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Martin Galstyan is the Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia from June 13, 2020. Previously, he served as a Board Member (2018–2020) and Director of the Dilijan Training and Research Center (2015–2018). He began his career at the Central Bank in 1998 and held several key positions, including Head of the Statistics Department, International Reserves Management Division and the Economic Statistics Development Division. He holds a Candidate of Economic Sciences degree from Yerevan State University and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, and he is the author of numerous publications in economics and banking policy.

Marc Uzan is the Executive Director and founder of the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee, a non-profit organization established in 1994 focused on international financial architecture and global economic governance, and has organized over 250 conferences and seminars worldwide.

He has edited several books on international finance, including Regional Integration in Central Asia (2024), The New Kazakhstan (2023), Bretton Woods: The Next 70 Years (2015), and The Ten Years After (2018). He has also authored academic papers and written extensively on economics and finance in the international press.

Mr. Uzan holds a Master’s degree in International Economics and Finance from Université Paris Dauphine-PSL. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley and a visiting fellow at Harvard University.

Vahagn Khachaturyan is the President of the Republic of Armenia since 2022.

He graduated from the Yerevan Institute of National Economy with a degree in economics and began his professional career as an economist, subsequently holding senior positions in both industry and public administration.

In the early 1990s, he served as Mayor of Yerevan and later was elected to the National Assembly of Armenia, where he contributed extensively to financial and budgetary policy matters.

He subsequently served as Adviser to the President of Armenia and took part in a range of political and economic initiatives aimed at advancing national development. In 2021, he was appointed Minister of High-Tech Industry of the Republic of Armenia, prior to his election as President of the Republic of Armenia.

Antonio Spilimbergo is Deputy Director of the Research Department at the IMF and research fellow of the CEPR. He received his PhD from MIT. Since 1997 he has worked at the IMF where he has been mission chief for Brazil, Italy, Slovenia, Russia, and Turkey. His papers are published in leading academic journals. His areas of interest are: international trade, development, labor economics, political economy, and macroeconomics. He co-edited the books “Getting Back on Track: Growth, Employment, and Rebalancing in Europe” and “Brazil: Boom, Bust, and the Road to Recovery,” and co-wrote the book “Si vax.”

Előd Takáts is the Deputy Head of Secretariat of the Committee on the Global Financial System at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Prior to this role, he served as Adviser to the Deputy General Manager of the BIS. Taking a leave from the BIS, Előd was elected Rector of Corvinus University of Budapest, his alma mater, where he spearheaded an ambitious reform agenda that impacted over 13,000 individuals. Between 2009 and 2021, he held increasingly senior roles at the BIS, contributing to high-level central bank meetings and to the Basel III reform process. Before joining the BIS, Előd built a career at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), working across multiple departments and countries, with his last assignment focusing on China. In addition to his policy work, he holds a visiting professorship at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), allowing him to bridge the worlds of academia and policy work. Előd earned his PhD in financial economics from Princeton University.

Aghassi Mkrtchyan is a development economist with expertise spanning central banking, fiscal policy, and development finance. He began his career in the late 1990s at the monetary policy department of the Central Bank of Armenia, subsequently serving in key roles at the Ministry of Finance, and later joining the World Bank. In 2013, he returned to the Central Bank on a two-year leave from the World Bank to lead the newly established Research Department as part of the Dilijan Training and Research Center. Most recently, Aghassi has led the Small States Secretariat at the World Bank, coordinating support for a unique group of countries, and currently serves as Lead Economist/Program Leader overseeing the Bank’s budget support operations and economic policy advice across four countries in East Africa. He holds graduate degrees in Economics and Development from the Armenian State University of Economics and Harvard University.

David Hofman is Division Chief of the Monetary and Macroprudential Policies Division in the Monetary and Capital Markets Department at the IMF. Here, he leads analytical and operational work on issues relating to monetary, exchange rate, and macroprudential policies. Previously, David was in the IMF’s European and Strategy, Policy and Review Departments. He has worked with a broad range of countries and led Article IV missions to Belarus, Denmark, and Finland, technical assistance missions to Angola and Kazakhstan, and Financial Sector Assessments (FSAPs) for Canada and Norway. Before joining the IMF, David worked at the Dutch central bank. He holds a doctorandus degree in economics from the University of Amsterdam.

Douglas Laxton is a globally recognized macroeconomic policy expert and the IMF’s most widely cited researcher. From 1994 to 2018, he helped shape the institution’s flagship publications—including the World Economic Outlook—and led the development of global forecasting systems that transformed how policymakers assess and manage economic risks. As founder and director of The Better Policy Project (BPP), Laxton continues to innovate through FPAS-Mark II, a next-generation forecasting and policy analysis framework that integrates structured scenario building and a least-regrets decision-making approach to minimize the risk of policy mistakes across both monetary and fiscal domains. His work now includes the Global Forecasting School and the AI-Powered Learning initiative, which integrate responsible AI into policy workflows to enhance institutional capacity and decision-making.

