Safa Al Hashem (born April 14, 1964) is a politician who was an elected Member of Parliament
to the
Kuwait Parliament. In Kuwait history, she was the only female member to be elected to the Kuwait parliament consecutively more than two times. In 2020, she lost her seat after getting only 430 votes in 2020 compared to 3,273 in 2016.
Education
Al Hashem obtained a degree in English literature from
Kuwait University and completed her MBA from the Pennsylvania State University. She also has a post graduate executive education diploma from
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
.
In 2011, she was awarded a Ph.D, Doctorate (
Honoris causa
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
) by the
American University of Technology.
Career
Before entering politics, Al Hashem worked for the government in the Ministry of Higher Education. She later worked in various private companies being associated with PIC,
PWC
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...
and the
KIPCO
Kuwait Projects Company (Holding), known as KIPCO, is an investment holding company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with consolidated assets of US$34.2 billion as of 31 December 2018. The group has significant ownership interest ...
Group. Al Hashem then started Advantage Consulting in partnership with KIPCO and Gulf One Investment Bank, Bahrain.
Politics
Al Hashem first stood for elections for 3rd Constituency in 2012 and won. After this parliament was annulled, she stood again from the same constituency and won again.
In the 2012 assembly, she served as the
rapporteur of the Economic and Financial Affairs committee, and was a member of the Response to the Amiri Addrss and Foreign Affairs committees.
Al Hashem is notorious for her populist comments against foreigners living in Kuwait, including recommending that foreigners should be banned from obtaining driving licenses and should be taxed to walk on the streets. She also called on the government to impose charges on expatriates for everything they do, including taxing the air they breathe in the country".
Awards
* 2009 Business Woman of the Year.
* 2007 Female CEO of the year - CEO Middle East
References
1964 births
Living people
Kuwaiti women in politics
21st-century women politicians
Members of the National Assembly (Kuwait)
Kuwait University alumni
Harvard Business School alumni
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