Boasting a good reputation from her work in the Tourism Ministry for nearly two years – where she managed to achieve the highest tourism revenues in history in Egypt at US$12.6 billion – Rania al-Mashat is now preparing to take over the Ministry of International Cooperation.
Mashat was born in Monufiya on June 20, 1975. She obtained a PhD in Economics in 2001 from the University of Maryland College Park in the US, having previously obtained a master’s degree in economics in 1998 from the same university and a BA in economics in 1995 from the American University in Cairo.
She holds experience in international work, having held the position of Senior Economist and Adviser to the International Monetary Fund and Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt for monetary policy between 2005 and 2016.
Before assuming the Tourism Minister post on January 2018, Mashat held several positions such as being appointed a member of the Audit Committee to the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones.
During her tenure as Tourism Minister, Mashat was able to successfully promote Egypt’s tourist attractions, as tourism figures almost returned to their previous days with 11.3 million tourists visiting Egypt in 2018 – only about three million tourists less than the peak season in 2010 which witnessed 14.7 million tourists visiting Egypt.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
