Rami A. Wihaidi
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Employment
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3/03-Present Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), Market Access Program 5/03-Present Senior Policy Advisor 3/00-4/03 Policy Advisor “DAI is one of the leading American consulting firms providing technical assistance to programs, projects and institutions worldwide. The Market Access Program (MAP), funded by USAID and managed by DAI is designed to increase competitiveness and productivity of the Palestinian private sector through an export-led growth strategy. The focus of the project includes policy dialogue and advocacy, market representation, coordination of Palestinian participation in exhibitions and trade events, standards and harmonization joint venture promotion, marketing information services, and linking business organizations and the market of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.” As the Senior Policy Advisor of the project, · Managed the policy unit activities to put forward to the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy www.met.gov.ps a strategy to bring the Palestinian Economy in compliance with the Multilateral Trading System. The strategy has been adopted by the Minister of National Economy and became the Palestinian Strategy for compliance. · Led the process of creating the WTO resource center www.wto-rcp.org to provide technical and logistic support during the WTO accession process. · Networked with private and public sector institutions to establish a team of professionals from the public and private sectors that will become the Palestinian Technical Advisory Team during the accession preparations to the WTO. · Worked with public and private sector institutions to develop institutional development activities to implement policy changes. Through the establishment of the National Trade Dialogue Program (NTDP) with Palestine Trade Center (PalTrade) www.paltrade.org , a platform for public-private sector dialogue was created and recognized by the donor community as a venue for the continued involvement of the private sector in shaping up the country’s economic policy. · Participated in a capacity building process to prepare of 12 white papers representing the private sector positions on various national economic issues. These were presented and recognized by the public sector as vital and legitimate concerns in National Economic Conference held in August 2000. · Managed the development of private sector policy and advocacy programs. Through continued support to major private sector trade associations, policy management units were created in some of these associations to prepare the sector policy agenda and advocate for change. The Palestinian Information Technology Association of Companies (PITA) www.pita-palestine.org is now recognized as one of the most active associations in Palestine in the area of advocacy and policy reform as a result of our support to the establishment of a policy management unit their. PITA is now a member in most regional and international ICT associations such as World Information Technology and Service Alliance (WITSA).
10/97-2/00 United National Special Coordinator Office (UNSCO) National Professional Expert/Economic Researcher “UNSCO was established in 1994 by the Secretary-General of the United Nations with a mandate to provide guidance and facilitate coordination among UN programs, represent the United Nations at donor coordination meetings and assist the Palestinian Authority and donors in coordinating international assistance, maintain contact with non-governmental organizations operating in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, provide sound economic reporting and support the implementation of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles”
As the National Professional Expert/Economic Researcher, · Co-wrote the UNSCO report on Economic and Social Conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This report provided the donor community with accurate economic analysis regarding the impact of donor assistance on the Palestinian Economy in general and the investment, labor market conditions and living levels in specific. This report has been well received by all readers and the distribution circle was increased to include all governmental agencies, universities, researchers and research institutions. The report was recognized as the most up to date and accurate on the Palestinian economy and was heavily quoted by the donor community and research centers. · Networked with public, non-governmental, research and academic institutions to discuss issues of concern that will be presented in the economic report. · Presented findings of the Economic Report in some Donor Coordination Meetings during the absence of the Head of the Economic Research Unit as well as receiving feedback for development. · Collaborated with other international agencies research consultants on joint research projects such as the World Bank and IMF missions in the Palestinian Territories. 8/96-9/97 Palestinian Consultants Group (PalCon) Managing Director “PalCon is a private consulting firm established in 1995 to provide business solutions for the private and public sectors in Palestine. Service areas include the design and delivery of business training programs, identifying and evaluating investment projects, conducting market and feasibility studies, hosting investment delegations, and performing diagnostic studies and management audits for small and medium sized businesses. “
As the Managing Director, · Supervised the efforts of staff selection and allocation in providing a wide range of business consulting and management services to the Palestinian private sector. · Designed with the Board of Directors the company’s strategic plans. · Re-engineered the firm’s organizational structures based on the newly adopted strategic plan. · Formed and led a team of the company’s professionals to produce work plans that led the firm to become the second in the market at times of both political and economic instability. · Networked with local and international organizations to present a new image for the firm. 2/95-7/96 Palestine Monetary Authority Assistant Senior Investment Officer “The Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) is the central banking agency in the Palestinian Authority and is responsible for regulating and supervising banking activities. This is the first central banking agency to exist in Palestine established in 1994.” As an Assistant Senior Investment Officer, · Assisted in the establishment of the Investment Department creating a network of correspondent banks in major financial centers in the world. · Participated in building the systems in the department that were used later for the daily operations of the front and back office. · Assisted the senior investment officer in the monitoring of market conditions, i.e.FX rates, money markets and bonds markets. 7/93/-2/95 The Welfare Association http://www.welfareassociation.org Assistant Branch Manager and Project Officer “Welfare Association is a private, non-profit foundation established in 1983 in Geneva to support Palestinian society in sustainable development. The association draws on Palestinians in the Diaspora and other Arabs to contribute their intellectual and financial resources toward the reconstruction and development process in Palestine through three program tracks: Culture and Identity, Human Development and Capacity Building.”
As an assistant Branch Manager and Project Officer: · Managed a soft loan portfolio aimed to benefit the less advantaged segment of the population. The program was so successful that the beneficiaries from the revolving fund for the loan program increased by 200% in a year time. · Prepared technical justification and recommendation for social projects eligible for funding. This required building a network of relations to help in formulating a sound and informed decision on these projects. · Participated in meetings for social & economic funding management committee to provide funded projects feedback & justification for new projects. |
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Consulting Services |
1/99-2/00 Engineering and Management Consulting Center (EMCC) Socioeconomic Consultant · Participated in the socioeconomic impact assessment study of the Gazan Costal Aquifer Management Plan. A project funded by USAID and subcontracted to EMCC. This is one of the major water management projects funded by USAID in Gaza which suffers from sever deficit of dinking water. 7/97-10/97 Building the Competitive Advantage of the Palestinian Economy Project Team Member · The objective of the project is to study the competitive advantage of the Palestinian economy using an approach developed by Harvard Professor Michael Porter. AT the end of a 4 month time, I was able to provide an excellent insight on the competitive advantage and disadvantage of the Palestinian Garment industry. |
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Education |
1987-1993 Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA · Master of Arts in Applied Economics, 1993 · Bachelor of Science in Economics and Mathematics
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Other Training |
12-29/6/2000 International Trade Lawyers Course, Cairo Egypt An Introduction to the WTO, its principles, standards and agreements. The course was organized and administered by the International Development Law Organization. www.idlo.org May/2001 International Development Law Organization Three days training program on the different agreements of the WTO with a special emphasis on it’s impact on the Palestinian Economy. May/2001 World Trade Organization An Orientation Seminar July/2001 World Intellectual Property Organization An Orientation Seminar
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Publications |
Co-writer of the UNSCO quarterly report titled “Economic and Social Conditions in the West Bank and Gaza, 1997-2000 |
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Languages |
Excellent Command of English and Arabic |
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Professional memberships |
The Arab Society for Intellectual Property-Amman, Jordan |
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