OAS Secretary General to attend ceremony for the swearing-in of IICA’s new Director General
San Jose, 7 January 2010, (IICA). The Secretary General of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza, is to attend the ceremony for the swearing-in of the new Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), Víctor M. Villalobos, due to take place 15 January in Costa Rica.
The OAS Representative in Costa Rica, Ambassador Patricio Zuquilanda, has confirmed that the Secretary General will be attending the ceremony.
The speakers and special guests will include the President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias.
The Minister of Agriculture of Jamaica, Christopher Tufton, will swear in the new Director General, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Inter-American Board of Agriculture, IICA’s highest governing body.
The Institute’s current Director General, Barbadian Chelston W. D. Brathwaite, will deliver the opening address and welcome all those present to the House of Agriculture of the Americas.
An important delegation is expected to attend the ceremony from Mexico, comprising senior government officials, lawmakers, entrepreneurs and former secretaries of agriculture.
A Mexican citizen, Villalobos obtained his first degree, in agricultural engineering, from the National School of Agriculture of Chapingo. He also has a master’s degree in plant genetics from the Postgraduate School and a Ph.D. from the University of Calgary, in Alberta, Canada.
Until recently, he was the Coordinator of International Affairs of his country’s Agriculture Secretariat.
The new Director General was elected by the ministers of agriculture of the hemisphere at their most recent meeting, held last October in Jamaica. He will hold the post for four years (2010-2014), replacing Chelston Brathwaite, who has been in charge of this specialized agency of the Inter-American System since 2002 and was appointed Director Emeritus of the organization.
Founded nearly seven decades ago, IICA has its Headquarters in Costa Rica and Offices in its 34 Member States. Its goals are to promote agriculture and rural development in its member countries.
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