Enrique Iglesias was the first secretary general of the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB) and the third president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), serving from 2005 to 2014 and 1988 to 2005, respectively. 

Prior to his election as president of the IDB, Iglesias was Uruguay’s minister of foreign relations, (1985-1988); executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), (1972-1985); secretary general of the UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy, held in Kenya in 1981; and chairman of the conference that launched the Uruguay round of international trade negotiations in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 1986, the negotiations which led to the creation of the World Trade Organization. Iglesias served as president of  the Central Bank of Uruguay from 1966 to 1968.

Iglesias has taught economic development at Uruguay’s Universidad de la República and served as director of its Institute of Economics. He has written numerous articles and papers on Latin American and Uruguayan economic issues, capital markets, external financing, and multilateralism. Iglesias has received many honorary academic degrees and professional awards.

Iglesias graduated from the Uruguay’s Universidad de la República in economics and business administration in 1953 and pursued specialized programs of study in the United States and France.

Iglesias joined the Dialogue as a Member in 1984. He currently serves as the Vice Chair Emeritus for the Dialogue’s Board of Directors.