Valentino Shal is the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Rural Transformation, Community Development, Local Government and Labour for the Government of Belize. From this office, he oversees the rural affairs of the country pertaining to local councils, local economic development and water services. He also oversees the administration of municipal governments and labour and industrial relations in the country. He has been leading a digitization program of the Ministry’s services as well as revising and updating policies and legislation particularly relating to trade license, minimum wage and the labour market.

Prior to his appointment to the Ministry, Mr. Shal was Managing Partner of praxi5 Advisory Group Ltd., a premier development consulting firm based in Belize City. Valentino has been working in the development field for the past 18 years both in Belize and in the Caribbean. He has provided consulting services to major multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, InterAmerican Development Bank, Caribbean Development Bank, and the Government of Belize. He has also worked as a Community Development Specialist for the Belize Social Investment Fund, and Development Liaison in Belize for the Government of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. The breath of his professional experience includes social infrastructure investments, environmental conservation, small enterprise development, social and gender issues, environmental and social safeguards, tourism development, and climate change adaptation.

Mr. Shal has served on the Boards of several organizations in Belize including Galen University, the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) and the Ya’axche Conservation Trust (YCT).

Mr. Shal holds a Master’s Degree in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Belize.