Mentors Network

Tom is the Economist at the Innovation, Enterprise and Investment Section of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Before joining the United Nations, Tom was based at the Financial Times’ London office, in a specialist division focused on foreign investment. Tom has advised on, developed and implemented investment attraction action plans, investment and incentive policies and special economic zone frameworks for numerous governments across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Europe and Latin America. He has been leading a number of private sector, startup and SME development programmes in South Asia, Central Asia and ASEAN at ESCAP, focused on improving investment attraction abilities of companies in emerging ecosystems, identifying investors and support their international expansion ambitions, leveraging public and private networks. In addition to speaking engagements at economic summits and industry events, Tom has contributed to and published a number of works on the political economy of foreign investment, investment and business strategy and cases, policy and developmental dimensions of foreign investment, including: UN and OECD publications, a book on FDI and Cities (2025) published by Routledge, a book on Strategy in Practice (forthcoming with Routledge, 2026), as well as other magazine articles and reports, including for the Financial Times Group. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Durham University and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science.