Projects

Some of the projects Dr. Timberg has participated in include:

Independent Consultant 2008 – assignments include:
• Team Leader, Bosnia Microfinance Survey and Assessment, Nathan Associates, for International Finance Corporation, July-December 2013.
• Adviser, Monitoring and Evaluation, Nathan Associates London, Islamic Corporation for Private Sector Development, 2012.
• Team Leader, Assessment of Sharia Finance as a Means of Access to Finance for SME, Indonesia, for Egen Ltd, Bangladesh for World Bank, 2011-2012.

 

Principal Associate, Nathan Associates Inc., Arlington, VA, 1985 – 2011.
Served as director of macroeconomic analysis and enterprise promotion practices for the firm, Chief of Party, Case Study for APEC on Microfinance in Vietnam. USAID, Hanoi August 2010 Member, Team to Study Bangladesh Economy for USAID Bangladesh, February 2010. Speaker, Microfinance World Summit, Kathmadu, Nepal, February 2010. Consultant, UNDP Nigeria, National Microfinance Study.. Projects include the following:
• Member of Team for Angola Financial Sector Study, focused on Deposit Insurance, Washington, D.C., 2007
• Team Leader/Senior Adviser and Access to Finance Specialist, Project Management Unit for the World Bank, Nigeria, 2005 – 2011. This Project has components dealing with access to finance, business development services, the investment climate, and public private dialogue. The access to finance component gave grants to financial institutions for technical assistance to large scale initiatives in micro, small, and medium enterprise finance. The investment climate component includes the development of a private sector credit bureau, pledge registry, and promoting leasing.
• Senior Consultant, Worldwide, 2004–2011 Senior consultant to group developing World Bank Toolkit on Business Regulation Reform. This involved evaluation of World Bank business regulation reform activities.
• Team Leader, Ukraine, Bangladesh, 2004–2006 Team Leader for study of impact of USAID’s anticorruption interventions in the economic governance area on the actual level of corruption. Four case studies presented in two round tables for USAID staff worldwide.
• Advisor, Sri Lanka, 2005 Adviser to post-tsunami project on proposed microfinance interventions.
• Team Leader, Southern Africa, 2005 Served as Team Leader for trade oriented financial sector studies in SADC countries. One concern was credit information services.
• Advisor, United States Agency for International Development, Mozambique, 2004 – 2007 Advised on financial development issues.
• Team Leader, Integrated Food Security Project, CARE Bangladesh, 2004 Team leader for final evaluation of project, which involved inter alia flood protection, rural works, health and social mobilization.
• Consultant. Asia Foundation, Indonesia, 2003 Consultant in Jakarta, for the Asia Foundation’s survey of Microfinance Institutions in Indonesia. Worked with the Credit Bureau and Rural Banking Directorate of Bank Indonesia (the central bank) and the Finance Division of the State Ministry for Small Enterprise and Cooperatives to facilitate their transition to the “new paradigm” of market friendly small business development. Task included working with the Central Bank, donors and promoters to promote a credit bureau.
• Consultant, United States Agency for International Development, Mozambique, 2002 Served as expert on SME Finance for review of USAID Program for economic and industrial development.
• Consultant, South Africa, 2001 Participated in the review of the national policy on SME Development.
• Chief of Party, Reform in the Informal Sector (IRIS) Caucasus Center, United States Agency for International Development, Armenia, 1997 – 1998 Worked with a small team of economists and lawyers working with the Government of Armenia on Legal and Economic Policy Reform. Special responsibilities for WTO negotiations, development of industrial promotion policy, and small business promotion policy.
• Consultant, Private Client, Russia, 1996 Studied the Vologda regional economy to locate appropriate investment possibilities for a private client.
• Consultant, Jamaica, 1995 Assisted and trained the economics staff of the Jamaica Fair Trading Commission
• Consultant, United States Agency for International Development, Bangladesh, 1994 Member of team to evaluate enterprise promotion project, focusing on the policy unit in the Ministry of Industry.
• Consultant, United States Agency for International Development, Afghanistan, 1992 – 1993 Directed Nathan Associates participation in the Afghan Studies series for the Office of the USAID representative in Pakistan. Directed studies of opium cultivation and use in connection with developing antinarcotics strategy. Performed studies on Afghan financial sector and land tenure. Organized and supervised studies on various industrial sectors and economic statistics.
• Consultant, Bangladesh, 1992 Member of team assessing informal sector alternatives for agricultural credit.
