The Authors
BASSA Zoltán
Zoltán BASSA has been working in the Asia Research Centre of the Institute for World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences since 1992. He is now a Research Fellow. His main fields of research are the economic development of Far Eastern countries, their role in the world economy and their relations with the European Union and Hungary. He worked as a guest researcher at Yokohama National University and Chuo University (Japan), KDI School of Public Policy and Global Management (South Korea), Institute for Economics of the National Center for Social Sciences (Vietnam). Taught Far Eastern economies at the Budapest Business School and the Corvinus University of Budapest. He is general secretary of the Hungary-Japan Friendship Society.
BOROS Jenő
Education: 1975. MA (honours) in international relations at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences
Languages: Czech, German, Slovak, English, Russian
Positions: 2002 – Deputy State Secretary, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Hungary (supervises Middle and East-Europe, consular affairs, regional cooperation); From 2001 - preparation for diplomatic service in the Regional Department I. in the Foreign Ministry; 1998-2000. – Head of the Department for Diplomatic Information in the Foreign Ministry; 1993-1998. – Hungarian Ambassador in Slovakia; 1990-1993. Hungarian Consul General in Slovakia; 1989-1990. – manages the establishment of the Hungarian Institute and Consulate General in Stuttgart, Germany; 1984-1988. Deputy Consul General in Bratislava, Slovakia; 1976-1981. – Press Attaché at the Hungarian Embassy in Prague; From 1975 he works for the Hungarian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
DAKIN, Lloyd
Lloyd Dakin is the Regional Representative of UNHCR based in Budapest responsible for Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. He joined UNHCR in 1980 in Thailand. Mr. Dakin has previously served with UNHCR in Pakistan, Tanzania and at its Headquarters in Geneva. His assignment prior to coming to his current post was as UNHCR’s Representative in Armenia. Mr. Dakin has an MA in International Administration. He is married with two children.
FARKAS Péter
Peter Farkas with a Ph.D. (Master of Art) degree is the senior research fellow of the Institute for World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His research area was, in the 70"ies and 80"ies, the situation of the developing countries in the world economy and their differentiation. From the 90s on he studied the short and long term processes of the world economy and the characteristics of the globalization period of the capitalism, and wrote a book about these problems. This book is used as a literature at several universities and high schools. He studied furthermore the effect of foreign investments on R&D and innovation, and the contradiction between the theory and practice in the field of international diffusion of R&D. Additional research areas: economic theory on the role of the state and the market, development theories and the economic reality in the developing countries, the role of the state economic policy in the Irish economic successes, two centuries of the dimensions of the international financial system and the recent financial balloon, debt problems of the developing countries, etc.
FODOR Erika
1969-73. Studies and Diploma at University of Economics, Faculty of International Relations, Budapest; 1976. - PhD. in world economy, specialised in the developing countries (University of Economics, Budapest); Positions: 2003 - senior adviser, Department for International Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (M.F.A.); 2002. - adviser, senior counsellor, Department for International Development Cooperation, M.F.A.; 1999. - senior counsellor, M.F.A., developing countries (multinational approach, EU relations); 1994-99. deputy head, Department for Middle East and Africa, M.F.A.; 1990-94. counsellor at the Hungarian Embassy in Algir; 1990. - deputy head, Department for Arabic and African Countries, M.F.A.; 1989. counsellor, Strategic Planning for Developing Countries, M.F.A.; 1986-89. desk officier for African countries, Department of Foreign Relations, Central Committee of the Hungarian Socialist Worker's Party; 1978-85. senior researcher at the Hungarian Institute of International Relations (M.F.A.) specialised in the African and Arabic countries; 1973-77. desk officer for developing countries, Department of International Relations, National Committee of the Hungarian People's Patriotic Front + associated research-worker at the Institute of World Economy; Author of numerous studies, conference papers, published in various scientific journals and publications; Working languages: French, English, German, Russian.
