Mahmoud Mohieldin, born on 15 January 1965 in Egypt, was appointed in September 2010 to be one of the Managing Directors of the World Bank Group.
Prior to his appointment, Dr. Mohieldin was the Minister of Investment of the Arab Republic of Egypt, a position he held during 2004-2010. His portfolio included investment policy; the management of state-owned assets; and non-banking financial services, including capital markets, insurance and mortgage finance.
Mohieldin has also served as a Professor in Financial Economics, at the Faculty of Economics & Political Science, Cairo University. He received his Bachelor of Science in Economics, with highest Honors, First in Order of Merit, from Cairo University, a Master of Science in Economic and Social Policy Analysis from the University of York, England in 1990, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Warwick, England in 1995.
Contents |
The Egyptian Ministry of Investment was established in 2004, with a mandate to reform the investment environment in Egypt, further develop non-bank financial services, and introduce a comprehensive Asset Management Program to State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
Since 2004, major legislative and institutional reforms have been embarked upon, with a tangible impact both on the level of domestic investments, as well as inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI). Between 2004/05 and 2006/07 private sector investments grew at an average annual rate in excess of 40%. The Egyptian economy has also been receiving historically unprecedented levels of FDI inflows, which increased from $2 billion in 2004 to $13.2 billion in 2008.
Reform efforts undertaken by the Ministry of Investment, since July 2004, have resulted in significant improvements in the perception of an impressive investment and business friendly climate in Egypt. Investors have responded positively to this business environment in Egypt, with close to half of companies operating under the umbrella of the governing investment legislation that have been established during the last four year-period.
For the fourth time in five years, Egypt was named one of the top-10 global reformers, and the top regional reformer in the annual “Doing Business” report of 2010 that is prepared by the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC). Egypt was the first Arab and African country to join the Investment Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as a participant, the lead FDI recipient country in Africa, and second among the Arab countries in United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 2007 'World Investment Report'.
Following his appointment as Minister of Investment in 2004, Mohieldin served as the Governor of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the World Bank, the Alternate Governor to the African Development Bank, the Alternate Governor of the Islamic Development Bank, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the British University of Egypt. In 2005, Mohieldin was nominated and was an active player in the Young Global Leaders Initiative of the World Economic Forum.
Mohieldin obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics, from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, Egypt, with Highest Honours – First in Order of Merit, in 1986. In 1989 he received a Diploma in Quantitative Development Economics from Warwick University in the United Kingdom and then went on to complete his Masters of Science Degree in Economics and Social Policy Analysis from the University of York in the United Kingdom in 1990. Mohieldin returned to Warwick University in 1995 where he received his Doctorate (PhD) in Economics.
Upon returning to Egypt, Mohieldin was appointed as a Professor of Financial Economics in the Faculty of Economics and Political Science in Cairo University in 2006; after his clear commitment within the department. He was also very keen to support students’ extra-curricular activities within the Faculty, as well as Cairo University as a whole. In 1997 he played a major role in the establishment of the Model Egyptian Stock Exchange (MESE), which since its commencement has become one of the biggest and most successful events in the Faculty of Economics and Political Science in Cairo University, and to date 5,000 undergraduate and post-graduate students have participated in this event annually. Mohieldin also founded and supervised, in the same year (1997), the Royal Economic Society at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, which has an 3,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students to this very day.
Mohieldin has held numerous leading positions in think tanks, research centres and academic institutions all over the world. Among these positions has been serving as a member of the Commission on Growth and Development since 2005, alongside several high profile figures including the likes of Nobel Laureates in Economics Michael Spence and Robert Solow. In 2008, Mohieldin became the Chair of the Advisory Board for the Global Emerging Markets Local Currency Bonds Program (GEMLOC). He has been a Senior Research Associate of the Economic Research Forum of the Arab Countries, including Iran and Turkey]; and a member of the Middle East Studies Association of North America. Mohieldin is a Fellow of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies in the United Kingdom; and a member of the Egyptian Society for Political Economy in Cairo. He has been an active board member at Benha University, Egypt; the Arab Society for Economic Research; the Centre of European Studies; and the Centre for Economic and Financial Research and Studies at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science of Cairo University, Egypt.
