Khalil Manaf Hegarty is an expert in trade policy focusing on Southeast Asia and specializing in trade and sustainability. He has extensive experience and networks across Indonesia and Malaysia.

Khalil has more than 15 years of experience consulting for businesses and governments in Southeast Asia and East Asia, focusing on the agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

He has worked as an advisor on trade policy and certification to the governments of Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. He provides ongoing policy advice to governments and the private sector in Southeast Asia, covering agriculture, manufactured goods, services, and investment.

He has managed trade policy research and advocacy programs for a broad range of companies and industry bodies in the Indo-Pacific region. These include social and economic impact assessments for major agricultural and industrial developments, conformity assessments for certification systems, and broad stakeholder consultation processes. He has represented civil society organizations at multilateral meetings, including the UNFCCC, FAO, and UNCSD.

His opinion pieces have been published across Southeast Asia in the Jakarta Post, The Star (KL), and Bangkok Post, and he is regularly quoted in media in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Khalil was a director at ITS Global and Article Three, two of Australia’s leading trade policy advisories. Prior to that, he was a journalist and editor at News Ltd and a researcher at Monash University.