Ambassador Cooreman joined the Belgian Foreign Ministry in 1997 and has been a career diplomat for the past 27 years. Since August 2021, he has been Director-General for Bilateral Affairs (position at Vice-Ministerial level).

 

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Cooreman was Director for Economic Interests at the Foreign Ministry’s headquarters in Brussels and, prior to that, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations in New York.

 

Throughout his diplomatic career, Mr. Cooreman had the following diplomatic assignments: Economic Attaché at the Belgian Embassy in Kinshasa, Second Secretary at the Belgian Embassy in Tokyo, Advisor for Asian and African affairs at the cabinet of the Foreign Minister, Head of the Belgian Representation to Afghanistan, Political Counselor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Belgian Embassy in Bangkok, Political Counselor at the Belgian Embassy in Washington, DC, Diplomatic Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister, Ambassador to Colombia and Venezuela (with residence in Bogota), Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations in New York and (in 2019 and 2020) to the UN Security Council; Director for Economic Interests and Director-General for Bilateral Affairs.

 

Before joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Cooreman worked as a brand manager for Vandemoortele, a Belgian fast- moving consumer goods company. In 1996, he also worked briefly for the UN Secretariat in New York on management reform issues.

 

Mr. Cooreman holds a degree in Economics from the University of Ghent (Belgium) and a Master in Marketing Management from Vlerick Business School (Ghent, Belgium), as well as a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University, Medford, MA). He is fluent in Dutch (mother tongue), French, English and Spanish and also speaks some German.