I Interviews and Insights

Henry Kardonski is the Managing Director of London and Regional Panama, Master Developer of the Special Economic Area of Panama Pacifico, a public-private alliance, and an innovative, multicultural and sustainable development that offers opportunities for growth and well-being. The Panama Pacifico project master plan, which lasts 40 years on renewable, contemplates the creation of a development hub on the pacific side of Panama, linked to the intermodal system and the Panama Canal; and is planned to be a sustainable city of up to 100 thousand inhabitants, 30 thousand homes, 40 thousand jobs, civic and recreational spaces. In the first 10 years of development it has gathered more than 4,500 residents, more than 1,500 students in 5 prestigious schools, the generation of more than 10,000 jobs and the attraction of more than 280 multinational and national companies to Panama Pacifico. Kardonski is a graduate of Brandeis University and holds a master's degree in finance from Columbia Business School. He has extensive experience in banking, real estate, and logistics.

Stefan Kratzsch has been working for UNIDO for more than 15 years in areas of investment promotion and private sector development. He is employed as an Industrial Development Officer in the Investment and Technology Promotion Division of UNIDO's Department of Digitalization, Technology and Innovation. Stefan is holder of a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering from the Technical University of Karlsruhe, Germany and holder of a PhD from Leipzig University, Germany. The theme of Stefan's PhD, which he completed in 2018, is on 'Forms and performance of foreign direct investments in Sub-Saharan Africa'. Stefan is managing a wide range of UNIDO projects in different geographical regions focusing on capacity building for investment promotion agencies (IPAs) in areas of investment monitoring, attraction/retention, aftercare, backward linkages and digital investment promotion techniques. He also oversees UNIDO's Programme in relation to Subcontracting and Partnership Exchange Centres (SPX).