GUYANA has achieved another honour at the level of the United Nations with the appointment of Mr. George Wilfred Talbot as head of the Economic and Financial (ECOFIN) Committee for the 67th Session of the General Assembly. His appointment was announced by Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Roger Luncheon at his post-Cabinet news briefing Thursday.

ECOFIN is a committee within the United Nations dealing with issues relating to global finances and economics. It is one of the six Standing Committees of the General Assembly.

Mr. Talbot headed the list of six key diplomatic appointments made by the Government of Guyana in January last when he was appointed as this country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

Ambassador Talbot, who began his career in Guyana’s Foreign Service in 1993, previously served from October 1991 to June 1992 as Assistant Lecturer of Spanish at the University of Guyana.

He previously served in the Department of International Economic Cooperation, and had also worked in the private sector from 1981 to 1986.

Ambassador Talbot has had varied experience in multilateral diplomacy, working on economic, social and political issues, and was once Guyana’s Charge d’ Affaires at the United Nations.

He has been a member of this country’s delegation to several Sessions of the General Assembly and ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council –United Nations), including during Guyana’s chairmanship of the Group of 77 in 1999; and was also Head of Delegation in New York during Guyana’s chairmanship of the Rio Group in 2006 and the UNASUR in 2011.

Mr Talbot has also held several posts on inter-governmental bodies within the United Nations system, including Vice-President, High-Level Committee on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries; Vice-Chairman, United Nations Forum on Forests; Vice-Chairman, Commission on Sustainable Development; and Vice-President of the UNDP/UNFPA (United Nations Development Programme/World Population Fund) Executive Board, according to a bio-data on the new Ambassador to the UN.

Also, from June 2001 to August 2002, he was Adviser to the United Nations Coordinating Secretariat on Financing for Development.

He is the holder of an M.A. in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University; and a B.A. in Modern Languages (Spanish/French) from the University of Guyana.

His appointment to head the United Nations ECOFIN should be a source of pride for all Guyanese, Dr. Luncheon said Thursday.