Board Chairman's Profile
Wesley Hughes, CD, PhD (Econ)
Dr. Wesley George Hughes is Director General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), an arm of the Ministry of Finance and Planning. He has overall responsibility for the leadership of the Institute and for guiding economic and social policies, plans and programmes to sustain growth and development in Jamaica.
Prior to being appointed Director General at the PIOJ in 1995, Dr. Hughes completed two years of service as Deputy Governor with responsibility for the Research & Economic Programming Division, at the Bank of Jamaica. It was in 1977 that his long-standing relationship with the PIOJ began, when he joined the then National Planning Agency (NPA) as an Economist. In 1981, he left the NPA to be Director of the Economic and Research Division of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute. After completing his doctorate in 1989, he returned to the PIOJ, serving another four years as Manager for the Five-Year Plan Project (1989-1990), and Director for the Institute’s Macro-Economics Planning Division (1990-1993).
Dr. Hughes serves as an integral member of the Economic Team of the Ministry of Finance and Planning; and in his capacity as Head of the PIOJ, he is the Chief Economic Adviser to the Government.
As the longest serving Director General in the history of the 50-year-old institution, Dr. Hughes ensures that the PIOJ maintains an effective operational relationship at both the national and organizational levels. In this regard, Dr. Hughes interfaces with the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Planning, other Cabinet Ministers, International Development Partners, the Private Sector and other non-state actors.
Over his 10-year tenure, some of his major accomplishments have included the cementing of the credibility of the Institute – nationally, regionally and internationally - by ensuring the provision of timely and accurate socio-economic data; overseeing the on-going modernization of the systems and processes of the PIOJ; and the introduction of the groundbreaking annual Lecture Series, Dialogue for Development, which he launched in 2002. In addition, he ensures the PIOJ’s input in the development of key policies and programmes of the government in all areas of the economy and society, and often leads in the negotiations for the external funding for projects. A major goal of Dr. Hughes is to develop the capability of the PIOJ to focus on long term planning and foresighting. This is to complement the PIOJ’s strong capacity to deal with short-term crises and medium-term problems.
Dr. Hughes is an internationally respected economist and strategic development planner, and is a sought after guest speaker with a strong academic base in the subject of economics and development acquired from many years of under-graduate and post-graduate studies.
He has conducted extensive research, with his works appearing in major publications such as the Jamaica Bauxite Journal, Journal of Geological Society of Jamaica, Caribbean Finance and Management, and Development Dialogue, Uppsala, Sweden. He is also Editor in Chief of the PIOJ’s three flagship publications, the Economic and Social Survey of Jamaica (ESSJ), the Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions (JSLC), and the Economic Update and Outlook (EU&O), and is currently overseeing a planned publication on the history of the PIOJ, in celebration of that institution’s 50th anniversary, and as one of the oldest planning agencies in the developing world.
Dr. Hughes serves on a number of boards and committees: Chairman of the Board of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund; Chairman of the PIOJ Board; Director on the Board of the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ). He also serves as Jamaica’s Alternate Governor for the following Boards: World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Caribbean Development Bank, and the International Finance Corporation. He is Jamaica’s representative and former President of the Regional Policy Dialogue, Inter-American Development Bank. He also holds membership in several professional organisations including the Economic Research Council, UK; American Economic Association; the Association of Caribbean Economists and the World Futurist Society.
Because Dr. Hughes is very dedicated to his field and to his country, the Governor General saw it fit to bestow on him a national award. He was conferred with the Order of Distinction, Commander Class (CD) for dedicated public service in the planning and development field in October 2005.
Dr. Hughes was born in St. Catherine, Jamaica. He is a graduate of Calabar High School, Kingston. He holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) and MSc. from the University of the West Indies (UWI), and a PhD from the University of Sussex, UK. He is both a recognised Commonwealth Scholar and Aluminium Company of Canada Scholar. He continues to maintain ties with the UWI, where he served as part-time lecturer in economics.
He is an Anglican; the father of three children; and is married to Carol. In his spare time, Dr. Hughes enjoys reading widely particularly in the areas of international affairs and philosophy. He plays chess and squash and pays keen attention to cricket. He is a member of the Liguanea Club, Kingston.
