Supachai Panitchpakdi
 

SUPACHAI PANITCHPAKDI is currently Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He previously served as the Director-General of the World Trade Organization from 2002 to 2005. He began his professional career at the Bank of Thailand. In 1986, he was elected to the Thai Parliament and appointed Deputy Minister of Finance. In 1988, he was named Director and Advisor, and subsequently President of the Thai Military Bank.

In 1992, he became a senator. He served as Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister from 1992 to 1995, overseeing economic and trade policy. He was again appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce in 1997 to handle, among other matters, the country’s financial crisis. In addition to his work on national policies, he was active in shaping regional cooperation arrangements, including Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the Asia Europe Meeting.

In 2001, he was appointed visiting professor at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. He received his master’s degree in econometrics and development planning, and his doctorate in economic planning and development from the Netherlands School of Economics (now known as Erasmus University) in Rotterdam.