UNCTAD16 parallel event: Investment facilitation — progress, prospects and policy options

Mr. Pedro Manuel Moreno of Spain, is Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD.

He has over 20 years of experience of working for multilateral and intergovernmental organizations in programme, management and strategic positions both in the field and at headquarters.

He was Deputy Secretary-General of the Communication for Development Committee at the Spanish National Commission with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (1999-2004), and for the United Nations Development Programme, at the Country Office in Ecuador and, in New York City, as part of the Human Development Report team, at the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean and at the Executive Office.

In 2014, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Ibero-American Conference in Madrid, where he coordinated key political processes and South-South cooperation projects.

In September 2021, he was named Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of the Secretary-General of UNCTAD.

Dr. Jumoke Oduwole MFR, is the Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Prior to her current role, she served as the Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, on the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) and Investment (OVP) from October 2023 to October 2024. Under the Buhari Administration, she served first as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Industry, Trade, and Investment, and subsequently as the Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business from November 2015 to May 2023. Dr. Oduwole and her team at the PEBEC Secretariat successfully delivered over 200 verifiable reforms across various arms and levels of government.

During her time in public service, Dr Oduwole has worked on various specialized reform committees in the federal government such as AfCFTA implementation Committee and the Tax Policy Reform Committee, and played a key role in the conceptualization and establishment of the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN). She Chaired the Technical Working Team on Legislative Imperatives for the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025.

Recognized as one of Nigeria’s leading reformers, she was awarded the national honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) in May 2023 for her contributions to national development. In 2024, the Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) awarded her a “Hall of Fame” honour for her decade-long work on Nigeria’s business climate reforms.

A policy entrepreneur of some repute, she was appointed as a Senior fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Centre for Business and Government (M-RCBG), Harvard Kennedy School, and as a Governance Advisor to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Governance Lab in 2022, for her innovation in governance.

She previously served on the Board of Ecobank Nigeria, and she has worked in investment and corporate banking at FCMB and GTBank.

Since 2015, Dr Oduwole has been on loan to the Federal Government of Nigeria from the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Nigeria, where she teaches and researches International Economic Law. Jumoke holds an LL.B from the University of Lagos, an LL.M from Cambridge University, UK and a JSM and JSD from Stanford Law School USA, and is called to the Nigerian Bar.

Julio Armando Moltó Alain is an engineer by profession, with extensive and varied professional experience in both the public and private sectors. In the government sphere, he has held important positions such as Director of the National Police, Executive Secretary of the Security Council and Executive Secretary of the Ministry of the Presidency.

In the private sector, he has worked in the area of social communication and logistics, holding the position of Executive Vice-President and General Manager of the GESE Publishing Group, New Media Manager at Corprensa, Manager of Mi Diario and General Manager of Solo Container Panama. This extensive experience has allowed him to develop strategic and management skills in diverse and dynamic environments.

During the 2009-2014 presidential term, he served as Director of the Panamanian National Police, demonstrating leadership and management skills in the public sphere.

Throughout his professional life, he has accumulated solid experience in public and private service, establishing himself as a recognised and respected figure in his field.

H.E. Dr. Ahmad bin Mohammed Al-Sayed was appointed Minister of State for Foreign Trade Affairs in November 2024.

H.E. brings extensive experience in the fields of investment, economics, and business. He was first appointed Minister of State in May 2013 and has held various positions across local and international institutions. Between 2017 and February 2024, he served as the Chairman of the inaugural Board of Directors for the Free Zones Authority and as its Managing Director, overseeing the establishment of free zones in Qatar, contributing to attracting major global companies seeking regional and international expansion. He also chaired the Doha Fund for Development (SME) and was a board member of the Investment Promotion Agency and Qatar Development Bank.

Previously, H.E. served as the CEO of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Qatar Holding, where he played a pivotal role in establishing QIA and expanding local and international investment portfolios of QIA and Qatar Holding. He has held leadership positions in numerous institutions at both local and international levels, including serving as General Counsel and Secretary of The Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment. He was also a member of The Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment and served on the boards of various local and international companies, such as Qatar National Bank, the Canary Wharf Group in the UK, Volkswagen Group in Germany, and the Arab International Bank in Cairo. Additionally, he was the Vice Chairman of the Qatar Stock Exchange and the Executive Chairman of Harrods LHD in the UK.

H.E. Dr. Al-Sayed earned a PhD from the University of Oxford in the UK, an MBA from the TRIUM Global Executive MBA program (an alliance between NYU Stern School of Business, London School of Economics and Political Science, and HEC School of Management in Paris), a Master of Laws (LLM) in Banking & Financial Law from Boston University in the USA, and a Bachelor’s degree in Law and Sharia from Qatar University. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Swansea University in the UK in recognition of his contributions to international development.

