Biography: Basim bin Yacob al-Hamer was appointed housing minister in March 2011. He is chairman of the local Eskan Bank and has been chairman of the Bahrain Tender Board since April 2011. Al-Hamer is a member of the board at the National Oil and Gas Authority. In 2008, he was appointed president of customs affairs, negotiating the Bahrain-US free trade deal in 2009. He was made a member of the policy commission committee of the World Customs Organisation in Brussels in June 2009, and for a second term in June 2010. Prior to his appointment at Bahrain Customs, he was an assistant undersecretary at the Interior Ministry. Al-Hamer joined Bahrain Defence Force in 1982, holding various ranks until his transfer to the Interior Ministry in 2005. He graduated with a degree in civil engineering from San Diego State University, and has a master’s degree in project management from Colorado State University, also in the US.                 

Contact Tel: (+973) 1 753 0066

Biography: Shuwaish bin Saudi al-Duwaihi has been housing minister since the ministry’s inception in March 2011, as part of the kingdom’s attempts to solve its housing shortage. He was previously governor of Saudi Arabia’s General Housing Authority from 2008-11. The authority was created to increase the level of home ownership and develop more housing supply. The Housing Ministry took over the authority’s responsibilities and all other departments related to housing. The kingdom plans to build as many as 500,000 new affordable homes. Al-Duwaihi was a member of the kingdom’s Majlis al-Shura, the consultative council, from 1997 to 2005. Al-Duwaihi received a doctorate in industrial engineering and management from Cranfield University in the UK in 1998. He graduated in industrial engineering from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia in 1991.

Contact Tel: (+966) 1 407 0100

Biography: John Achari is the Abu Dhabi-based director of urban planning for the Middle East and North Africa at US consultants Parsons. The company has a critical role in Saudi Arabia’s plans to build 500,000 new homes across the country, drawing up the masterplans and designs for the first phase of construction. Achari was previously based in Saudi Arabia, and before that in Abu Dhabi as the planning manager in charge of development planning and feasibility at the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council from 2009 to 2011. From 2007-08, he was based in Pakistan as the director of development for UAE real estate developer Emaar. Achari graduated with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Auckland in New Zealand in 1985. He also has a master’s degree in urban design, city planning and development economics from the University of Stuttgart in Germany in 1988.

Contact Tel: (+971) 2 614 2416

Biography: Mohammed Darraji has worked on some of the world’s biggest construction projects as a civil engineer. He now runs Iraq’s Construction & Housing Ministry, which makes him responsible for the country’s roads, housing and public buildings. Housing is the most high-profile of these as Iraq battles a crisis triggered by population displacement, the destruction of property, incoming refugees from Syria and population growth. Darraji was appointed to his current role in December 2010. Before this, he worked on schemes such as Energy City in Qatar and Wembley Stadium in London, and also in Libya. Darraji has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Baghdad and a master’s degree from South Bank University in the UK. According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects, more than $3bn is currently being invested in housing and road projects in Iraq.

Contact Tel: (+964) 1 537 3029

Biography: Abdul Haq Mohammed is a Bahrain-based partner at UK law firm Trowers & Hamlins. He leads the practice’s international real estate team, as well as its affordable housing initiative in the Middle East. This includes advising local developer Naseej Properties on the construction of 4,100 housing units in Bahrain, the region’s first affordable housing public-private partnership. Before moving to Bahrain in November 2005, Mohammed worked in the commercial property department of Trowers & Hamlins’ London office from 1998, acting on behalf of investors in the sale and purchase of office, retail and industrial properties. He also advised on sharia-compliant real estate funds and the financing of acquisitions and development using Islamic finance structures. Mohammed graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies based at the University of London in 1997.

Contact Tel: (+973) 1 751 5607

Biography: Mohammed al-Rais is senior vice-president and managing director of the Middle East project management group at US consultants Hill International. Al-Rais was previously vice-president, acting as Hill’s regional manager for its Abu Dhabi operations. Al-Rais is responsible for the strategic direction of the company in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Oman.  In June 2011, Hill International announced it had won contracts worth $1.5bn to provide project management services on the first phase of a $35bn affordable housing scheme in Iraq. Al-Rais has a bachelor’s degree in city and regional planning from the University of Engineering and Technology in Pakistan and a master’s degree in project management from the University of Reading in the UK.

Contact Tel: (+971) 2 627 2855