Former diplomat and prominent Telugu in the United States, Vinai Thummalapally, has been appointed as the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).
The appointment was made by U.S. President Joe Biden. Mr. Thumalapally was the first Indian-American to serve as a U.S. Ambassador when he was appointed as the Ambassador to Belize. He also served as the Executive Director of SelectUSA, a U.S. Department of Commerce initiative that facilitates job-creating business investment into the country, from 2013 to 2017.