Alberto Alemán Zubieta is the CEO of the Panama Canal Authority. The Board of Directors re-elected Mr. Zubieta to lead the Panama Canal Authority for another seven years in 2005 after previously serving as Administrator since 1998. Prior to that, he served as Administrator of the Panama Canal Commission from 1996 to 1999, the United States Government federal agency which was responsible for the administration and operation of the Panama Canal until ownership of the waterway was transferred to the Republic of Panama on December 31^st 1999.

Augusto de la Torre is the Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank. Since joining the Bank in 1997, he has served as Senior Advisor in the Financial Systems Department and Senior Financial Sector Advisor, both in the Latin America and the Caribbean region. From 1993 to 1997, Mr.

Carlos Felipe Jaramillo is the Lead Economist for the Central America Department of the World Bank. Previously, he was the World Bank’s Director for the Andean region (Bolivia, Chile Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela). In this position, Mr. Jaramillo was responsible for the programs that support development in these five nations. He was also responsible for a broad program of loan operations and studies. Prior to that, Mr. Jaramillo served as Sector Administrator for the World Bank’s Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network (PREM) for Europe and Central Asia.

Roberto C. Henríquez is the Minister of Foreign Affairs since September of 2011. Previously he served as Minister of Commerce and Industry. He is the Vice President of the ruling political party, Cambio Democrático and was vice presidential candidate of President Martinelli’s 2004 presidential campaign. The Minister also served as Vice Minister of Foreign Trade from September 1999 to August 2000.

Leslie C. O’Connor is deputy assistant United States trade representative for Central America and the Dominican Republic. She is responsible for developing, coordinating and implementing U.S. trade policy for the region, including responsibility for the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) and the United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA).

John Paul Rathbone is currently the Financial Times’ Latin American editor, and a former editor of the FT’s prestigious “Lex” column. He worked as an economist and a journalist at the World Bank. His articles have appeared in many publications including The Wall Street Journal, Britain’s Sunday Telegraph, Colombia’s El Espectador and Esquire magazine, where he was business columnist from 2002-2003. He is the author of The Sugar King of Havana.

Salomón Shamah is the general administrator of Panama’s Tourism Authority since July 2009. He represents the country as the minister of tourism and serves as the pro tempore President of the Secretaría de Integración Turística Centroamericana (SITCA), a group that includes of all the tourism ministers of Central America. Prior to assuming his roles as General Administrator, Minister Shamah was the creative director of President Ricardo Martinelli’s presidential campaign.

Yosbel A. Ibarra is shareholder for Greenberg Traurig. He advises clients on complex business transactions, including acquisitions, joint ventures and financing transactions. Yosbel has represented U.S., European and Latin American clients on M&A, private equity and venture capital transactions including agribusiness, entertainment, financial services, fisheries, food, gaming, hotel & tourism, manufacturing, medical equipment, packaging, pharmaceuticals, real estate, technology, and transportation.