Mahmoud Mohieldin
President’s Special Envoy
World Bank Group
Mahmoud Mohieldin, born on 15 January 1965 in Egypt, is the World Bank President’s Special Envoy on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Financial Development. He served since September 2010 until December 2012 as 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.
Ministry of Investment
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 privatize 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.
International recognition
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'.
Appointments
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.
Academic career
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 more than 5,000 undergraduate and post-graduate students have participated in this event annually. Mohieldin also founded and supervised, in the same year (1997), the Economists' Society at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science.
Affiliation and membership of professional and academic societies
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.
Previous appointments
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.
Academic Awards
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.
External links
- Biography at Commission on Growth and Development
- Ministry of Investment of Egypt
- International Finance Corporation
- The OECD