Roberto Echandi

Roberto Echandi is recognized for more than two decades of experience in international trade and investments. In his current line of work, he is the Global Lead of Investment Policy and Promotion with the World Bank Group. He started in this position in 2012 after directing the Program on International Investment with the World Trade Institute at the University of Bern. He has also been a faculty member at the institute. Furthermore, Mr. Echandi has contributed his renowned services as an ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the European Union, and the Government of Costa Rica. He has also been a chief negotiator of Costa Rica for the Association Agreement between the European Union and Central America with the governments of Costa Rica and Belgium. Early in his career, Mr. Echandi worked as an advisor for the Department of International Trade with the Ministry of Foreign Trade. He moved on to the World Trade Organization as a legal affairs officer before directing international trade with the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

Outside of these positions, Mr. Echandi has taught at the University of Barcelona, the University of Costa Rica, Georgetown University Law Center, and a number of programs concerning law, policy, diplomatic studies and economic law. He received his own training for work in these fields by earning a law degree at the University of Costa Rica. He also holds an LLM from the University of Michigan Law School and a MPhil in Latin American Studies from the University of Oxford. In 2016, he published “Be Careful with What You Wish: Saving Developing Countries from Development and the Rise of Overlooking the Importance of a Multilateral Rule-Based System on Investment in the Twenty-First Century” for the European Yearbook of International Economic Law, Euroyear, Volume 7. He has written several other books, articles and papers concerning international trade and investment law, as well as served on the editorial board of the Journal of International Economic Law with Oxford University Press. In 2010, he was made an honorary member of the Costa Rican Exporters Association. Mr. Echandi also maintains affiliation with the Costa Rica Bar Association.