Dr. Reshad Ahsan (Program Director - Economics PhD Program of The University of Melbourne)

Dr. Reshad Ahsan

Program Director - Economics PhD Program of The University of Melbourne

Dr. Reshad Ahsan is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Melbourne. His interests are at the intersection of International Trade and Development Economics. His research explores the labour-market effects of trade in developing countries, with a focus on understanding the impact of trade on inequality and workplace safety. He also studies the link between trade and firm innovation and productivity in developing countries. His research has been published in leading academic journals such as the Journal of International Economics and has been funded by major local and international funding bodies. He has written for and been interviewed by many leading newspapers, including the Sydney Morning Herald.

Junayed Chowdhury (Managing Partner at Vertex Chambers)

Junayed Chowdhury

Managing Partner at Vertex Chambers

Junayed Chowdhury is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, a Barrister of the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, London, and holds an LL.M from the University of Chicago Law School. He is recognized by leading global legal directories like Legal500, Chambers & Partners etc. as a leading practitioner in the field of corporate laws, taxation, litigation and arbitration, legislative drafting and constitutional law. He is the Managing Partner of Vertex Chambers, Dhaka and Vertex International Consulting, Sydney. He is the author of the leading practitioners’ textbooks in Bangladesh “Corporate Tax Law and Practice” and "Commentaries on the Law of Arbitration in Bangladesh", which are catalogued by, among others, the British Library, Lincoln's Inn Library, and the University of Chicago D’Angelo Law Library.

Dr. Pradeep Taneja (Senior Lecturer in Asian Politics at Arts Faculty, The University of Melbourne)

Dr. Pradeep Taneja

Senior Lecturer in Asian Politics at Arts Faculty, The University of Melbourne

Dr. Pradeep Taneja is a senior lecturer in Asian politics, political economy and international relations at the University of Melbourne, where he is also an academic fellow at the Australia India Institute and a member of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies. Previously, Dr. Taneja was Director of International Programs in the Graduate School of Management at La Trobe University and currently sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs.

Dr. Lailufar Yasmin (University of Dhaka)

Dr. Lailufar Yasmin

University of Dhaka

Dr. Lailufar Yasmin is Professor and Chairperson at the Department of International Relations, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She has undertaken her studies at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA, and Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. She has been a recipient of the US Fulbright, the British Chevening, and the Australian International Post-Graduate Research Scholarship (IPRS). Her recent fellowships include FIPSS—Fellowships in Indo-Pacific Security Studies— at Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), Hawaii, USA and Fellowship on Women in Conflict 1325 Fellowship Programme, offered by Beyond Borders Scotland. Her latest publications are on the Rohingya issue, disciplinary history of International Relations in South Asia and on the Indo-Pacific. Her areas of research include Bangladesh’s politics, economy and foreign policy, South Asian Affairs, China’s Rise, maritime security and the Indo-Pacific Region, and women’s participation in the UN Peacekeeping, among others.

Mohammad Chowdhury (Long Street Advisors)

Mohammad Chowdhury

Long Street Advisors

Mohammad Chowdhury (Moderator) is the Founder and CEO of Long Street Advisors, and a Council Member at AIIA Victoria. Mohammad has worked in over 80 countries and focuses on the digital economy, digitisation in industries and regions and digital inclusion. Mohammad is a Trustee of the UK's Institute for the Future of Work and chairs its Finance Committee, has written for Forbes, the Sydney Morning Herald and the FT and serves the board of a technology company in Bangladesh. He works in this sector because he cares about opportunity, equality and inclusion. He is the author of "Border Crossings: My Journey as an Outsider" (NewSouth Books, July 2023).