Speakers

Franz Drees-Gross became Country Director for Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Islands based in Sydney on 1 January 2013. Before coming to Sydney, Mr Drees-Gross managed the World Bank’s infrastructure, environment and rural/social development portfolio in Indonesia from 2010-2013 including infrastructure projects from large dams and national highways to community health centres and environmental projects from forest protection to corral reefs.

Prior to Indonesia, Mr Drees-Gross worked as the World Bank’s sector leader for the same technical areas in various countries of South America. Before joining the World Bank in 1997, Mr Drees-Gross worked in Africa as a US Peace Corps volunteer in a small town in Cote d’Ivoire and as a water supply/sanitation engineer in Peru and Yemen.