Stuart Webster BBS MSc (Economics) – International Economic Consultant
Stuart Webster commenced his consultancy career as a Market Research Analyst in the mid-1970s with the international wing of the Stanford Research Institute (SRI International) in the UK. Arising from his market research and economic consultancy work with SRI International, Stuart provided consultancy services for the 3rd Five Year Development Plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1979/80. In late 1980 Stuart worked with CBF – the Irish Livestock and Meat Board as Marketing Research Executive.
Stuart progressed to Senior Economic & Marketing Consultant at KPMG Management Consultants (Ireland) from 1982 to 1983. At KPMG Stuart performed consulting studies for Irish and international private and public sector clients, including the development plan for the North East Regional Development Organisation and the analysis of factors influencing foreign investment in Irish manufacturing industry for the Irish Industrial Development Authority (IDA). Arising from his growing economic expertise Stuart was appointed Plan Editor of the 4th Five-Year Development Plan (1985-1990) for Saudi Arabia by SRI International in 1984/85. He continued in this key role on the 5th Five Year Plan (1990-1995) with SRI International in 1989/90.
In 1985, following his contribution to the 4th Five Year Development Plan for Saudi Arabia, Stuart became a founding partner of Tansey Webster Associates, Economic Consultants. From 1985 to 1993, with his increasing wealth of economic research and expertise, he managed and completed many research projects, consultancy reports and strategic action plans which have influenced Irish government policy in a number of economic sectors, including forestry, manufacturing, financial services, industrial training and tourism. In 1989/90 he was re-appointed Plan Editor of the 5th Five Year Development Plan for Saudi Arabia (1990-95) on the project team from SRI International.
In 1993, Stuart worked for Maxwell Stamp (for the Asian Development Bank) as Deputy Project Leader in the Maldives Ministry of Planning and Environment on the preparation of the long term (perspective) national development plan and three-year public investment programme.
As a freelance economic consultant Stuart Webster became Plan Editor of the 6th Five Year Development Plan (1995-2000) for Saudi Arabia with GTZ International from 1994 to 1995. His international reputation continued to grow with his appointment as Public Investment Programme (PIP) Adviser to the Ministry of Finance of Estonia through the Trade Development Institute of Ireland (TDI) and Berenschot Euromanagement (NL) on the EU Phare programme from 1995 to 1998. Stuart also obtained the role of Economic Planning Adviser for the World Bank funded "Investment Promotion Strategy Study for Trinidad and Tobago" from 1997 to 1998 through his association with TDI.
Further to his successful role as PIP Adviser in Estonia, Stuart was recruited as Team Leader & PIP Adviser to the Ministry of Economy of Latvia on a project aimed at building capacity to improve the formulation and implementation of the government's rolling three-year Public Investment Programme (PIP) through AACM/FAI/Dames and Moore/EU Phare from 1998 to 1999. His role as economic consultant to the Ministry of Finance of Latvia continued in 2000 where he acted through FTI (Ireland) as Senior Consultant for the World Bank funded (PHRD grant) Public Expenditure Management Review.
In mid-2000, Stuart was appointed Team Leader & Adviser for TWS International to the World Bank funded project providing advisory services on the pre-conditions and strategy for modernising the state government treasury function in the Czech Republic. In late 2000, he worked in the Ministry of Finance of Estonia for the Irish Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)/EU Phare as Project Coordinator of the Special Preparatory Programme for Structural Funds, set up to assess the impact of accession to the EU on the Estonian economy.
In 2001, Stuart worked in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as Team Leader for Pohl Consulting & Associates (Germany) on behalf of EuropeAid; this was a project identification mission to the DPRK to design a pilot training programme for government officials in the principles and practices of the market economy, international trade and finance. He was also employed by Pohl Consulting as Senior Expert for the Ministry of Economic Services of Malta on a project building the capacity of the Maltese authorities in the preparation of their National Development Plan.
