Mr. Amar Bhattacharya-Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

Amar Bhattacharya is Senior Fellow at the Global Economy and Development Program at Brookings Institution. His focus areas are the global economy, development finance, global governance, and the links between climate and development including on the role of sustainable infrastructure. His latest major publication is a report on Delivering on Sustainable Infrastructure for Better Development and Better Climate.

From April 2007 until September 2014 he was Director of the Group of 24, an intergovernmental group of developing country Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. In that capacity he led the work program of the Group, and was an active participant in the global economic discussions and a key representative of the views of developing countries.

Prior to taking up his position with the G24, Mr. Bhattacharya had a long-standing career in the World Bank. His last position was as Senior Advisor and Head of the International Policy and Partnership Group. In this capacity, he was the focal point for the Bank’s engagement with key international groupings and institutions such as the G7/G8, G20, IMF, OECD and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Delhi and Brandeis University and his graduate education at Princeton University.

Mr. David Dollar-Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

David Dollar is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center. He is a leading expert on China's economy and U.S.-China economic relations. From 2009 to 2013 he was the U.S. Treasury's economic and financial emissary to China. Prior to that, Dollar worked at the World Bank, and from 2004 to 2009 was country director for China and Mongolia. His other World Bank assignments primarily focused on Asian economies, including South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Bangladesh and India. From 1995 to 2004, Dollar worked in the World Bank’s research department, publishing articles on globalization, growth, and inequality. Prior to his World Bank career, Dollar was an assistant professor of economics at UCLA, spending a semester in Beijing teaching at the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He has a PhD in economics from NYU and a BA in Asian Studies from Dartmouth College.

Ms. Natalie Lichtenstein - Former AIIB Legal Counsel

Natalie Lichtenstein is a US lawyer who has specialized in legal issues at international financial institutions and legal development in China since the 1970s. Following a 30-year legal career at the World Bank, she continues to teach and consult in these areas. From 2014-2016, she served first as the Chief Counsel for the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and then as its inaugural General Counsel. Early on in her career, she was involved in legal aspects of US participation in international financial institutions as a lawyer at the US Treasury Department. She also worked on normalization of relations between the US and the People’s Republic of China. Joining the World Bank legal department in 1980, she advised on lending operations in China and other countries for most of the next 20 years. She served as Chief Counsel, East Asia in the 1990s. She was an early leader in legal technical assistance activities. From 1999-2010, she served in senior positions, specializing in the Bank’s institutional governance issues and reforms, legal opinions and Board governance. In her last assignment, she led the work on reforms to enhance voice and participation of developing countries in the World Bank Group. Retired in 2010, she continued to teach Law & Society in China at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC. She has also taught Chinese law at George Washington University Law School. Her consulting work for international organizations in China has included a review of the EU-UNDP Governance for Equitable Development Project and a report on Asian Development Bank’s Technical Assistance for Legal Development. She was appointed to the Advisory Board of Duke Kunshan University in May 2014. She is the author of A Comparative Guide to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (Oxford University Press, March 2018), and numerous articles in professional journals. Her article, “Governance of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Comparative Context”, appears in the inaugural issue of the AIIB Yearbook of International Law, launching at AIIB’s Annual Meeting in June 2018. Ms. Lichtenstein received her A.B. and J.D. degrees from Harvard University.

Mr. Dinesh Sharma-Former AIIB Director

An Indian Administrative Service officer of 1983 batch. Retired in November 2017. Handled various finance/banking/infrastructure related jobs at the central and the state (Kerala) level. The details are given below:

As Additional Secretary first and later as Special Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India (2014 - 2017), looked after all issues relating to international financial cooperation, both multilateral and bilateral. This included dealing with multilateral institutions such as The World Bank, IMF, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, the Global Environment Fund, Green Climate Fund and bilateral financing bodies such as JICA, KFW, AFD, etc. Was Chief negotiator for India in respect of AIIB. Served as director on the Boards of AIIB, New Development Bank, Green Climate Fund and the NIIF. Was Chairman of IFAD for two years and was also responsible for Multilateral Economic Relations through bodies such as G20, OECD, SAARC etc.

As Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Kerala (2011 - 2014) monitored the finalization of large scale infra-structure projects such as Kochi Metro Rail Project (financed through French Loan), Kannur Airport Project and the first Private Public Partnership project in the port sector, the Vizhinjam Deep-water Transshipment Terminal, with Viability Gap Funding support from Government of India.

As Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, GOI (2006- 2010), looked after agricultural exports from India, trade and economic relations with countries in North East Asia (mainly, China, Korea and Japan). Led negotiations, and concluded Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements (CEPA), with Japan and Republic of Korea.

Worked with the Government of Kerala, as Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies (1999-02), Excise Commissioner (02-04), and as Secretary to the Chief Minister (2004-2006). Made major contribution to the forming of a model Excise policy. As Secretary to the Chief Minister, helped finalize deal for the development of Smart City at Kochi with the help of entrepreneurs from Dubai.

As M.D. Kerala Financial Corporation (1991-1994) was the Chief Executive Officer of this State-owned term-lending Financial Institution at a time when comprehensive economic reforms were introduced in India.

Was General Manager and later Managing Director of Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (1987-1990), which handled large scale procurement and distribution of essential commodities and ran super markets and other retail outlets in Kerala.

Handled district and sub district level general administrative posts of District Collector Trichur/Sub Collector, Adur, Kerala, at the beginning of career in the IAS (1990-91 and 1985-87 respectively).

Mr. Akshay Mathur-Director of Research, Gateway House

Akshay is the Director of Research and a Fellow of Geoeconomic Studies. His research focuses on the architecture of international business, finance and trade, and its impact on geopolitics. Before joining Gateway House, he worked as a Principal Architect with Fidelity Investments in Boston in the advanced research, strategy formulation, and business architecture. He has an MBA from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business with concentration in Finance and Business Analysis and research focused on transnational business and global macroeconomics. He has a B.S. in Computer Science from the School of Computer Science at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Akshay is an alumnus of Mayo College, Ajmer. He is the co-founder of an NGO called Aasra Gramin Vikas Sansthan and of a social enterprise called Khushi Farms, both based in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India.

Prof. Ngaire Woods-Inaugural Dean of the Blatvanik School of Government and Professor of Global Economic Governance and IAP