Biographical Note

SRGJAN KERIM OF FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA PRESIDENT

OF SIXTY-SECOND UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

 

Srgjan Kerim of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was elected President of the sixty-second session of the United Nations General Assembly on 24 May.  (See Press Release GA/10597.)

A seasoned diplomat, economist, scholar and businessman, Mr. Kerim has a wealth of experience in international political and economic affairs and extensive knowledge of the United Nations system.  He was Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2001 to 2003, during which time he served as Vice-Chairman both of the International Conference on Financing for Development ( Monterrey, 2002) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development ( Johannesburg, 2002).  In addition, he was a member of the group of facilitators of the President of the fifty-sixth General Assembly, focusing on United Nations reform, and a co-organizer of the Regional Forum on the Dialogue of Civilizations in 2003.

Mr. Kerim was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2000 to 2001, in which capacity he chaired the South-East European Cooperation Initiative.  Over the course of his distinguished career, spanning more than three decades, he also represented his country as Ambassador to Germany (1994-2000) and to Switzerland and Liechtenstein (1995-2000).  From 1999 to 2000, he was Special Envoy of the Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe.

Earlier in his political career in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Mr. Kerim held the posts of Assistant Minister and Spokesperson, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from 1989 to 1991.  Before that, he was Minister for Foreign Economic Relations in the Government of the Republic of Macedonia from 1986 to 1989.

In the academic field, Mr. Kerim was a professor of international economic affairs with the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade.  In addition, he was a visiting professor at the University of Hamburg in Germany and at New York University.  He has lectured widely on Balkan issues, authored nine books dealing with international politics, economics and youth, and written more than 100 scholarly papers, many of which have been published in countries across Europe.  He holds a doctorate in international economics from the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade and is fluent in English, French and German as well as Serbian, Croatian and Bulgarian.

Since 2003, Mr. Kerim has been General Manager of Media Print Macedonia in Skopje.  In 2004, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of “Politika” newspapers and magazines in Belgrade.  Since 2006, he has served as General Manager for South-Eastern Europe of the Vienna-based WAZ Media Group.

Born on 12 December 1948 in Skopje, Mr. Kerim is married with three children.

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For information media • not an official record