Briefing: South Asia and Nepal Development Update, October 2023

Shreekrishna Nepal is a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Government of Nepal. Currently, he heads the International Economic Cooperation Coordination Division. Prior to this, he served as a Joint secretary in the office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Secretary of Ministry of Social Development in Bagmati Province Government.  He has also served as an Advisor to the Executive Director's Office, the World Bank, Southeast Asia Voting Group. Previously, he was the Deputy Director General in the Department of Customs and served in the Ministry of Health and population as a Joint secretary heading Financial Management and Human Resource Division. He has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and master’s degree in Economics from Tribhuvan University, Nepal.

Franziska Ohnsorge is the World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia. In this role, she is responsible for leading the research program on key economic issues in South Asia to inform the policy debate and World Bank lending. Before starting this position, she was the Manager at the Development Economics Vice Presidency where she spearheaded the flagship Global Economic Prospects report. Prior to joining the World Bank, Franziska Ohnsorge worked in the Office of the Chief Economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and at the International Monetary Fund. Her research has been featured in peer-reviewed journals as well as policy publications and has covered a wide range of topics in international macroeconomics and finance, including debt and financial crises, inflation, and monetary policy, as well as growth and informal labor markets. Her work has been widely cited, including in the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.

Mr. Faris Hadad-Zervos is the World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Prior to this, he served as the World Bank Country Manager for Nepal, Country Manager for Malaysia and the Head of the Global Knowledge and Research Hub in Kuala Lumpur. Mr. Hadad-Zervos, a US national, joined the World Bank in 1996 with the Private Sector Development Department. He served as Manager of the Technical Cooperation Program with the Gulf Cooperation Countries (2000-2003), Head of Mission for Iraq (2003-2005), Operations Manager for the West Bank and Gaza (2005-2008), Acting Director for Fragile States in the Operations Department (2010-2011) and Country Manager for Bolivia (2012-2015). In 2008, Hadad-Zervos took a leave of absence from the World Bank to serve as the Deputy Head of the Quartet Office for the Middle East Peace Process, based in Jerusalem. Hadad-Zervos holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from George Mason University, and a Master’s Degree in Finance from George Washington University.

Prof. Dr. Bhola Thapa is the Vice Chancellor of Kathmandu University since January 2021. In the past he has held various academic and administrative positions at Kathmandu University, including Registrar and the Dean of the School of Engineering. He was instrumental in establishing the School of Engineering as the first Quality Assurance and Accreditation (QAA) Certified Engineering institute in Nepal. He is an accomplished Nepalese academician who has made significant contributions to the field of engineering. He has Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering under the Colombo Plan Scholarship of Government of Nepal from Punjab Engineering College, Panjab University, and a Master of Engineering degree from Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Rajasthan, India. his Ph.D. (Dr. Ing) in Sand Erosion in Hydraulic Machinery from the Institute of Energy and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.

Before joining the National Planning Commission, Dr Ramesh Paudel was an Associate Professor of Economics at the Central Department of Economics, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Also, he served as a member of the Board of Trade, Government of Nepal for few years. He holds a doctoral degree in Macroeconomics, focusing on the economic development and international trade, from the Australian National University, and Master’s in economics (Research) from the Wollongong University, Australia. Dr Paudel has an intensive experience in the academia in Nepal and Australia. His research interests include economic growth, human resources development, tourism economics, fiscal and monetary policy, international trade, liberalization and reforms, development financing, foreign direct investment, landlocked economies, structural transformation, regional integration, and macroeconomic issues of development economics.

Mr. Nayan Krishna Joshi is a Country Economist with the Macroeconomics, Trade, and Investment Global Practice (MTI) at the World Bank Nepal Country Office. Within the bank, he has been working on macro-monitoring, fiscal federalism, and the fiscal impact of climate change. Prior to joining the bank in 2019, he worked as a Research Associate in the Socioeconomics program of the South Asia Regional Office of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT International), Nepal. Before this, he worked at the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) as a Senior Economist and the head of the Research Unit. A Nepali national, Joshi holds a PhD in Economics from Wayne State University, USA, and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Pulchowk Campus, Institute of Engineering Nepal. At Wayne State University, he was a recipient of Thomas C. Rumble University Graduate Fellowship and the Mendelson Endowed Award in Economics.

Ms. Aarti Rajya Laxmi Rana is a seasoned banking professional and has contributed more than 2 decades to the Nepalese financial sector.  Currently, she is the Chief Business Officer at Laxmi Sunrise Bank spearheading commercial and industrial credit portfolio of the bank. She is also the Director of Adhyanta Fund Management Limited , PE/VC. She is the executive member of Management Association of Nepal, apex body of management professionals in Nepal. Prior to the merger in July 2023, she was the heading the Human Resource Division and business segment of the bank responsible for resource mobilization, risk asset management and overall growth and management of Sunrise Bank Limited in the capacity of deputy chief executive officer.  Ms. Rana started her banking career in 2002 as the management trainee from Everest Bank Ltd. She has contributed in diverse domain of banking encompassing marketing, retail banking, branch management, digital banking & card, remittance, corporate lending, infrastructure project financing, SME banking including risk management. Besides her professional involvements, Rana is also contributing to the society through her engagements in social club, a charter membership  chair of rotary club of Himalayan golfers currently she is the public image chair of the club.

Ms. Dorothee Lötscher is a specialist for the sustainable development of markets and innovation systems. After engagements for different organisations, she joined the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) in 2014. Today, she works as a first secretary for international cooperation and as programme manager for Employment and Income at the Embassy of Switzerland in Nepal.

Dorothee Lötscher was born in 1979 in Basel, Switzerland. She holds a Master in Geography from the University of Bern, Switzerland, a Master of Advanced Studies in Development Cooperation from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Switzerland, and a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Business Sustainability from the Institute of Business Sustainability in Lucerne, Switzerland. Throughout her career, Dorothee Lötscher worked in various countries and regions in Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia.

Dr. Paras Kharel is Executive Director at South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), a Kathmandu-based think tank. He has a PhD in Economics (University of Melbourne) with specialization in international trade and applied microeconometrics. His publications include two edited volumes on South Asian cooperation/integration, and articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Review of International Economics, International Economics, and East Asian Economic Review.

Dr. Rajan Krishna Panta is Director of Economic Research Department at Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the Central Bank of Nepal. His research interests include macroeconomic policy analysis, financial inclusion and applied econometrics. Currently, he is working on the compilation, analysis and rebasing of consumer price index and salary and wage rate index. Before joining the NRB, he has worked as a Senior Economist in the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group country office in Nepal and he was involved in teaching and supervising Masters’ level students at Tribhuvan University in Nepal. He holds a doctorate degree in economics from the Australian National University.

Mr. Sujan Oli is the President of Society of Economic Journalist of Nepal. In his role, Mr. Oli is actively engaged in promoting excellence in journalism and supporting the growth and development of the profession. Mr. Oli currently serves as the News Coordinator at Capital Nepal Media Group where he contributes to shaping the news coverage and editorial direction of the organization. With a career spanning over a decade, he has become a prominent name in the business and economic journalism. Mr. Oli has a master’s degree in mass communication and journalism.