The Central Asia office covers the World Bank's work in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Dennis de Tray heads that office, based in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
World Bank Country Directors oversee all the work of the country departments. The Central Asia department includes the ex-Soviet Union transition countries of the region. Dennis's work includes country-specific projects and regional programs. These include the CIS-7 initiative, which assists with the implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategies, and the South Caucasus trade and transport corridor project. "One of the main lessons we have learned as a development community is that basic services are often better managed at the local levels of government than by the central government", Dennis said.
Development of many of the countries in this region is funded through the sale of oil, but the World Bank's work also focuses on economic diversification and reduction of rural poverty. One example of this is that of Kazakhstan. Dennis explained, "Kazakhstan's oil-based economy is doing well right now. But the country will eventually run out of oil. The question is what happens next". Combating corruption to encourage investment in the region and increase efficiency is a key element of the World Bank's poverty reduction strategy. A new anti-poverty strategy was launched in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2004. "In the end, however good the Kyrgyz poverty reduction strategy may be, unless it is fully implemented and scheduled reforms translated into results on the ground, we all - Government and donors - will not have met our commitment to the Kyrgyz people", explained Dennis.
Dennis joined the World Bank in 1983, working in the Development Research Department. Prior to taking up his current position, in 2001, he served in the IMF as Senior Resident Representative in Hanoi, Vietnam. He has also worked as Senior Economic Advisor for the Development Economics Vice President and Director for the Country Office Staff and Country Director in World Bank's Indonesia office. A US national, he has a degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University and a Masters in Agricultural Economics from Utah State University. He also gained a PhD in Economics at the University of Chicago.
In the future, Dennis intends to continue to support the transition of the Central Asian countries to market economies though provision of technical assistance and institutional reforms. He asserted, "Decentralization can be an important set in nation building as it increases the sense of ownership and responsibility of citizens throughout the country. Decentralization also gives citizens more opportunity to influence the services they get and to ensure that resources allocated to service provision are well spent".
