Mekong River Commission Secretariat appoints new Chief Executive Officer
MRC No.09/04
Vientiane, 6 July 2004
The Mekong River Commission Secretariat is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Olivier Cogels as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Dr Cogels, a Belgian citizen, will take up his new position at the MRCS headquarters in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 9 August 2004.
He joins the MRCS from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), where he headed up the Secretariat of the International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID) at the FAO’s headquarters in Rome, Italy.
Dr Cogels holds an MSc in Land and Water Engineering and a
PhD in Hydrodynamics and Water Resources Management from the
Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, where he is still Professor.
He also did a post-doctorate at the University of California,
Davis.
Following an academic career he founded his own remote sensing and GIS company. He then served as the Resident Representative of the Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC) in Senegal, before joining the FAO in 2002.
Dr Cogels has nearly 30 years of international experience in consultancy, project management, fund raising and policy development. Over his career he has worked in Africa, Asia and South America with organisations including the European Commission, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UNESCO, the World Bank and the European Space Agency. He has particular expertise in strategic planning of international cooperation programmes in the sectors of water, agriculture and environment.
He is also the author of several published technical and research papers.
Dr Cogels says he is looking forward to taking up his new position, which he feels offers an exciting challenge requiring diplomacy and creativity.
“I believe this job will be very rewarding and allow me to contribute to peaceful socio-economic development and poverty reduction,” he said. “Improving livelihoods in a sustainable way remains the most pressing issue in this region.”
The Mekong River Secretariat works on behalf of the Mekong River Commission as a technical and advisory body, supporting the work of the MRC’s core and sector programmes through extensive research and planning operations as well as the dissemination of data.
The Mekong River Commission was formed in 1995 through an agreement by the four member countries of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam.
For more information, please contact:
Ms Virginia Addison, Communications Officer,
Tel: 856 21 263 263 Ext 1122.
Fax: (856-21) 263 264
Email: virginia@mrcmekong.org
Website: www.mrcmekong.org
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