H.E. Julio Hector Estrada is the Minister of Public Finance, Guatemala. He is an Economist who graduated from Francisco Marroquin (Guatemala) and holds a master's degree in business administration from the business school INSEAD (France). His professional career began in 1997 as a risk control officer - Citibank's Treasury Exposure and Risk Control FX and Derivatives Trading in Zurich, Switzerland. Between 1998 and 2003 he cofounded and was general manager of the company Palo Blanco Development S.A in Guatemala. In 2004, he worked for the strategic consulting firm A.T. Kearney International. In 2005, he was appointed Assistant Director for Latin America at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2008 he held the position of Executive Director of the National Competitiveness Program (Pronacom) Guatemala. In 2010, he became the Technical Coordinator of the project "Mejoremos Guate" (Let's improve Guatemala), which in parallel drives the Foundation for Development (Fundesa). At that time, he also assumes the position of General Director of the real estate company Desarrollo Palo Blanco. From 2012 to 2015, he served as Executive Director of the National Agency for the Development of Economic Infrastructure (Anadie). He is the local editor of the monthly country report for The Economist Intelligence Unit since 2012, national media columnist, as well as President and founder of the Utz Samaj project in Tecpán, Chimaltenango.
