COVID-19, Information Systems, and Statistics in the Middle East and North Africa

Welcome Remarks by:

Ferid Belhaj, Vice President, MENA Region, World Bank
Carmen Reinhart, Vice President, Development Economics and Chief Economist, World Bank

Keynote Speaker:

Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Professor Emeritus of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University and former Director of United States National Institute of Health

Policy Panel Discussion with Ministers on Country Experiences during COVID-19

Chair: Haishan Fu, Director, Development Data Group, World Bank

Panelists:

Wissam Rabadi, Minister of Planning and International, Jordan

Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, Egypt

Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, Minister of Economy, Finance and in charge of Industry, Djibouti

Nageeb Manssor Al-Oj, Minister of Planning & International Cooperation, Yemen

Policy Panel Discussion with the Heads of the National Statistics Offices

Chair: Johannes Hoogeveen, Practice Manager, MENA Poverty and Equity Global Practice, World Bank

Panelists:

Ola Awad, President, Central Bureau of Statistics, Palestine

Mohammed Hassan, Executive Director, The National Statistics an Data Sector, UAE

Adnen Lassoued, Director General, National Institute of Statistics, Tunisia

Youcef Bazizi, Director General, Office of the National Statistics, Algeria

Majid AlShehry, General Manager of Enterprise Architecture at the National Information Center, Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority.

Mohammed Bircharef, Director General of Statistics and National Accounts, Morocco

Yousuf bin Mohammed Al Riyami, General Director, Population and Social Statistics, Oman

Policy Panel Discussion with Leaders of Think Tanks in MENA

Chair: Noha El-Mikawy, Director, Ford Foundation

Panelists:

Ibrahim Ahmed Elbadawi, Managing Director, Economic Research Forum for the Middle East and North Africa and former Finance Minister of Sudan.

Mustapha Kamel Nabli, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Partnership of Economic Policy and former Governor, Central Bank of Tunisia. 

Sami Atallah, Executive Director, Lebanese Center for Policy Studies

Karim El Aynaoui, President, Policy Center for the New South and Dean, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University.

Launch of the Network of MENA National Statistics Offices

Chair: Rabah Arezki, Chief Economist, Middle East and North Africa Region, World Bank

Panelist:

Adel Abdellatif, Deputy Regional Director for Arab States, United Nations Development Program 

Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director, International Association for Research on Income and Wealth

Haishan Fu, Director, Development Data Group, World Bank

Johannes Hoogeveen, Practice Manager, MENA Poverty and Equity Global Practice, World Bank