Simon Baptist is Editorial Director and Chief Economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit. Prior to his current role, he has held a number of other senior management and editorial positions in the business, including Managing Director for Asia, Regional Director of our Asia editorial team, Director of Global Forecasting, and Consulting Director in both Europe and Asia

Simon’s focus is on the global economy, national and international political developments, and public policy. He engages with business, government and international organisations, helping them to understand the operational and strategic implications of the EIU’s forecasts.

He has a doctorate in economics from and was a lecturer at Oxford University, along with degrees in economics and science from the University of Tasmania. His academic research investigated technology and the determinants of productivity in manufacturing firms.

Stefan Woxström is Representative Director and President of AstraZeneca Japan. His career at AstraZeneca has spanned more than 20 years, including several leadership roles in key markets across Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Prior to his role in Japan, Stefan served as AstraZeneca’s Country President in the Nordic Baltic Region, where he oversaw eight national markets and led world-class treatment launches from AstraZeneca’s extensive Oncology, Diabetes, Cardiovascular and Respiratory pipelines. Under Stefan’s leadership, the Nordics developed into one of AstraZeneca’s leading regions, driving best practices in sales and medical activities.

Stefan joined AstraZeneca Sweden in 1996 as a member of the Sales team, later serving as National Sales Director and Marketing Director. As Business Director for Central Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA), he led the Company’s Oncology business to deliver further growth in the Middle East.

He has served as Country President for Turkey, and for Ukraine, Central Asia and the Caucasus region. In each of the markets he has overseen, Stefan has shaped businesses by fostering workplaces that focus on delivering innovative medicines more quickly to patients. He is also committed to sharing best practices across markets to promote the use of Real World Evidence. Stefan helped initiate a major RWE study, known as CVD-Real, which assessed data from six countries involving diabetes medicines.

Stefan is a Swedish national. He speaks fluent Swedish and English, and some German and Russian.

Izumi Devalier is a Managing Director and Head of Japan Economics, based in Tokyo. She joined the firm in September 2016 from HSBC, where she was a senior economist with primary coverage of Japan. She has also worked in the investment banking division of Citigroup in Japan. Devalier’s team was ranked No.1 in the 2020 Institutional Investor Global Fixed Income Survey. Devalier holds a Bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University, and a Master's Degree in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She is a frequent commentator on CNBC and Bloomberg TV. For more information about any awards cited, visit https://go.bofa.com/awards.

William Thomas is the Director of the Economist Corporate Network in South-east Asia. An experienced advisor to senior business and government leaders, he helps organisations understand the strategic, operational, and talent implications of geopolitical changes.

William holds a PhD in public policy from George Mason University in the US, as well as a degree in economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA. His academic research has centered on managing change in large, multinational organisations, with an emphasis on organisational culture.

William is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant colonel, having spent much of his 21-year career as a strategic planner for complex operations such as humanitarian assistance and counterterrorism. He was Associate Professor of Political Science at the US Air Force Academy, and later taught at Georgetown University in Washington DC and as a Fulbright Scholar at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Having worked in Asia since 2012, William has focused on leadership development and organisational change as a consultant, leadership coach, and training facilitator.