Ban appoints Arancha Gonzalez of Spain to head International Trade Centre

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Arancha Gonzalez of Spain as Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), the joint agency of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and World Trade Organization (WTO) for trade and international business development.

Ms. Gonzalez, who will replace Patricia Francis of Jamaica, “brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the ITC coupled with extensive public and private sector experience in trade and development matters, as well as in management of multilateral organizations,” said the announcement of her appointment.

“She will play an important role in further developing the ITC, whose mission is to help promote exports of developing countries and countries in transition.”

Ms. Gonzalez has served as Chief of Staff at the WTO for the last eight years, and has been intimately involved in setting up its Aid for Trade initiative.

She has also served in various capacities in the European Commission, where she held several positions in the area of international trade. Ms. Gonzalez began her career in the private sector advising companies on trade, competition and state aid matters.