Strategic Advisory for Economic Transformation
Driving systemic change for a resilient future
25+ years of expertise delivering transformational development solutions across 40+ countries
Our Impact at a Glance
25+
Years of Expertise
in international development
$200M+
Programs Managed
and delivered
40+
Countries Served
across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean
About Us
Global Partners Consulting
Strategic advisory and implementation expertise for economic transformation in resilient markets.
About GPC
Founded in 2003, Global Partners Consulting is a boutique international development consultancy based in Windermere, Florida (USA). GPC provides strategic advisory and program implementation support to multilateral development banks, bilateral donors, governments, and private sector clients navigating complex economic development challenges in resilient markets.
GPC operates at the intersection of private sector development, investment promotion, economic competitiveness, and labor mobility — with deep roots in Latin America, the Caribbean, and small island developing states.
Strategic Planning & Advisory
Guiding clients through complex challenges with tailored strategies for sustainable growth and impactful development initiatives.
Program Design & Implementation
Developing robust programs from concept to execution, ensuring effective delivery and measurable outcomes across diverse contexts.
Institutional Strengthening
Enhancing organizational capacity, governance, and operational efficiency to foster long-term resilience and effectiveness.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL)
Establishing rigorous systems to track progress, evaluate impact, and promote continuous learning and adaptive management.
Capacity Building
Empowering local partners and stakeholders with essential skills, knowledge, and resources for self-sufficiency and sustained development.
Private Sector Development
Fostering business ecosystems and market-led solutions for investment, innovation, and sustainable economic competitiveness.
Our Approach
Context-Driven Strategy
Every engagement starts with the political economy, institutional landscape, and market dynamics of the specific country or region, ensuring strategic solutions are rooted in context, delivering sustainable impact.
Implementation-Tested
GPC doesn't just advise—it implements. Our methodologies, stress-tested across 40+ countries, are validated by demanding institutional clients, bridging the gap between strategic theory and measurable, field-proven success.
Results-Oriented Delivery
Every engagement is structured around measurable outcomes — not activity reports. GPC designs interventions with clear theories of change, built-in evaluation frameworks, and accountability to both clients and beneficiaries.
Our Services
What We Do
GPC provides end-to-end advisory and implementation support across six interconnected practice areas.
01
Trade, Investment Promotion & FDI Strategy
- National and subnational trade and investment promotion strategy design
- Investment promotion agency (IPA) creation, restructuring, and capacity building
- Investor targeting, marketing, and aftercare systems
- FDI policy and regulatory environment reform
- Market intelligence, operating cost benchmarking and site competitiveness analysis
02
Economic Competitiveness & Diversification
- Economic competitiveness diagnostics and gap analysis
- Diversification strategies for resource-dependent economies
- Business environment reform and regulatory simplification
- Public-private dialogue facilitation
- Competitiveness program design for multilateral funding
03
Private Sector Development & SME Growth
- SME development program design and implementation
- Value chain analysis and upgrading strategies
- Access to finance and fintech expansion advisory
- Entrepreneurship ecosystem development
- Returnee entrepreneurship and diaspora engagement
04
Labor Mobility & Workforce Development
- Circular labor migration program design (H-2 visa and similar frameworks)
- Workforce development aligned with private sector demand
- Migration and development policy advisory
- Managed migration as a tool for economic development
- Returnee reintegration and skills transfer programs
05
Program Design & Implementation
- Theory of change and results framework development
- Chief of Party and senior team leadership
- Program turnaround and adaptive management
- Multi-stakeholder coordination and donor relations
- Monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems
06
Research & Policy Analysis
- Trade Gravity Models and export potential analysis
- Impact evaluation (Difference-in-Differences, Propensity Score Matching)
- Multi-country SME surveys and econometric modeling
- Policy studies and regulatory impact assessment
- Sector and market entry studies
Our Clients
Trusted by leading institutions worldwide.
Capabilities
Capabilities
GPC's practice is built on deep thematic knowledge developed through decades of applied work and research across emerging markets.
How We Work
GPC combines rigorous analytical methods with deep contextual knowledge to deliver actionable insights and measurable results. Our toolkit spans econometric modeling, impact evaluation, and applied policy research.
01
Investment Promotion & FDI
GPC brings nearly three decades of experience in investment promotion — from building national investment promotion agencies from the ground up to designing investor targeting strategies for subnational governments. Our FDI work spans strategy design, institutional capacity building, regulatory reform, and competitive benchmarking across Latin America and the Caribbean.
