Born in a Nepali village, Swarnim has had a remarkable journey from the rural Himalayas to global seats of learning and professionalism. He is a development economist with more than 10 years experience working in international organisations, and has specialised research interests in trade, investment and public finance. Swarnim holds a PhD in economics from The Australian National University, an MPA in International Development from Harvard, and a Bachelor of Science (Econ) from the London School of Economics. Swarnim was recently appointed to the staff of the World Bank in Washington, DC as a senior economist.
In 2012-2013, Swarnim served as a policy specialist at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York where he co-authored the latest human development report, The Rise of the South. The report chronicles the profound shift in global output, power and voice as a result of the rise of a large number of developing countries, especially China. It discusses the opportunities as well as challenges posed by the rise of the South both to lagging countries and the rest of the world. As a citizen of Nepal, sandwiched between China and India, Swarnim is keen to explore ways in which the emerging might of large developing countries can be leveraged for a faster development catch-up by small countries like his own.
