Kuwait’s Al Hajraf to be named new Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General

Al Hajraf

By Habib Toumi

Manama: Kuwait’s finance minister Nayef Al Hajraf will be the next Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), reports in Kuwait said on Monday evening.

The position rotates among the member states – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Oman was supposed to hold the position, but Muscat reportedly declined the opportunity.

The choice of Al Hajraf was secured by Kuwait after it obtained the approval of the other member states.

According to the reports, Al Hajraf will hand in his resignation as Kuwait’s 19^th minister of finance, a position he has held since December 2017, on Tuesday to pave the way for his official appointment.

Abdul Lateef Al Zayani, from Bahrain, is the current Secretary General of the Gulf alliance established in 1981.

Al Zayani succeeded Abdul Rahman Al Atiyyah, from Qatar, on April 1, 2011.

According to his biography, Al Hajraf has a vast experience in public and private sector management, education, and financial consulting.

Prior to his appointment, he served as Kuwait’s chief regulator of marketable securities in his capacity as the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners and Managing Director of the Kuwait Capital Markets Authority (CMA) from 2014 to 2017.

During his tenure, the CMA matured into a world-class regulator and oversaw the privatization and development of Boursa Kuwait Securities Company, the operator of the country’s only stock exchange.

He has previously served as Kuwait Minister of Finance for a brief period in 2012, and Kuwait Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education from 2012 to 2014.

He was also member of the First Board of Commissioners of the Capital Markets Authority in 2010, and a member of the Supreme Petroleum Council.

Al Hajraf holds a Ph.D. in Accounting and Finance from the University of Hull, UK and a Master’s in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

List of GCC secretaries general:

Abdullah Bishara                   Kuwait                 26 May 1981 – April 1993

Fahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi   UAE                    April 1993 – April 1996

Jamil Ibrahim Hejailan         Saudi Arabia       April 1996 – 31 March 2002

Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah      Qatar                 April 2002 – 31 March 2011

Abdullatif Al Zayani             Bahrain               1 April 2011 – present