Reem Al Hashimy: Career Profile of the UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation

Reem Al Hashimy is an Emirati politician and the UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation. This profile uses her official ministry biography and other published profiles, and says where sources differ.

Education

She earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations and French from Tufts University and a master’s degree from Harvard University; a United Nations speaker biography dates these to 1999 and 2002. Wikipedia and Emirates Woman also report a doctorate from Tsinghua University, but her official ministry biography does not mention it.

Career

• She began at the UAE Embassy in Washington, D.C., as Commercial Attaché and later as Deputy Chief of Mission, and took part in UAE–US free trade agreement negotiations.
• February 2008: sworn in as a Minister of State in the UAE Cabinet at the age of 29, one of the youngest ministers in the region.
• Expo 2020 Dubai: she led the UAE’s bid to host the World Expo in Dubai and later served as Director General of Expo 2020 Dubai.
• February 2016: appointed UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation. She also oversees the Political Affairs Office of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
• July 2022: appointed CEO of the Expo City Dubai Authority, which manages the legacy of the Expo site.

Further background is in MEED’s profile.

Other roles

She chairs the National Committee on Sustainable Development Goals in the UAE and chairs Dubai Cares, a philanthropic organisation that works on access to education in developing countries. Titles change over time; the ministry’s website is the best place to check her current roles.

What we could not confirm

Earlier versions of this article described her statements on regional security and diplomatic meetings in 2024 and 2026. We could not trace them to named, checkable sources, so we have removed them rather than repeat them.