Abdulrahman bin Ahmed bin Hamdan Al-Harbi was appointed the governor of the General Authority for Foreign Trade following a royal decree issued on March 23.
Previously, he had been the deputy minister of foreign trade since 2016.
He has held many leadership positions in the financial and private banking sector, the most recent of which was serving as the chief executive officer of Emirates NBD KSA.
Al-Harbi is a member of several boards of directors as well as local and international committees, including the board of directors of the Saudi Export Development Authority and the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises. He is also the chairman of the Investment Committee, and represents the Kingdom on the board of directors of the Islamic Center for Trade Development.
He holds a bachelor of science in management information systems from the business school at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran.
The General Authority for Foreign Trade aims to enhance the Kingdom’s international commercial and investment activities. It was established to consolidate Saudi Arabia’s position as a region and global trade hub.
One of the key goals of the authority is to ensure smooth access for Saudi non-oil exports in target markets by removing obstacles.