Luis Manuel Piantini

Luis Manuel Piantini holds a B.A. in Economics from the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña, Santo Domingo,1973. He has also carried out studies at the International Monetary Fund’s Specialized Institute, in Washington, D.C. (Financial and Political Analysis; Adaptation and Preparation of Macroeconomic Models, 1976); at the Inter-American Development Bank (Project Evaluations, 1980); as well as other technical courses. He has also participated in seminars related to the Prevention of Banking Crisis in Latin America, sponsored by the World Bank, Washington, D.C. 1996, and in Buenos Aires in 1999; Political Challenges for the Financial Sector in the Context of Globalization, Federal Reserve Bank, Washington, D.C. 2002, among others. He began his professional career at the Dominican Republic’s Central Bank in 1970, in the Department of Economic Studies where he occupied various positions: Financial Technical Assistant; Assistant to the Director of the Industrial, Money and Banking Economies. Between 1978 and 1982 he worked as Designated Economist and Under Director of the Department of Tourism Infrastructure (INFRATUR). In 1986 he was named Director of the Department of Economic Studies of the Central Bank. He also occupied other positions within the institution: Director, Department of International Agreements (1984); Under General Manager of Management (1993); Technical Manager (1993-1994); Economic Assistant to the Governor (1983-1984); Economic Adviser to the Governorship (1986) and Vice Governor (1994-2003). He was also the head of the Dominican Republic’s Monetary Board between 2003 and 2004. As a public official, he has served the Dominican government as Assistant to the Economic Adviser of the Executive Office (1977-1978); Director of the National Planning Office -ONAPLAN- (1984-1985); Technical Under Secretary of the Presidency (1985-1986); Ambassador Adviser to the Foreign Ministry (2004-2008) and Country Representative to the Executive Committee of the Central American Integration System (2005-2008). He is currently Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic before the World Trade Organization and other international economic organizations (UNCTAD, ITU and WIPO), all headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland (2008); (UNCTAD President 2010-11 and President of the Informal Group of Developing Countries of the WTO (since April 2010).