Suma Chakrabarti

Sir Sumantra "Suma" Chakrabarti KCB (born 1959) is a former British civil servant who served as president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) from July 2012 to July 2020.[1][2] He was previously the highest ranking Indian in Britain's civil service,[3] serving as Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and Clerk of the Crown in Chancery from late 2007[4] until 2012.

Sir Suma Chakrabarti
KCB
President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
In office
3 July 2012 – July 2020
Preceded byThomas Mirow
Succeeded byJürgen Rigterink (Acting)
Clerk of the Crown in Chancery
Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Justice
In office
December 2007 – 2012
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
David Cameron
MinisterJack Straw
Ken Clarke
Preceded byAlex Allan
Succeeded byUrsula Brennan
Personal details
Born1959 (age 63–64)
Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India
NationalityBritish, originally Indian
Alma materUniversity of Oxford

Early life and education

Chakrabarti was born in 1959 in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India. He was educated at City of London School; New College, Oxford (BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics); and the University of Sussex (MA in Development Economics).[5]

Career in the civil service

Chakrabarti joined the UK's Overseas Development Administration (ODA), the predecessor to the Department for International Development, in 1984 as a senior economic assistant working on macroeconomics issues and UK aid projects. He previously worked in Botswana on an Overseas Development Institute Fellowship. He was seconded by the UK government to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the 1980s. On returning to the ODA in London, he became Private Secretary to the Conservative Lynda Chalker, then Minister of State for Overseas Development based at the Foreign Office. Chakrabarti subsequently became Head of Aid Policy and Resources.

He moved to H.M. Treasury in 1996 before taking a Cabinet Office post responsible for creating the new central Performance and Innovation Unit to support the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, co-ordinating reviews of long-term issues that cross public sector institutional boundaries. Still in the Cabinet Office, he headed the Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat, also maintaining a foot in the then Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions.

In 2001, returning to the Department for International Development (DfID), the successor body to the ODA, Chakrabarti became DfID Director-General for Regional Development Programmes, managing 1,200 staff in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. On 8 December 2009, he gave evidence to The Iraq Inquiry, discussing preparations for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[6]

From 2007 to 2012, he served as a Permanent Secretary (senior civil servant) to the UK's Ministry of Justice. During that period, he also held office as Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, and, as such, was responsible for the running of the Crown Office, under the directions of the Lord Chancellor. He was appointed on 15 November 2007.[7]

President of the EBRD

Chakrabarti served two full terms as president from 2012 to 2020.[8] In his last weeks as EBRD President, Chakrabarti made a number of think tank appearances where he discussed the current state of international development and its principal actors.[9][10][11]

Later career

By the end of his term at EBRD, Chakrabarti denied any immediate plans to return to the UK civil service.[12]

On July 2, 2020, ODI announced the appointment of Chakrabarti as its next Chair of the Board of Trustees.[13] Also in 2020, he was appointed by the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe to serve as a member of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development, chaired by Mario Monti.[14]

Chakrabarti serves as deputy chairman of the Council for Reforms for the Republic of Kazakhstan.[15]

Also Advisor to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan economic development, good governance and international cooperation[16]

Personal life

Chakrabarti is married and has one daughter.

References
  1. "EBRD Shareholders elect UK's Sir Suma Chakrabarti as next President".
  2. "EBRD Governors elect Sir Suma Chakrabarti President for four more years".
  3. "THE NEW TOURNAMENT". The Telegraph. Kolkata. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  4. "Warrants Under the Royal Sign Manual". The London Gazette. HM Government. 21 December 2007. Retrieved 16 February 2021. The Queen has been pleased by Royal Warrant bearing date 10 December 2007, to appoint Sir Sumantra Chakrabarti K.C.B. as the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery.
  5. "Sir Suma Chakrabarti".
  6. "Iraq details for aid workers 'were scanty before war'". BBC News. 8 December 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  7. Suma Chakrabarti – Ministry of Justice Archived 4 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Sir Suma Chakrabarti leaves EBRD Presidency after second and final term". EBRD.
  9. "U.S. Abdicating global leadership role, leader of European development bank says". Politico.
  10. Jones, Marc (6 October 2018). "Exclusive: EBRD head faces investigation call over dossier on directors". Reuters.
  11. Jones, Marc (13 December 2018). "EBRD says president cleared in information gathering investigation". Reuters.
  12. "Exclusive: Former top Asian civil servant's 'worry' at turmoil in the service". 22 July 2020.
  13. "Statement: Sir Suma Chakrabarti new Chair of ODI Board".
  14. Announcing the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development: Rethinking Policy Priorities in the light of Pandemics World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, press release of August 11, 2020.
  15. "President Tokayev Creates Supreme Council Dedicated to Reforming Kazakhstan". The Astana Times.
  16. Abdulaziz, Abdurakhmon (8 August 2023). "Shavkat Mirziyoyev receives Suma Chakrabarti - adviser on economic development, good governance and international cooperation". Daryo.uz. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  17. "Annual Newsletter 2002, Issue No 8" (PDF). Overseas Pensions Department. September 2002.
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