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Jaime
Serra

Former secretary of trade and industry of Mexico; former secretary of finance of Mexico

Jaime Serra, member of APCO’s International Advisory Council, is a former Mexican government official, having served from 1986 to 1994 in roles including undersecretary of finance, secretary of trade and industry, and secretary of finance. As secretary of trade and industry, he led the negotiation and implementation of NAFTA; headed the negotiations of free-trade agreements with Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia and Costa Rica; and promoted the creation of the Federal Competition Commission in Mexico.

He is currently the chairman of SAI Law and Economics, a Mexican consulting firm. He is also the founder of the Arbitration Center of Mexico, the NAFTA Fund of Mexico and electronic auctions company Aklara.

From 1994 to 2001, Mr. Serra was a member of the Yale Corporation, the governing board and policy-making body for Yale University, where he currently co-chairs the President’s Council on International Activities. He has also served as a board member of Mexico’s National Institute for Genomic Medicine. He is a member of the Trilateral Commission and director of the board for Chiquita Brands International, The Mexico Fund, Tenaris, Vitro and Grupo Modelo.

Mr. Serra is a graduate of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. He earned a master’s degree in economics at El Colegio de Mexico and a Ph.D. in economics at Yale University. He has been a professor of economics at El Colegio de Mexico, Stanford University, Princeton University and New York University.

Mr. Serra is a recipient of the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal at Yale University (1993) and the National Prize for Social Sciences (1986), and Economics (1979) in Mexico.