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Speakers: Minister Pandeli Majko, Minister of Diaspora, Republic of Albania and Ricardo Hausmann, Professor of the Practice of Economic Development, Harvard University
About the Speakers:
Pandeli Majko was born in Tirana on November 15, 1967. He graduated from the University of Tirana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (1986-1992). He also completed his studies at the Faculty of Law at the same university (1994-2000).
Mr. Majko has an extensive political career. From 1992 to 1995, Mr. Majko served as President of the Euro-Socialist Youth Forum of Albania (FRESSH). He served two terms as Secretary-General of the Socialist Party of Albania and as Head of its Parliamentary Group. He also held twice the post of Minister of Defense when the Socialist Party was in power. His political career culminated in 1998-1999 when he became Prime Minister of Albania. In 2002, he became once again Prime Minister for eight months. Additionally, he was member of the Parliamentary Committee for drafting of the Albanian Constitution (1997-1998).
Mr. Majko served as a Member of Parliament of Albania for six consecutive terms. He has also served as Chairman of the Albanian delegation of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly as well as member of the Committee on Legal Affairs, Public Administration and Human Rights. Mr. Majko is fluent in English and Italian.
Ricardo Hausmann is Director of Harvard's Center for International Development and Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at the Kennedy School of Government. He also teaches a capstone course on the MPAID program. Previously, he served as the first Chief Economist of the Inter-American Development Bank (1994-2000), where he created the Research Department. He has served as Minister of Planning of Venezuela (1992-1993) and as a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Venezuela. He also served as Chair of the IMF-World Bank Development Committee. He was Professor of Economics at the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administracion (IESA) (1985-1991) in Caracas, where he founded the Center for Public Policy. His research interests include issues of growth, macroeconomic stability, international finance, and the social dimensions of development. He holds a PhD in economics from Cornell University.