Dr. Koen Berden is Managing Director of Trade Impact BV, a consulting firm focusing on enhancing sustainability, gender-equality, innovation and inclusiveness in international trade and investment agreements. Koen is also lecturer at Erasmus University, Erasmus University – Rotterdam School of Management and College of Europe.
He was Executive Director for International Affairs at EFPIA (Brussels) from 2018 – 2023, responsible for coordinating humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, the US, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Turkish markets, EU’s international trade policy regarding pharmaceuticals and policies regarding COVID-19. He was Director of Outreach and Member of the Board of Directors at the World Trade Institute (Bern, Switzerland) from 2016 – 2018, responsible for the WTI project portfolio, strategic (academic) alliances, and the creation of short courses and training. From 2006 – 2015, Koen worked at Ecorys in various roles, including as Managing Director of Ecorys Netherlands, Chief Innovation Officer of the Ecorys Group and Senior Partner.
Koen has over 18 years of research, project and lecturing experience in the fields of trade, competitiveness, and transport economics – for example in carrying out (sustainable) impact assessments of Free Trade Agreements. He is fellow of the Transatlantic Policy Network (TPN), member of the Rotterdam Economic Council (REC), and member of the Studiegezelschap Economische Politiek (SEP) and Member of the Executive Board of the Women Economic Forum. Koen graduated cum laude at Erasmus University Rotterdam in international and financial economics and did his PhD in Economics at the Tinbergen Institute. He has been a lecturer in the Maritime Economics & Logistics programme since its inception in 2001.