I Interviews and Insights

Ahmed Taha Boraie is a holder of a bachelor degree of science (B.Sc.) in Electronics and Telecommunications and has received the human resource management diploma from the American University in Cairo (AUC). He worked for several national and international companies at both technical and management levels. His 34 years of experience include project management and coordination, business planning and plan implementation, human resource development, and management. Having worked with EU funded programmes such as the Private Sector Development Programme and the Industrial Modernisation Programme, have enabled Ahmed Taha Boraie to develop a strong background in management skills. For 3 years, he was assigned to manage the BRC/IMC regional branch in Alexandria, then was promoted to handle the HRD Programme Division at IMC. In July 2006, Ahmed was appointed as the Executive Director of the Industrial Training Council under the umbrella of the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry. In March 2010, he was nominated to the position of Chairman of Productivity and Vocational Training Department (PVTD), the training arm of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. For this successful business track, he was appointed the Executive Director of the Industrial Modernisation Centre (IMC) under the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2013. From January 2016 to March 2016, he held the position of Acting Chairman of Egypt Expo and Convention Authority besides his position at IMC. In April 2016 he was appointed as the Commissioner General of Egypt for Expo Astana, Kazakhstan 2017. In February 2019, Ahmed Taha Boraie has been appointed as the Senior Assistant to the Minister of Trade and Industry for Industrial Affairs.

Alex Zimmermann is an Economist from Universidad del Pacifico, with an MBA from the Katholieke Universiteit (Leuven-Belgium). He holds a Certification Board Membership (MDD) from Centrum Graduate Business School - PUCP, and is a CFA candidate. Alex has over 40 years of experience in Banking and Pension Funds in Peru and Switzerland. He is currently the CEO of COFIDE, the Development Bank of Peru, which focuses on financing infrastructure and productive investment projects, as well as boosting micro and small entrepreneurs. COFIDE also plays a strategic role in financial inclusion at the base of the pyramid, in the formalization of micro and small businesses and in the development of Start Ups. Previously, he has been Vice President in the Scotiabank Peru group, Deputy General Manager in Profuturo AFP, Vice President of Finance, Planning and Management Control in Financiera CrediScotia, Investment Manager in several AFPs, Wealth Management Officer in UBS (Zurich), Board member of the Lima Stock Exchange, whilst occupying various management positions in other important financial companies in the area.

Claudia Ileava Avila Connelly assumed the position of General Director of the Mexican Association of Industrial Parks (AMPIP) in 2005. She holds a degree in International Relations from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a Master's in Business Administration from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. She also has a Ph.D. in Strategic Management and Development Policies from the Universidad Anahuac Norte Mexico. She has collaborated for ten years with the National Bank of Foreign Trade of Mexico (BANCOMEX) in the market division for North America, promoting Mexican exports and investment towards Mexico. In 1999 she founded the Hidalgo International Corporation for the promotion of exports and investment. Finally, she is the President of the Mexican Committee for Standardization of Industrial Parks, Vice President of the Mexican Council of International Affairs (COMEXI), Member of the Board of Directors of the NAIOP (Commercial Real State Development Association) and Advisor to the Presidency of NASCO (North America's Strategy Development Association).

Henry Kardonski is the Managing Director of London and Regional Panama, Master Developer of the Special Economic Area of Panama Pacifico, a public-private alliance, and an innovative, multicultural and sustainable development that offers opportunities for growth and well-being. The Panama Pacifico project master plan, which lasts 40 years on renewable, contemplates the creation of a development hub on the pacific side of Panama, linked to the intermodal system and the Panama Canal; and is planned to be a sustainable city of up to 100 thousand inhabitants, 30 thousand homes, 40 thousand jobs, civic and recreational spaces. In the first 10 years of development it has gathered more than 4,500 residents, more than 1,500 students in 5 prestigious schools, the generation of more than 10,000 jobs and the attraction of more than 280 multinational and national companies to Panama Pacifico. Kardonski is a graduate of Brandeis University and holds a master's degree in finance from Columbia Business School. He has extensive experience in banking, real estate, and logistics.

James Patterson has been engaged in international urban development projects for over ten years, both for the private sector and local and national governing authorities. He has expertise in urban and regional economic strategy development; feasibility studies; implementation planning; spatial and master planning; sustainable urban development; and area-based economic assessment. He is particularly interested in the role economic zones can play in developing green industrial clusters in growing cities. James has frequently lectured on urban economic development and cities at Imperial College London, LSE Cities and as a guest lecturer at Columbia GSAPP. James has successfully led important projects for clients including the IFC, World Bank, EBRD, United Nations, IDB, HM Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Irish Aid. As a recognised expert in the field of SEZ feasibility, his work has included SEZ strategy, incentives design and numerous industrial demand studies for economic zones throughout the developing world. Most recently he has led a study for the UK Government on the potential for Free Zones post-Brexit. James leads the Cities and Infrastructure practice at Vivid Economics, a specialist economics consultancy based in London, UK. Prior to joining Vivid, he worked for BuroHappold Engineering and Arup in Shenzhen, China. James holds an MPhil in Environmental Planning from the University of Cambridge, as well as an MSc in Construction and Development Economics from University College London. Additionally, James holds a BA (Hons) in Architecture from the University of Liverpool and has studied at Tsinghua University, Beijing. James is a Member of the Institute of Economic Development and an elected Academician of the Academy of Urbanism (AoU).

