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Antonella Bassani is Vice President of the Europe and Central Asia Region at the World Bank. In this position, Antonella leads the World Bank's strategic, financing and knowledge work for this region. Antonella has held several senior leadership positions in the World Bank, including most recently as Vice President for Budget, Performance Review and Strategic Planning. Prior to that she was responsible for overseeing operations in two regions as Director for Strategy and Operations (East Asia and Pacific, Middle East and North Africa), providing leadership and support to regional teams in the delivery of high-quality strategies and operations, flexible and innovative financing, and knowledge services. She also played a leading role in the innovative and strategic mobilization of Bank resources, including two successful replenishments for the lnternational Development Association.

Costas Arkolakis is a Professor of Economics at Yale University and an NBER Research Associate. He received his undergraduate degree from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Economics, and his Master and PhD in Economics from the University of Minnesota. He joined the department of Economics at Yale University in 2007, became an Associate Professor in 2013, Henry Kohn Associate Professor in 2014, and a Full Professor in 2018. His research and teaching specialize in general equilibrium trade theory, spatial economics, macroeconomics and industrial organization. Prof Arkolakis is a co-editor of Economic Theory and the Journal of International Economics. He has been awarded four National Science Foundation grants including an NSF CAREER grant, the Bodossaki Foundation Prize in Social Sciences for distinguished young Greek scientists, and published in a variety of journals. 

Humberto L¨®pez is the World Bank Country Director for the Republic of T¨¹rkiye. Mr. L¨®pez was most recently the Director of Strategy and Operations for Eastern and Southern Africa. Prior to that assignment Mr. L¨®pez was the World Bank Director of Strategy and Operations for Latin America and the Caribbean, where he also served as Acting Vice President for the region from September 2019 to June 2020. Mr. L¨®pez has published extensively in several diverse areas such as fiscal policy, exchange rate, and growth, and is the editor of three books on free trade agreements, migration and remittances, and the role of the investment climate for growth. He was also the main author of the World Bank¡¯s 2006 Latin America flagship report on growth and poverty reduction.

Asad Alam is the Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia for the World Bank¡¯s Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions (EFI) Vice Presidency. Prior to this, Asad was the Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa for EFI. He earlier served as Chief of Staff to the President of the World Bank Group; Country Director for Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti; Country Director for Southern Africa; Country Director for the South Caucasus; Sector Manager in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Country Economist in various countries. Asad has written on various subjects including growth, productivity, governance, poverty, inequality, trade, and fiscal issues. He holds a doctorate in economics from Columbia University.