Jan joined the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 2003 and
became Head of the organization’s Trade Logistics Branch in 2016. The Branch is implementing
multilateral transport and trade facilitation capacity building programmes, as well as regional and
national projects in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Jan is co-author and coordinator of the annual UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport, created
and co-edits the quarterly Transport and Trade Facilitation Newsletter, and initiated the Maritime
Country Profiles, the International Transport Costs Data Set, and the quarterly Liner Shipping
Connectivity Index.
Previously, Jan spent six years with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago de Chile, and two years with the International Maritime
Organization (IMO) in London and Santiago. Prior to this, he held part time positions as assistant
professor, import-export agent, seafarer, translator, and consultant. For eight years, he also
worked part time for the family tramp shipping business Hoffmann Shipping, based in Horneburg,
Germany, with a tweendecker registered in St. Johns, Antigua and Barbuda.
Jan has studied in Germany, United Kingdom, and Spain, and holds a doctorate degree in
Economics from the University of Hamburg. His work has resulted in numerous UN and peer
reviewed publications, lectures, technical missions, data bases, and electronic newsletters. Jan is
member of AJSL, FFSC, IJSTL, INCU, JST, MEL, MPM, and the Propeller Club of Geneva. From 2014
to 2018, he was president of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME).
Dr Hoffmann has been to 130 countries and had his hair cut in 80. He has three sons and one wife.