Sonia Plaza

Senior Economist, Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice, World Bank
Sonia Plaza is a Senior Economist in the Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice of the World Bank. She is also the co-chair of the Diaspora Thematic working group of KNOMAD (Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development). Sonia was born in Lima, Peru. Her father had a constructing firm, so some of her earliest childhood memories are of traveling with him to poor areas including Ayacucho where he was working on projects. This is how she was first exposed to development work, and it shaped her. She wrote chapter 5 of the book, “Africa’s Silk Road: China and India’s New Economic Frontier”, which covers trade facilitation, technology, and skills transfer, and regional trade agreements. She advises many universities on the transfer of skills and tapping into their diasporas. Sonia attended the University of Lima and earned a degree in Economics, after which she joined Chase Manhattan Bank, and was then invited to join the Peruvian Ministry of Trade as a manager responsible for counter trade and debt swap agreements. She also has a dual degree from Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania in International Economics and Development. She was Professor of Economics (International Economics) at the Peruvian School of Foreign Service and at the University of Lima in Peru, and was adjunct faculty (Microeconomics and Macroeconomics) at The American University in Washington, DC. Her research interests include international migration, labor mobility, trade, and the future of labor. She joined the Institute for the Study of Labor as a Research Fellow in February 2010.
Blogging on: People Move
- The Global Compact on Migration from a development perspective – views from a Meeting of Experts
- Migration, Remittances and Diaspora Data: Need for International Cooperation
- Migration and Development: A Global Compact on Migration
- Trends in Remittances, 2016: A New Normal of Slow Growth
- Migration and Development: A Role for the World Bank Group
- Remittances Market in Latin America: Will mobile money facilitate financial inclusion?
- Will there be policy coherence between the FfD Action Agenda and the Post 2015 Development Agenda on migration, remittances and diaspora?
- Addis Ababa Action Agenda (4A): On harnessing migration for financing development, we are almost there!
- Call for Proposals: Evaluation of diaspora programs
- Migration, Remittances and Diaspora for Financing for Development
- Remittance Markets: More court cases and higher costs due to Anti Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Regulations
- Closing of bank accounts of money transfer operators (MTOs) is raising remittance costs
- No more migrant skilled workers for FY2015: All H1B Visas gone on April 7
- Anti-Money Laundering Regulations: Can Somalia survive without remittances?
- More employment implies more H1-B visa applications in the USA
- Global Forum on Migration and Development 2012: Mauritius - What a great forum!
- Migration and Trade Go Hand in Hand for Africa and the US
- Migration and Remittances News Roundup - Jan 25, 2012
- Migration and Remittances News Roundup - Jan 18, 2012
- Ethiopia’s new diaspora bond: will it be successful this time?
- Are fewer Mexicans crossing the border to the United States?
- Is it possible to send remittances to North Korea?
- New data posted – household surveys for Burkina Faso, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda
- Can the Diaspora contribute to the creation of jobs in the Middle East and North Africa?
- Are migration motives and remittances behavior different for women?
Blogging on: People Move