MEDiterranean PROspects

Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science- Cairo University since August 2008, and Professor of Economics, Cairo University since 1995.
My main areas of specialization are macroeconomic analysis and labor market research. During the last 20 years I have been heavily involved in conducting economic surveys. The fields of research varied and included several topics such as labor market research projects, micro and small enterprises surveys, empirical studies on industrial enterprises especially in the areas of textiles and electronics, industrial complexes/clusters. In the last seven years I got engaged in socio-economic household surveys and socio-economic and political polls.

The latest research papers and reports were:

• El Mahdi, A., 2009, "The repercussions of the Financial Crisis on the Economic Activity and Employment, in the conference on:Social Implications of the Economic Crisis on the Egyptian Economy and the ways out of it”, Center of Economic and Financial Research and Studies, Cairo.
• El Mahdi, A., etal, 2009, "A Survey Study of the Implications of the Application of Quality Assurance Programs on the Improvement of Education", for the Quality Assurance Program, Ministry of Higher Education, Cairo.
• El Mahdi, A., etal, 2008, "Science and Technology in a sample of Private Sector Companies in Egypt", Ministry of Higher Education, Cairo.
• El Mahdi, A. etal, 2008, Egypt’s Human Development Report 2008, Ministry of Economic Development and UNDP, Cairo
• El Mahdi, A. and H.El Said,Ed.,(2007), The Role of Financial and Non-financial Services in Supporting MSMEs in Egypt, CEFRS and the Egyptian Banking Institute, Cairo.
• El Mahdi,A. & M. Metwally, Ed.,(2007), Evaluation of the Privatization Program in Egypt (1992-2006), UNDP and Center for Economic and Financial Research and Studies, Cairo.

A Palestinian national with a Ph.D. in Economics. Since Dec. 2009, he has served as the Director General of the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), a position which he previously held from 2004-2007. Prior to joining MAS, Dr. Abdullah served as the Minister of Planning and Minister of Labor in the Palestinian Government from June 2007 to May 2009. Dr. Abdullah started his career in the academic field as an Assistant Professor in 1984, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1990. During his work he conducted numerous research papers on the Palestinian economy. He is also affiliated with many boards and institutions, amongst is the Board of Directors of the Palestine Monetary Authority –PMA since (2006-2011).

A diplomat and ambassador, he holds a degree in Economic Science (1971) and in Law (1972) from the Universitat de Barcelona. He studied for his doctorate in Economics at the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne (1973-1974); as a Fullbright scholarship holder at New York University, Ph. D. Program (1974-1976), and at the Universidad Complutensede Madrid, where he presented his doctoral thesis in 1979. Diploma in International Studies from the Diplomatic School of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. He has also been Director of Studies at the Diplomatic School of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Professor of International Economics and Development at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.