Therese Turner-Jones - Principal Consultant, MaxGwen Ltd

Therese Turner-Jones is a Bahamian national and resident of Nassau, Bahamas. She heads an economic consultancy firm, MaxGwen Ltd. Her professional experience spans many decades in international financial institution including the International Monetary Fund, Inter-American Development Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank. She has lived and worked in Washington, DC, Guinea, Conakry, Jamaica, Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and The Bahamas.  Therese headed the Caribbean Department of the IDBG from 2017 through 2021, after serving as Jamaica’s Country Representative from 2013 to 2021.

A trained economist, Mrs. Turner-Jones has over 30 years’ experience in macroeconomics and economic development, with special expertise in the Caribbean and Latin America. 

She holds a master’s degree in Economics from the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom. She is also an alumnus of the University of Toronto, and United World Colleges (Lester Pearson College). Her publications include a book on Caribbean Fiscal Challenges.

A member of the International Women’s Forum, Mrs. Turner Jones is passionate about financial inclusion, gender equity, children, vulnerable communities, sustainable energy and the environment.  She is a Rotarian and Paul Harris Fellow.

She is an ardent champion of development issues facing small island developing states, and considers climate change one of the most existential threats of our lifetime. A tennis fanatic, she is married to Dennis Jones, a former IMF economist. They are the proud parents of three daughters: Dr. Bronwyn Huggins, Eleanor and Rhian Jones.

Lilia Burunciuc - World Bank’s Country Director for the Caribbean countries

Lilia Burunciuc is the World Bank’s Country Director for the Caribbean countries. Ms. Burunciuc, a Moldovan national, is responsible for maintaining the partnership with the countries to address their development challenges.

Since joining the World Bank in 1996, she held a range of increasingly challenging positions: Director for Central Asia; Manager in Operations Policy and Country Services; Country Manager for Macedonia; Country Program Coordinator for Southern Africa and Central Asia; and Senior Country Officer for Ukraine and Belarus. 

She has extensive experience on leading policy dialogue with governments on various aspects of development. 

Prior to joining the Bank, Ms. Burunciuc was a Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Moldova, the country’s central bank. 

She has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from George Washington University (USA) and a Master’s level degree in Economics, Management and Planning from the Technical University of Moldova.

Patrick Antoine - Chief Executive Officer and Technical Director of the CARICOM Private Sector Organization 

Dr. Patrick Antoine is the Chief Executive Officer and Technical Director of the CARICOM Private Sector Organization (CPSO).

He is an Economist, with a B.Sc. (Honours) in Economics from The UWI, and M.Sc. and PhD Degrees in Economics from the University of Florida, with specializations in Economic Policy, International Trade Theory and Policy, and Economic Modelling.

He possesses over 35 years of experience working throughout the Caribbean, North America, Latin America, and Africa. He has served as the Chief Policy Adviser to the Minister of Finance and Cabinet of Grenada from 2003 -2007 and from 2013-2018. Dr. Antoine has also held positions as the Ambassador to the WTO, CARICOM, OECS and Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extra-Ordinaire with responsibility for Policy and External Trade Negotiations. Dr. Antoine has lectured in the Post-Graduate Programme of the Sir. Shridath Ramphal, Centre of the UWI, from 2006 - 2019.

He has served as a consultant to several multinational corporations and provided services to governments in the Caribbean, Africa, and Latin America on trade, investment, and macroeconomic policy issues.

Dr. Antoine is the author of several publications in the area of international trade and economic policies. Dr. Antoine also serves as Director on several Boards of regional businesses.

Laura Zoratto -  Lead Country Economist for the Caribbean region

Laura Zoratto is the Lead Country Economist for the Caribbean region (excluding Haiti), based in Kingston, Jamaica. Laura has over 15 years of experience at the World Bank, of which 9 years in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

Laura’s work at the Bank has focused on increasing the evidence-base of core government reforms and linking it to lending operations, in the macro-fiscal, trade, competitiveness, and institution strengthening areas. Prior to joining the Bank, Laura was a research assistant at the University of Geneva and worked for several years on trade, competitiveness, and energy-related projects with UNCTAD, DAI inc, and the Brazilian Development Bank.

Laura holds a PhD in Economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva and has published on various topics such as trade, behavioral economics and public administration reforms.

Wayne McCook - Assistant Secretary General – Trade, CARICOM

Ambassador Wayne McCook C.D is the Assistant Secretary General - CARICOM Single Market and Trade (CSMT) at the Caribbean Community Secretariat.

He has served as Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United Nations Office and other International Organisations at Geneva, Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, and Special Advisor to the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). 

Ambassador McCook has facilitated several multilateral processes and outcomes as Chairman of the United Nations Open-Ended Inter-governmental Expert Working Group on Indicators and Terminology on Disaster Risk Reduction, chairman of negotiating bodies including the WTO Rules Negotiating Group, and coordinator of developing country groups, including the G 77 and China (UN Geneva) and the ACP group (WTO).

He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Multilateral Negotiations and a Fellow of the Centre for Trade and Economic Integration of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID - Geneva).

He is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Centre (JD), the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and the University of the West Indies.

Inram Williams - Director Finance of Government of Saint Lucia

Imran Williams is the Director of Finance in the Department of Finance for the Government of Saint Lucia, where he plays a central role in advancing the country’s sustainable finance agenda and broader economic development strategy.

He leads efforts to strengthen capacity in sustainable finance and Environmental, Social, and Governance principles across both the public and private sectors, supporting the mobilisation of climate finance. He has also been closely involved in the development of Saint Lucia’s blue bond framework, positioning the country as a leader in innovative financing approaches within the region.

Mr. Williams works closely with regional institutions such as the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and the OECS Commission to improve financial resilience, coordination, and data systems across the Eastern Caribbean. His responsibilities also include overseeing public financial management processes, including portfolio performance and collaboration with development partners such as the Caribbean Development Bank.

Prior to his current role, he led projects within the OECS Commission, contributing to regional development initiatives.

Patricia Francis - Chair, Government of Jamaica Trade Facilitation Task Force

Patricia R. Francis is a global leader in trade and development having headed private sector, government and international organizations involved in international trade and investment. She is the former Assistant Secretary General and Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (2006-2013), the joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization as well as the former President of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO 1995-2006).

Patricia is currently a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council, Chair of the Government of Jamaica’s Trade Facilitation Task Force and sits on the Boards of Jamaica Producers Group, Portland JSX, Whiteshield Partners of Public Policy & Strategy, several family-owned companies, and the Advisory Board of IESE Graduate Business School. Patricia is also a Director of the Alligator Head Foundation, TBA21 and the Rose Town Foundation.

Patricia served twice as President of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies and in 2016 she headed the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment and between 2018-2020 she was Special Advisor to the Executive Director of UN Women. Patricia was a member of the UK House of Lords All Parliamentary Group reviewing how Commonwealth Countries can trade out of Poverty and been a member of the Eminent Persons Group reviewing the future of the British Commonwealth. She was also a member of the Eminent Persons Group reviewing African Caribbean and Pacific Groups post Cotonou relationship with Europe.

During her tenure with these organizations Patricia gained a passion for development and wide experience in trade and investment, making her a sort after speaker, advisor, and leader. In 2006 she was conferred with the Commander of the Order of Civil Merit by the Government of Spain, in 2015 was conferred with the Order of Distinction in the Class of Commander by the Government of Jamaica and in 2024 Caribbean Women in Trade’s International Woman of the Year.