Who’s Who: Adel Baraja, deputy secretary-general at the Saudi Export Development Authority

Adel Baraja. (Supplied)

Adel Baraja is the deputy secretary-general of promotion and national brand identity at the Saudi Export Development Authority in Riyadh. He has been working with Saudi Exports for almost a year, occupying the position of general marketing manager since April 2021.
He was appointed to his current role this month, where he is responsible for the Saudi-made brand’s global marketing, communication, and customer experience, and its portfolio of thousands of companies and products. He is also responsible for promoting Saudi Exports services to manufacturers and exporters.
The authority seeks to develop diverse non-oil exports by supporting Saudi exports to increase their competitiveness, promote their goods and services to expand internationally.
Before joining Saudi Exports, 2017 marked Baraja’s first governmental sector work experience, where he took the role of the general manager of marketing and customer experience at the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority from September 2017 until April 2021.
Prior to that, from 2000 to 2010, Baraja gained rich experience in the field of marketing and business working with advertising agencies based in Germany, Spain, and Portugal.
Baraja switched to the manufacturing sector in 2013, joining the Dow Chemical Co.’s public and government affairs sector in Riyadh for a year, where he was responsible for developing and implementing a communication strategy for the country in alignment with the regional office.
In 2014, he joined Volkswagen Group Saudi Arabia for three years until 2017, occupying the position of marketing and public relations director.
As well as being a native Arabic speaker, Baraja can speak German, Spanish, and Portuguese, which helped him become a pioneer in designing, creating, and developing high-performance teams within advertising agencies and marketing departments.