Event Calendar

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Latin America’s Role in World Trade And Its Relationship With The U.S.

Start Date: 6/17/2019 11:45 AM EDT
End Date: 6/17/2019 1:45 PM EDT

Venue Name: Baker Hostetler

Location:
1050 Connecticut Ave, NW
Suite 1100
Washington, DC  United States  20036

Organization Name: WIIT

Contact:
WIIT Staff
Email: info@wiit.org
Phone: 202-869-3779

Members of Women in International Trade (WIIT), with the support of Baker Hostetler and Lean Castle, are delighted to present a panel discussion on Latin America’s role in world trade.
 
The panel discussion will feature insights from senior trade specialists –with experience in government, private institutions and international organizations– on the evolution of Latin America’s participation in world trade; relevant trends in policy, business, and investment; and how the region’s stand relates to the U.S.
 
A light lunch will be offered to attendees.

Panelists
Guillermo Malpica, Former Head of the Trade and NAFTA Office, Embassy of Mexico
Anabel Gonzalez, Non-resident senior fellow at PIIE
Mauricio Mesquita, Principal Economic Advisor, Integration and Trade Sector
IDB Anne McKinney, Vice President of the Americas, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Moderator
Laura Escalante, Lean Castle


Nearest Metro: Farragut West and Farragut North (Red, Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines)


Anabel Gonzalez
 
Mrs. Gonzalez is an international consultant on trade, investment and economic development and a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC.
 
As former Senior Director of the World Bank´s Global Practice on Trade & Competitiveness (2014-18), she led the Bank´s agenda on trade, investment climate, competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship to expand market opportunities, enable private initiative and develop dynamic economies.
 
She previously served as Minister of Trade of Costa Rica (2010-14), where she led the country’s strategy to join the OECD, negotiated and implemented several free trade agreements and contributed to attract over 140 foreign direct investment projects. In her more than 15 years of service at the Ministry of Foreign Trade, she held several positions -including Ambassador and Chief Negotiator of CAFTA, Vice-minister and Director General for Trade Negotiations-, and negotiated and implemented over a dozen free trade agreements.
 
She has also worked as Director, Agriculture Division, World Trade Organization; Senior Consultant on Trade and Investment, Inter-American Development Bank; and Director-General, Costa Rican Investment Promotion Board.
 
She is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Trade and Investment and has presented on these topics in over 60 countries around the world.
 
Mauricio Mesquita
 

 Mauricio Mesquita Moreira is Chief Economist of the Integration and Trade Sector of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). He received a PhD in Economics from the University College London. Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Mesquita Moreira held a position at the Research Department of the Development Bank of Brazil (BNDES), and taught at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
 
He is the lead author of, among other studies, Connecting the Dots. A Road Map for a Better Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean. IDB 2018; Uncovering the Barriers of the China-Latin America and the Caribbean Trade. IDB, 2016; Too Far to Export: Domestic Transport Costs and Regional Export Disparities in Latin America. IDB, 2013; India: Latin America’s Next Big Thing? IDB, 2010; and Unclogging the Arteries: A Report on the Impact of Transport Costs on Latin American Trade. IDB and Harvard University Press 2008.
 
 
Guillermo Malpica
 
Guillermo Malpica Soto has a long and distinguished career in Mexico’s Ministry of Economy. In October he was designated to represent the Ministry at the Embassy of Mexico in Washington, D.C.
 
Mr. Malpica has served as Mexico’s Director General for International Trade in Services and Investment in Mexico’s Ministry of Economy since 2008. Since then, he has been instrumental in formulating Mexico’s position in these areas in multilateral, regional and bilateral fora, including the Doha Round in the World Trade Organization, the OECD, ALADI, APEC, TISA, the Pacific Alliance and the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). He also led the negotiation of bilateral investment agreements (Agreements for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments) with Singapore, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Haiti, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Ukraine.
 
Mr. Malpica served as Counsellor in Mexico’s Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization in Geneva in 2007, and as Economic Affairs Advisor in the NAFTA Office of the Ministry of the Economy in Ottawa, Canada in 2006. As Mexico’s lead negotiator in services and investment, he has spoken in various conferences and seminars in the United States, Europe and the Americas. He has authored articles on trade in services and investment in Mexico and the United States, and collaborated with a chapter of a book on negotiations in Switzerland.
 
Mr. Malpica holds a degree in Economics from the University of the Americas-Puebla and a Master's Degree in International Studies at Tec de Monterrey-Mexico City Campus.
 
 
Anne McKinney
 
Anne McKinney is vice president for the Americas at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She oversees policy initiatives and programs designed to increase trade and investment in the Americas and works closely with member companies to advocate on behalf of the U.S. business community. McKinney also serves as Executive Vice President of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean (AACCLA) and as President of the U.S.-Argentina Business Council.  Prior to joining the Chamber, McKinney led efforts to increase foreign direct investment in the United States as the Director of Investment Services for SelectUSA at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
 
She has extensive experience working to promote trade, investment and economic development in the Americas region, including in the U.S. government as regional director and a country manager for Latin America and the Caribbean at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and working in Bogotá, Colombia as deputy executive director of AmCham Colombia and as a LATAM business development consultant for Cisco Systems.
McKinney received a B.A. in international studies from American University and an M.A. in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
 

Laura Escalante (moderator)
 
Mrs. Escalante is an international trade consultant, specialized in trade facilitation, border management, competitiveness and corporate relations. As a former official for the Government of Costa Rica (2006-2016) she participated in negotiations at the WTO and with trade and customs authorities of the United States, the European Union, China, Peru, and Colombia, among others. She also directed trade facilitation and border modernization projects, and participated in the Central American process for economic integration. Earlier in her career, she worked as congressional liaison and chief of staff for the Deputy Minister and General Director at the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica. Previously, she spent three years as an adviser in the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly.
 
In 2017 she founded Lean Castle, as a catalyst for collaborative and comprehensive efforts, in her areas of expertise, to support governments, companies, and organizations addressing trade and customs related challenges. Mrs. Escalante holds a graduate degree in International Relations from the National University of Costa Rica, and a MA in International Law and Settlement of Disputes from the UN mandated University for Peace. She completed the Mastering Trade Policy Program at the Harvard Kennedy School and is certified as a Project Management Professional
 
 
 

 

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Closed: 6/17/2019 8:00 AM

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