Thomas Farole is a Lead Economist in the Europe & Central Asia Sustainable Development Practice Group, where he has been leading development of the regional climate and green transition strategies. Prior to that he worked in the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice, focusing on the global jobs and economic transformation agenda, as a country economist for Botswana, and as an economist in the global Trade Unit. Tom has written extensively on issues of global value chains, trade and investment, and local and regional economic development, and has authored two books on special economic zones. He holds a PhD in Economic Geography and an MSc in Local Economic Development from the London School of Economics (LSE), and a BSc in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.