Current Visiting Fellows

• Shinji Takagi - Japan
• Thanong Bidaya - Thailand
• Bimal Prasad Koirala - Nepal

Shinji Takagi is a Visiting Fellow (part-time) at the ADB Institute. His full-time position is with the Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University, where he has been Associate Professor (1990-95) and Professor of Economics (1995-present). His numerous professional appointments have included: Economist (1983-90), International Monetary Fund; Senior Economist, Japanese Ministry of Finance (1992-94); Visiting Professor of Economics, Yale University (2000-01); and Advisor, IMF Independent Evaluation Office.

Mr. Takagi is a specialist in international monetary economics and is the author of over 70 professional publications, including four books. His recent work has dealt with issues related to exchange rate policy, emerging market crises, capital market development, and regional policy cooperation. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Rochester.

Current Research in ADBI:
Financial integration in Asia; Capital flows in Asia

Thanong Bidaya is a Visiting Fellow at the ADB Institute. His past experience began as Associate Researcher at the World Bank, and later as assistant professor at the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) in Thailand. He later worked in the private sector in various positions, including the Thai Military Bank (TMB). From 1991-1993 he worked with the Shinnawatra group to develop project finance for telecommunication systems. In 1993 he became president of TMB, and in 1997 he was appointed finance minister to manage Thailand’s economic crisis for a short period before going back to TMB.

In 2001, he was appointed chairman of National Economic and Social Development Board under Prime Minister Thaksin’s government. He was also chairman of Thai Airways International from 2002-2005 before joining the Thai cabinet as commerce minister and later finance minister.

He has now returned to academia as distinguished professor at NIDA, and visiting professor at Yokohama University.

Current Research in ADBI
Thailand's Crisis and Recovery

Bimal Prasad Koirala is a Visiting Fellow at the ADB Institute. He has more than 27 years (1977-2005) experience working with the Government of Nepal, most recently as Cabinet Secretary (Chief Secretary) at the Prime Minister’s Office (2002-2005) managing cabinet affairs and leading institutional reforms, and earlier as Secretary at the Ministry of Finance. He has also taught Tribhuvan University for two years (1983-1985) and worked as Chair of the governing boards of Janakpur Cigarette Factory and Agricultural Development Bank, two public undertaking entities.

Immediately after retirement, he consulted for the World Bank on poverty and administrative and fiscal decentralization in South Asia. He is a council member of South Asia Chief Economists’ Advisory Council and also leads a research think tank institution in Nepal. He holds masters’ degrees from Duke University and the University of Texas at Austin, US, and a Ph.D. from the University of Dortmund, Germany.

Current Research in ADBI
Political Economy of Reforms