Professor Dr Matthew McCartney is the Chief Economist at the Cambodia Development Resouece Institute  (CDRI). He brings over 25 years of experience as an international development advisor (World Bank, USAid. EU. UNDP), a Professor at SOAS, the University of Oxford, and the Africa Urban Lab (AUL) in Zanzibar, and as a researcher who has interacted with partners in UK and global south Universities, think tanks, donors, grant-funders, NGOs, and government. Matthew has conducted development consultancy work in Bangladesh, Azerbaijan, Zambia, Botswana, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan; and has been a visiting Professor at Universities in Pakistan, India, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Zambia, and Belgium. Matthew is an economist specializing in issues of economic development, economic growth, special economic zones (SEZs), big infrastructure, urbanization, the resource curse, technology, industrialization and the role of the state, with a particular focus on the South Asian region (especially India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan), Africa (Tanzania, Zambia, and Ethiopia), the economics of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and human development issues relating to nutrition, employment, education, poverty, and inequality. Matthew has published eight books (Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Palgrave, and Routledge) fifteen peer-review journal articles and fifteen book chapters. His next book is focused on industrialization and the impact of China in Ethiopia and Zambia. Industrialisation, China, and the Developmental State: A Comparative Study of Governance in Ethiopia and Zambia, 2000-2020 and will be published by Routledge in 2026. Matthew holds a BSc (Economics) from the University of Cambridge, an MPhil (Economics) from the University of Oxford, and a PhD (Economics) from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.