MACHINE NAME = WEB 2

Ambassador of Kazakhstan assumes Presidency of Trade and Development Board

22 March 2013

At the twenty-seventh special session of the Trade and Development Board held today, Ambassador Jüri Seilenthal (Estonia) handed over the Presidency of the Board to Ambassador Mukhtar Tileuberdi (Kazakhstan) for the remainder of the one-year term. Following the handover, Ambassador Seilenthal assumed the function of Vice-President, which had just been vacated by Ambassador Tileuberdi.

Ambassador Jüri Seilenthal (Estonia)
Ambassador Jüri Seilenthal (Estonia)

At the fifty-ninth session of the Trade and Development Board, which was held from 17 to 28 September 2012, UNCTAD's member States elected Ambassador Seilenthal and Ambassador Tileuberdi to serve in succession as Presidents of the Board, replacing the outgoing President, Ambassador Anthony Mothae Maruping (Lesotho).

Ambassador Seilenthal served as President of the Board from 17 September 2012 to 22 March 2013.

Born on 28 December 1970, he was educated in Estonia and Sweden. His professional career began in the private sector, and has since been followed by 18 years in the Estonian Foreign Service. Mr. Seilenthal served as Estonia's Ambassador to Israel, and was head of the Estonian Government's delegation for negotiations on diplomatic real estate with the Russian Federation.

Mr. Seilenthal served from 2002 to 2006 as Estonia's Ambassador to Italy, and from 2003 to 2006 as its Ambassador to Malta (non-resident). During his posting as Chef de Cabinet of Estonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2009, he served concurrently, from June 2007, as Estonia's Ambassador to the Holy See (non-resident).

Since August 2009, he has served as Estonian Ambassador to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva.

Ambassador Mukhtar Tileuberdi (Kazakhstan)
Ambassador Mukhtar Tileuberdi (Kazakhstan)

Ambassador Tileuberdi assumed the Presidency of the Board on 22 March 2013 and will serve as President until 16 September 2013.

Born on 30 June 1968, he was educated in Almaty, Moscow and Seoul. His professional career spans more than two decades, firstly at the Kazakh State University, and then at Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with overseas postings in the Republic of Korea and in Israel.

Mr. Tileuberdi served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Malaysia, and was co-accredited to Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines concurrently, from 2005 to 2009.

Since July 2009, he has served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Switzerland and to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva. Since October 2009, he has also concurrently served as Ambassador to Liechtenstein and the Holy See.