​On September 24, 2003, the Administrative Council of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) unanimously elected Roberto Dañino as ICSID's new Secretary-General. Mr. Dañino, a Peruvian national, has been appointed Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the World Bank and will be taking up his Bank and ICSID duties at the end of October 2003.

Mr. Dañino is currently Peru's Ambassador to the United States. Between 2001 and 2002, Mr. Dañino served as Prime Minister of Peru. During his tenure, he was responsible for the negotiation of a National Agreement ("Acuerdo Nacional"), which brought politicians, representatives of civil society and the government together to agree on a set of long-term policies to guide the development of the country. He also launched a program on modernization of the public sector and established a national competitiveness program aimed at increasing non-traditional exports from Peru. Mr. Dañino's prior public service also includes serving as Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Trade; President of the Foreign Investment and Technology Agency; and Chairman of the Foreign Public Debt Commission of Peru.

Before joining the Peruvian government, Mr. Dañino served as a corporate lawyer for more than 25 years, both in the United States and in Peru. In the U.S., he was a partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, where he was in charge of the Latin American Practice Group. In Peru, he was a partner at Barrios, Fuentes & Urquiaga, Abogados. His practice focused on providing legal advice for international corporate transactions, specializing in foreign direct investment, project finance, and capital market transactions. His clients included private, public and multilateral entities.

Mr. Dañino was the founding General Counsel of the Inter-American Investment Corporation in Washington, D.C. He also served as Chairman of the Inter-American Development Bank's External Review Group for private sector activities. In addition, Mr. Dañino has been a member of various corporate boards in the United States and Latin America.

Mr. Dañino holds law degrees from Harvard Law School and the Catholic University of Peru. He is an alumnus of the Georgetown University International Leadership Program, and has lectured and published extensively on international economic law matters.

ICSID is the World Bank Group organization that provides facilities for the conciliation and arbitration of disputes between governments and foreign investors. ICSID also conducts research and publishing activities in the area of arbitration law and foreign investment law.