Full Name: Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya

Affiliation: Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh

Current Position: Distinguished Fellow

Date of Birth: April 29, 1956

Place of Birth: Bangladesh

Home District: Tangail

Nationality: Bangladeshi

Profile:

Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya (born 29 April 1956) is the Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh. Prior to joining CPD he worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS). He was the first Executive Director of the CPD (1999-2007). He is a macro-economist and public policy analyst. He had been the Special Adviser on LDCs to the Secretary General, UNCTAD (2009-2010). He was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the WTO, UN office, and other international organisations in Geneva (2007-2009).

He studied at St. Gregory's High School, Dhaka and Dhaka College, Dhaka. Did his M.Sc. (Economics) with distinction and Ph.D. (Economics) from the Plekhanov Institute of National Economy, Moscow. Dr. Bhattacharya was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford. He was a Senior Fulbright Fellow at the Centre for Global Development (CGD), Washington D.C. in 2004-2005. 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. He has conducted joint research with the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE), Tokyo and Institute of Development Planning and Management (IDPM), Manchester.

Dr. Bhattacharya regularly participates in high-level consultative bodies of the Government of Bangladesh. He was a member of the Consultative Committee on Macro-economic Policy Advisory Committee, Ministry of Finance; Banking Sector Reform Committee; Advisory Committee of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Panel of Economists, Fifth Five Year Plan (1997-2002), Ministry of Planning; Member, National Committee on Utilisation of Gas Resources, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. Dr Bhattacharya prepared the draft of the Industrial Policy (1999) 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. He was 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 the official Bangladesh 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.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.

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.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.

Dr. Bhattacharya is 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 is 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. 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.

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. 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.

Most Recent Publications

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).

Register for comment

Comments

No data found