Laxton remains a tireless advocate for smarter, evidence-based policymaking, anchored in transparency, enriched by technology, and shaped by decades of global experience.

Becky Maule is a Director in the Monetary Policy Directorate at the Bank of England. She is responsible for overseeing monetary policy strategy and communications, as well as leading a programme of change to improve how the Bank sets, supports, and communicates monetary policy. She has worked at the Bank for over 20 years, advising policymakers on a range of monetary and financial policy issues.

Zdeněk Tůma graduated from the University of Economics, Prague, and finished postgraduate studies at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. He lectured at Charles University where he was appointed an associate professor; in his academic career, he focuses on central banking and financial regulation. During his professional career, he was the chief economist in the investment bank Patria Finance; in 1998 he left for the EBRD as a member of the Executive Board, and in 1999 he was appointed vice-governor of the Czech National Bank.

In December 2000, he took over the position of governor; in this position he served two terms, until 2010. Later on, he was a partner in KPMG Czech Republic responsible for financial services. He is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ČSOB, a.s. at present. He has been a member of a number of scientific boards at various universities and non-profit institutions.

Hayk Avetisyan is the Director of the Macroeconomic Directorate and a member of the Executive Committee and the Financial Stability Committee at the Central Bank of Armenia. He has over 15 years of professional experience at the Central Bank of Armenia, specializing in macroeconomic modeling, economic analysis, scenario-building, policy design, and monetary policy frameworks. In his current role, Mr. Avetisyan leads the efforts in monetary policy and statistics at the CBA.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Avetisyan conducted policy-relevant studies and research in areas such as international macroeconomics and finance, external vulnerabilities and financial crises, and monetary policy frameworks for developing countries. Recently, Mr. Avetisyan spearheaded a project to design a novel Monetary Policy Framework at the CBA, introducing risk-management approach as a systemic view of monetary policy under uncertainty. This new framework was launched in January 2024, making the CBA the first central bank globally to implement this approach.

Hayk Avetisyan holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Armenian State University of Economics (ASUE) and a Master of Public Administration from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University, New York.

Natia Turnava has been the Chair of the Board and the Governor of the National Bank of Georgia since February 2025. She has been a member of the NBG Board since June 2022. She served as the First Vice-Governor and Acting Governor of the National Bank of Georgia from June 2023 to February 2025.

Prior to joining the NBG Board, in 2019–2022 Natia Turnava held the position of Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, having been a Deputy Minister in 2018–2019. Prior to that, she was the Deputy Executive Director of the Partnership Fund for five years.

In 2006–2013, Natia Turnava was a member of the Board of Directors of Georgian Industrial Group (GIG), Ltd; General Director and a Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Georgian International Energy Corporation Ltd. Earlier, in 2000–2005, she served as the First Deputy Minister of Economy of Georgia.

An economist by profession, she holds a Ph.D. in economics. She also earned her Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Cumbria, Great Britain, in 2014. Throughout her career, she has served as a lecturer at several higher education institutions.

Martin Galstyan is the Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia from June 13, 2020. Previously, he served as a Board Member (2018–2020) and Director of the Dilijan Training and Research Center (2015–2018). He began his career at the Central Bank in 1998 and held several key positions, including Head of the Statistics Department, International Reserves Management Division and the Economic Statistics Development Division. He holds a Candidate of Economic Sciences degree from Yerevan State University and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, and he is the author of numerous publications in economics and banking policy.

Dr. Reiner Martin is Executive Director at the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), in charge of Research, Statistics and Economic Education. He is chairing the NBS Climate Committee and is accompanying person at the ECB Governing Council.

Dr. Martin has more than 20 years of previous professional experience, from the ECB, the Joint Vienna Institute (JVI) and the Austrian National Bank (OeNB). He is Visiting Professor at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna and provided technical assistance for the Asian Development Bank, the IMF and the World Bank.

He has a wide range of research and policy interests, mostly centered around economic and financial sector developments in Central, Eastern and South‑Eastern Europe and other emerging markets, notably in Asia. His recent work focusses on financial stability topics, including macroprudential policy as well as sustainability issues.

Dr. Martin holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Hamburg (Germany) and Master degrees in Economics and Political Science from the Universities of Sussex and Bristol (UK).

Michael Faulend holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Zagreb. He joined the Croatian National Bank in 1997 and later served as Executive Director of International Relations before being appointed Vice Governor in 2013, with subsequent reappointments in 2019 and 2025. He also worked at the International Monetary Fund (2001–2003) as Assistant to the Executive Director. He has been involved in Croatia’s EU accession process and euro adoption project, and oversees international and European relations at the central bank.

Piroska Nagy Mohácsi is Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where her research focuses on central banking, monetary policy, digital currencies, and financial resilience. She was interim Director and Programme Director at the LSE’s Institute for Global Affairs in 2015–21. Piroska was Policy Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in 2008–15, and co-created and led the Vienna Initiative, a public-private crisis management and coordination platform in emerging Europe.

