About Us

The Institute for International Trade (IIT) is a leading institution with a global focus and a reputation for providing academically rigorous and practical trade training, policy advice and technical assistance relating to international trade policy and practice.

We bring together leading academics, experienced trade practitioners and negotiators to address key challenges faced by businesses and governments seeking to expand trade and investment opportunities globally.

IIT has a unique staffing profile and a vast network of associate experts with backgrounds in the fields of international trade, services trade, trade law, trade and economic analysis, trade negotiations, policy research and implementation, and the delivery of technical assistance, development and capacity building programs.

The integration of IIT into the University of Adelaide allows it to engage with trade issues in a multidisciplinary setting, and to draw on a large body of economic, legal, business, innovation and trade-related expertise, by bringing together academics, trade practitioners and negotiators from national governments and international organisations.

We have significant expertise in the development and delivery of customised research and training programs in the area of international trade. In addition, the team has internationally and regionally recognised expertise specifically with respect to measurement of trade policy restrictiveness, services trade and investment policy reform, global and regional value chain mapping and structural reform impact analysis, as well as many aspects of regional economic partnerships and RTAs (rules of origin, non-tariff barriers, trade facilitation, standards, dispute settlement etc).

The Institute has an exceptional track record in building relationships with industry and government partners. We have established strong linkages and collaborations through our contract research and consulting work with many well-recognised national and international partners, including:

  • Learn about our capabilities

    Our multidisciplinary team has the requisite skills and cumulative experience to successfully support the delivery of an ambitious range of projects. Our team has demonstrated experience in:

    • capacity building through human capital development, development of robust trade architecture and regulatory institutions;
    • analysis of services trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI);
    • development of strategic trade policy;
    • evaluation of the effectiveness of global and preferential trade agreements with a view of global supply and value chains;
    • impact analyses of WTO accession, services trade and FDI policy, domestic industry capacity, and regional integration through multilateral trade agreements;
    • trade and development issues, including identification of binding constraints;
    • comparative regional trade policy;
    • analysis of Services Trade Restrictiveness Indicators (OECD STRI) and trade statistics, including Trade in Value Added Data;
    • simulation and modelling of open economies (GTAP, Gravity Modeling, input/output analysis);
    • survey methodologies and conduct of surveys in developing economies;
    • facilitation of a wide variety of high-level conferences, workshops and seminars for the purpose of disseminating research outcomes and advocating for trade.

Institute staff

  • Professor Peter Draper - Executive Director

    Peter Draper

    Peter is Professor, and Executive Director of the Institute for International Trade in the School of Economics and Public Policy, The University of Adelaide, Australia. He holds a Jean Monnet Chair in Trade and Environment and Directs the Jean Monnet Centre on Trade and Environment. He is a board member of the Australian Services Roundtable; and member of the South Australia Committee of the Australia-India Chamber of Commerce. He is also a Director of the Board of Trustees of the International Chamber of Commerce’s Research Foundation; non-resident senior fellow of the Brussels-based European Centre for International Political Economy; and Associated Researcher at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability.

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  • Shandre Thangavelu - Associate Professor

    Shandre

    Associate Professor Shandre Thangavelu is an active researcher on human capital development, technology transfer, foreign direct investment, trade, government infrastructure investment, productivity and economic growth. He has written extensively in technology transfer and economic growth and has published his research in major international journals. His recent publications are in Journal of Economic Development, Empirical Economics, Applied Economics, World Economy, and Journal of Economic Studies. Recently, he was attached as the Head of the Economics Unit, Ministry of Manpower, under the Economist Service to Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Manpower. He has also worked on several international projects commissioned by UNDP, World Bank, ASEAN Secretariat, APEC, and Asian Productivity Organization (APO).

    Associate Professor Shandre Thangavelu is currently the Regional Director (Southeast Asia) at Centre for International Economic Studies, Institute of International Trade. He is also the Managing Editor for Asian Economic Journal (AEJ). He is also a Research Fellow at Leverhulme Centre for Research on Globalisation and Economic Policy (GEP) and Research Associate at Institute of Policy Studies at LKY School of Public Policy at Singapore.

