Biographical Note

Secretary-General Appoints Arancha Gonzalez of Spain

 

as Executive Director, International Trade Centre

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Arancha Gonzalez of Spain as Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), the joint agency of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and World Trade Organization (WTO) for trade and international business development.

She will replace Patricia Francis of Jamaica to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedicated service to the Organization.

Ms. Gonzalez brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the ITC coupled with extensive public and private sector experience in trade and development matters, as well as in management of multilateral organizations.  She will play an important role in further developing the ITC, whose mission is to help promote exports of developing countries and countries in transition.

Ms. Gonzalez has served as Chief of Staff at the WTO for the last eight years.  She has been intimately involved in setting up the WTO Aid for Trade initiative and served as the WTO Director-General’s representative (Sherpa) at the Group of 20 (G-20).  She has also served in various capacities in the European Commission where she held several positions in the area of international trade, including negotiations of trade agreements, assisting developing countries in benefiting from trading opportunities and as European Commission Spokeswoman for Trade.  Ms. Gonzalez began her career in the private sector, advising companies on trade, competition and state aid matters.

Ms. Gonzalez holds a degree in law from the University of Navarra and a post-graduate degree in European Law from the University of Carlos III, Madrid.

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For information media • not an official record