GÖMBÖS Ervin
He received his MSc degree in mathematics & physics (later in international political sciences) and his PhD. in international political sciences in Budapest. He is a professor of information technology at the International Business School in Budapest (IBS). Earlier he was the Head of the Department for Informatics (1998-2003). Between 1991-2002, as one of the founders of IBS, he was its Deputy Head (Studies). The School works in close co-operation with Oxford Brookes University in England. Before he worked for the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (1967-91) in the last ten years there as Head of Department (senior statistical counsellor), and for the United Nations Statistical Office in New York (1971-76).
Secretary-General of the United Nations Association of Hungary since 1981. He held various positions in the World Federation of United Nations Associations (Vice-President 1983-87, 1991-95, member of the Executive Committee 1987-91, 1995-). Member of several international professional associations: International Statistical Institute, European Foundation for Management Development, European Foundation for Entrepreneurship Research etc. Attended and lectured at many international conferences both in Europe and outside Europe (USA, Canada, Japan, China, Cuba, Israel, Singapore etc.) Author of two books (Informatics and Power, 1984; Nine Studies on the Hungarian Economy, 1991), co-author of many others. Published some 50 studies on informatics, economics and international relations.
GROOT, Adrie de
Adrie de Groot, a citizen of the Netherlands, has been working in UNIDO in various functions since 1982. He has degrees in Electronic Engineering and Business Administration, and is currently responsible inter-alia for contacts with donor countries and mobilizing finance for UNIDO’s programmes and projects.
JAKAB Péter
Péter Jakab was born in Budapest, on 12 December 1969. He received an MA in International Relations at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences in 1998 and completed his PhD studies and research on the relation between intercultural communication and education at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest in 2005.
From September 1999 until June 2003 he worked in the Ministry of Education, at the Department of International Programmes, first as Project Manager, then from January 2001 as Head of Section. In this position he was responsible for the coordination of international programmes, including the projects supported by the Phare programme and the EQUAL Community Initiative. He was working together with various institutions of the European Union and several international organizations, e.g. the Council of Europe, OECD, UNESCO, etc. Since July 2003 he has worked at the Department of International Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, first as Head of Unit, then from January 2004 as Deputy Director General. In his current position he is responsible for the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects financed by the Hungarian International Development Cooperation Programme as well as the management of humanitarian assistance programmes.
Since 1996 he has completed eight missions as an International Polling Supervisor or Observer of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) and the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Ethiopia, where he participated in the organisation and supervision of elections. In 1998 he worked in a humanitarian aid programme in Albania.
KADLEČIKOVA, Maria
Education: 1972: MA in Agricultural Economics, Slovak Agricultural University, Nitra; 1976: PhD in Theory of Management, Slovak Agriculture University, Nitra; 1982: Associated Professor, Theory of Management, Slovak Agricultural University, Nitra;
Career: January 2005 - FAO Representative in Moldova; February 2004 - FAO Representative in Georgia; November 2003 - FAO Representative in Armenia; 3 November 2002: FAO Sub-regional Representative for Central and Eastern Europe; Since 2002: Elected Member of the Slovak Academy of Agricultural Sciences; 2001-2002: Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Bratislava; 1998- 2001: Chairperson of the Agricultural Committee, Slovak National Council, Bratislava; 1998: Vice-chairperson of the Executive Committee of the FAO Commission for Agriculture; 1997-1998: Director of the Agroinstitute, Nitra; 1997: Vice-chairperson of the FAO Agricultural Committee; 1996-1997: Member of the FAO Finance Committee; 1995:Vice-chairperson of the FAO Conference; 1994: Vice-chairperson of the FAO Council; 1993-1997: Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to FAO, Rome; 1972-1993: Lecturer, Associated Professor and Vice-rector of the Slovak Agriculture University, Nitra.
