Jan Yves Remy is the Director of the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services (the SRC), the premier trade institution of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, dedicated to training, research and outreach on issues of regional and international trade.

Her areas of research include international and regional trade dispute settlement regimes, climate change and trade, trade and sustainability, WTO reform, trade and gender issues, e-commerce, regional integration and investment policy, in particular, how they affect small island developing states including those in the Caribbean.

She holds the position of WTO Chair at the University of the West Indies (Barbados), under the WTO's Chair Programme; has served as a panelist in WTO trade disputes; and has been included on the panel roster to serve as arbitrator and/or Chair on a number of mechanisms under European and UK FTAs.

In September 2021, Rebeca Grynspan was appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), becoming the first woman to lead the organization in its 60-year history.

Rebeca Grynspan, an economist and former Vice President of Costa Rica, is an experienced leader of international institutions with a substantive track record in government, UN diplomacy, economic policy and multilateral cooperation at the global level.

Prior to joining the United Nations, she was Vice President of Costa Rica and held cabinet positions as Minister of Housing, Minister Coordinator of Economic and Social Affairs and Deputy Finance Minister.

Previously, she served as Secretary-General of the Ibero-American Conference (2014–2021), chairing regional summits of Heads of State and Government; United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. She was a member of the UN Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti, representing the UN Secretary-General.

At UNCTAD, Grynspan has been at the centre of critical negotiations to address global trade and development challenges. She played a decisive role in the successful Black Sea Grain Initiative brokered between the UN, Türkiye, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, which enabled the safe export of over 32 million tons of grain, lowered global food prices by 22% and prevented millions from falling into food insecurity.  She also leads the UN Global Crisis Response Group on food, energy and finance, and has represented the UN in G20 summits.

Her leadership has been recognized widely. In 2024, she received the Doha Negotiator of the Year Award for spearheading UN efforts to restore Black Sea trade routes. In 2025, Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation awarded her the inaugural Isabel Oyarzábal Women in Multilateralism International Prize for her contribution to multilateralism.

Ms. Grynspan holds degrees in economics from the University of Costa Rica and the University of Sussex, and honorary doctorates from several European universities.

Chad Blackman, Barbadian politician and former diplomat, was appointed to the Senate of Barbados by the Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley, as well as Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment.

He served as the Senior Advisor to the Director-General of the ILO, and as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, Vienna, and Rome, and Barbados’ Ambassador to Austria, Hungary, and Serbia

He was the President of the G77 and China Group in Geneva. He is the former Chair for the Trade and Environment Committee and former Chair of the Trade and Development Committee, both in the WTO. He chaired the SIDS Group at UNCTAD, was the Americas Co-ordinator for the Government Group in the ILO, and is a UN International Gender Champion Global Board Member.

Mr. Blackman holds a Law degree and a Master’s in International Trade Law from the University of Essex.

Chantal Ononaiwu is the Director, External Trade in the CARICOM Secretariat’s Directorate of the CARICOM Single Market and Trade, based in Barbados, where she leads the Directorate’s work pertaining to external trade negotiations and external trade policy.

She has served as a senior adviser to the Community on matters pertaining to international trade and investment, a negotiator for CARICOM in its external trade negotiations and has represented the Community in cases before the Caribbean Court of Justice. Ms. Ononaiwu has also served as a panelist in a WTO dispute. She lectures International Trade and Investment Law at the University of the West Indies.

Ms. Ononaiwu is admitted to practise law in Jamaica and Barbados. She holds a DPhil in Law from the University of Oxford, an L.L.M. from the University of Cambridge, and an L.L.B. from the University of the West Indies.

Ricardo James, Head of the Trade Policy Development within the Division of Economic Affairs and Regional Integration of the OECS Commission, is responsible for providing leadership, advice, analysis and reporting to the Commission and Member States in the coordinating and harmonisation of the formulation, development and implementation of trade policy.

Previously, Mr. James was a Senior Technical Specialist for Business Environment and Export Development at the Commission’s Competitive Business Unit (CBU), where he was responsible for strengthening the policy, legislative and regulatory frameworks for MSME competitiveness trade and exports in the OECS.

He was also Head of the Permanent Delegation of the OECS in Geneva as Chargé d'Affaires responsible for advancing the interests of the OECS in the multilateral trading system at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). He served as lead technical spokesperson for the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of Countries in the negotiations on trade facilitation and fisheries subsidies rules.

Sheldon L.A. Mc Lean is the Coordinator of the Economic Development Unit at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC), based at the Sub-Regional Headquarters in Port-of-Spain which has responsibility for 25 Caribbean countries.

Mr. Mc Lean has previously served as Regional Trade Policy Advisor at the Caribbean Community Secretariat. He has over 20 years of experience in the areas of trade and trade-related development policies; structural transformation and economic diversification.

He has authored numerous research papers on current and emerging trade and development issues for small economies, including de-risking, regional integration, public debt, tourism diversification and climate finance.

Mr. Mc Lean is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, having earned both a BSc. Agricultural Economics and MSc. Agricultural Economics, specializing in Policy Development, from that institution.