RASHID AL-BANNA - Senior Consultant

Rashid Al-Banna joined PKF-The Consulting House in May 2008.  Mr. Al-Banna has twenty-five years of diverse professional experience in the fields of corporate and strategic planning, policy analysis and development, economic development planning and management consulting of which nearly half has been spent in the GCC/MENA region.  In the latter area, his career focused on major contributions to economic, industrial, real estate and hospitality sector developments and projects for the private sector and governments of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.  The earlier portion of his career was spent in the USA where he was employed by leading Fortune 300 firms such as AT&T and McGraw-Hill.

Among Rashid’s major accomplishments in the field of real estate and hospitality project development, he served as the lead investigator/economic consultant for an engagement to develop the State of Kuwait’s Failaka Island into a marine recreation and tourism resort destination under a PPP/BOT financing scheme.  Furthermore, he served in a similar capacity for a consulting project to prepare the feasibility study, strategic plan and operations manual for Dubai Industrial City.  The latter project has already launched and now hosts numerous regional and international manufacturing plants.  He worked for several years for the Government of Dubai as a key participant in major strategic planning initiatives that have given rise to landmark projects and leading-edge sector developments that have brought global recognition to Dubai.  Rashid has also been a major contributor to the development of investment promotion and industrial development programs in several GCC states.

Core competencies comprise:  Corporate and Strategic Planning, Market/Industry Analysis, Project Analysis and Development, Project and Place Branding and Marketing, Program Development and Management, Investment Promotion, Model Building, Feasibility Studies, Forecasting and Budgeting.

Rashid received Masters level training in Agricultural Economics and Marketing from Rutgers University (New Jersey, USA) where he was awarded full-fellowship support in recognition of his academic achievements and holds a BA in Economics with Highest Honors from the same university.  He has visited and lived in various countries in North and Central America, Caribbean, Middle East/North Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia and is multi-cultural and fluent in Arabic, English and Spanish.