Piroska also worked in senior positions in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 1986 and 2008. She was guest lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1996/97 and Senior Adviser at Fitch Ratings in 2003/4.

John Velissarios is the founder and CEO of OtrantoEQ Limited and one of the leading global experts in digital financial markets, digital currencies, and CBDCs, advising central banks, exchanges, and major financial institutions on their transition to the new era of digital money. With more than 30 years of experience in IT and financial services, he combines deep knowledge of cryptography, digital assets, custody, security protocols, and solution architecture. As former Global Managing Director for Digital Financial Markets at Accenture, he led breakthrough projects with central banks around the world. Today, John continues his work on key initiatives such as the digital tenge in Kazakhstan and the development of digital money initiatives around the world. John regularly speaks at international conferences and events, and helps build trusted digital monetary infrastructure for the next generation of the global financial system.

Baur Bektemirov is a VP responsible for strategic directions, research, and global markets analytics at Freedom Horizons, an internal think tank and stakeholder relationship office of the Freedom Holding Corp (Nasdaq: FRHC).

Over the past decade, he has held leadership roles in prominent institutions, including the Chief Economist at the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) and member of the management board at AIFC Authority, where he led the center’s development strategy and economic research agenda and advised the governor on key economic matters.

Previously, Baur held management positions at the Research Department of the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the state Economic Research Institute. His expertise lies in development strategy, macroeconomic analysis, economic modeling, public policy, and international development. He played a key role in transitioning the National Bank of Kazakhstan to a new monetary policy regime and designing a long-term development strategy for Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund. His academic interests focus on the political economy of privatization and contract theory.

Baur Bektemirov holds an A.B. in Mathematics from Harvard College and a Master of Public Policy with Honors from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. He has earned numerous awards, including Kazakhstan’s “Qurmet” State Order of Honor and Italy’s Knight of the Order of the Star.

Beat Attinger is the Founder and Managing Director of the CB+DC Conference, a premier event focused on digital currencies and payments. Prior to establishing the conference, he organized several leading events in the central banking sector. He has built his professional career across Europe, the United States, and Latin America. Beat holds an MBA from the University of Zurich as well as IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Ksenia Yudaeva has served as Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund for the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arab Republic since November 2024. Previously, she was First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Russia from 2013 to 2023 and later Advisor to the Governor. She also served as Russia’s G20 Sherpa and held senior positions at Sberbank, the Moscow Carnegie Center, and CEFIR. Yudaeva earned a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as degrees from the New Economic School and Moscow State University. She was also a member of the Financial Stability Board and the BIS Committee on the Global Financial System.

Alexander F. Tieman is Division Chief in the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department (MCD) and Mission Chief for Armenia. In this capacity he manages the IMF team analyzing the Armenian macroeconomy and IMF program, working with the authorities, international financial institutions, donors, and other stakeholders. In addition, Alexander leads MCD’s policy work on the Caucasus and Central Asia and on macroeconomic climate change policies, and works on various analytical projects. Alexander’s 20+ year experience at the IMF includes work on program and surveillance countries on macrofiscal issues, financial sector surveillance and stress testing, real sector developments, and a field assignment as IMF Resident Representative in Skopje, North Macedonia. Prior to joining the Fund in 2002, he lectured in microeconomics at the Vrije University and Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and worked at the research department of the Dutch Central Bank. He has a Ph.D. in microeconomics from the Vrije University and Tinbergen Institute in the Netherlands.

Vahe Hovhannisyan has been serving as Minister of Finance of Armenia since 2022, after previously working as Deputy Minister. He has over 25 years of experience in international development and both public and private sector financial management. Earlier in his career, he served as Advisor to the Board of Directors at the Asian Development Bank.

Mitali Das is Advisor in the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) where she oversees the evaluation of policies conducted in the course of the IMF’s lending and surveillance. Prior to that, Ms. Das served as Chair of the IMF flagship publication External Sector Report, and in the Office of the Chief Economist.

Before joining the IMF, Ms. Das held academic positions including as Associate Professor of Economics at Columbia University, Dartmouth College and the University of California at Davis, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard. Ms. Das received her Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Vache Gabrielyan is the Dean of the Manoogian Simone College of Business and Economics at American University of Armenia. He specializes in public administration and economics and earned his Ph.D. in Public Administration from Rutgers University. Gabrielyan previously served as Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia, Minister of Finance, Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, and Minister of International Economic Integration and Reforms. He is also the author of numerous scientific publications in Armenia and abroad.

Martin Galstyan is the Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia from June 13, 2020. Previously, he served as a Board Member (2018–2020) and Director of the Dilijan Training and Research Center (2015–2018). He began his career at the Central Bank in 1998 and held several key positions, including Head of the Statistics Department, International Reserves Management Division and the Economic Statistics Development Division. He holds a Candidate of Economic Sciences degree from Yerevan State University and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, and he is the author of numerous publications in economics and banking policy.