Carla Anderson Hills Keynote Speaker

Carla Anderson Hills is a veteran of international trade having held cabinet positions under two Whitehouse administrations and having been primary U.S negotiator on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Since her 1975 nomination as secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under Gerald Ford, Carla has worked through the heights of US politics. An indomitable advocate of free trade, 1989 saw her confirmed as United States Trade Representative, a role in which she quickly distinguished herself as a formidable negotiator. She would later apply this skill to great effect in the Uruguay round of multilateral trade negotiations. More recently she participated in the Task force on the future of North America, contributing to its report advocating greater coherence and integration in North American Trade.

Carla has also held many other distinguished positions of high office, serving on the board of Directors for: Chevron, IBM and United Airlines; She has been an international advisor to Yale; and is an Executive committee member of the Peterson Institute and Trilaterial commission.

On top of a lifetime of Trade experience, Carla also maintains a special expertise on China: as Chair of the National Committee on US-China Relations. Advisory board member to the National Bureau of Asian Research and Co-chair of the council on Foreign Relations.