Keijiro Otsuka is Professor of development economics at GRIPS. He had held positions at Tokyo Metropolitan University, International Rice Research Institute, International Food Policy Research Institute, and World Bank. He has been conducting a large number of comparative case studies on industrial development and agricultural development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Takashi Shiraishi currently serves as President, GRIPS (since 2011) and President, Institute of Developing Economies-JETRO (since 2007). He served as Executive Member, Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP), and Cabinet Office (2009-2012). He has taught at the University of Tokyo (1979-1987), Cornell University (1987-98), Kyoto University (1996-2005), and GRIPS (2005-2009).