Stuart’s increasing international expertise led to his secondment to the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro from the end of 2001 to mid-2003. Here he acted as Team Leader/Budget Adviser for SOFRECO on behalf of the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR); this was a long-term project (Managing Government Expenditure) aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Budget Department, creating a State Treasury and an Internal Audit Department in the Ministry of Finance. Stuart’s role of Team Leader/Budget Adviser in the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro was extended to early 2004 by ADE (on behalf of EAR) where he continued to work on capacity building in the Budget and Treasury Departments in the preparation of monthly reports on the consolidated operations of government (consistent with GFS framework and the reporting standards on fiscal transparency used by the IMF).
Stuart Webster’s association with the Balkans continued in 2004 when he was recruited by East West Consulting for the European Commission (OBNOVA) as a Training Expert for the Ministry of European Integration of Croatia; this project comprised the design and delivery of training workshops in medium-term strategic planning to officials of the Directorate of Foreign Assistance and the introduction of a medium-term results-oriented policymaking and budgeting system based on a system of performance indicators.
In mid-2004, Stuart was appointed Budget Adviser for ECORYS (with Slovak Government Loan from the World Bank) to the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance of Slovakia. The project included provision of expert advice on Public Financial Management Reform and the integration of EU programmes for use of Structural Funds into the national budget preparation process.
Stuart returned to the far east in 2005 for two assignments at the Ministry of Finance of Lao PDR (Peoples Democratic Republic). His first assignment was as Consultant for Altair Asesores (EC and World Bank) where he performed a capacity assessment of the public expenditure management functions in the Ministry of Finance. His second assignment was as Team Leader/Consultant for ACE Comex (European Commission/World Bank) on a diagnostic study of the public financial management and financial accountability of Lao PDR, on the core systems chapter of the World Bank’s Public Expenditure Review (PER) 2005-2006 and recommendations for policy actions related to the Government’s Public Expenditure Management Strengthening Program.
Towards the end of 2006, Stuart’s association with the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro was renewed with a short assignment as Budgeting & Public Finance Management Expert for Human Dynamics (on behalf of EAR); it involved the preparation of a presentation on the importance of medium term fiscal planning (and the Irish experience) for a seminar on public financial management. Stuart was then appointed Team Leader/Budget Adviser for Human Dynamics (on behalf of EAR) on a long-term assignment which ran from late 2006 to early 2009. The project entitled “Implementation of Budgeting and Salary Systems Reforms” was designed to increase fiscal transparency and achieve better-informed decision-making within the (medium-term) budgeting process. In mid-2009, Stuart worked as Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) Expert for ECO3 (for European Commission), assisting the Budget Department to transform 3-year fiscal projections and aggregate planned expenditures into medium-term spending ceilings and to identify appropriate budget adjustment measures on the expenditure side.
In mid-2009, Stuart was awarded his first significant African assignment to the Ministry of Finance of Kenya as Team Leader for ECORYS on behalf of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA); his brief was to perform a mid-term review of the Kenyan strategy to revitalize public finance management (PFM), evaluating the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the PFM Reform Programme.
In the period July-December 2010, Stuart was appointed Senior Evaluator with a project team from SOGES S.p.A on an EU project “Mid-term Meta Evaluation of EU’s IPA Assistance to Western Balkans and Turkey”. His role here was to provide a consolidated, comprehensive and comparative assessment of the intervention logic used to date in the planning, programming and management of IPA assistance (Instrument for Pre-Accession) – evaluating its relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability.
In January 2011, Stuart returned to the Middle East to take up a position as Public Expenditure Management and Reform Expert on a 4-year EU-funded project with the Ministry of Finance in Damascus, Syria. The traumatic events that unfolded in the spring of 2011 brought an early end to this project.
In 2012, Stuart undertook a home-based assignment for the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation – assessing international experience of programme budgeting and reforms in the delivery of government services .
From June 2012 to June 2013, Stuart returned to the Balkans when he was selected for a project with Human Dynamics in Bosnia and Herzegovina – capacity building for the compilation of accounting data within the scope of General Government and Public Financial Statistics.
