Regional launch of RED 2021

Sergio Díaz-Granados

Executive President, CAF -Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean-

Sergio Díaz-Granados has extensive experience in public and private service, both nationally and internationally, with special emphasis on regional development and integration issues. Before assuming the presidency of CAF, he served as Executive Director for Colombia at the Inter-American Development Bank. He previously held the positions of Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, Vice Minister of Business Development and President of the Boards of Directors of Bancóldex and ProColombia. He also has been a congressman and chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Colombia’s House of Representatives.

Erika Mouynes

Chancellor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama

She has a BA in Law and Political Science from the Santa María la Antigua University and a degree in Business Administration from the Latin American University of Science and Technology, both magna cum laude. She obtained a Master's Degree in Corporate Law from New York University, a second Master's Degree in International Law from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Postgraduate Degree in Business and Finance from New York University, as a Fulbright Scholar. In Panama she has served as Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs and Cooperation of the Foreign Ministry, Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries and in several law firms in the corporate and litigation area. In New York, she has worked as Chief Legal Officer of the Investment Fund and Senior Attorney in Project Finance at Shearman & Sterling, LLP. She has been honored with numerous international awards, including the Association of Corporate Counsel's Best Global General Counsel Award in 2015 and she is a member of various global outreach boards such as Kangu (Maternal Health in Africa).

Ernesto Schargrodsky

Director of Socioeconomic Research, CAF

He received a Phd degree in Economics from Harvard University and a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires. He has a master's degree in economics from Harvard University and graduate studies from the Institute for Economic and Social Development (IDES). He was president of the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella and, previously, dean of the Business School. He was also a visiting professor and researcher at Stanford and Harvard. He is a full member of the National Academy of Economic Sciences of Argentina, a fellow of the Econometric Society, a researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and a researcher at J-PAL-Latin America (Jameel Poverty Action Lab). His works have been published in the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic Journal, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Public Economics, and Journal of Development Economics, among others. His areas of specialization are Economic Development, Crime Economics and Applied Microeconomics.

Lian Allub

Principal Economist, Directorate of Socioeconomic Research, CAF -Development Bank of Latin America-

He has a Ph.D. in Economics from the Carlos III University of Madrid and a Master's Degree in Economics from the same university. He also has a BA in Economics from the National University of Córdoba (Argentina). His research interests focus on the macroeconomic aspects of economic development and international trade in emerging economies.

Irene Brambilla

Professor of Economics, National University of La Plata

She has a Ph.D. from Princeton University. She is currently a Professor of Economics at the National University of La Plata (UNLP) and a Researcher at CONICET. Previously, she held positions as an assistant professor at Yale University and a research faculty member at NBER. Her research interests include international trade and applied microeconomics. She has taught courses on International Trade, Empirical Methods in Industrial Organization, Applied Econometrics, and Intermediate Microeconomics.

Lorenzo Caliendo

Professor of Economics, Yale University

He has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago, a BA in Economics from UCUDAL Uruguay, and a Master's in Economics from the University of Auckland and the University of Chicago. He is currently professor in Economics at Yale University, Director of the Foreign Trade program of the Cowles Foundation, Faculty Research Fellow of the (NBER), Research Director of the Foreign Trade program of RIDGE, president of the Uruguayan Society of Economists and is Editor Associate of the Journal of International Economics, Journal of the European Economics Association and Econometrica. He was a Research Fellow at the IES Institute at Princeton University. In Uruguay he received the Raúl Tajtenberg National Prize for Economics, ACADECO and the Morosoli Prize for young people in Economics. His research focuses on understanding and quantifying the economic effects of trade and migration policies, understanding how external competition impacts the organizational structure and salary structure of companies, and how sectoral and regional interrelations matter for the aggregate and disaggregated effects of economic activity. He has published in economics journals, including Econometrica, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Political Economy, and the Review of Economic Studies among others.

Pablo Sanguinetti

Vice President of Knowledge, CAF –Development Bank of Latin America-

He has a Ph.D. and a Master's in Economics from the University of California, and a Master's in Economics from Instituto Torcuato Di Tella. Currently, he works as a professor of Economics at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. His research interests are in the areas of foreign trade and integration, economic development, and fiscal federalism. Previously, he was a researcher and visiting professor at the University of New Mexico, the University of Texas (A&M), and the University of Bonn. He has been a member of LARR (Latin America Research Review) and has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and CAF-development bank of Latin America. He has also been member of the board of the National Commission of Foreign Trade of Argentina.

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Víctor Bisonó

Minister, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Mipymes of the Dominican Republic

He has been elected four times as Deputy by the National District and during those periods, he held the Presidency of the Commission of Economy, Planning and Development, also integrating those of Industry and Commerce together with the Treasury. He was twice a member of the National Council of the Magistracy and prior to this, he was Chief of Staff in the Ministry of Public Works, the Dominican Electricity Corporation and the Foreign Investment Promotion Council (CPI). Since 2007, he has presided the Center for Analysis for Public Policies (CAPP), a think tank focused on proposing reforms for the economy, defense and politics. At the international level he also chairs the Network of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) that brings together legislators from around the world committed to the values ​​of democracy, freedom and the rule of law. He is the author of four books, entitled “The Bases of the Nation”, “Vision of the Nation”, “Reflections for a Transformation in the Dominican Republic” and “My Writings”. He has received recognition from the Dominican Republic Industry Association (AIRD) and the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAMDR) among others.

