H.E. Dr. Hala H. Elsaid is Egypt's Minister of Planning and Economic Development. Formerly, she held the position of Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform during February 2017 to December 2019. Previously, she held the position of the Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science (FEPS) in Cairo University, and served as a member of the board of the Central Bank of Egypt. Throughout her journey in academia, she managed to achieve key milestones not only in the academic and research arenas but also in the overall financial and banking sectors. Following her belief in the power of youth, El Said played a recognized role with youth empowerment. She was the initiator and co-founder of several students’ activities inside the University campus – namely, the simulation models. Over her long career, she played a dynamic role in bridging the gap between the university graduates knowledge and the skills required at the real workplace. As the Executive Director of the Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI) for 8 consecutive years, El Said managed the institute with the vision to create a professional financial training arm applying international best practices to develop the technical and managerial skills of the financial sector professionals in Egypt and its surrounding region. She led a group of experts in the Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI) and a number of consultants to achieve international accreditation and be the first ACCET accredited banking and financial training institute in Egypt and the region. Dr. El Said is the prestigious author of a wide range of internationally acclaimed research papers, studies and reports on diverse topics related to the financial sector, international finance, privatization and economic reform, such as: Bank Mergers, SMEs access to finance, and Corporate Governance.She is an iconic figure in the Egyptian economic and financial fields, who worked on spreading financial education and inclusion among the Egyptian youth over her efficacious life journey.