The recent tariff wars are upending global trade; will these lead to another global food price crisis impacting Southeast Asia similar to the 07-08 global food price crisis? How resilient are ASEAN member states and the region as a whole given existing food security policies? What are the near- and longer-term impacts on food production and trade? Does it risk undermining movements towards climate-resilient agri-food systems? What more can be done by governments, the private sector, and civil society to reduce negative impacts? This timely webinar will discuss these urgent concerns, to provide insights for ASEAN member states amidst their preparations to secure the region’s food security.

About the Speakers

Mr Abdullah Mamun, MsC is a Senior Research Analyst in the Markets, Trade and Institutions Unit of the International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D.C. He will speak on “Tariff war: lessons from the past retaliation, and implications of current measures for food security in Southeast Asia.” His research interests include economic modeling, trade in agriculture, farm support policies, and household welfare models of the impacts of shocks such as weather, trade policy changes, and R&D investment. He has published several journal articles on agricultural productivity, reforming and repurposing subsidies for improved environmental outcomes and GHG emissions, and co-authored blog posts on food security following Russia-Ukraine crisis, export restrictions, trade disruptions. Abdullah holds an MS in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States.

César A. Hidalgo is a Chilean-Spanish-American scholar known for his contributions to economic complexity and for his applied work on data visualization and artificial intelligence. Professor Hidalgo will give a recorded presentation, focusing on the Tariff Simulator tool developed at the OEC. He is a tenured professor at the Toulouse School of Economics’ (TSE) Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the head of the Center for Collective Learning a multidisciplinary research laboratory with offices at Institute for Advanced Study (IAST) at TSE and the Corvinus Institute of Advanced Studies (CIAS) at Corvinus University of Budapest. He is also an Honorary Professor at the Alliance Manchester Business School of the University of Manchester.

Paul S Teng is an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre) at RSIS, NTU and concurrently a Visiting Senior Fellow in the “Climate Change in Southeast Asia Programme” at ISEAS. He will be sharing his perspectives on the food security impacts of the tariff wars on Southeast Asia. His research interests include food security and sustainable development, trends and policy shifts of food producing countries in the region, and enablers of resilient and sustainable food systems and supply chains, among others. He previously held leadership positions at the Worldfish Centre, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Monsanto Company.

About the Discussant

Genevieve Donnellon-May is a geopolitical and global strategy advisor interested in regional resource governance (land, energy, water) and environmental conflict in Asia. She is also a 2023 CSIS Pacific Young Leader, an Australia-China Emerging Leader, an Australia-Vietnam Young Leader, and a 2023 Yenching Global Scholar. In 2023, Genevieve was shortlisted by the Young Australians in International Affairs as one of the Young Women to Watch in International Affairs. Genevieve holds an MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management from the University of Oxford, and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) and a Diploma of Languages from the University of Melbourne. She has held positions at the Asia Society Policy Institute, Young Australians in International Affairs (Climate Fellow) as well as at the Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, and the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, South Korea. Additionally, Genevieve is a member of the Indo-Pacific Circle, Asia Society Australia Gen A programme, Indo-Pacific Circle, Women in International Affairs, Women in the Alliance, and a fellow of the Indo-Pacific Studies Center, and a reviewer of peer-reviewed journals.

About the Chairpersons

Jose Ma Luis Montesclaros is a Research Fellow and Food Security Lead at the NTS Centre, RSIS, where he teaches on the Political Economy of Development. He conducts policy analysis with dynamic models of food security and climate change, and investigates how institutions promote induced innovation in agriculture. As an ASEAN Scholar, he holds a Master’s in Public Policy with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), National University of Singapore, and represented the school as “Leader of Tomorrow” at the 44th Saint Gallen Wings of Excellence Awards. He received his BS Economics degree from the University of the Philippines (Diliman).

Elyssa Ludher is a food security expert and urban planner. She is currently a Visiting Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. She has contributed to food policy research at the World Bank, Centre for Liveable Cities Singapore, and the Singapore Food Agency. Ms Ludher’s publications have included “RICH Food, Smart City”, “Food and the City: Overcoming Challenges for Food Security”, and “Preparing for a Climate Resilient Singapore”. She has a double Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning and Bioresource Engineering