Roland Rajah

Lowy Institute Lead Economist; Director, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Roland Rajah
Biography
Publications

Roland Rajah is Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre, a dedicated policy research centre within the Lowy Institute. The Centre is committed to producing fresh policy insights and ideas on the most pressing economic development challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region — principally focusing on the emerging and developing economies of Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and South Asia. He also serves as the Lowy Institute’s Lead Economist, a position he has held since joining the Institute in 2017.

Roland directs the overall work program of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre across its key thematic pillars of post-Covid growth and development, globalisation and regional integration, climate change and development, technology and digital economy, aid and development finance, and geoeconomics. The Centre also houses the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map project, which provides the world’s most comprehensive data tracking of all official aid and other development finance flows to the Pacific Islands.

A development economist by background, Roland has extensive experience working across both emerging Asia and the small island developing states of the Pacific. He has previously worked for the Asian Development Bank, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Roland holds a master’s degree in economics from the Australian National University, where he was awarded the Helen Hughes Prize in International and Development Economics. He also serves on the board of the Cambodia Development Resource Institute, one of Southeast Asia’s leading independent policy research think tanks.

What the G20 needs to deliver
What the G20 needs to deliver
A global pandemic demands a global “whatever it takes”.
Avoiding the wrong lessons on aid and corruption
Commentary
Avoiding the wrong lessons on aid and corruption
Is development aid an effective solution to lifting countries out of poverty? Roland Rajah, Director of the International Economy Program, and Research Fellow Alexandre…
Limiting the global economic fallout from Covid-19
Limiting the global economic fallout from Covid-19
As the the coronavirus pandemic grows, preventing a full-scale financial crisis requires exactly the right response.
COVIDcast Episode 2: virus is declared a pandemic
Podcasts
COVIDcast Episode 2: virus is declared a pandemic
COVIDcast is a Lowy Institute pop-up podcast for anyone interested in understanding the effect of coronavirus on global politics. Each week for the next few weeks, Lowy Institute…
Covid-19: Nearing a global pandemic?
Covid-19: Nearing a global pandemic?
As cases appear in more and more countries, officials struggle to prevent infections – and to manage public fears.
How China is changing the global balance of economic power
Interactives
How China is changing the global balance of economic power
China has displaced the United States from its traditional dominance as a major trading partner for most countries of the world.
Coronavirus: One step forward, one step back for the global economy
Coronavirus: One step forward, one step back for the global economy
Beyond the human toll, fears will stop people heading to shops, eating out, travelling, and cause other consumer costs.
Chart of the week: Global trade through a US-China lens
Chart of the week: Global trade through a US-China lens
Two thirds of the world trade more goods with China than with the US.
2020 Will Be a Watershed Year for the Global Economy
Commentary
2020 Will Be a Watershed Year for the Global Economy
Originally published in the Council of Councils' Global Outlook 2020: The Economy.Roland Rajah
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