    Thangavelu is also appointed by the Singapore Government to the Governing Board for the Work, Safety, Health Institute (WSHI) of Singapore. He is also the member of the Competition Commission Appeal Board at Singapore.

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  • Sarah Warner - Projects Coordinator

    SW

    Sarah is Projects Coordinator for the Institute for International Trade (IIT). Bringing over 30 years experience of business administration | management, events, marketing and  communications to the team, having worked with various stakeholders, partners, and vendors across different sectors and industries. 

    Sarah is responsible for ensuring in the support the successful delivery of research project objectives and coordinating project activity. Managing and delivering on competing priorities and project timelines, working collaboratively with researchers, academics, University professional staff and key stakeholders. 

    Sarah assists with the development, coordination and implementation of operational plans for these projects, ensuring all aspects are successfully delivered. Managing all project progress, providing financial & budgetary reports. Sarah also plays a key role in IIT's marketing and communication activities, including website and database management, events and webinars organization, and reporting on analytics for communications platforms.

  • Adriana Espejo Sanchez - Research Assistant PhD Candidate

    Adriana

    Adriana is an economist specialising in international trade and gender, at the Institute for International Trade (IIT), where she is also providing support with research projects, business development and project management activities while conducting her Ph.D studies.

    Adriana has over 18 years of demonstrated experience in economic research, consultancy services, project/program management, international development, and contract management. Adriana has worked with large corporate institutions, consulting firms, multilateral entities, government organisations, as well as academic institutions, offering an array of excellent skills in stakeholder management, data analysis, strategic financial planning, management and forecasting, governance, procurement, recruitment, contracting, risk management, quality assurance, business administration and reporting, and working simultaneously with a variety of projects and clients. As project/program manager, Adriana has supported program implementation in the Pacific, Mongolia, Indonesia, and Philippines. These programs are funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Adriana also has experience as teaching and research assistant (postgraduate level) and lecturer (undergraduate level) in microeconomics, macroeconomics, economic research, economic planning, and financial analysis.

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Advisory Board members

  • The Hon Amanda Vanstone AO

    Amanda Vanstone

    Born in Adelaide, Amanda Vanstone studied arts and law at the University of Adelaide and before entering politics worked in the legal area, retailing and small business.

    Amanda entered the Australian Parliament in 1984 and was a Liberal senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007. She was the only female member of the Howard cabinet following the 1996 election that brought the Coalition to power.

    She held several ministerial portfolios in the Howard government including minister for employment, education, training and youth affairs, minister for justice and customs, minister for family and community services, minister assisting the prime minister for the status of women, minister for immigration and multicultural and Indigenous affairs, and minister assisting the prime minister for reconciliation.

    After her resignation from the Senate in 2007, Amanda served as the Australian ambassador to Italy until July 2010. Amanda was a commissioner on the Federal Commission of Audit in 2013-March 2014. She also serves on the boards, councils and committees for various organisations, including Drinkwise Australia, the Adelaide Festival of Arts, Woomera Protected Area Advisory Committee, Lockheed Martin Australia, the University of Adelaide and Vision 2020.

  • Professor Kym Anderson AC

    Kym Anderson

    Kym Anderson is George Gollin Professor Emeritus in the School of Economics at the University of Adelaide (where he has been affiliated since 1984) and an Honorary Professor at the Australian National University’s Crawford School of Public Policy (where he was a Research Fellow 1977-83 and a part-time Professor of Economics 2012-18). In two periods of extended leave he served as deputy head of economic research at the GATT (now World Trade Organization) Secretariat in Geneva (1990-92) and as Lead Economist (Trade Policy) at the World Bank in Washington DC (2004-07).

