On invitation, CPD Distinguished Fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, also Chair of Southern Voice and LDC IV Monitor, joined the E15’s Second Expert Group Workshop on Finance and Development as a member of the E15 Expert Thematic Group on Trade, Finance and Development.

A number of think pieces from the first EGM alongside recently commissioned pieces, and policy options were reviewed at the second EGM held during 7-8 July 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr Bhattacharya explained how the expert group is viewing trade, investment, and new challenges as opportunities to finance development.

He made a presentation at the session on “Implementation of Post-2015 Development Agenda: Interlocking Trade and Financing in the LDCs”, which was chaired by Harsha V. Singh (ICTSD), Convener. The lead discussant of the session was Jean-Louis Arcand (the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies – Geneva) who leads the E15 Expert Thematic Group on Trade, Finance and Development.

Photo: E15 / ICTSD

Second EGM. Photo: E15 / ICTSD

Dr Bhattacharya also chaired the session on “Ensuring emerging international trade rules support financial development”, where Emily Jones (Oxford University) was the presenter and Richard Newfarmer (International Growth Centre) was the lead discussant.

On invitation, he recently joined the Expert Thematic Group of the E15 Initiative on Trade, Finance and Development, which is implemented jointly by ICTSD and World Economic Forum.  The Expert Group on Trade, Finance and Development is co-convened with the Center for International Development at Harvard University.

Earlier this year, he joined the E15’s First Expert Group Workshop in Geneva (13-14 April) where he delivered a presentation on “Post-2015 Development Agenda: Interlocking Trade and Finance in the LDCs”. The session, which took place on the first day and was chaired by Prof Jean-Louis Arcand, Graduate Institute, Geneva, examined whether the international donor community has kept its commitments since Monterrey in 2002 and Doha in 2008.