Programme

In December 2013, Ms.Shamshad Akhtar was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as United Nations Under-Secretary-General and the tenth Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). She also serves as UN Sherpa for the G20. Previously the Secretary-General’s Senior Advisor on Economics and Finance, as well as Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, she led the UN-wide coordination of the post-2015 development agenda and related policy and normative work, including supporting work on the Sustainable Financing Strategy. She served as Governor of the Central Bank of Pakistan from 2006 to 2009; Vice President of the World Bank’s Middle East and North Africa Region; and held a range of senior posts in the Asian Development Bank, including that of Director-General (South-East Asia region). Ms. Akhtar was a post-doctoral US Fulbright Fellow at Harvard University, holds a PhD in Economics from the Paisley College of Technology, a Master in Development Economics from the University of Sussex, and an MSc in Economics from Quaid-i-Azam University.

With VTB Bank since 2002. President and Chairman of the Management Board, Member of the Supervisory Council Previously held positions: In 1996 under the Presidential Decree Appointed as Chairman of Vnesheconombank, with the authorities being extended in 1999 for another three years. In 1995 – Elected First Deputy Chairman, National Reserve Bank. 1993-1995 – Deputy Head of Foreign Investment Department, Imperial Bank. 1979-1992 – Diplomatic service: during 1979-1982 – in the USSR Consulate General in Australia, in 1985-1990 – in the USSR Embassy in Great Britain. In 1979 – graduated cum laude from Moscow State University with a degree in International Economics, Ph.D. in Economics. Awarded with the Orders of Merit for the Fatherland III, IV degree, the Medal of Honor and the Order of Merit (France). Born in 1956, in Moscow.

Previously held positions: July 2012 – present time: Deputy Finance Minister September 2010 – July 2012: Head of Macroeconomy Analysis at VTB Capital 2004-2010: Managing Director, Head of Fixed Income Research and Chief Economist, Renaissance Capital. 2001-2004: Chief Economist, Renaissance Capital. 1998-2001: Senior Sovereign Strategist, Emerging Markets Research, Fixed Income Department, BNP Paribas London 1995-1996: Senior Economist, Department for Foreign Exchange Regulations and Controls, Central Bank of the Russian Federation 2011: Ranked 2nd for Russian macroeconomy in Thomson Reuters Extel Survey 2011 and 3rd in “Economics” category in Institutional Investor 2011 All-Russia investor survey. 2004-2009: Ranked best analyst in at least one fixed income category in each of the Institutional Investor All-Russia Research Surveys. 2006: Ranked Top 3 economist in Emerging Europe in the Institutional Investor Emerging EMEA Research Team Report. Alexey graduated with honours (Beta Gamma Sigma) and received Master of Business Administration from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Rochester, USA. He graduated with honours from the State Academy of Management, Moscow, Russia, in International Economics.

Dr Andy Xie is Shanghai-based independent economist specialising in China and Asia. He is currently director of Rosetta Stone Advisors. He is also a guest columnist for the South China Morning Post and Century Weekly. Dr Xie is one of the few economists who has accurately predicted economic bubbles including the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and the more recent subprime meltdown in the United States. He joined Morgan Stanley in 1997 and was Managing Director and Head of the firm’s Asia/Pacific economics team until 2006. Prior to that he spent two years with Macquarie Bank in Singapore, where he was an associate director in corporate finance. He also spent five years as an economist with the World Bank. Dr Xie earned a PhD in economics in 1990 and an MS in civil engineering in 1987 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

2013: creation of his own company “THOMAS VENDÔME INVESTMENT”: private Equity, Real Estate Investments and advisory especially for European and Russian companies. 1998 – 2013: LAZARD partner. Former representative of French President Nicolas Sarkozy – French – Russian economic cooperation. March 2012: report on the creation of an economic Euro – Russian area. Appointed by the French Ministry of the Economy to follow cross-boarder investments and programme of privatizations between France and Russia within C.E.F.I.C. (Conseil Economique, Financier, Industriel et Commercial). Political career. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: one of the leaders in Republican Party. Member of Finance Committee : spokesman on the Economy and the Budget, Special Finance Committee reporter. Author of the Thomas Law (March 1997) for creating pension funds in France. The Euro : Representant of the Parliament at the Euro Committee. Privatisations: in 1998, as a Member of the Parliament, he wrote a book “Les privatisations”. Member of the International Advisory Board of RUSAL, member of the board of RECYLEX Group. Advisor of SANOFI. Senior Advisor of the president of AMUNDI. Member of the “Cercle de l’Union Interalliée”. Born in 1957 in Vosges (France).