Marialisa Motta is responsible for the World Bank Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice in Latin America and the Caribbean - including a US$1 billion active lending portfolio and several advisory and analytical tasks for Latin American and Caribbean governments on productivity, competitiveness, business regulation, trade, innovation and technology adoption. Prior to taking her current position, she was responsible for Finance and Private Sector Development work in the Latin American and Caribbean Region, and prior to that she managed the joint World Bank – International Finance Corporation Investment Climate Reform Advisory Global Unit, which provided advice on business regulations and reforms measured by the Doing Business report in more than 50 countries around the world. Earlier, she worked as Senior Private Sector Development Specialist in the Europe and Central Asia and the Latin American World Bank regions. She joined the Bank as a Young Professional in 1999.

Marialisa's interests and areas of focus include competitiveness, investment climate, innovation, financial inclusion, results measurement and impact evaluation. Marialisa has advised more than 20 countries around the world on these topics. She has authored or supervised the production of articles and World Bank reports on the “Impact of Business Entry reforms”, “Technology, Innovation and Skills to Increase Turkey’s Productivity and Facilitate EU Integration”, “Improving Product Market Regulations for Turkey’s Sustainable Growth and EU Integration”, “Chile New Economy” and “Chile’s Information and Communication Technology Sector,” among others. She has managed and supervised several World Bank lending projects, including to the Governments of Turkey, Central American countries and Brazil.
Earlier in her career, Marialisa was a research fellow at Bocconi University in Milan, an entrepreneur and a summer associate with the Boston Consulting Group. She has a Masters in Public Policy and Management from the Yale School of Management (1999) and a degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University (1994).