NEW ARRIVALS | DI GNI TAR I E S
Andrew Needs High Commissioner for New Zealand
imports and exports, and legislation across the Caribbean and South America. As ambassador to Canada, he is especially interested in increasing tourism for both countries, and promoting direct flights between Panama City and major destinations in Canada. At just 38, Mr. Escobar is a young ambassador. He is married to Pily Castro Caceres with whom he has a two-year-old son, Carlo Emilio. Manuel Shaerer Kanonnikoff Ambassador of Paraguay
Mr. Needs knows his new position well — he was deputy high commissioner in Canada from 2004 to 2008. But his most recent assignment was as foreign policy advisor to the minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand. Previous overseas assignments have included Canberra (1998-2002) and the Cook Islands (1991-1993). He also served at the Pacific Forum Secretariat in Fiji and was seconded to Australia’s foreign and trade ministry in Canberra in 1990. Mr. Needs has a bachelor of arts and a master’s degree. In 2007, he completed an executive course at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business in Ottawa. He was born in England, and arrived in New Zealand as a six-year-old. He lives with his partner, Bronwyn, and two school-age sons. Francisco Carlo Escobar Ambassador of Panama
Mr. Kannonikoff is a lawyer by profession. He graduated in law from the National University of Asuncion and then did a master’s in international law at the Instituto de Estudios Superiores Monterrey in Mexico. He has served as a legal advisor and headed up the European Union and MERCOSUR sections of the customs department from 2005 to 2007. He was an associate lawyer with a firm for 18 months before becoming a member of the common market group of MERCOSUR (in the executive branch for commercial policies). Most recently, he was a member of the commission for the MERCOSUR customs code and director of the department of international relations and negotiations in the customs department. Mr. Kanonnikoff is married and speaks Spanish, English and Portuguese. Zenon Kosiniak-Kamysz Ambassador of Poland
Mr. Escobar finished a master’s in business administration from the University of Central Florida in Orlando in 1998 after completing a bachelor of science in finance from Louisiana State University in 1995. Before entering the diplomatic corps, he was general manager for a multinational logistics company headquartered in Miami. There, he learned about international diplomat and international canada
Mr. Kosiniak-Kamysz graduated from the department of organisation and management at the Technical University in Dresden and, from 1984 to 1986, he was a deputy contract chief at Krakbud, an industrial building company in Leipzig. For the next three years, he was a vicedirector in the Krakow office of the Polish Chamber of Foreign Trade. He joined the diplomatic service in 1990 and became first secretary in Budapest. He returned to the
ministry until 1996 when he went to work as a commercial counsellor at the embassy in Berlin. From 2001 to 2003, he was an undersecretary of state in the ministry of internal affairs and administration and for the following four years, he was ambassador to Slovakia. He had an 18-month stint as minister-counsellor in Berlin before being appointed undersecretary of state for armaments and modernisation in the ministry of national defence. Mr. Kosiniak-Kamysz speaks German, English, Slovak and Russian. Chitranganee Wagiswara High Commissioner for Sri Lanka
Ms. Wagiswara joined the foreign service in 1981 after having completed a bachelor of commerce at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura and a diploma in international relations at the Graduate Institute for International Studies in Geneva. Her first posting was to Italy as third, then second, secretary in 1984. She returned to headquarters before coming to Canada as first secretary in 1991. Her next posting came in 1996 as deputy high commissioner in London, after which she became high commissioner in Singapore for three years. In 2005, she took a threeyear posting in Paris before returning to headquarters as senior director general in political affairs. She was appointed to Canada in December. Ms. Wagiswara is married. 61