Eng. Sultan Al-Hamidi is the Chief Executive of the Social Development Bank (SDB), appointed in February 2024. He has been instrumental in steering the organization towards realizing its strategic vision of creating a comprehensive ecosystem of superior and unique financial products and services tailored for entrepreneurs and the community, in line with Saudi Vision 2030. His leadership has been pivotal in spearheading digital transformation initiatives, enhancing operational efficiency, and driving innovation to maximize impact on the growth of the national economy. He has played a crucial role in developing sustainable finance strategies and forging strategic partnerships to broaden SDB's impact and support economic diversification.
He previously served as the Chief Business Officer at SDB since October 2019, where he played a prominent role in helping SDB achieve its strategic objective of developing an integrated system of high-quality and distinctive financial products and services, aimed at Saudi entrepreneurs and members of society.
Sultan played a significant role in launching several financial and non-financial services, as well as savings and training programs, as part of SDB’s efforts to foster a culture of entrepreneurship, encourage a savings mindset, support various segments of society, and nurture the growth of startups and SMEs.
Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kassabi has been the Minister of Commerce since 2016. He also currently serves as chair of the board of directors for several organizations in his capacity as Minister of Commerce. These include the National Competitiveness Center, the Saudi Business Center, and Monshaat, the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority.
He also currently chairs the General Authority of Foreign Trade, the Saudi Standards, Metrology, and Quality Organization, along with the Saudi Accreditation Center. Additionally, he is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Organization for Chartered and Professional Accountants.
Previously, Dr. Al-Kassabi served as Acting Minister of Media, Acting Minister of Rural Affairs, and Minister of Social Affairs. He also used to serve as Advisor at the Chief Administration Office of His Highness the Crown Prince with Minister’s rank.
Al-Kassabi earned his B.A. in Civil Administration from the University of Portland in 1981, followed by his Master’s in the same field from the University of Berkeley in 1982. In 1983, he earned his Master’s in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri, followed by his PhD in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri in 1985.
Al-Mashat enjoys more than 20 years of international experience in central banking, financial systems, monetary policy frameworks, international cooperation policies and strategies, sustainable development, and climate finance. She is a co-founder and member of several advisory boards, international alliances, and associations. She pushes forward partnerships and multilateralism as key enablers to accelerate sustainable development, climate action, and gender equality. Managing the country’s partnerships with numerous bilateral and multilateral development institutions, she ensures the alignment and synergy of development finance and activities across different economic sectors. Al-Mashat developed Egypt’s Country Platform for the Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy «NWFE» نُوَف ي , to leverage Egypt’s international partnerships and mobilize climate finance to accelerate the green transition. Her previous roles at the IMF, working with governments in the Middle East & Central Asia, Africa, and Asia, expanded her expertise in development systems and structural reforms in developing and emerging economies. Moreover, she has several publications on monetary policy, financial stability, and institutional reforms.
H.E Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat has been part of Egypt’s cabinet of ministers since 2018, where she currently serves as the Minister of Planning, Economic Development & International Cooperation, and has previously served as the Minister of International Cooperation (Dec 2019 - July 2024), and also as the first female Minister of Tourism (Jan 2018 - Dec 2019). She worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C. as Advisor to the Chief Economist (Aug 2016 - Jan 2018), and Senior Economist (2001 - 2005). She also served at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), as the Sub-Governor for Monetary Policy (Aug. 2005 - Jun. 2016), where she contributed to modernizing the CBE’s monetary policy strategy, underpinned by structural reforms to formally adopt an inflation-targeting regime, a key pillar of the banking sector reform program launched in 2004. Furthermore, she participated in the country’s macroeconomic management through the design and update of the macroeconomic framework in conjunction with other ministries and government entities and was the CBE’s liaison with the IMF and the Sovereign Rating Agencies.
