Karim Kawar ( ar, كريم قعوار) is Jordanian

businessman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for th ...

and the former

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, where he served under the title of Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; Romanization of Arabic, tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; Romanization of Arabic, tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levan ...

to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

and the

Republic of Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

from July 2002 until January 2007.

Early life

Kawar grew up in

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...

, Jordan. He graduated from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, in 1987 with a BSc in management, finance and computer science. There he also met his wife, Luma Halazon. At the age of twenty, Kawar established his first company and headed an umbrella group that encompassed ten information systems and software companies.

Diplomacy

From 2002 to 2007, Kawar served under the title of Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the

to the

and the

. Kawar was one of the youngest of Jordan's ambassadors, who at the time of his appointment had been involved in developing Jordan's information and communications technology sector. Kawar was succeeded by Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, returning to his home country of Jordan.

Business

Kawar was appointed, in 1999, as a member of the Economic Consultative Council, by

King Abdullah II Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبدالله الثاني بن الحسين , translit=ʿAbd Allāh aṯ-ṯānī ibn al-Ḥusayn; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of t ...

. The Economic Consultative Council was the first 21-member body that included public and private sector leaders established to advise the Monarch on economic and social issues. Kawar served as a member of several Consultative Council task forces on Investment, eGovernment, Public Sector Reform, and computer and English education. In 1999 led a team of 40 Jordanian IT professionals under th
REACH Initiative
to develop a strategy to launch the IT industry in Jordan. Kawar also served as Chairman of the Information Technology Association of Jordan (INTAJ), and before that as President of the Jordan Computer Society. Kawar was selected as a

Young Global Leader Forum of Young Global Leaders, or Young Global Leaders (YGL), was created by Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum. The YGL, a non-profit organization managed from Geneva, Switzerland, is under the supervision of the Swiss government ...

by the World Economic Forum and was also selected as an Eisenhower Fellow for the year 2000. He is a founding member of several business associations and

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

s, among which are th
American Chamber of Commerce in Jordan
(AmCham), the Young Entrepreneurs Association (YEA) and the Jordanian Intellectual Property Association (JIPA). He is also a member of the

Young Presidents Organization YPO (formerly Young Presidents' Organization) is an American-based worldwide leadership community of chief executives with approximately 29,000 members in more than 130 countries, according to the organization's 2019 YPO international fact sheet. ...

(YPO). Kawar also served as Vice Chair and later a member of the board of the

Jordan River Foundation The "Jordan River Foundation" was founded earlier by Queen Nour Al Hussein, the wife of the late king of Jordan Hussein bin Talal, after the death of king Hussein, queen Nour left her position as the Chair person of "Jordan River Foundation" and t ...

, chaired by

Queen Rania Rania Al-Abdullah ( ar, رانيا العبد الله, ; born Rania Al-Yassin, 31 August 1970) is Queen of Jordan as the wife of King Abdullah II. Rania was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. She received her bachelor's degree in busines ...

. Kawar also served as the Network Coordinator of the

United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force The United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (UN ICT TF) was a multi-stakeholder initiative associated with the United Nations which is "intended to lend a truly global dimension to the multitude of efforts to bridge th ...

- Arab Regional Network.Kawar and his wife Luma, formed Bridges of Understanding Foundation, a nonpolitical nonprofit organization with the stated aim of supporting projects and initiatives that foster better understanding between the people of the US and the people of the Arab and Muslim world, starting with women of the U.S and Jordan. On 21 September 2010, The

King's Academy King's Academy (Arabic Translation: "كينغز أكاديمي") is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for students in grades 7 through 12 in Madaba-Manja, Jordan. It is named in honor of King Abdullah II of Jordan and seeks ...

Board of Trustees announced the appointment of Karim Kawar as chairman of the board, following the resignation of Founding Chairman Professor Safwan Masri. In 2007 Kawar rejoined the Jordan-base
Kawar Group of Companies
as its president. The Kawar Group was founded by his grandfather. His brother Rudain is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

.Kawar also is the Chairman of IrisGuard, Inc., which specializes in the deployment of

iris recognition Iris recognition is an automated method of biometric identification that uses mathematical pattern-recognition techniques on video images of one or both of the irises of an individual's eyes, whose complex patterns are unique, stable, and can b ...

systems for border and homeland security. He is a principal shareholder and advisor to Optimiza Solutions, a provider of management consulting, technology enablement and outsourcing services in the Middle East.

References

External links

Kawar Group of Companies Website

The Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Washington, DC: Mr. Karim Kawar, President of the Kawar Group, Delivers Remarks at the US-Jordan Business Alliance "Exploring New Frontiers"

Bridges of Understanding Foundation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawar, Karim Jordanian diplomats Ambassadors of Jordan to the United States Ambassadors of Jordan to Mexico Living people 1966 births