Succeeds Raymond Benjamin, Who Held The Position For Two Consecutive Terms

The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has appointed  Dr. Fang Liu of China as the new Secretary General of the Organization for a three-year term, beginning August 1st,  2015.

Dr. Liu succeeds Raymond Benjamin of France, who has held the position for two consecutive terms since 2009. She becomes the first woman ever to be appointed to the prestigious global position heading the United Nations specialized agency for civil aviation, and only the second ICAO Secretary General from an Asia Pacific State.
 
The Director of ICAO’s Bureau of Administration and Services since 2007, Dr. Liu has led many improvement initiatives in ICAO in recent years and served as the Chairperson of some of its most important internal committees. She has also represented ICAO at the High-Level Committee on Management under the UN Chief Executives Board for Coordination, and separately served as Chairperson of the Security Advisory Group and Vice-Chairperson of the Security Management Team for all UN Organizations in Canada.

Between 1987 and 2007, Dr. Liu held the posts of Legal Counsel, Deputy Director, Director and Deputy Director General in the Department of International Affairs and Cooperation of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). In these capacities she either led or was integrally involved in the areas of international affairs and cooperation at bilateral and multilateral levels including ICAO, aviation policy, international air transport regulation and development, and bilateral and multilateral air services negotiations for the Chinese government. She also served for four years as Chair of the Aviation Group for the region’s premier forum on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
 
Dr. Liu is fluent in Chinese and English and has a good command of French. She holds a PhD in international law from Wuhan University, and has an extensive educational background in the areas of both international and air and space law.

"NBAA welcomes Dr. Liu to her new position with ICAO," said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. "Her many years of experience in international aviation give her an informed perspective on the many complex issues facing the global aviation industry.

“Business aviation has always been global in nature,” continued Bolen. “However, with more NBAA Member Companies than ever operating outside the U.S., ICAO’s role as a global aviation policy body is increasingly important to our industry. NBAA, which works with ICAO through the International Business Aviation Council, looks forward to engaging Dr. Liu on the issues that impact business aviation worldwide."

(Top image provided by ICAO)

FMI: www.icao.int, www.nbaa.org