02
Economic Diversification
Many of GPC's client countries face the challenge of moving beyond dependence on a single commodity or sector. We design diversification strategies grounded in competitive analysis, value chain mapping, and institutional assessment — with particular depth in Caribbean SIDS and resource-dependent economies.
03
Labor Mobility & Migration
GPC operates at the intersection of managed migration and private sector development. Our signature contribution is demonstrating that circular labor mobility programs — like the H-2 visa framework scaled in El Salvador — can simultaneously address migration policy objectives and drive economic development through skills transfer, remittance-to-investment conversion, and returnee entrepreneurship.
04
Private Sector Engagement (PSE)
GPC integrates private sector actors into development programming as operational partners, not just beneficiaries or CSR contributors. This means designing programs where business incentives and development outcomes are structurally aligned — creating sustainability beyond donor funding cycles.
05
Impact Evaluation & Applied Research
GPC's analytical capabilities include Difference-in-Differences (DiD), Propensity Score Matching (PSM), Trade Gravity Models, multi-country SME surveys, and econometric modeling for policy analysis. We apply these tools to measure what works, inform program design, and strengthen evidence-based decision-making for our clients.
06
Digital Economy & Fintech
GPC is expanding its practice into digital financial inclusion and fintech expansion in underserved markets. Recent work includes designing fintech market entry strategies for Central American markets and advising on innovation ecosystem development at the intersection of technology and economic development.
Our Analytical Toolkit
Trade Gravity Models
Econometric modeling to identify untapped export and investment flows between country pairs, informing trade promotion and FDI targeting strategies.
Difference-in-Differences (DiD)
Quasi-experimental impact evaluation method used to measure the causal effect of development interventions by comparing treatment and control groups over time.
Propensity Score Matching (PSM)
Statistical technique for constructing comparable treatment and control groups in non-randomized program evaluations, enabling rigorous impact measurement.
Multi-Country SME Surveys
Standardized survey instruments deployed across multiple markets to benchmark SME performance, constraints, and growth potential.
Competitiveness Diagnostics
Systematic assessment of a country or region's competitive position using quantitative benchmarking, institutional analysis, and stakeholder consultation.
Value Chain Analysis
End-to-end mapping of sector value chains to identify upgrading opportunities, bottlenecks, and intervention points for SME integration and export readiness.
Political Economy Analysis
Assessment of the institutional, political, and stakeholder dynamics that shape reform feasibility and program design in complex environments.
Our Impact
Our Impact
Selected engagements spanning three decades of development practice across Latin America, the Caribbean, and emerging markets worldwide.
Client: FUNDESA | Implementation Partners: Harvard Center for International Development (CID) - Dalberg Global Development Advisors | Country: Guatemala | Period: 2011
Guatemala — Inclusive Economic Development Strategy
Challenge
Guatemala's economy was characterized by high inequality, limited private sector dynamism, and economic concentration in traditional sectors. The challenge was to design an inclusive growth strategy that broadened economic participation across multiple sectors and created employment opportunities across different skill and income levels, while ensuring equitable distribution of growth benefits to small and medium enterprises and rural communities.
What GPC Did
GPC executed a comprehensive economic transformation strategy rooted in a rigorous sectoral competitiveness approach. The cornerstone of this intervention was the development of 25 Value Chain Action Plans, covering diverse sectors such as agribusiness, tourism, BPO, renewable energy, and light manufacturing.
For each of these 25 chains, GPC conducted exhaustive diagnostics to identify production bottlenecks and market access barriers. This resulted in the creation of detailed roadmaps that integrated strategic investments, technology adoption, upgraded certification standards, and tailored financing mechanisms.
A standout feature of these plans was the incorporation of inclusive growth mechanisms, specifically designed to integrate MSMEs and rural producers into high-value markets through supplier development programs and credit guarantee funds.
To ensure sustainability, GPC facilitated institutional coordination through public-private dialogue forums, aligning government incentives with sectoral objectives. Finally, the firm provided direct technical assistance to strategic partners like FUNDESA, strengthening the capacity of officials to ensure successful execution and long-term impact.
This systemic approach converted theoretical analysis into an operational engine for diversified and inclusive economic growth.
