New Delhi/Bangkok: The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), QU Dongyu, has appointed Jong-Jin Kim as Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific, effective 1 July 2020. 

Mr Kim, a national of the Republic of Korea, has a long and distinguished career in public service. He joined FAO in 2013 as Director of South-South Cooperation and Resource Mobilization Division (TCS) and immediately prior to his present appointment, he had been serving as FAO’s Deputy Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand.

Just prior to joining FAO, Mr Kim served as the Deputy Minister for Trade at the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MIFAFF) in the Republic of Korea (2010 to 2013). Indeed, he began his career at MIFAFF in 1982, where he held positions of increasing responsibility, in particular Assistant Director and Director of diverse Divisions, including the Food Policy Division, the Rural Development Division and the Agricultural Policy Division.

Mr Kim also served as Secretary-General of the Presidential Commission for Agriculture and Rural Policies (2002-2003) and was then appointed Minister-Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was responsible for the World Trade Organization (WTO) agricultural affairs.

In 2008, Mr Kim was appointed Director-General of the International Cooperation Bureau at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). In this role, he served as the Republic of Korea’s Head of agricultural negotiations in the Doha Development Agenda of the World Trade Organization (WTO/DDA). In addition, he also led various Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with the United States, the European Union and other actors.

Mr Kim was awarded a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Oklahoma State University in the United States, and holds a Bachelor of Economics from Korea University.