Ali Babacan had the duty of steering a harsh economic reform program, which was backed by multibillion-dollar IMF loans; under his leadership, the Turkish economy achieved a remarkable recovery after two severe crises.

[5] He attended the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara and in 1989 was awarded a BSc in Industrial Engineering with the highest marks (4.00 point out of 4.00).

[5] Babacan went to the U.S. on a Fulbright Scholarship to do postgraduate studies and in 1992 received an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, with majors in marketing, organizational behavior and international business.

[5] Babacan worked then for two years as an associate at QRM, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, a company doing financial consulting to the top executives of major banks in the United States.

[8] On 24 May 2005 Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced his appointment as chief negotiator in Turkey's accession talks with the European Union,[9] which started on 3 October 2005.

[10] As government minister Babacan attended several international meetings including the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and the Bilderberg Group.