    He became the first economist to serve on a series of dispute settlement panels at the World Trade Organization (1996-2008). During 2000-05 he was a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Australia’s Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation, and during 2010-17 he served on the Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute (Washington DC), chairing it from 2015. He has also served the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research on its Commission for International Agricultural Research, 2011-14 and as President of its international Policy Advisory Council since 2014 currently serves on the Governing Council of the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology based in Nairobi and, since 2018, on the Advisory Board of Peking University’s Institute of New Rural Development. Since doctoral studies at the University of Chicago and Stanford University, he has published more than 400 articles and 40 books.

    He is a Research Fellow at Europe’s London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research, an Honorary Life Member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, a Fellow of the (American) Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, a Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, a Fellow of the American Association of Wine Economists, a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia, and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. He is a recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Economics degree from the University of Adelaide, and is a Distinuished Alumnus of the University of New England. In 2015 he became a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).
     

  • Mr Maurice Aldo Crotti

    Maurice Aldo Crotti

    Maurice was Managing Director then Chief Executive Officer of the San Remo Group of Companies from 1985 to 2015 and is now the Joint, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, of this still family owned company.

    • Inaugural Board Member, South Australian Economic Development Board, 2002-2006
    • Member, South Australian Export Council, 2003-2005
    • Member, Premier’s Food Council, 1998-2010
    • Member, Premier’s South Australian Development Council, 1994-1995
    • Founding Chairman, South Australian Food and Beverage Exporters Association Inc (now Food South Australia), 1999-2005
    • Director Prime Minister’s Agri(culture) Chain Solutions, 1999-2003 
    • (Part of the Prime Minister’s Supermarket to Asia Initiative)
    • Member, Australian Wheat Board (now Cargill Australia), 1992-1995
    • Member, Board of Governors, Institute for International Trade, University of Adelaide, since 2006
    • Board Member, State Opera of South Australia, 1992-2001
    • Board Member, State Opera Ring Corporation, 1995-1999
    • Board Member, State Theatre Company of South Australia, 1982-1989Graduate of Melbourne University – Master of Business Administration, 1974
    • Graduate of Flinders University – Bachelor of Arts,1971

    Awards and recognition include:

    • Awarded the Honour of the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), January 2018
    • Knighted by the Italian Government with the Honour of Cavaliere, December 2017
    • Recipient, Distinguished Alumnus Award, Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne 2015
  • Ms Nola Watson

    Nola Watson

    Nola Watson is the Deputy President of ACCI, CEO of Business NSW and Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce, Australia
    Previously, Nola was Executive General Manager of Insurance Australia Group with group wide, global responsibility for risk and governance.

    From 2002–2011 she had various executive roles in IAG leading portfolios of Operational Risk, Strategic Partnerships, Government & International Relations, Corporate Affairs, Legal and Customer & Community. Prior to IAG, Nola spent many years in senior executive positions within New South Wales and Commonwealth governments. Amongst other roles, she was part of the executive leadership team for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and also served in a diplomatic position in Washington DC.

    Nola has a broad range of Board and Committee experience, including as Chairman of the NSW Business Chamber, Director of the IAG and NRMA Superannuation Board and Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee. She was also a Director of Australian Services Roundtable, Business for Millennium Development and the State Records Authority of NSW. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

    Nola holds degrees from Sydney University and Australian National University and has business qualifications from INSEAD France and Wharton Business School, USA. She was an Australian Telstra Business Woman of the Year and was awarded the Commonwealth Government Centenary Medal for services to business.

  • Mr Tim Yeend

    Tim Yeend

    Tim Yeend was appointed Associate Secretary in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for trade and investment in November 2021. He has over 30 years experience at the highest levels of government and in the international system, providing strategic direction and vision on trade and related issues.

    Before assuming his current role, Mr Yeend worked at the World Trade Organization as Principal Adviser and Chief of Staff to former Director-General Roberto Azevedo and current Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iwaela. He also led the World Trade Organization’s engagement with G20 Leaders as WTO Sherpa.

    rior to this, Mr Yeend was the Australian Ambassador to the WTO and other international economic organisations in Geneva. He has also worked in a number of senior positions in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including overseas assignments in Switzerland, Indonesia and South Africa. He worked as an adviser to former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer and Trade Minister Mark Vaile. He has also worked in the former Departments of Primary Industries and Energy and Transport.

