Search Results - Seade, Jesús

Jesús Seade

Jesús Seade Kuri (born December 24, 1946, in Mexico City) is a Mexican economist, diplomat, and politician known for his involvement in trade negotiations and the management of financial crises. Since December 1, 2018, he has served as Undersecretary for North America in Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE). On June 8, 2020, Dr. Seade was officially nominated by the Mexican government as a candidate for Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In March 2018 he was invited by then-presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador to serve as his representative in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was being handled at the time by the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto. As a member of President-elect López Obrador’s transition team, Seade played a major role in helping to unlock negotiations and successfully negotiating a new trade agreement—one that was considered fair and beneficial for Mexico, which aimed to strengthen collaboration among the countries involved within a framework of mutual respect.

A dual citizen of Mexico and Lebanon, Ambassador Seade has lived for extended periods in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United States, Hong Kong SAR, the People’s Republic of China, and his native Mexico, as well as spending a year between France and Brazil. He has worked closely with officials and authorities from more than 70 countries across Africa, Latin America, Asia (including China), Europe, the Middle East, and North America.

A significant part of his career has been spent in high-level roles within the three major international economic organizations. At the World Bank (WB), he led economic work on Brazil. At the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he managed major debt relief for 15 African countries and led efforts during financial crises in Turkey, Brazil, and Argentina. At the World Trade Organization (WTO), he was a key negotiator in its creation, helped build consensus to complete the agreement that established it, and later served as Deputy Director-General. Although nominated in 2020 for the role of WTO Director-General, his candidacy did not advance to the second round. Provided by Wikipedia