Mr. Bert Hofman, a Dutch national, is the director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore. Before joining NUS in 2019, he worked with the World Bank for 27 years, 22 of which in Asia, and 12 of which on China. Mr. Hofman was the World Bank country director for China 2014-2019, the country economist for China 2004-2008, and the chief economist for the World Bank in East Asia and Pacific 2011-2014. He also worked on Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Mongolia, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, the Former Soviet Union, and Brazil. Before coming to the World Bank, Mr. Hofman worked at the Kiel Institute of World Economics, OECD and NMB Bank (Now ING). Mr. Hofman has extensive experience in advising governments on a wide range of development issues, and he has published on fiscal policy, decentralization, debt issues, and China’s and Indonesia’s economic history.