Prior to his appointment with UNDP, Kemal Dervis was a member of the Turkish Parliament and, in 2001-2002, Minister for Economic Affairs and the Treasury of the Republic of Turkey. He was responsible for Turkey's recovery programme after the devastating financial crisis that hit the country in February 2001.

Kemal Dervis earned his Bachelor and Master’s Degrees from the London School of Economics, and his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University. He taught economics at the Middle East Technical University and Princeton University in 1974-1978. He then joined the World Bank, where he held various positions - becoming a Vice-President in 1996 - before taking up his cabinet position in Turkey in 2001.

Kemal Dervis has published several books and many articles in academic journals as well as current affairs publications, on topics ranging from mathematical models of growth and social mobility to international trade, European enlargement, global governance and climate change. A recent book entitled “A Better Globalization: Legitimacy, Governance and Reform" was published by the Brookings Press ( 2005 ) and dealt with the current debates on global governance. A new coedited book dealing with Asia and the world economy is forthcoming in 2011.

Mr. Shome was the Chief Economist, at Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC), United Kingdom, from 2008 to 2011, where he covered accountability for quality assurance in HMRC’s analytical work including Impact Assessment of tax measures tabled in Parliament, interfacing with academia, tax professionals, international forums, and championing analysis in HMRC policy decisions through interaction, and field visits.

Mr. Shome was Adviser to Union Finance Minister, India, from 2004 to 2008. Mr. Shome was also a Member, Prime Minister’s Trade & Economic Relations Committee; Permanent Invitee, Empowered Committee (EC) of State Finance Ministers for VAT and GST. As co-Convener, he submitted the first report on Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the EC and Union Finance Minister in December 2007.

Partho Shome was awarded the “Commander of the Order of the Southern Cross,” for contributions to tax reform in Brazil, 2000, highest civilian honor of the Brazilian Government for a non-Brazilian.

At the IMF between 1983-2004: Mr. Shome held various positions including Director, IMF Singapore Training Institute (2001-03) and Chief, Tax Policy Division (1992-95). He led and participated in IMF fiscal technical assistance, consultation and program missions in over 30 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America, and advised the World Bank and the United Nations in various projects. He participated in conferences and in international dialogue on global economic issues.

Mr. Shome was Chairman of the Tax Policy and Tax Administration Advisory Group, India’s Tenth Five Year Plan (2000-01), as well as Ninth Plan (1996-97). He also chaired other national committees.

Mr. Shome was the Reserve Bank of India Chair Professor, ICRIER, 1999-2001, and Director of the National Institute of Public Finance & Policy, New Delhi, 1995-97.

Mr. Shome was also Professor/ Associate Professor/ Assistant Professor, at American University, Washington DC (1975-83), prior to joining IMF, and Visiting Fellow, Delhi School of Economics (1981); Academic Visitor, London School of Economics (1981–1982); Visiting Fellow, Australian National University (1982).

Mr. Shome obtained a Ph.D., from Southern Methodist University (SMU), Dallas, 1975, for which received the Jeanne S. Mattersdorf “outstanding student of taxation and public finance” Award of National Tax Association of America for Ph.D. thesis. He obtained a Doctoral Studentship (full tuition and subsistence), Nuffield College, University of Oxford, 1973; M.A. Economics, University of Rochester, New York, 1973; and a M.A. Economics, Delhi School of Economics, 1972.

He joined the Berkeley faculty in 1988 and was promoted to full professor in 1993. From February 2009 to September 2010, he was a Senior Resident Scholar at the International Monetary Fund. He received his A.B. from Princeton University in 1980 and his Ph.D. from M.I.T. in 1985.

Professor Romer is co-director of the Program in Monetary Economics at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and co-editor of the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. He is also a former member of the American Economic Association Executive Committee, a three-time recipient of Berkeley's Graduate Economic Association's distinguished teaching and advising awards, a member of the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee, and a recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship.

Most of Professor Romer’s recent research is concerned with monetary and fiscal policy. The work considers both the effects of policy on the economy and the determinants of policy. The issues this work examines include the macroeconomic effects of tax and interest-rate changes, the sources of the high inflation of the 1970s, the motivations for changes in tax policy, and the incentives effects of high marginal tax rates. His other research interests include the foundations of price stickiness, empirical evidence on economic growth, and asset price volatility.

She is responsible for the Bank’s operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, Sri Mulyani oversees other administrative vice-presidencies and functions, including the Information Systems Group, Integrity Vice Presidency and the Office of Evaluation and Suspension.

Prior to joining the Bank Group, Sri Mulyani served as Indonesia’s Minister of Finance, at which time she guided economic policy for one of the largest countries in Southeast Asia, and one of the biggest states in the world, navigating successfully in the midst of the global economic crisis, implementing key reforms, and earning the respect of her peers across the world.

Ms. Indrawati holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Illinois and a BA in Economics from the University of Indonesia. She has received numerous honors and awards, including Euromoney Magazine’s Global Finance Minister of the Year, and Emerging Markets Best Finance Minister in Asia. She has also been regularly on Forbes List of the 100 Most Powerful Women.

He was awarded the 1987 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for contributing to what is still the standard method of analyzing the mechanics of economic growth, and for exhibiting the importance of research and technological innovation in improving economic productivity. In 1961, he received the John Bates Clark Award, given to the best economist under age 40. In 2000, he was awarded the National Medal of Science.

Mr. Solow received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Harvard University. He began teaching economics at the M.I.T in 1949, becoming a full professor in 1958 and Institute Professor in 1973.

One of Mr. Solow’s main contributions to the advancement of economics came in the late 50s when he showed that about half of the U.S. economic growth until then cannot be accounted for by capital accumulation and labor increases. He attributed this unaccounted-for portion to technological innovation. Solow's studies have had a great impact in governments’ policies to augment funding towards technological research and development to spur economic growth.

Mr. Solow also served on the staff of President John F. Kennedy's Council of Economic Advisors during the 1960s and was president of the American Economic Association in 1979. He published numerous articles in the most salient journals of economics as well as several books. Since 2000, Solow has been a Foundation Fellow at the Russell Sage Foundation where his current focus is a comparative study of low-range work in the U.S. and Europe.