Professional Experience:
Melvin is a Private Sector Development Specialist with 26 years of experience in 28 countries. He brings to bear considerable expertise in: 1) improving the performance of public sector agencies that interact directly with foreign investors and entrepreneurs; and, 2) reducing legal, administrative and regulatory impediments to foreign direct investment, trade and small and medium enterprise growth.
Melvin is currently based in Vientiane, Laos where he most recently served as Chief of Party (Project Director) of the USAID Laos Business Environment Project. Prior to moving to Laos in 2017, he worked for 6 years in the United Arab Emirates, initially as a Strategy Consulting Manager with Deloitte Middle East and subsequently as Executive Director - Strategy and Policy with the Dubai Creative Clusters Authority (DCCA), now known as the Dubai Development Authority.
Prior to relocating to the UAE in 2011, he worked in the Washington DC-area as a Specialist Master in the Emerging Markets Practice of Deloitte Consulting LLP and a Manager at BearingPoint, Inc. At Deloitte Consulting LLP, Melvin managed and implemented donor-funded technical assistance programs in trade and investment policy, business environment reform, and regulatory and institutional reform in developing and emerging market countries. At BearingPoint, Melvin was a Manager in the Trade, Law and Commerce Practice with technical and managerial responsibility for USAID, World Bank and direct client-funded engagements in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, Armenia, Russia and East Africa.
Melvin previously served in the United States House of Representatives as a Senior Policy Advisor in Foreign Policy and International Trade to a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Prior to that assignment, he worked as a Manager in the Investment Policy and Governance Practice of The Services Group (now DT Global), a boutique economic consulting firm specializing in trade and investment policy and special economic zones.