Kemal Dervis

Vice President and Director, Global Economy and Development Brookings Institution

Kemal Dervis is vice president and director of the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution.

Until February 2009, he was the executive head of the United Nations Development Programme and chair of the United Nations Development Group, a committee consisting of the heads of all UN funds, programs and departments working on development issues at the country level. In 2001-2002, as minister of economic affairs and the treasury of Turkey, Dervis was responsible for launching Turkey’s successful recovery from a devastating financial crisis. Dervis is a member of the Board of Overseers of Sabanci University in Istanbul contributing to the work of that university, particularly on European and regional issues. He chairs the International Advisory Board of Akbank.

Prior to his tenure as minister of economic affairs, Dervis had a 22-year career at the World Bank. At the World Bank he managed work on the transition of Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall, trade and financial sector policies in emerging markets, and the reconstruction of Bosnia.

Dervis was a member of the Turkish Parliament representing his native city of Istanbul from the end of 2002 to the summer of 2005. During that period Dervis was one of the two Turkish representatives to the Convention of the Future of Europe. Since then he has participated in various international and European task forces and networks such as the Global Progressive Forum, the Progressive Governance Network, the Task Force on Global Public Goods, and the Commission on Growth and Development.

Issues: Austerity, Capitalism, Developing Economies, Economic Theory, Globalization, International Competition, Trade

Experience:

• Head of United Nations Development Program, 2005-2009
• Member of the Turkish Parliament, 2002-2005
• Minister of Economic Affairs, Republic of Turkey, 2001-2002
• Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, 2000
• Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank, 1996
• Division Chief, Industrial and Trade Strategy, World Bank
• Director, Central Europe Department, World Bank
• Vice President, Middle East and North Africa Region, World Bank
• Vice President, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, World Bank