Ngel Gurra

Vocation

Notable

Mexican economist and diplomat who has served as Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) since 1 June 2006. Gurría graduated with a bachelor's degree in Economics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and undertook postgraduate studies at the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom and at Harvard University, in the United States. He served as the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs (1994–1997) and as Secretary of Finance (1998–2000) in the Ernesto Zedillo administration. In Foreign Affairs he opposed the Helms-Burton Act and while serving in Treasury, he restructured the foreign debt. He also negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and requested financial aid during the 1994 crisis. Gurría has also been President and CEO of the National Development Bank of Mexico (Nafin) and President and CEO of the Foreign Trade Bank (Bancomext). From 2003 to 2005 he was a chair member of the Inter-American Development Bank's External Advisory Group. He was the architect of the Mexican economic stabilization, partially by cutting government spending six times during the Zedillo administration. The effect of his work has been felt during Vicente Fox's administration who nominated him to lead the OECD in July 2005. He has also served, since 2010, as a Commissioner for the Broadband Commission for Digital Development which leverages broadband technologies as a key enabler for social and economic development. Gurría speaks six languages: Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, Italian and German. On 30 September 2010, he was reappointed by the OECD to a second five-year mandate after his first term finished on 1 June 2011. Since 2014, Gurría has served as a Commissioner for the Global Commission on Internet Governance. Link to Wikipedia biography