Dr Paras Kharel is an economist and has been with the South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE)—a Kathmandu-based think tank since 2007 and is currently its Research Director. Dr Kharel’s research interests and publications span regional integration, gains from trade, application of structural gravity models, World Trade Organization issues, export competiveness, aid for trade, linkages between trade policy and industrialization, structural transformation, and trade and development issues of least-developed and landlocked countries, with a focus on Nepal and South Asia.