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Rashesh Shrestha

Rashesh Shrestha head shot.

Economist

Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia

Rashesh Shrestha is an economist with research interests in labor markets, economic development, and human capital investment. At ERIA, he conducts academic research and leads policy-oriented research projects on a wide range of themes including human capital, education, global value chains, trade facilitation, regulatory management system, and financial inclusion. Prior to joining ERIA, he was an associate lecturer at the Australian National University. He earned his PhD from the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is originally from Nepal.

Firms are increasingly prioritizing skills-based hiring over educational pedigree, providing youth skills development pathways that can keep pace with industry change rather than the slower cycle of traditional curricula. Photo credit: ADB.
Article
13 March 2026

Microcredentials: ASEAN’s Answer to the Youth Jobs Crisis

These short, targeted programs deliver job-relevant skills, assessed and certified in alignment with industry standards.