Dr. Nasser Saidi heads Nasser Saidi & Associates, a niche consulting firm. He is the founder and former executive director of the Hawkamah-Institute for Corporate Governance and the Mudara Institute of Directors. He is the former chief economist of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), 2006-2012, and senior adviser to the UAE Minister of Finance, 2004-2006. He was Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry of Lebanon between 1998 and 2000, as well as first vice-governor of the Central Bank, 1993-2003. He is the chairman of the regional Clean Energy Business Council, and a member of both the IMF’s Regional Advisory Group for MENA and the Advisory Board of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF). He is well published with numerous articles and books on macroeconomics, financial markets, crowd funding, corporate governance, clean energy, and ICT. He served as a professor at the University of Chicago, the IUHEI, the Université de Genève, the American University of Beirut (AUB), and the Université Saint Joseph. He holds a PhD and an MA in Economics from the University of Rochester in the US, a MSc from University College, London University, and a BA from AUB.