Born in Spain, Mr. Enrique Iglesias is a naturalized Uruguayan citizen. He graduated from Uruguay’s Universidad de la Republica in Economics and Business Administration in 1953, and studied in specialized programs in the United States and France. Mr. Iglesias is the first Ibero-American Secretary-General based in Madrid, Spain. He served as President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) from 1988 to 2005.
Prior to the IDB, Mr. Iglesias’ appointments included: Minister of Foreign Relations; Executive Secretary of the U.N. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); Secretary General of the U.N. Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy; chairman of international trade negotiations leading to the creation of the World Trade Organization; and President of Uruguay’s Central Bank from 1966 to 1968.
In addition to teaching economic development at Uruguay’s Universidad de la Repْblica and serving as director of its Institute of Economics, Mr. Iglesias has written numerous articles, papers and books on Latin American and Uruguayan economic issues, capital markets, external financing, and multilateralism. Mr. Iglesias has received several honorary academic degrees from American and European universities, as well as official decorations and professional awards, among them the Principe de Asturias award. In 2003, the U.N. Secretary General nominated Mr. Iglesias as a Member of the High-level Panel, which produced the report, “A Safer World: The Responsibility We Share,” addressing the challenges to world peace and security, and U.N. reform.