Al-Mashat served on several boards, including the Egyptian Stock Exchange, the Egyptian General Authority for Free Zones and Investment, the Arab International Bank, and the Arab Investment Bank. In her capacity as Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, she represents Egypt as Governor in several international financial institutions, including the World Bank Group, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, Islamic Development Bank, and New Development Bank as Egypt joined as a new member in 2023; and as Alternate Governor of Egypt at the African Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Moreover, Al-Mashat is a member of several Advisory councils and international alliances including, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) GenU, a Founding Member of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) launched by the Rockefeller Foundation, Founding Member of the Resilience Consortium of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Member of Mission Possible for Climate Action (WEF), Co-Chair of the MENA Stewardship Board (WEF), Member of the New Economy and Society Stewardship Board (WEF), Advisory Member of the Centre for the New Economy and Society (WEF), Member of the Giving to Amplify Earth Action (GAEA) initiative (WEF) and the Co-chair of the Network to Mobilize Investment for Clean Energy in the Global South (WEF). She is also a member of several research centers and think tanks, serving as a member of Bruegel’s Scientific Council, Board member of the Dean's Strategic Advisory Board at the School of Business (AUC), Board Member of the Middle East Economic Association (MEEA), Founding Member of Egypt Network for Integrated Development (ENID), Research Fellow at the Economic Research Forum for Arab countries, Iran and Turkey, and member of the Middle East Economic Association.
In June 2021, Al-Mashat launched a book titled “Stakeholder Engagement Through Economic Diplomacy” for London School of Economics. Additionally, she contributed several chapters to the International Monetary Fund’s book, titled, “Advancing the Frontiers of Monetary Policy”, published in 2018 and edited by Maurice Obstfeld, the Chief Economist at the time. Moreover, she pioneered an international inclusive and consultative process to translate climate pledges into implementable projects in developing countries and transition economies, producing the “Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing”, which presents an actionable agenda for all relevant stakeholders, listing their roles in achieving just financing outcomes, and maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of existing climate finance architecture.
Al-Mashat received several international and domestic awards; the 2022 Most Visionary and Outstanding Minister of International Cooperation in Africa” by the Elliott School of International Affairs George Washington University and the GE7 Initiative; the “2019 Global Champion Award” from the World Tourism and Travel Council for launching the Egypt—Tourism Reform Program that has created resilience to the sector; the “2019 Global Leader’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry” as Egypt’s tourism revenues recorded a new historical high and the “2019 United Nations World Tourism Organization Destination Marketing Award”, for best promotion video for a destination. In 2015 and 2020, she was selected as one of the top 50 most influential women in the Egyptian economy, for the “Choiseul Institute 100 Africa: Economic Leaders for Tomorrow” award in 2014 & 2015, for the 2014 Young Global Leaders (YGL) by the World Economic Forum (WEF), and she was also selected among the 2014 top 10 most powerful women in the Egyptian Banking Sector in the survey conducted by the Bassera Center and selected by the Government of France’s 2013 International Visitor Leadership Program. Furthermore, she received the 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award from the School of Business at the American University in Cairo and received the 2004 Ibn Khaldoun prize for the best paper on one or more Middle Eastern countries given by the Middle East Economic Association, titled “Monetary Policy and Public Debt Management: An Empirical Assessment of the Egyptian Experience”.
Al-Mashat received her PhD and MA in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, USA, and BA in Economics from the American University in Cairo. She completed Executive Education certificates in Leadership and Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and Transformational Leadership from Said Business School at Oxford University.
Eng. Suliman bin Khalid Al-Mazroua is the President of the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani). He is a board member at the General Authority for Foreign Trade, the Saudi Export Development Authority, and the National Transport Safety Center. He also serves on the Board of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, on the Board of Marafiq, and on the Board of Taibah Valley.
He previously served as CEO of the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program. With more than 22 years of experience, he has held senior leadership roles at Saudi Aramco, complemented by roles at United States-based technology firms Aruba Networks and Caspian Networks. He also served as Chief Technology Officer at Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare. In addition, he joined the Delivery and Rapid Intervention Center and contributed to the National Transformation Program. He has also served as an advisor to expert committees at the National Digital Transformation Center.
He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Hull (United Kingdom) and a Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (Saudi Arabia), and has completed executive programs at IMD, Rice University, and Harvard Kennedy School.
Ahmed is the Director Office of the State of Qatar to the World Trade Organization and other Economic Organisations. He previously served as President of the Executive of the Berne Union at WIPO and previously chaired the WTO Committee on Antidumping Practices from 2021 to 2022. With experience in international dispute settlement, Ahmed has been involved in arbitration, mediation, and State-to-State WTO disputes. Before his current role, he worked for Qatar Gas Company and later as a trade negotiator in the Ministry of Trade.
