Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi

Kingdom of Thailand (resident in Geneva, Switzerland)

Secretary-General, UNCTAD

Dr Supachai, born in 1946, has been serving as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) since 2005, following his appointment by the UN General Assembly.

Dr Supachai received his bachelor’s degree in Thailand. He received his Master’s degree (in econometrics, development planning) and PhD (in economic planning and development) from the Netherlands School of Economics (now Erasmus University) in Rotterdam. In 1973, Dr Supachai completed his doctoral dissertation on Human Resource Planning and Development under the supervision of Prof Jan Tinbergen, the first Nobel laureate in economics.

Dr Supachai began his professional career at the Bank of Thailand in 1974, working in the research department, the international finance division and the financial institutions supervision department. In 1986, he was elected a member of the Thai Parliament and appointed deputy minister of finance. In 1988, he became director and adviser, and subsequently president, of the Thai Military Bank.

In 1992, Dr Supachai was appointed senator, and that same year he became deputy prime minister with oversight of the country’s economic and trade policy making. In this role, he was actively involved in international trade policy and represented Thailand at the signing ceremony in Marrakech of the Uruguay Round Agreement in 1994. He was also active in shaping regional agreements, including Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM).

In 2001, he was appointed visiting professor at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne. Some of his publications include Globalization and Trade in the New Millennium (2001) and China and WTO: Changing China, and Changing World Trade. Dr Supachai previously served as director-general of the World Trade Organisation (September 2002 to August 2005).