Director and Chief Executive, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID); India
Dr. Kumar is the Director and Chief Executive of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), a New Delhi-based public-funded policy think-tank. In 2024, he was also appointed by the Government of India as an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India. He is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow of UNU-WIDER, Helsinki, and of the Boston University Global Development Policy Centre, Boston, USA. Before joining ISID in May 2021, he served as Director at United Nations-ESCAP, Bangkok, for 12 years. During 2002-09, Nagesh served as the Director-General of the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a policy think-tank of the Indian Government. He has also served as an Economist at UNU/MERIT, Netherlands; on the Boards of the Export-Import Bank of India; ICTSD Geneva; and SACEPS Kathmandu, and as a consultant for the World Bank, ADB, ILO, and UNCTAD, among other international organisations. A PhD from the Delhi School of Economics, Nagesh received the Exim Bank’s first International Trade Research Award in 1990, GDN’s Research Medal in 2000, and a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Delhi School of Economics in 2023. He has authored 18 books and over 120 peer-reviewed papers.
Executive Director , Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI); Pakistan
Director and CEO, Lotus Holdings ; Nepal
Assistant Director, The Maldives National University; Maldives
Chief Executive, National Disaster Risk Reduction And Management Authority ; Nepal
Tourism Specialist, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD); Nepal
Professor of Economics, Centre for International Trade and Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University; India