Jul 6, 2009, 18:48 GMT
New York - The United Nations General Assembly on Monday confirmed Supachai Panitshpakdi of Thailand as head of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for a second, four-year term.
The new term begins on September 1 for Supachai, who was Thailand's deputy prime minister and minister for commerce before he became secretary general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva from 2002 to 2005. He became head of UNCTAD in 2005 after leaving WTO.
He was recommended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to serve a second term at the Geneva-based UNCTAD.
However, Supachai's confirmation for a second term did not go smoothly. Ivory Coast had fielded a candidate, who failed to get support from the 192-nation assembly. Ivory Coast criticized the selection process for the post as unfair to Africa, which demanded a balanced regional representation in UNCTAD.
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