Andrés Cárdenas

Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, Colombia

He is a lawyer from the Externado de Colombia University and has studies in International Business Law from the Complutense University. He also has a Master's degree in International Arbitration from Queen Mary, University of London and is candidate for the Executive MBA of the Kellogg Business Schools from North Western University and Guanghua from Peking University. He is the founder of the firm 1493 Abogados, specialized in business internationalization and startup financing. For 11 years he directed the research in International Contracting and Resolution of International Investment Disputes (CYRCI) at the Externado University of Colombia . He is a tenured professor at said institution and has published academic articles in national and foreign editorials on regional trade agreements, foreign investment, and investment arbitration. Since 2016 he has participated in the construction of Aldea and CEmprende, iNNpulsa entrepreneurship programs.

Carmen Gisela Vergara

Executive Director, PROPANAMÁ

She has more than 25 years of local and international experience in Commercial Law, Foreign Investment, Foreign Trade, Business Development, Trade Negotiations, Gender and Trade Integration and Facilitation, working for governments and the private sector. She has a degree in Law and Political Science from the University of Panama, she has a Master's degree in Banking and Financial Law from the Externado University of Colombia and a postgraduate degree in Business Negotiations from the University of Santiago de Chile. She has served as Executive Director of FECAICA, General Secretary of SIECA, Director before the Board of Directors of CABEI, Minister of Commerce and Industries and Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, National Director of Investment and Export Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. In the private sector, she has served as a consultant, business lawyer, and teacher. She has been responsible for the coordination of high-performance work teams and the development and implementation of several national and regional strategies, among which the Central American Strategy for Trade Facilitation and Competitiveness, the Aid for Trade Strategy (Aid for Trade), the Regional Framework Policy for Mobility and Logistics, the Regional Program of Economic Autonomy for Women and the Financial Product in terms of Gender for Central America. At the national level, she has developed and implemented several Promotion Strategies, including the Integrated Program for Commercial Promotion and Opening of Export Markets and the Investment Strategy. Under her leadership, Central America managed to implement the first customs union in the American continent between Honduras and Guatemala.

Raúl Cano Ricciardi

Vice Minister of Economic Relations and Integration of Paraguay

He is an economist from the Universidad Católica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción with a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Ottawa with a specialization in International Finance.
Previously, Ambassador Cano Ricciardi served as General Director of Economic Policy, Director of Trade Negotiations and Director of Economic Integration. He has been Head of Chancery of the Embassy of Paraguay to the Government of Uruguay and has been in the Permanent Representation of Paraguay before ALADI and MERCOSUR. He also held the positions of Vice Minister of Commerce and Vice Minister of Industry. He is a professor at the “Carlos Antonio López” Diplomatic and Consular Academy of the Republic of Paraguay.

Gustavo Béliz

Secretary of Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of the Argentine Nation

He is a lawyer from the UBA with postgraduate research at the London School of Economics. He currently serves as Secretary for Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of the Nation and President of the Economic and Social Council. He previously worked for 14 years at the Inter-American Development Bank and before that he worked as Secretary of Public Function, Minister of Justice, Security and Human Rights, and Legislator for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Pope Francis appointed him as Member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He is the author and editor of 17 books on state development issues. He is 59 years old and has 4 children.

Francisco Bustillo Bonasso

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Uruguay

He graduated from the University of the Republic in Uruguay, where he obtained a degree in International Relations. Later he specialized in Diplomatic Academy at the Artigas Institute of Foreign Service (IASE).

During the last 10 years he has held the following positions: Ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011), Ambassador of Uruguay in the Kingdom of Spain (2012 - 2020), Ambassador of Uruguay in the Principality of Andorra (2013 - 2020), Ambassador of Uruguay in the Kingdom of Morocco (2016 - 2020), Permanent Representative to the International Olive Council (2019 - 2020).

Jorge Hernando Pedraza

Secretary General, Andean Community

He is a Lawyer from the Externado University of Colombia, with a postgraduate degree in Management of Territorial Entities from the UEC and with studies in Diplomacy and International Relations from the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University of Bogotá, he has a diploma in Telecommunications Law from the University of the Savannah of Colombia. He is an expert in telecommunications. He has been a Councilor, Deputy, Representative to the Chamber, Superintendent of Telecommunications and Senator of the Republic of Colombia. He has participated as a lecturer in national and international events on telecommunications, ICT, energy, infrastructure, commerce, transportation, education, public services, environment and others. On January 11, 2019, he was elected by the governments of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as Secretary General of the Andean Community, for a period of 5 years.

Christian Asinelli

Corporate Vicepresident of Strategic Programming, CAF -Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean-

Christian Asinelli is a political scientist from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA), has a Master's degree in Public Administration and Policy from the Universidad de San Andrés (UdeSA) and postgraduate degrees in Urban Economics (Universidad Torcuato Di Tella) and in Sociourbana Management (FLACSO). In 2019, he received his Ph.D in Political Science from the National University of San Martín (Argentina).

During the last sixteen years he has been appointed in different roles in the public sector and the international arena: Alternate National Director of the State Modernization Project at the Chief of Staff of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Nation (2005); Deputy of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (2007-2010); Undersecretary of Evaluation of Projects with External Financing of the Chief of Staff of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Nation (2011-2014); Corporate Director of Institutional Development of CAF (2014-2017); President of the Fundación Banco Ciudad (2019) and Undersecretary of International Financial Relations for Development, Secretariat of Strategic Affairs, Presidency of the Nation. He was a Fellow of the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program (2010), the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies-MIT (2011) and the Singularity University Executive Program (2017). He is the author of the books Buenos Aires: The city we have, the city we want (Buenos Aires, 2009); Modernization of the Argentine State: policies, management and professional scene (Buenos Aires, Edition, 2015) and Financing Development: The role of multilateral banking in Latin America (Buenos Aires, 2021).