Jean-Paul Gauthier is a lawyer and economist who currently lives in the UK after having worked for several top consulting firms, law firms, and the World Bank. He is one of the world's leading legal expert on Special Economic Zones (SEZ), and has advised on and drafted numerous laws and regulations for SEZ programs around the world. In addition to serving as Locus Economica's CEO, he is also the current Secretary-General of WEPZA, the world's first SEZ trade association, founded by UNIDO in 1978. Jean-Paul Gauthier has over 25 years of experience working r with over 100 countries as an attorney and economist, specializing in trade and investment, economic zones, competitiveness, infrastructure and spatial development initiatives, and governance and administrative reform.

Kevin O'Connor from Shannon (Ireland) is an experienced Special Economic Zones, Foreign Direct Investment and Economic development adviser with over 40 years of experience in the public and private sector. Currently he is engaged with IDI Ireland as a Strategic Adviser on a range of projects and international training programs. He has worked in Botswana where he was part of an IDI team implementing a five year Special Economic Zone development strategy in eight locations throughout the country. Prior to that he undertook a three year project in Lagos, Nigeria where he was the Managing Director of the Nahco Free Zone. Previously, he worked with Shannon Development Ltd., the former regional economic development agency for Ireland's mid-west region. He has also completed a review and assessment of the new Zone development programme in Ghana for the Ministry of Trade and Investment of Ghana. He has extensive international and EU projects consultancy experience undertaking a wide range of long and short term enterprise and economic development assignments in over 15 countries including all CEE countries. His work included working closely with Free Zone promoters in strategic planning promotion and project implementation. Currently he is a Chairman of the Bunratty Economic Development Association. As a graduate of the University of Limerick, he also holds qualifications in Business Management, with a Master degree in Regional and Local Economic Planning from the Dublin Institute of Technology.

Lelise Neme is the Commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission. She is also a member of the core leadership of the Oromia Democratic Party. Previously, she served as Director General at the Office of Oromia Industrial Development Agency and as Deputy CEO at the Oromia Industrial Park Development Corporation. She was a lecturer at Jimma University, Institute of Technology, and School of Civil & Environmental Engineering before assuming a higher official government position.

Xian Li is a Section Chief of the Bureau of Economy of China - Singapore Tianjin Eco - City. As a project leader, she successfully made China - Singapore Tianjin Eco - City receive the approval of the National New Industrial Demonstration Zone. She is focusing on economic affairs cooperation and on the analysis of energy saving and low carbon. She also holds a Master of Engineering from Tianjin University.

Nah-yoon Shin has a Master of Science in Urban Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). She worked as a researcher on Clean Energy City project in China and Korea Environment Institute where she helped the Korean Ministry of Environment to manage the Seoul Initiative Network on Green Growth jointly with the UNESCAP. She was also one of the main contributing authors to “A Practitioner's Handbook for Eco-Industrial Parks” jointly written by the WBG, UNIDO and GIZ. She has more than 8 years of research and operational experience in the area of sustainable and resilient urban industrial development. Currently, Nah-yoon is a senior consultant at the WBG's Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice. One of her main tasks is to provide advisory support to client countries to enhance competitiveness of their manufacturing industries through eco-industrial park projects and measures to improve industrial resilience.

Petra Schwager is the Chief of Energy Technologies and Industrial Applications Division of UNIDO. She has more than 20 years of experience in the development and management of industrial resource efficiency and cleaner production programs in developing countries and economies in transition. In her position at UNIDO, she collaborates with the public sector, the private sector, NGOs and the academic world to promote policies and models of sustainable and inclusive production. She continuously explores innovative concepts to respond to the emerging needs of the industry, particularly SMEs, and provides strategic and technical advice on different aspects of resource efficiency, sustainable industrial parks and circular economy. She studied economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria, and Social Sciences and Environmental Management at the University of London in United Kingdom. She is co-author of the 'UNIDO International Guide for Industrial Parks'.

Stefan Kratzsch has been working for UNIDO for more than 15 years in areas of investment promotion and private sector development. He is employed as an Industrial Development Officer in the Investment and Technology Promotion Division of UNIDO's Department of Digitalization, Technology and Innovation. Stefan is holder of a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering from the Technical University of Karlsruhe, Germany and holder of a PhD from Leipzig University, Germany. The theme of Stefan's PhD, which he completed in 2018, is on 'Forms and performance of foreign direct investments in Sub-Saharan Africa'. Stefan is managing a wide range of UNIDO projects in different geographical regions focusing on capacity building for investment promotion agencies (IPAs) in areas of investment monitoring, attraction/retention, aftercare, backward linkages and digital investment promotion techniques. He also oversees UNIDO's Programme in relation to Subcontracting and Partnership Exchange Centres (SPX).