Birth: NULL/NULL/1985 Death:NULL/NULL/NULL
Born in Jerusalem on 17 Jan. 1958; studied Business Administration at Birzeit University from 1976-81, graduating with a BA; worked as a research assistant at Birzeit University Research Center from 1981-83; also pursued his studies at the University of Sussex, UK, graduating with a Diploma in Development Studies in 1983 and earning a PhD in 1989; was a founding member of the Technical Development Cooperation/Palestinian Development Fund in 1990; became Assistant Professor at the Dept. of Economics, Birzeit University, from 1990-92; founding member of the Palestinian Housing Council from 1991-2000; was a member of the PLO delegation to 1991 Madrid and subsequent Washington Talks in 1992; served as Dean of Students at Birzeit University from 1992-94; became a member of the Technical Committee established by the PLO in Jerusalem in 1993 and a permanent member of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Donors in Palestine (AHLC) and the Consultative Group of Donors on Palestine that same year; served also as head of the Palestinian delegation to the economic negotiations with Israel (1993) that led to the Paris Protocol; was further involved in the multilateral talks within the Regional Economic Development Working Group (REDWG); participated in the negotiations with Israel on the PLC elections in and became Sec.-Gen. of the Palestinian Central Election Commission in Jan. 1996; was Chair of Regional Tourism Committee, which established the Middle East Mediterranean Travel and Tourism Association (Memtta); also in 1996, was appointed as Managing Director of PECDAR (and as its Minister in 2003); was a consulting fellow of the World Innovation Foundation; founded the Palestinian Research Center for Regional Studies in Al-Bireh in 1997; founded the National Institute for Information Technology in Al-Bireh in 2001; is a member of the Club of Monaco (informal group of personalities from different Mediterranean nations) since 2002; serves as Board of Trustees member of Al-Quds and An-Najah Universities and of several other organizations; was awarded Le Chevalier de L’Ordre National du Merite by French Pres. Jacques Chirac; has conducted and edited a number of studies, incl. The Benelux: A Paradigm for the Middle East? (Palestinian Center for Regional Studies, 1998); was nominated as Public Works and Housing Minister in the Feb. 2005 Cabinet of Ahmed Qrei’a.
