James Villafuerte is a Senior Economist at the Regional Cooperation and Integration Division in the Economics Research and Regional Cooperation Department of the Asian Development Bank. Prior to joining the ADB, he worked as: a Team Leader of the Asia Regional Integration Center at the ADB; a Senior Economist at the Department of Treasury in Finance in Melbourne Australia; and an Economist at the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management team at the World Bank Office in Manila (2002-2004).

His areas of expertise include macroeconomic forecasting, fiscal strategy, economic surveillance, early warning system, and tracking the progress of Economic Integration in Asia. He contributes regularly to the ADB’s flagship publication—the Asian Economic Integration Report—where he is now leading the preparation of the 2020/21 theme chapter on Digital Platforms: Implications for Developing Asia.

Mr. Villafuerte obtained his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Economics from the University of the Philippines. He has also completed training: a) on General Equilibrium Analysis at the Center of Policy Studies, Monash University; and b) on Global Trade Analysis in Purdue University in Indiana.

Matthias Helble is an economist in the Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department of the ADB in Manila. Previously, he was a Senior Research Fellow and Co-Chair of the Research Department of ADBI in Tokyo. His research interests include international trade and development. His research has been published in numerous scientific journals as well as in flagship reports of international organizations. His publication record also includes nine books, including with Oxford University Press. His columns and policy work have been published and cited by prominent international media. Matthias began his professional career at the World Bank in Washington, DC, before joining the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He then worked as an economist for the World Trade Organization as well as the United Nations. He holds graduate degrees in economics from the University of Tübingen, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (PhD) in Geneva. During his doctoral studies he was a research fellow at Yale University.

Sherry Stephenson was a Senior Fellow with the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in Geneva from 2013 to 2018, where she developed and executed a work program on services, covering multilateral, plurilateral and regional services issues. Prior to the ICTSD, she worked with the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington DC, where she guided the organization during the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations (1995–2004). Before the OAS, Dr. Stephenson was an Advisor to the Ministry of Trade in Indonesia where she assisted the Government in developing its final offer for the Uruguay Round. Previously, she has worked with the OECD, GATT and UNCTAD Secretariats. Dr. Stephenson has published three books and numerous articles. She was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Trade Agenda Council and contributed to its annual reports of 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. She is currently a member of the PECC Services Task Force as well as the T20 Trade Investment and Globalization Task Force, and has contributed to its Policy Briefs on Services.