Expertise: Policy Simulation, Political Risk Analysis, Government Relations, Crises  Management, Civil Society, European Affairs, Macro-econometrics. 

Zafer A. Yavan, before having founded ZAY Strateji Public Affairs Consultancy in 2017,  served as the secretary general and the board member of TÜSİAD, and as the Capital  (Ankara) representative of TÜSİAD in 2009-2016 and 2000-2008 respectively. Before, he has  served in the State Planning Organization, Prime Ministry of Turkey, as an economist,  department head and director for 14 years in various parts of the institution. 

Both at TÜSİAD and in government he took major responsibilities at various junctures of  Turkey’s economic and political development; among those, 1989 financial sector  liberalization, 1994 Financial Crises, 1999-2000 and 2001 macro adjustment programs, 2001  and 2004 EU-TR membership negotiations, 2007 Turkey’s Constitutional Reform and  numerous negotiations throughout 2000’s between the government and the business  organizations. 

Yavan, throughout his career, developed strengths in transforming his mathematical,  statistical and econometric infrastructure into the political and economic risk analysis. Yavan has extensive experience and expertise on negotiation and crisis management. Yavan, also  taught Forecasting and Open Economy Macroeconomics at METU and Ankara University  respectively for some 10 years. 

Yavan is the author of various academic studies on macroeconomics, econometrics, time series forecasting and social policy fields. 

Yavan studied, economics, statistics, operational research and received bachelor’s degree  from Middle East Technical University (METU) Ankara, Master of Science degree from  Salford University, Manchester UK and completed various macro modelling certificate  programs at UPENN, USA.