Mr. Kanthan Shankar was appointed Country Director for West Bank and Gaza as of May 1, 2019. He has over two decades of experience in post-conflict reconstruction operations at the World Bank.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Shankar was the Practice Manager and Operations Advisor in the Fragility, Conflict and Violence Global Themes Department. He also served as the Country Manager in Kosovo and Myanmar (where he established the first World Bank office), and Operations Manager in the Pacific Islands, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea. Earlier in his career, he led the preparation and implementation of infrastructure projects in Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, West Bank and Gaza, Iraq, Iran and Lebanon.

Mr. Shankar, an Indian national, joined the Bank in 1997 as Operations Officer in the Regional Resident Office based in the West Bank and Gaza. He holds engineering degrees from India and the United States where he also worked as an engineering consultant before joining the World Bank.