Mr. Valdez is a merchant banker specialized in China & Latin America. He has advised Latin-American companies, Chinese SOEs and private enterprises, primarily in the infrastructure and renewable energy sectors for nearly two decades. At present he is working in various projects with strategic partners. This includes CICLO, a Mexican conglomerate, in the development of NetZero MID Multiport, a 2,000+ hectare industrial cluster in Yucatan with clean energy and digital infrastructure. He is also supporting Nilus, a leading startup in food security, RumboVentures and others.From 2012 to earlier this year, Rafael supported Envision Energy as MD for Latin America, building a 2+GW portfolio and putting 6 wind farms in operation (241MW). He executed the company´s first TSA outside of China (Chile), the first overseas direct investment (Mexico), the first non-recourse project finance facilities and multiple auction PPAs.From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Valdez co-founded a few ventures, including SinoLatin Capital, LaREDChina and the Mexican Chamber of Commerce in China (Mexcham), leveraging the experienced gained at ChinaVest, the first private equity firm in China, and other organizations in New York, including ProVentures, The Synergos Institute and the Mission of Mexico at the United Nations. Earlier in his career, he worked for the Mexican Mint as Head of Biz Development and chaired Fundación EDUCA México, one of Mexico’s premier NGOs. He graduated from ITAM with a BA in Economics and completed an MPA in Economic Policy at Columbia University (PEPM) and an MBA at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS).In 2013, he was selected among the “30 promises on their 30s” by CNN Expansion. In 2016, he was named “Champion of the Year in Wind” during Mexico’s International Renewable Energy Conference (MIREC)”.In 2020, he was invited by the Mexican Council for Foreign Trade, Investment & Technology (COMCE) to chair the Mexico-China Bilateral Committee. He served FENLACC (Business Federation of Latin America & China) as Chairman from 2021 to 2023.Specialties:Investment Banking, Private Equity, Energy, Business Development, China & Latin America