Mr. Matthias has headed a consulting group in Geneva since 2005. He has specialized in economic and trade integration and institutional capacity development focusing on low-income developing countries. Has also lectured at several universities and published in academic journals. From 2002 to 2005, he negotiated as ambassador at the World Trade Organization for the Swiss Government and directed a government think tank on the coherence of trade and development policies. He served as Executive Director on the Board of the World Bank from 1997 to 2002. Before that he was operational head of economic development cooperation at the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), chief of an operational division at the Inter-American Development Bank, and unit manager at SECO. He started his career as young professional and economist at the regional mission of the World Bank at Abidjan. He is a lawyer and economist by training.