Upalat Korwatanasakul
Upalat Korwatanasakul currently serves as an Associate Professor at the College of Systems Engineering and Science, Shibaura Institute of Technology.
Dr. Upalat is an international development economist specializing in Global Value Chains (GVCs), with a focus on development issues in Asia and the Pacific. He is currently expanding his research interests to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital transformation for sustainable development, as well as climate change, energy transition, and sustainability governance.
His research combines applied econometrics with policy diagnostics to examine the development implications of Southeast Asia’s participation in global value chains. His work focuses on the conditions that enable countries and firms to upgrade into higher value-added activities, as well as the roles of innovation, support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), social and environmental standards, and regional cooperation. In addition, he studies the impacts of AI adoption, environmental change, and global economic restructuring on productivity, inequality, and inclusive growth.
Upalat has led and contributed to interdisciplinary research projects with universities, UN agencies, development banks, and policy think tanks, translating academic research into policy reports, diagnostics, and capacity-building activities to support evidence-based decision-making.
Upalat holds a PhD in International Studies, majoring in Development Economic Analysis from the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan).
Upalat has fields of Expertise: • Artificial Intelligence, Digitalisation, and Sustainable Development • Climate Change, Energy Transition, and Environmental Governance • Labour Markets, Youth Employment, Inequality, and Just Transition • Global Value Chains (GVCs), International Trade, and Industrial Policy
In addition, he has published a book titled Global Value Chains in Southeast Asia.
Research Interests
- Development Economics
- International Trade
- Labor and Demographic Economics
- Environmental and Ecological Economics