Who Is CSE: Leopoldo Torres

Leopoldo Torres

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

He is founder, President and CEO of Portico, a Costa Rican privately owned corporation; dedicated to the manufacturing of high quality wooden entrance doors, which are exported to the USA, and several other countries in Latin America & Europe.

Since Portico is vertically integrated, an important part of its operations relates to managing tropical forests owned by the company for the sourcing of fine hardwoods.

The forestry operation of Portico was one of the first independently certified. Scientific Certification Systems (Green Cross), a US based certifier, rated the Portico Operations as "State of the art forest management".

In April 1995, a leading institution, The Tropical Forest Foundation whose board is chaired by Dr. Thomas Lovejoy of the Smithsonian Institution and by Mr. Gary Hartshorn, VP for Science of World Wildlife Fund (WWF). gave Portico the firer Award ever granted by The Tropical Forest Foundation, in recognition for:

Applied research for improving tropical forestry
Implementing a long term management pIan
Protecting key wildlife species

Mr. Torres also acts as Chairman of the Costa Rican Chamber of Forestry, the umbrella organization which groups all the forestry and woodworking trade chambers and associations of the country.

Other professional activities of Mr. Torres have encompassed:

Many years walking as consultant in projects for multilateral institutions such as USAID, World Bank, Interamerican Development Bank, for government institutions of Costa Rica, such as the Central Bank and the Ministry of Foreign Trade; and for many private corporations.
He was extensively involved in putting together projects related debt for equity swaps and debt for nature swaps.
Actively participated in the foundation of two major banks in Costa Rica.
Acted as project director for an USAID sponsored program to facilitate privatization of government owned companies, working jointly with First Boston (investment bankers) and Price Waterhouse (consultants).

EDUCATION

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTONOMA DE MEXICO, MEXICO
Bachelor in Business Administration

OXFORD UNIVERSITY, ENGLAND
Masters in Economic Development
Hertford College
Institute of Economic and Statistics. Graduated with distinction

SORBONNE UNIVERSITE, FRANCE
PhD in Economic Development
Paris I - Pantheon. Graduate School.

EDUCATION

FLUENT IN SPANISH, ENGLISH AND FRENCH

NATIONALITY

MR. TORRES IS A MEXICAN BORN CITIZEN.

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