Abrão Neto is a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. In addition, Neto is the president and chief executive officer for Amcham Brasil, a not-for-profit organization that represents more than five thousand companies, of various economic sectors, responsible for approximately 33 percent of Brazil’s GDP.

Prior to that position, he served as secretary of foreign trade of Brazil between 2016 and 2018, being involved in several trade and investment negotiations, trade and investment facilitation initiatives, and leading areas in regional integration, trade remedies and trade statistics, among other.

A career foreign trade public servant since 2013, when he was admitted in first place, Neto also acted as deputy secretary of foreign trade and director of international negotiations in the Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services of Brazil.

Before serving the government, Neto worked as an international trade lawyer and as coordinator in the foreign trade and international affairs department of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP).

In 2008, he joined the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the World Trade Organization (WTO) as part of a capacity building program for lawyers in WTO issues. In 2017, he was distinguished by the Brazilian government as Commander of the Order of Rio Branco.

He holds a PhD in international law from the University of São Paulo, and a Masters in International Economics Law from the Catholic University of São Paulo. He was also a visiting PhD researcher at Georgetown University.

Photo credit: Mário Miranda/AMCHAM