Lucas Palacios

Lucas Palacios

Former Minister of Economy for Chile, Architect of Economic Resilience & Educational Innovator

Core Intelligence Domain: Economics & Public Policy
Location: Santiago, Chile | Languages: Spanish, English
Representation: Represented globally by PSpeakers Global Intelligence

Lucas Palacios is a distinguished economist, public policy expert, and visionary academic leader renowned for navigating complex macroeconomic landscapes and driving large-scale institutional transformation. As the former Minister of Economy, Development, and Tourism of Chile, he was pivotal in architecting the nation’s economic resilience strategy during a period of unprecedented global disruption. By leveraging advanced macroeconomic frameworks, Palacios safeguarded the operational continuity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and accelerated digitisation across key industrial sectors, ensuring a robust post-pandemic recovery trajectory.

With a profound background in both macroeconomics and high-level public administration, Palacios has consistently championed proprietary strategic frameworks that foster sustainable growth and rigorous public-private collaboration. During his influential tenure as Chile’s Undersecretary of Public Works, he oversaw critical infrastructure developments and logistical optimisations that laid the foundation for the country’s long-term economic competitiveness. His executive leadership philosophy centres on pragmatic, data-driven interventions that bridge the historical gap between governmental policy formulation and private-sector agility.

Currently serving as the Rector of INACAP, one of Chile’s largest and most prestigious higher education institutions, Palacios is at the global forefront of redefining technical and vocational training. He is actively deploying forward-thinking models to align educational curricula with the uncompromising demands of the modern, technology-driven economy. By embedding innovation into academia, he ensures that the next generation’s workforce is fully equipped to capitalise on the challenges and opportunities presented by automation, artificial intelligence, and highly globalised supply chains.

Strategic Foresight & Speaking Topics

• Macroeconomic Resilience & Crisis Management: Proprietary strategies for steering national economies and vast corporate ecosystems through periods of extreme geopolitical and economic volatility.
• Public-Private Partnerships (PPP): Leveraging collaborative commercial and governmental frameworks to drive sustainable infrastructure, foreign investment, and scalable economic development.
• The Future of Work & Educational Transformation: Reimagining vocational and technical training to meet the rapidly evolving technological demands of Industry 4.0.
• SME Digitisation & Inclusive Growth: Empowering small and medium-sized enterprises to scale and compete globally through aggressive technological adoption and strategic innovation.
• Latin American Economic Outlook: High-level intelligence and deep insights into the investment landscape, regulatory shifts, and emerging corporate opportunities within Latin American markets.

Key Takeaways

• Former Chilean Minister of Economy, Development, and Tourism, and Undersecretary of Public Works, possessing top-tier public sector leadership experience.
• Current Rector of INACAP, spearheading nationwide educational innovation and future-proof workforce readiness.
• Proven expert in crisis management, having masterminded Chile’s economic recovery and SME protection policies during the global pandemic.
• A leading voice on macroeconomic strategy, public-private collaboration, and sustainable national infrastructure.
• Highly sought-after strategic advisor for multinational corporations and institutions analysing Latin American markets and economic policy.