    Mr Yeend holds a BA (Hons) from the Australian National University as well as postgraduate qualifications from the UK.

  • Professor Fiona Yap

    Fiona Yap

    My main research interests are in public policy and political economy of East and Southeast Asia, where I focus on explaining political behaviours and outcomes across East and Southeast Asia. I am particularly interested in modeling and testing how key players, such as government and citizens, work strategically with one another to achieve large-scale policy success or political outcomes such as growth and development.

    My work combines deep country knowledge of East and Southeast Asia with game-theory, experiments, statistics and mixed case-studies to develop and test predictions, in a field where work has traditionally been single country-study. This has led to visiting and distinguished positions across a number of universities, including Visiting Professor, Yonsei University (Korea), ANU-Indiana Pan Asia Institute Distinguished Scholar  , University of Indiana (Indiana, US), East Asia Instiute (Korea) Fellow  , Keeler IntraUniversity Professor, University of Kansas (Kansas, US), and American Young Scholars and Experts (Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

    Outside of academia, I have worked with the World Bank as a Lead-consultant to develop a general theoretical framework for social protection in Asia and the Pacific; and also led capacity-building workshops with the Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Until April 2022, I was advisory board member of the National Security College , advisory board member of the Tax and Transfer Institute , advisory board member the Korea Institute, elected board member of the Canberra Convention Bureau,  and elected ACT councillor for the Institute of Public Administration Australia ,

    I am currently co-editor at the European Journal of Development Research , co-editor of the Asia and the Pacific Policy Journal , editorial board member for Joural of East Asian Studies Asian Survey Korea Observer, and 21stCentury Political Science Review, and advisory board member of the Indonesian Project .

  • Mr Tim Harcourt

    Tim Harcourt

    Tim Harcourt is the new Industry Professor and Chief Economist at the Institute for Public Policy and Governance (IPPG) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Professor Harcourt specialises in Australia’s economic engagement with the Global Economy particularly Asia, Latin America and Emerging Markets and has worked in both public policy and research roles in International Trade, Labour Markets, Climate Innovation and the Economics of Sport.

    He is passionate about making economics and international trade accessible to the whole community. He is well known for his TV show The Airport Economist about his travels to over 60 countries to see what makes their economies tick and the potential trade opportunities with Australia. The Airport Economist is also a podcast and a best-selling book with a just released sequel The Airport Economist Flies Again!  

    He also hosts the new TV series on China and Australia After the Pandemic. Professor Harcourt joined UTS in April 2021 from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) where he was Professor of Practice in Economics at the UNSW Business School.  He was also previously the first Chief Economist of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) and Research Officer/Advocate with the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), a role first held by Bob Hawke in the 1960s. He has been an Adviser to 2 State Premiers and 3 Federal Cabinet Ministers and an Expert Panel Member to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) on Minimum Wages and Superannuation. He has also been an International Economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and has worked as an Economist in the private sector in USA, UK and Israel. You can find The Airport Economist TV series, podcast, books and blogs at www.theairporteconomist.com and www.footynomics.com.au

  • Mr David Reynolds

    David Reynolds

    David is the Chief Executive of the Department for Trade and Investment (DTI). He drives business investment in the state and facilitates trade in goods and services both interstate and internationally including through 14 international trade and investment offices across the globe. David also develops strategy to ensure the management of the State’s Planning System to support our growing population to maintain our lifestyle.

    David is commercial in his thinking and has a demonstrated substantial record of success in policy advice, financial management, and organisation and executive leadership. As a focused and dedicated leader he has developed and communicated strategy, built teams with a strong performance culture and developed strong relationships across government, industry and community sector organisations.

    David was previously the Chief Executive of the Department of Treasury and Finance which included managing the state economy and budget through the global pandemic while continuing to invest in infrastructure and managing the state’s credit rating. He has also been responsible for diverse functions including Commonwealth-State relations, tax policy, industrial relations and gambling policy issues.

