NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF BELIZE PRESENTS CREDENTIALS
Press Release
BIO/3210
NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF BELIZE PRESENTS CREDENTIALS
19981211 Biographical NoteMichael A. Ashcroft, the new Permanent Representative of Belize, today presented his credentials to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Mr. Ashcroft was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BHI Corporation, a multinational and multi-faceted company incorporated in Belize, with wide-ranging business interests in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Between 1977 and 1997, he was the Chairman and Chief Executive of ADT Limited, formerly the Hawley Group Limited and now Tyco International Limited, a diversified manufacturing and services company based in Bermuda.
For five years from 1984, Mr. Ashcroft served as Trade and Investment Adviser to the Belize High Commission in London. In 1989, he became his country's Itinerant Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the European Economic Community. Earlier this year, he became Economic Adviser at the Embassy of Belize to the United States.
Mr. Ashcroft had also served as the Chairman of a number of bodies, among them: the Board of Trustees of Crimestoppers (United Kingdom); the Michael A. Ashcroft Foundation (Belize and the United Kingdom); the Board of Trustees of Industry in Education (United Kingdom); and the Board of Trustees of Prospect Educational Trust (United Kingdom).
He was educated at St. Catherine's Academy, Belize City, and at Norwich School and the Mid-Essex College in England.
Mr. Ashcroft's activities in the service of his country included the sponsorship in 1985 of "Operation Raleigh - Belize Expedition", for scientific and community work. In 1987 and 1989, he sponsored the London Financial Times surveys on Belize, to help promote investments. In addition, he helped form the Anglo-Belize parliamentary group in the United Kingdom, designed to represent the best interests of Belize in the British Parliament. He was involved in the establishment of the Belize Crimestoppers and funded a local sports stadium, as well as a $1 million educational computer centre in his country.
Born on 4 March 1946, Mr. Ashcroft is married, with three children.
* *** *