Trade costs in the region are high, and the region is challenged by limited air and maritime transport connectivity, insufficient port infrastructure, and high logistics costs.
This session will explore two interrelated issues: low connectivity to global shipping networks and high transaction costs for imports and exports.
Programme
Moderator:
Christopher Persaud, IDB
Speakers:
- James Hookham, Director, Global Shippers Forum
- Patrick Antoine, CPSO
- Andrew Jackson, Head of Supply Chain, World Food Programme
- Rodrigo Rupérez, Consultant, UNCTAD, APEC and Andean Community
James Hookham is Secretary General and a Director of the Global Shippers Forum (GSF), the voice of cargo owners in international supply chains. He is a graduate in Environmental Science from the University of Bradford and completed a master’s degree in the safe transport of dangerous goods at the University of Manchester.
James early career was spent with Exis Technologies (now part of National Cargo Bureau) developing the world’s first remotely accessible computerised dangerous goods database and later served as deputy editor of Hazardous Cargo Bulletin.
Until 2020 James was Deputy Chief Executive of the Freight Transport Association (now Logistics UK) where he held numerous positions on UK, EU and global transport and logistics advisory bodies, as well as senior executive roles at one of the UK’s largest trade organisations.
Patrick Antoine serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Technical Director of the CARICOM Private Sector Organization (CPSO) Secretariat, mobilizing private sector participation in CARICOM.
Patrick Antoine is a respected Caribbean Intellectual and Region Thinker with vast experience in both public and private sectors. As an economist, he has over 30 years of experience across the Caribbean, North America, Latin America and Africa. He has consulted multinational corporations and governments in the Caribbean, Africa, and Latin America on trade, investment, and macro-policy issues.
His extensive roles include serving as Ambassador to various organizations and countries, including the WTO and CARICOM. Dr. Antoine has also been a Special Advisor to the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). He is a director on regional boards and has lectured at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, and authored numerous papers on macroeconomic subjects.
Rodrigo Rupérez is a consultant for UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on supply chain and voluntary sustainability standards (VSS).
He has worked for APEC, CARICOM and Comunidad Andina (CAM) developing and implementing sustainable development projects in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú and the Caribbean region. Awarded in 2021 by the Social Impact Accelerator (SIA), the first pan-European public-private partnership led by the European Investment Bank Group.
Committed to sustainability, his expertise and interests include sustainable value chain, trade, social development and renewable energies. Rodrigo holds an MBA from IESE Business School, research-proficient studies in Science History from the University of Valladolid and a degree in Business and Economics from the University of Navarra.
Contact
Global Supply Chain Forum secretariat
gscf@unctad.org
Mr. Jan Hoffmann
Head of the Trade Logistics Branch
Division on Technology and Logistics
UNCTAD, Geneva
jan.hoffmann@unctad.org
Ms. Pamela Ugaz
Economic Affairs Officer
Trade Facilitation Section
Division on Technology and Logistics
UNCTAD, Geneva
pamela.ugaz@unctad.org