    David completed a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from the University of Adelaide and in 2022 was awarded a Public Sector Medal for his outstanding contributions to economic and financial policy in South Australia. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a National Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration Australia.

    David also sits on a number of Boards to help shape the future of national policy and leadership including:

    CEDA’s National Council on Economic Policy
    Infrastructure SA
    SA Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee

    David is a passionate South Australian driven by helping to grow the South Australian economy through leading and collaborating both within government and with the private sector.

Titleholders

The Institute works with a variety of specialists in the trade arena. Titleholders form a crucial part of the network, bringing a unique blend of practice, experience, and academic excellence to our work.

  • Visiting Fellow Andrew Stoler

    Andrew Stoler

    Andrew Stoler was Deputy Director-General of the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (1999-2002). Earlier, he had a long career (1979-1999) as a negotiator with the Office of the United States Trade Representative, Executive Office of the President, in Washington, DC and Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to joining USTR, he worked on international trade negotiations with the U.S. Department of Commerce.

    From January 2003 until the end of 2011, Mr. Stoler was the foundation Executive Director of the Institute for International Trade at the University of Adelaide.

    He currently serves on the Advisory Committee of the European Centre for International Political Economy and is a member of the International Academic Advisory Board of the United States Studies Centre (USSC) at the University of Sydney.

  • Visiting Fellow Christophe Bellman

    Christopher Bellmann

    Christophe has been working for the last 25 years on trade policy and sustainable development in the context of international negotiations. Since 2014, he serves as adviser to the group of least developed countries (LDCs) and that of the ACP countries (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) in WTO negotiations. He has also worked in different capacities for various international organizations including the WTO, UNCTAD, ECLAC or the OECD.

    He is currently an Associate with IISD’s Energy program, and an Associate Fellow at the Chatham House Hoffmann Centre for Sustainable Resource Economy and serves as a member of the Academic Advisory Council of the Trade Policy Training Centre in Africa (TRAPCA), Arusha, Tanzania.

    Prior to that he worked for the ICTSD, an independent think tank, based in Geneva, Switzerland as head of programmes and as Senior Resident Research

  • Visiting Fellow Jim Redden

    Jim Redden has served on the Australian Trade Minister’s WTO Advisory Committee and has been part of the Australian Government’s official delegation to a number of WTO Ministerial meetings and Global Aid for Trade reviews.  He continues to advise the Australian Government on international trade and inclusive economic issues of concern to developing countries, in particular on Aid for Trade. In addition to jointly running a small consulting company and lecturing into Master Degree courses at the University of Adelaide in trade policy, global business and international aid and development, Jim Redden is the Executive Officer of the Australian Trade and Development Business Network, a private sector organisation which facilitates private-public partnerships for development and advocates for a stronger role for a responsible private sector in global poverty reduction activities.

  • Visiting Fellow Ken Ash

    Ken Ash

    Ken was Director of Trade and Agriculture at the OECD between 2008 and September 2020, having served as Deputy Director since 1999. Ken lead OECD efforts to develop and communicate evidence-based advice to governments with the aim of improving the domestic and international performance of trade, food, agriculture and fisheries policies.

    Prior to joining the OECD Ken had extensive experience in the Government of Canada. As Director General, Economic and Policy Analysis (1995-99) he provided strategic policy advice on agriculture and trade policy issues and on government-wide policy and institutional reforms.

    Ken is currently establishing a consultancy service, offering global insights on international trade and agriculture policies - with a particular emphasis on subsidy reform, value chains, and food systems.

  • Visiting Fellow Milton Churche

    Milton Churche

    Milton Churche left the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 2018 after working on trade policy since 1987. From 1987 to 1994 Milton worked on the Uruguay Round agriculture negotiations and Australia’s chairing of the Cairns Group. He then worked on a range of World Trade Organization (WTO) issues until 2001, including on several WTO disputes.

    From 2002 he was involved in the negotiation of free trade agreements (FTAs): Milton led the negotiations on services and investment in Australia’s bilateral FTAs with Singapore and the United States; and he led the negotiations on all goods-related issues in the bilateral FTA with Malaysia and the regional ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA).

