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PATRON
PATRON
Roberto Azevêdo, WTO Director-General

Mr. Roberto Azevêdo is the sixth Director-General of the World Trade Organization. His appointment took effect on 1 September 2013 for a four-year term. Ambassador Azevêdo holds degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Brasilia and in international relations from the “Instituto Rio Branco”, the graduate school of international relations and diplomacy run by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations. He joined the Brazilian Foreign Service in 1984. His first diplomatic posting was to Washington in 1988. He subsequently served in the Brazilian embassy in Montevideo before being assigned to the Permanent Mission of Brazil in Geneva in 1997.
In 2001 Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo was named head of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry’s Dispute Settlement Unit where he remained until 2005. During his tenure he acted as chief litigator in many disputes at the WTO and served on WTO dispute settlement panels. From 2006 to 2008 he was Vice-Minister for Economic and Technological Affairs at the Foreign Ministry in Brasilia. In that capacity he was Brazil’s chief trade negotiator for the Doha Round and represented Brazil in MERCOSUR negotiations. In 2008 he was appointed Permanent Representative of Brazil to the WTO and other International Economic Organisations in Geneva. Ambassador Azevêdo has been a frequent lecturer on topics related to international economics and has published numerous articles on these issues.