Six key figures helping to develop infrastructure investment in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region: Kamaran Ahmed Abdullah, Ali Sindi, Abdul Qader Ahmed, Hama Ameen Hawranim, Herish Muharam and Serwan Baban
Kamaran Ahmed Abdullah
Position: Housing and reconstruction minister, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
Biography: Kamaran Ahmed Abdullah was named housing and reconstruction minister in the KRG’s October 2009 cabinet, a post he retained following April’s elections. Abdullah previously served as deputy minister and director of the Kurdistan region’s Sulaimaniyah International airport. From 1992, he worked in the engineering and consultancy bureau, part of Erbil Technical College, designing and supervising private sector projects. He later moved to the engineering section of the Kurdistan Save the Children fund as a project manager. He was appointed to advise on the construction of Sulaimaniyah International airport in 2006. Abdullah graduated with a degree in civil engineering from Sulaimaniyah University in 1981. He is a board member of the American University of Iraq. The KRG has prioritised the construction of at least 135,000 housing units and a modern highway system.
Contact Tel: (+964) 6 6220 0600
Ali Sindi
Position: Planning minister, KRG
Biography: Ali Sindi was first appointed planning minister in October 2009, as part of the KRG’s sixth cabinet. He retained the post following the most recent elections in April, and is responsible for preparing the KRG’s annual investment budget. Sindi previously served as an adviser to KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani. From 1996 to 2001, he served as the deputy minister for health and social affairs in the Erbil administration. He also led the health committee of the UN’s oil-for-food programme for five years. Sindi graduated with a bachelor’s degree in medicine from Iraq’s Mosul University in 1990, before later completing a master’s degree in general surgery at the Kurdistan region’s Salahaddin University in 1998. In 2002, he was awarded a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University in the US. Sindi also has a diploma from the US’ Yale University.
Contact Tel: (+964) 75 0492 3604
Abdul Qader Ahmed
Position: Power projects director, Mass Global Investment Company
Biography: Abdul Qader Ahmed is director of power projects for the Jordan-headquartered Mass Global Investment Company. The firm has three power stations in operation in Iraqi Kurdistan with a total installed capacity of 2,500MW, with a further two projects due to be commissioned in 2013 and 2014. Prior to joining Mass Global Investment Company, Ahmed was manager of Galala Trading & Construction and manager of Al-Aktar Trading Company. He was also general manager of the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission’s Scientific Research Centre and deputy minister of the Industry and Minerals Ministry. Ahmed has a bachelor of science degree from Baghdad University, and a master’s and doctorate from the UK’s Manchester University. He is secretary general of the Beirut-based Arab Businessmen Association and manager of Al-Huda International Trading Company.
Contact Tel: (+962) 6 568 3643
Hama Ameen Hawranim
Position: Advisor, Ministry of Electricity
Biography: Hama Ameen Hawranim has been an adviser to the Iraqi Kurdistan minister of electricity since 2010. Hawranim is a consultant electrical engineer with more than 20 years’ experience of working with the Iraqi national grid, particularly in hydroelectric power generation and distribution. From 2004 to 2010, Hawranim was planning manager for the Ministry of Industry and Energy. During this time, he was also made director of hydropower and renewable energy. Between 1998 and 2003, Hawranim worked with the United Nations Development Programme’s Electricity Northern Rehabilitation Programme (UNDP-ENRP) in Iraq. His first roles for the UN were as a senior engineer and then technical coordinator between the UNDP’s staff and local authorities in the Kurdistan region. Hawranim is a graduate of the University of Technology in Baghdad.
Contact Tel: (+964) 75 0445 0665
Herish Muharam
Position: Chairman, the Kurdistan Board of Investment
Biography: Herish Muharam is chairman of the KRG’s Board of Investment, which is responsible for providing professional services to investors and for helping to rebuild the Kurdistan region. Muharam was previously chairman of the KRG’s electricity commission, a role he held from 2005 to 2006. Prior to that, Muharam chaired the Agency for Reconstruction Projects, which he founded following his return to the Kurdistan region in 2003. Muharam has also worked for the UN in Iraq, serving as a programme management officer for UN Habitat. According to the agency, the Kurdistan region requires the construction of 14,000 new residential units to prevent a housing crisis in the next few years. From 1992 to 2000, Muharam was employed as a senior administrator for the UK-based charity, Save the Children.
Contact Tel: (+964) 6 6256 3950
Serwan Baban
Position: Minister of agriculture and water resources, KRG
Biography: Serwan Baban became Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources on 5 April 2012. The ministry plans to construct at least four giant dams and a number of smaller ones in the region, with 11 already in the study or construction phase. Baban was previously vice-chancellor of the University of Kurdistan in Erbil. He obtained a doctorate in applied remote sensing from the UK’s University of East Anglia in 1991 and worked as a research assistant and senior research associate there before moving to Coventry University as a lecturer. Baban moved to the University of the West Indies in 2000 to become professor of surveying and land information. He later relocated to St Augustine Campus in Trinidad and, in January 2007, joined Australia’s Southern Cross University as professor of environmental geoinformatics.
Contact Tel: (+964) 75 0492 3604
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