UNWTO General Assembly elects new Secretary General

15:54, 7 October 2009

ANA. October 7. KAZINFORM. At the 18th session of the UNWTO General Assembly under the chairmanship of Kazakh Minister of Tourism and Sport Temirkhan Dosmukhambetov the Assembly has officially elected Mr. Taleb Rifai as next Secretary General of the organization.

T. Rifai will proceed to his four-year mandate in January 2010. His candidature was recommended by the 85^th session of the UNWTO Executive Council in May 2009 in Mali.

Taleb Rifai is a citizen of Jordan. He was born in 1949. He has many high awards including the Order Al Kawkab of Jordan and the awards of Italy, France and other countries. Before the appointment he held the post of Deputy Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization.

Kazakh Minister of Tourism and Sport noted that "it is a great honor for Kazakhstan to host the Assembly and chair the elections of new Secretary General". According to him, Kazakhstan turned to be the first country on the Eurasian continent to receive such distinguished guests and leaders of the tourist industry from all over the world. "This event will be a powerful impulse for the development of tourism in our country", he added.

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