Mr Bert Hofman accumulated 20 years of experience in the World Bank, 14 of which in the East Asia region. He was Lead Economist China for three years where he headed a team that provided economic policy advice to the government.
Mr Hofman has been the World Bank's Chief Economist for the East Asia and Pacific Region and Director, Singapore Office, since September 2011. Before moving to Singapore, he was the Country Director for the Philippines from 2007 until August 2011, responsible for a growing portfolio of projects and advisory services to the Philippines government.
Mr Hofman also spent more than five years in Indonesia as it was recovering from the Asian crisis. He also worked on Brazil, South Africa, Mongolia, Zambia, and Namibia in his earlier years with the Bank.
Prior to joining the World Bank, he was with the Kiel Institute of World Economics in Germany, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, and NMB Bank in the Netherlands (now ING).