Prof Nagesh Kumar is Director of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), a public-funded policy think-tank based in New Delhi. Between May 2009-April 2021, he served as Director at United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) where he has held a number of senior management roles. These include Chief Economist of UNESCAP, Director of the Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division (MPDD) and Director of the Social Development Division (SDD), at the UNESCAP headquarters in Bangkok and Head of the South and South-West Asia (SSWA) Office of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) based in New Delhi. During 2002-09, Dr Kumar served as Director-General of Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a New Delhi-based policy think-tank of the Government of India devoted to international economic and development issues.