The Team

The Project Team of the Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) in support of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between the European Union and indoensia has sound experience across the economic, social, environmental and human rights dimensions. As such, the Project Team produces analysis that builds upon a broad understanding of the potential impacts of the FTA under discussion in respect to each of the thematic areas, developing a holistic view of its potential impacts on the trading partners and on ohter relevant countries. Additionally, the Project Team has considerable knowledge of and experience in trade, trade law and policy and preferential market access, as well as in stakeholder consultation.

Dr Peter van Diermen is a Development economist with over 20 years international experience in the Asia-Pacific region, providing team leadership, technical assistance and policy advice for governments, bilateral and multilateral agencies. Peter specialises in regional cooperation, trade policies, private sector development, competition policy and development of Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

He has carried out international development assignments in over 20 different countries: Work includes Team leader for designing national programs and projects, regional and national trade strategies and support for bilateral and regional trade agreements and designing national SME strategies and regulatory reform processes.

Peter is currently Managing Director of EDS Pty Ltd – a small consulting company specializing in international development economics. Previously, Peter worked as a senior academic in the field of applied development economics with a focus on the Indonesian economy. He has published extensively on a wide variety of economic topics and has provided support and consulting services for a range of clients including, ASEAN, EU, APEC, DFAT, ADB and WBG.

Dr. Baker has significant experience undertaking economic impact assessments, as well as diagnostic trade integration studies, and institutional assessments for targeting trade related assistance. In Indonesia, he worked as a Senior Economic Modeller/Consultant to develop a modelling framework for trade defence measures using a value chain approach. In previous roles, he has also advised governments and regional secretariats in the formulation of trade policy and trade negotiation strategies. Currently, he is an adviser to the Adviser to the Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network of UN Economic and Social Commission for the Asia-Pacific Region (UNESCAP), to the African Growth and Development Policy Impact Evaluation Network (AGDP/IFPRI), and to the Global Trade Analysis Project (Purdue University).

Dr. Rukmantara is a Natural Resource Management Specialist with 28 years’ experience in the field of policy analysis on resource economics, lecturer (Economics, sustainable development), natural resource management and forest certification, forest conservation including carbon conservation, Project development and reviewer in the field of Natural resource management. His core of expertise are policy analysts on resource management economics, forest and plantation certification, sustainable resource management, project budget analyst, and project proposal reviewer.

He has diverse experiences in the field of economics as a lecturer, project proposal development and budget reviewer, SFM training, public analyst on agricultural and sustainable resource development. He has been involved in many researches including his involvement as Head of research group (Ketua Kelti) of Forest Economics under the framework of Ministry of Forestry –Tropenbos – APHI in East Kalimantan (Wanariset Samboja-East Kalimantan). Previously he was also conducted research on Socioeconomic Value study of Forest Management Unit (HPH). This research implemented Total Economic Valuation (TEV) concept in the area of Forest Management practices. Rukmantara also has experiences in project management, including project formulation and proposal development, project implementation, established stakeholder engagement, and project evaluation under ITTO funded project on Strengthening Forest Company’s capacity to implement Sustainable Forest Management.

Mr Hauschild has over 17 years of experience in International Development, and has worked internationally in a number of other countries in the region as well as Indonesia, including Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Topical expertise and experience throughout the region mean that Alexander is well placed to also support experts across other SIAs. He has experience in a number of areas including Human Rights Based Approaches, Disability, Inclusive Education, Social Inclusion and Social Protection.

Throughout his experience in addition to thematic points he has gained expertise in project management, project design, training & workshops, evaluations, and material development. This comes from working with several international organisations and stakeholders including the European Commission, AusAID, Save the Children, UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank.

As a junior economic researcher at DEVELOPMENT Solutions, Mr. Bleser participated in various DG TRADE funded projects. These projects included conducting research and analysis on China’s raw materials to support WTO investigations and providing research for the Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) for the Canada-EU Trade Agreement Negotiations. In this role, he provided legal, economic and social analysis and project oversight, directed research, provided quality control and backstopping and ensured adherence to reporting deadlines and requirements while working closely with DG TRADE officials on the SIA implementation. Currently, Mr. Bleser is a researcher at the Center for the Study of Economy and Society, Ithica New York, where he utilises social network analysis and other techniques to research the emergence of public-private partnerships in trade and investment.