10 June 2013: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has confirmed the appointment of Mukhisa Kituyi (Kenya) as Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Kituyi succeeds Supachai Panitchpakdi (Thailand), who took office in 2005 and was reappointed in 2009.

Kituyi’s four year term will run from 1 September 2013 to 31 August 2017. As a member of the Kenyan Parliament, Kituyi chaired the COMESA Council of Ministers and the African Trade Ministers’ Council and the Council of Ministers of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. He was the lead negotiator for Eastern and Southern African ministers in the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations, and was the convenor of the agricultural negotiations at the Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting of the WTO Doha Round. [UNGA Press Release] [UNCTAD Press Release]