Carlos Macaya, President of the Automobile Club of Costa Rica has been elected Chairman of the FIA Foundation at its 2008 Annual General Meeting, held in Paris on 5th November. He takes over from Rosario Alessi President of Honour, Automobile Club d'Italia who has chaired the Foundation since it was established in 2001.
Carlos Macaya has been an active supporter of FIA Foundation activities while serving as a Trustee over the past seven years. He has been instrumental in building support for the Make Roads Safe campaign in Costa Rica, which followed on from his work in leading Por Amor, his country’s successful seatbelt campaign.
In a speech to FIA Foundation members assembled at the AGM, Rosario Alessi said that he had been “immensely proud” of the Foundation’s work during the past seven years. He thanked both the Foundation’s members and partners for making its programmes and initiatives a success.
FIA Foundation Director General David Ward thanked Rosario Alessi for his leadership and hard work during his time as Chairman. He also presented the AGM with an overview of the year’s activities. Among the highlights, he said that the year had been one of great achievement with key figures such as Nobel Prize Laureates President Oscar Arias and Archbishop Desmond Tutu giving their support to the Make Roads Safe campaign. The year had also seen progress with the Foundation’s Environment Programme, and in particular the launch of the Global Fuel Economy Initiative, he said.
David Ward also thanked the Foundation’s membership of motoring, road safety and motorsport organisations for their help particularly in collecting one million signatures for the Make Roads Safe campaign, which were presented to the UN Secretary General in New York earlier this year.
Along with the Chairman, two new Trustees were elected at the AGM. They are Jean Todt, the former Team Principal of Ferrari SpA and Boris Perko, the Director General of the Slovenian auto club AMZS. Following his retirement, Mr. Alessi has been appointed an Honorary Member of the FIA Foundation along with Sebastià Salvado President of the Reial Automóbil Club de Catalunya who has also retired from the Board of Trustees.
The Annual Meeting was briefed on the latest developments in the Make Roads Safe campaign, including the launch of a Call for a Decade of Action for Road Safety, as well as a detailed technical presentation on the motor sport safety research funded by the Foundation through the FIA Institute, and an update on the International Road Assessment Programme.
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