New ADB Country Director assumes office

AKIPRESS.COM - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has appointed Mr. Pavit Ramachandran as its new Country Director for Mongolia. As the head of the country office, he will work as the primary operational link for activities between ADB and the government, the private sector, civil society stakeholders, and development partners. Mr. Ramachandran is an accomplished development professional whose experience spans both public and private sectors in developing and managing complex country and regional programs and projects. His diverse operational expertise includes investment projects as well as policy and knowledge support covering rural development, environment, energy, agriculture, and water sectors. Mr. Ramachandran has more than two decades of experience facilitating and enacting policy reforms, mobilizing financing, and promoting capacity development across multiple countries in Asia and the Pacific.
Mr. Ramachandran joined ADB in May 2009 and has progressed through different positions in charge of programming, processing, and administration of projects and knowledge work. In his most recent role as Principal Environment Specialist of ADB's East Asia Department, he was leading policy dialogue and program lending operations in Mongolia including the preparation of the Ulaanbaatar Air Quality Improvement Program.
"ADB and Mongolia have a very strong and long-standing relationship of 28 years," said Mr. Ramachandran. "In addition to focusing on financial assistance to meet the pressing economic and social needs of the country, we will work on expanding into thematic areas and sectors such as gender, climate change, and private sector development. Knowledge and innovation will be increasingly critical in our support to Mongolia."
An Indian national, Mr. Ramachandran holds master's degrees in public management from the University of Maryland in the United States (US), and in development sociology from the Delhi School of Economics in India. His previous experience includes consulting stints with ADB on regional cooperation themes and with management consulting firms in the US focusing on energy regulation and policies and on climate change abatement strategies.