Anna Akhalkatsi is the World Bank Country Director for the European Union. Based in Brussels, she leads the Bank's dialogue with EU client countries and the EU institutions. Previously, she was the World Bank Country Manager for Romania and Hungary.
A Georgian national, Ms. Akhalkatsi first joined the World Bank in 1999 as an economist in Tbilisi, Georgia. She then became the country representative for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Georgia before moving to Washington D.C., where she worked on strategy and advisory services for businesses across the agribusiness, manufacturing, mining, infrastructure, and banking sectors. Subsequently, Ms. Akhalkatsi acted as Regional Lead for IFC’s Advisory Solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean before taking up a post as the World Bank Country Manager for Moldova.
Before joining the World Bank Group, Ms. Akhalkatsi worked at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Parliament of Georgia, and in private-sector consulting.
Ms. Akhalkatsi has co-authored several IFC publications on private-sector development. She holds a master’s degree in Economic Policy Management from the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France, as well as a master’s degree in Human Geography from the Tbilisi State University, Georgia. She has served on several boards, including the EastWest Institute and the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), for which she is a founding member.