Webinar on inclusive diversification and energy transition

Miho Shirotori is the Acting Director of the Division on International Trade and Commodities (DITC) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Miho also leads a team of experts that assess how trade agreements, trade in services, and the creative economy contribute to inclusive and sustainable economic diversification.

Her expertise includes “equitable” trade in agriculture for least developed countries, low-income countries, and net food-importing developing countries.

Miho represents UNCTAD in global conferences and various inter-agency activities, including the UN inter-agency task force that monitors the implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Plan for the Financing for Development.

Hongpeng Liu is the Director of the Energy Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). 
Mr Liu is leading the energy team in ESCAP to promote regional cooperation on energy transition in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. 
His work ranges from organizing intergovernmental meetings/policy dialogues, developing knowledge products and providing technical assistance to support member States on sustainable energy development in Asia and the Pacific. 
 

Clovis Freire Junior is Chief, Commodity Research and Analysis Section, Commodities Branch, of the Division on International Trade and Commodities of UNCTAD in Geneva. He is an Economist specialized in economic diversification and strategies for building productive capacities in developing countries. His work supports the structural transformation and sustainable development of commodity-dependent developing countries. He has over 20 years of work experience in the United Nations in programmes related to commodity dependence, least developed countries, technology and innovation for development, and disaster risk reduction. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering from the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA), Brazil, a Master’s degree in Computer Sciences from the University de Brasília (UnB), an MBA in Strategic Management of Information Systems from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), Brazil, and a PhD in Economics from the Maastricht University, in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Taro Boel is currently an Associate Economic Affairs Officer working in the Commodities Branch, Division on International Trade and Commodities of UNCTAD.

He has been involved in a project designed to foster local content in the oil and mining sector through developing linkages between the Transnational companies and the local private sector especially in Angola, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of Congo. He has also conducted research on the access of smallholder farmers to the international markets (UNCTAD Commodities and Development Report 2015) as well as the contribution of diamonds revenues to economic development in Botswana and Sierra Leone (UNCTAD Commodities and Development Report 2017). 

Previously, he worked for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) based in Addis Ababa (2008-2012). During this period, he contributed to many substantive reports, including the Economic Report on Africa 2009 “Developing African Agriculture Through Regional Value Chains”, the “Sustainable Development Report on Africa” and the Seventh African Development Forum on Climate Change.  He penned and presented a paper titled “risk management strategies and labour productivity in rural Africa” at the Center for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) located at Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

He graduated in development economics from the “Université d’Auvergne” in France and successfully passed the National Competitive Examination (NCE) of the United Nations while he was an external collaborator with the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva.
 

Kyunghoon Kim is an Associate Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) where he is analysing the political economy and industrial policies of Asia’s developing countries. He holds a PhD in Development Studies – Political Economy from King’s College London and his thesis focused on the role of state-owned entities in economic development. Prior to his PhD, he received a master’s degree from LSE and worked at the Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI) covering the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) for six years. His recent publications include journal articles in Structural Change & Economic Dynamics, Competition & Change, Journal of Contemporary Asia, and the Pacific Review. 
(https://www.lowyinstitute.org/people/contributor/bio/kyunghoon-kim)
 

Rachmi Hertanti is a Researcher at Transnational Institute (TNI), in Jakarta, Indonesia. Rachmi is a lawyer and has a background in International Trade Law from the Master's School of Law at The University of Indonesia. She has been involved in several just trade policy advocacy and campaigns since 2011 with a focus on  Intellectual Property Rights on seeds and medicines, Investment treaties and corporate lawsuits, and digital trade, including trade-related impacts on energy and raw materials.

Yin Shao Loong is the Deputy Director of Research at Khazanah Research Institute, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He focuses on industrial policy, climate change, and future technologies. He spent a decade working in federal and state government, and another decade in civil society and academia. Shao Loong holds a BSc in Chemistry and an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College, London and an MA in Cultural Studies from Goldsmiths College, London.

Suba is the Chief of Section of Financing for Development at UN ESCAP, which seeks to accelerate the flow of sustainable finance within the Asia Pacific region, both by sovereigns and by private issuers and investors. Additionally, the Financing for Development section seeks to inform and influence governments and regulators to drive the appropriate enabling frameworks to achieve greater financing for development in the region, with a particular focus on climate, nature, and energy transitions. Before joining ESCAP, Suba was the Head of Private Sector Development/Investment at the economic consultancy Nathan Associates and Programme Manager at UNDP for the “Business Call to Action” programme. She holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Bsc in Government and Economics from the London School of Economics.