Rachid Mohamed Rachid is a prominent Egyptian entrepreneur with investments around the world and is the former Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment to Egypt. Rachid is currently the Founder of Alsara Investment Group, the Chairman of Valentino and the Chairman of Balmain; two of the leading luxury fashion companies in the world. Rachid is also the Founder of Bidayat, an international investment company, which supports creative entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean region.

Rachid earned a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alexandria in and an Advanced Management Diploma from the Harvard Business School. Rachid was the President of Unilever North Africa, which led several of Unilever’s largest international companies across the globe.

Rachid was also the Minister of Trade and Industry of Egypt and was the first international businessman to hold an Egyptian cabinet post in recent history. Rachid played a significant role in the liberalization of Egypt’s economy, successfully implementing major reforms that strengthened the country’s core industrial sectors and attracted significant foreign investment. During his tenure, Egypt’s annual industrial growth surpassed 20% and yearly exports tripled in value.

Rachid is a holder of “Cavaliere di Gran Croce, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana” presented to him by the president of the Italian Republic and is currently a board member of the Katara Hospitality Group in Qatar and the co-Chairman of the Virginia Commonwealth University Advisory Committee in Doha.