Bassem Awadallah

Bassem I. Awadallah
Born	1964 Jerusalem
Nationality	Jordan
Alma mater	The London School of Economics and Political Science University of London
Religion	Islam

Bassem I. Awadallah (Arabic: باسم عوض الله; born in 1964) is a Jordanian public figure. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Tomoh Advisory, based in Dubai, UAE ^[1] and serves as a Member of the Board of Directors of Al Baraka Banking Group in Bahrain.^[2] In 2006 Awadallah was appointed as the Director of the Office of His Majesty King Abdullah II and was appointed Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan in 2007.

Awadallah was chosen as a Lee Kuan Yew Fellow, in Singapore in 2004, and a Young Global Leader, by the World Economic Forum in 2005. He is the recipient of the Al Hussein Decoration for Distinguished Service, the Al Kawkab Decoration of the First Order, and the Al Istiqlal Decoration of the First Order, of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. In addition, he was awarded a number of high decorations from several countries in Europe and Asia.

Early Life and Education

Awadallah is a Jordanian citizen who was born in Jerusalem in 1964. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., in 1984. He also holds a Master’s Degree (1985) and Ph.D (1989) from The London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London.

Career

Awadallah worked in the Investment Banking field primarily in the United Kingdom, from 1986 until 1992. He was then appointed as the Economic Secretary to the Prime Minister of Jordan from 1992 until 1996. He then served as the Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of Jordan until 1999, after which he held the position of Director of the Economic Department at the Royal Hashemite Court until 2001. In 2001, he became the Minister of Planning and International Cooperation until 2005.^[3] From April till June 2005 he served as the Minister of Finance. In 2006, Awadallah was appointed as the Director of the Office of His Majesty King Abdullah II and then Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court from 2007 until 2008.^[4]

In 2001, Awadallah was appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees in the King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan until 2013. From 2002 until 2008 he was the Vice-Chairman of The King Abdullah II Fund for Development. In 2008, he was appointed as a member of the Board of Directors of the Dubai School of Government. In 2010, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at Oxford University, United Kingdom. In 2011, he was appointed as a member of the Advisory Board of the Middle East Centre, of the London School of Economics and Political Science of the University of London.^[5] In 2010, Awadallah was appointed as Secretary General of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry ^[6] and as a member of the Advisory Board of Standard Chartered Bank for the MENA region. In May 2014, he was appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees of Al Quds University in Palestine.^[7]

Awards and Honours

1. Al Hussein Medal for Distinguished Service, Jordan.
2. Al Kawkab Decoration of the First Order, Jordan.
3. Al Istiqlal Decoration of the First Order, Jordan.
4. Lee Kuan Yew Fellowship, Singapore.
5. Decorations from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Norway, and Japan.
6. The King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Visiting Fellowship at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies at Oxford University, United Kingdom.
7. Young Global Leader, of the World Economic Forum.

Resources

1. Bassem Awadallah Official Facebook Page
2. The Economics of the Arab Spring: A struggle for economic commons in the Arab world / Center for the Studies of the African Economics
3. Saving the Arab Spring: Economic Development in the Middle East /LSE
4. Arab Spring / BBC World Service
5. An Arab Marshall Plan

References