Mohieldin also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt; a member of the Board of Directors of HSBC-Egypt; member of the Board of Directors of Telecom Egypt; and a member of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Diplomatic Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt. Mohieldin was also an advisor to the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies and the Director of Cairo Economics and Finance. In 1999 Mohieldin represented the Egyptian Government in the G33 Meetings. Other memberships and appointment he held included: member of the Executive Committee of the Cairo Centre for Economic Information; member of the Appeal Committee of the Capital Market Authority; economic advisor for the Egyptian Arab African Bank; member of the Appeal Committee of the Capital Market Authority; economic consultant to the Periodic Magazine Al-Benouk; published by the League of Egyptian Banks; and Chairman of the Cultural Committee of the General Association of Egyptian Students in the United Kingdom.
Throughout his career, Mohieldin has published over 75 papers and studies in the economic, social and political arenas, including the areas of Financial Economics, Financial Reform, Prudential Regulations, Trade in Services, Globalization, Exchange Rate and Monetary Policies, Corporate Governance and Competition Policy.
These include:
1. "On Profit Sharing: A Critical Appraisal of Weitzman's Share Economy", Working Papers in Economics #11, Centre for Economic and Financial Research and Studies, Faculty of Economics, Cairo University, 1991.
2. "On the Reform of the Egyptian Public Sector", a report submitted to the Public Sector Reform Committee, Faculty of Economics, Cairo University, 1991.
3. "On the Reform of the Financial Sector", paper presented at the Third Conference of The Economics Department, Cairo University, 1992.
4. "Towards a Fiscal Policy for the Palestinian Economy", paper submitted as a part of the Palestinian Development Program, Tunisia, 1992.
5. "On the Relevance of Market-based Financial System to Developing Countries", Mimeo, Department of Economics, University of Warwick, 1992.
6. "Econometric Tests of the Financial Liberalisation Hypotheses: The Case of Egypt 1960-90". Mimeo, Department of Economics, University of Warwick, 1993.
7. "Financing Higher Education in Egypt", paper presented at 'the Reform of Egyptian Education System Conference' organised by the Egyptian Embassy, London, September 28–29, 1993.
8. "The Reform of the Egyptian Financial Sector: Some Main Reflections", the French Centre for Economic and Legal Studies and Documentation, CEDEJ, Cairo, March 1993.
9. "On Financial Development: The Financial Sector between Repression and Liberalisation", Finance and Industry, issue no. 11, 1993, Industrial Bank of Kuwait. [in Arabic]
10. "Formal and Informal Credit Markets in Egypt", Working Paper No. 9415, Economic Research Forum, 1994.
11. "Informal Financial Transactions in Egypt: Social Collateral, Collective Arrangements and Pyramid Scheme", Finance and Industry, issue no. 12, Industrial Bank of Kuwait, 1994.
12. "Informal Finance in Egypt", paper presented at the annual conference of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, held in July 1994, the University of Manchester, England.
13. "The Financial Sector and its Developmental Role: A Theoretical Survey with Reference to Egypt", in Economic Reform and its Distributive Impact, edited by Abdel-Khalek, G. and H. Kheir-El-Din, Cairo: Dar-Al-Mustaqbal-Al-Araby, 1994.
14. "Causes, Measures and Impact of State Intervention in the Financial Sector: the Case of Egypt 1960-90", paper presented at the Conference of Economic Research Forum of the Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey, on "the Changing Role of the State", Rabat, 8–10 January 1995.
15. "Formal and Informal Credit Markets in Egypt", [revised version] paper presented at the Royal Economic Society Conference 1995, Young Economists' Sessions, 27–30 March, University of Kent.
16. "Interest Rate, Saving, Investment and Economic Growth under Financial Repression: The Egyptian Example", paper presented at the 2nd conference on International Finance, Philadelphia, USA, 9–11 July 1995.
17. "The Uruguay Round and Trade in Financial Services in the Arab Countries", the Economic Research Forum conference September, Istanbul, 1995.
18. "On Privatisation in Egypt: With Some Reflections on The Experiences of the Czech Republic and Mexico", paper presented at a Conference organised by the Centre for Political Studies, Alexandria, November 1995.
19. "On Formal and Informal Islamic Finance in Egypt", paper presented at the Annual Conference of (MESA), Middle East Studies Association, Washington, 1996.
20. "On Competition Policy: An Egyptian Perspective", paper presented at a Conference on the partnership Agreement between Egypt and the EU, organised by the Faculty of Economics, Cairo University and Friedrich Ebert, May and published in L'Egypte Contemporaine, Nos. 441-442 LXXXXVII ième Annee, pp. 5–28, Janvier/Avril 1996.
21. "Financing Higher Education in Egypt", paper presented at Al-Menoufya University Annual Conference, Cairo, 1996.
