Dr. Omar Zakhilwal is an economist

Economist

An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...

 and a prominent politician

Politics of Afghanistan

The politics of Afghanistan consists of the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly, with a president serving as the head of state and commander-in-chief of the military. The nation is currently led by the Karzai administration under President Hamid Karzai who is backed by two vice...

 in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. He is the current Finance Minister as well as the Chief Economic Advisor to the President of Afghanistan

President of Afghanistan

Afghanistan has only been a republic between 1973 and 1992 and from 2001 onwards. Before 1973, it was a monarchy that was governed by a variety of kings, emirs or shahs...

. He is also the president of the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

Early life

Zakhilwal was born in 1968 in Badakhshan

Badakhshan Province

Badakhshan is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, consisting of 28 districts. It is located in the north-east of the country, between the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya. It is part of the Badakhshan region.-Geography:...

, Afghanistan. He belongs to the ethnic Pashtun

Pashtun people

Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...

 group. In 1984, at the age of 17, Zakhilwal along with his family fled his country among the Afghan refugees and settled in Peshawar

Peshawar

Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

.

Education and academics

Dr. Zakhilwal obtained his Bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in economics at the University of Winnipeg

University of Winnipeg

The University of Winnipeg is a public university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and theology as well as graduate programs. The U of W's founding colleges were Manitoba College and Wesley College, which merged...

, in Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He then moved to Kingston

Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, where he earned a Master's degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in economics at Queen's University

Queen's University

Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...

. Soon after that he found a job with Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....

 in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, where he completed a doctorate in economics at Carleton University

Carleton University

Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...

. He graduated in 2001.

Zakhilwal has published numerous articles and research papers on political, economic and social issues related to Afghanistan for some well known newspapers, magazines and journals such as the New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, Washington Post

The Washington Post

The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

, Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....

, Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa Citizen

The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...

, Wahdat

Wahdat

The Daily Wahdat or Wahdat daily is a Pashto daily newspaper published in Peshawar, in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan.-Introduction:...

, Forum of Federation Quarterly, Human Rights Tribune, Al-Ehram, Afghan Post, Heela, Dawat, Mujahid Wolus, Afghan Mosaic, Afghan Mirror, and etc. His work is in English, Pashto and Dari, and his articles are on the internet and can be accessed through any search engine.

In Politics

Over the course of his stay in Afghanistan, Dr. Zakhilwal has been part of the two Loya Jirgas that elected the president for the Afghanistan Transitional Government (June 2002) and ratified Afghanistan’s Constitution (Dec 2003). served as an author of Afghanistan’s First National Human Development Report (released by UNDP in Feb 2005); and has been part of many other initiatives with respect to rural Development. He also worked as an Afghan counter-part to the North-South Institute-led “What Kind of Peace is Possible?” research project, examining the role of community led development in sustainable peace building, as well as working on a strategy for Counter-Narcotics Alternative Livelihood in Afghanistan. Moreover, he has done consulting work for the World Bank, UNDP, CIDA and other organizations.

Dr. Omar Zakhilwal is the Minister of Finance as well as the Chief Economic Advisor to the President of Afghanistan. Prior to his current position, Dr. Zakhiwal served as the President of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA), a member of the Supreme Council of Da Afghanistan Bank, Acting Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, and the Chief Advisor to the Minister of Rural Development of Afghanistan.

Since 2003, Dr. Zakhilwal has been part of many initiatives pertaining to economics and development issues in the country. He was the author of the first Afghanistan National Human Development Report, released by UNDP in February 2007. He also worked as an Afghan counterpart to the Ottawa based North-South community-led development project in sustainable peace building, as well as on a number of other development related initiatives. Moreover, he has done consulting work for the World Bank, UNDP, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and other organizations.

Work History

Zakhilwal's Posts

Chief Economic Advisor to the President of Afghanistan President of Afghanistan Afghanistan has only been a republic between 1973 and 1992 and from 2001 onwards. Before 1973, it was a monarchy that was governed by a variety of kings, emirs or shahs...
Ministry of Finance	Finance Minister
Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB)	Chairman
Afghanistan Investment Support Agency Afghanistan Investment Support Agency Afghanistan Investment Support Agency - AISA - was established in September 2003 as an agency that provided licenses to companies wishing to invest in Afghanistan...  (AISA)	President
Transport and Civil Aviation	Acting Minister
Da Afghanistan Bank Da Afghanistan Bank The Afghanistan Bank is the central bank of Afghanistan. It regulates all the banking and money handling operations in Afghanistan.Da Afghanistan Bank is one of the leading & government recognized bank of Afghanistan which was established on 1939....	Member of the Supreme Council
Minister of Rural Development of Afghanistan	The Chief Advisor
Government of Canada	Senior Research Economist
Carleton University in Ottawa	Professor of Economics
Board of Directors of Partnership Afghanistan Canada	President