Mr. Shah A.M.S. Kibria, a national of Bangladesh, served as the fifth Executive Secretary of ESCAP from 1981 to 1991.

Before coming to ESCAP, Mr. Kibria had spent more than a quarter of a century as a diplomat. He joined the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1953 and subsequently held a number of posts in the Pakistan Foreign Service. Following the independence of Bangladesh, and starting as Director-General of the Political Affairs Department in the Bangladeshi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kibria became Secretary of the Ministry in charge of administration. In 1973, he was appointed Bangladesh High Commissioner to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, based in Canberra. In 1976, he became the Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, an assignment which lasted until 1978.

Mr. Kibria returned to Bangladesh in 1978 as Foreign Secretary, serving concurrently in 1979 as the elected Chairman of the Group of 77 Preparatory Committee for UNCTAD V, which was held in Manila. He remained as Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh until joining ESCAP.

Mr. Kibria was educated at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston, United States, and at the British Foreign Office in London, United Kingdom.