SG/A/963
BIO/3723
REC/199
28 December 2005

Biographical Note

Secretary-General Appoints Marek Belka of Poland as Executive Secretary of Economic Commission for Europe

NEW YORK, 27 December (UN Headquarters) -- The Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Marek Belka of Poland as the new Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).   Mr. Belka will assume his new functions at a date to be determined in early 2006.

Marek Belka has outstanding qualifications and numerous accomplishments in the area of economics and global economic governance.  He served as Prime Minister of Poland between May 2004 and November 2005.  He helped to direct Iraq's post-war economy by serving first as Chairman of the Council for International Coordination for Iraq (responsible for international aide coordination for the reconstruction of Iraq, June-October 2003), and later as Director of Economic Policy (responsible for the preparation of economic reforms in Iraq, October 2003-March 2004).  He served as Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance (February-October 1997 and October 2001-July 2002).  He also served as Chief Economic Adviser to the President of Poland (1996-1997 and 1998 -2001).

Previously, Mr. Belka was an adviser and consultant to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Ownership Transformations and Central Office of Planning (1990-1996).  He was also a Consultant to the World Bank between 1990 and 1996 dealing with projects in Poland, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Uzbekistan and China, and again from 1997 to 2001.  He also served as Adviser to the Prime Minister of Albania (1997-2001) and Senior Adviser to JP Morgan for Central and Eastern Europe (November 2002-June 2003).  Mr. Belka has authored several books and articles dealing with socio-economic issues.

Mr. Belka was born on 9 January 1952.  He earned an M.A. (economics of foreign trade), a Ph.D. in economics and a Ph.D. ("habilitation" in economics) from the University of Lódź.  He earned a Fulbright Scholarship at Columbia University (post-doctoral programme) and an American Council of Learned Societies' Scholarship at the University of Chicago.

Mr. Belka is married with two children.

  * *** *