Abdullah Dardari

Abdullah Abdel Razzaq Al Dardari (born 1963) is the Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Prior to his appointment in 2014, he served for three years as ESCWA's Chief Economist and the Director of the Economic Development and Globalization Division. Before joining ESCWA he was the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and the Minister of Planning (and Chairman, State Planning Committee) of the Syrian Arab Republic.
In September 2014 he was appointed as Deputy Executive Secretary of ESCWA. On this occasion, he has been criticized for never publicly criticizing the current Syrian regime [1]. He has also been accused of maintaining ambiguous relationships with both the various rebel groups and the Syrian regime [2].

Mr. Al Dardari was born in 1963 in Damascus, Syria. He is the son of Major General Abdul Razzaq Dardari, commander of the Operations Division in the war of 1973, and friend of Basil al-Assad (elder brother of President Bashar al-Assad) [1]. He holds a Masters in International Political Economy from The University of Southern California, a Bachelors in Economics from The Richmond University London, and conducted Post Graduate Research at The London School of Economics. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Yalova University in Istanbul,

Mr. Al Dardari began his career as a journalist in Alhayat, pan-Arab daily. Then he became UNDP’s Assistant Resident Representative in Syria from 2001 to 2003. He was brought to the government first as Head of the State Planning Commission where he served in from 2003 to 2005. It was there that he started authoring Syria's 10th five-year plan, seen as the blueprint of reforms in Syria from 2006 to 2011. In 2005, Dardari was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Economic Affairs. Mr. Al Dardari also served as minister of planning from 2006 to 2008. His term ended in March 2011. The office, deputy premiership for economic affairs, was also abolished. He was removed from office due to his conflict with Rami Makhlouf, Bashar Assad's cousin. Mr. Al Dardari joined the United Nations's Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in September 2011 he began to serve as the Director of the Economic Development and Globalization Division (EDGD) and Chief Economist.

Mr. Al Dardari is married and has three children. He speaks fluent English and French, and is a popular face among the elite of Syria.