Phouphet is an Associate Professor and the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Management, National University of Laos. He received his PhD in Economics from the Kobe University in 2003. He has been carrying out research on macroeconomic management issues, economic integration, energy, natural resources and environmental issues, and poverty in Laos and has published widely. He has directed numerous projects in his areas of expertise and worked closely with national organizations, universities and government agencies in Laos, and with international organizations such as the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the ADB Institute, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), UNDP, the Mekong River Commission (MRC), IUCN, the Word Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Bank. He was a visiting scholar at the Pukyong National University, the Nagoya University, the University of Laval and the Nanyang Technological University and was a Fulbright U.S.-ASEAN Visiting Fellow at the Harvard University. He is editor in chief of the journals “Lao Journal of Economics and Management” and “Lao Trade Research Digest”.