At meetings in Vienna today, the IAEA Board of Governors has elected Japanese Ambassador Yukiya Amano as Chairman for the 2005-06 period. He succeeds the Governor of Canada, Ms. Ingrid Hall.
Ambassador Amano has held increasingly senior positions in the Japanese Foreign Ministry, notably as Director of the Science Division, Director of the Nuclear Energy Division and Deputy Director General for Arms Control and Scientific Affairs. He was appointed Director-General for Arms Control and Scientific Affairs in August 2002 and Director-General of the Disarmament, Non-proliferation and Science Department in August 2004. He took up his current assignment as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the International Organizations in Vienna and Japan´s Governor on the IAEA´s Board of Governors in September 2005.
At the IAEA General Conference last week, Member States elected new members to the Board. The IAEA Board of Governors for 2005-06 now includes the following 35 States: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Republic of, Libya, Norway, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Venezuela, and Yemen.