Secretary General

Rodolfo Sabonge is an expert in Strategic Foresight, Market Research, and Competitive Intelligence in logistics, transportation, maritime development, and ports. During more than 15 years, Sabonge led the areas of Planning, Marketing, and Business Development of the Panama Canal Authority. During his tenure at the Panama Canal, Sabonge led the transition planning of the transfer of the Canal from the U.S. to the Panamanian Government, and later led the demand, market, and economic impact studies that justified the expansion of the Panama Canal. Before entering the Panama Canal he was General Manager of the Panama Railroad, and in his early professional career he worked in the Electronic Industry in the United States.

Sabonge graduated from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana as Mechanical Engineer, continued with graduate studies in Business Administration at the University of Miami, Florida, and has a master’s degree in Maritime Development from the School of Law, University of Panama. Sabonge completed an executive program conducted by Stanford University and the University of Singapore in Singapore, and a program on sustaining competitiveness taught by Michael Porter in Harvard Business School.

Since November 2020, Rodolfo Sabonge is Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. Intergovernmental Organization composed of 25 Member States and 10 Associates. Before that, he directed his own practice in Logitran Advisory Services, Corp. and as External Advisor to McKinsey & Co. Sabonge was also Research Professor in the Institute of Canal and International Studies at the University of Panama, and was Vice-Chancellor for Graduate Studies, Research, and Continuing Education at the International Maritime University of Panama. In the past, Sabonge was member of several committees of the U.S. Transportation Research Board and was also a member of the World Economic Forum´s Global Agenda Council on Logistics & Supply Chain. Recently he led the creation and establishment of the IMO´s Maritime Technology Center for Latin America.