Roland Rajah

Lowy Institute Lead Economist; Director, Indo-Pacific Development Centre
Roland Rajah
Biography
Publications
News and media

Roland Rajah is Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre, a dedicated policy research centre within the Lowy Institute. The Centre is committed to producing fresh policy insights and ideas on the most pressing economic development challenges facing the Indo-Pacific region — principally focusing on the emerging and developing economies of Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and South Asia. He also serves as the Lowy Institute’s Lead Economist, a position he has held since joining the Institute in 2017.

Roland directs the overall work program of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre across its key thematic pillars of post-Covid growth and development, globalisation and regional integration, climate change and development, technology and digital economy, aid and development finance, and geoeconomics. The Centre also houses the Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map project, which provides the world’s most comprehensive data tracking of all official aid and other development finance flows to the Pacific Islands.

A development economist by background, Roland has extensive experience working across both emerging Asia and the small island developing states of the Pacific. He has previously worked for the Asian Development Bank, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Roland holds a master’s degree in economics from the Australian National University, where he was awarded the Helen Hughes Prize in International and Development Economics. He also serves on the board of the Cambodia Development Resource Institute, one of Southeast Asia’s leading independent policy research think tanks.

Australia should make a strategic investment in the World Bank
Australia should make a strategic investment in the World Bank
Geostrategic competition makes the multilateral advantage more vital than ever, especially in the Pacific.
The World Bank’s IDA Is a Vital Lifeline for Pacific Islands and Other Small States
Commentary
The World Bank’s IDA Is a Vital Lifeline for Pacific Islands and Other Small States
Originally published on the Center for Global Development
Trump 2.0
Data Snapshot
Trump 2.0
What Donald Trump’s return would mean for Australia and the world
Political upheaval in Vietnam is holding its economy back
Political upheaval in Vietnam is holding its economy back
Officials have become extremely cautious about signing off on public investment decisions – and foreign investors are taking note.
International partners fall short in supporting Southeast Asia energy transition
Commentary
International partners fall short in supporting Southeast Asia energy transition
Promises of climate-related finance not being met.Originally published in The Straits Times.
Southeast Asia Aid Map 2024 - Key Findings Report
Reports
Southeast Asia Aid Map 2024 - Key Findings Report
The Southeast Asia Aid Map — launched by the Lowy Institute in 2023 — is a comprehensive database tracking official development finance (ODF) flows in Southeast Asia.This 2024 Key…
Southeast Asia Aid Map 2024
Interactives
Southeast Asia Aid Map 2024
The second edition of the Southeast Asia Aid Map, encompassing the period from 2015 to 2022, includes comprehensive data on more than 120,000 projects carried out by 107…
Southeast Asia after the shocks: Economic growth, but not as we know it
Southeast Asia after the shocks: Economic growth, but not as we know it
New Lowy Institute research shows the pandemic and Ukraine war have taken a toll, while the benefits from supply chains shifting out of China have so far been limited.
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