Dr. IM Soksamphoas
Dr. Im holds a Ph.D. and a master degree in Political Science specializing in Social Policy Analysis and Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and an MSc. in Defense, Development and Diplomacy from Durham University. Dr. Im is a political scientist whose research focuses primarily on Cambodia and continental Southeast Asia. Dr. Im study Cambodia's contemporary politics, emphasizing authoritarian politics, governance, social welfare policy, and Cambodia-China relations. Currently, Dr Im is the Associate Director of the Asian Studies Center at Michigan State University. Her previous research has been published in the Kyoto Working Papers on Area Studies, Research on Ageing & Social Policy, and Asian Politics & Policy.
Noel M. Matthews
As an Irish citizen working in Asia, Africa, Arab states and Europe, Noel has a master’s degree in education, and has designed and directed a wide range of programmes and projects over the last 30 years. He has provided policy, strategic and technical leadership on local governance, institutional development, civil society development and civic engagement, M&E, localising and reporting on the SDGs, public administration reform, women’s political participation and gender equality, as well as sectoral reform work in education, health and rural development. This has included conducting political economy analysis and developing, advising, directing or assisting programs in a diverse range of sectors/subsectors with an emphasis on developing state and non-state participation and accountability mechanisms and the capacities to support a human rights-based approach to governance. He has worked within government ministries and local government departments in many challenging contexts, mentoring and managing staff and leading advisory support teams. He has also worked with a wide variety of development partners over the last 30 years, including DfID, EU, Sida, SDC, World Bank and UN as well as international and local CSOs and community-based organisations. He has designed and developed online learning programmes for the UN and EU as well as many learning workshops, communities of practice, strategic planning processes and multi-stakeholder dialogue mechanisms. He divides his time between Bangkok, Thailand and Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Dr. LAY Sok Heng
Dr. Lay is currently a director of the Economic Research and International Cooperation Department of the National Bank of Cambodia. He actively participates in evaluating the continuous economic and financial development in Cambodia. His role involves recommending policy measures to the Monetary Policy Committee of the National Bank of Cambodia with the aim of ensuring price stability within the country. He is also the secretary of the Financial Stability Committee. With over two decades of experience, he has worked in various sectors including academia, financial institutions, and central banking.
As a researcher, he has participated in a number of research projects including collaborations with the Bank of Korea (BOK), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Cambodia and Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). Financial inclusion, financial development, financial technology (FinTech), and international economics are among his research interests. His papers have been accepted for publication in numerous international peer-reviewed journals, and he has won several international essay competitions, including those sponsored by the Japan Foreign Trade Council, the Toronto Centre, and Oxfam Cambodia. He serves as a peer reviewer for Journal of Social Sciences and Economics.
Dr. Lay holds a PhD in Economics from Australia's University of Adelaide and a Master of Arts in International Development Program (Economics) from the International University of Japan.