Zafer Ali Yavan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Operational Research & Statistics (major) and Economics (minor) from Middle East Technical University, a Master’s degree in Economics-Econometrics from Salford University (Manchester UK), and macro modeling certificates from the University of Pennsylvania (UPENN), Center for Economic Research. He is a founder and chairman of the board of ZAY Strategy Consultancy Services since 2017.
Zafer A. Yavan served as the Secretary General and Board Member of TÜSİAD (Turkish Industry and Business Association) 2009-2016 and Permanent Representative of TÜSİAD Ankara 2000-2008. Prior to that, he worked as a manager, expert and assistant expert at the Turkish Prime Ministry State Planning Organization for 14 years in various departments of the institution. In his positions at both TÜSİAD and state institutions, Mr. Yavan has been involved in important turning points that shaped Turkey’s economic and political development. He was responsible for the 1989 Financial Sector Liberalization, the 1994 Financial Crisis, the 1999-2000 and 2001 Macro Adjustment Programs, the 2001 and 2004 EU-TR Accession Negotiations, Turkey’s 2007 Constitutional Reform and many other negotiations between the Government and NGOs in the 2000s. Throughout his career, Zafer Ali Yavan has developed special skills and capacity to apply his background in mathematics, statistics and econometrics to political and economic risk analysis. Zafer Ali Yavan has extensive experience and expertise in negotiation techniques and crisis management. Mr. Yavan also taught Forecasting and Open Economics and Macroeconomics at METU and Ankara Universities for 10 years respectively. Zafer Ali Yavan has many academic studies and publications in the fields of Macro-Economics, Econometrics, Time Series and Social Development Policies.