22. "The Uruguay Round and Trade in Financial Services in The Arab Countries", Discussion paper in Economics and Econometrics No. 9617, Department of Economics, University of Southampton, England, 1996.
23. "The Impact of the Devaluation of the Egyptian Pound", Discussion Paper, Forum for Economic Dialogue, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, 1996.
24. "Trade in Services and the Egypt-EU Partnership Agreement", paper presented at a conference organised by the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies, on the Egypt-EU Partnership Agreement, Cairo, 1996.
25. "On the Impact of the EU Partnership Agreement on the Egyptian Economy with emphasis on Services", International ECSA Conference in Budapest, November, 1996.
26. "On Arab Economic Cooperation in the Egyptian Policy", paper presented at the 10th annual conference of the Centre for Political Research and Studies, Cairo University, December 1996.
27. "The Impact of the Egypt-EU Partnership Agreement on Economic Growth", paper presented at the 7th Egyptian-French Conference, Centre for Political Research and Studies, Cairo University, 1997.
28. "On The Economic Growth Strategy in Egypt", Discussion Paper, Forum for Economic Dialogue, Faculty of Economics, Cairo University, 1997.
29. "The Egypt-EU Partnership Agreement and Liberalization of Services", in Regional Partners in Global Markets: Limits and Possibilities of the Euro-Med Agreements, Centre for Economic Policy Research, London, 1997.
30. "Globalisation and Economic Rights", Discussion Paper, in Issues of Human Rights, Arab Society for Human Rights, Cairo, 1997.
31. "The Draft Law for Competition in Egypt", Discussion Paper, the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies, 1997.
32. "The Egypt-EU Partnership Agreement and Liberalization of Financial Services", in On the State of the EU Integration Process Enlargement and Institutional Reforms, edited by Ferenc Mádl, ELTE University, EU Centre for Research and Documentation, Budapest, 1997.
33. "Role of Financial Markets in Privatization in the ESCWA Region: Part Two Case-Study of Egypt", paper prepared for The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, 1997.
34. "Intellectual Property Rights and the Pharmaceutical Industry in Egypt", Background Policy Paper, the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies, 1997.
35. "Testing the Consistency of the Consumer Price Index in Egypt", The Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies (mimeo), 1997.
36. "Islamic Finance in Egypt", Working Paper No. 17, the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies, 1997.
37. "Egypt", Chapter 6 in Insurance in the Middle East, FT Finance, Pearson Professional Limited: London, 1997.
38. "Interest Rate, Saving, Investment and Economic Growth under Financial Repression: The Egyptian Example", a revised version of paper presented at the 2nd Conference on International Finance, Philadelphia, USA, 9–11 July, published in Arab Economic Journal No. 9- Autumn 1997, Cairo.
39. "Prudential Regulation in Egypt", a revised version of the paper presented at an ECES conference titled: "Towards and Efficient Financial Market in Egypt", February 1997, Working Paper No. 29, The Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies, Cairo.
40. "New Regionalism and the Arab Economic Cooperation", Al-Siassa Al-Dawlya; Issue no. 131 January 1998, Al-Ahram, Cairo.
41. "Egypt Development Report: 1998", published by the Centre for the Study of Developing Countries, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University.
42. "Liberalizing Trade in Financial Services: The Uruguay Round and Arab Countries", World Development, Vol. 26, Issue no. 7, pp. 1331–1348. 1998.
43. "Financial Development in Emerging Markets: The Egyptian Experience", Co-edited with Dr. Mohamed El-Erian, published by The International Centre for Economic Growth, 1999.
44. "On the Institutional Aspects, Distributional Characteristics and Efficiency of the Egyptian Securities Market", paper presented at the workshop organised by the Arab Planning Institute on “Arab Stock Markets: Recent Trends and Performance”, Kuwait 15-16, 1999.
45. Presentation on the Role of the Financial Sector in Corporate Governance: The Egyptian Case, Mediterranean Development Forum, March 2000.
46. "Financial Services in Egypt after a decade of Financial Liberalization" a presentation at the session on "Financial Centre for MENA", Mediterranean Development Forum, March 2000.
47. "Integrating Social Dimensions with Egypt’s Economic Reforms", English Public Lecture series of the American University in Cairo, 2000.
48. Presentation on Mortgage Finance, Alexandria Businessmen Association, 2000.
49. "On the Institutional Aspects, Distributional Characteristics and Efficiency of the Egyptian Securities Market", in Arab Stock Markets: Recent Trends and Performance, American University Press, Cairo, 2000.