Between September 2013 and July 2014 Stuart completed his first assignment in Central Asia, assisting the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic through capacity building in public investment, policy making procedures and capital budgeting. This project was funded under a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank.
In 2016-2017 he returned to Central Asia to provide technical support and capacity building in the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance of Mongolia.
Stuart progressed to Senior Economic & Marketing Consultant at KPMG Management Consultants (Ireland) from 1982 to 1983. At KPMG Stuart performed consulting studies for Irish and international private and public sector clients, including the development plan for the North East Regional Development Organisation and the analysis of factors influencing foreign investment in Irish manufacturing industry for the Irish Industrial Development Authority (IDA). Arising from his growing economic expertise Stuart was appointed Plan Editor of the 4th Five-Year Development Plan (1985-1990) for Saudi Arabia by SRI International in 1984/85. He continued in this key role on the 5th Five Year Plan (1990-1995) with SRI International in 1989/90.
In 1985, following his contribution to the 4th Five Year Development Plan for Saudi Arabia, Stuart became a founding partner of Tansey Webster Associates, Economic Consultants. From 1985 to 1993, with his increasing wealth of economic research and expertise, he managed and completed many research projects, consultancy reports and strategic action plans which have influenced Irish government policy in a number of economic sectors, including forestry, manufacturing, financial services, industrial training and tourism. In 1989/90 he was re-appointed Plan Editor of the 5th Five Year Development Plan for Saudi Arabia (1990-95) on the project team from SRI International.
In 1993, Stuart worked for Maxwell Stamp (for the Asian Development Bank) as Deputy Project Leader in the Maldives Ministry of Planning and Environment on the preparation of the long term (perspective) national development plan and three-year public investment programme.
As a freelance economic consultant Stuart Webster became Plan Editor of the 6th Five Year Development Plan (1995-2000) for Saudi Arabia with GTZ International from 1994 to 1995. His international reputation continued to grow with his appointment as Public Investment Programme (PIP) Adviser to the Ministry of Finance of Estonia through the Trade Development Institute of Ireland (TDI) and Berenschot Euromanagement (NL) on the EU Phare programme from 1995 to 1998. Stuart also obtained the role of Economic Planning Adviser for the World Bank funded "Investment Promotion Strategy Study for Trinidad and Tobago" from 1997 to 1998 through his association with TDI.
Further to his successful role as PIP Adviser in Estonia, Stuart was recruited as Team Leader & PIP Adviser to the Ministry of Economy of Latvia on a project aimed at building capacity to improve the formulation and implementation of the government's rolling three-year Public Investment Programme (PIP) through AACM/FAI/Dames and Moore/EU Phare from 1998 to 1999. His role as economic consultant to the Ministry of Finance of Latvia continued in 2000 where he acted through FTI (Ireland) as Senior Consultant for the World Bank funded (PHRD grant) Public Expenditure Management Review.
In mid-2000, Stuart was appointed Team Leader & Adviser for TWS International to the World Bank funded project providing advisory services on the pre-conditions and strategy for modernising the state government treasury function in the Czech Republic. In late 2000, he worked in the Ministry of Finance of Estonia for the Irish Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)/EU Phare as Project Coordinator of the Special Preparatory Programme for Structural Funds, set up to assess the impact of accession to the EU on the Estonian economy.
In 2001, Stuart worked in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as Team Leader for Pohl Consulting & Associates (Germany) on behalf of EuropeAid; this was a project identification mission to the DPRK to design a pilot training programme for government officials in the principles and practices of the market economy, international trade and finance. He was also employed by Pohl Consulting as Senior Expert for the Ministry of Economic Services of Malta on a project building the capacity of the Maltese authorities in the preparation of their National Development Plan.
Stuart’s increasing international expertise led to his secondment to the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro from the end of 2001 to mid-2003. Here he acted as Team Leader/Budget Adviser for SOFRECO on behalf of the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR); this was a long-term project (Managing Government Expenditure) aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Budget Department, creating a State Treasury and an Internal Audit Department in the Ministry of Finance. Stuart’s role of Team Leader/Budget Adviser in the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro was extended to early 2004 by ADE (on behalf of EAR) where he continued to work on capacity building in the Budget and Treasury Departments in the preparation of monthly reports on the consolidated operations of government (consistent with GFS framework and the reporting standards on fiscal transparency used by the IMF).