Languages: Slovak, English, Italian, Russian, Hungarian
KISS Judit
Dr. Judit Kiss, following her graduation from the Budapest University of Economics, obtained her degree of C.Sc. in economics in 1986 and her Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2004. She has been researcher at the Institute for World Economics since 1973, where she also fulfils the post of research director. Between 1985 and 1989 she was visiting professor at the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), since 1998 she has been associate professor at Debrecen University, and she is teaching at the International Business School and at Kaposvár University. In 1998 she was awarded a Széchenyi professorship. She has carried out counselling and/or research activities for the following institutions: EU ACE, ECOFIN, ECOSOC; and also ILO, KPMG, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNITAR and the World Bank. She has published over 250 works in Hungarian and various foreign languages and has given lectures at numerous international conferences. Her main research areas are: the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU, the agrarian transformation of the Central and East European countries, the WTO and the developing countries.
O’NEILL, Helen
Helen O’Neill is Professor Emeritus in the Centre for Development Studies in University College Dublin where she was its founding-Director. She obtained her BComm degree at that university and her Masters and PhD degrees in Economics at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. She was President of EADI from 1993 to 1999 and President of the Association of Canadian Studies in Ireland from 2000 to 2002. She was also a founding member and a Council member of the Development Studies Association of Britain and Ireland. She was chair of the Irish government’s Advisory Committee on Development Cooperation, a member of its Irish Aid Advisory Committee, and of the Development Correspondents Group of DG Development in Brussels. She has been a Visiting Professor in the University of Zambia, in the World Bank Institute and has been a Visiting Professor in Corvinus University, Budapest since 1997. She is currently also a visiting professor in Trinity College Dublin and in the Institute of Public Administration Dublin. She has carried out assignments for international organisations (including the World Bank and UNIDO) in over a dozen African countries and in the trans-Caucasus region. She has acted as expert to the Economic and Social Committee in Brussels on a wide range of issues in international relations and regional development and acted as a consultant to DG Development. She has published widely on topics in development and international relations and given guest lectures in universities in all five continents of the world. She has recently been appointed a member of a new Committee on Developing Countries set up by the International Council of Science (ICSU).
PETIT, Bernard
Third level Education : 1972 - PhD, Paris University : specialisation : European economy ; 1967 - Degree, Department for European Studies, Law Facility, University of Paris; 1966 - Diploma, Graduate School of Business Management;
Current position: Director of “Development Policy and Sectoral Questions" Directorate at Directorate General for Development, European Commission/
Career: 1971 - Feed at the first external competition organised by the Commission (option public finance); Administrator at the DG Development - financial division; 1975 - Principal Administrator, Assistant of the Director of the Directorate « Finance/Administration » at the DG Development, charged with all issues related to the Commission’s financial policy in the field of development; 1981 - Détaché at the cabinet of Mr. Cheysson; 1982 - Leader of the Financing Service at the DG Development; 1984 - Leader of the Programming General Issues Unit - Financial Committee; Negotiator at the Lomé III an Lomé IV Conventions(financial part); 1990-94 - Leader of the Programming Division, structural adjustment; 1994-98 - Leader of the Prospective Division, programming, macroeconomical reforms, 1998-2000 - Director of the « Development Cooperation » Directorate and Leader of the Task Force « Negotiation of the Cotonou Agreement »; Language skills: French (mother tongue), English (written, oral) and Spanish, Italian (understood);
Publications: Numerous articles and speeches about the general issues of development
SIMAI Mihály
Prof. Simai is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Currently he is working in the Institute for World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences as a Research Professor. He is also a Professor at the Corvinus University of Budapest. He served in the UN system in Geneva, New York and Beirut and chaired different UN committees. He has been the President of the Council of the United Nations University in Tokyo and Director of the World Institute for Development of the United Nations University in Helsinki. He has been working as a consultant for the UN Center on Transnational Corporations, UNIDO, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNITAR, UNESCO, ILO in different years. He has been an adviser to the World Council of Churches. Between 1976-82 he had been the President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations and he is now a Honorary President. He is also the President of the United Nations Association of Hungary. He has published so far 284 scientific articles and 39 books in Hungarian, English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Korean and Japanese.
