Zoe Tate

International development professional with an entrepreneurial spirit and 10 years working experience in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Focus on youth, innovation, financial inclusion and blended finance.

Researched global best practices in educational policy reform and maker-based education and developed proposal for demonstration project and recommendations for PPP-based financing. Designed strategic communication material for ABD Youth for Asia team.

Evidence of the Impact of Energy Access on Wellbeing: Measuring the Immeasurable

While development literature often discusses the critical importance of electricity access and clean cooking to improve economic and social well-being, there has been little rigorous evidence of the specific nature and magnitude of these benefits. This presentation drew on impact evaluations from the Asia-Pacific region to explore the demonstrated impacts of energy access on income, education, women’s empowerment, inequality, and poverty alleviation in real-life settings.

Sudarshana Anojan

Sudarshana Anojan is the Social Development and Gender Specialist in ADB’s Sri Lanka Country Office. He carries over 13 years of experience in the international development field; working with diverse non-government, bilateral and multilateral agencies. His area of expertise includes community development, monitoring and evaluation, gender equality and social inclusion, and education.

Mahabir Pun

Dr. Mahabir Pun is a well-known social entrepreneur. He has been involved for 27 years in rural community development projects covering many fields such as education, health, nature conservation, income generation, and tourism. He is widely known for introducing broadband Internet using WiFi technology and computer education in the remote Himalayan region. He has received many international awards including the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.

Nuobu Renzhi

Nuobu is an Assistant Professor at the School of Economics, Capital University of Economics and Business, China.

His research interests include empirical macroeconomics, macro-finance, household finance, and international finance. 

He graduated from the University of Tokyo with a Master of Arts in Economics and PhD in Public Policy.

The Role of Private Sector in Human Capital and Skill Development in Thailand

Challenges in Thailand’s education sector include skills mismatch and employers’ low satisfaction with workers’ skills. The country’s dual vocational program has seen slow progress partly because of the risk of free riding and difficulty in redeeming tax deduction. The presenter recommends establishing an intermediary agency that will manage the program’s transaction costs.

Boonwara Sumano Chenphuengpawn

Boonwara Sumano Chenphuengpawn is Research Fellow Sectoral Economics Program (SEP) at the Thailand Development Research Institute. Some of her recent publication were Human Rights are becoming part of Trade Standard (12 October 2016); Let’s Demand more from Donations (10 Agusut 2016); Plugging the Public Information gap on the AEC (9 December 2015) and Panel Report Diffusion and the Future of EU-ASEAN Economic Relations. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the Queen of Mary, University of London, United Kingdom.

Vocational Training and Labor Market Transition: A Randomized Experiment among Cambodian Disadvantaged Young Adults

In Cambodia, a trial provided two-month training in housekeeping, with incentives, to low-income young adults in Phnom Penh. The program found that training had no effects on employment outcomes, and it was not enough for disadvantaged youth to break into the labor market.