DR. RUPA CHANDA

Biography

DR. RUPA CHANDA is the Director of the Trade, Investment, and Innovation Division at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in Bangkok. She leads the Commission’s work on trade policy and facilitation, foreign investment, and inclusive and sustainable business in the Asia-Pacific region. Before joining UNESCAP, she was a Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore for over 25 years and RBI Chair Professor from 2016-2021. She held various administrative positions at IIM Bangalore, including Dean of Programmes, and taught courses on Macroeconomics and International Trade in the MBA and PhD programmes, respectively. Earlier, she has also worked as an Economist at the IMF in Washington, DC and briefly served as Head, UNESCAP Subregional Office for South and South-West Asia in New Delhi.

Prof. Chanda obtained her PhD, MPhil and MA from Columbia University and BA in Economics from Harvard University. Her research interests include the WTO, international trade in services, regional integration, and migration. She has received several research grants, including from the British High Commission, the European Commission, and Govt of India’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce. She has published widely in the areas of services trade, globalization of health, the WTO, Free Trade Agreements, and mobility, and has authored two seminal books on services in India and South Asia, and co-authored/edited 5 other books in her field.

Prof. Chanda has professionally engaged with international organizations such as the WTO, World Bank, WHO, UNDP, ADB, ILO, OECD, among others and with several Indian policy research institutes. She is a recognized expert in services trade and has represented the Government of India in various international forums. Her contributions to trade policy have featured in India’s trade negotiations and position papers. She has been a member of various committees of the Government of India and Indian industry chambers. She was selected by the WHO as an international expert for its International Health Regulations Review Committee. She has received teaching awards during her tenure at IIM Bangalore.