Result
Guatemala's inclusive development strategy established a replicable model for multi-sector economic transformation that directly connected private sector competitiveness improvements to SME and rural income growth. The 25 value chain plans became the operational foundation for government economic development policy and private sector investment strategy alignment. The approach demonstrated that inclusive growth is not a constraint on competitiveness but a prerequisite for sustainable, diversified economic development.
Client: Caribbean Export Development Agency / Multiple Caribbean Governments | Countries: CARIFORUM - Caribbean region (multi-country) | Period: 2014–2015
Caribbean Regional Investment Promotion Strategy
Challenge
Caribbean nations face acute vulnerabilities as small, open economies heavily dependent on tourism, commodity exports, and external capital flows. The region faced simultaneous pressures: declining competitiveness in traditional sectors, limited FDI attraction capacity, brain drain, climate vulnerability, and weak institutional investment promotion frameworks. The opportunity was to develop a unified regional strategy enabling individual countries to position themselves as complementary investment destinations while leveraging regional trade agreements and institutional cooperation.
What GPC Did
- Strengthened Caribbean investment agencies through restructuring and operational modernization. Conducted competitiveness diagnostics to target high-potential sectors—including tourism, BPO, and agribusiness—while developing tailored incentive frameworks and investor lead-generation campaigns. Facilitated regional coordination to harmonize policies and prevent subsidy competition, alongside business environment reforms focused on regulatory simplification and investment climate improvements. By aligning institutional capacity with strategic sector targeting, this initiative enhanced regional positioning and attracted institutional capital through collaborative governance and modernized protocols across multiple jurisdictions.
Result
The strategy positioned Caribbean nations as a coherent investment destination within a competitive global landscape. Participating countries established credible investment promotion operations, increased institutional capacity for investor engagement, and successfully attracted investments in targeted sectors. The regional coordination framework reduced competitive tensions and demonstrated that small island developing states can achieve meaningful FDI increases through strategic positioning rather than unsustainable race-to-the-bottom incentive competition.
Client: USAID / Palladium | Country: El Salvador | Period: 2018–2025
USAID El Salvador Economic — Program Turnaround & Labor Mobility
Challenge
Assumed leadership of a $51M economic competitiveness program facing significant organizational misalignment and operational setbacks. Successfully restored stability under high-stakes USAID scrutiny and drove exceptional performance, surpassing targets across 26 quantitative indicators to secure the program’s long-term impact.
What GPC Did
Reconfigured the program into a Private Sector Engagement (PSE) engine focused on MSME capacity building and transformation. Developed strategic support programs and partnered with Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs) to strengthen local ecosystems. Scaled the H-2 Visa Labor Mobility Program to 15,000+ annual placements and launched 'Transformando Vidas' to channel worker savings into entrepreneurship. Successfully restructured operations and restored USAID confidence.
Result
Transformed the program into one of USAID's most successful in El Salvador. Demonstrated that managed circular migration can simultaneously serve as migration policy and economic development strategy. Exceeded 26 quantitative indicators across four pillars: Economic Impact ($414M sales, 46,552 jobs), MSME Capacity Building (18,900 firms assisted), Market Access (export readiness), and Business Environment (regulatory reform). This strategy revitalized the economy through private sector engagement and innovation, addressing the root causes of migration through sustainable competitiveness.
Client: Venezuelan National Council for Investment Promotion | Country: Venezuela | Period: Nearly a decade (1992 - 2001)
CONAPRI Venezuela — Building a National Investment Promotion Agency
Challenge
Lead Venezuela's national investment promotion agency during a period of significant political and economic volatility.
What GPC Did
Designed governance structure, operational protocols, and full-lifecycle investment promotion strategy. Built investor targeting, marketing, site readiness, and aftercare capabilities. Developed operating cost benchmarks with 200+ data points versus regional competitors. Positioned Venezuela as a competitive destination for U.S., European, and Asian investors.
Result
Established CONAPRI as a credible institutional partner for international investors and multilateral organizations.
Additional Project Highlights
GoInvest Guyana — Trade & Investment Development Strategy
Client: Government of Guyana / IDB | Country: Guyana | Period: 2019–2023
GPC conducted a comprehensive trade and investment development analysis leveraging Guyana's strategic geographic position and emerging resource wealth. The engagement included bilateral trade analysis, export potential identification, investment climate assessment, and development of strategic trade and investment promotion initiatives aligned with Guyana's diversification objectives.
