James Villafuerte is the Regional Lead Economist of the Southeast Asia Department of the ADB since May 2023. He heads the ASEAN Policy Network and conducts research on a wide range of economic and policy issues, including: i) regional economic surveillance; ii) economic impact assessment of COVID-19; and iii) thematic research on trade and supply chain, technology and digitalization, infrastructure financing, and climate change, among others. From September 2022 he is Principal Economist of the ADB, where he previously held the role of Senior Economist of the Economic Research Department (until 2021), Economist (until 2017), and Team Leader of the Asia Regional Integration Center of the ADB. Prior to Joining ADB, he was a Senior Economist at the Department of Treasury and Finance in Victoria, and an Economist of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) Team of World Bank Office in Manila.