Edition 15 - "Taking the APEP as an ‘Opening Bid’ to Go Bigger"

Please join us for the 15th Edition of the PANAMA INTERVIEW SERIES where we will discuss the new Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP) and its potential to jump-start prosperity for the Americas. Our distinguished guest will be DANIEL F. RUNDE, the senior vice president, director of the Project on Prosperity and Development and Americas Program, the William A. Schreyer Chair in Global Analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC.

"Addressing the Summit of Americas in 1994, President Clinton said, “Trade, with all its potential dislocations, is an undeniable reality . . . if we act wisely, if we make the new world of trade work for our people, then an aggressive strategy can not only produce new jobs, but once again begin to create a rising standard of living.” These words remain true today. To this end, APEP has provided an important starting point, and set of objectives to align around. However, the coming months and years will test whether the United States can forge a true economic partnership with the region, and deliver the concrete, innovative solutions needed to jump-start prosperity for the Americas."

Mr. Runde's work is oriented around U.S. leadership in building a more democratic and prosperous world. Among his many other contributions, Mr. Runde was as an architect of the BUILD Act, contributed to the reauthorization of the U.S. EXIM Bank in 2018, and was an architect of Prosper Africa, a U.S. government initiative to deepen the United States' commercial and development engagement in Africa. He has been a leading voice on the role and future of the World Bank Group and U.S. leadership in the multilateral system. Prior to CSIS, Mr. Runde held leadership roles at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank Group. Earlier in his career, Mr. Runde worked in commercial banking at Citibank in Argentina and in investment banking at Alex. Brown & Sons.