Andres Valenciano
Steering Committee
Director for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Andres is currently Director for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Office in Washington D.C.
Previously he was the Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, responsible for Costa Rican foreign trade policies, export promotion, and attraction of foreign investment, as well as the official representation towards the WTO. In this role, he led the last stages of Costa Rica’s accession process to become the 38th member country of the OECD and he became the first official representant of the country towards the organization.
Before becoming Minister, Andres was the Executive President of the Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje, where he oversaw technical and vocational education in the Costa Rica, serving 130,000 students per year through 55 training centers around the country. In this period, he led the most important and far-reaching transformation the organization has undergone since its foundation in 1965 and supported the country’s national response towards COVID-19.
Previously, he was Executive Director of several local and international NGOs, working in education, public health, social housing, and economic development projects in over 12 countries in 3 continents, in partnership with the PAHO, IADB, UNDP, ILO, among others.
Andres is an Industrial Engineer from the University of Costa Rica, with a Master’s degree in International Business from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Lee Kuan Yew School Senior Fellow in Public Service from the National University of Singapore.
Steering Committee
Director for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Andres is currently Director for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Office in Washington D.C.
Previously he was the Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, responsible for Costa Rican foreign trade policies, export promotion, and attraction of foreign investment, as well as the official representation towards the WTO. In this role, he led the last stages of Costa Rica’s accession process to become the 38th member country of the OECD and he became the first official representant of the country towards the organization.
Before becoming Minister, Andres was the Executive President of the Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje, where he oversaw technical and vocational education in the Costa Rica, serving 130,000 students per year through 55 training centers around the country. In this period, he led the most important and far-reaching transformation the organization has undergone since its foundation in 1965 and supported the country’s national response towards COVID-19.
Previously, he was Executive Director of several local and international NGOs, working in education, public health, social housing, and economic development projects in over 12 countries in 3 continents, in partnership with the PAHO, IADB, UNDP, ILO, among others.
Andres is an Industrial Engineer from the University of Costa Rica, with a Master’s degree in International Business from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Lee Kuan Yew School Senior Fellow in Public Service from the National University of Singapore.