Sérgio Alves

An expert in international affairs, specialising in the fields of geopolitics, diplomacy and business internationalisation. He is a senior official at AICEP, E.P.E., the Portuguese Agency for Internationalisation and Foreign Trade. He served as Secretary-General and Executive Director of the Portuguese-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry; as a diplomatic aide to the Prime Minister; as a political adviser to the President of the Socialist International; and as Executive Secretary of the High-Level Panel on UN Reform. He worked with the International Department of the Socialist Party and was active in politics at local, national and international levels. Between 1997 and 2004, he served as press officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); he worked as a journalist for *Diário de Notícias* and *Focus* magazine, and served as a consultant on internationalisation for various institutions and companies. He is the founder and director of a cultural promotion association (2013–present) and a member of political and economic organisations.

He holds a degree in International Relations and has postgraduate qualifications in the History of International Relations and Political Science from the Autonomous University of Lisbon, ISCTE-IUL and the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, as well as various technical training courses. He is a PhD candidate at the New University of Lisbon – his areas of academic interest include geopolitical risk and conflict resolution, international economics and Portuguese foreign policy.