Supachai Panitchpakdi
Supachai Panitchpakdi was born on May 30, 1946, in Bangkok, Thailand. He was the Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, as well as previously being the Director-General of the World Trade Organization.
Political Career[edit]
Supachai worked in the Research Department in the International Finance Division of the Bank of Thailand in 1974. He was elected to the Thai Parliament and was appointed to Deputy Minister of Finance in 1986. In 1998, the parliament dissolved which led him to leaving politics and becoming the President of the Thai Military Bank. From 1992-1995, he became the Deputy Prime Minister. He was re-elected the Deputy Prime Minister and also became the Minister of Commerce in 1997. He was elected to become the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and shared the position with Mike Moore in 1999. He assumed office in 2002, for the second half of the six-year term. Dr. Supachai was appointed to become the Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 2005. He was appointed for a second four-year term in 2009. He has published many books, such as: Educational Growth in Developing Countries (1974), Globalization and Trade in the New Millennium (2001) and China and the WTO: Changing China, Changing World Trade (2002, co-authored with Mark Clifford.
Education[edit]
Supachai Panitchpakdi received a MA in Econometrics and Development Planning at the Netherlands School of Economics. Then, he received a PhD. in Economic Planning & Development at the Netherlands School of Economics, which is now known as Erasmus University in Rotterdam. He went to Cambridge University as a visiting fellow and conducted research on development model.