SINGH, Manbir
Educational Qualification: Post Graduate (Economics); Postings: Second Secretary, Embassy of India, Tehran; Deputy Consul General, Consulate General of India, Toronto; Deputy Secretary, External Publicity Division, Ministry of External Affairs; Counsellor, Embassy of India, Moscow; Counsellor, Permanent Mission of India, Geneva; Minister, Embassy of India, Abu Dhabi; Chief of Protocol, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi; Right now he is the Ambassador of India to Hungary.
SURÁNYI Sándor
The author has spent decades in studying and teaching the development problems of the developing countries. Following the graduation at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences, specialized in international finance, he started to work at the Cooperative Research Institute as research worker in the field of development of the agriculture and cooperative movement in the 3rd world. Further jobs: research worker of the Afro-Asian Research Center at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, since the year 1970 associate professor, later full professor at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences (now: Corvinus University). In 1975 he earned the Candidate of Economic Sciences, and in 1994 Doctor of Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He has published several books and numerous scientific articles. In the past several years at the center of his research and teaching activity was the problem of sustainability of development. He spent several years as visiting professor at different universities abroad. He maintains strong relations with different Indian universities and spent eight years as visiting professor at the Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
SZENTES Tamás
Born in 1933, Dunakeszi, Hungary. In 1955 MA, in 1959 doctorate at the Karl Marx Univ. of Economics, Budapest. In 1964: "Candidacy", in 1974 "Academic doctorate" of the Hungarian Academy. In 1993: elected "correspondant member", since 1998 full "ordinary" member of the Hungarian Academy. Employment: 1955-1962: editor, Publisher of Economics & Law, Budapest; 1962-1967 Associate Professor at K.M. University of Econ. Sc., Budapest, : 1967-1971: Professor and Head of Economics, Univ. of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; 1971-1985: Professor, K.M. Univ. of Econ. Sc., and research professor of the Center for Afro-Asian Research; 1985-1989: research director, Inst. of Social Science and univ. prof., K.M. Univ., 1989-2002 full-time prof., since 2002 Professor Emeritus, Corvinus Univ. of Budapest. Lectured at great many foreign universities, in 1994 and 1996 visiting prof. at UCLA, for decades acted in expert groups of UN bodies (ILO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNU, UNRISD, etc.), international scientific associations (IPSA, IPRA, IEA, EADI), and editorial boards. Author of 18 and co-author of 38 books, published more than 200 research papers. (Many of these books and papers were published also in English and some of them in French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian and Polish). Awards: 1971: "Silver Medal", 1981: "Golden Medal of Labour", 1985: "State Prize", from the President of Hungary; 1998: "Arany János Prize", Hungarian Academy of Sciences; 2003: "Central Cross with Star of the Medal of Hungarian Republic.
ULSHOEFER, Petra
Education: M.A. in Sociology and Social Anthropology, University of Bonn, Germany; Postgraduate studies on Rural Development at the Technical University in Berlin, Germany, and in Development Sociology and Development Planning, University of Bielefeld, Germany.
Professional: Coordinator, anthropological research project on entrepreneurial strategies and working conditions in the plantation system in Central America.
Assistant Professor, Department of Development Sociology and Development Planning University of Bielefeld.
Project Coordinator, ILO/DANIDA sub-regional projects on (Rural) Women Worker’s Education in Central America and the Dominican Republic.
Regional Adviser and Regional Gender Specialist for Latin America, based in the ILO’s Regional Office in Lima and in the Subregional Office in Santiago.
Senior Specialist, Bureau for Gender Equality at ILO headquarters in Geneva.
September 2002- Director of Subregional Office for Central and Eastern Europe of the International Labour Organiation in Budapest.
