The Ministers of Agriculture of the hemisphere reelected Mexican Víctor M. Villalobos in September 2013.
San Jose, Costa Rica, 14 January 2014 (IICA). On 15 January, Víctor M. Villalobos, Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), will be installed as the head of the agency for a second term (2014-2018).
The guests of honor at the official ceremony will include the President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla; the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza; the Chair of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture (IABA) and Minister of Agriculture of Argentina, Carlos Casamiquela; and the Secretary of Agriculture of Mexico, Enrique Martínez y Martínez.
The activity will get under way at IICA Headquarters in San Jose at 11 a.m. Costa Rican time. It will be webcast live via the Institute’s website.
Villalobos, a citizen of Mexico, was reelected as Director General of the Institute on 25 September 2013 by the IABA, which comprises the ministers of agriculture of IICA’s 34 member countries.
The election took place during the Meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the Americas 2013, held in Argentina.
Villalobos’ first term of office ran from 2010-2014. The Government of Mexico nominated him for a second term in June of last year and he was reelected by acclamation.
Before his election as Director General of IICA, Víctor M. Villalobos held a series of senior government posts in Mexico, including those of Undersecretary of Agriculture and of Natural Resources.
He has a PhD from the University of Calgary, Canada. During a distinguished professional career, he has specialized in issues related to agriculture and natural and genetic resources. He has received doctorates Honoris Causa from the Tropical Agriculture Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), located in Costa Rica, and from Paraguay’s Universidad de Asunción.
For further information:
evangelina.beltran@iica.int
