Lakshmi Puri (India) has been appointed as Director of UNCTAD´s Division for Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities (DITC), effective 21 October 2002.
Ms. Puri joins UNCTAD after more than 28 years´ experience in the Indian Foreign Service in policy-making and administration and in bilateral and multilateral economic diplomacy, with a focus on trade, development and economic cooperation. She has first-hand knowledge of national trade policy formulation and of the development implications of multilateral trade negotiations, having served for several years as Joint Secretary in India´s Ministry of External Affairs, where she was in charge of the Economic and Multilateral Economic Relations Divisions. She was also involved in formulating and negotiating regional and interregional economic and trade initiatives. Ms. Puri has contributed to theoretical and policy-related research in think tanks and academic institutions dealing with trade and development issues.
From 1999-2002, Ms. Puri was Ambassador of India to Hungary and concurrently accredited to Bosnia and Herzegovina. A decade earlier, she served as Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in Geneva, where she played an active role in UNCTAD meetings.
