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Brazilian named

UNCTAD chief

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has named Rubens Ricupero of Brazil as the new chief of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), a UN spokesman said on Saturday.

He said the Secretary-General asked the UN General Assembly to confirm Ricupero's appointment at a plenary meeting before its next session.

Ricupero, 58, was Brazil's ambassador to the UN in Geneva from 1987 to 1991, during which period he specialized in trade issues. He was then appointed ambassador to Washington.

He became Brazil's environment minister in 1993 before taking over the finance portfolio last year, winning plaudits abroad as a reliable technocrat.

UNCTAD, based in Geneva, is the primary forum for developed and developing nations to discuss such issues as commodities, trade, debt and economic development.-Xinhua