Dr. Sylvia Eva Dohnert de Lascurain
Inter-American Development Bank | Compete Caribbean
Private Sector Lead Specialist | Executive Director
Dr. Sylvia Dohnert is a Private Sector Lead Specialist at the Competitiveness, Technology and Innovation Division of the Inter-American Development Bank, and Compete Caribbean Executive Director since November 2012. The Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility (CCPF) is a multi-donor facility of US$27 million whose objective is to support the Caribbean region in increasing productivity and Caribbean firms’ contribution to economic growth by supporting business climate reforms, cluster initiatives, and technology adoption and innovation in the private sector. It is the second phase of the Compete Caribbean Program, which created over 12,000 jobs in the Caribbean region, and substantially increased revenues and exports of beneficiary firms. The CCPF, jointly financed by the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, the Caribbean Development Bank and the Government of Canada, currently supports over 40 projects in 13 beneficiary countries.
Prior to her work in the Caribbean, Sylvia created and led an economic development agency in the third largest municipality in Venezuela, impacting thousands of lives. Sylvia has worked as a researcher and private sector development consultant in different countries in Latin America. She has done extensive research on industrial policy and is an editor of the recently published monograph: “Exploring firm-level productivity and innovation in developing countries: The perspective of Caribbean Small States”.
Dr. Dohnert holds a Ph.D. in Economic Development and Regional Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).