Since July 2006, Dr. Barry K. Primm has served as the U.S. Agency for  International Development (USAID) Representative to Mongolia. A Senior Foreign Service Officer, Primm has served with USAID for over twenty eight years in nine overseas posts and in Washington, DC.  

His USAID career includes serving as Deputy Mission Director for USAID Afghanistan from 2004-06; Assistant Mission Director for USAID Albania from 2002-04; Economic and Energy Sector Restructuring Office Director for USAID Armenia from 1999-2002; and Regional Energy and Environmental Initiatives Office Chief for USAID Central Asia from 1994-99. 

Prior to that, Primm served as the Agriculture Policy and Agribusiness Division Chief for USAID Philippines from 1989-1994; Natural Resources Management Office Director for USAID India from 1987-89; and Economic, Marketing and Policy Analysis Division Chief for USAID Pakistan from 1982-87.  He was an International Development Intern and then agricultural economist for USAID Indonesia from 1977-82.   

In Afghanistan, Primm oversaw operations of the 2nd largest USAID Mission in the world implementing major reconstruction programs. This included related security activities and the USAID component of the USG Provincial Reconstruction Team Program.  In Albania, he played a major role implementation of USAID initiatives in anti-trafficking of women & children, anti-corruption, civil society and private sector competitiveness.         

In Armenia, Primm directed USAID activities to commercialize and privatize the energy sector; implement tax, fiscal and customs reforms; strengthen banking supervision; and institutionalize international accounting standards. In Central Asia, he oversaw the USG’s Aral Sea Program, a special initiative of the Office of the Vice President; legal & regulatory reform of Kazakhstan’s energy sector; and enhancement of regional cooperation in water management and energy trade.  

In the Philippines and Pakistan, Primm designed and implemented budget & commodity support programs leveraging major policy reforms involving removal of price controls on staples and privatization of edible oil imports and processing, and fertilizer and wheat storage/distribution. 

Originally from a small farm west of Olathe, Kansas, Primm has a bachelor’s degree in business/economics, and has received an MS and PhD in agriculture economics. He is fluent in Bahasa Indonesian and has a daughter and a son attending universities in the state of Missouri.