Adnan Kassar
Adnan Kassar | |
---|---|
Minister of State | |
In office 9 November 2009 – June 2011 | |
Prime Minister | Saad Hariri |
In office 2004–2005 | |
Prime Minister | Omar Karami |
Preceded by | Marwan Hamadeh |
Succeeded by | Demianos Khattar |
Minister of Economy and Trade | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1930 (age 93–94) Beirut, Lebanon |
Political party | Independent |
Spouse | Raedaa Miskaoui |
Children | 1 |
Alma mater | St. Joseph University |
Website | Official website |
Adnan Kassar (Arabic: عدنان القصار; born 1930) is a Lebanese banker, businessman and politician, who served at different cabinet posts.
Early life and education
Kassar was born into a Sunni family in Beirut in 1930.[1] His father, Wafiq Kassar, was a prominent diplomat who served as the ambassador of Lebanon in Pakistan and Turkey.[1] His mother was Chafika Diab.[1]
He received a law degree from St. Joseph University in 1951.[1][2][3]
Career
At age 25 Kassar managed to build a business partnership with China in 1955.[4] In addition to being a businessman, he is a banker dealing finance investments. He has founded and owns various companies concerning trade, shipping and travel, and industry. He is one of the owners of the Banque Libano-Francaise together with Farid Raphael, his brother Nadim Kassar and Victor Kassir.[5] Kassar acquired the bank in 1980.[6]
Kassar served as the president of the Beirut Chamber of Commerce and Industry for nearly thirty years to which he was elected in January 1972.[7][8] In June 1997, he became the president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Lebanon.[8] From 1999 to 2000, he headed the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) based in Paris,[7] being the first Arab to preside over it.[9] On 1 January 2001, Richard D. McCormick, who served as his deputy at the ICC, succeeded Kassar as head of the ICC.[10]
In January 2003, Kassar was appointed member of the patrons committee of the Anglo-Arab organisation.[2] In addition, Kassar and his brother are shareholders of Fransabank, a large Lebanese commercial bank. As of 2013 Kassar was serving as the chairman of the bank.[11] He was also chairman of the general union of Arab chambers of commerce, industry and agriculture and of Lebanon’s economic committees.[12]
In October 2004, Kassar was appointed minister of economy and trade to the cabinet led by Prime Minister Omar Karami, replacing Marwan Hamadeh as economy minister.[13] His tenure lasted until 2005 when Karami resigned from office due to the pressures exerted by Lebanese people as a protest over the assassination of Rafik Hariri.[14] Kassar was succeeded by Demianos Khattah in the post.[7][13] Later Kassar served as the minister of state in the cabinet led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri from November 2009 to 2011.[11][15] Kassar was one of the cabinet members appointed by the Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.[16]
Kassar has been regarded as a potential prime minister since the beginning of the 2000s.[7][17]
Awards and honors
Officier de la Legion d'honneur (France)[2]
Officer, National Order of the Cedar (Lebanon)[2]
Officer, National Order of Merit (France)[2]
Knight Commander, Order of Merit (Italy)[2]
Commander, Order of Rio Branco, (Brazil)[6]
Kassar has also been given other awards, including, Commander of the Order of La Pléiade, Hungarian Order of Merit, and the prize of the Crans Montana Forum (2000).[2][6] The Union of Arab Banks awarded him with the title of the Banker of the Year for the period 2012–2013.[9] He is the recipient of the Business for Peace Award (2014)[18] and was named as the honorary chairman of the Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce in 2016.[6]
In April 2015 the School of Business at the Lebanese American University was named after Adnan Kassar.[19]
Personal life
Kassar married Raedaa Miskaoui on 14 June 1969, and they have a daughter, Roula Kassar.[1][13]
References
- ^ a b c d e Who's Who in Lebanon (19th ed.). Beirut: Publitec Publications. 2007. p. 191. ISBN 978-3-598-07734-0.
- ^ a b c d e f g "His Excellency Mr Adnan Kassar". Anglo Arab. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ "Board of Directors". Fransabank Group. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
- ^ Mark Perry (2019). "The Silk Road in the West: Lebanon's Industrial History and Current Prospects for Partnership with China". In Nazrul Islam (ed.). Silk Road to Belt Road. Reinventing the Past and Shaping the Future. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. p. 67. doi:10.1007/978-981-13-2998-2. ISBN 978-981-13-2997-5. S2CID 239102482.
- ^ Najib Hourani (2015). "Capitalists in Conflict: The Lebanese Civil WarReconsidered". Middle East Critique. 24 (2): 150. doi:10.1080/19436149.2015.1012842. S2CID 144769983.
- ^ a b c d "Adnan Kassar". The Muslim 500. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d "Fatfat names Adnan Kassar as neutral Lebanon PM". Ya Libnan. 15 December 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ a b Sami E. Baroudi (2000). "Sectarianism and business associations in postwar Lebanon". Arab Studies Quarterly. 22 (4): 81–107. JSTOR 41858353.
- ^ a b "Adnan Kassar named Arab banker of the year". ANBA. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ "Former US West CEO Elected VP of International Chamber of Commerce; will Become President in 2 Years". PR Newswire. Geneva. 8 January 1999. Archived from the original on 19 November 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ a b "Speakers". Fransabank. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ "Stunted growth: Lebanon's economy at the mercy of political stability". Albawaba. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ a b c "Former Ministers". Ministry of Economy and Trade. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ^ Elie Hajj (4 April 2013). "Tammam Salam Likely March 14 Candidate for Lebanese Premier". Al Monitor. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ^ "Lebanon finally has a government Sulaiman's man seals the deal". Gulf News. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ "-Hariri Presents 30-Member Cabinet List to President Suleiman". The Daily Star. 8 September 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ Mariam Shahin (1 October 2000). "For liberty, prosperity, fraternity?". The Middle East. Beirut. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
- ^ "Adnan Kassar". Business for Peace Foundation. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ "Adnan Kassar School of Business at Lebanese American University (LAU)". Hospitality. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- 20th-century Lebanese businesspeople
- 21st-century Lebanese businesspeople
- 1930 births
- Ministers without portfolio of Lebanon
- Independent politicians in Lebanon
- Leaders of organizations
- Lebanese corporate directors
- 20th-century Lebanese lawyers
- Lebanese Sunni Muslims
- Living people
- Officers of the Legion of Honour
- People named in the Paradise Papers
- Politicians from Beirut
- Recipients of the National Order of the Cedar
- Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
- Saint Joseph University alumni
- Government ministers of Lebanon