Career
He was the Deputy Secretary-General for Economic Affairs and Development of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2006 to 2013. A career diplomat of nearly 30 years standing in the Jamaican Public and Foreign Service, Mr Smith previously served as Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce and Technology, and also Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Industry and Investment. His diplomatic career has included postings at the Jamaican Embassy in Washington, District of Columbia, and the Jamaican Mission to the United Nations in New New York
Smith is the first Jamaican to serve as a Commonwealth Deputy-Secretary General.
He was the Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the Office of the United Nations and its specialised agencies in Geneva, Rome and Vienna. Mr Smith was also Ambassador of Jamaica to the World Trade Organisation (World Trade Organization), and served as Ambassador to a number of European countries.
He has extensive experience of participation in multilateral economic and development bodies. He was Chairman of the World Trade Organization Committee on Trade and Development (2000-2001), Chairman of the Commonwealth Group of Developing Countries in Geneva (2001-2002), and President of the Trade and Development Board of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) (2005-2006).
He has led Jamaican delegations to international conferences, including the Doha Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization. He was also Chief Negotiator and Spokesperson for the Group of 77 and China at United Nations Conference on Trade and Development XI in June 2004.
Smith has an Master of Arts in International Relations and an Master of Business Administration in Financial Management. Biography on the Commonwealth Secretariat"s official website
The Commonwealth Secretariat have given permission for this biography to be used on wikipedia. Statement by Mr Smith at The High Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals.
United Nations, New York, 22 September 2010.
Statement of the President of the Trade and Development Board, Higher Education Ambassador Ransford Smith (Jamaica),to the Special High-Level Meeting with the Bretton Woods Institutions, World Trade Organization and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.