Ms Anabel González (Costa Rica) has served as WTO Deputy Director-General since June 2021. Ms González is a renowned global expert on trade, investment and economic development with a proven managerial track record in international organizations and the public sector. In government, Ms Gonzalez served as Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica; Special Ambassador and Chief Negotiator; Vice-Minister of Trade and Director-General for Trade Negotiations. She also worked as Director-General of the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE).

Ms González also served at the World Bank as Senior Director of the Global Practice on Trade and Competitiveness, the WTO as Director of the Agriculture and Commodities Division and as Senior Consultant with the Inter-American Development Bank. More recently, Ms González has worked as a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, where she hosted the virtual series Trade Winds, and as Senior Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group.

Ms González obtained her master's degree from Georgetown University Law Center with the highest academic distinction and has published extensively and lectured across the world on trade, investment and economic development.

Dr. Kunio Mikuriya has been Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) since 1 January 2009. He provides leadership and executive management for the global Customs community’s priorities, including developing global Customs instruments, standards and tools; securing and facilitating global trade; protecting taxable amounts through optimal revenue collection; building Customs-business partnerships; and delivering capacity building in support of Customs reform and modernization.

Prior to joining the WCO, he worked for Japan's Ministry of Finance for 25 years. During his career with the Ministry, Dr. Mikuriya occupied a variety of senior posts, which have given him broad experience and knowledge in Customs, trade, development, budget, and financial policies. He served as Director of Enforcement where he led efforts to fight illicit trade, then as Director of Research and International Affairs, paving the way for the conclusion of Japan’s first regional trade agreement, and then as a Counsellor in the Tariff and Customs Bureau. He also served as Director of Salaries and Allowances to coordinate remuneration levels for the entire government workforce, and as the Budget Controller for Foreign Affairs, Official Aid, International Trade and Industry, in the Budget Bureau. In addition, he spent time as a Counsellor at the Japanese Mission to the WTO in Geneva and participated in the GATT Uruguay Round trade negotiations.

Dr. Mikuriya has a degree in law from the University of Tokyo (Japan) and a PhD in international relations from the University of Kent (United Kingdom).

Renaud de Barbuat has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of GS1 as of 1 July 2022 with the ambition to empower Industry's digital transformation to ultimately benefit consumers and patients.

Renaud is a seasoned executive with more than 30 years of experience in global large-scale business and digital transformation.

He joined GS1 Global Office as Chief Operating Officer in September 2019, leading the implementation of the new 3 Year Plan and the Industry & Product Global programmes.

Prior to that he served as Chief Information Officer of CARREFOUR since 2015, enabling a profound omnichannel, e-commerce and supply chain transformation.

Representing Carrefour in GS1, Renaud served as board member for GS1 France and GS1 Global. He was elected Vice-Chairman of the GS1 Global Management Board in 2018

Chief Information Officer at THALES (Aerospace and Defence) between 2008 and 2013, Renaud de Barbuat implemented a worldwide IT simplification programme.

Between 2002 and 2008, Renaud de Barbuat was Group CIO at EDF (one of the world’s largest Utility companies), preparing the business for a deregulated market and supporting EDF IPO.

As Vice-President of AT Kearney (1996-2002), he managed the automotive and the IT practice in Paris.

Renaud de Barbuat began his career in the Schneider Group as an R&D engineer. In 1988, he joined the consulting firm Eurosept, where he became a partner in charge of SAP Supply Chain activities.

Renaud de Barbuat graduated from Ecole Polytechnique (Palaiseau, France), Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Avancées (Paris, France) and from Carnegie-Mellon University (M.S., Pittsburg, USA).

Tan Sri Datuk Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria is the executive director of the APEC Secretariat based in Singapore, which serves as advisory body, implementation arm and custodian of institutional memory for the 21 member economies that make up the APEC forum.

Dr Sta Maria was a top-level Malaysian civil servant and trade negotiator.

As Secretary-General of the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry from December 2010 to July 2016, she oversaw the formulation of Malaysia’s international trade policies and positions. She often took the lead in their implementation as chief negotiator for bilateral and regional free trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

Dr Sta Maria played an integral role in Malaysia’s participation in multilateral forums such as APEC, where she often represented her economy during the APEC Ministers’ Responsible for Trade Meetings and the Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meetings.

In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Dr Sta Maria chaired the body that drafted the ASEAN Economic Community 2015 Blueprint as well as the ASEAN Economic Community 2025 Blueprint.

An accomplished academic and writer, Dr Sta Maria’s scholarship has been recognized through awards from the American Academy of Human Resource Development and from the University of Georgia. In 2017, she authored a book about her personal slice of Malaysian heritage and
cuisine, called The Smell of Home.

Before 2010, the position of executive director of the APEC Secretariat rotated yearly among officials assigned by the incumbent host economy. Starting in 2010, the appointment was opened to applications from highly qualified professionals who will, when appointed, lead the Secretariat
in fixed three-year terms with an option to renew.

Dr Sta Maria is the first woman executive director of the APEC Secretariat.

Stephan Wolf is CEO of Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF). 

In 2021, he was appointed to an all-new Industry Advisory Board (IAB) as part of the ICC Digital Standards Initiative (DSI). He serves as co-chair of the workstream on Trusted Technology Environment.

Between 2017 and 2020, Stephan was Co-convener of the ISO Technical Committee 68 FinTech Technical Advisory Group (ISO TC 68 FinTech TAG). Stephan has extensive experience in establishing data operations and global implementation strategy. He has led the advancement of key business and product development strategies throughout his career.

In 2017, Stephan was named one of the Top 100 Leaders in Identity by One World Identity. Mr. Wolf holds a university degree in business administration from J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main.