Board of Management

Patrick Low is a Senior Fellow at the Asia Global Institute, the University of Hong Kong. He was also a Visiting Professor at the University (2016-18). From 2013-16 he was Vice-President of Research and Senior Fellow at the Fung Global Institute in Hong Kong (2013 – 16). Previously, he was Chief Economist at the World Trade Organization (1997 to 2013). Concurrently (2005-2013) he was an Adjunct Professor of International Economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. He worked at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1980-87), taught at El Colegio de Mexico, Mexico City (1987-90), and served at the World Bank (1990-94), prior to joining the WTO in 1995. He has consulted widely for governments and international institutions. Patrick Low holds a PhD in economics from the University of Sussex.

Recent selected publications

(with Julia Tijaja) “Increasing value from global value chain participation: What role for industrial policy?” in Baldwin R., M. Kawai, and G. Wignaraja, The Future of the World Trading System: Asian Perspectives, Vox eBook, 2013

The Role of Services in Global Value Chains, Working Paper, Fung Global Institute, 2013

Preferentialism in Trade Relations: Challenges for the World Trade Organization, Working Paper No. 478, Asian Development Bank Institute, 2014

(with Gloria Pasadilla, Eds.): Services in Global Value Chains: Manufacturing-Related Services, World Scientific, 2016

(with Arian Hassani and Deborah K. Elms, Eds.): The Intangible Economy: How Services Shape Global Production and Consumption, Cambridge University Press, 2017

“Balancing Rights and Obligations in the WTO: A Shared Responsibility”, Study for the Government of Sweden. https://www.swedenabroad.se/…/fn…/balancing-rights-and-obligations-in-the-wto.pdf, 2019.

Digital services taxes, trade and development Working Paper No. 2020-0. Institute of International Trade, University of Adelaide. 2020

“Special and differential treatment and developing countries: Can the two be separated? Chapter 4 in Bernard Hoekman, Xinquan Tu, and Wang Dong. Rebooting Multilateral Trade Cooperation: Perspectives from China and Europe. CEPR Press. London. 2021.

“What Can Be Done to Blunt Potential Conflict between Climate Change and Trade Policies?” in Bernard Hoekman and Ernesto Zedillo (eds.) Trade in the Twenty-First Century: Back to the Past? Brookings Institution Press. 2021

(with Americo B. Zampetti and Petros C. Mavroidis): “Consensus Decision-Making and Legislative Inertia at the WTO: Can International Law Help?” Journal of World Trade 56, no/ 1 (2022) 1-26

“The WTO in Crisis: Closing the Gap between Conversation and Action or Shutting Down the Conversation?” World Trade Review, 21 (2022), 274-90

Mrs. Jane Muigai-Kamphuis is the Founder-Director of The Toolkit iSkills (TTI) Limited, a leading social enterprise that transforms Africa’s vulnerable youth through skilling with technology and linkage to jobs. TTI’s sectors of interest include: digital jobs, organic farming, construction sector and renewable energy. Mrs. Muigai-Kamphuis founded The Toolkit iSkills (TTI) in 2014 to address the crisis of youth unemployment in Africa, having noted there existed a profound shortage of skill sets necessary for Africa’s growth. Since then, Toolkit has grown to become a leading transformer of youth through its innovative skilling approach that brings together public regulators, private sector, NGOs/Foundations to create a reliable workforce for current and future jobs. Toolkit uses a unique approach that starts with self-esteem through life and employability skills training, then technical skills that are certified by Government regulators, and thirdly offering linkage with industries for work experience and employment. In 2020, Jane won Women in Africa (WIA54) Education Award, a unique recognition given the competition was 3800 women enterprises in Africa. Jane holds a Masters in Law (LL.M) from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Laws Degree (LL.B) from the University of Nairobi.