Asif M. Islam is a Senior Economist in the Office of the Chief Economist for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan Region at the World Bank. He has written on a wide range of issues related to economic development with a focus on the private sector and government interventions. He has published in peer-reviewed journals on several dimensions of the private sector including entrepreneurship, technology, informality, and gender. He has also published on a wide range of topics including fiscal policy, environment, and agriculture. He has lead several semi-annual economics updates and co-authored several reports including the World Development Report (2019) - The Changing Nature of Work, Jobs Undone: Reshaping the Role of Governments toward Markets and Workers in the Middle East and North Africa, Unlocking Sustainable Private Sector Growth in the Middle East and North Africa, and Uncharted Waters: The New Economics of Water Scarcity and Variability. He holds a PhD in Applied Economics from the University of Maryland-College Park, and a bachelor’s degree in economics and computer science from Macalester College.