Jean-Paul Tarud Kuborn

Jean-Paul Tarud Kuborn (Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 1976) is a former Chilean diplomat, the first resident ambassador of Chile to the United Arab Emirates.[1]

Jean-Paul Tarud Kuborn
1st Ambassador of Chile to the United Arab Emirates
Ambassador of Chile
In office
2009 – May 2018
PresidentMichelle Bachelet (2009–2010)
Sebastián Piñera (2010–2014)
Michelle Bachelet (2014–2018)
Preceded byPost Creation
Succeeded byJorge Daccarett Bahna
Personal details
Born1976 (age 47–48)

Biography

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Born in Dubai, where his father, Jorge Tarud, was working in an architecture and interior design firm with his wife, Dominique Kuborn, during the Military Dictatorship in Chile. Tarud Kuborn is the eldest of two brothers. He lived in Dubai until he was 8 years old, then in Chile until the age of 15 and studied at the French School. He would then return to the GCC, Saudi Arabia in particular, when Jorge Tarud was appointed as the Ambassador of Chile in that country in 1990.[2]

In 2006 he was appointed as the Commercial Attaché and opened the offices of ProChile in the city of Dubai, where Chilean exports were on the rise. Michelle Bachelet appointed him as the Ambassador of Chile to the United Arab Emirates in 2009, the same year that the Embassy was inaugurated.[3][4] Tarud has accumulated over 26 years in the Arabian Peninsula, making him the most experienced Chilean Diplomat in the Middle East.[5]

Tarud organized the official visit to Chile of the UAE Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and participated in the elaboration of the bilateral agreements on investments and air transport, which were signed during the visit.[6] He also coordinated the visits of the UAE Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan as well as the signature the political consultations agreement and the visa waiver agreement for Diplomatic and Official Passports (2013) and ordinary passport (2017), which have benefited Chile from a commercial and economic point of view.[7][8]

Tarud holds an MBA with a Marketing specialization from the ESCP Business School in Paris, and a Postgraduate degree in International Relations and a Bachelor in Business Management from the University of Canberra, Australia.[9] He also did part of his studies at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Valparaíso and finished his secondary studies at the Santiago French School. He speaks six languages.[10] Before being a diplomat, he worked in the private sector in the UAE from 2001 to 2006, and managed companies in Australia, France and the United States, in the fields of financial services, commerce and international relations during the 1990s.[5]

in 2018, the UAE President, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan conferred to Tarud the Zayed Order of Independence (First Class), the highest UAE medal given to a foreign national, in recognition of the crucial role he played in the relations between both countries.[11]

Controversies

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The Diplomatic Association of Chile, through the then head Enrique Melkonian, declared in 2009 that "public opinion would perceive this appointment (as ambassador) as an act of nepotism", in reference to the fact that his father was an elected Member of Parliament at the time.[12] However Ambassador Melkonian retracted himself publicly one year later, during an association assembly, in view of the positive performance of the young diplomat.

In 2013, Tarud was falsely accused of being involved in a supposed initiative of the Chilean government to sell water from Patagonia to Qatar, which was officially denied by the Chilean Foreign Ministry and by Tarud.[13][14]

References

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  1. ^ "Emiratos Arabes Unidos concede beneplácito a Embajador Jean Paul Tarud". www.minrel.gob.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  2. ^ "La historia del hijo embajador de Tarud". Las Últimas Noticias (in European Spanish). 14 May 2013. p. 14. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Biografía de Jean Paul Tarud". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  4. ^ "Emiratos Arabes Unidos anunció próxima apertura de embajada en Chile". Cooperativa.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  5. ^ a b Chile, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de. "Embajador – Chile en el Exterior". Chile en el Exterior (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  6. ^ "Chile y Emiratos Árabes Unidos suscriben convenio para evitar doble tributación". www.minrel.gob.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  7. ^ "Chilean President receives Abdullah bin Zayed". UAE Interact (in Spanish). 15 October 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  8. ^ Chile, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de. "Embajada de Chile en Emiratos Árabes Unidos – Chile en el Exterior". Chile en el Exterior (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Chile – Emiratos Arabes Unidos concede beneplácito a Embajador Jean Paul Tarud". minrel.gob.cl. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  10. ^ Mostrador, El (12 March 2009). "El inusual ascenso del hijo de Tarud en la Cancillería". El Mostrador (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  11. ^ WAM (23 May 2018). ""UAE President confers Independence Order on Chilean ambassador"". Total UAE. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
  12. ^ Donoso, Pamela (13 March 2009). ""La opinión pública percibirá el nombramiento de Jean Paul Tarud como nepotismo"". El Mostrador (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  13. ^ "El embajador Jean Paul Tarud desmintió que Chile vaya a vender agua a Qatar". The Clinic (in Spanish). 13 May 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Cancillería desmiente que el gobierno tenga un proyecto para vender agua a Qatar". Emol (in Spanish). 13 May 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2017.