Albert Ramdin

Minister of Foreign Affairs | Suriname

Minister Ramdin is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation in the cabinet of Santokhi. In August 2020, he was the first Surinamese member of government in ten years to pay an official visit to the Netherlands. He has had a distinguished career in public service at the national and international level, serving before his election to the OAS as Ambassador at Large and Special Adviser to the Government of the Republic of Suriname on Western Hemispheric Affairs. In Suriname, he has served as Senior Adviser to the Minister of Trade and Industry. He has also served as Suriname’s non-resident ambassador to Costa Rica.

Albert became the Director of the HIMOS Development Agency in Oegstgeest, Netherlands. In 1997, he was appointed as the Permanent Representative of the Organization of American States (OAS) for Suriname. In 1999, he became assistant general for external relations at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). In 2001, he became adviser to the Secretary General of the OAS. On 7 June 2005, he was elected Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States. In July 2015, he returned to Suriname where he worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has also worked for the American gold mining company Newmont Corporation.

Albert received his education in Paramaribo and in The Netherlands, at the University of Amsterdam and the Free University, where he studied geography of developing countries with a specialization in social and economic problems of smaller economies in Latin America and the Caribbean.