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Sahar Nasr
Her Excellency Dr. Sahar Nasr was sworn in as the Egyptian Minister of Investment and International Cooperation on February 16, 2017 then reappointed on June 14, 2018.
Dr. Nasr earned her Professorship from the Supreme Council of Universities. She is a Professor of Economics at the American University in Cairo and a Lecturer at several Egyptian and foreign universities. Throughout her academic career, she published over 60 research papers, technical reports and books merging her technical and practical expertise in the fields of international finance, economic development, private sector and SME development, as well as the fields of financial reform, the labor market, women empowerment, and economic legislation. These papers and reports were published in scientific periodicals, including those of Cambridge and Oxford University in the UK, Berkley University in the USA, and scientific periodicals published by the World Bank. Some of these studies and research papers have contributed to drafting and structuring economic policies in various developing countries and emerging markets, including Egypt.
Since assuming her role as Minister of International Cooperation on September 19, 2015, Dr. Nasr has made several strides in restructuring and reforming the Ministry, such as the establishment of a unit for monitoring and evaluation and a policy development and strategic planning unit in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Egypt.
Furthermore, Dr. Nasr has focused on strengthening Egypt’s ties with its existing international partners, as well as exploring new opportunities for cooperation, all through the establishment of mutually-beneficial partnerships. This has involved consolidating Egyptian-Gulf relationships, expanding and deepening ties with African states, and exploring new relationships with Asian partners. She is the National Coordinator of the National Committee for the Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Dr. Nasr also serves as Governor of Egypt to several institutions such as The World Bank, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Dr. Nasr has been a member of the Economic Development Council of the Presidential Office through which she provided economic consultations to the President and drafted several proposals for the development of Egypt’s economic policies, boosting economic development efforts, coordinating and streamlining development initiatives and programs across different ministries and authorities, as well as to ensure the modernization of the economic performance system. Her Excellency was granted the 2015 prize of the most influential woman in the Arab economic sector.
Dr. Nasr has extensive experience in negotiating and securing international grants and loans, especially within her role as Lead Economist at the World Bank. She has managed funds exceeding US$ 4.3 billion that were injected into the Egyptian economy in the areas of economic reform, economic policy development, small and medium enterprise (SME) development and social housing. Furthermore, she has broad expertise in organizing and heading committees of several international economic aid and foreign investment funds, as well as in the coordination with several international organizations, on top of which is the United Nations.
Dr. Nasr’s career heavily involved designing and supervising numerous reform and finance programs in the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe. She has accomplished numerous success stories in the areas of economic and financial strategy design; monitoring progress and implementation of financial sector programs including legislative, supervisory and structural reforms; development of micro, small and medium enterprises to promote inclusive growth and job creation, design and management of social housing finance programs, as well as constructing partnership schemes between the World Bank Group, Governments of a diverse group of developing countries and other local/international organizations.