- Meet Çiğdem Akın from Türkiye. Explore how she is making an impact through her work as a Principal Public Management Economist at the Asian Development Bank.
- As economies recover from COVID-19, governments face new challenges in delivering solutions and building resilient economies. Learn how Çiğdem Akın is supporting governments through her work at ADB.
- Explore how Çiğdem Akın from Türkiye is making an impact by leading design, implementation, and evaluation of ADB projects, as well as policy design, capacity building, and knowledge dissemination.
ADB is supporting governments in Asia and the Pacific to achieve their development goals.
ADB’s support include strengthening government institutions for delivery of high-quality public goods and services, promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth and job creation, and building resilient economies by delivering timely assistance in times of global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Çiğdem Akın, a Principal Public Management Economist from Türkiye, shares her experiences working with ADB’s developing member countries. Explore how she is making an impact by leading design, implementation, and evaluation of ADB projects, as well as policy advice, capacity building, and knowledge dissemination.
Transcript
Making an impact: Working at ADB
Meet Çiğdem Akın, Principal Public Management Economist from Türkiye.
What is your background?
Hello. My name is Çiğdem Akın. I am a national of the Republic of Türkiye. I have been working at the Asian Development Bank since 2013.
Prior to ADB, I was teaching economics at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies and at the George Washington University. Along with my academic career, I was a researcher at the Asian Development Bank Institute.
What is your role at ADB?
At the ADB, I am working at the Central and West Asia Department - Public Management, Financial Sector, and Trade Division as a Principal Public Management Economist. In this capacity, for the next three years, I will be outposted at the Uzbekistan Resident Mission.
Prior to my current position, I worked as a senior public management economist at the South Asia Department. My main responsibilities include design, implementation, and evaluation of ADB projects as well as policy advice, capacity building, and knowledge dissemination. So far, I have led projects across seven developing member countries.
In the field of public sector management, under my projects, I have worked on macroeconomic reforms, public sector management at the national and subnational governments, including information technology applications, state-owned enterprise reforms, tax administration reforms, fiscal decentralization and local governance, banking and financial sector development, small and medium-sized enterprise development, and emergency budget support during the COVID-19 pandemic.
How does your role impact the development of Asia and the Pacific?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was a project team leader in the processing of ADB’s countercyclical support loans in several countries. These helped the governments strengthen their health systems, provide social protection assistance to their citizens, and minimize the adverse economic impact on critical sectors.
Now that the world is on its way to recovery from the pandemic, it is very satisfying to see that, with ADB’s timely emergency assistance, the countries I worked with withstood the global crisis successfully and are now focusing on reforms to modernize their economies, including transition to green economy.
Making a real difference to the lives of millions during the pandemic was one of my biggest achievements at ADB.
Going forward, I will lead ADB’s new projects to facilitate structural reforms in these countries. It is very satisfying to see this progression in developing member countries we work with.
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