Debapriya Bhattchariya
Encyclopedia
Debapriya Bhattacharya (born 1956) is an economist from Bangladesh
and the executive director of the CPD
, 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
.
He is married to Dr Irina Shebanova, an economist. They have a daughter, Alexandra Bhattacharya, who graduated from London School of Economics (LSE) with an undergraduate degree in Law (LLB). She is currently undertaking her LLM at UCLA.
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.
(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). He served as Bangladesh's Permanenet Representative to Geneva
from 2007 to early 2009. He joined back Centre for Policy Dialogue
(CPD) in April 2009.
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
.
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.
s.
After the general election of 2008, a democratic government came into power and Debapriya resigned in February 2009. He returned to Bangladesh and joined back CPD.
Books/Monographs
Articles/Policy Briefs/Reviews
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
and the executive director of the CPD
Centre for Policy Dialogue
The Centre for Policy Dialogue is a non-governmental think-tank of Bangladesh, and has been identified as one of the leading think-tanks of the world by the think tank survey conducted by the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, USA....
, Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
.
Life and Education
Debapriya Bhattcharya studied at St. Gregory's High School, DhakaDhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
and Dhaka College
Dhaka College
, located in Dhaka, is one of Bangladesh's earliest and most prestigious higher educational institutions. It offers both four years bachelor's and one years masters course in various majors, but it is best known for HSC...
, Dhaka. He did his M.Sc. in Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
with distinction. He obtained his Ph.D. (Economics) from the Plekhanov Institute of National Economy, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. He researched as a post-doctoral fellow at the Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
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
Visiting fellow
A visiting fellow is an academic, often a senior academic, who is undertaking research at a different institution than his or her main institution for a limited period of time, often but not necessarily at a foreign institution. A visiting fellow can be paid or unpaid; sometimes the salary is paid...
at the United Nations University
United Nations University
The United Nations University is an academic arm of the United Nations established in 1973, which serves purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The UNU undertakes research into the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare that are the concern of...
-Institute of New Technology (UNU-INTECH), Maastricht and Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde
University of Strathclyde
The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, Scotland, is Glasgow's second university by age, founded in 1796, and receiving its Royal Charter in 1964 as the UK's first technological university...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. Also, he has conducted joint research with the Institute of Developing Economies
Institute of Developing Economies
Institute of Developing Economies is a semi-governmental research institute under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the largest institute on social science in Japan.Current status is a body of the Japan External Trade Organization. It locates in Kaihin-Makuhari area of Mihama Ward,...
(IDE), Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and Institute of Development Planning and Management (IDPM), Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
.
He is married to Dr Irina Shebanova, an economist. They have a daughter, Alexandra Bhattacharya, who graduated from London School of Economics (LSE) with an undergraduate degree in Law (LLB). She is currently undertaking her LLM at UCLA.
Working with Government of Bangladesh
Dr. 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
Cancún
Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...
LDC
LDC
LDC may refer to:* Least Developed Countries* Lyon Dubai City* Linley's Dungeon Crawl, a Roguelike role-playing game* Long Distance Code of Reed-Solomon code* Local Development Corporation* Local Distribution Company* Leonardo DiCaprio...
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.
Career
Dr. Bhattacharya is a macro-economist and public policy analyst. Till November 2007, he steered the Centre for Policy DialogueCentre for Policy Dialogue
The Centre for Policy Dialogue is a non-governmental think-tank of Bangladesh, and has been identified as one of the leading think-tanks of the world by the think tank survey conducted by the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, USA....
(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). He served as Bangladesh's Permanenet Representative to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
from 2007 to early 2009. He joined back Centre for Policy Dialogue
Centre for Policy Dialogue
The Centre for Policy Dialogue is a non-governmental think-tank of Bangladesh, and has been identified as one of the leading think-tanks of the world by the think tank survey conducted by the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, USA....
(CPD) in April 2009.
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
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of 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
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
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
BRAC (NGO)
BRAC, based in Bangladesh, is the world's largest non-governmental development organization. Established by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed in 1972 soon after the independence of Bangladesh, BRAC is present in all 64 districts of Bangladesh, with over 7 million microfinance group members, 37,500 non-formal...
- the largest NGO of the world. He also sits in the Academic Council of the BRAC University
BRAC University
BRAC University is a private university in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The university was established by BRAC in 2001 under the Private University Act 1992. BRAC University had its first convocation in January 2006...
.
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 US, 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.
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.Assignment in Geneva
On 20 October 2007, the Caretaker government of Bangladesh appointed Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya as Bangladesh's permanent representative (PR) based in Geneva. This was his first diplomatic assignment. Ambassador Bhattacharya assumed charge in Geneva in November. At the WTO he chaired a number of committees and sub-committees on different issues. He was also the co-ordinator of the LDCLDC
LDC may refer to:* Least Developed Countries* Lyon Dubai City* Linley's Dungeon Crawl, a Roguelike role-playing game* Long Distance Code of Reed-Solomon code* Local Development Corporation* Local Distribution Company* Leonardo DiCaprio...
s.
After the general election of 2008, a democratic government came into power and Debapriya resigned in February 2009. He returned to Bangladesh and joined back CPD.
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.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).