Simona Obreja counts with 16 years professional experience in international development and cooperation. She has been working on priority issues on the EU-Latin America and the Caribbean agenda through landmark projects such as: AL-INVEST IV, DG EuropeAid (Internationalisation of Latin American SMEs, 62M€), and AL-Invest 5.0 (Inclusive Growth for Social Cohesion in Latin America, 25M€), supporting Latin American companies & SMEs in their internationalization by creating economic relations with their European counterparts, supporting the implementation of Free Trade Agreements and contributing to Private Sector Development. She was also part of the implementation of ELAN (European and Latin American Network to promote the co-generation and development of technology-based business opportunities 5,5M€), Latin America Intellectual Property Rights SME Helpdesk (2,2M€, DG GROW, facilitating the expansion of the EU SMEs in Latin America) and Energy Efficiency in Argentina (4.5M€, 2018-2021). Her role as Team Leader of the EU - Latin America and the Caribbean Policy Dialogues Support Facility (FPI, 2020-2023, 5M€) allowed her to work on the priorities set out in the EU Global Strategy and the Joint Communication on EU-LAC relations through policy dialogues, legislative harmonization, high-level exchanges, improved participation of civil society and private sector, and Public Diplomacy actions. She was involved in the organization of pre and post 2023 EU-CELAC Summit activities, policy dialogues and public diplomacy activities in key priority sectors: Digital Transformation (EU-LAC Digital Agenda, Digital Decade, BELLA Programme/ Ella-link transatlantic cable, regulatory convergence telecoms and media), climate change, marine plastic pollution, sargassum proliferation in the Caribbean, sustainable agriculture value chains and food systems (Farm to Fork Strategy), Research and Innovation (Horizon Europe, Open Science), Investment (Global Gateway). More recently, as part of the “EU-Latin America and the Caribbean Critical Raw Materials Support Action”, she delivered a report on investment opportunities and gaps in the mining sector in LAC and mitigation strategies to promote public and private investment partnerships.