The Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative (LOGI) announces today the appointment of Dr. Nasser Saidi, President of Nasser Saidi & Associates as a new advisor on its board, effective immediately.

Dr Nasser H. Saidi heads Nasser Saidi & Associates a niche consultant and advisor to the banking & financial sector, governments, central banks, regulators, multi-national and regional companies. He is the former Chief Economist of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) from 2006 to 2012, where as a senior executive he built and promoted the centre and its strategic development and developed the links with governments, central banks, IFIs, banks & financial institutions and international financial centres. Dr Saidi is he Founder and former Executive Director of the Hawkamah-Institute for Corporate Governance and the Mudara Institute of Directors, 2006-2012. He was senior adviser to the UAE Minister of Finance, 2004-2006.

Dr Saidi was the Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry of Lebanon between 1998 and 2000. He was the First Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon for two successive mandates, 1993-1998 and 1998-2003. He was a Member of the UN Committee for Development Policy (UNCDP) for two mandates over the period 2000-2006, a position to which he was appointed by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in his personal capacity.

Dr Saidi is Chairman of the regional Clean Energy Business Council, promoting clean energy solutions and policies in the MENA countries. He is a member of the IMF’s Regional Advisory Group for MENA and a member of the Advisory Board of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) and a member of the Private Sector Advisory Group of the Global Corporate Governance Forum, an institution of the IFC/World Bank driving global corporate governance reforms, and Co-Chaired OECD MENA Corporate Governance Working Group. He is active in crowdfunding, VC and seed funding.

In 2013, he was named among the 50 most Influential Arabs in the World by The Middle East magazine, for the fourth consecutive year and named among the 500 Most Powerful Arabs in the world by Arabian Business for the second consecutive year.

He is the author of numerous articles and has written a number of books and publications addressing macroeconomic, capital market development and international economic issues in the MENA region, the GCC countries and Lebanon. His research interests include macroeconomics, financial market development, crowd funding, payment systems and international economic policy, corporate governance, clean energy and information and communication technology (ICT).

Dr Saidi was a private banker and served as an economic adviser and director to a number of central banks and financial institutions in Arab countries, Europe and Central and Latin America. Prior to his public career, Dr Saidi was an academic, serving as a Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics in the University of Chicago, the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales (Geneva, CH), and the Université de Genève. He also served as a lecturer at the American
University of Beirut and the Université St. Joseph in Beirut.

Dr Saidi holds a Ph.D. and a M.A. in Economics from the University of Rochester in the USA, a M.Sc. from University College, London University and a B.A. from the American University of Beirut.

The LOGI team is honored to have Dr. Nasser Saidi join its advisory board. LOGI will benefit from his insights and counsel as it helps build the sector.

About LOGI: The Lebanese Oil and Gas Initiative (LOGI), is an independent NGO that promotes the transparent and sound management of Lebanon’s oil and gas resources. You can learn more at: www.logi-lebanon.org