The International Chamber of Commerce has appointed Jacqueline Coté as its new Permanent Representative in Geneva.

Ms Coté is a senior counsel and business executive with significant global advocacy experience.

“Geneva is a unique centre of international co-operation and multilateral negotiation on important issues for business, including trade and investment, intellectual property, human rights, environment, climate change, international standards, and the information society,” said ICC Secretary General Guy Sebban. “Ms Coté will play a vital role in advancing ICC’s work with the intergovernmental organizations located there, including the World Trade Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the United Nations. ICC’s Geneva office will complement the work of ICC’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Louise Kantrow,” Mr Sebban added.

ICC has served as the voice of business at the UN since 1946 and also enjoys a close working relationship with other intergovernmental organizations.  

Ms Coté’s career has included senior legal and management positions within international law firms and multinational companies, including Phillips & Vineberg Solicitors, the SGS Group and DuPont de Nemours International in Geneva. Most recently, she served as Senior Advisor Advocacy & Partnerships to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a leading business organization in the field of sustainable development. She represented that organization at numerous UN and other intergovernmental and business forums and interacted on private sector issues with leading business, non-governmental and civil society organizations.

Ms Coté holds a civil law degree and a common law degree from McGill University in Montreal and has undertaken doctoral law studies at the University of Freiburg in Germany. She has Canadian, Swiss and British nationalities.

“Governments are seeking out the views of the private sector to find solutions to every major global issue,” said Ms Coté. “A strong commitment of the private sector to the activities of the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations is becoming more important every day.”

Jacqueline Coté may be contacted at:

International Chamber of Commerce

Carrefour de Rive 1

PO Box 3303

CH - 1211 Geneva 3

Tel + 41 22 737 4139

Click here to email Jacqueline Coté