Debapriya Bhattchariya
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Debapriya Bhattacharya (born 1956) is a renowned economist from Bangladesh who had been working as the Executive Director of CPD until he was appointed Bangladesh's permanent representative (PR) in Geneva for United Nations organizations, in October 2007,.
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[edit] Life and Education
Debapriya Bhattchariya studied at St. Gregory's High School, Dhaka and Dhaka College, Dhaka. He did his M.Sc. in Economics with distinction. He obtained his Ph.D. (Economics) from the Plekhanov Institute of National Economy, Moscow. He researched as a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
In 2004-2005 was associated with the Centre for Global Development (CGD), Washington D.C. as a Senior Fulbright Fellow. He was also a Visiting Fellow at the United Nations University-Institute of New Technology (UNU-INTECH), Maastricht and Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Also, he has conducted joint research with the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE), Tokyo and Institute of Development Planning and Management (IDPM), Manchester.
[edit] Working with Government of Bangladesh
Debapriya Bhattacharya regularly participates in high-level consultative bodies of the Government of Bangladesh. He was a (a) member of the Consultative Committee on Macro-economic Policy Advisory Committee, Ministry of Finance; (b) member of the Banking Sector Reform Committee; (c) member of the Advisory Committee of the Securities and Exchange Commission; (d) a member of the Panel of Economists, Fifth Five Year Plan (1997-2002), Ministry of Planning; (e) Member, National Committee on Utilisation of Gas Resources, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
He prepared the draft of the Industrial Policy (1999) of the country for the Ministry of Industries as well as a number of position papers for the Ministry of Commerce. He was a Director of Janata Bank (1996-2000), the second largest commercial bank of the country in the public sector. He was also a member of the Task Force on “Foreign Aid” constituted under the Adviser for Planning in the Interim Government of 1991.
Dr. Bhattacharya prepared the Trade-related Technical Assistance Need Assessment of Bangladesh, the first such country report prepared for support under the Integrated Framework of the WTO. He was a member of Bangladesh's official delegation to the WTO Fourth Ministerial Meeting held in Doha (November, 2001) and the Second Meeting of the LDC Trade Ministers held in Dhaka (June 2003). He provided leadership in conceiving and organising the Pre-Cancun LDC Civil Society Conference held in Dhaka (May 2003). He also played a critical role in the national preparatory process for the WTO Ministerial held in Cancun (September 2003). Currently he is a member of the Advisory Committee on WTO Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, Government of Bangladesh.
[edit] Career
Dr. Bhattacharya is a macro-economist and public policy analyst. Till November 2007, he steered the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), the most influential private sector think-tank of Bangladesh as its Executive Director. Prior to joining CPD he worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).
Debapriya Bhattacharya has been associated with a number of national, regional and international professional organisations. He was the General Secretary of the Bangladesh Economic Association for three consecutive terms. He was a member of the Panel of Advisory Board of the International Centre for Trade and Development (ICTSD), Geneva. He is currently the Regional Editor of the Oxford Development Studies, Member of the Editorial Board, South Asian Studies, Colombo and Chairperson of the EU-LDC Network. He was a member of the "Investment" and "WTO" Task Forces set up by the South Asia Centre for Policy Studies (SACEPS).
He was the Study Director of the Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative (SAPRI) in Bangladesh, a multi-country exercise of the Governments, the World Bank and a global network of civil society organisations. He was also the Study Director for the CPD’s Pre-Election Policy Brief Programme (2001) and Policy Review Programme (2003).
He also seved as a member of the governing body of BRAC - the largest NGO of the world. He also sits in the Academic Council of the BRAC University.
[edit] International assignments
Dr. Bhattacharya undertook assignments for a number of international organisations including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO, UNCTAD, ILO as well as bilateral development agencies from the USA, Japan, UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. Also, he undertook short-term overseas assignments in Costa Rica for CARE International, in India for the World Bank, in Nepal for the UNDP, in Sri Lanka for the British ODA, in Malaysia for the EDI, World Bank, Mongolia for the APO, and Bulgaria and Moscow for the UN-DESA.
Most recently, Dr. Bhattacharya has played a guiding role in organisation of the International Civil Society Forum 2005: For Advancing LDC Interests in the Sixth WTO held in Dhaka on 3-5 October 2005.
[edit] Public profile
He participates regularly in the national and international media as a commentator on contemporary economic issues. He used to moderate a prime time talk show on Bangladesh Television on development debates. This fetched him mass popularity.
[edit] Assignment in Geneva
On 20 October 2007, the government of Bangladesh appointed Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya as Bangladesh's permanent representative (PR) based in Geneva. This is first diplomatic assignment. Ambassador Bhattacharya assumed charge in Geneva in November. At the WTO he chairs a number of committees and sub-committees on different issues. He is also the co-ordinator of the LDCs.
[edit] Research Interests
Dr Bhattacharya's current interest relates to reform economics and strategic policy issues. His major works relate to foreign aid and global trade regime, investment and finance, industry and technology. He has also worked in the areas of regional cooperation, environment, human development, micro-credit and enterprise development.
[edit] Publications
Dr. Bhattacharya has more than one hundred publications to his credit including chapters in books, monographs, journals, articles and research reports. He has contributed to the UN LDC Report 2000, UNCTAD-ICC Investment Guidelines, and Global Competitiveness Report 2001, 2002 and 2003 of the World Economic Forum. A list of most recent publications is given below : Books/Monographs
- Bhattacharya, D. and et al. (2004). Globalisation and the LDCs: Perspectives from the Asia-Pacific Region, CPD-Pathak Shamabesh, Dhaka.
- Bhattacharya, D. (2004). “Globalization and the State: Human Development and Capacity Building Needs – A Review of Asian Country Experiences” in Globalization and the State: Challenges for Economic Growth and Human Development. United Nations, New York.
- Bhattacharya, D. and et al. (2005). Bangladesh in the Global Trade Regime: Labour, Environment, Agriculture, Export and Trade Negotiations. Pathak Samabesh, Dhaka.
Articles/Policy Briefs/Reviews
- Bhattacharya, D. (2005). “The Doha Round and Poverty: An LDC Perspective”. Bridges, Vol. 9, No. 5, pp. 13-14, May 2005, Geneva: International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD).
- Bhattacharya, D. and K. Elliot. (2005). “Adjusting to the MFA Phase-Out: Policy Priorities”. CGD Brief, Washington, D.C.: Centre for Global Development.
- Bhattacharya, D. (2005). “Least Developed Countries in Trade Negotiations: Planning Process and Information Needs”. Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 51-68, New York: ESCAP.
- Bhattacharya, D. and et al. (2005). “Road to Hong Kong Ministerial of the WTO: Anticipating the “First Approximations” from Bangladesh Perspective”. Occasional Paper Series, No. 49, Dhaka: Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
- Bhattacharya, D. (2005). “Bangladesh’s Experience with Foreign Direct Investment”, in Foreign Direct Investment: High Risk, Low Reward for Development, pp. 51-66, Bonn: Church Development Service (EED).
