Profile: Meet Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Foreign Affairs

Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf was appointed on Dec. 27, 2018 as Saudi Arabia's Minister of Foreign Affairs by virtue of a royal decree.

Al-Assaf, who was born in 1949 in Qassim Province, began his career as a lecturer in economics at King Abdul Aziz Military Academy from 1971 to 1982. 

He completed his BA in economics and political science from King Saud University in Riyadh in 1968.

Al-Assaf also obtained an MA in economics from the University of Denver, Colorado in 1971, as well as a Ph.D. in economics from Colorado State University in 1981. 

He was appointed as associate professor of economics and head of the administrative sciences department until 1986. During that time, he was also named an economic adviser to the Saudi Fund for Development from 1982 to 1986.

Al-Assaf represented Saudi Arabia as the Saudi executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 1986 and 1989.

He served as the executive director for Saudi Arabia at the World Bank Group for six years. He was then appointed as vice governor of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency in July 1995. 

Al-Assaf joined the Council of Ministers and became minister of state until 1996, when he was appointed as Minister of Finance. He held the ministerial portfolio until 2016.

Al-Assaf is a member of the board of directors at Saudi Aramco and Chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development.