Dr Nazneen Ahmed

Executive Director
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)

Phone: +880241021788
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nazneen-ahmed-b4342869/

SUMMARY PROFILE

Dr Nazneen Ahmed is the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a leading think tank in Bangladesh. She is a development economist with over 26 years of experience in economic research, public policy analysis, institutional leadership, and strategic advisory work across Bangladesh and the Asia-Pacific region. Dr Ahmed brings a strong record of producing rigorous, policy-relevant research on macroeconomic management, trade and industrial development, labour markets, poverty, social protection, SMEs, gender equality, and inclusive growth, and translating evidence into national policy processes, public dialogue, advocacy, and development programming.

Dr Ahmed served as Policy Advisor at UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific in New York, where she provided strategic policy advice, regional economic analysis, thought leadership, quality assurance of knowledge products, and support for senior leadership engagements. She worked closely with country offices, regional teams, Permanent Missions, and the Partnerships team to support policy engagement and resource mobilisation efforts, including with core donors, international financial institutions, and other development partners.

Previously, she served as Country Economist at UNDP Bangladesh, where she led the Policy and Strategic Advisory Cluster, covering economic analysis, strategic innovation, research, and gender mainstreaming. She also supported resource mobilisation efforts to develop research and capacity development initiatives, including those related to Bangladesh’s LDC graduation and smooth transition strategy.

Dr Nazneen brings over two decades of experience from the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), Bangladesh’s premier public policy research institute, progressing from Research Associate to Research Director. She designed and led more than 85 policy-oriented research studies and mobilised research partnerships and project resources with government agencies, UN agencies, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, ILO, UNCTAD, Islamic Development Bank, European Commission, IFPRI, and other development partners. She provided sustained advisory support to the Government of Bangladesh on trade, industry, macroeconomic management, LDC graduation, SME development, labour issues, gender equality, and development strategy, including as a member of the Panel of Economists for Bangladesh’s 7th Five-Year Plan.

The Executive Director of CPD has demonstrated institutional, governance, and administrative leadership in public policy and development institutions. At BIDS, she served as Division Chief of the Industry and Physical Infrastructure Division, Chair of the Finance Committee, and Chair of the Administrative Affairs Committee for multiple terms. She also served as a Director on the Board of Palli Sanchay Bank, a public bank focused on financial inclusion and poverty reduction; a member of the General Body of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), a major public institution for rural employment generation and poverty reduction; a General Body member of the SME Foundation; and a General Body member of the Bangladesh NGO Foundation.

Dr Ahmed combines academic credibility with policy convening, communication, and advocacy experience. She has organised and contributed to high-level policy dialogues, represented institutions in national and international forums, and communicated research findings through peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, research monographs, policy papers, UNDP knowledge products, media articles, and public policy discussions. She has around 50 publications, including articles in internationally recognised journals such as World Development, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Journal of Developing Areas, and Bangladesh Development Studies, and book chapters with leading academic and development publishers, including Cambridge University Press, Routledge, CABI Publishers, University Press Limited, the World Bank, UNCTAD, ILO, and other development organisations.

Dr Nazneen holds a PhD in Development Economics from Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and an MA in Development Economics from the University of Sussex, UK, as a British Chevening Scholar. Her professional profile combines policy expertise on Bangladesh and Asia and the Pacific, institutional leadership, research management, partnership-building, resource mobilisation, public communication, and evidence-based advocacy.