EXECUTIVE LECTURE FORUM: Activities: 2003: Bio: Kawar
 

February 20, 2003 Ambassador Karim Kawar, Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico Karim Kawar presented his credentials to U.S. President George Bush at the White House on September 25, 2002 and a copy to the Department of State on July 24, 2002. He was appointed Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United States of America and the Republic of Mexico on July 1st, 2002. Mr. Kawar, is one of the youngest of Jordan’s Ambassadors, who has a well established reputation as a prominent leader in developing Jordan’s Information and Communications Technology sector. Mr. Kawar contributed significantly to the economic development of the country and participated in developing "Jordan Vision 2020", an ambitious initiative that aims to achieve a clearly stated private sector-driven economic strategy to aggressively guide Jordan into the 21st Century. Mr. Kawar’s vision for developing Jordan’s productive capacity and human resources in the age of information technology has offered an important model and endless opportunities for Jordanian youth and businessmen. Mr. Kawar grew up in Amman, Jordan. He graduated from Boston College, MA, in 1987 with a B.Sc. in management, finance and computer science. At the age of twenty, Mr. Kawar established his first company and headed an umbrella group that encompassed ten information systems and software companies. Mr. Kawar was appointed, in 1999, as a member of the Economic Consultative Council, by His Majesty King Abdullah II. The Economic Consultative Council was the first 21 member body that included public and private sector leaders established to advise the Monarch on economic issues. Mr. Kawar served as a member of several Consultative Council task forces on Investment, eGovernment, Public Sector Reform as well as Computer and English Education.  As a pioneer in Jordan’s technology and business sector, Mr. Kawar contributed largely to the development of Information Technology (IT) in the Kingdom. In 1999, Mr. Kawar applied his experience and savoir-faire to lead a team of 40 Jordanian IT professionals under the REACH Initiative. The team worked to develop a strategy to launch the IT industry in Jordan. Mr. Kawar also served as Chairman of the Information Technology Association of Jordan (INTAJ). Mr. Kawar was selected as an Eisenhower Fellow for the year 2000. He is a founding member of several business associations and NGO’s among which are the Jordan American Business Association (JABA), the Young Entrepreneurs Association (YEA) and the Jordanian Intellectual Property Association (JIPA). He is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). He also served as Vice Chair of the Jordan River Foundation, chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania. The foundation empowers women through its income-generating projects, business development services for micro-entrepreneurs as well as preventing child abuse. Mr. Kawar also served as the Network Coordinator of the UN ICT Task Force – Arab Regional Network. Mr. Kawar is dedicated to advancing US-Jordanian relations through enhanced economic and cultural exchanges. Mr. Kawar aims to promote Jordan as a high-tech center in the Middle East and an investment hub by sharing his vision of Jordan’s potential and the capacity of its people with business leaders and public officials in the United States of America. Mr. Kawar believes in the importance of the strong relationship of partnership between the United States and Jordan in the pursuit of this vision. Moreover, Mr. Kawar is committed to work closely and intensively with U.S. officials on issues of regional concerns, particularly in advancing the peace process in the region. This can only be done by working towards bringing an end to current violence and at the same time, advancing the political process necessary for the establishment of a Palestinian state and the achievement of a comprehensive peace settlement within the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative adapted on the Beirut Summit in March 2002. Mr. Kawar is married to Luma Halazon and has one son, Faisal, and two daughters, Abla and Alia.