Stuart Webster’s association with the Balkans continued in 2004 when he was recruited by East West Consulting for the European Commission (OBNOVA) as a Training Expert for the Ministry of European Integration of Croatia; this project comprised the design and delivery of training workshops in medium-term strategic planning to officials of the Directorate of Foreign Assistance and the introduction of a medium-term results-oriented policymaking and budgeting system based on a system of performance indicators.
In mid-2004, Stuart was appointed Budget Adviser for ECORYS (with Slovak Government Loan from the World Bank) to the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance of Slovakia. The project included provision of expert advice on Public Financial Management Reform and the integration of EU programmes for use of Structural Funds into the national budget preparation process.
Stuart returned to the far east in 2005 for two assignments at the Ministry of Finance of Lao PDR (Peoples Democratic Republic). His first assignment was as Consultant for Altair Asesores (EC and World Bank) where he performed a capacity assessment of the public expenditure management functions in the Ministry of Finance. His second assignment was as Team Leader/Consultant for ACE Comex (European Commission/World Bank) on a diagnostic study of the public financial management and financial accountability of Lao PDR, on the core systems chapter of the World Bank’s Public Expenditure Review (PER) 2005-2006 and recommendations for policy actions related to the Government’s Public Expenditure Management Strengthening Program.
Towards the end of 2006, Stuart’s association with the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro was renewed with a short assignment as Budgeting & Public Finance Management Expert for Human Dynamics (on behalf of EAR); it involved the preparation of a presentation on the importance of medium term fiscal planning (and the Irish experience) for a seminar on public financial management. Stuart was then appointed Team Leader/Budget Adviser for Human Dynamics (on behalf of EAR) on a long-term assignment which ran from late 2006 to early 2009. The project entitled “Implementation of Budgeting and Salary Systems Reforms” was designed to increase fiscal transparency and achieve better-informed decision-making within the (medium-term) budgeting process. In mid-2009, Stuart worked as Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) Expert for ECO3 (for European Commission), assisting the Budget Department to transform 3-year fiscal projections and aggregate planned expenditures into medium-term spending ceilings and to identify appropriate budget adjustment measures on the expenditure side.
In mid-2009, Stuart was awarded his first significant African assignment to the Ministry of Finance of Kenya as Team Leader for ECORYS on behalf of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA); his brief was to perform a mid-term review of the Kenyan strategy to revitalize public finance management (PFM), evaluating the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the PFM Reform Programme.
In the period July-December 2010, Stuart was appointed Senior Evaluator with a project team from SOGES S.p.A on an EU project “Mid-term Meta Evaluation of EU’s IPA Assistance to Western Balkans and Turkey”. His role here was to provide a consolidated, comprehensive and comparative assessment of the intervention logic used to date in the planning, programming and management of IPA assistance (Instrument for Pre-Accession) – evaluating its relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability.
In January 2011, Stuart returned to the Middle East to take up a position as Public Expenditure Management and Reform Expert on a 4-year EU-funded project with the Ministry of Finance in Damascus, Syria. The traumatic events that unfolded in the spring of 2011 brought an early end to this project.
In 2012, Stuart undertook a home-based assignment for the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation – assessing international experience of programme budgeting and reforms in the delivery of government services .
From June 2012 to June 2013, Stuart returned to the Balkans when he was selected for a project with Human Dynamics in Bosnia and Herzegovina – capacity building for the compilation of accounting data within the scope of General Government and Public Financial Statistics.
Between September 2013 and July 2014 Stuart completed his first assignment in Central Asia, assisting the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic through capacity building in public investment, policy making procedures and capital budgeting. This project was funded under a multi-donor trust fund administered by the World Bank.
In 2016-2017 he returned to Central Asia to provide technical support and capacity building in the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance of Mongolia.