50. "Challenges of Transition and the Role of National Projects", paper presented at the 18th Strategic Seminar of the Egyptian Army, 2000.
51. "On Bank Market Structure and Competition in Egypt", published by the Arab Society for Economic Research, Arab Economic Journal, No. 25, Vol. (10), Autumn 2001.
52. "Formal and Informal Credit Markets in Egypt", Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. 48, no 3, 2000.
53. "On Financial Development and its Impact on Economic Growth", Research Papers Series #15, Economics Department, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, 2001. [in Arabic]
54. "On Globalization and Economic Governance: An Egyptian Perspective", published by the Arab Monetary Fund, 2001. [in Arabic]
55. "On the Evolution of the Banking System and Competition in Egypt", published by the Industrial Bank of Kuwait, IBK Papers Series # 67, 2001.
56. "On the Formulation and Enforcement of Competition Law in Emerging Economies: The Case of Egypt", published by the Section on Business Law of the International Bar Association, Business Law International, Issue 3 – pp 289–315, September 2001.
57. "On Bank Market Structure and Competition in Egypt", Arab Economic Journal, no.25, Vol. (10), Autumn 2001.
58. "Globalisation and its Impact on National Security", paper presented to a conference organised by Nasser Academy, College of National Defence, January 2002.
59. "Competition Policy in Egypt", paper presented to the Second OECD Global Forum, Paris, February 2002.
60. "Fundamentals of Securitisation", paper presented to the Union of Arab Banks, Cairo, March, 2002.
61. "On Securitisation in Egypt", paper presented to the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies 2002.
62. "On The Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment to Egypt", paper presented to the 6th Annual Conference of the Arab Economic Association, Beirut, June 2002.
63. "On Exchange Rate Policy in Egypt", paper presented to the joint seminar of the Arab Monetary Fund and the International Monetary Fund, Abu Dhabi, December 2002.
64. "Economic Governance in Egypt", A Report Prepared for the United Nations Commission in Africa, 2003.
65. "Macroeconomic Policy and Performance in Egypt", An Analytical Study prepared for the Economic Research Forum (ERF) and Forum Euro-Mediterranean des Institutes Economiques, 2003.
66. "Financial Policy in Egypt", An Analytical Study prepared for the Economic Research Forum (ERF) and Forum Euro-Mediterranean des Institutes Economiques, 2003.
67. "The Challenges of Central Banking in Egypt and the New Banking Law", Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, 2003.
68. "Why Do We Need Regulation?, a presentation to the Joint World Bank/European Commission Programme on Private Participation in Mediterranean Infrastructure, October 2003, Cairo.
69. "Vulnerability of Banking Systems to Crises in Emerging Markets: The Case of Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia”, paper submitted to the 10th Annual Conference, Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey (ERF), published by the ERF in Selected Papers form the Tenth Annual Conference, December 2003.
70. "Economic Management and Corporate Governance in Egypt", paper presented at the Regional Conference on Governance, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), January 2004.
71. "Information and the Formulation of Economic Policy in Egypt", paper presented at the annual conference of the Statistics Department, Cairo University, 2004.
72. "On Exchange Rate Policy: the Case of Egypt 1970-2001", published by Société Egyptienne d'Economie Politique de Statistique et de Législation, L'Egypte Contemporaine, No. 475-476 LXXXXV iéme ANNÉE, pp 5–52, July–October 2004.
73. "Macroeconomic Policy and Performance", published by the Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey (ERF), Egypt Country Profile: The Road Ahead for Egypt, pp 11–41, December 2004.
74. "Financial Policy Issues", published by the Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey (ERF), Egypt Country Profile: The Road Ahead for Egypt, pp 43–83, December 2004.
75. "Prospects of Mortgage Markets in MENA Countries: An Analysis of Financial, Legal and Institutional Aspects with Emphasis on the Egyptian Case Study", published by the Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran and Turkey (ERF), Working Paper Series No. 0430, and submitted to the 11th Annual Conference (ERF), December 2004.
76. "Inflation", Arab Academy for Science and UNESCO, Arabic Encyclopaedia of Knowledge and Sustainable Growth, 2006. [in Arabic]
77. "Bank Privatization in Egypt", published by the Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Volume 46, Issue 5 – pp 707–725, February 2007.
Mohieldin received the Certificate of Merit, Leadership Seminar at Georgetown University, in the United States in 2003. In the same year he received the Certificate in Capital Flows, Monetary Policy and International Financial System, World Bank Institute and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. In 2000, he received the Certificate in Housing Finance from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania in the United States.