Secretary-General Appoints Pamela Coke-Hamilton of Jamaica Executive Director, International Trade Centre

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Pamela Coke-Hamilton of Jamaica as Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), the joint agency of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) for trade and international business development.

She succeeds Arancha González Laya of Spain, to whom the Secretary-General has expressed appreciation for her dedicated service to the Organization.

Currently Director of the Division on International Trade and Commodities at UNCTAD, Ms. Coke-Hamilton brings a breadth of experience and expertise in trade-related capacity-building and sustainable development, having served with the Government of Jamaica, Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) member States in trade negotiations and multilateral institutions, including the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank.  She previously served as Executive Director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency, strengthening the capacity of private sector as well as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through investment promotion.

Ms. Coke-Hamilton brings a deep understanding of the challenges faced by vulnerable economies such as small island developing States and least developed countries, having designed tailored interventions.  She has worked extensively with the private sector across the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, as well as academia, to build trade-related institutional strength within member States.  As a strong proponent of gender equality and mainstreaming in trade, Ms. Coke-Hamilton established the Women Empowered through Export (WeXport) platform to address the disadvantages women-owned firms experience in accessing markets.

She will be leading the ITC at a pivotal moment, given the catastrophic impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed on the global trading system, particularly on MSMEs in developing countries, with the Centre required to play a vital role in helping to build stronger and more resilient businesses and countries.

Ms. Coke-Hamilton holds a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University and an undergraduate degree in international relations from the University of the West Indies.