Samir Mariñez
Senior Consultant
Escritórios: Colombia
Email: samir.marinez@technopolis-group.com
Samir Marinez is a seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience in international development, specializing in private sector development, strategic leadership, and program management across various cultural settings. His expertise spans financing, innovation, technology development, and portfolio management, with a strong focus on sustainable development and technological adoption.
Throughout his career, Samir has held several pivotal roles in different organizations, contributing to his deep understanding of diverse development challenges and opportunities. As a Project Development Consultant at the Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility under the Inter-American Development Bank, he managed a USD 6 million grant portfolio. This portfolio included 12 technical cooperation projects with over 80 team members, aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems, business innovation circularity, and the adoption of cutting-edge technology and digitalization in sectors like biotech, edutech, insurtech, and Green IT.
Prior to this, Samir served as a Project Consultant at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology where he led a USD 6 million fund and managed 15 dynamic multisectoral and multidisciplinary teams to execute R&D and innovation projects, including AI projects in areas such as energy and smart manufacturing.
Samir was the Head of Innovation and University-Industry Collaboration at the Ministerio de Educación Superior, Ciencia y Tecnología (MESCyT) in the Dominican Republic. Here, he played a crucial role in strengthening the national innovation ecosystem that impacted hundreds of startups and businesses, fostering innovation, technology adoption, digitalization and SMEs development throughout the country.
Samir currently serves as an advisor for multiple prestigious organizations and high government officials in the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean on topics such as international cooperation, resource mobilization, and the adoption of innovative financing mechanisms. His expertise guides the development of private sector initiatives, technology and innovation, green economy transitions, conservation, and sustainability. His advisory roles involve leveraging grants, sovereign and concessional loans, cross-sector tax credits and incentive source funding, blended finance, multiple stakeholder partnership trusts, conservation finance, and public-private partnerships to fund climate-related and sustainable initiatives through the use of innovation and cutting-edge technologies.
Currently, Samir is a Senior Consultant responsible for the Caribbean Region at Technopolis Group, where he leads initiatives in digital transformations, entrepreneurship, SMEs & industry, green economy, and more. His work significantly advances digital transformation and bolsters entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems across 13 Caribbean countries, supporting MSMEs in adopting new technologies and sustainable practices.
Samir holds a Master’s Degree in International Business from EAE Business School, Spain, and a BA in Business Administration from Universidad Iberoamericana, Dominican Republic. He also has specialized certifications from MIT and Georgetown University in science, technology, and innovation policy, and leadership in government, respectively. Fluent in Spanish, French, and English, Samir’s comprehensive skill set and multilingual abilities enable him to effectively lead and implement complex development projects across the Caribbean.
