Dr. Aadil Nakhoda

Curriculum Vitae

Nationality: Pakistani
anakhoda at iba.edu.pk | +92 333 3801363 | LinkedIn

Last Updated: May 2026

Executive Summary

As an Assistant Professor of Economics at IBA Karachi and a recognized expert in international trade, I specialize in shaping trade policy and enhancing export competitiveness in Pakistan. My work sits at the intersection of academic research, public policy, and global trade dynamics, with a distinct focus on tariff and non-tariff measures (NTMs) and the structural challenges facing domestic firms in the global marketplace. Leveraging advanced data analytics (R and STATA), I produce high-impact research centered on firm growth, productivity dynamics, and trade facilitation. In the classroom, I bridge theory and practice, teaching comprehensive undergraduate and graduate courses in international trade alongside core economics modules at IBA. Beyond academia, I serve as the Chair of the Economic Advisory Group (EAG), a premier advocacy forum dedicated to delivering evidence-based recommendations to Pakistan’s economic policymakers and providing rigorous training for emerging young economists. My applied policy expertise is further grounded in extensive consulting and capacity-building engagements with leading international organizations, including the World Bank, USAID, FCDO, and the United Nations, where I focus on topics such as integrating SMEs into global value chains. Committed to public discourse, I actively translate complex economic concepts into actionable insights through regular commentary in leading national dailies.

Current Position (since July 2014)

Assistant Professor at Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi Research Fellow at Center for Business and Economic Research (IBA)

Education

University of California, Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz, USA Ph.D. in International Economics (June 2012)

University of California, Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz, USA M.A. in International Economics (December 2009)

Pennsylvania State University | Pennsylvania, USA Bachelor of Science with Honors in Economics (May 2007)

Employment History

Institute of Business Administration, Karachi | Pakistan

Assistant Professor (July 2014 – Present)

  • Teaching undergraduates and graduate students.
  • Developing course material, creating course syllabi and outlines, and ensuring effective course delivery.
  • Providing evaluation to students and feedback on course performance.

Research Fellow at CBER (July 2014 – Present)

  • Conducting regular research work for IBA and different agencies.
  • Contributing to the State of the Economy Report as an author and serving as its editor for FY26-27.

State Bank of Pakistan | Pakistan

Zahid Hussain Memorial Research Fellow (March 2013 – March 2014)

  • Researched issues related to international trade, with a particular focus on trade finance.
  • Developed strategies for conducting business surveys, culminating into the business confidence index.

University of California, Santa Cruz | USA

PhD Candidate (December 2009 – June 2012)

  • Conducted research for my dissertation titled ‘Essays on International Trade and Firm Business Strategies’.

Teaching Assistant (January 2008 – April 2012)

  • Served as a teaching assistant for various courses offered by the Economics Department at UCSC.

Publications & Working Papers

Teaching

Taught courses on International Trade (Undergraduate, Masters and PhD-level), Macroeconomics (Undergraduate and MBA-level), International Political Economy (MBA-level) Development Economics (Undergraduate - level), History of Economic Thought (Undergraduate-level), Intermediate Microeconomics (Undergraduate-level) at Institute of Business Administration, Karachi.

Professional Activities

  • Member of Economic Advisory Group under the auspices of PRIME Institute January 2021-Present. (Chair from January 2025).
  • Coordinator for Asia Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade at IBA, Karachi August 2017 - Present. Have attended workshops (both online and in-person), organized guest lectures at IBA and participated in panels hosted by United Nations ESCAP and ARTNeT.
  • Coordinator for United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Virtual Institute at IBA, Karachi. January 2016- Present. Have attended online workshops and organized guest lectures hosting speakers from UNCTAD at IBA.

