Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has announced the appointment of Angela Ellard of the United States, Anabel González of Costa Rica, Ambassador Jean-Marie Paugam of France and Ambassador Xiangchen Zhang of China as her four Deputy Directors-General.

This was contained in a statement titled, ‘DG Okonjo-Iweala announces her four Deputy Directors-General’.

“I am very pleased to announce the appointment of four new Deputy Directors-General at the WTO. It is the first time in the history of our Organisation that half of the DDGs are women. This underscores my commitment to strengthening our Organisation with talented leaders whilst at the same time achieving gender balance in senior positions.

I look forward to welcoming them to the WTO,” said Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian Finance Minister, who broke the 26-year record of the global institution to emerge the first African and female DG.

Ellard, international expert on trade and international economic policy, has a distinguished career of service working at the US Congress as Majority and Minority Chief Trade Counsel and Staff Director.

González, a renowned global expert on trade, investment and economic development, served as Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica; as Director-General for International Trade Negotiations; as Director-General of the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency; and as Special Ambassador and Chief negotiator of the US-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement.

Paugam has held senior management positions in the French Government on trade, most recently as Permanent Representative of France to the WTO. He has also held a number of senior positions in the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, including as a member of the Executive Committee of the French Treasury.

Zhang currently serves as Vice Minister in the Ministry of Commerce of China. He has long and extensive experience on WTO issues, international negotiations, and policy research. Ambassador Zhang served until recently as China’s Permanent Representative to the WTO and previously as Deputy Permanent Representative.