Mr Nicholas Coppel

Special Coordinator of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands

Biography

Mr Coppel, a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), was most recently Assistant Secretary, Pacific Regional and New Zealand Branch and Australia's lead negotiator for the Pacific regional trade and economic integration agreement, known as PACER Plus.

Between 2006 and 2008 Mr Coppel was seconded to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet where he ran the branch responsible for the Pacific, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the United Nations. Mr Coppel was Executive Director of DFAT's Economic Analytical Unit from 2004-2006.

Overseas, Mr Coppel has served as Deputy High Commissioner in Port Moresby and Deputy Head of Mission in Manila, with an earlier posting in Washington DC.

Mr Coppel holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from the Australian National University and a Master of Business Administration degree from London Business School.