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Renowned Economist José Antonio Ocampo, a Columbia University Professor, Will Analyze the International Financial System Reform at ECLAC

7 August 2023|Announcement

The United Nations regional organization’s former Executive Secretary will deliver a keynote lecture on Friday, August 18 in Santiago, Chile, in the framework of the lecture series created for the institution’s 75th anniversary.

The renowned Colombian economist José Antonio Ocampo, Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and former Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), will deliver a keynote lecture on Friday, August 18 at the United Nations regional organization’s central headquarters in Santiago, Chile.

The former Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Colombia will give a lecture entitled “Reform of the international financial system” at 11:00 a.m. local time in Chile (UTC/GMT -4:00). He will be received by the organization’s current Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs. The speech is part of a Keynote Lecture series organized in the framework of ECLAC’s 75th anniversary commemorations.

José Antonio Ocampo studied economics and sociology at the University of Notre Dame in the United States, graduating in May 1972. He obtained his doctorate in economics from Yale University in December 1976, and was awarded the “Alejandro Angel Escobar” National Science Award of Colombia in 1988.

Until mid-2007, he served as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. As part of this post, he headed the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), located at the global organization’s New York headquarters, and chaired the UN Executive Committee of Economic and Social Affairs. With this appointment by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, José Antonio Ocampo became the Colombian national to hold the highest position in the history of the United Nations.

Before assuming these roles, he served as ECLAC’s Executive Secretary from January 1998 to August 2003. He also held various government positions in his country, including Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Director of the National Planning Department, and Minister of Agriculture.

As an academic, he has served as Director of the Foundation for Higher Education and Development (Fedesarrollo), Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of the Andes (Colombia) and the National University of Colombia, and Visiting Professor at Cambridge, Yale and Oxford Universities.

He has written numerous books and articles on macroeconomic theory and policy, economic development, international trade, and economic history.

The Keynote Lecture series organized in the framework of ECLAC’s 75th anniversary commemorations began on July 24 with a keynote address by Arancha González Laya, Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po). In the following months, other prominent thinkers will visit ECLAC to present their views and ideas about the challenges facing the world and the region. The full list of lecturers is available here.

Members of the media are invited to attend this keynote lecture, which will take place in the Raúl Prebisch conference room at ECLAC’s headquarters (Av. Dag Hammarskjöld 3477, Vitacura, Santiago, Chile). Journalists must have their media credentials or IDs with them to gain entry and must get accredited in advance by sending an email to prensa@cepal.org.

The keynote lecture will also be transmitted online via https://live.cepal.org/75aniversario/ and on the United Nations regional commission’s accounts on Twitter (@cepal_onu) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/cepal.onu).

What: Keynote lecture by José Antonio Ocampo, Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and former Executive Secretary of ECLAC.

Who:

  • José Antonio Ocampo, Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs
  • José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary

 

When: Friday, August 18, 2023, 11:00 a.m. local time in Chile (UTC/GMT -04:00).

Where: ECLAC’s headquarters in Santiago, Chile (Av. Dag Hammarskjöld 3477, Vitacura). Raúl Prebisch conference room.

Online transmission via https://live.cepal.org/75aniversario/ and ECLAC’s accounts on Twitter (@cepal_onu) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/cepal.onu).