Dr. Karl P. Sauvant, a German national, has a Ph.D. degree in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA. He is the Founder and former Executive Director of the Vale Columbia Center on International Investment, Columbia University and a Research Scholar at Columbia Law School. Dr. Sauvant joined the United Nations in 1973 focused his work on matters related to Foreign Direct Investment. Until July 2005, he was Director of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's Investment Division. Dr. Sauvant is a Special Advisor to the UN Millennium Project, Co-Director of the Millennium Cities Initiative, Chatham House Foundation Fellow, and a member of the International Advisory Council of the International Center for Corporate Accountability at Baruch College (City University of New York), USA.