Quarterly Bulletin
Summer 2013
Anniversary Annual Meeting Looks to Future Without Extreme Poverty
On May 15, 2013, more than 180 members and friends joined the Bretton Woods Committee for its 30th Anniversary Annual Meeting - Innovation & Collaboration: Can the IFIs, Business, Government and Society End Poverty in a Generation? - at International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, DC.
Participants heard from Jim Yong Kim of the World Bank Group; Christine Lagarde of the IMF; Robert Menendez, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Alexander Cummings of The Coca-Cola Company; Ray Offenheiser of Oxfam America; and other top speakers. The Committee would like to thank the National Bank of Kuwait for its generous support of this event, as well as Deloitte.
BWC Marks 30th Anniversary, Celebrates Henry Owen
In 2013, the Committee celebrates thirty years of advancing global economic cooperation. During the 2013 Annual Meeting, Bill Frenzel, Committee Co-Chair, and Richard Debs, Chair of the Committee’s International Council, reflected on the quiet and public ways in which the Committee has been a friend and constructive critic to the IFIs, helping to influence the IFI reform debate over the years. They celebrated the Committee’s founding principles and mission – “as relevant today as they were thirty years ago” – and acknowledged that its contributions are a direct reflection of the strength of its membership. The Committee also recognized future leaders in international trade, finance, and development by awarding the inaugural Henry Owen Awards to Jonathan Waldroup of American University and Christian Gonzales of Johns Hopkins University SAIS.
Committee Hosts Successful Briefing for Senate Staff
On June 14, 49 Senate staffers, Committee members, and friends joined the Committee for an introduction to the international financial institutions on Capitol Hill. This event followed a highly successful event for House staffers in March 2013.
Led by Committee Co-Chair and former U.S. Representative Bill Frenzel (R-MN) and Committee Member Bill Frymoyer, the seminar involved discussions of the World Bank Group, Multilateral Development Banks, and IMF. Committee member Whitney Debevoise joined Julie Katzman of the Inter-American Development Bank, Craig Albright of the World Bank, and Rhoda Weeks-Brown of the IMF to explain the distinctive role of each institution and the importance of U.S. involvement in their work.
Appointment: Roberto Azevedo Selected as New WTO Director General
On September 1, Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo will become the new Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), replacing Pascal Lamy. Ambassador Azevêdo has been the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the WTO and other international economic organizations in Geneva since 2008.
From 2006 to 2008, he served as Brazilian Vice-Minister of Foreign Relations for Economic and Technological Affairs. In that capacity, he was Brazil’s chief-negotiator for the Doha Round and supervised MERCOSUR’s trade negotiations with those outside Latin America. Previously, he was Director of the Brazilian Department of Economic Affairs (2005-6) and Head of the Dispute Settlement Unit (2001-05). Ambassador Azevêdo was Brazil’s chief-litigator in many disputes at the WTO and chaired various WTO dispute-settlement panels. He served at the Embassies of Brazil in Washington (1988-91) and Montevideo (1992-94), as well as at the Permanent Mission of Brazil in Geneva (1997-2001). In Brasilia, he was also Deputy Chief of Staff for Economic Affairs to the Foreign Minister (1995-96).
Ambassador Azevêdo was selected from a field of nine candidates after a six month process. He is the WTO's first Latin American director general and will serve a four year term.
Upcoming Event: 2013 International Council Meeting
Join the Committee for its annual International Council Meeting, to be held in the afternoon of October 11, 2013 at the Willard Hotel in Washington DC.
As we continue to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Bretton Woods Committee, the International Council Meeting will explore whether the incentives underpinning monetary and fiscal conditions and global regulatory reforms are being sufficiently aligned to ensure robust and financially stable global growth.
The Bretton Woods Committee
1726 M Street, NW, Suite 200, Washington DC 20036
P: 202-331-1616 F: 202-785-9423 www.brettonwoods.org
