Biographical Note
UNIS/BIO/641
29 May 2002
Antonio Maria Costa
Director General of UN Office at Vienna, Executive Director of Drug Control and Crime Prevention Office
VIENNA, 29 May (UN Information Service) - The Secretary-General appointed Antonio Maria Costa (Italy) as the new Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) and Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) in March 2002. Mr. Costa took up his duties with the UN Office at Vienna on 7 May 2002.
Mr. Costa was previously serving as the Secretary-General of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London where he was responsible for political issues, institutional affairs, corporate governance and questions relating to shareholders.
Between 1987 and 1992, he served in various capacities at the Commission of the European Union, rising to the post of Director-General for Economics and Finance.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Costa served as an economist in the United Nations Department of International Economics and Social Affairs between 1969 and 1983, and eventually became Head of Unit. He was subsequently appointed Under-Secretary-General (Special Counsellor) at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris where he served until 1987. He was a member of the OECD Working Group for the liberalization of capital flows and the control of financial transactions, as well as Alternate Member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank Interim Committee and of the G-10 Group for the coordination of economic policy, public governance and international monetary affairs.
Mr. Costa was born on 16 June 1941 in Italy. He holds a degree in political science from the University of Turin, and a Ph.D in economics from the University of California at Berkeley. He served as visiting Professor in various universities in Europe and the United States.
Mr. Costa is married with three children.
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