Ahmed is a regular speaker at international conferences and has published research on WTO dispute settlement reform. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Tampa and a Juris Doctor from Hamad Bin Khalifa University College of Law, along with advanced training at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Juhara AlSuwaidi is a Qatari diplomat with more than two decades of experience in international relations and human rights. She currently serves as the Deputy Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Throughout her diplomatic career, she has represented Qatar in numerous international and UN forums, led initiatives related to human rights, and coordinated national efforts in cooperation with international organizations and UN mechanisms.
She holds a Master’s degree in Corruption, Law and Governance (LL.M.) from the University of Sussex. Her professional journey reflects a strong commitment to multilateral diplomacy, the promotion of human rights, and advancing Qatar’s role on the international stage.
Dr Graham Alabaster is a public health engineer by profession and is UN-Habitat’s Director of the Geneva office, where he represents the Executive Director of UN-Habitat. He is responsible for liaison with Geneva-based member states missions and international organisations.
After an early career in academic research in the UK and Africa, and a period in industry, he joined UN-Habitat in 1992. Since then, he has looked after many different portfolios including: Slum upgrading, environmental infrastructure; health and environment; Water, Sanitation and waste management. In addition, he has been responsible for developing relationships with the regional development banks and the private sector. During this period, he has been on secondment to both the World Health Organisation (WHO), and UNHCR, where he has applied his expertise to preventative health in urban settings and humanitarian environments. The work has usually included both policy advice to members states and project design and implementation.
He was responsible for the development of the UN-system wide monitoring mechanism for SDG 6 on Water, and also the co-custodian of indicator 6.3.1 on wastewater. He is currently the co-chair of the RBM End Malaria Now, Multi-sectoral working group, and is a Lancet Commissioner for the build-out of Aedes-borne diseases in cities. In addition, he represents UN-Habitat on many inter-agency bodies and advisory groups. He has also produced a variety of publications including global reports and technical papers in journals.
He has over 35 years- experience in the urban sector and has worked in over 50 countries in all regions of the world. He holds a BSc (Hons.) in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Civil Engineering.
Guillaume Albasini is an independent consultant in the mining, metals and energy sectors. Previously, he was a research officer at the CRES Foundation in Geneva where he carried out various studies on the geopolitics of energy and raw materials and the challenges faced by producing countries. He is a graduate in political science from the University of Lausanne and holder of a Master in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. His most recent research focuses on the impact of the energy transition on demand for energy and mining commodities.
Georgina Alcantar-López is a Biologist with a Master's in Biological Sciences, specializing in Environmental Analysis. MSc Alcantar has over twenty-five years of experience generating, managing, compiling, integrating, and systematizing environmental information and various information systems for different purposes. MSc Alcantar has experience in statistical modeling of biological and ecological processes, including predictive perspective, spatially explicit data, scenario building and information for the decision-making process, conflict analysis, land planning, and land suitability analysis. Her career encompasses academia, consulting, and public service roles, notably as the environmental statistics director for Mexico's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources for thirteen years. She has collaborated with diverse stakeholders, from NGOs to international authorities. Currently, she leads the Unit of Environment Statistics, Climate Change, and Disasters at ECLAC.
Eddy Alcántara Castillo was appointed Executive Director of the National Institute for the Protection of Consumer Rights (ProConsumidor) on March 18, 2021, by the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader.
His appointment was unanimously ratified by the Institute’s Board of Directors for the 2023–2025 term, via Resolution No. 002-2023, which recognized his outstanding performance during the 2021–2023 term, as well as his diligent and effective management based on legal principles, demonstrated by the results achieved and the elevated positioning of the institution. Internationally, Dr. Alcántara has held prominent leadership roles in consumer protection.
He currently serves as President of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN) for the 2025–2026 term.
He previously served as Pro Tempore President of the Consumer Protection Council of Central America and the Dominican Republic (CONCADECO) from 2022–2023, and as President of the Ibero-American Forum of Government Consumer Protection Agencies (FIAGC) during the 2023–2024 term.
In addition to his public service, Dr. Eddy Alcántara Castillo is a communicator, attorney, and politician. Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, he earned his law degree cum laude from the Technological University of Santiago (UTESA).