Major Activities

  • Trade expert in project on identifying and formulating specific reforms impacting foreign investments in Pakistan with Adam Smith International and PRIME.
  • Member of organizing team of the IBA-CBER conferences and moderated panel sessions at the conferences.
  • Regularly discuss international trade-related issues on different online platforms. Recent events: Infer, PRIME, CBER.
  • Conducted workshops on trade-related resources and information gathering for various participants belonging to academia, industry, and government. Delivered an orientation on FTAs and GSP Plus to women-led entrepreneurs across major cities in Pakistan in April 2023.
  • Attended various workshops and seminars hosted by United Nations ESCAP and UNCTAD Virtual Institute on international trade related topics such as trade intelligence and negotiation, trade facilitation, resolution of trade disputes and sustainable development.
  • Regularly publish newspaper articles on issues faced by industries and businesses as well as on issues related to international trade in Express Tribune. Have also published numerous articles in Dawn, Profit, Business Recorder Research and South Asia magazine.
  • Participated as speaker in webinars for United Nations ESCAP, World Bank, SDPI, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Learners’ Republic, Centre for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ-IBA) on trade related issues, including topics on trade dispute.
  • Panelist on a webinar hosted by PIDE, World Bank and International Trade Center on Experiences of Pakistani Exporters with Non-Tariff Measures in October 2020.
  • Panelist on various webinars and seminars with a focus on trade-related issues including trade facilitation, trade reforms and resolution of trade-related disputes.

Completed Projects

  • Consortium for Development Policy Research (CDPR): International Trade expert for project on green trade. Determined how much imports are to increase if Pakistan relaxes import tariffs on various green goods. 2024.
  • USAID: Supporting New Opportunities Post-Covid-19 for Export and Domestic Market Development for SMEs in Current Policy and Regulatory Environment. 2021.
  • SDPI & UN ESCAP: Project with Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Supporting Export Competitiveness amid COVID-19 in Pakistan and with United Nations ESCAP on Health and Trade Integration completed in March 2021. These involved discussion on improving trade facilitation.
  • State Bank of Pakistan (SBP): Developing and compiling bi-monthly Business Confidence Index. 2016-Present.
  • Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP): Designing and delivering National Exporters Training Program across major cities of Pakistan. 2018-2020.
  • Adam Smith International (ASI) and DFID: Pakistan Trade Scoping Study. 2018-2019.
  • UNCTAD: Research article on the impact of NTMs faced by Pakistani exporters published as a chapter in J. Melo & A. Nicita (Eds.) Non-Tariff Measures: Economic Assessment and Policy Options for Development. 2018.
  • World Bank: Regional Competitiveness Initiative for Textile Sector in Pakistan. 2014-2015.

Training Workshops and Courses

Selected Courses involving Trade Dispute and Trade Facilitation

  • Services Trade and Services Provisions in RTAs (Aug 2024)
  • E-learning course on optimizing trade agreement analysis (Mar 2024)
  • Facilitated Online Course on Trade and SDGs (Nov 2023)
  • Climate-smart Trade and Investment for Sustainable Development (Sep 2023)
  • Facilitated Online Course on Next Generation Trade Facilitation (Dec 2022)
  • Sustainable Development Provisions in FTAs (May 2022)
  • Pilot Course on Negotiating Regional Trade Agreements for Trade in Times of Crisis and Pandemic (Aug 2021)
  • Negotiation of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (Jun 2021)
  • Enhancing Online National Trade Portals and Repositories (Sep 2020)
  • Business Process Analysis (Aug 2020)

Skills

  • Excellent data management and analytic skills using STATA and R. Regularly use Latex, R and Microsoft Office for preparing reports, presentations, research papers and other documents.
  • Well versed in the use and application of more commonly used trade-related databases such as UN Comtrade, World Bank’s WITS, Trademap.org and CEPII’s BACI dataset.
  • Excellent academic research level competency, particularly in the application of trade related databases as shown by the publications listed. Have used resources such as UNCTAD’S NTMs Hub, United Nations ESCAP’S TINA and RIVA and other databases in various research studies.

Service to IBA

  • Member of Board of Studies of the Economics Department and Member of Student Conduct and IBA Standards Committee (SCISC).
  • Regularly participate in internal assessment of different majors and programs offered at the Economics Department at IBA.
  • Regular contribution to State of the Economy Report by CBER and Economics faculty at IBA. Editor for FY27 Report.

Selected Video & Media Appearances