IFTEKHAR AHMED CHOWDHURY (BANGLADESH) CHAIRMAN OF SECOND COMMITTEE

Biographical Note

IFTEKHAR AHMED CHOWDHURY (BANGLADESH) CHAIRMAN OF SECOND COMMITTEE

Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury (Bangladesh) was elected Chairman of the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) on 6 June.

Mr.Chowdhury, who began his diplomatic career in 1969, was Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) from January to September 2001.  He was, from 1996 to 2001, Bangladesh’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, and before that was Ambassador to Qatar from 1994 to 1996.  For the three prior years, Mr. Chowdhury served as Director-General of Economic Affairs in his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr.Chowdhury was First Counsellor in the Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (1986-1988), then Deputy Permanent Representative (1988-1991).  He had earlier served in the Bangladesh Embassy in Bonn, West Germany as Counsellor (1983-1986).  Among his earlier positions, Mr. Chowdhury was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping and Aviation (1972-1974), and Deputy Chief of the External Resources Division of the Planning Commission (1974-1976).

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science at Dhaka University in 1967 and received his master’s and doctoral degrees in international relations at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Born on 25 October 1946 in British India, Mr. Chowdhury is married and has a daughter.

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*     This supercedes Press Release BIO/3398 issued 6 November 2001.