Pamela Coke-Hamilton is the new Executive Director of the ITC

Pamela Coke-Hamilton

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on Friday the appointment of Jamaica- born Pamela Coke-Hamilton as the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC).

The ITC is 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.

Coke-Hamilton, who is currently the director of the Division on International Trade and Commodities at UNCTAD,  previously served as executive director of the Barbados-based Caribbean Export Development Agency.

“She has worked extensively with the private sector across the African Caribbean and Pacific countries as well as with universities and academia to build trade-related institutional strength within member states. As a strong proponent of gender equality and mainstreaming in trade, she established the Women Empowered through Export (WeXport) platform to address the disadvantages women owned firms experience in accessing markets.,” the UN said in announcing the appointment.

It  also noted that Coke-Hamilton will be leading the organization at a pivotal moment given the catastrophic impact that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has unleashed on the global trading system, particularly on MSMEs in developing countries, with ITC required to play a vital role in assisting in building stronger and more resilient businesses and countries.