K-CAFTA Internationalization Platform for Central American Enterprises
Client: CABEI | Countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Panama | Period: 2023–2025
GPC designed and implemented a digital platform supporting SME internationalization under the Korea-Central America Free Trade Agreement. The project combined bilateral trade potential assessments with an online platform providing Central American enterprises with market data, buyer directories, regulatory guidance, and K-CAFTA training resources.
Dominican Republic — SME Trade Capacity Building & Market Access
Client: Government of Dominican Republic / IDB | Period: March–September 2015
GPC executed a strategic trade and capacity building initiative for Dominican SMEs targeting the U.S. market, with emphasis on leveraging the Dominican diaspora in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts as a market entry vehicle. The engagement included bilateral trade analysis, technical barrier assessment, and diaspora engagement strategy development.
PROESA El Salvador — Textile & BPO Sector Cost Benchmarking
Client: PROESA / IDB | Countries: El Salvador, Central America, Dominican Republic, Mexico | Period: 2016–2017
GPC conducted a comprehensive cost benchmarking study of the BPO and textile sectors across Central America, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, incorporating over 200 operational data points. The study provided El Salvador with quantitative evidence of competitive positioning to support targeted FDI attraction campaigns.
Brazil SEBRAE — Industrial Clusters Value Chain Impact Evaluation
Client: FOMIN / SEBRAE | Country: Brazil | Period: January–September 2010
GPC directed a comprehensive impact evaluation of Brazil's industrial cluster development initiative across four production clusters: fashion and intimate apparel, furniture and wood products, leather goods and footwear, and handicrafts and apparel. The evaluation included enterprise surveys of 300+ companies and generated institutional learning for subsequent FOMIN interventions.
Ecuador Presidential Office — Investment & Business Climate Institutional Strengthening
Client: Presidencia de la República del Ecuador / IDB | Country: Ecuador | Period: 2018–2024
GPC provided strategic institutional strengthening support to Ecuador's presidential office for consolidation and modernization of the country's investment promotion and business climate infrastructure. The engagement included diagnostic assessment, design of an integrated institutional model, ZEDE integration into investment promotion strategy, and capacity building for investment promotion professionals.
Our Team
Senior Practitioners, Global Reach
GPC's engagements are led by senior practitioners with decades of hands-on experience across emerging markets, multilateral institutions, and complex development programs.
Team Members
Luis Soto
President & CEO
Attorney and MBA with over 20 years competitiveness and business climate reform projects across Latin America and the Caribbean for the World Bank, IDB, USAID, and CAF. Former Chief of Party USAID El Salvador Economic Competitiveness Program
María Eugenia Labrador
Research & Strategy Manager Director
Industrial engineer and MBA with over 15 years in investment promotion, sector benchmarking, and market intelligence. Former analyst at CONAPRI and Euromonitor International covering Latin America.
Miguel Soto
Strategy & Business Development Vice-President
Financial services strategist and former McKinsey consultant and EY director. Expert in strategy, leadership, and corporate development across LATAM, driving GPC’s growth and client engagement.
Alberto Mestas
Regulatory & Policy Specialist Vice-President
Attorney and PhD candidate with expertise in business climate reform, investment regulation, and public policy evaluation. Former coordinator for GIZ, IDB/Compete Caribbean, and CAF projects across Latin America.
Associates
Dr. Andrés Saldías
Senior Trade & Investment Advisor
PhD in International Trade with 25+ years driving FDI attraction, export promotion, and SME competitiveness across 46 countries. Proven track record generating $850M+ in nearshoring investments across Central America and Africa.
Aldo Manelia
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Specialist
Systems engineer and M.A. in Applied Statistics with 12+ years designing M&E systems and information platforms for USAID-funded programs in El Salvador, Panama, and Colombia.
Camila Flores
Economic Development Specialist
Program management specialist with 15+ years in USAID-funded economic development, trade facilitation, workforce development, and gender mainstreaming. Former WFP Program Officer. Based in El Salvador.
Jose Veliz Torresano
International Trade Intelligence Specialist
Master of International Affairs with 20+ years designing inclusive market systems, blue/green economy strategies, and NTFP value chains across the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.
Contact Us
Let's Discuss Your Economic Transformation Challenge
Whether you're designing a new program, entering a new market, or navigating a complex institutional environment — GPC provides the strategic clarity and operational experience your engagement demands.
Global Partners Consulting
Strategic Advisory for Economic Transformation
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