He has previously served at Irish embassies in both the Middle East (Beirut and Baghdad) and the US (Washington, D.C. and San Francisco), with a 4-year career break in the private sector. While in Paris, Mr. Rowan will share his responsibilities between the OECD and UNESCO.

25 January – Dominique Perreau, the new French ambassador, was previously Director of Economic and Financial Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He launched the company Eurostratégie in Brussels in 1986, and in the past 10 years has served as ambassador to Senegal, Gambia and Korea.

17 March – Hungarian ambassador Károly Lotz comes to the OECD from the Hungarian parliament, where he worked on European integration. He served as Minister for Transport, Communication and Water from 1994-1998, and as president of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) in 1995.

18 March – Ulrich Stacher, Austrian ambassador, was director-general of the Federal Chancellery in Vienna since 1987, where he was responsible for European integration and economic coordination. Mr. Stacher has extensive experience in African economic issues, having served as economic advisor to the government of Kenya from 1973-1977.

The OECD’s governing body, the Council, is made up of representatives of member countries. These ambassadors provide guidance on the work of OECD committees and decide on the annual budget of the OECD secretariat.

©OECD Observer No 237, May 2003