Mr. J.B.P. Maramis, a national of Indonesia, served as the fourth Executive Secretary of ECAFE on from 1973 to 1981.

Previously, he had served with the Government of Indonesia for 22 years in different capacities and, at the time of his appointment to ECAFE, was Indonesia's ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg and Head of the Indonesian Mission to the European Economic Community (EEC). As an Indonesian delegate, Mr. Maramis took part in the work of numerous United Nations groups concerned with development issues. In 1970, he became President of the Economic and Social Council (ESCAP's parent body) at a time when the International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade (1971-1980) was being drawn up. Mr. Maramis, who was born in Limbung, Indonesia, in 1922, graduated from the University of Leyden, Netherlands, in March 1951. He entered the service of his Government the same year in the Directorate of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and subsequently held a number of posts in the Indonesian Foreign Service. From 1960 to 1965, Mr. Maramis served as Counsellor in the Permanent Mission of Indonesia to the United Nations and, during that period, was chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Coordination and Technical Assistance in the United Nations, which recommended action that brought about the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

In 1969, Mr. Maramis was appointed as Deputy Representative of the Indonesian Mission to the United Nations, and served as the Indonesian representative on the Economic and Social Council. He was Vice-President of the Council in 1969 and President in 1970. In October 1969, he was the Chairman of the 'Group of 77' developing countries.