Bernard Philippe holds a Doctorat d'Etat in Economics, and works for the European Commission in Brussels, as an Administrator of the Directorate in charge of relations with Southern Mediterranean and Middle East and Near East. He was previously seconded to work with World Bank as a representative of the European Union for the co-ordination of international assistance to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. His Publications include contributions on international trade and development issues.

Chibli Mallat is a member of the Ordre des Avocats de Beirut (Beirut Bar Association), and is presently a visiting professor at the Faculty of Law at Saint Joseph University in Beirut. Formerly, he was the director of the Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law at SOAS, University of London, where he taught European and Islamic laws over the past decade. Publications include several edited books on law and on the Middle East, The Renewal of Islamic Law (Cambridge, 1993), , and The Middle East Into the 21st Century, (Ithaca Press, 1996), An Introduction to Middle Eastern Law (forthcoming, 1997)

Elie Assaf has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Paris and serves as a consultant to a number of institutions and publications.

Kamal Hamdan is presently the Head of the Economic Division at Consultation and Research Institute.

Served as a UN Consultant for a number of economic studies.

Member of the committee of Economic experts formed by the Lebanese council of ministers in April 1992.

Advisor to the Minister of Economy and Trade, 1991 - 1990.

Member of the Economic Research Forum (ERF) in the Arab world, Turkey and Iran , Cairo.

Member of the Arab Association for Economic Research, Cairo.

L. Alan Winters is Chief of the International Trade Division of the World Bank. He is on leave from his post as Professor of Economics at the University of Birmingham, UK, and was for six years Co-Director of the Centre for Economic Policy Research's International Trade Programme. His publications include one hundred books and articles on topics such as non-tariff barriers, European integration, East-West trade, agricultural protection and the GATT. He is currently working on the role of regional arrangements in development.

Iskandar Moukarbel Holds a Doctorat d'Etat in Economics from the University of Paris, 1967. Has pursued his Post-Doctorat Studies at the University of Chicago , 1974.

Previously a Professor of International Economics at the Lebanese University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.

Worked as Trade Economist with different UN agencies: UNISOB, ESCWA, UNCTAD.

Appointed by UNCTAD as a Chief, International Trade Advisor to the Ministry of Finance and Trade in Gambia-West Africa, 1986-1990.

Ghassan Dibeh earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Texas at Austin and is currently an assistant professor of Economics at the Lebanese American University, in Byblos. He has published articles in mathematical economics, business cycle theory, and the fiscal system in Lebanon. He is currently working on developing a New Keynesian model of the Business cycle and a monograph on the political economy of inflation in Lebanon.

Ghassan Barrage has an Electrical Engineering background and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently the Vice- President of Arthur D. Little and Managing Director of the Middle East Practice Period. He has twenty years of experience in Management Consulting specializing in Strategic Planning, Economic, and Organization Development. Over this period he served major clients in Europe and the Middle East.

Raffy Semerdjian has a Ph.D. from University of Paris1 - Pantheon - Sorbonne (submit in 1996) and an M.B.A. from St-Joseph University. He is Founder & Managing Director of the Center for Strategic and Economic Information (C.I.S.E), Beirut-Lebanon, Since October 1992. He worked as a senior lecturer in the Business & Management and in the Economics department, at St. Joseph University (Beirut). He also worked as a lecturer in the Business & Management Faculty at Saint Esprit University in Kaslik.

Also worked as a Professional Trainer and course leader at the Lebanese Management Association, (LMA) .

Publications

- "Industrial Policy & Corporate Strategies", Proche-Orient, Etudes en Management, No. 6, Beirut, Lebanon 1995.

- "Unemployment in Lebanon", "Le Commerce du Levant" Lebanon, January 1995.

- "Health expenses in Lebanon", "Le Commerce du Levant" Lebanon, April 1994.

- "Income and expenditure in Lebanon", "Commerce du Levant", Lebanon, August 1994.

- "Cement Industry and the Construction sector in Lebanon-Report", 1994.

- "Japanese Management Practices", "Proche-Orient, Etudes en Management", No. 2, Beirut, Lebanon - 1993.

- "Labor and National Economy in Armenia", "Horizon", Canada, February 1993 and "Drochak", Greece, May 1993.

- Editor and member of publishing committee of "Proche-Orient, Etudes et Recherches en Management",1993 - 1995.

