Dr. Iman bint Habas Al-Mutairi, new CEO of Saudi National Competitiveness Center

Dr. Iman bint Habas Al-Mutairi
Updated 19 September 2019
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Dr. Iman bint Habas Al-Mutairi, new CEO of Saudi National Competitiveness Center

Dr. Iman bint Habas Al-Mutairi is the newly appointed CEO of the National Competitiveness Center (NCC). Her appointment was approved by the Saudi Cabinet on Tuesday.

Al-Mutairi received her Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from King Faisal University, and her Ph.D. in bio-organic chemistry from the University of Bristol, UK. She also holds a postdoctorate in molecular biology and genetics from Harvard School of Public Health. 

She did her postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard School of Public Health between 1998 and 2000. Later that year, she joined PerkinElmer as a microarray scientist in Chicago.

In 2003, Al-Mutairi began her ten-year career with Aramco, first as a preventive medicine adviser and from 2007 as an administrator of general medical relations.

In 2009, she served as chief of quality improvement and risk management at Saudi Aramco Healthcare Services, moving in 2011 to be administrator of the workforce planning and analytics division. In 2012, she was appointed as the manager of the medical support services department. 

Al-Mutairi was the manager of the Johns Hopkins Aramco joint venture integration project between 2013 to 2014. In 2016, she took up the post of senior adviser to the Minister of Commerce and Investment until 2017, when she became assistant minister for the Ministry of Commerce and Investment in 2018.


Saudi Hajj Ministry suspends Umrah firm, overseas agent over contract violations

Updated 59 min 29 sec ago
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Saudi Hajj Ministry suspends Umrah firm, overseas agent over contract violations

  • Company failed to provide accommodation for a number of Umrah pilgrims, despite these services being documented in the contractual programs, ministry says

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah on Sunday announced the suspension of an Umrah company and its overseas agent for failing to provide accommodation services for pilgrims in line with approved contractual programs.

In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, the ministry said the company’s failure constitutes a clear violation of regulations governing services for Umrah pilgrims and visitors to the Two Holy Mosques.

It noted that a number of pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom without secured accommodation, despite these services being documented in the contractual programs.

This prompted immediate regulatory action against the company and its overseas agent under the established legal frameworks, the ministry said. 

Pilgrims circumambulate the Holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque in Makkah in this photo taken earlier this month. (SPA)

"The measures are intended to safeguard the rights of affected pilgrims, prevent a recurrence of such violations, and ensure the continued enhancement of service quality," it added.

Last June, the ministry suspended seven Umrah companies due to deficiencies in providing transport services to pilgrims.

In an earlier report quoting the Hajj Ministry and the General Authority for the Care of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, SPA said more than 1.7 million Muslims from all over the world arrived in the Kingdom to perform Umrah during Jumada Al Akhira alone.

Also referred to as Jumada Al Thani, Jumada Al Akhira is the sixth month of the Islamic calendar. For Hijri year 1447, this sixth month ended on December 20, 2025 in the Gregorian calendar.