Ransford SMITH (Board Member, 2013-present)

Ransford Smith (CD), Jamaica, was a Jamaican senior public servant and was the Deputy Secretary-General (Economic) of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Mr. Smith was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth in August 2006 and finished his term in late 2012. A career diplomat of nearly 30 years standing in the Jamaican Public and Foreign Service, Mr Smith previously served as Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce and Technology, and also Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Industry and Investment. His diplomatic career has included postings at the Jamaican Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the Jamaican Mission to the United Nations in New York.

Mr. Smith was the first Jamaican to serve as a Commonwealth Deputy-Secretary General. He was the Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the Office of the United Nations and its specialised agencies in Geneva, Rome and Vienna. Mr Smith was also Ambassador of Jamaica to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and served as Ambassador to a number of European countries.

He has extensive experience of participation in multilateral economic and development bodies. He was Chairman of the WTO Committee on Trade and Development (2000–01), Chairman of the Commonwealth Group of Developing Countries in Geneva (2001–02), and President of the Trade and Development Board of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2005–06).

He has led Jamaican delegations to international conferences, including the Doha Ministerial Conference of the WTO. He was also Chief Negotiator and Spokesperson for the Group of 77 and China at the eleventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XI) in June 2004.