Soesastro graduated with an aeronautical engineering degree from the Technische Hochschule in Aachen, Germany. Aside from his studies, Hadi was active in the Indonesian students association, becoming chairman of the West German branch.
He worked as an economist at the CSIS, which he helped to found.[1] He worked as an advisor to both the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.[2] From December 1999 until September 2000, Soesastro served as an economic advisor to Indonesian PresidentAbdurrahman Wahid as a member of the president's National Economic Council.[1]
In April 2013, the Australian government announced the Hadi Soesastro Prize, awarded annually to two Australia Awards Scholarship recipients from Indonesia undertaking doctorates in Australia. An entitlement of up to $25,000 will be awarded to Australia Awards Hadi Soesastro Prize scholars for further study, field work, conference attendance, and research or community projects.
Howard Dick. 2013. Book review of Mochamad Pasha (ed.), 2011, Hadi Soesastro: Sebuah Antologi Pemikirian [Hadi Soesastro: An Anthology of Thoughts], Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta, in Bulletin of Indonesian Economics Studies, Vol 49, No 1, April 2013, pp. 119–125.