Dr. Thomas Steffen is State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in Germany, where he oversees trade, economic, European, SME, and digital policy. Over the course of a 35-year career in the German federal government, he has held a number of senior leadership roles across several ministries. Prior to his current appointment earlier this year, he served as State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Health (2019–2025) and at the Federal Ministry of Finance (2012–2018). His distinguished career also includes positions as Director-General for Europe at the Federal Ministry of Finance; Chair of the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS); Executive Director for Insurance Supervision and member of the Executive Board of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin); and Head of Division for Export and State Guarantees at the Federal Ministry of Finance. Dr. Steffen holds a doctorate in law from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, complemented by studies at the London School of Economics.

Sung-yo Choi, Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea Mission to the World Trade Organization, is Co-coordinator of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement. She currently also serves as Chair of the WTO Working Party on the Accession of Uzbekistan. She is a career diplomat with extensive expertise in international trade negotiations and multilateral affairs and has been involved in WTO negotiations for over 15 years, as well as the Republic of Korea’s free trade area negotiations. Prior to returning to Geneva, she was Minister at the Delegation of the Republic Korea to the OECD in Paris. She holds an M.B.A. from Yale University and a B.A. in Communications from Seoul National University.

Mr. Xiangchen Zhang has been Deputy-Director General of WTO since 1 June 2021. He has long and extensive experience on WTO issues, trade negotiations and policy research.

Prior to his current position, he served as Vice Minister of Commerce of China. He was China's Ambassador to the WTO from 2017 to 2020, Deputy China International Trade Representative (vice-minister level) from 2015 to 2017, Assistant Minister of Commerce from 2013 to 2015. He also held several other senior positions in the Ministry of Commerce, including Director General for Policy Research from 2011 to 2013, and Director General for WTO Affairs from 2005 to 2008. In 2005, he was appointed chief negotiator for China-Australia FTA. From 1992 to 2001, he was a leading aide to China's Chief Representative for GATT/WTO accession negotiations.

Mr. Zhang holds a bachelor's degree in law, a master's degree in international relations and a PhD in international politics.

Joanna Szychowska has been appointed Director of Asia (I), Services and Investment, Digital Trade, Intellectual Property and Public Procurement in DG Trade of the European Commission in February 2022.

She is responsible for the EU trade and investment strategy and policy towards the Far East. She also leads the development, negotiation and implementation of rules and policies in the fields of services and digital trade, investments and intellectual property - in bilateral, regional and multilateral fora.

From June 2015 to January 2022, she was heading Mobility Unit in DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.

Her responsibilities focused on strengthening competitiveness of the European automotive industry, implementation of the regulatory framework and international harmonization of requirements.
Before joining the Mobility Unit, she was Head of Unit in charge of EU public procurement policy and enforcement of the legislation in selected EU Member States.

She was previously a member of the Cabinet of Commission Vice President Günter Verheugen, responsible for Enterprise and Industry and between 2004 and 2007, a member of the Cabinet of Commissioner Danuta Hübner, responsible for Regional Policy.

In 1996 Ms. Szychowska joined the Office of the Committee for European Integration in Warsaw, where she was involved in the harmonisation of Polish law with EC law and the preparation of accession negotiations, from 2001 as Director of the Department of European Law.

Ms. Szychowska studied Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw and the University of Utrecht and accomplished European Studies at the College of Europe, Natolin. In 1999, she passed her final judge's examination at the Warsaw Court of Appeal.

Nan has over 25 years’ experience in strategic management roles both with the United Nations and the private sector across Asia, Africa, North America and Europe. She currently leads a global team in investment and sustainable finance research, policy, investment promotion and facilitation, enterprise development, and technical assistance to governments in over 160 countries. She chairs the Governing Board of the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, leads the World Investment Forum and the inter-governmental Working Group on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting.

Before joining UNCTAD, she served as the Global Director of Sustainable Investments and Innovation at UNOPS, where she led a team to promote infrastructure investments in many developing countries and co-invest with DFIs and private investors. She served as UNOPS focal point in the UN Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development.

Previously, she served as the Head of UNDP SDG Innovative Finance and as Head of South-South Cooperation and Investment at UNDP's Asia Pacific Center in Bangkok. She led a team to engage public and private investors and developed national policy dialogues and networks on SDG investment, piloted SDG-aligned funds, bonds and projects in multiple countries. She helped to position UNDP as a pioneer in the UN on sustainable investment and innovative finance. She also held positions as Policy Specialist in Capacity Development and Public-Private Partnerships in New York and Johannesburg since 2009, overseeing a regional portfolio in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Before joining UNDP, she spent about 10 years in the private sector in China and the USA, covering market entry and investment strategy, merger and acquisition, business development and sustainability. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and participated in the Executive Leadership program at IESE, and Finance Executive program at Tsinghua University.