customs administration in 2014, he has been part of the Japanese delegation to the negotiations of some key mega-FTAs, including the TPP, Japan-EU EPA, and RCEP, as well as overseeing the implementation of rules of origin in the existing FTAs/EPAs.

Jūratė Šidlauskaitė is currently Chief Specialist in the Customs Department of the Ministry of Finance, Republic of Lithuania. As such, Ms. Šidlauskaite has been involved in the following work: (i) arrangement of application of rules of origin and preferential tariff measures; (ii) drafting legislation, providing comments for the EU draft legislation; (iii) consultation and education on origin related issues for customs officials and business society; (iv) coordination and implementation of post verification procedure; (v) participation in risk management in the area of origin of goods; and (vi) participation in projects concerning origin issues.

Pier Paolo Ghetti is a partner at Deloitte and leads the Italian Global Trade Advisory team. He has assisted various multinational and SME companies across different sectors to assess their global supply chain indirect tax model with the aim to be compliant as well as to facilitate the most beneficial customs and international trade position. His experience includes traditional topics such as customs valuation, tariff classification and origin as well as customs processes reviews and optimization, including automation of trade procedures and processes.