Tamal Bandyopadhyay is a Deputy Managing Editor with Mint, India’s second largest read financial daily, brought out by HT Media Ltd. in association with The Wall Street Journal. He writes a weekly column on banking and finance every Monday (Banker’s Trust) and moderates Mint’s panel discussions across Indian cities on critical, contemporary financial and economic issues. An MA in English literature, Tamal started his career as a trainee journalist with Times of India, the country’s biggest publication house. In his 25-year career, he worked with three national financial dailies besides Mint. They are The Economic Times, Financial Express and Business Standard. He closely follows developments in international finance and financial markets in India.

Choongjae Cho is an associate research fellow and leader of Southeast and South Asia team at Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP). He holds a Ph.D in Economics from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. He was a researcher of Daewoo Economic Research Institute and Lotte Economic Research Institute. He has also worked for The Seoul Economic Daily as a reporter. He is an expert in Indian Economy and is interested in service-led economic growth in India. He has published number of journal articles on Indian economy and co-authored some books on Indian economy and economic cooperation between India and Korea.

Changsu Kim is a Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA), Seoul. Since he joined the Institute in 1985, Dr. Kim has served on such posts as Chief of Japan Studies Division, Chief of Regional Military Affairs Division, Chief of US Studies Division, Chief of International Conflict Studies Division, and Director of the Center for Security and Strategy. In 2007, he served as Special Assistant to the Minister for Policy at the ROK Ministry of National Defense. And from December 2008 to March 2009, he was a NIDS Fellow at the National Institute for Defense Studies, Tokyo, Japan. From 1995 to 2002 and again from 2006 to 2008, Kim was the Editor-in-Chief for The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis (KJDA). He graduated from the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul in 1977 and received his MA and Ph.D in Political Science from the University of Cincinnati in 1981 and 1985, respectively.

Joon-Kyung Kim is Professor at the Korea Development Institute (KDI) School of Public Policy and Management. He served as Senior Vice President of KDI and Secretary to the President in Financial Policy. He was also an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech; Visiting Professor at Columbia University and a World Bank Consultant. His recent research has focused on Sino-Korean economic integration, on restructuring and institutional reforms in Korea’s financial and corporate sectors, and on the role of organizations in Korea’s economic development. His has written number of research articles on Korean Economy. Kim has a Ph.D in Economics from the University of California at San Diego, and a B.S. in Computer Science and Statistics from the Seoul National University.

Rajiv Kumar is currently Secretary General of Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). Before moving to FICCI, he was the Director & Chief Executive of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), one of India’s leading independent economic policy think tanks. He is a member of many important bodies such as Central Board of Directors of the State Bank of India, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) Board of Trustees, and also on the Board of Directors for the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF). He was a member of the National Security Advisory Board for two years until October 2008. Dr. Kumar was a Professor at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (1987-1989); worked in the Government of India from 1989 to 1995, first in the Bureau of Industrial Costs and Projects, Ministry of Industry (1989-1991) and then as Economic Adviser in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance (1991-1995). He worked at the Asian Development Bank, Manila, for nearly 10 years (1995-2005) and was the Chief Economist at the Confederation of Indian Industry, New Delhi during 2004-2006. He has a D.Phil in Economics from Oxford University and has several books and publications to his credit. He is also an active columnist.

Chang-Ho Kwag has a Ph.D degree in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin, USA (1991). He worked as a Research Fellow in the Investment and Finance Research Institute from 1991 to 1994. In 1994, he joined the POSCO Research Institute (POSRI) as a Research Fellow. He worked for the Korean Government as Counselor for the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea in the year 2000, and also advised the Korea Fair Trade Commission from 2001 to 2003. Now, as Director of POSRI heading the Center for Global Research, he is doing in-depth research on global steel industry, steel consuming industries and FDI environments in some major countries like China and India. He is also deeply involved in mapping of POSCO Global Strategy. He has published several papers in renowned international journals and every year participates as a speaker in about 4-5 international conferences on steel and steel making raw materials.

Suresh P. Prabhu is an Ex-Federal Cabinet Minister of Industry, Energy, Environment and Forests, Chemicals and Fertilizers, Heavy Industry & Public Enterprises of the Government of India. He was the Member of Parliament, India from 1996-2009. During his tenure as MP, he chaired very important committees such as, Parliamentary Forum on Environment; Parliamentary Maritime Group; Co-operative Forum of Parliamentarians, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of External Affairs; and was also a member of important parliamentary bodies such as Public Accounts Committee; Joint Parliamentary Committee to draft Women’s Reservation Bill; Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance and Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

Ajay Shankar is former Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1973. He has rich and varied experience in the Central and State governments in industrial promotion, the energy sector and urban management and development. As Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, he played a critical role in putting together the stimulus packages at the time of the global economic crisis. Prior to that, he was Principal Adviser in the Planning Commission looking after the water, sanitation and environment and forest sectors as well as provision of rural infrastructure through the Bharat Nirman Programme. As Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Power, he played a key role in preparation and enactment of the Electricity Act, 2003 and the rules and policies under the Act.

Narendra Sisodia is the former Director General of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. He was earlier Secretary in the Ministries of Finance and Defence, Government of India and Vice-Chancellor of University of Udaipur. Mr. Sisodia graduated from St. Stephens’ College Delhi and obtained a Master’s Degree from Harvard University, USA, where he was a Mason Fellow. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1968 and served in several key economic and national security assignments at the State and Central government level. In the Government of India, he served as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence from 1988-1994. As Additional Secretary in the National Security Council Secretariat, he was a member of the Task Force on Reforming the Management of Defence. He has been the Convener of Indian Pugwash Society and a member of the India-China Eminent Persons’ Group.