• Consultant, United States, 1992 Wrote chapter on entrepreneurship for use in World Economic Survey, an annual publication of the U.N. Development Programme. The chapter outlines the role of entrepreneurship as a key element of growth and development, defines measures at the national and international levels to promote entrepreneurship, and suggests how the international economic community can support the development of entrepreneurship in national economies.
• Consultant, United States Agency for International Development, India, 1992 Directed market survey for USAID project on trade in environmental services and technologies.
• Consultant, U.N. Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Bangladesh, 1991 Member of U.N. Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) country program review.
• Consultant, Research, Training, and Technical Assistance Director, Worldwide 1985–1990 Directed the research, training, and technical assistance components of the ARIES Project. Supervised technical assistance teams in financial, government, and macroeconomic policy analysis, small- and micro enterprise (SME) sectoral surveys, and the design, development, and evaluation of SME support programs worldwide. Undertook short-term technical assignments.
• Consultant, Sri Lanka, 1990 and 1993 Reviewed proposed World Bank Antipoverty Project.
• Consultant, Malaysia, 1990 Served as member of an ADB mission assessing pre-project technical assistance for project on small-scale industry.
• Consultant, Pakistan, 1990–1991 Wrote report on the Afghan experience with financial markets before and after 1978 and outlined alternative means of meeting Afghanistan’s financial needs after peace is established. Senior economist on study of Afghan land and its implications for refugee resettlement.
• Project Reviewer, Bolivia, 1989–1991 Reviewed, on a regular basis, USAID Mission financial sector programs in connection with Strengthening Financial Institutions Project. Participated in review of the financial sector.
• Technical Supervisor, Honduras, 1989–1993 Provided technical supervisor of the USAID Small Business Development Project. Reviewed relationship of project to general financial activities of the mission. Studied prudential concerns in micro savings generation and poverty lending.
Independent Consultant, 1972–1985. Representative assignments include
• Project Adviser, United States Agency for International Development/Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1984–1985 As Project Adviser for the Rural Industries Project, USAID/Dhaka, advised in the development and implementation of the MIDAS Program. Helped create a venture capital fund and SME promotion institution focusing on labor-intensive, export oriented enterprises. Developed experimental initiatives such as forward subcontracting, targeted asset creation, joint venture search, and other important tools in enterprise development. Consulted on a variety of other USAID small-enterprise finance and promotion projects.
• Team Member, Bangladesh, 1985 Served on a team to study the effects of the Rural Electrification Program.
• Project Adviser, Bangladesh, 1982–1984 Served as project adviser on the Studies in Rural Industrialization Project for the Ministry of Planning of the Government of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies financed by the World Bank to develop local level portfolios of industrial investment projects.
• Team Member, India, 1984 Served on a team to evaluate the potential for agro–industries projects for USAID/India.
• Commentator, United States, 1982 Served as commentator on a private enterprise review.
• Team Member, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Burkina Faso, 1981 Served as a member of the Impact Evaluation Group on African Enterprise Program to evaluate small scale enterprise loans in these countries and Benin and Togo.
• Social Impact Adviser, India, 1980 Served as adviser on the social impact of agricultural development and on programs to increase nonagricultural employment, USAID/India.
• Consultant, India, 1977–1980 Conducted a study of small scale enterprise in Bombay. Headed research subgroup on informal credit markets in India for the World Bank.
• Study Group Leader, India, 1979 Served as leader of a study group for USAID/India to recommend a 3 year plan for research and evaluation.

Consultant, Sullivan and Frost, Management Consultants International, and Kramer Associates, 1982–1985.

Projects involved risk analysis and market strategy for clients.

Chairman, South Asian Studies section of the Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State, 1977–1982.

Designed and taught training programs for U.S. government personnel.

Lecturer,

Business Council for International Understanding; Tata Institute for Social Sciences (Bombay); University of Virginia; University of Chicago; Harvard University; University of Pennsylvania; Michigan State University; University of Maryland; and USIS (Bangladesh, Malawi, Ghana, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Romania, and India); National Defense University, Calcutta University, Bangladesh Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Quaid i Azam University, and University of Karachi; Bangladesh Institute of Strategic Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, Columbia University, and the International Law Institute.