November 29, 2007

Minister Egon Kochanke
Minister of Economic
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
Washington, D.C.

Topic:  The German G8 Presidency

Minister Egon Kochanke was born in Brühl/Cologne, Germany in 1952.  He studied History, Political Sciences, Sociology and Law at the Universities of Bonn and Freiburg from 1972-1978. Mr. Kochanke was in the Civilian Service with NGO “EIRENE-INTERNATIONAL PEACE SERVICE” in Neuwied, Germany until he joined the Federal Foreign Office in 1980.  From 1982-1985, Mr. Konchanke was the Second Secretary at the German Embassy in Ottawa, Canada.  His service continued as First Secretary and Dept. Head of Mission at the German Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia from 1985 to 1989.  Returning to the Federal Foreign Office in Bonn in 1989, Mr. Konchanke was Parliamentary and Cabinet Bureau Counsellor until 1992, when he became the Political Counsellor at the German Embassy in London, UK through 1996.  For the next three years, he was the Private Secretary to the State Secretary at the Federal Foreign Office in Bonn.  In 1999, as Minister Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission, Mr. Konchanke served at the German Embassy in Tel Aviv.  At the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin in 2002, he became the Head of the Export Control Division II.  Since August 2005, Minister Konchanke has been the Head of the Economic Department at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington, D.C.