As Mekong Institute\'s Executive Director beginning on September 1, 2020, Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn steers the strategic planning and implementation of the intergovernmental organization\'s human resource development, capacity strengthening, and research efforts to spur the acceleration of sustainable socioeconomic development and poverty alleviation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS).
Mr. Suriyan holds over 15 years of experience in delivering innovative approaches and sustainable practices across his specialized areas of agriculture and rural development, public-private partnership, and trade facilitation in the GMS and Southeast Asia.
Before taking the helm at MI, Mr. Suriyan was the Deputy Cluster Coordinator for Food and Agriculture of the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Thailand and Spokesperson of the Agriculture Working Group under the GIZ Sector Network for Natural Resources and Rural Development in Asia and the Pacific.
In addition, Mr. Suriyan carries an extensive international development network, having assumed key positions at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat in Indonesia, and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center.