Saudi Arabia’s former minister for Economy and Planning, Mohammed Al Tuwaijri, has been nominated for the position of Director General at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Mohammed Al Tuwaijri had been the head of risk management at Saudi British Bank before becoming the Managing Director and CEO of JP Morgan Saudi Arabia, after which he moved on to serve as the Group Managing Director, Deputy Chairman, and CEO of HSBC Bank Middle East and North Africa.
He was the kingdom’s minister of economy and planning from 2016, before being relieved in March. As a minister, Al Tuwaijri oversaw sweeping changes the economy initiated as part of Vision 2030, which has set a target of raising the private sector’s contribution to the GDP of 65 percent from its current 40 percent.