Minister of International Cooperation, Arab Republic of Egypt

Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat is Egypt’s current Minister of International Cooperation. Prior to this appointment, she was the first woman to serve as Egypt’s Minister of Tourism. She encourages the recognition of tourism globally as a driver for sustainable development.

Previously, Dr. Al-Mashat was Advisor to the Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, where she specialised in central banking, designing monetary policy frameworks, and defining financial stability tools.

While serving as Sub-Governor for Monetary Policy at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), Dr. Al Mashat managed the country’s macroeconomic transition during a particularly challenging period. She also helped design and present the Government of Egypt’s Economic Program after the 2011 revolution. 

Dr. Al Mashat has had several board affiliations, including on the Egyptian Stock Exchange, the Arab International Bank, and the Middle East Economic Association. She is a Research Fellow at the Economic Research Forum for Arab countries, Iran and Turkey, a lecturer at the Egyptian Banking Institute, and was an Adjunct Professor of Economics at the American University of Cairo.

In 2019, Dr. Al-Mashat received the ‘Global Champion Award’ from the World Travel & Tourism Council, as well as the World Travel Market’s Global Leaders Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Industry’. She was recognised as among the top 50 most influential women in the Egyptian economy during 2015, and was chosen to join the Scientific Council of Bruegel (an influential policy think tank in Europe) in 2017.

She received her PhD and MA in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park, holds a BA in Economics from AUC, and completed Executive Education programmes in Leadership and Public Policy from the universities of Harvard and Oxford.