    From 2012 Milton was Australia’s Deputy Lead Negotiator for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations initiated by ASEAN with its FTA partners.

  • Visiting Professor Andreas Freytag

    Andreas Freytag

    Dr. Andreas Freytag is Professor of Economics at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, where he chairs the Schumpeter-Centre, Director of Tutwa Europe, Visiting Professor in the Institute of International Trade at the University of Adelaide and Honorary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch.

    He is also member of the CESifo Research Network, a STIAS Fellow, a Senior Fellow at Kings College’s DAFM, Senior Research Fellow at ECIPE, Brussels, and a Senior Research Associate at SAIIA, Johannesburg; he is associated to the G8 Research Group at the University of Toronto.

    Freytag is on the Academic Board of the German-African Business Association (Afrika-Verein der deutschen Wirtschaft). Freytag has published a number of books and articles in first-class peer-reviewed journals on economic policy, international trade policy, development economics and international policy coordination. He contributes to blogs and has a weekly column on wiwo-online, a German magazine.

  • Professor Emeritus Christopher Findlay AM

    Christopher Findlay

    Professor Christopher Findlay was until October 2018 the Executive Dean of the Faculty of the Professions at the University of Adelaide. Earlier positions include Professor of Economics in the Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University (ANU) (1999 - 2005) and Head of the School of Economics at the University of Adelaide (2005 – 2011). 

    He has a PhD in Economics from the ANU and is also a graduate of the University of Adelaide. He is a Member of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM).

    Findlay’s research interests include Australia’s economic relationships with Asia, especially in the services sector. He is currently vice Chair of the Australian Pacific Economic Cooperation Committee

  • Professor Emeritus Richard Promfret

    Richard Pomfret

    Dr. Richard Pomfret has been Professor of Economics at the University of Adelaide since 1992. Before coming to Adelaide, he was Professor of Economics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC, Bologna (Italy) and Nanjing (China). He previously worked at Concordia University in Montréal and the Institut für Weltwirtschaft at the University of Kiel in Germany. He has also held visiting positions at universities in Australia, Canada, China, France, Italy and the USA, and is an honorary Fellow of the Centre for Euro-Asian Studies at the University of Reading, UK, of Monash University European Centre, of the Centre for Social and Economic Research (CASE) in Warsaw, and of the research centre ROSES-CNRS at Université-Paris I.

    Richard Pomfret has acted as adviser to the Australian government and to international organizations such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and United Nations Development Programme.  In 1993 he was seconded to the United Nations for a year, acting as adviser on macroeconomic policy to the Asian republics of the former Soviet Union.  He has also worked at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris on several occasions while on leave from Adelaide.

    Richard Pomfret was Jean Monnet Chair on Economics of European Intergration from 2017 - 2020 

  • Visiting Senior Lecturer Dr. Lauren Johnston

    Lauren Johnston

    Dr. Lauren Johnston is Visiting Senior Lecturer, Institute of International Trade at the University of Adelaide; Research Fellow, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, Mohammed V University, Rabat, and Research Associate, China Institute, SOAS, University of London.

    Johnston’s research and publishing focus on China’s trade and investment ties, with Africa in particular, and on the domestic and international impacts of population ageing in China. Through New South Economics, a consultancy she founded, she is currently lead consultant for a World Bank research project on impacts for China and the world economy of population ageing in China.

    Lauren is a member of the African Economics and Finance Association Research Committee, and a member of the Chinese Economist Society of the USA and Australia. She has previously worked for the University of Melbourne, the World Economic Forum, World Bank and Overseas Development Institute. She holds a PhD in Economics from Peking University, a MSc Development Economics from SOAS, and a B.A/B.Com from the University of Melbourne. 

  • Visiting Senior Lecturer Catherine Makokera

    Catherine Makokera

    Catherine is an experienced trade negotiator and trade policy expert having worked in the public, private and academic sectors at multilateral and regional levels. She was a diplomat for New Zealand for 10 years. Since relocating to South Africa in 2000 she has been involved in trade policy development and trade negotiations on behalf of the private sector and as a recognised expert. 

