Dr. Alawwad received a Bachelor of Law from King Saud University in Riyadh in 1993, the M.A. in Banking Law from Boston University Law School in 1996. He obtained a Ph.D. in Financial Market Law from University of Warwick Law School in 2000. A 2005 Eisenhower Fellow, Dr. Alawwad has published a series of academic articles concerning investment and economy, and sat on the Advisory Board of the Saudi Economic Journal. He has completed the Harvard University Program for Executives, and multiple other internationally accredited programmes. Dr. Alawwad is married with three children, and lives with his family in Riyadh.
Dr. Alawwad was appointed on April 22, 2017 to lead the Ministry of Culture and Information. The Minister’s primary mandate is to revitalize the culture and media industries at home, support government communications abroad and strengthen Saudi Arabia’s cultural relations around the world. Since coming to the post, Dr. Alawwad has spearheaded the formation of a supreme committee tasked with the development of the Saudi Broadcasting Corporation’s television and radio stations, under the jurisdiction of the General Authority for Radio and Television. Dr. Alawwad has guided the campaign to promote Saudi literary clubs and societies; established a permanent media center on the Southern Border to support media liaison and visits with armed forces personnel; and supported the development of the Digital Media Index in the Middle East, amongst other initiatives.
Dr. Alawwad previously served as an adviser for economic and financial affairs in the Office of the Crown Prince, as a consultant for the Governor of Riyadh and as Vice Governor for Investment Affairs at Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority – SAGIA. During his tenure, SAGIA established a more liberal ecosystem for investment in Saudi Arabia. It implemented the Investment Environment Obstacles Program, designed to identify and resolve barriers to foreign investment, and promote an open and transparent environment in business within the Kingdom. Dr. Alawwad was responsible for establishing the National Competitiveness Centre, which spearheaded the national ‘10 by 10’ program to establish Saudi Arabia as one of the Top 10 most competitive economies globally. As part of these efforts, Dr. Alawwad chaired the Saudi negotiation team for bilateral investment treaties and was acting leader of the Saudi team overseeing disputes elevated to the WTO. Furthermore, he represented Saudi Arabia on the OECD-MENA Committee on Investment and Arab Investment Promotion Association. He was the deputy chief of the joint Swiss-Saudi commission and Russian-Saudi commission. Dr. Alawwad’s first job in the government was at the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority where he was head of financial studies and banking supervision at the Banking Institute. He also served as a Member of the Saudi Government’s Anti-Trust Committee, The Commission for Resolution of Commercial Papers Disputes, The Saudi American Investment and Trade Board, the regional Arab Investment Authorities Committee and the Arab Investment Court.