Toufic S. Jaber is a graduate of University of London, with a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics and Development. He has his Bachelor degree (BSc) in Economics and a Masters (MSc.) in Agricultural Economics. He is currently working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nicolas Photiades, is currently the corporate finance manager at Schroders in Beirut, he is responsible for covering Lebanon as well as the Middle East area out of the Beirut office. He has previously worked for Nomura International in London as a credit and fixed income analyst and as a corporate finance manager in France and Belgium. He is also one of the founders of Financial Intelligence Services (FINS), Lebanon's only rating agency and the first to be established in the Arab world. FINS specializes in rating Lebanese banks.

Antoine Wakim, Actuary, University of Lausanne, Switzerland - 1967

- Member of the Swiss Association of Actuaries (SAA) - 1969

- Member of international Association of Actuaries (LLA)

- INSEAD (AMP)

- Joined SNA as a part time actuary - 1967

- Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, SNA Group - 1967

Founder and member of The Board of the following companies:

- Marocaine - Vie: Morocco

- Maghrebia: Tunisia

- Al Nisr Al Arabi: Jordan

- Axioma Retirement Organizer: Cyprus

Professional Associations:

- Member of the Board of Directors of the RDCL

(Rassemblement des Dirigeants et Chefs d'entreprises Libanais)

- Member of the Board of the Social Security

Fadi Saab holds a B.A. degree in Economics from the American University of Beirut, and an M.B.A. from INSEAD, Fontainbleau, France. He is presently the advisor to the Minister of Transport, a consultant to the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon, as well as an independent Financial and Management Consultant to several Lebanese and international companies.

In the past, he was appointed Chairman for a group of associated European and Middle Eastern companies, active in the fields of Aviation and Tourism. In addition, he was the President of an American investment advisory firm and appointed Vice President of Bankers Trust Co. New York, USA.

Youssef Takla is a member of the Ordre des Avocats de Beirut (Beirut Bar Association), and the Ordre des Avocats de Paris (Paris Bar Association). He is a member of the Committee for the Development and Modernisation of Legislation at the Ministry of Justice, as well as a member of the Committee for the Development of Financial Legislation at the Central Bank of Lebanon.

Henri Najjar holds a Maîtrise in Business Law and Taxation of Companies, from the University of Paris II-Assas, and a Master's Degree (L.L.M) in Shipping Law, Marine Insurance and International Trade from the University of Southampton (U.K) . He is a practising lawyer at the Paris Bar.

Ishac Diwan holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Berkeley University (1985). He is presently the regional co-ordinator for the Middle East and North Africa in the Economic Development Institute, World Bank.

-Was on the core team of the world Development Report 1995, Workers in an integrating world.

- Has published in the areas of international finance, international trade, and Middle Eastern economics.

- Worked for several years in the MENA department of the Bank, was earlier in the research department.

- Was assistant professor of finance, New York University.

Ahmad M. Jashi received a Ph.D. in Economics from Northern Illinois University (NIV), and is now working as a Chief Economist at Al-Buhous Economic Research Institute.

Bassil Fuleihan earned his Ph.D. in Economics at Columbia University where he received the Columbia University President's Fellow Award. His dissertation concentrated on: "Customs Unions, Growth, and Economic Diversification". Has served as an advisor to the Executive Director and later as Assistant Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He has also worked as an adjunct Instructor of Economics of the Middle East at Fordham University, and as consultant to the MENA Country Programs at the World Bank.

At present, he works as the advisor to the Minister of Finance, and as a Project Director of IBRD/UNDP Revenue Enhancement and Fiscal Management Project as well as a lecturer in International Economics at the American University of Beirut (AUB).

Nasser H. Saidi has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Rochester in the United States. His thesis on "Rational Expectations and Flexible Exchange Rates" was published in the Garland Press Outstanding Dissertations Series. Since August 1993, Dr. Saidi has been working as the First Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon. He specializes in International Finance, Monetary Theory and Policy and Macroeconomics.

In the past, he worked as an economic advisor and consultant for a number of private banks in Europe and Lebanon. He has also worked as professor at the University of Chicago, the University of Rochester, the University of Geneva, the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, and the American University of Beirut.

He is the author of many publications on macroeconomics policy, monetary economics, exchange rate economics, economic stabilization policy and financial markets.