Patrick Low

Dr. Patrick Low directs, undertakes and leads research into global supply chains, international trade and global governance. He is also currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Hong Kong and a fellow at the Asia Global Institute.

Dr. Low was Chief Economist at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for sixteen years until 2013 following a seven-year tenure at the GATT Secretariat, starting in 1980. He initially worked on trade in services at the WTO before his appointment to the role of Chief Economist in 1997. Dr. Low also served as WTO Director-General Mike Moore’s Chief of Staff for two years from 1999, after which he returned to his post as Chief Economist.

Between his roles at the GATT and the WTO, Dr. Low taught economics for three years at El Colegio de México in Mexico City. During this time, he worked as a consultant for a range of governments and inter-governmental institutions.

From 1990 to 1994, Dr. Low worked as a senior economist in the World Bank’s research complex (International Trade Division) where his research focused on trade policy, trade and the environment, fiscal policy and customs reform.

Dr. Low was also an Adjunct Professor of International Economics at the Graduate Institute of International Development Studies, Geneva, for nine years from 2004 where he taught courses focusing on trade policy and theory, economics of the environment and trade and climate change.

Dr. Low holds a BA in Economics from the University of Kent and a PhD in Economics from Sussex University, both in the UK, and has written widely on a range of trade policy issues.