    Catherine is an experienced researcher and commentator on economic diplomacy issues with a range of published papers, opinion pieces and blogs. She currently co-teaches an MBA elective on Emerging Economies and Globalisation at the Wits Business School in Johannesburg and is a Tutor for the London School of Economics online course on Business, International Relations and Political Economy.

  • Visiting Fellow Lee Tuthill

    Lee Tuthill

    Lee Tuthill worked at the WTO from 1990 to 2021. At WTO she specialized in GATS, telecommunications/ICT, emerging technologies and digital trade.
    She witnessed the drafting of the GATS and managed the negotiations on the Annex on telecommunications and later on basic telecoms where the Reference Paper on the sector regulatory principles was drafted. She covered WTO e-commerce discussions since their inception in 1998 and continues to keep abreast on how ICT and e-commerce trends relate to the GATS and other WTO agreements.  Before joining the WTO, Ms. Tuthill worked at the U.S. International Trade Commission, Office of Economics, covering all aspects of what was, at that time, the GATT. 

  • Visiting Professor Dr Laura Marquez-Ramos

    Laura

    Dr. Laura Márquez-Ramos is an ARC Grant-Funded Researcher at the University of Adelaide since October 2020. She worked as an Associate Professor at Universitat Jaume I from November 2012 until she joined the University of Adelaide in September 2016. In her previous appointment, she worked at the Institute for International Trade, where she taught Research Methods in International Trade and Research Project in International Trade, coordinated the research projects (12 units) of the students in the Master of International Trade and Development, supervised interns and PhD students, and was the Associate Head of Research and Higher Degree by Research coordinator.

    She has been awarded with a Faculty of the Professions Executive Dean's Award for Excellence in Research in 2016 and 2017. Her research appears in refereed journals such as Applied Economics, Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Ecological Indicators, Economic Modelling, Journal of African Economies, Papers in Regional Science, Review of World Economics, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, and The World Economy. She has participated in a wide number of international projects and, currently, she is part of an Australian Research Council Discovery Project about trade and investment in Australia.

  • Visiting Fellow Jane Drake-Brockman

    Jane Drake-Brockman

    Jane Drake-Brockman is an expert on international trade and regional integration and widely recognized as Australia’s foremost industry expert on services competitiveness and trade in services. Jane joined IIT in 2015 as the Director of the EU Centre for Global Affairs. In 2019 Jane was appointed as  Network Director for the Jean Monnet Network: Trade & Investment in Services Associates (TIISA) at The Institute for International Trade. 

    Jane is the Founder of the Australian Services Roundtable, the peak business body for the services industries and co-convenor of the Asia Pacific Services Coalition. She has served on the Board of the International Chamber of Commerce in Australia, on the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Coalition of Services Industries and as convenor of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) Taskforce on Services. She was a central architect of the APEC Services Competitiveness Roadmap and is credited in the literature with the original business-driven idea behind the plurilateral TISA negotiations in Geneva.

    Jane is a former senior Australian diplomat, serving as Chief Economist in DFAT, as Assistant Secretary, Services & Intellectual Property Branch and Minister/Charge d’Affaires at the Australian Delegation to the EU in Brussels. 

  • Visiting Senior Lecturer Dr Nathan Gray

    Nathan Gray

    Dr Nathan Gray has a PhD in Asian Business and is a strategic international management and policy adviser to governments, NGO’s, international organizations, and corporations in the Asia Pacific. He has a detailed and unique knowledge of emerging corporate and government opportunities in Asia, gained through more than 20 years of experience operating in Asia-Pacific markets.
    Nathan has undertaken international trade strategy projects for a range of corporate and government clients in multiple industries; from the food, agriculture, horticulture and wine, health and leisure through to defence, manufacturing, engineering and education. Dr Gray has worked throughout Asia including; China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, India, Singapore, Timor Leste, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.