Mr Mario Pezzini is Director of the OECD Development Centre. Moreover, after having served for a year as Acting Director of the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate, he has been nominated Special Advisor to the OECD Secretary General on Development. The OECD Development Centre is an institution where governments, enterprises and civil society organisations informally discuss questions of common interest. Its Governing Board includes most of the OECD countries but also developing and emerging economies as full members. The Centre helps policy makers in OECD and partner countries find innovative solutions to the global challenges of development. (www.oecd.org/dev) Before joining the Development Centre in 2010, Mario Pezzini held several senior management positions in the OECD, where he has been working since 1995. Prior to joining the OECD, Mr. Pezzini was Professor in Industrial Economics at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris as well as in US and Italian Universities. Also, Mr. Pezzini served as an Advisor in the field of economic development, industrial organisation and regional economics in international organisations and think tanks (e.g. ILO, UNIDO, European Commission and Nomisma in Italy). Mr. Pezzini started his career in the Government office of the Emilia-Romagna Region.