SANJEEV CHOWDHURY APPOINTED CONSUL GENERAL IN RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

FOREIGN Minister John Baird on Monday announced the appointment of Sanjeev Chowdhury as Consul General in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Chowdhury (B.Comm, Saint Mary’s University, 1990; MBA [International Management], Thunderbird, American Graduate School of International Management, 1991) joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1995 as an officer with the G-7 Summit. Between 1995 and 1997, he worked in the Parliamentary Relations Division, then in the Media Relations Division.
He then accepted an assignment as assistant trade commissioner in Mumbai. He returned to Ottawa in 2000 to become a financial analyst. From 2001 to 2002, he served as press secretary to the minister of foreign affairs. From 2002 to 2003, he was director of operations to the deputy prime minister and minister of finance at the Privy Council Office.
From 2003 to 2006, he served as consul general in Ho Chi Minh City. During this time, he had two short assignments as acting high commissioner to Sri Lanka and as acting consul general in Mumbai.
In 2006, he returned to Ottawa to become deputy chief of protocol. Between 2007 and 2008, he held two director positions related to Canada’s role in Afghanistan, and then became director of operations on the Afghanistan Task Force at the Privy Council Office. In 2009, he became director general of programs at the Summits Management Office.

• Pamela Steel, Muskoka Mosaic
• Feb 24, 2010 - 9:20 AM

Introducing Sanjeev Chowdhury

Muskoka Mosaic: Introducing Sanjeev Chowdhury. FAMILIAR FACE: There’s no doubt you’ll see the director general of the Summits Management Office Sanjeev Chowdhury around town over the next few months. Carli Whitwell

HUNTSVILLE — Sanjeev Chowdhury is the man responsible for organizing the G8 Summit here in Muskoka and he thinks it’s going to be a great success for the area.

“It’s going to be fantastic and will make the people of Muskoka proud. This is a beautiful, beautiful part of Canada. The world leaders will enjoy their time here,” he said.

Chowdhury is the director general of the Summits Management Office, part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.

During the summit he will serve as the senior federal, non-security Summits Management Office official.

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he enjoyed growing up in a small city.  “It was wonderful. I had a great time. My parents were both teachers and they were very focused on education and I was always under pressure to make sure I did well. When you’re the son of two elementary school teachers in a small place you don’t want to embarrass the family,” he said.

Chowdhury has found a connection with the people of Muskoka.

“I like the fact that I was born and brought up in a small city. I think that’s why I have such an affinity with the people of Muskoka. It reminds me of home … I really enjoy coming down here. I feel very much at home; people are so friendly. They recognize me and ask me about the summit,” he said.

Chowdhury went to Saint Mary’s University and graduated in 1989 with a bachelor of commerce, magna cum laude.

In 1991, he graduated with top honours with a masters of business from the American Graduate School of International Management.  A Rotary International Foundation Scholarship funded his studies in America.

In 1995, Chowdhury joined the Canadian Foreign Service. He served abroad in Mumbai, India as vice-consul and assistant trade commissioner from 1997 until 2000 and held a number of positions in Ottawa including press secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and director of operations to the deputy prime minister and minister of finance.

In 2003 he was named consul general of Canada to Ho Chi Minh City for a three-year term.  

“It was a great opportunity to become head of mission at a very young age. It happened very quickly for me … I consider it to be the three greatest years of my life,” he said.

During his time in Vietnam, Chowdhury was sent on a temporary assignment for three months as Canada’s acting high commissioner to Sri Lanka with concurrent accreditation to the Maldives.

In recognition of his work while consul general, he became the first foreign diplomat in Vietnam to be awarded three prestigious medals in one year by Vietnamese authorities.

He also raised thousands of dollars to support Agent Orange affected children. In recognition of his fundraising capability, a new physiotherapy wing in Ho Chi Minh City for children suffering from deformities as a result of Agent Orange was named the Sanjeev Chowdhury Physiotherapy Centre.

He received Canada’s 2006 Foreign Service Officer Award in peer recognition of his exceptional achievement representing and promoting Canada in Vietnam as consul general.

His hometown celebrated his success and Chowdhury was named an Outstanding Nova Scotian and was appointed to the National Honourary Board of Directors of Theatre Halifax.

Chowdhury did not completely leave Vietnam behind when he returned to Canada.

He is the guardian of two Vietnamese students studying here. The older student attends Carleton and is the son of Chowdhury’s best friend in Vietnam.

“His father came to Muskoka for a night and he did the mayor’s walk – it was great to have a guest from Vietnam in Huntsville,” he said. Upon completion of his term as Canada’s consul general in Vietnam, he was appointed deputy chief of protocol and director of diplomatic corps services at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, a post he held for seven months before being transferred to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade’s Afghanistan Task Force where he served as director of bilateral relations and inter-departmental co-ordination.

In October 2007, the prime minister appointed Chowdhury director of operations of the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan.

When the panel’s report was delivered to the prime minister, Chowdhury was appointed director of operations to the newly formed Privy Council Office Afghanistan Task Force.

In May of 2009, after completing his assignment with the Afghanistan Task Force he became the director general of the Summits Management Office.

When Chowdhury is finished with his work here, he will move wherever his busy career takes him.“I go where the wind blows.

I like to move on and take up a new challenge – I look at things as chapters in my life,” he said.

Wherever his next post, he plans to spend some time back in Nova Scotia.

  “I’ll be going back to Nova Scotia; being in Muskoka reminds me of my home and makes me want to go there.”