CARVALHO DE AZEVÊDO to be Next WTO Director General
AMBASSADOR Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo, a Brazilian career diplomatis all set to be the new Director-General of the WTO. He will be formally elected at the General Council meeting on 14 May 2013, after going through a gruelling selection process along with seven other contenders.
The term of the current Director-General, Pascal Lamy, ends on 31 August 2013 and Roberto will take charge on September 1 2013. Roberto has been the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the WTO and other International Economic Organisations in Geneva since 2008. Besides WTO, Ambassador Azevêdo also represents Brazil before other economic organisations, such as the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). He joined the Brazilian Foreign Service in 1984. His mother tongue is Portuguese. He is fluent in all of the three official languages of the WTO: English, French, and Spanish.