Mr. Koichiro Matsuura was appointed on 12 November
1999 to serve a six-year term as Director-General of
UNESCO by the Organization's General Conference.
Mr. Matsuura, born in Tokyo in 1937, has served as
Japan's Ambassador to France since 1994.
Mr. Matsuura was educated at the Law Faculty of the
University of Tokyo and at the Faculty of Economics
of Haverford College (Pennsylvania, USA) and began
his diplomatic career in 1959.
Posts held by Mr. Matsuura include those of Director-General
of the Economic Cooperation Bureau of Japan's Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (1988); Director-General of the North
American Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(1990); and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. He has
also served as the Chairperson of UNESCO's World Heritage
Committee for one year, until November 1999. |
